Pinch Me    by Adena Halpern Order:  USA  Can Touchstone, 2011 (2011) Softcover, e-Book     Reviewed by Elizabeth Crowley Lily Burns meets the perfect man. Not only is Stanley Goldblatt, who prefers to be called Gogo, a successful pediatrician, but he spends each and every moment making sure Lily knows how loved she is. When Gogo unexpectedly invites Lily to Paris, she fears the worst: Gogo is going to ask her to marry him. Although Gogo is the man of whom every woman dreams, Lily has a family curse that strikes when you marry a man you love. Lily's great-great Aunt Emmalina put a curse on her great-great grandmother Astrid who stole the love of her life. Ever since then, every Burns woman has lost husband after husband to odd circumstances. One unfortunate husband developed chronic hiccups that drove his wife away. Another just vanished into a tuba, and yet another developed a bizarre addiction to Diet Coke that destroyed his marriage. When Lily is warned not to accept a marriage proposal from Gogo, she thinks that her grandmother and mother are crazy. So Lily marries Gogo anyway. Everything is perfect until the couple is pronounced man and wife. Lily asks Gogo to pinch her because she has never been happier in all of her life. After Gogo pinches her, Lily's perfect life with Gogo is simply erased. Lily wakes up in her old home and frantically calls her new husband. Not only does Gogo have no memory of her, but he rudely asks her not to call back because he is a married man. Lily decides to confront Gogo at work, but Gogo's office is no longer his and no one has heard of him. In this cursed alternate reality Gogo is no longer a respected doctor. He works for a drainpipe company. Gogo's bleak new life is too much for Lily to bear and she decides to make him remember the man he used to be and their life together. But Gogo thinks Lily is crazy and refuses to have anything to do with her. Lily and her family, however, come up with a plan to remind Gogo of the love he felt for Lily. But Lily can only hope that making Gogo fall in love with her all over again will not result in a double curse! Pinch Me is irresistible! The novel is full of quirky characters who will make you laugh out loud at their hilarious antics. Three bitter women who have loved and lost - and convinced themselves that the only way to be happy is to date fat, bald, dull jerks - makes for one hilarious read! Pinch Me is the perfect novel for anyone looking for an entertaining, lighthearted summer read. Adena Halpern is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews