The Theory of Happily Ever After by Kristin Billerbeck

My favorite part of this book is the quotes at the beginning of each chapter from the book Science of Bliss written by our fictional main character, Dr. Margaret K. Maguire, a scientist who studies happiness. It is surprising that someone who had personally experienced so little happiness could possess so much knowledge of it. From childhood Margaret, who goes by Maggie, had worked to please her parents, to keep them happy. This resulted in very little true happiness for her, and landed, her caught in an engagement with a man who made her feel unworthy and whom she desperately tried to make happy, well at least until he broke their engagement to marry an aerial dancer/trapeze artist. Whisked away from a two-month Hallmark movie and gelato binge and onto a singles cruise by her two best friends, who neglected to mention that she would be required to give a talk on happiness to a ship full of happiness seekers, Maggie is on a search of her own to discover personal happiness. What could go wrong? You will have to read The Theory of Happily Ever After to find out. Kristn Billerbeck deals with serious issues in a lighthearted manner without making light of them.

     I will admit that as a sixty-year-old grandmother who has been happily married for almost forty years, I may not be in the best demographic group for this book. I think I would have appreciated it more in my twenties or even my thirties. I do thank Revell Publishing for providing me with a copy of The Theory of Happily Ever After in exchange for an honest review. I received no monetary compensation for providing the review and was not obligated to provide a positive review.