Review of Calm, Cool & Adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck

Calm, Cool & Adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck

Product Details

# ISBN: 1591453305
# Format: Paperback, 320pp
# Publisher: Integrity Publishers
# Series: Spa Girls Collection Series, #3

From the Publisher:

Best friends since Johnny Depp wore scissors for hands, "The Spa Girls" live very separate lives, but stay in touch with routine visits to California's Spa Del Mar. The third novel in the Spa Girls Series focuses on Silicon Valley chiropractor Poppy Clayton, who is as calm, cool and adjusted as they come. Or is she? Known for her bad fashion sense, a love for all things natural and the inability to get a second date, Poppy is beginning to wonder if she might be misaligned herself. Her route to self discovery will be an unnatural one - a plastic surgeon, a house in Santa Cruz and a wedding date from the dark side. It's all enough to send a girl - and her gal pals - running for the spa.

My review:

Another perfect title by Kristin Billerbeck, Calm, Cool & Adjusted sums up Poppy Clayton's life better than any title I could have come up with! Poppy lives for serenity and calmness, or as she calls it, energy. She could care less about looking cool, but that's not the kind of cool the author means. Poppy finds that special cool after thawing out, and I loved the character arc! It's what I live to read!

The adjusted word works very well in regards to defining not only her profession as a chiropractor, but it doubles up to describe her need to work things through and go with the flow, to stop being so anal and overanalyzing everything and heal from the past. Get unstuck and show your love with your words and deeds, Poppy girl!

And the first line is my very favorite opening of all time... Desperation has a scent. Is that incredibly witty, or what?

Though I loved A Girl's Best Friend a lot (probably because I'm blonde, too, and Morgan was just a lovable character), I think I love this story the most! I totally adore Poppy and her quirks and defensiveness. Her obsessions are hilarious and the insightful comments about nutrition and exercise border on convicting at times. LOL!

Billerbeck has an amazing ability to be snarky and yet fun in her style. I love her wit and wisdom, and the faith portion is always gracefully woven into the story. I feel like I learned the most from this book in regards to God's timing, the value of friendship, and the need for inner healing to move on. Wonderful stuff!

Also, the tension is unbearable. Who will Poppy choose to be with, or will she decide to stay single? GAH! That had me going. Fortunately, the author chose the right ending or I would've screamed and it wouldn't have been pretty! Billerbeck knows how to get to a reader's heart and she pulls me in every time. I can't say enough good things about this story! Of all of Kristin's chick lit titles, this one grabbed my heart the most! Bravo!

Calm, Cool & Adjusted was published by Integrity and released in October 2006.

Michelle Sutton (pen name)
"Writing truth into fiction"
Great Beginnings finalist 2005
writer/book reviewer
www.MichelleSutton.net
http://edgyinspirationalauthor.blogspot.com

For an interview with Kristen Billerbeck visit Portrait of a Writer...Interrupted