After he and Jasmine have spent more than two years together, Nick is certain the time has come to settle down; he’s never been so in love before, and Jasmine is everything he could ever hope for in a woman. As he sets the stage with a romantic weekend in an exquisite log cabin nestled in the Vermont wilderness, Nick pops the question, to which Jasmine replies, "I have to think about it." When she turns him down, Nick is shattered. Heartbroken, he moves to Chicago for a new job and a new start. Determined to put his experience with Jasmine behind him, Nick takes the advice of his best friend, Malloy, and sets out to drown his sorrows in fine female companionship. After dating women from his gym (Asanti), his classes (Angelica), and clubs (Tamara), Nick finds himself more depressed by the superficiality of the relationships and no closer to erasing Jas-mine’s memory. Nick is equally disappointed with his work–his job at the bank is uninspiring–and the best parts of his week are the acting classes he signed up for on a whim. When old college friends invite him down to Atlanta for Freaknik, Nick is ready to let loose and enjoy the wild and sometimes scandalous spring-break activities. His interest is further piqued when he learns that Jasmine has relocated to Atlanta. Ultimately, Nick must decide whether he wants to re-create what he had with Jasmine or move on with his life. Without Jasmine, can Nick live happily ever after? Nick’s Six Cardinal Rules of Dating No. 1: Never date someone from a health club. Health club relationships are doomed from the start. Their whole premise relies upon physical attraction, a foundation with all the durability of rice paper. No. 2: Never date someone with whom you work. That is a no-brainer. No. 3: Never date someone from class. If all goes sour, you’re stuck seeing a pissed-off face mean-mugging you for the rest of the quarter. No. 4: Never let an ex back into your life. Exes only exist to stir up long-settled emotions and to confuse you. And they do. No. 5: Never date a neighbor. If all hell breaks loose, you can’t get rid of your neighbor . . . legally. No. 6: Never date a married woman. It’s just plain wrong.

Ever After: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Jackson, Edwardo

United States

Villard

Neva Hafta: A Novel (Strivers Row)

Or so Nick thinks. While friends are getting married all around him, Nick is enjoying the single life—that is, until he learns that his mother is dying and may not live to see the marriage of her only child. On a plane ride back from a wedding, Nick decides that he wants to get married. Now. Under the pseudonym Anonymous, Nick starts to write a column for the San Diego Reader called “Marriage Minded,” in which he chronicles his hell-bent search for a woman he can propose to in only a year’s time. Now Nick is out there—and on a mission. The best-kept secret in San Diego, Nick has a barrage of dates that range from the ridiculous to the sublime. Complicating matters, Malloy, Nick’s best friend, intrudes on his life, offering his unique comic take on things. Time starts to dwindle—as do Nick’s romantic prospects, his acting career, and his mother’s health—so he turns to some desperate measures, including exploring distant liaisons, old and new. As San Diego and eventually the nation become captivated by Anonymous’ weekly romantic escapades, Nick encounters a person from the past who could cure all his problems, if only he can overcome his pride and let her.

“Perfection is an ideal, not a person. But if perfection ever were personified, it would be Jasmine.” —Nick Nick and Jasmine are in love—truly, madly, deeply. After two years of dating, Nick asks Jasmine to marry him—and she says no. Nick, heartbroken, leaves New York for Chicago for a new job and graduate school. There, Nick is forced to start all over again. He knows no one in a city of seven million people. As he winds his way through various women, he becomes more and more disenchanted with his love life. A self-proclaimed romantic, Nick is just not up to the conventions of the dating game. From Chicago to Atlanta to Seattle to San Francisco, Nick searches for a romance that could equal the love he once felt for Jasmine. In the process, stumbling through and around his “cardinal rules” to dating, Nick becomes disillusioned and bitter. Yet, through his memories of happier times with Jasmine, Nick uses the past to determine his future decisions. Throughout his experiences, only one question remains: Without Jasmine, can he live happily ever after?

Ever After: A Novel (Strivers Row)

Meet Nick—young, single, handsome, and about to lose his mother to breast cancer. Upon hearing that she has only eighteen months to live, Nick decides that he wants her to see her only child get married before she dies. Backed by his friend and editor, Craig, Nick sets out to find a wife in a year’s time, anonymously writing about his hell-bent search for love in a column for the San Diego Reader. In no time, Nick’s hilarious struggles with a self-absorbed actress, a foreign med student, a driven political aide, and a down-to-earth movie star transform “Anonymous” into the talk of the town—and then the nation. Trapped by his faceless celebrity, burdened with an outlandishly single best friend, hamstrung by a floundering acting career, and overwhelmed by the fear of losing his mother, Nick becomes more and more desperate as time runs out. Can a man who was always convinced he would “neva hafta” settle for an uninspiring relationship find true love—on a timeline?

Or so Nick thinks. While friends are getting married all around him, Nick is enjoying the single lifeâthat is, until he learns that his mother is dying and may not live to see the marriage of her only child. On a plane ride back from a wedding, Nick decides that he wants to get married. Now. Under the pseudonym Anonymous, Nick starts to write a column for the San Diego Reader called âMarriage Minded,â in which he chronicles his hell-bent search for a woman he can propose to in only a yearâs time.Now Nick is out thereâand on a mission. The best-kept secret in San Diego, Nick has a barrage of dates that range from the ridiculous to the sublime. Complicating matters, Malloy, Nickâs best friend, intrudes on his life, offering his unique comic take on things. Time starts to dwindleâas do Nickâs romantic prospects, his acting career, and his motherâs healthâso he turns to some desperate measures, including exploring distant liaisons, old and new. As San Diego and eventually the nation become captivated by Anonymousâ weekly romantic escapades, Nick encounters a person from the past who could cure all his problems, if only he can overcome his pride and let her.

Neva Hafta

X PRESS

But when his mother becomes terminally ill, Nick decides he has to be married before his mother dies. So begins his desperate search to find the perfect wife-to-be in less than eight months. With Nick about to be married it would seem that nothing could go wrong, but then he couldn't have foreseen just what direction his life was about to take.

I Do?

JCM Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jackson, Edwardo. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Jackson, Edwardo

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jackson, Edwardo. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Ever After: A Novel

Neva Hafta: A Novel (Strivers Row)

Ever After: A Novel (Strivers Row)

Neva Hafta: A Novel (Strivers Row)

Neva Hafta

I Do?