I first read The Accidental Mother a few months ago but I managed to find The Accidental Family, which is the sequel, a few days ago and so decided to read The Accidental Mother again. I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time around.The story is a unique one, a woman, Sophie, who made a pact with her best friend, Carrie, that if anything happened to her (Carrie) then Sophie would be the legal guardian of Carrie’s 2 children. Having made that promise when she was a bit drunk she forgot all about it until the unexpected happened and she found herself with two kids under 6 to look after.It was a great read and I just had to read one more chapter. The whole cast of characters were brilliant but the story belonged to Bella and Izzy, the two children. Sophie and Louis were important and a huge part of the story, as with all the minor characters, Cal, Jake, Sophie’s mum, Carrie’s mum and Tess the social worker but it was all about the children. They carried the story along and made it what it was.I enjoyed how Sophie got to know the children and how her maternal instincts kicked in eventually. I loved that even though she came around the idea of having kids and really didn’t want them to go with their father, Louis, she helped Bella like her father again. Louis was well-written – started out the villain but once you heard his side of the story it all became clear just what went on in his and Carrie’s marriage.Izzy and Bella were hilarious. I’ve got no idea how three-year-olds (Izzy) and six-year-olds (Bella) really act but I thought Rowan wrote the children really well. Izzy was hilarious and how I would expect a three-year-old to be. Bella was a different story, she was far more mature than six.I liked Sophie’s mother, her advice was to give Sophie a dog training manual. Cal, Lisa and all at Sophie’s work were great particularly Cal with his fake language skills.Overall it was a well-written story that I really enjoyed. Who knew a chick-lit book could involve death and still be amusing but also sad, too? I also enjoyed the romantic element between Louis and Sophie and cannot wait to read The Accidental Family. A brilliant read and I can add Rowan Coleman to my growing list of favourite authors.Rating: 5/5
I really enjoyed reading this story! It was light and fluffy chick lit, but had deeper themes as well. This book is about Sophie, a successful event planner who is very focused on her career and getting a promotion. She doesn't have time for friends, so that's why she is surprised to hear that her old school friend, Carrie, has passed away. The social worker reminds Sophie that she signed an agreement to take Carrie's three and six year old daughters should anything happen to their parents. Carrie's husband, Louis, hasn't been in his family's life for three years. Sophie takes the girls for a few weeks and hires a private detective to find their father.Of course, Sophie is angry at Louis for walking out on his family, although she doesn't know the whole story because she hasn't spoken to Carrie the last three years. When Louis shows up, Sophie has conflicted feelings because he doesn't seem to be the deadbeat dad she imagined. Sophie also questions her career-orientated life as she falls in love with the little girls.I liked the characters in this story a lot. Sophie had a good-heart. The girls were incredibly quirky, sweet, and smart. It was interesting to watch them deal with the death of their mother and the situation of being sent to live with someone they barely know. Louis was complex and, like Sophie, you don't know whether to hate or like him. All of the characters develop, especially Sophie, throughout the book. This book pulled me in. It's not a totally unique plot, but it was well-done and I liked the twist of the father still being alive, but out of the picture. The writing style is engaging and the plot is fast-paced. It was an enjoyable read and I can't wait to read the sequel!
What do You think about The Accidental Mother (2007)?
Coleman makes her U.S. debut with a disarmingly sweet tale of motherhood and reluctant love. London party planner Sophie Mills becomes the improbable guardian of sisters 6-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Izzy after their single mom, Sophie's childhood best friend Carrie Stiles, dies in a car accident. Life suddenly gets very complicated and dirty for the hyper-organized career chick, and a panicked Sophie figures she'd better launch a search for the girls' long-missing dad before maternal mayhem wreaks havoc on her busy life. But once found, mysterious charity worker Louis Gregory triggers Sophie's own overwhelming sense of loss for her late dad and dead pal Carrie. And for the first time in her life, Sophie is forced to jump into the middle of life instead of planning it from a safe distance. Love isn't the instant fix for Sophie's fragile makeshift family, but Coleman shows how it can kick-start a lonely heart.An "eeehh" book. I enjoyed it enough to finish it but not enough to want to read the sequel "The Accidental Family".
—Jennifer
Rowan Coleman's novel The Accidental Mother was a big bestseller in Britain and has been published in the States for American audiences to fall in love with.The story is that of Sophie Mills, dedicated career woman, who is shocked at work to discover a social worker sitting in her office telling her that Sophie's best friend, Carrie, has died and named Sophie the guardian of her two children, Bella and Izzy. The children are delivered to Sophie's care, and thus Sophie embarks on a journey that she'd never intended.I must say, I really enjoyed this book, though in the beginning I wasn't sure that I would. The whole plot gets underway rather abruptly, the children arriving in the very first chapter, and Sophie quickly accepting them into her home with no real knowledge of how to care for them. I think Sophie's early travails and the children's foibles are meant to inspire a lot of laughter, but to me it was just kids being kids. The book really picks up when Sophie hires a private investigator to find the children's missing father. After that, the book is a moving story about one woman and her love and commitment to two children she never wanted.Sophie was at times a very unsympathetic character, but as she herself matures, the book and she become far more likable. I was not terribly keen on how tidily everything worked out in the end, but somehow it wasn't as bad as you would think if given the bare bones details of the story. Even the fairy tale ending seemed alright in the end.A lovely story about a young woman coming of age with the help of two small children. If you've got nothing better to read, you could do much worse.
—Kate
This book was okay, only because of the second half. The main character was your typical chick-lit female (Sophie). She was career driven but not really as happy as she thought and had a fear of commitment and all these other flaws and blah blah blah. She was totally clueless about everything, including raising her Godchildren; it was hard to believe that anyone would be THAT clueless about kids. She fed them the same thing every day and treated them like puppies (this was actually supposed to be a funny bit). There was a really boring love interest who was sort of there as an afterthought until about halfway through. Then they broke up before ever getting started.The book picked up about halfway through, when the father of the girls showed up. All of a sudden, there was a little bit of character development and background and personality. It ended like a typical chick-lit book but was much better to read by then.One of the biggest problems I had with the book, though, was that it didn't appear to have ever been proofread. There were all sorts of irritating typos, from missing articles and pronouns to misspelled words to inserting the wrong names of characters.
—Cheryl
