Reviews to Make You Swoon
From Booklist
The chirpy heroine in Downey's debut is surprised to find herself at a crossroads when, at age 39, her husband ("Ex-Rat") leaves her with two children and an identity crisis, presumably to join Sex Addicts Anonymous and gallivant around with a new girlfriend. Saddled with a sassy best friend, a flaky mother, and a gigantic crush on a charming professor ("Perfect Guy"), she thinks that it's a miracle when she finds time for herself. She tries meditation, she tries a part-time job, she even tries shopping for sexy lingerie, all while parenting and hosting holiday dinners. Told in flashes, Bridget Jones-style, the short, page-length snippets, with titles like "A Manic Moment" and "Cheese Danish," give the sense that the author, like her main character, is always on the run. Still, Downey pulls off the fast pace, and readers will root for this single mom to find her prince, however unconventional the pursuit may be. Will she end up with Perfect Guy? Ex-Rat? Rugged Alaskan Man? Now that she is thriving, who cares? Delightful. Emily Cook (Copyright, American Library Association. All rights reserved)
From Library Journal
"Meek and passive, this book's unnamed-until-the-last-minute thirty something narrator juggles her acidic ex-husband, recalcitrant children, meddling maternal realtives, tough best freind, and dueling paramours. It's no wonder that she doesn't feel like she fits into her own house,her own family,or her own skin-until she decides t take charge of her life. When an unexpected detour in Cape Cod puts her resolve to the test, this newly independent woman finds out if she's got the mettle to stick to the changes she has made in her life. Downey, a regular contributor to Hip Mama and Vermont Woman Magazines, has penned a debut novel full of wit,humor, and offbeat characters. Her journal-style prose offers readers an immediate intimacy with the narrator's life and sharp-edge personality, at some expense to the development of the other characters. No matter, Downey delivers with a well-worth-it conclusion, the strongest part of this unconventional mom lit that dares to let it all hang out. Recommended for larger public libraries.--Amy Brozio-Andrews, Albany P.L., NY.
From Body & Soul Magazine (from the publishers of Martha Stewart Living)
"Chick lit grows up, gets married, and then gets divorced in Hot and Bothered (Algonquin Books), the debut novel from Hip Mama contributor Annie Downey. Like Bridget Jones, our heroine keeps a diary full of witty, self deprecating comments on her daily comedies and tradegies. Unlike Bridget, however, she is a single mom trying to juggle a philandering ex-husband, an Alaskan mountain man, and a single-dad university professor she calls "Perfect Guy." Throw in a man-crazy friend, a self-centered macrobiotic mother, a gay father with a fear of flying, and other eccentric characters, and this romp through the latte-sipping streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts, turns into an entertaining, if tidy, tale of love conquers all. A guilty pleasure, predictable but fun."
From BUST Magazine:
"The newly divorced narrator in Hot and Bothered is busy getting acquainted with the rhythms of her new life: raising two kids, dealing with her over-the-top family, and looking for love. Though fictional, the book portrays single-mom dilemmas, like being financially beholden and balancing romance and parenting, in a way that feels real. Downey lets her narrator make mistakes, such as tossing her cell phone in the garbage and trekking to Alaska to get laid--only to discover that her wannabe boyfriend offers very little in return. Her ralationship with her kids (her daughter looks at her with "I'll-get-you- back-rotten-mommy-eyes") is turbulaent but honest, and their adjustment to her dating patterns is an integral part of the book. She's forced to learn about who shis is without a husband to hide behind. Making peace with her past, while wearing hot pink clogs and maintaining a steadfast sense of humor, is what her journey's all about. " Rachel Kramer Bussel
From Burlington Free Press, Burlington, VT
"The debut novel from Vermont author Annie Downey offers the perfect escape from the upcoming dark days of winter.The supporting cast is colorful, Pip, her best friend, is brash. Her mother is an aging hippie. Her children, Brendan and Lucy. alternately please and annoy her--much like our own children really do. Then, there are the men in her life: Ex-Rat, Perfect Guy, and the mountain man from Alaska, Mason. You find yourself rooting for out heroine: She's charming, and you want her to be happy. She has wonderful people who help her find her way again. In the end, though she learns how to help herself. As I turned the final page, I found myself eagar for Downey's next novel. I've found a new favorite chick-lit author." Becky Holt
From Seven Days Newspaper, Burlington
"Anyone who's ever been tempted to describe herself as a "desperate housewife" will get a kick out of Downey's down-and-dirty depiction of motherhood. "
From Vermont Woman Magazine
"Vermonter Annie Downey's debut novel, Hot and Bothered, is a remarkable view inside the mind of a newly divorced, embittered mother as she veers on and off the path to claiming a life of her own design. Downey is masterful in her ability to illustrate the modern woman scorned--and scornful. What could have been just another novel of a cliched angrily emoting newly single mother, Hot and Bothered is a reinvented portrait of a modern Dorthy clicking the heels of her hot pink clogs and summoning her power to create a home and identity of her own. Hot and Bothered is a must-read for anyone who has experienced divorce or any life-altering moment that stripped away how we've become accustomed to relating to our self. Downey gives a compassionate, candid, and unabashed view into the healing process that must be undertaken when life as we have know it suddenly dissolves." Jessica McEachern
From The Constant Reader (Taconic Press)
"And now, in an act of blatant and unrepentat nepotism, we wish to congratulate our son, lit agent Albert La Farge, for discovering, encouraging, and sheparding Annie Downey's first novel, the frothy and delightful Hot and Bothered. She's a single mom-divorced, disheveled and discombobulated. Her teenage son is impossible, her 7-year-old daughter can be irritating to the max and her dog, Ugly, is old and lame. She tries meditation, but it's boring. One day she the computer out the window, dumps the cell phone in the trash, quits her therapist and tries to find serenity (yeah, right) as a dog walker for an old lady. Well, the old lady has this handsome son who's a professor...and on the other had, our heriones's granny in Vermont see to it that she meets a hunky trial guide from Alaska... If you were lovelorn, sex-starved and broke, which would you choose? We are not the audience for chick lit and "mom lit," but we laughed and signed and turned pages with glee. Annie Downey is funny. And wise. And lusty. Good going, guys." Ann La Farge
From Fellow Authors
"It is a wonderfully zany, engaging, heartfelt little book, and I say little in the best sense of that word, affectionately, endearingly, because what Hot and Bothered does is what the best novels do, which is to involve us totally in the world of its characters, pink clogs and all. It's a love story, a life story, a valentine soaked in tears but held together by clear and mesmerizing writing: the perfect voice and style. The little soundbites key us into the panicked and frantic life of the narrator." --Julia Alvarez, author of Saving the World and In the Time of Butterflies.juliaalvarez.com
This strange and sexy single mom is a herione I can relate to, and Annie Downey...tells her story with perfect pitch. *Hot and Bothered has the quick inspiration of a pop song and the lasting power of a modern myth."--Ariel Gore, Founder and publisher of Hip Mama and author of Atlas of the Human Heart arielgore.com
"Meet a character that writer Annie Downey has nailed like a knife thrower at the state fair. The lively, lustful, ad laughable world of a woman who has it, looses it, and finds it again. Not just hiliarious and well written, but also a can't-put-down-read." --Kris Radish, author of Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral krisradish.com
"Has all the pace and snap of Bridget Jones Diary, but is a great deal wiser." --Tim Brookes, NPR commentator and author of A Hell of a Place to Lose a Cow Tim Brookes NPR
2002, Annie Downey