This Is How It Happened

Starred review from December 24, 2007
At the start of Barrett’s very funny second novel (after 2007’s The Men’s Guide to the Women’s Bathroom
), Madeline Piatro, a powerhouse marketing whiz, vows to kill her ex-fiancé, Carlton Connors, the sexy but selfish son of an equally self-absorbed millionaire. Soon after meeting as students in the University of Texas (Austin) M.B.A. program, Maddy and Carlton move in together. She falls for his sappy “I intend to marry you” proposal, helps him graduate and creates Organics 4 Kids, a lunch program for parents on the go that his father bankrolls. Four years later, the unfaithful and deceitful Carlton dumps and fires Maddy after the company built on her program takes off. Maddy recognizes her part in the debacle, but Carlton is such a jerk, readers can’t resist cheering her on as she experiments with poisoned brownies and retribution spells. Help comes from an unlikely source, a memorable hit man who provides a juicy cherry on the top of a creamy, dreamy revenge treat.

Starred review from February 1, 2008
After Madeline Piatros fianc', Carlton Connors, steals her profitable business plan, puts the un into unsafe sex, and fires her, she gets mad. Then she decides to get even. First she experiments with poisons, but after a raccoon dies from eating the remains of her furniture-polish-laced brownies, Maddy tries another tactic, a revenge spell from the California Astrology Association. When this doesnt seem to be effective, Maddy does the one thing she knows will workshe hires a Mafia hit man to do some serious damage to her ex. Barretts tale of revengeisone of those rare, impossible-to-put-down books. Theres a plethora of black humor, witty dialogue, and plot twists. The unique, unforgettable characters, from the justice-seeking Maddy to her recovered drug-addicted brother to the sweet-toothed hit man, all come together to make one delectably entertaining story. Barrett, the author of the international favorite The Mens Guide to the Womens Bathroom (2007), has created another winner with this fast, funny read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)