Save As Draft
Author: Cavanaugh Lee
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Dating is hard. Izabell (Izzy) a lawyer living in Georgia knows this firsthand. During a law school internship, Izzy fell hard and fast for her colleague Peter. But for some reason, Peter and Izzy just couldn’t get it together and remained best friends.

Fast forward a few years later and Izzy has just hit the online dating scene where she goes on the best first date ever with Martin. Just as things with Martin are heating up, Peter re-enters her life. Told entirely in emails, Facebook and Twitter messages, Izzy embarks on an adventure to find her true love.

I absolutely LOVED the format of this book. I am a huge fan of books told through email and SAVE AS DRAFT was no exception. This format somehow sucks me in, and I was able to finish this book in one glorious beach day. We spend so much of our time these days online whether its emailing, blogging or using Facebook and Twitter. It just becomes a part of our life. It was fun to see how Lee was able to take something we all do every day and form a story out of it. I even loved the final few pages of the book where Lee wrote the acknowledgments in emails to her publisher, editor, all the normal people authors usually thank, but ALSO thanked “Peter” and “Marty.” I liked that Lee admits that this book is loosely based on personal experiences and thanks these two men in her life who taught her about relationships.

Not only did I love that the story was told in emails, I loved the entire concept of “save as draft.” Much of the story is unsent emails; the things the characters wished they had the courage to say. I think this is something we can all relate to. We have all been in situations where we want to say one thing, but end up saying something else. It was interesting to see how Izzy and Peter and Izzy and Marty were often thinking the same thing, but were too afraid to hit send.

While I loved almost everything about this book, I found myself a little bit frustrated with the relationship between Izzy and Peter. Much like Izzy became super annoyed at Peter for always ditching their plans for work, I became irate as I continued reading. Peter seriously had NO backbone and no confidence in standing up to his boss. I found myself both annoyed at Peter for sucking, and annoyed at Izzy for hanging on for so long.

Also, I don’t know about you, but I was very creeped out by Marty by the end of the book. In the beginning of the story, I quickly fell for him, much like Izzy did. His charm and humor definitely won me over, but by the end, Marty was coming dangerously close to stalker territory. Not cool.

While I didn’t love both male characters, I really enjoyed the depth that this book explored relationships. Izzy was faced with a tough choice: go with the goofy guy with many of the same interests and hobbies as her, or go with the overachiever who is guaranteed to provide her a good life? In SAVE AS DRAFT, we learn that sometimes it’s not as simple as making a choice. Relationships are not black and white. Life is complicated. Izzy learns this as she navigates through both relationships and struggles with figuring out who is right for her OR even if either of them are right for her.

A few months back, I had the opportunity to interview Cavanaugh Lee about the book. It was fun to learn about the inspiration for the book and Lee’s plans for the future.

*Spoiler Alert* I of course wanted Izzy to get a happy ending. I tried hard not to feel disappointed at the end of the book when she ended up with neither of the two main male characters. I know that real life isn’t always a happy ending and this book was very loosely based on situations the author had actually experienced herself. While the romantic in me rooted for a happy ending, the realist in me was satisfied with the true to life ending.

4/5