Product Description
When Mercury is in retrograde, the only guarantee is anything that can go wrong, will.Penelope Mercury, an intrepid reporter at the New York Telegraph, has pounded the pavement for five years from city borough to borough, carrying out her boss's eccentric orders to break stories that seem inconsequential to everyone but him. Finally, she is inches away from being promoted to her dream job -- covering courtroom drama for the paper -- but after one spectacularly disastrous day, she is fired instead.Lena "Lipstick Carcrash" Lipp encrass has a pretty fabulous life, even by a socialite's standards, as a top editor at the high fashion magazine Y. Long lunches with her girlfriends and afternoons spent shopping at Bergdorf's are all in a day's work. But when Lena's always indulgent parents abruptly cut off her cash flow and kick her out of her beloved West Village duplex for refusing to work for the family business, she is forced to confront the reality of what it takes to pay the bills.Dana Gluck, a workaholic lawyer, had been married for two years to a man who was perfect on paper but increasingly critical in reality. She hoped that her dreams of motherhood would be fulfilled soon, which surely would also fix their marriage problems. Instead, her husband leaves her for an exchange student/model who, to make matters worse, promptly gets pregnant.When fate conspires to have these three very different women move into the same SoHo apartment building, they soon discover that having their carefully planned lives fall to pieces might be the best thing that could have ever happened to them.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 46 reviews)

Like a Colorforms version of Sex & The City by Natasha (San Diego, CA)

2 Stars
September 19, 2009
I wanted to love this book because I devour books about single women in New York, but I never grew to care about any of the three characters. And nothing really happened in terms of advancing a story of any kind. It was as though the author felt that writing about chicks in the city (and her platform as Page Six editor) would be enough to satisfy readers (and sell books). It was truly a Coloforms version of Sex & The City. I don't need a plot-driven novel. In fact, I really enjoyed Candace Bushnell's ONE FIFTH, which was basically about people in this historic building in NYC...and the stuff they do. I couldn't tell you what the story was, but the characters were so fascinating, I turned the pages to find out what trouble they'd get themselves into next. There was none of that in this yawn of a book. (Even though it was about NYC women living in the same building...hmmmm...and a charcater is named Lipstick, kinda like Bushnell's bestseller LIPSTICK JUNGLE. Perhaps if I could make my way past page 150, I would have discovered four blondes walking by or someone reading Trading Up magazine.) The book was wrought with inconsistencies, logical errors and downright implausible scenarios and supporting characters. For example, when Mercury starts working for a TV station, her boss barks about his spray-on hair, and make-up application in such a ridiculously overdone way. No one talks like that. It's like the author felt, owww, here would be a good time to insert some outrageous boss behavior. That always goes over well. (Worked for THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA!) But it didn't because it was forced and completely unnatural. Little things bothered me, like the fact that Dana is referred to as a "permanent partner" at her law firm, then 50 pages later a "partner." Anyone who's worked at a law form for a day knows the two mean the exact opposite. This book has a ton of silly little mistakes like that that take a reader out of the story (if there were one!). I give this book two stars because the cover is quite attractive and well, she did complete a book and there's something to be said for that.

Great Summer Read! by Tina K (TX)

5 Stars
September 12, 2009
I am in a book club and this book was our August selection. It was very light and easy read. The characters are all different and it kept me wanting more. I would recommend as a book club selection.

Eh by Noneofyourbiz (Oak Park, IL)

2 Stars
September 11, 2009
Paula Froelich is a good writer. Many individual scenes in the book were entertaining. BUT the scenes don't really add up to much. The plot was a bit too fantastic to believe and I really wasn't crazy about two of the three main characters: Penelope and Lipstick were overshadowed by Neal, their mutual friend. So, while it's not without its moments, this is not a book I'd recommend.

A journalist, a lawyer and a socialite live in the same brownstone... by Amy Steele (Boston, MA)

4 Stars
September 04, 2009
Mercury in Retrograde focuses on three women in their late-twenties who live in the same brownstone in SoHo. Though quite different, the women find some commonalities and become friends. Having been a reporter New York Post's Page Six, author Paula Froelich colorfully details the lives of these young women, especially the socialite and newspaper/ television reporter. Penelope Mercury is a beat reporter at New York Telgraph. She has worked there for five years and has her eye on a court reporter position. When she gets overlooked for a newer reporter, she quits and ends up working for a cable television station. Her jobs take on a ridiculous quality very much like Bridget Jones [reporting in her underwear for national underwear day] but Penelope works hard and keeps at it to prove that she can persevere. Lena "Lipstick" Lippencrass is a socialite and editor at a fashion magazine, where she covers the socialite scene. When her parents suddenly cut her off, she must make do on a pittance of a salary and moves to SoHo. Soon she starts to design her own clothes by re-working her own wardrobe. This garners much attention. Finally, living in the penthouse, is successful attorney Dana Gluck. Dana is recently divorced and thirty pounds overweight. All three girls come together due to a mutual gay friend and private yoga classes at Dana's apartment. The young women learn from each other and start to see themselves for who they truly are on the inside not outside. In developing this unlikely friendship, the three women find strength to make changes in their lives. While Mercury in Retrograde has a lot of laughs it also illustrates three independent women making their way in Manhattan. These women are becoming successful on their own terms and in a manner that makes them most content. Mercury in Retrograde is a fun, breezy read that is also thoughtful and provides the inside scoop on living and working in Manhattan.

Enjoyable though formulaic story balanced by strong prose by D. Quinn (Washington, DC USA)

3 Stars
September 02, 2009
Despite a mildly formulaic feel and a very happy but a little too pat ending, I was surprised at how thoroughly I enjoyed reading this book. Three down-on-their-luck women end up in the same SoHo apartment building and rebuild their lives largely through their helpful and often hilarious interactions with one another. Each character is well-conceived and carefully drawn, and watching them wrestle with personal and professional failures (and eventually successes!)was made highly engaging by Froelich's strong and confident prose. This book is definitely worth the read, and proves that even when the stars are aligned against you, anything can happen.

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