Books about TV: Love in Maine

Love in Maine, a book that was "written" on General Hospital, came out earlier this year. Finally I've read the novel and below are my thoughts.

To summarize the situation simply. On screen Love in Maine was written by teenager Molly, but Connie stole the story altering it slightly and then had it published. Connie's version was nearly identical except for the addition of what was said to be extreme sex scenes. These scenes helped to sell the book, though at the book release party, Connie finally admitted that she only wrote that part and Molly did the rest.

For that reason, I was surprised at how tame the love and sex scenes were in the novel. I was expecting "R"-rated writing though not porn, but instead it felt like PG13 at best. I wonder if they decided to make it more acceptable just in case a younger reader wanted to enjoy the book. If anything it felt like a teenager wrote the book, even if in reality a regular author did. If that was intentional, they were successful.

When it comes to the story itself, it is about a girl named Maddie Post who is a student at Brown. On a bet for the summer, Maddie moves to Blake, Maine. She gets a job as a waitress to support herself and rents a room from Janet Gilbertson. Janet's son Hank, who is a bit older, becomes Maddie's love interest. The primary story is about Maddie and Hank falling for one another.

Even though this book isn't supposed to be young adult, in some ways it is feels like it matches that genre. Maddie and Hank get a decent amount of characterization, and we learn a bit about Janet. Other than that, we know little about anyone else in Maddie and/or Hank's lives. This actually is a criticism I've seen used in regards to the "Twilight" saga, and it would apply here. Maddie's parents and siblings make cameos, and towards the end of the story we meet her roommate. This novel doesn't allow us to get to know the people in the town of Maine, which would have potentially been interesting.

The other thing that surprised me was that none of the characters were strong "mirrors" to anyone on General Hospital at the present time. I was surprised that Molly didn't base Maddie, Hank or Janet on anyone she already knew.

This novel was very middle of the road for me. I wasn't "wow this is wonderful" or "UGH, please let it end." Also since the characters in the story aren't GH characters anyone can read this book without confusion. So basically if someone is in the mood for a tie-in book, that is YA in nature, they may like it.