Calm, Cool, & Adjusted, by Kirsten Billerbeck

Laps in the pool: 0

Desperation level: OFF THE SCALE!

Kirsten Billerbeck, one of the first "Christian chick-lit" authors, scores another hit with her latest release in the Spa Girl Series: Cool, Calm, and Adjusted. A story about life, love, and the pursuit of whole grain oats, wheat shakes and maybe even a date, this novel is a lively tale about a middle-aged woman dealing with scars from the past, despairing because all her friends are getting married and leaving her behind, and wondering if she truly has traversed over that thin line separating health enthusiast from full blown "nature freak".

Poppy Clayton is in charge of her world. A chiropractor in one of the least natural places on the face of the earth, Silicon Valley, she preaches the message of healthy living and eating, waste not want not, and no woman should depend on a man for fulfillment and success. She'd like to think she's in touch with the way God would have all of us live: a frugal existence with no preservatives, flowing with positive energy and system cleansing foods; however¸ her friends are worried that she's tip-toeing the edge between natural, spiritual living and fanaticism.

To prove she's capable of living a normal, "eat McDonalds' French fries and chocolate every now and then" life, they've assigned her a task: find someone normal to bring to her best friend Morgan's wedding, so she won't spend the entire time evaluating guests' gastric functions and eating habits. Their punishment, should she prove unequal to the task: set her up with a date of their choosing.

So, the race is on: should Poppy take the charming, attractive, but utterly self-absorbed, (in her enlightened opinion, anyway), plastic surgeon Dr. Curran - who she grudgingly shares office space with, by the way - or the entrancing, retired millionaire Simon Jennings, one of her patients who's been offering to sweep her off her feet for the past year or so?

What to do; what to do?

Throw in unresolved conflicts with her father and step-mother, as well as buried grief over her mother's death, and the desperation level for Poppy is nearing critical levels. She wants to live with the confidence that she's Poppy - her own person, defined by no one's rules - but as the wedding draws nearer and the desperation levels escalate, she wonders if perhaps "normal" is impossible for her, and she's just going to end up as "that weird lady living alone with all of her cats". This isn't just natural enzymes, positive energy and good chi - this is the rest of Poppy's life.

Calm, Cool, & Adjusted is another one of the great "chick-lit" tomes I've run across lately. As a character, Poppy is a firecracker - witty, sarcastic, and maybe even a little oblivious to her own strangeness. However, she is also mildly tragic as well, because one can easily picture this happening in anyone's life. I found this novel especially enjoyable because we're living in an age when being a "Christian" requires you to do certain "things" or act in a certain "way", and I'm sure everyone feels very keenly the conflicts of being ourselves within today's "Christian culture".

Calm, Cool, & Adjusted is a winner that is funny, endearing, and a little sad, all at once. Health fanatics and junk food eaters alike, pull out either a Snickers or Nature Trail bar, and curl up with this novel today.