"SOMETHING BORROWED" by Emily Giffin

“After tonight my twenties will be over, a chapter closed forever,” moans Rachel, the story’s narrator, describing the eve of her 30th birthday. She is down-hearted because she has no boyfriend, is getting too old to have children, is disappointed with her career choice, and as far back as she can remember has always felt “second best.”But then, who wouldn’t feel second best with a friend like Darcy. Best friends since childhood, Rachel was always in the shadow of pretty, perky, popular & totally self-centered Darcy. “My mother once said, uncharacteristically, Darcy has the world by the balls,” explains Rachel. Even so, their friendship was solid and they confided in each other as only best girlfriends can do.

Until, that is, Rachel who is to be maid of honor in the September wedding falls in love with Darcy’s fiancée and, unexpectedly, ends up in bed with him. Suddenly, the balance of the friendship shifts and Rachel finds herself in an agonizing battle between right and wrong.

The author’s style is refreshing and light, full of fun. I empathize with poor Rachel’s anguish but from the beginning there is a hint that she will somehow be o.k. in the end. Giffin doesn't need a highly descriptive setting for her characters because their words and actions are the story. She has created characters that we’ve all known at some point in our lives, making it very easy to relate to them and their foibles. I couldn't help but chuckle at their ups and downs and the way they dealt with the zany but prickly love triangle.

“Something Borrowed” is the first of Giffin’s four books published since 2004 with another one due out in 2010. The second book, “Something Blue” starts where this one leaves off incorporating some new characters into Rachel and Darcy’s story. Ordinarily I prefer “chick movies” to “chick lit,” but this one was quite entertaining. I’m curious to see what happens in the sequel.