Me and My Manny By M.A. MacAfee

To ease her loneliness, Judy Mason orders a wooden replica of her husband, Harry, a sailor aboard ship at sea. Instead of Harry's fascimile, the anatomically incorrect manny turns out to be a caricature of him. No matter. Her girlfriends are not only envious that she has found a friend and potential business partner in the dummy; they also want to borrow him and pay for his company by the hour. But their husbands soon become suspicious, most of all Harry who, when he returns home from sea, is convinced that the dummy is out to take him over. Harry's jealousy, his odd behavior, and strange goings on in their apartment building near Seattle, convinces Judy that he may be right. To put an end to Harry's uncanny switch from man to manny, Judy resorts to extremes. As usual, the outcome of her efforts is a series of comical blunders with hilarious consequences. The idea that sex sells endures, and, as in Me and My Manny, so does making fun of it.

~My thoughts on this book~

This is a keeper. To begin with, I wasn't really sure how I would take to the concept of a woman replacing her husband with a mannequin. But, then, as she tells him herself in the book, the mannequin isn't a replacement. "You're not being replaced, " I told him. "You're being celebrated."

The ending was a surprise, something I hadn't thought of as I read through the book. Other scenarios went back and forth, but nothing close to the actual conclusion of the book. I would highly recommend this book.