PRESS

LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH 

“[Giffin] is a dependably down-to-earth, girlfriendly storyteller.”
—New York Times

"Giffin's talent lies in taking relatable situations and injecting with enough wit and suspense to make them feel fresh. The cat-and-mouse game between Ellen and Leo lights up these pages, their flirtation as dangerously addictive as a high-speed car chase. The ending isn't explosive, but what Ellen learns is quietly thrilling: Sometimes, you have to do whatever it taks to be with the one you love."
—People

"Giffin’s fluid storytelling and appealing characters give her novels a warm, inviting air, and her fourth is no exception . . . Giffin’s snappy prose makes (her heroine) Ellen’s dilemma compelling, once again proving she’s at the top of the chick-lit pack." —Booklist

"Giffin delivers another relatable and multifaceted heroine who may behave unexpectedly but will ultimately find her true path. Sure to be a hit with the New York Times bestselling author’s many fans . . .”
—Library Journal

"Though it's easy to resent [Ellen] for taking [her] ideal life for granted, Giffin's vivid depictions of Ellen's steamy past with Leo help you commiserate with this realistically insecure woman."
—Entertainment Weekly

“Giffin’s books rise above standard beach-reading fare…They are funny, sensitive and truthful depictions of female friendships and the complexities of marriage and motherhood.”
—Atlanta Peach

“Ellen's conflicting thoughts and emotions ring true from Page 1 through the book's teary (well, at least for this reader) conclusion.”
—Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

“Giffin’s book is instantly relatable - few don't wonder how their lives would be different if they had turned left rather than right at life's big forks. Her writing is realistic and entertaining. There are unexpected plot twists and measured jabs at materialism and Southern societal norms…[and] Giffin's funny, honest voice lends credence to this modern riff on the old adage that the grass appears greener on the other side of the fence.”
—Charlotte Observer

“I so loved Emily Giffin's last three books that I almost didn't want to crack her latest effort, “Love the One You're With,” for fear it would be the Superman IV of the author's literary opus – the edition that forever taints the previous titles because it's so unworthy. Mercifully, the new book not only lives up to its elegantly constructed predecessors, it arguably surpasses them in style, maturity, emotion and overall relatability…Treading the fuzzy line between loyalty and obligation, self-interest and self-preservation, contentment and passion, “Love the One You're With” is an achingly honest look at the notion of love as the sum of our choices as opposed to the contents of our vows.”
—Edmonton Journal

“[Giffin’s books] are smart, sad and witty…In her latest novel, newlywed photographer Ellen begins to have misgivings about her marriage when she runs into an old flame and feels the familiar lightning bolt of attraction. She contemplates an affair. It all sounds very formulaic, doesn’t it? It isn’t…Giffin is bold enough to allow a mainstream heroine to be happily married while still maintaining her curiosity about the road – or the guy – not taken, let alone considering infidelity. And she’s able to show the strains that these considerations take on family, friends and husband…It’s the difference between appealing to a mass audience and a reader who wants her ideals challenged rather than affirmed, often intentionally ending in ambiguity and compromise. It’s the stuff of real life, stripped of literary pretensions.”
—National Post (Canada)

“Who hasn't fantasized about what might have happened if…? Giffin does an excellent job of letting us live that one out vicariously while telling us a story that is so modern, multi-layered and moving that you'll feel a little sad when it comes to a close.”
—Gentry magazine

“We can be thankful that Giffin is a masterful storyteller and manages to infuse energy, freshness and suspense into what could have been yet another predictable ‘woman-at-a-crossroads’ story. (Giffin could, in fact, teach some literary authors a few things about how to write compelling plots with strong motors.)…The best thing about this book is Giffin doesn't play it safe or shy away from allowing her heroine to explore lust, infidelity and the road not taken. The dichotomy of passion and comfort, lust and security, is nothing new to literature, and yet in Giffin's deft hands, I really had no idea who Ellen would wind up with until the very last page – and, more important, I actually cared.”
—The Globe and Mail (Canada)

“More serious than other summer options, this sweet tale satisfies through well-drawn characters who are forced to make some tough real-life decisions.”
—Star

“Love that’s clouded by the memory of an old romantic relationship is the subject of Emily Giffin’s aptly titled ‘Love the One You’re With’…Readers will follow Ellen with fascination and trepidation as she enters the dangerous waters of what might have been – or still could be.”
—Hartford Courant

“As Giffin takes readers back and forth between Ellen’s frustrating memories of Leo and her storybook life with Andy, each detail highlights the severe contrasts of her past and present…‘Love the One You’re With’ is a delicious novel for anyone ever caught between what is right and what is irresistible.”
—Bookpage

“Anyone who has been through a painful breakup will relate to Ellen’s dilemma: Should she stay or should she go? And with whom?”
—Boston Common

“Giffin’s fourth novel demonstrates much more depth than most of her ‘chick lit’ peers…Specifically, she explores the conflicts that arise between passion and common sense.”
—Kansas City Star

“For anyone who has wondered about the path not taken. Thought provoking and an easy read, perfect for an afternoon in the sun.”
—New York Resident

“Giffin has a remarkable gift for taking banal relationship issues and infusing them with life through her characters. Ellen’s introspective narrative allows readers to become her as she tackles the problems every marriage faces. Her amusing thoughts make people and places tangible…‘Love the One You’re With’ is Giffin’s most moving book yet. The romantic tension hangs off the pages like webs, trapping the characters as they attempt to live conventional lives. As always, Giffin’s writing will leave you fully satiated.”
—Woodbury magazine

“A modern day Jane Austen.”
—Cincinnati Enquirer

“Emily Giffin delivers the characters and stories we love in her fourth novel.”
—OK! Weekly

“Giffin, a Brookhaven resident who has had big hits with her previous novels – "Something Borrowed," "Something Blue" and "Baby Proof" – excels at creating complex characters and quick-to-read stories that ask us to explore what we really want from our lives…[“Love the One You’re With”] skillfully explores the secret workings of a young woman's heart, and the often painful consequences of one's actions.”
—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Giffin's characters are all quite likable…[and] this book is full of fun New York details and musings on the human condition that are more insightful than many books in this genre.”
—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

BABY PROOF 

“Giffin's writing is true, smart, and heartfelt. Claudia is both flawed and achingly real.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“Smart, snappy chicklit that's sure to provoke discussion.”
—People

“The chick-lit ideal. [The characters are] funny and flawed, ambitious and insecure, relatable enough to feel like a good friend while enduring dramatic crises enough for a dozen women.”
—Elle

“[An] entertaining and unpredictable quest.”
—Redbook

“[A] wry twist on the classic relationship deal-breaker.”
—New York Times

“ …Gives chicklit a protagonist worth following.”
—OK! Weekly

“When it comes to writing stories that resonate with real women, best-selling author Emily Giffin has hit her stride. [BABY PROOF] examines the great lengths people go for each other, and is filled with great female characters.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Thoughtful…The idea that someone, especially a woman, might sincerely just not want to have children is a stubborn taboo. Giffin carefully navigates its implications, drawing Claudia as both painfully self-aware and prone to bouts of romantic naiveté…[and] paints [her] heartbreak at losing Ben with sensitivity and grace.”
—Chicago Sun-Times

“One of the sharpest chick-lit writers out there…profound, humorous, and reveals layers about a woman's deepest desires.”
—Arizona Republic

“Thought-provoking...a meditation on our culture's focus on parenthood and family.”
—Washington Post

“Giffin’s easy flow lets you relate immediately to her characters, and even if you can’t identify with the parenthood question, Claudia’s crisis resonates. Giffin captures the experience of being thirtysomething particularly well – as she did with the twentysomethings of her last two novels.”
—Miami Herald

“[BABY PROOF] is by turns a funny and serious exploration of how difficult it can be, even in this age of choice, to choose the childless path.”
—Hartford Courant

“By avoiding easy answers, Giffin once again proves she's one of the best chick-lit writers in this thoughtful, layered, and wholly original story of a woman facing a major choice in her life.”
—Booklist

“Immensely refreshing…challenging [and] thought-provoking.”
—Pages magazine

“Emily Giffin keeps you in suspense until the last possible moments, which makes for a page-turning and quick read. If you’ve ever had doubts about having children or have decided not to have them, you should see some part of yourself reflected in this novel.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Smart, witty. Makes an intriguing story…a cut above.”
—Seattle Times

“Emily Giffin [is a] creator of characters so real and so enthrallingly flawed that people sometimes forget they are fictional. [BABY PROOF] is…complicated and unexpected.”
—Atlanta Journal Constitution

“BABY PROOF is evidence that chick lit can be more than ripping bodices and rippling muscles. This take on contemporary relationships asks whether a childless-by-choice marriage is selfish, then moves on to fallout for philandering spouses, infertility, problem parents and the challenge of seemingly irredeemable mistakes. Thought-provoking…this is a ‘chick’ book that both hens and roosters might enjoy together.”
—Dallas Morning News

“What if it was decided – way before the first vow was ever exchanged – that the marriage wouldn’t include children? And then one of the partners has a change of heart? That’s the compelling topic that…Emily Giffin explores wonderfully in BABY PROOF. The publisher is promoting the novel as ‘at its core, a love story.’ But it is so much more…one with a weighty topic that deserves its due in a society that all too often assumes sanctimoniously that every woman must do it all.”
—Columbus Dispatch

“Emily Giffin explores the awesome power of a love too real to give up. Wonderful characters…and unbeatable prose.”
—Oakland Tribune

“What are the nonnegotiable issues in a relationship? Giffin’s novel is funny, smart, and offers a fresh take on what is worth sacrificing for the one you love.”
—Knoxville News-Sentinel

“The empathetic heroine who has misgivings about the 'proper' path for a young woman recurs throughout Giffin's novels, building surprising character complexity and bucking the Cosmopolitan-sipping simplicity afforded the chick-lit genre in general.”
—Atlanta magazine

“Giffin’s introspective and moving love story is an ode to those who take the road less traveled.”
—The Atlantan

“Emily Giffin delivers a warm, witty story about a perfect couple who suddenly finds themselves at odds over the decision to have children. A must-read for any woman, mother or not.”
—Jezebel magazine

“Emily Giffin has proven herself as a master storyteller and writer. Though BABY PROOF entertains with its relationship drama, it also digs deep into the more serious issue of exactly what it means to choose not to have children. It raises important questions about how we, as women, define ourselves. More importantly, Giffin’s heartfelt novel forces people to contemplate the reality of making sacrifices for the ones we love most.”
—Woodbury magazine

“Bestselling author Emily Giffin is a savant of unsympathetic situations, effortlessly bringing depth and humanity to flawed heroines. There are no easy answers in this achingly honest exploration of whether there's such thing as a ‘deal-breaker’ in true love. What you do get are dynamic characters…organic, layered storytelling…and an ending guaranteed to have Giffin's legions of female fans talking.”
—Edmonton Journal

“To every narcissistic or self-serving impulse presented as a reason to have children, Claudia has a rational, well-thought-out reason not to. Giffin does a good job of showing that it's ridiculous to try to convince anyone who chooses not to have children that she should...We want to find out what happens to [Claudia], which options she takes and which she eliminates, or worse, which options pass her by because of her indecision. This is...beyond escapism: It can re-examine the choices traditionally presented as inevitable and leading to utter happiness, the situations that, when undertaken blindly, often lead to misery.”
—Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

“A sometimes funny, always thoughtful exploration about how life sometimes has other plans for us than the ones we make for ourselves.”
—Library Journal

“Offers multiple and complex perspectives on the crazy experiment that is parenting.”
—Daily Candy

“Impeccable writing…Giffin steers clear of ‘chick lit’ cliché by creating characters who are not only likeable and honest, but as vivid and real as your closest friends…Delightful and captivating.”
—Austin Fit magazine

“Giffin turns a pretty neat trick with this book. She embraces the conventions of chicklit…but also finds them wanting.”
—World magazine

SOMETHING BLUE

“Emily Giffin's sophomore effort is a joy to read from start to finish, taking the egotistical villainess of her first novel and turning her into an unlikely heroine. Any woman who carries the scars of a broken friendship will appreciate this literary gem, which covers every emotional battleground possible –– from rejection and betrayal to self-discovery and pregnancy.”
—CanWest

“Giffin's writing is warm and engaging; readers will find themselves cheering for Darcy as she proves people can change in this captivating tale. ”
—Booklist, Starred Review

“A touching depiction of one woman's surprising discoveries about the true meaning of friendship and happily-ever after. Sometimes you can lose it all, only to find everything in the end.”
—The State (SC)

“Highly entertaining…Despite a happy ending, Giffin raises thorny questions. A long friendship can (like marriage) turn claustrophobic or abusive. Is infidelity the solution? And why are pretty girls so easily taken in by scheming Plain Janes?”
—Boston Globe

“Giffin’s [books] have more class than the average beach read. [Her] plotting and prose are so engaging that she quickly becomes a fun, friendly presence in your reading life.”
—Chicago Sun-Times

“A read no beach bag is complete without. The author’s impressive knack for intimacy and insight – what this chick-lit genre is usually so devoid of – sparkles in this delightful novel.”
—Hamptons magazine

“’Something Blue’ goes beyond the traditional chick lit conventions in a witty and compelling way, and reaffirms a lesson we all should have learned long ago: Love doesn’t need a fairy tale, fancy wrapping or a big price tag. Often, it’s better without.”
—Charlotte Observer

“Darcy is Scarlett O’Hara set in modern chick-lit. Giffin orchestrates [her] gradual change ingeniously…[and] successfully answers any ‘Gone With the Wind’ fan who wondered if, after Rhett Butler decided he didn’t give a damn, Scarlett ever morphed into someone softer.”
—Newark Star-Ledger

“Smartly written. The dialogue is real [with] lightly rendered lessons about what really matters in life…Emily Giffin knows what she’s doing.”
—Winston-Salem Journal

SOMETHING BORROWED

“What kind of self-described ‘nice girl’ would sleep with her best friend’s fiancé? One who’s seriously flawed, like this delightful debut novel’s heroine, but also surprisingly winning and real.”
—Glamour

“Chick lit is already a crowded genre, but Giffin's compelling debut truly stands out. It is as much about the meaning and value of friendship as it is about love, and it takes some risky chances that pay off . . . It's a gamble to cast her heroine in a potentially unsympathetic light, but Giffin manages to create empathy for her likable characters without cheapening the complexity of their situation, making for a genuinely wining tale.”
—Booklist, Starred Review

“It’s a scenario straight out of Jerry Springer: Woman sleeps with her best friend’s fiancé; chair throwing, hair pulling, and cries of ‘Bitch!’ ensue. But in the non-televised world, the reality is rarely that simple. This page-turning, heartbreakingly honest debut…deftly depicts the hopeful hearts behind an unsympathetic situation.”
—Entertainment Weekly (Grade: A)

“’Something Borrowed’ is both hilarious and thoughtfully written, resisting the frequent tendency of first-time novelists to make their characters and situations a little too black-and-white. You may never think of friendships – their duties, the oblique dances of power and their give-and-take – quite the same way again.”
—Seattle Times

“A debut novel…that is so meant for the beach it should have been packaged with suntan lotion. ‘Something Borrowed’ is seductively flavored by its Manhattan setting and spiced by its mean girl Darcy. In all, it’s a fine summer dish.”
—New York Daily News

“One of the hottest books of the summer…Giffin avoids what could have been a cliché-ridden tale by skillfully developing Rachel and her best friend Darcy into three-dimensional characters.”
—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Giffin depicts the complex, shifting relationship…of Rachel and Darcy, friends since grade school, into the five months between Darcy’s engagement and her wedding date. A thrill to read about.”
—Washington Post

“Forget ‘Bergdorf Blondes.’ The chick-lit you want in your beach bag this year is Emily Giffin’s ‘Something Borrowed.’ It’s smarter, less arch and more believable. The characters are authentic. Best of all, ‘Something Borrowed’ captures what it’s like to be 30 and single in the city, when your life pretty much revolves around friendships and love and their attendant complexities.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“The love-hate relationship between best friends Rachel and Darcy is sharply observed and beautifully etched.”
–Newark Star-Ledger

“Something Borrowed surprisingly goes beyond a selfish quest for love to take a semicritical look at female friendships.”
--Ripsaw Magazine

“Giffin, a former lawyer turned debut novelist, infuses this romance with dead-on dialogue, real-life complexity and genuine warmth.”
—Seattle Post-Intelligencer