The engagement game : why I said "I don't" to marriage and "I do" to me

Joi-Marie almost has it all; a thriving career, a supportive family, great friends, and an apartment in Manhattan. What she doesn't have is a husband. Ambitious, confident, and successful, Joi-Marie believes she has it all figured out. At 28 years old, she has an enviable job as a producer, covering entertainment in New York City. Her close-knit family is loving and encouraging, and her boyfriend, Adam, is as close to perfect as you can get -- except for the fact that he won't propose. Like most women, Joi-Marie has a checklist of what the perfect life looks like. She has the career, the friends, the apartment, and the lifestyle she has always wanted. But, when the husband she wants doesn't fall into place, she decides to play the game-theengagement game-in order to get Adam to drop down on one knee. After receiving a laundry list of advice on how to secure a proposal -- even researching how to cook "engagement chicken" -- Joi-Marie realizes that, in the process of trying to attain her perfect life, she has slowly become a person she doesn't recognize. With this discovery, she must make a decision: pretend to be someone she's not in order to have the life she envisioned. . .or have the courage to be herself and find her happily ever after in a way she never expected. Joi-Marie almost has it all; a thriving career, a supportive family, great friends, and an apartment in Manhattan. What she doesn't have is a husband. Ambitious, confident, and successful, Joi-Marie believes she has it all figured out. At 28 years old, she has an enviable job as a producer, covering entertainment in New York City. Her close-knit family is loving and encouraging, and her boyfriend, Adam, is as close to perfect as you can get-except for the fact that he won't propose. Like most women, Joi-Marie has a checklist of what the perfect life looks like. She has the career, the friends, the apartment, and the lifestyle she has always wanted. But, when the husband she wants doesn't fall into place, she decides to play the game-the engagement game-in order to get Adam to drop down on one knee. After receiving a laundry list of advice on how to secure a proposal-even researching how to cook "engagement chicken"-Joi-Marie realizes that, in the process of trying to attain her perfect life, she has slowly become a person she doesn't recognize. With this discovery, she must make a decision: pretend to be someone she's not in order to have the life she envisioned...or have the courage to be herself and find her happily ever after in a way she never expected "Like so many single women, Joi-Marie McKenzie almost has it all: a successful career, a supportive family, and faith in God. She even has a boyfriend, but he won't propose. Ambitious and confident, almost-30-year-old Joi-Marie refuses to believe the gloomy statistics on single women marrying and hilariously questions when the marriage deck became stacked against women like her. But, feeling the pressure to wed, Joi-Marie decides to play "the engagement game" a five-step process handed down by her older married sister. When she slowly becomes a person she doesn't recognize, or even like, Joi-Marie ends up finding the true key to unlocking love--herself. Joi-Marie reveals-often with laugh out loud humor-the deeply personal thoughts and feelings many single women dare say out loud. Written almost like a novel, Joi-Marie takes readers on her raw journey to inner growth-without giving up on the idea of marriage." --Amazon.com Ambitious and successful, 28 year-old Joi-Marie is confident she can attain her checklist of a perfect life. She has the career, the friends and the lifestyle she has always dreamed of. And her boyfriend is really pretty great ... except for the fact that he won't propose! So when the husband she wants doesn't fall into place, she decides she has to play "the engagement game." After receiving a list of advice on how to secure a proposal - and even researching "engagement chicken"--Joi-Marie begins to wonder if the perfect life may not come in the form she imagined.