Review: Dangled Carat by Hilary Grossman

When I started this blog, one of my blogging buddies who follows my 50 Year Project introduced me to Hilary Grossman’s blog. She thought we would hit it off since both of us are just starting out in the publishing world. Beth Ann was right. Hilary and I now email each other almost every day. Not only do we chat about the trials and tribulations of self-publishing, but we talk about life in general. We’ve become good friends and supporters of each other. This business can be lonely and daunting. It’s important to be able to reach out and have someone willing to listen. Hilary immediately started helping me promote my novel. And today it’s my pleasure to announce that Hilary’s memoir: Dangled Carat is now available. Woohoo!

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of this memoir. Writing isn’t easy. And penning a memoir is much more difficult since the author has to relive memories from their past, especially painful ones. There’s a fine balance between providing too much detail or too little. Hilary handles her story with skill and professionalism.

I found myself laughing a lot, getting emotional, and occasionally angry. Marc, the commitment-phobic man is just that. I can’t say he refused to see what was right in front of him. Nor can I say that he was insensitive to the woman he loved. Marc had his own demons and I was cheering for him to conquer them just as much as I was cheering for Hilary. I really admired the balance in this memoir. Grossman could have easily made herself the good guy and Marc the bad. But she avoided this pitfall, adding to the believability, which is key to any memoir.

One of the best parts of this memoir is the inclusion of her friends and family. They are a cast of characters. Oftentimes I found them funny and had to smile since they reminded me so much of my own loved ones. Even if you haven’t dated a commitment-phobic person I have a feeling you can relate to many parts of Grossman’s story. Ultimately it’s about the power of love and patience. All of us need that in our lives.

And now for another announcement. To celebrate the publication of her book, Hilary is hosting a giveaway for a signed copy of Dangled Carat, a CD by singer Sandi Rose, and a $25 gift card to Victoria Secret. For more details please visit Hilary here. 

You can find the book on Amazon or Barnes & Nobel.