okay, at first I was skeptical about this book but I ended up enjoying it!

So, this book follows a 41-year-old woman, named Lauren and she was dumped at the altar with a text! yes, you heard that right! WITH A TEXT! after that, her mother made Lauren go on a diet and she basically body shames her! but, Lauren still builds up the courage to go on a journey of self-acceptance!

first, I am gonna say this was quick and easy read+very realistic. I truly enjoyed and loved watching Lauren's personal growth and self-love blossom. I did enjoy massages in here!
overall I liked it and I was a wonderful romcom!

I was skeptical of this book at first. I didn’t initially connect with the writing style and flow of the book, but the sarcasm and witty banter between the sisters kept me going! I don’t think I’ve laughed as much while reading a book before and I felt like I could relate to some of the family dynamics. This was a humorous book that spoke on heartache, diet culture, and family traditions/dynamics.

I didn’t want it to end ,,,this is the story of Lauren who’s left to re-examine her life after being left at the alter. At times it’s laugh out loud funny, at times a little predictable but overall a solid tale of how she reclaims herself. I found the ending a little abrupt - I still feel invested in finding out what happens to her best friend, both sisters, and her new. Business. So although sad that the book ended, I suppose wanting more is the sign of a really good story.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. Okay, clearly this book was not for me. I found Lauren to be annoying, yes she was dumped at the altar (who does that?) anyway, better to be dumped than duped. She is 41 years old going on 12? She is a freaking good lawyer but won't (can't) stand up for herself? She whines about everything. Ok hmmm maybe I do that as well. I wanted to like her but just couldn't. Is it the New York thing? I also found the obsession with her weight a bit much. I also yoyo with my weight but I have lost weight and I know it can be done. The writing isn't terrible, so I am not hating the author, I just didn't like the plot on this book. I would definitely try the author again. 3 stars I am sure many people will love this one. It is a quick, fast read.
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This is a work of fiction, but it rings so true for so many people. One sister refuses to leave the house that she wasn’t invited to and then there’s the perfect sister. It is the black sheep of the family to the rescue. This book has a lot of plot twists that you honestly won’t see coming. I look forward to the next book by this author.

Crazy to Leave You is an entertaining tale about a 40 something woman left at the alter, who is desperately trying to find out where she fits in with herself, in her job, in her relationships, in her family and with food. We watch Lauren navigate difficult, real life situations where she starts to learn what she needs to do in order to find her happiness. The characters are easy to connect with and to feel invested in. This is a fantastic book about finding your strength, and figuring out how to find what makes you happy, not just what makes the world around you happy.

I love Marilyn Rothstein's books. The humor, wit, yet always much more to the story. This is a dysfunctional family, and I can relate to parts of it growing up in a Jewish family. Food was always a big part of my life as it is in Lauren's, but weight issues were never brought up.
Lauren is 41 years old and getting married for the first time and gets left at the alter and is mortified.
Disgrace, shame, sibling issues all make this a funny read yet heart warming.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

I LOVED Marilyn Simon Rothstein's other books, and this book is just as good if not better than the previous! I laughed out loud right from the get go of this book! You will not want to put it down once you start. Lauren and Eric were each other's first kiss when they were kids. Now in their late 30's, they find each other again. When they decide to start a life together, Lauren couldn't be happier, when suddenly her world gets turned upside down. With the help of family and friends what else could possibly go wrong? I loved this story from beginning to end! I must say I wanted to give Lauren's mom a swift kick in the backside! 🙂
This is a must read! You will not be disappointed!

It was an an easy and an enjoyable read for me. I quite liked the MC. It was an absolute joy to follow them on the journey of discovering and attaining self-love and admiration. Overall, it’s a 3.5 stars read for me.

This was a wonderful read. Kinda sad when I got to the last page and wanted more. I loved the variety of the characters personalities. Some I was rooting for and others I wished them food poisoning.

This was a quick and easy read. I liked it but the heavy emphasis on her eating disorder behaviors in the first few chapters was just a bit too much for me. I understand that the author wanted to shed light on the realities of eating disorders. Howvevver I feel like the book would have benefited from introducing the reader to her eating disorder more gradually.

This is not your typical romance novel but I really enjoyed witnessing Lauren´s personal growth and self-love blossom throughout the book.

I would not reccomend this book to anyone who has a history or tendency towards disrodered eating as I believe it could be very triggering.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What a realistic and entertaining read. It has been some time since I have enjoyed a novel so much, I looked forward to each nightly read, to find out what strange and captivating events would happen next to poor Lauren, who had recently been jilted at the synagogue by Eric.
Lauren had struggled all her life with weight issues and had finally lost weight for her all important wedding, looking her best and living her best life until everything changed when she was jilted.
Her strained relationship with her mother is one most people can recognise, as her overbearing tendencies finally push Lauren over the edge!
Margo, Lauren’s eccentric Sister also intrudes in her life and encroaches not only in her personal space but also in her apartment which throws Lauren into a head space she doesn’t feel she has the time or empathy for at first.
Lauren travels through her post jilting with inner strength to continue to be successful in the advertising company she works at, although, she wasn’t expecting a distraction in the form of a possible new love interest and this thwarts all of her future plans!
The novel is written in such a way that most female audiences can align with at some point in their lives.

Laura Leo was a woman on a mission and as everything came tumbling upon in her life with her and with her friends you were reminded that this story is not a love story but a story of a woman who wants to be accepted,to be able to have this perfect family and a lovely little baby who will fill this emptiness inside her. I liked how the family dynamics were explored and the cultural aspects of a religious practicing Jewish family is. A community story is also something that author brings with Laura's story and how childhood experiences can affect your decisions when you grow older and when you see there's more to life than what you had imagined and things that are more important can be seen more clearly. I enjoyed this book. Though I went in expecting a romance, but what I got in the book was even better because sometimes it's just about that girl with starry dreams in her eyes. It's a story about Lauren, her world and what she experiences once Eric leaves her. You will hate Eric because he is a jack a**. Loved this book!

Find your soulmate, and be swept off your feet with promises of forever. Buy your dream house to start a family…and the works. It sounds more like a threat than a suggestion, doesn’t it? A love-fuelled, ritualistic spell that works effectively in bringing freakishly high standards of what romance should be while forgetting the likelihood of it morphing into unknown, yet more realistic, experiences. Marilyn Simon Rothstein’s Crazy to Leave You heralds Lauren Leo, a forty-one year old woman left at the altar, as an example of getting back on your feet and managing damaging expectations of love by navigating your own desires.

We’re placed smack-dab in the centre of Lauren’s wedding, everything falling into place—her best girlfriends, gag gifts, her family, even wearing the wedding gown of her dreams. It couldn’t be any more perfect. Lo and behold, her would-be husband, Eric Farkas, texts Lauren’s sister, Stephanie, saying he’s “too young (emotionally) to get married,” setting off an escapade of sorts where Lauren finds herself taking a break from love until the stars align in hand-wavy romance novel logic. After a car accident, Lauren ends up falling for her company driver, Rudy Cohen. In addition to her budding relationship, Lauren goes through a journey of self-discovery and learns that not everything goes according to plan and that’s perfectly fine!

Lauren’s an annoying character. She’s whiny, obsessive and self-absorbed to the point of assuming that being left at the altar, which she dubs the Great Humiliation, is peak disaster for any woman in her forties. This humiliation results in Lauren vowing to never love again and deeming all men untrustworthy. Crazy to Leave You is set in first-person, so you get to experience firsthand her thoughts revolving around her supposedly dwindling desirability with occasional one-liners that’d get a surprise chuckle. I usually don’t read first-person because of the risk of an unrelatable protagonist, and Lauren is a prime example of an out-of-body, nothing-in-common character whose inner monologue I had to trudge through, littered with unhealthy and obsessive thoughts of an ideal partner and kids. Imagine the nuclear family with a bit of a white feminist twist; it’s vexing, and only near the end when she gains a hint of a backbone do I find Lauren tolerable.

Even when Lauren does tackle the problems she faces, it’s triggered by witnessing her friends and sisters deal with their own problems—sketchy Ponzi schemes for gambling addictions, divorces, cheating spouses, you name it. It’s only through their misery that she finally acknowledges that the world doesn’t revolve around a hiccup at her no-show wedding and that she can bounce back. Other than that, Lauren embodies woe-is-me like a second skin. She’s forty-one, I feel like she could’ve taken a bit more initiative earlier in the book rather than later.

You might not expect it, but the novel heavily focuses on eating disorders, fatphobia and internalized body dissatisfaction. It becomes a glaring topic of discussion when we’re introduced to Lauren’s mother who is overbearing, rude and imposes her ideals of traditional relationships onto her children. To her, men only want skinny women, and reminding Lauren of her diet and judging her for having second helpings of anything, is just the tip of the iceberg. You’re stuck reading harsh and overly critical comments from a woman who wants what’s “best” for her daughters. There’s nothing done about it for the majority of the novel either! Lauren’s relationship with food is an important factor for her journey in self-discovery but the novel seems to focus only on that as its plot, dragging it out where everything else is pushed to the background or only to add onto the “weight problem.” The satisfaction of Lauren overcoming her own battles with self-acceptance doesn’t last long. The novel’s romantic ending quickly couples her with Rudy and everything’s right in the world again. It’s like two different themes are competing with each other and to ensure no loose ends, two seemingly unrelated plots are quickly tied up together.

However, by spending a lot of time addressing Lauren’s eating disorder, Rothstein also strategically highlights the Leo familial bond and relationship. She realistically shows the tension between parents and children, and even between sisters, while still bringing said sisters closer than ever once they’re able to see past the images they’ve projected onto each other. Rothstein subverts the perfect family cliche that’s expected in most romance novels. Different ideas and butting heads make the familial relationships more authentic, and you can definitely see the impact that Lauren’s time around her family has on her mindset. The boiling point that needed to happen for Lauren and her sisters to act their age—acknowledging their flaws and bad habits in an attempt to correct them, was definitely welcomed. Personally, Lauren’s oldest sister Margo was the most engaging character, especially during her interactions with Lauren. Don’t get me wrong, she has her own struggles with type-2 diabetes, struggling to find work as an actor and dealing with the animosity between herself and their mother, but it’s Margo’s abrupt crashing at Lauren’s home that instigates Lauren’s redemption arc. She doesn’t baby Lauren’s antics whatsoever and instead comforts her by urging her to do something for herself, even if she’s hesitant to take her own advice. It’s refreshing to see eccentric characters like Margo in a story that focuses heavily on traditional stereotypes.

Romance novels, in a weird way, often romanticize the idea of settling with Mr. Right in order to get the kids and cushy lifestyle. Reading the same scenario repeatedly becomes real dull, real quick. Crazy to Leave You falls prey to this self-romanticization but its redeeming quality is the support system that Lauren finds in her family, who help her step back from that nonsense to focus on her own growth, even briefly. Valentine’s Day is not solely for couples, it’s also a time of taking stock of the love you have for those dear to your heart. Sometimes it’s your siblings or best friend that won’t take your shit and tell you when you’re being ridiculous. Other times, it’s urging yourself that the person you should focus on and treat with respect is none other than yourself. Love comes in many forms, and while the romantic aspects of Crazy to Leave You might be underwhelming, the love between siblings more than makes up for it.

Great book very funny i think the cover lets it down as it's not very appealing as the bokk is.but don't let it put you of.

Five stars. I loved this integration of humor and heartache. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Lauren and her sister Margo,, often showing their love through sarcasm and in the end growing into best friends. As far as Rudy, I need someone just like him. Great guy. Lauren and Margo struggle with body issues and as someone who has done the same, I related 100% and I also would like to sink my scale in a bath tub full of water. Kudos to the author for entertaining me through tears and laughter. I have read all of the author's novels and this is her best.

Marilyn Simon Rothstein makes me laugh and crave chocolate. Reading her latest contemporary novel is like sitting at the fun table at a wedding, listening to all an insider’s comic stories about the blessed event’s guests, and those she unsparingly tells on herself.

I tried so hard to get into this book but it just wasn't picking up to me. I stopped at 50% I decided to finally stop. the characters and the pity I just couldn't. maybe ill finish it with some wine but its difficult to continue.

Crazy to leave you follows 41 year old Lauren who is dumped at the altar, not even with a phone call - just with a text. After the catacatastrophytrophy of a wedding Lauren's mother badgers her to go on a diet and makes comments surrounding her weight. Lauren builds up the courage to decide to start working in advertising and goes on a journey of self-acceptance and love. I enjoyed this book quite a lot and would definitely like to read more of Marilyn Simon Rothsteins' books in the future. I enjoyed the overall message of this book which focused on how people can seem to be perfect and its easily to idolise people - even though we have no idea what their lives I like. I thought that this was an interesting message and I think the book portrays this well. My main dislike with this book is I don't think were the plot was heading was very clear and at times the book felt muddled and slightly confusing. I also found this book slightly hard to read due to past experiences, which is my fault for not checking the trigger warnings previously - so it you want to read this book please check the tw before hand!!
Overall I enjoyed this book, but I would have preferred it if I had a clearer idea of where the plot was going, however I loved the author's writing style and would like to pick up more of her books in the future.

This book was cute! Perfect for rom-com lovers, it falls under the grumpy sunshine trope and its a fast read so if you like any of these characteristics in your books this one might be perfect for you!

In this book we follow the story of Lauren Leo after she gets dumped the day of her wedding :( but after that terrible situation the book takes us on a ride of emotions that will make you love Lauren so much!