The Accidental Bestseller is a great book from start to finish. Wendy Wax's novel is a light and enjoyable read that focuses deeply on four writer friends. While some authors struggle with giving one main character depth, Wax is able to get up close and intimate with her four, strong female heroines.

Kendall, Mallory, Faye, and Tanya are all published authors in different locations, with varying degrees of success. Above all else, the four are close friends. The book begins with Kendall's faltering career and leads into to the demise of her marriage. As all of these piles up, Kendall decides to flee to her mountain home and shut off reality. Luckily for Kendall, her friends all decide to come to her aid. In the mountain, they devise an outlandish plan to save Kendall's career. No one expected their plan to work, but when it did the results are truly amazing.

Unlike her friends, Kendall's writing career is faltering, about to be dropped by her publisher, she owes them one more novel. The problem is, Kendall is avoiding writing out of the fear that she has lost her gift and out of the fear about what she has to face in her own life. Kendall's friends agree to act as ghostwriters and help her meet her deadline. Each will write chapters for their respective characters. Characters that they choose to model after themselves. Secrets and all. When the news breaks about the collaboration, their worlds are torn apart, considering Kendall is the only one listed as the author and Mallory, Faye, and Tanya all work for different publishing houses. Not to mention that potential marriage ending and personal revelations that are exposed as a result of the novels astonishing success. The four fictional characters are quickly matched to their respective very real authors. Kendall, Mallory, Faye, and Tanya must fight through bad press, hurt spouses, and angry agents. As a result of the unwanted attention and success the four women learn much about each other and themselves.

Wendy Wax does a marvelous job of keeping the four women's stories separate, yet fluidly interchanged. By giving each their own respective chapters, Wax is able to keep their lives and the various people in them, clear and relatable. There is no story confusion even after new people are introduced in. I have read plenty of books before with multiple main characters that were impossible to keep story lines straight. This is not the case here. Kendall, Mallory, Faye and Tanya, all maintain their individuality, and their dignity, even when deep dark secrets are revealed as a result of their brilliant plan. This is a great story about writing, friendship, knowing who you are, and adapting to change.

This is the best book I have read in a while. Its based in the south. With four friends get together to help one of them. Great story!!

I really enjoyed learning the 'inside' world of writers. I found it difficult too put down and couldn't wait to see what was next. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was because the ending was a bit artificial. I left the book for my DIL to read, but my son picked it up and read it. He could not put it down either. We enjoyed hearing of places we knew in St. Petersburg. This book is a great read.

The Accidental Bestseller is a wonderful story of four writers who pull off a publishing coup--and must deal with the consequences! Wendy Wax is a superlative writer and you feel like part of the circle of friends. She brilliantly weaves their lives together in a bang-up, page-turning ending. The book they write cleverly mirrors the novel itself, and provides an insider view of the writing life and the publishing industry that will intrigue readers as well as aspiring writers.

The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax was one of the most fun books I have read in a while. It was full of friendship and folly and how oftentimes the two go together. I felt the angst of the characters and learned a whole lot about the publishing world. I think Ms. Wax is a phenomenal author and I will buy more of her work!

Wendy Wax has written a book about authors for authors. Her characters, all doing well on the New York publishing track, are close to the top of the game when they come together to help one friend. Each ends up learning lessons about life and the business.
A slice of the published life. I believed it all.
Required reading for the aspiring romance writer.

This book is deftly plotted, delightfully paced and funny as heck, too! I found myself racing through to get to the end as the suspense built, and then wishing I could slow down and savor each character.

Wendy Wax has written a book chockful of interesting characters -- from Kendall, the empty nester who leaves the conference early only to find that her husband is having an affair; to Tanya, my favorite character, the hopeful trailer park dweller who hopes to write her way to a better life; to Mallory (whom I didn't care for so much) who appears to be patterned on Judith Krantz with her romantic clothes, fistful of bestsellers and seemingly perfect life. Finally, there's Faye Truett, the pastor's wife who writes "inspirationals" and the lowly editorial assistant who is much wiser and more savvy than her uninspired boss, Plain Jane. In some ways, the whole premise and set-up reminded me a bit of David Lodge's books about academia, in which there are a number of memorable characters whose stories intersect, weaving back and forth between them.

Wendy Wax is also really good at throwing little clues at the reader about how it will all end, though nothing could have really prepared me for the scene when Kendall goes on the show that's kind of like Oprah. The characters were really sympathetic, and you found yourself rooting for them. This was a book I didn't want to put down!

I enjoyed reading this book. This was an interesting look at the writer's life (I've never read a book about this before). I found myself wondering how much of it was true. It was also a great story about deceit and friendship. The characters were all warm, and I couldn't tell you who my favorite was--I liked them all (even the secondary characters like Lacy Samuels, the editorial assistant!) I found myself rooting for them and wanting them to have their happily ever after. I would classify this as hen-lit and definitely a great beach read.