Friday, July 22, 2011

Review & Giveaway: "Not Ready For Mom Jeans" by Maureen Lipinski

It's summer, and in the summer I tend to choose books to read purely for pleasure, and for pleasure only. In the fall and winter my choices tend to be a little heavier, a little darker, but in the summer my books must be fun, fun, fun! I've had Not Ready For Mom Jeans on my shelf for a couple of months now. It was a win from the fabulous Melissa's over at Chick Lit Central (I love you guys and the way that you enable my chick lit habit!), and since I'm a youngish mom I can certainly relate not being ready for mom jeans. As much as I adore my kids (and I do!), sometimes I stop and think about the fact that I'm not even 30 but yet I have an 11 year old, a 6 year old, and a 4 year old. I'm not ready for those mom jeans! I want to be one of those hot mamas!

Clare Finnegan, event planner and popular blogger, is so not ready for mom jeans either. Baby Sara was conceived unexpectedly, and although Clare can't imagine what life would be like without her, she struggles with her desire to return to work. Does working mom= bad and stay at home mom= good? Back at work, Clare pulls off a fancy sweet sixteen party and a swanky golf event with her ex-boyfriend from college, but when she misses yet another of her baby daughter's milestones she allows herself to entertain an alternate solution. Can Clare stay at home with Sara and not lose a part of herself?

A young mom myself, I could completely relate with Clare and her struggles through the first year of parenting. Although I've made the decision to stay at home with my kids and work part-time while they're young, and Clare makes the decision to return to work full-time, I think that this is a question that most new mothers struggle with. How do we retain the essence of ourselves while giving ourselves completely to our children? Is there a balance possible? If so, how exactly does one find it? Clare struggles with these questions throughout the book in a realistic yet hilarious manner. Clare, as a character, is completely lovable and I think that readers will easily relate to her. She doesn't resent motherhood, she loves it in fact, but she can't quite figure out how the old Clare and the new Clare can co-exist harmoniously.

Hilarious and touching, light enough for summer reading yet containing enough substance to make the book enjoyable for a wide variety of readers, I can strongly recommend Not Ready for Mom Jeans to any mother or fan of women's fiction.

Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge, 2011 RYOB Challenge

Partway through the book I contacted the author through her website to let her know how much I was enjoying it (and I rarely do that, so that just tells you how much I really was enjoying it!). Maureen Lipinski generously offered two of my readers the chance to win both of her books, A Bump in the Road (detailing Clare's pregnancy) and Not Ready for Mom Jeans. Want to win? Here's how:

1. *Mandatory Entry* Let me know that you would like to win these books, and if you feel like it, please share one of your funniest mom moments! Please leave me your e-mail so that I can contact you if you win.

2. *Bonus Entry* Become a follower of this blog through Google Friend Connect and let me know that you now follow. Current followers are eligible for this bonus entry as well. No need for a separate comment, just add a +1 to your comment if you wish.

3. *Bonus Entry* Spread the word about this contest in some way. Blog about it, Tweet about it, Facebook it or add it to your website's sidebar, just leave me a link to what you did.

All entries (mandatory + bonuses) can be left in one comment if desired. This contest is open to residents in both the US and Canada. It runs until August 5, 2011 at midnight and winners will be contacted after this date by e-mail. Good luck!

17 comments:

  1. I am not a mom, but I am an auntie and my favorite moment recently was when I called my sister and the phone rang she was screaming hello in the background for the first 10 min of our phone conversation.

    I am a follower

    I would love to win these books!! I would share them with my sister - the mom!

    kdurham2@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. One of my most funniest moments was my 5 yr old daughter playing dress up with her 2 yr old brother. He was head to toe in classic girly clothes: summer hat, feather boa, pearls, tutu, heels, lace gloves.. you name it. I got photos which could be held for blackmail when he is older ha ha(just kidding). I laughed my head off he looked so cute!

    I'm also a follower

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    Margaret
    singitm@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I read A Bump in the Road when it came out but haven't had the opportunity to pick up Not Ready for Mom Jeans. I would love to read it!

    teresasreadingcorner at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I cannot really think of any funny Mom moments right now.

    GFC follower

    littleone AT shaw DOt ca

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1) Funny mom moment.....being in a public washroom, with a very upset tummy (turned out to be food poisoning I'm sure!), and my 3 year old boy insisting on giving a play-by-play description of everything that was happening in the stall!! There were about 8-10 women outside waiting for a stall too, so that was really super!

    2) I already follow this blog!!

    3) I have posted this contest on Facebook

    kewalker1972@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm not a mom yet, but looking forward to it shortly! I am in the middle of reading this book right now! I would love to win A Bump in the Road to go along with it! Thanks for the chance!
    ra6352 (at) gmail (Dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am a follower!
    ra6352 (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  8. I shared on facebook!
    ra6352 (at) gmail (Dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'd love to win this book!

    plus 1 I'm a follower!

    Laura Kay
    www.anovelreview.blogspot.com
    anovelreview(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks so much for this awesome review!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm an older 40+ mom with young kids (I had my first at 32), but this book sounds really funny.

    My mom story? I have two active boys, I have tons of mom stories. One of my favorite is when my husband brought our oldest son to the hospital when our youngest was born. He was very tender with his baby brother, but when it came time to leave, he was insistent that the baby had to stay at the hospital and couldn't come home with us. I'm happy to say that the baby is now 10 and he and his 13 year old brother are best of friends!

    Thanks for such a great giveaway. I follow in google reader.

    je2kids(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  12. I would love to win a copy of these books.

    lkish77123 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  13. I would like to win. One of my funniest mom moments is when is when my older daughter wanted to name her unborn sister Lollo and went around telling everybody that was going to be her sister's name.

    jeryl.marcus@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. I would love to win this book! It sounds like a great read!

    Funniest mom moment: The one that comes to mind is when one of my kids was in the bathroom stall with me and asked quite loudly: "Mommy are you going pee pee or poopy?" I didn't really need that announced! Or when they comment on "noises" from the other stalls, oh my!

    nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

    ReplyDelete
  15. GFC Follower

    nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

    ReplyDelete
  16. Tweet! Tweet!
    @NancyeDavis

    http://twitter.com/#!/NancyeDavis/status/99689873908305920

    nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

    ReplyDelete
  17. Congratulations to our winners, Kritter and Kim W.!

    ReplyDelete