Este livro é mais profundo do que pode parecer à primeira vista, uma vez que fala de um amor maior do que o tipicamente tratado neste género de romance: o amor de mãe.Charlie é um miúdo ora encantador ora enlouquecedor, mas é a pessoa mais preciosa da vida de Annie, que nunca teve o apoio do pai biológico de Charlie.Tudo o que faz é pelo filho, e o que realmente a preocupa é que este tenha a melhor vida possível.Contudo, além de ser mãe Annie também é mulher, e tem as suas necessidades. Mack não é o homem perfeito (não existe o homem perfeito!), mas é talvez a pessoa mais acertada para Annie, uma vez que também tem filhos e consegue, em parte, compreender o apego de Annie a Charlie. Mas Mack é um pai divorciado, que, embora ame os seus filhos, passa menos tempo com eles do que a sua ex-mulher, enquanto Annie é mãe a tempo inteiro, completamente.Mas nem sempre as pessoas certas ficam juntas, e aqui a autora trata esse facto com grande ligeireza, sem no entanto deixar de demonstrar que o amor por um filho está sempre acima do resto. Aqui também podemos aceitar a decisão de Annie como a mais correcta, porque não se pode mudar assim a vida sem reflectir primeiro! Acho que o final foi verdadeiramente um final feliz, embora não o mais completo de todos, mas feliz ainda assim :)Na verdade, este é um livro que me fez rir em vários momentos, porque a ironia utilizada é exactamente das coisas que mais me faz rir e sorrir. Também, no capítulo 9, especialmente, a autora conseguiu a proeza de me fazer rir entre lágrimas que teimavam em aparecer, meio tímidas, mas que existiram.No geral, um livro sincero, que demonstra bem a realidade de muitas mães solteiras, mas que não deixa de tratar o assunto com um humor bem necessário. Bom para nos entretermos algumas horas, sem ser de menosprezar a mensagem importante que passa :)
dt. "Der Prinz aus dem Kinderzimmer"Annie Baker is a single mom, caring for her six-year-old son Charlie and working as a producer for TV-commercials. On a job she meets Mack McDonald (this name was the only thing I didn't like in the book, sounded like "Old McDonald has a farm..."). This Mack is a dream-guy, and would be perfect for Annie. But she also has a (little) man at home, and doesn't know if they are both compatible.The story seemed often realistic (what a life with a small, "wild" boy is like) - probably because the author is a single mother herself. Although I've hoped for a different ending, I think there was no other way and sometimes you have to make sacrifices and choose one thing over the other.Later I found out that there is a sequel ("In the wee small hours"), and maybe there it all takes a turn for the better?I got this book via BC, and some weeks after I released it I saw it at a library sale and bought it, even though it was only in German - that's how much I liked the book.I gave 9 stars at the BC-rating, here that would be 4,5 stars - which is unfortunately not possible. So I opted for the better rating (5 stars), althoug it probably is not on the same level in terms of literary value as some other books I reviewed with 5 stars. But for a chick-lit-book it was very good and I enjoyed reading it a lot.
What do You think about The Only Boy For Me (2015)?
The cover of this book totally caught my eye as I was searching for another book at the library. That impish little boy reminded me of my imps, and so I just had to borrow it. Delightful read and mom's can totally relate to the main character. About a single mom and her son and their lives in rural England and her job in London. I also learned some really useful things, like "pudding" in England apparently means all sorts of sweets and desserts, not just pudding. The sentence with "concussion" made me laugh, you know, how the English say, "She's up in hospital with concussion" drives my friend Trevor batty, so I like to say that to him a lot. But you all don't know Trevor, so nevermind! A delightful read and even more delightful in that it didn't have a all nicey-dicey put together ending. Kinda like a Sophie Kinsella book but the main character is actually an adult.
—Lydia
I love the Beach Street Knitting Books. This, I believe this is McNeil's first book.It has much in common with the Beach Street books. However, I think she did it much better in the other books--which stands to reason since she had more experience.But about Only Boy. There wasn't a whole lot of character development. But it is a light, quick read. However, it has affected me personally. I now see it is absolutely imperative that I obtain an extremely rich friend as soon as possible. And an extremely rich boyfriend for that matter. I hope my husband does not mind.
—Elizabeth
This was a seriously quick, mindless, and slightly annoying, yet sometimes laugh-out-loud read. I can barely believe I even stuck out the whole thing. The book was basically the same as her Beachstreet Knitting ect. books: single mom with a wild child who has fabulously wealthy friends and of course finds a suitably wealthy and handsome man. BLECH. Except, thankfully, she doesn't go with said wealthy man and ends the story having a cuddle with her son. If you need something very vapid to bide yo
—Lora
