Jan told her mother a huge lie and now she is about to be caught in her fib. Jan has a problem: one of her own making might I add. Her mother has been worried about her as she is getting old (she is now the ripe old age of thirty) and she does not seem to have any prospects for settling down in mind. So what does she do? Like any other girl who wants to get their mother off their case she tells her that she is never without a date. This is about to catch up with her as her parents are celebrating their anniversary and she is told to take her fiance. Now she has just a few weeks to rustle up a fiance. One by one she crosses off the potentials and is left with only Eddie, the warehouse manager at the firm where she works. They have dated before and he agrees to go with her but at literally the last minute he cancels on her as he has a date with a girl in his department. As if the sudden cancellation wasn't enough Jan exits the building to find that someone has rear-ended her car and it is in no condition to be driven. Her anxiety hits the roof and she runs into Glen, the chief payroll accountant. They have had meetings before but Jan is not interested as the office rumor mill has it that he lives with an older woman who he speaks of in disparaging terms. Glen senses that something is wrong and steps in as her knight in shining armor. She asks for a lift to the party, prepared to face the embarrassment of having to confess that she lied but as they pull up her parents meet them outside and one thing leads to another and Glen ends up in the party. He catches on quickly, much to Jan's chagrin, and he plays the role of doting fiance to the hilt. At the end of the party Jan tells Glen thanks but makes it known in no uncertain terms that she wishes to have nothing to do with him as she disapproved of the nature of his relationship and the way he treats his 'girlfriend'. Glen has liked Jan for some time but after this last conversation he decides to not pursue it any further. He accepts a job with another firm and resigns. A friend of Jan's is promoted to Glen's position and in the transition process has to go to his apartment to pick up some documents. She meets his 'girlfriend' and tells Jan that it is not at all as they have thought. Jan finds Glen and apologizes for her hasty assumptions. Glen accepts her apology but tells her that if they decided to make an attempt at a relationship there would be a problem with his mother who has a superstitious nature and would not allow her children to become seriously involved with anyone whose name did not have seven letters. Jan then reveals that her full name is January (hence the title of the story). There is a mysterious coin that passes from one character to another in this series and at the end of the novel she leaves it on the park bench where she found it.
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Best part of story, including ending:
There are actually mixed feeling about this story as,though quaint in terms of the plot, there was some difficulty following the train of thought or action at some points. With all due respect it is the author's first novel and it is indeed a noble attempt.
Best scene in story:
Everyone likes a good plot twist, especially if it is humorous. The highlight for me was the revelation that Glen's girlfriend was actually a cat that he had rescued. Only his close friend at work knew the truth.
Opinion about the main character:
What I dislike most about Jan is her unpredictable mood swings. She gets angry for seemingly no reason at times and becomes irrational unnecessarily.
