What do You think about Mommy By Mistake (2009)?
I admit it -- my chick-lit binge is in full-swing. Unlike "The Village Bride...," I would classify this more as chick-lit for the...what do you call my age group, anyway? I refuse to accept the title "middle-aged" until I'm at least 35. Surely there's a name for the post-newlywed, pre-sandwich generation? Anyway, sorry for that narcissistic and irrelevant rant. Basically, it's light, fun, and almost too unrealistic but not quite (I do want to give the characters a major reality check, but I can still read the book).Upon finishing -- as Margueya would say, "Eh." It was okay, but for the genre, "I Don't Know How She Does It" was much better. I give her credit for trying to be a little deep and exploring relationship themes that could be interesting, but she didn't quite pull it off.
—K
This book was a random pull of the library shelves, which is something I rarely do anymore... but with a lack of books I wanted to read, decided to give it a try.Story focuses on single mother struggling to care for herself and a newborn. Shows how you can find people willing to help and support you. The characters were all in various stages in life. Shows that even though we aren't exactly the same we can still relate to each other. Natalie starts out afraid of what they will think so she doesn't always tell the complete truth. As a result she is constantly stressing.I liked reading about the baby group. The only part of the book that I didn't care for where some of the family issues with Megan.Overall it was a good book, but I picked it up thinking it was going to be a romance book and that relationship is almost secondary in this story.
—Kristen
Rowan Coleman is like a deeper Sophie Kinsella. Every character, however minor, has both flaws and virtues and remains a full whole character. I'm amazed at how poignant this chick lit novel is. During a one-night stand in Italy with an charming man who just blew her away, Natalie gets pregnant. Since Jack never called her after the most amazing night of her life, Natalie decides to keep the baby and take a six month leave of absence from her upcoming lingerie business. That's the fiction part - who can take 6 months leave as a single mom and businesswoman? But Natalie is dying for adult conversation and befriends a young teen mother, who is the girlfriend of her electrician's assistant. Complicated, yes? Together, they meet other parents of young babies and form an informal mother's group. But Natalie's lie - that she is married with a husband working in Dubai - just seems to get more complicated, esp when Jack reappears in Natalie's life. But what moved this beyond chick-lit for me was the troubled and nuanced relationship between Natalie and her estranged mother. Both women were reacting to the past in negative ways and both are quite loving, despite their differences.
—Clare
