THE JOURNAL OF MORTIFYING MOMENTS

"It was my therapist's idea—the journal of mortifying moments." Thus begins Kerry Spence's revisitation of all the most miserable episodes in her life in an effort to overhaul her self-defeating dating habits. It's not just her love life that's a problem: her career in advertising is going nowhere, and her friends are making choices she cannot begin to comprehend. Just in case the journal doesn't do the trick, she visits Ramona the psychic, who helps her to "read what our intuition already knows," and consults Dr. Rainbow Hashawarma's book You Get What You Give . Primed with plenty of advice, she decides to break the unhealthy hook-up cycle with her hot semiboyfriend Sam, take up yoga and volunteer somewhere meaningful. The latter goal brings the "high- to medium-risk teen" Tiffany into her life. Kerry begins to gain perspective on her own life as she coaxes her angst-ridden mentee through teenagehood. She also meets the charming Nick, who almost makes her forget about Sam. Just when it seems that Kerry's life is sorting itself out, she's confronted with an unexpected turn of events that appears to solve her problems. But is it that easy? Of course not. Kerry's cringe-worthy worst memories are laugh-out-loud funny, and chick-lit fans will applaud her honest efforts to break bad behavior patterns. Agent, Joe Veltre at Carlisle & Co. (Oct.)