"Sundays at Tiffany's" by James Patterson

Sundays at Tiffany's begins with Jane, a young girl with a wealthy diva for a mother named Vivienne. Jane appears shy and misunderstood and she seeks refuge in her relationship with her imaginary friend, Michael. It later appears that Michael, a handsome and charming thirty-something, is more invisible than he is imaginary. Michael leaves Jane promising that she will forget him completely. Fast forward about 24 years and Jane is working an unsatisfying job for her mother, is in an unsatisfying relationship, and still has not forgotten Michael.

I read this book because I was in the mood for feel-good romance. I have to admit that the premise for this book is original. I also enjoyed the element of fantasy in the book as it relates to imaginary friends actually existing outside of children's imaginations. We find Michael in between "jobs" (children to befriend and guide). He lives a seemingly normal life in New York City, is completely visible, and possesses a few neat powers.

Then Michael sees grown-up Jane. He is hesitant to approach her because it breaks some sort of "imaginary friend code' or something. They eventually meet and start to develop a relationship. This is where the book begins to spiral out of control. Not that it was in much control to begin with. Yes, the interpretation of imaginary friends is unique, but Patterson's/Charbonnet's prose is the ultimate downfall. Tiffany's is a story of love and destiny. A very poetic type of storytelling is required to convey that emotion; and Patterson just doesn't have it. I think he equates sappy with poetic because this story is not short on sap. Not by a long shot. Patterson also only describes the love between characters by writing variations of "she loved him" or "he loved her so much." This got tired fast. Still, for all that awful sappiness I still felt compelled to finish it. And I got through it very quickly. It doesn't drag (thank God), but it's definitely not worth the effort.