Million Little Mistakes »

The author of Pretty Little Mistakes and Jennifer Johnson Is Sick of Being Single, Heather McElhatton is a writer and independent producer for Public Radio International. Her commentaries and stories have been heard nationally on This American Life, Marketplace, Weekend America, Sound Money, and The Savvy Traveler. She lives in Minneapolis with Walter, the super pug.

Congratulations—You just won $22 million in the Lottery! So what happens next?

In Heather McElhatton's second do-over novel, Million Little Mistakes, you win $22 million in the lottery. Given the chance to live like a millionaire, you could realize all your dreams or learn that money only causes more problems. It all depends on the choices you make . . .

Should you keep your day job? Stay in your relationship? Save an endangered species? Have a debauched weekend on Sex Island? Buy an aristocrat's life on eBay or pay off all your family's debt? Should you climb Mount Everest, trek the remote jungles of China, book passage on a luxury cruise, or become an infamous Voodoo priestess? Is your destiny to become a philanthropist, a pharmaceutical tycoon, a happy homemaker, or a burlesque stripper? Be careful. Your fortune could be lost in a Ponzi scheme; your wildest fantasy may bring you total bliss or lead you to a run-in with extortionists who try to kill you.

There are hundreds of possible adventures sown inside Million Little Mistakes. Some lives end fabulously while others in utter disaster, so choose wisely. You can buy a lot with $22 million, but can you buy a happy ending?

Publishers Weekly

For those who fondly remember the childhood joy of choose-your-own-adventure novels, McElhatton's second Do-Over book (after Pretty Little Mistakes) is another gleeful narrative grab-bag that starts off with "you" winning million in the lottery. You can keep your job or quit, and your relationship with boyfriend Aidan can tank or survive. McElhatton provides a lot of smooth and snarky choices, most entertaining, a few duds, and some quite unexpected, as with a path that leads to a marriage to George Clooney (though he turns out to be a real snooze). In another you can end up dead on the set of a movie; marry a lighthouse keeper; end up in a space shuttle explosion; and on and on. McElhatton's exploration of choices made with the best (or worst) intentions offers hours of easy fun. (Aug.)