"Do or Di" by Eileen Cook

Reviewed by Stephanie Cowart

I really loved his book! What a smart, funny and totally fun read!
This is my first Eileen Cook novel and I’m sure it won’t be my last.

Erin works at a radio station, dreaming of the day she’ll get her own show. She ends up substituting at the last minute on a popular men’s radio show and ends up having great chemistry with the show’s personality, Colin. They decide to make the show He Said, She Said and see where it goes. Erin is less than thrilled but sees this as a good opportunity to further her career. And also along the lines of furthering her career, she signs up for Positive Partners, a mentor program that her station manager is wild about and through which she is paired with Diana. She’s a 16 year old girl with a deadbeat mom, no father in the picture and the very strong belief that Princess Diana has come back from the dead to be her secret mentor. That said, Diana doesn’t really want anything to do with Erin. However, circumstances continue to pull them together. Diana ends up being very witty and gives quite sage advice despite her age, and Erin ends up enjoying their friendship against her better judgment. No topic is off limits for Diana, from Erin’s work life, including the made up relationship with Colin for the sake of ratings on their radio show, and Erin’s real boyfriend who happens to be a married executive with the parent company for the radio station.

Erin gets herself into some real messes! But I love how Eileen handles them. Erin has to take responsibility for her actions, and people in her life like Diana, her best friend and producer Avita and even her own mother help her do just that.

Another thing I loved was how they handled her dating a married guy. He was the quintessential cheating husband– always promising to leave his wife, just needs to find the right time. You wonder how someone as intelligent as Erin could fall for this, but Eileen does a great job of showing Erin’s insecurities and coming to the end of herself when she realizes what a huge mistake she’s made. Likewise her friends don’t pull any punches with her. Her best friend, who is married, never once lets her forget that Jonathon is married, that it’s a terrible relationship and she’ll never support it. This causes problems between them, but I was practically cheering Avita on in the background. Too often infidelity in our culture is explained away by claiming someone’s right to be happy. I was glad to see that people in this novel chose to stay true to their morals instead of equivocating. And I was glad to see Erin eventually make the right choices.

And Colin….loved him! He was a great character and ended up having much more depth than I would have ever thought.

This is a wonderfully fun and witty read. Grab it to take on your next vacation for sure!