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!

Review: "There's Cake in My Future" by Kim Gruenenfelder

Superstitious bride-to-be Nicole (Nic) decides to rig the cake pull at her bridal shower in order to give her friends' futures a boost in the right direction. She rigs it that her friend Melissa (Mel) will get the engagement ring charm so that her unable-to-commit boyfriend Fred will finally pop the question. For Seema, Nic chooses the hot chili pepper charm so that she will engage in a red-hot love affair. For herself, Nic chooses the shovel charm in the hopes that she will find a new job as she's been laid off from her old one which she loved. When the cake is positioned incorrectly all three women, as well as the other women at the bridal shower, receive the wrong charms. Seema gets the shovel, Mel gets the chili pepper, and Nic gets the *gasp* baby carriage charm. Even though Seema and Mel think that the idea of a cake pull and charms is silly, even they can't ignore when the other women that were at the shower start having their cake pull fortunes come true. Suddenly everything has changed for the three friends and they can do nothing about it but hold on for the ride.

I started There's Cake in My Future this week when I was looking for something light and fun to read. My younger son went in for (minor) surgery this morning and I knew that I wouldn't want to be reading anything too heavy while we got ready for that. Cake.... fit the bill perfectly and was a humorous, engaging read. It tells the stories of three of the women, Nic, Seema, and Mel. Nic is busy dealing with her new role of full-time step-parent as well as her lack of paying employment, Mel is coming to terms with the fact that her boyfriend Fred is not who he appears to be, and Seema has an all-out crush on her best male friend. Each chapter is a part of the story from the point of the view of one of the women, and I love that despite the fact that the women were all around the same age, they all had very different stories to tell, and they meshed beautifully.

I appreciated all three of the characters and their personal dilemmas, but I especially related to Nic's story. Recently married, she essentially has her two new step-daughters dumped into her care full-time when their mom accepts a job out-of-state. It's clear that Nic loves the girls and is happy to be their "bonus mom", but she's also having trouble dealing with the instant parenthood aspect of her new marriage. As a mom to three I can agree that parenting is rarely easy and I appreciated her candid reflection of that. Seema's story was my next favourite. She has a huge crush on her best male friend, Scott, and isn't quite sure what to do about it. I found it harder to relate to Mel's story- she's a new addition to the dating scene and is determined to get out there and get her feet wet.

What stuck me the most about their story is that all three of the women seemed real. None of them was too perfect, and each had flaws and insecurities like most of the women I know. Their individual weaknesses skewed each one of their stories enough that they were all unique yet I was able to relate to them in some way.

My only complaint would be that this was a rather short book, and it wrapped up a bit too quickly for me. It seemed like one moment they were dealing with their problems, and the next, WHAM, the problems were solved and all of their story lines were wrapped up neatly. I could have used a little more development in the middle but this didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.

I would recommend this one to anyone looking for a light, fun read about dating, love, parenting and friendship. I certainly enjoyed it!

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge, 2011 RYOB Challenge, 2011 E-Book Challenge

Review: "The Right Fit" by Sinead Moriarty

Emma Hamilton is back! Our plucky, desperate-to-be-a-mother heroine from The Baby Trail (my review) has returned after unsuccessful attempts to become pregnant naturally, and this time she's desperate to adopt. She and James have been informed that there is nothing amiss with their *ahem* plumbing, but since month after month they find that they are not yet pregnant, they have decided to adopt a child that needs them. The waiting lists to adopt an Irish baby are ridiculous (and going that route they would probably not become parents until they were old enough to become grandparents), so they've decided to adopt a Russian child. The Right Fit follows their journey through the various adoption channels, including a not very supportive support group, a cold-as-ice social worker, and a not very successful attempt to learn the Russian language, all in the hopes of one day holding a child in their arms that will be theirs.

I have to say that I enjoyed The Right Fit so much more knowing that I have the third (and final) book on hand to read as well. I enjoyed The Baby Trail right up until the end, when I discovered that there were sequels and that I didn't have them. Am I the only one who thinks that this is something that should be on the cover somewhere? The Right Fit ends with a cliff-hanger, but I was prepared for that this time and I'm excited to read the final book in the series.

The book itself was a fun one to read. Emma is still desperate to become a parent, regardless of the path that she needs to take to get there. Her husband, handsome rugby coach James, isn't convinced that adoption is the way to go at first but he loves his wife and is happy to go along with anything that will make her happy. Emma rushes into this head first, and is determined to learn the Russian language and learn how to cook Russian food. She'll even wear the silly hats if she has to.

There were two things that made me love this book even more than the first one. One of those things is that her quirky family and friends are more of a focus in this book. Her best friends Jess and Lucy are feautured more, as well as Emma's brother Sean. The book was about Emma and James, yes, but there was a lot more to it than just their adoption journey. I also loved that Moriarty has taken yet another sensitive topic, foreign adoption, and has managed to make the book fun yet sensistive to the process. The book spans a time period of almost two years, and even though at times that was annoying (ie. turning the page and finding that six months have passed), it made sense. Moriarty doesn't make light of the fact that adoption can be a long and arduous process, lending a sense of reality to the book.

I raced through The Right Fit, curious to find out whether or not Emma and James will be permitted to adopt (I won't spoil it for you!), and I'm glad that I have the third and final book on hand so that I can read how everything ultimately turns out.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge, 2011 RYOB Challenge

Review: "From Here to Paternity" by Matt Dunn

When my sister-in-law brought over several books for me to borrow, I was thrilled to see From Here to Paternity by Matt Dunn in the pile. I read my first Matt Dunn book in 2010, and I laughed the whole way through The Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook (my review). I'm eagerly anticipating the sequel to it, The Accidental Proposal, and I couldn't wait to get my next Matt Dunn fix.

From Here to Paternity tells the story of Will Jackson, a decent single guy who just can't wait to be a father. Tired of his single-guy lifestyle he really puts himself out there to women who may potentially make good mothers. He allows himself to be set up on blind dates, he tries his hand at Internet dating, and he even auctions himself on eBay. Despite his best efforts he seems to be scaring off potential mothers, rather than attracting them, and Will starts to think that he may never become a doting dad. That is, until Emma walks in. The mysterious Starbucks employee steals Will's heart but will she always remain at an elusive distance?

I had high hopes for this one, but it fell a bit flat for me. I guess that I had the hardest time believing that there is a man out there who would give up his single-guy lifestyle to become a dad, to the point where he barely cares what the mother of his child is like aside from the fact that she will be a good mother. I know that there are men out there who are desperate to become fathers, but Will seemed to undergo this complete personality shift and does some pretty unbelievable stuff.

I probably would have been able to suspend my belief on all of that but From Here to Paternity wasn't all that funny. And it didn't offer the same insight into the male mind that The Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook did. It was a good read, but not a great one, and even though this in no way discourages me from reading more Matt Dunn in the future, if you're new to him I would suggest starting with a different one of his books.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge, 2011 RYOB Challenge

The Book Chick's 2011 Challenge Sign-Up Post

Forgive me for not posting each of these challenges individually. This year I would like to have all of my challenges posted in a single post, primarily for my own convenience.

2010 was the first year that I participated in challenges, and although I kept track of what I read for each challenge, I'll admit that I didn't actually go back to the host site and post my review links. Maybe I'll actually do that this year. Or maybe not. I'll see how things go. I enjoy participating in challenges, but mainly because it brings me interesting insight into my own reading habits and it encourages me to read books that I may not have read otherwise. There are two challenges that I will not be participating in this year, the New Author Challenge and the Chick Lit Challenge. They were both great challenges, but I found neither challenging. Apparently I like reading books by new-to-me authors because I read a total of 105 books by them last year. My goal was 25. Hmmmm....gotta love an overachiever! I enjoyed Chick Lit Challenge but stopped keeping track of my reads part way through the year. Let's face it: I love chick lit, and will read it without being challenged to.

In 2011 I will continue participating in two challenges with 2011 end dates: The Canadian Book Challenge 4 and The Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge.

So, these are the challenges that I will be signing up for in 2011:

The 100+ Reading Challenge hosted by My Overstuffed Bookshelf
0/100

The goal is to read 100+ books in the year. In 2010 I read a total of 140 books (to date), but my plan this year is to have a more relaxed approach to my reading and my only goal for this challenge is to read 100 books.

The 2011 Support Your Local Library Challenge hosted by Book Junkie's Bookshelf
0/30

The goal for this one is to read 30+ books from your local library. In 2010 I succeeded in reading 26 library books, so it may be a bit of a challenge to reach 30, but I love my local library and all that it brings to my community so I am going to try my best. Since I just got an eReader and can now check books out of the eLibrary program it should make this challenge a little easier.

The South Asian Challenge 2011 hosted by S.Krishna's Books
0/5

The goal for this challenge is to read books about South Asia or written by South Asian authors. I'm signing up to be a South Asian Explorer and to read 5 books that fit the category. I'm excited about this challenge because I enjoy South Asian books but didn't read many in 2010.

2011 E-Book Reading Challenge hosted by The Ladybug Reads
0/12

This challenge challenges you to read eBooks. Since my wonderful husband got me a Sony eReader for Christmas I'd like to put it to good use. I plan to participate at the "Addicted" level, meaning that I'm committing to reading 12 eBooks in 2011, but hopefully I'll be able to reach the "Obsessed" level and actually read 20. My library offers eBooks for checkout, so that should make this challenge even easier.

2011 RYOB Challenge (no host at this time)
0/25

The site that hosted this challenge last year has yet to put up a 2011 sign-up page, but I'm still going to challenge myself to read 25 books of my choice off of my own bookshelves this year. I enjoyed participating last year, and since my personal bookshelf tends to grow in leaps and bounds (darn you, amazing used bookstore!) I want to make sure that I'm actually reading these books. My only rules for myself are that it has to be a personal copy of mine, and not a library or review copy. As far as this goes, though, the books that count for this challenge can be new, used, or contest wins.