Fifteen Minutes of Shame
What happens when America’s cutest, perkiest TV love guru is publicly humiliated and then unceremoniously dumped on live TV?
Darby Vaughn, a small-town girl turned dating guru, has finally landed the life she’s always dreamed of: A handsome, charming husband she’s crazy about, a fabulous home in an exclusive neighborhood, a bestselling dating book, and tax-deductible pedicures. Thousands of women have attended Darby’s famous Dreamgirl Academy and followed her man-snagging advice to the letter, in hopes that their lives will turn out just like hers. Until it all comes crashing down.
In a deliciously dishy, ripped from the headlines, is-it-true-or-isn’t-it story, author Lisa Daily’s debut novel Fifteen Minutes of Shame (Plume, April 2008) takes readers behind the glossy world of celebrities, gossip and television date doctors for a hilarious look at what happens when a best-selling TV love guru discovers that her own husband is cheating.
In one of the book’s most memorable (and hysterically funny) scenes the heroine, super successful careerist Darby Vaughn is sent reeling when Today show anchor Matt Lauer shocks her on live television with the news that her husband has just held a press conference announcing that he is leaving her.
Her poised “I know everything about men” persona collapses as she throws up (as in, literally vomits) into the basket of chrysanthemums on the Today show coffee table, live on national TV.
The ensuing fallout as Darby’s publicity perfect world spins out of control is a funny, relatable read. With the most humiliating moment of her life splashed across supermarket headlines, and her private pain becoming fodder for late night comedians, you find yourself both laughing and empathizing as Darby lurches from hiding out in airport bathrooms to spin dating to drowning her sorrows in Margaritas and estrogen as her best girlfriends rally to her aid.
However, unlike many of the formulaic books found on the pink table (chick lit) Fifteen Minutes of Shame provides an unexpected depth of character and emotion that belie the catchy title and pop culture story line.
Yes, there’s the dishy delight of what author Daily refers to as “the Kathie-Lee Factor.” The voyeuristic thrill of watching a perfect princess take a fall is as delectable as chocolate-covered gossip.
However, Daily also captures the subtle nuances that make Darby human. She deftly explores the deep-seeded fear of abandonment common in so many over-achievers, and as the plot unfolds, readers gets a glimpse of the past pain that propelled Darby to try control every element of her quest for a perfectly polished life.
Although Daily is a real life TV dating expert herself, having written the best-selling dating advice book Stop Getting Dumped and appearing on weekly TV show, she claims that Fifteen Minutes of Shame is pure fiction.
However, Daily’s subject matters expertise is evident as she sprinkles dating tips throughout the book, cleverly juxtaposed against her heroine’s train wreck of a life. And insider media knowledge rings true with the hilarious descriptions of how Darby’s “hurl seen round the world” is devoured by YouTube viewers and the jackals of tabloid journalism.
Yet in her first turn towards fiction, Daily also reveals herself to be a natural storyteller. Her ability to combines humor and heartbreak has instantly catapulted her into the ranks of top tier novelists like Jennifer Weiner, Emily Giffin, Jane Green and Sophie Kinsella. With its quirky characters and vivid descriptions, Fifteen Minutes of Shame reads like a smart sassy movie, ala Hugh Grant, Meg Ryan, Drew Barrymore, James Marsden or Katherine Heigl. (So it’s no surprise that one of Hollywood’s hottest screenwriters has snatched up rights to turn it into a movie.)
And -spoiler alert - while Fifteen Minutes of Shame is a romantic comedy, the heroine reclaims her own power before she deciding to share it with a man again.
Simply put: Fifteen Minutes of Shame is the best book to hit the bookstores since the Shopaholic series, The Devil Wears Prada, Something Borrowed, or In Her Shoes. Lisa Daily’s (www.lisadaily.com) current fans will be delighted with more of trademark humor, and she’ll quickly garner an even wider audience with this well-crafted, engaging, uproariously funny novel.
About The Author:
Syndicated columnist Lisa Earle McLeod appears weekly in The Buffalo News, The Chattanooga Times Free Press, Gray Newspapers, Southern Newspapers and other metro dailies. http://www.forgetperfect.com
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