Challenge:Post Reviews:August
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Author Profile: Jennifer Coburn
Author Name: Jennifer Coburn
Website: http://www.jennifercoburn.com/
Bio: Jennifer Coburn is an award-winning journalist who has written for magazines and newspapers in the United States, Canada, and Australia.
She is a native New Yorker and a graduate of the University of Michigan.
She currently lives in San Diego with her husband, William, and their daughter, Katie.
Recent Titles: The Wife of Reilly, Tales From the Crib, Reinventing Mona, The Queen Gene
See my reviews of Tales From the Crib, Reinventing Mona
Bio Retrieved from jennifercoburn.com
Tales From the Crib by Jennifer Coburn
Lucy Klein is a suburban wife, leaving in the, well, suburbs, with her lovely husband Jack. She is getting ready to make a big announcement at the dinner table- she is pregnant. Jack is getting ready to make his own big announcement- he wants a divorce. Jack goes first. Lucy is stunned. Though she knew her marriage wasn’t exactly rock solid, she still is surprised at the D-word, and the timing couldn’t be worse. But Jack devises a plan, a co-parenting plan. They would live under the same roof and raise the baby as friends. Yes, friends. Friends who would also bring their girlfriends home while Lucy lay alone in bed at night. Friends who let their girlfriends take her adorable little son to the park. Lucy is still determined to be a great mom, and give her son everything he should have- including time with his father. But can she balance the stress of motherhood and the delicate situation with Jack? Or will it prove too tough to handle?
I absolutely adored Tales From the Crib by Jennifer Coburn. And I will say that knowing I was about to read a book that covered mostly talk about babies, birth, and breast-feeding, I really wasn’t looking forward to it. I am not a mom myself, so I wasn’t sure I would be able to relate to Lucy’s character, but I was proved very wrong. Even though we didn’t have much in common, Lucy’s slightly off-kilter personality kept my attention and more importantly- kept me laughing. This book is super funny! I was reading it in my break room at work one day and burst into laughter at one particular point, causing everyone to look at me like I was crazy. The supporting characters, especially Lucy’s mom, bring their own comedy to the story. Overall, I thought this was a funny book, but also very eye-opening on motherhood and the trials new moms go through. I know I will remember some of the lessons Lucy learns along the way if my time should ever come to start a family. I will definitely be looking forward to reading more from the very funny Jennifer Coburn.
[Rating: 4]
In My Mailbox: Week of March 13
In My Mailbox: Week of March 13, 2011
Title: Crystal Balls
Author: Amanda Brobyn
Received: From Amanda Brobyn
Synopsis: Tina Harding is a successful and ambitious estate agent. All is going according to plan and her painful past as a failed actress has been well and truly buried. Now she’s a down-to-earth and hard-headed businesswoman … Life, however, is full of surprises. While accompanying her more wide- eyed colleague, Chantelle, to a psychic fair, Tina herself falls victim to the lure of the Crystal Ball. She is warned that she must learn to trust her own decisions, and assured that the arrival of her soul mate is imminent. An elated Tina feels she has discovered a shortcut to fulfilment her very own life’s SatNav. Enter the gorgeous sex-on-wheels property-developer Brian Steen, who is very keen indeed to get up close and personal with Tina. But, call it fate, call it karma or just sheer bad luck, their steamy encounters are destined to fizzle out every time. But Brian is a patient man … up to a point … and, with help from Tina’s psychic guides, things are sure to pan out just fine … aren’t they? Crystal Balls … gaze into the unknown …
Title: Looking For Leon
Author: Shirley Benton
Received: From Shirley Benton
Synopsis: Andie hadn’t gambled on meeting the love of her life on a holiday in Las Vegas- but when she meets Leon, love suddenly seems like a bet she can win. That is, until the wheel of fortune steps in and separates them during a fire drill. With next to no info on Leon, Andie finds it impossible to track him down-despite staging a series of publicity stunts to get the media in on the act. Back in Ireland, journalist Andie begins to write a regular newspaper column about her search. Readers love it and a local TV station flies her back to Vegas to take up the hunt for the man she can’t forget. What starts off as a simple low-budget documentary, spirals into a frenzied national media search. With the world’s most ambitious PR agents on board, Andie becomes a heroine for those who are looking for love.
Title: Emily and Einstein
Author: Linda Francis Lee
Received: From Tricia Carr @ Media Muscle
Synopsis: He was a man who didn’t deserve a second chance. But he needed one…
Emily and her husband Sandy Portman seemed to live a gracious if busy life in an old-world, Upper West Side apartment in the famous Dakota building. But one night on the way to meet Emily, Sandy dies in a tragic accident. The funeral isn’t even over before Emily learns she is on the verge of being evicted from their apartment. But worse than the possibility of losing her home, Emily is stunned when she discovers that her marriage was made up of lies.
Suddenly Emily is forced on a journey to find out who her husband really was . . . all the while feeling that somehow he isn’t really gone. Angry, hurt, and sometimes betrayed by loving memories of the man she lost, Emily finds comfort in a scruffy dog named Einstein. But is Einstein’s seemingly odd determination that she save herself enough to make Emily confront her own past? Can he help her find a future—even after she meets a new man?
Title: Tales From the Crib
Author: Jennifer Coburn
Received: From Jennifer Coburn
Synopsis:
Talk about bad timing!
When Lucy Klein gets her positive pregnancy results, she’s overjoyed. She and her husband Jack have been trying to get pregnant for years throughout their rocky marriage. But before she can tell him the big news, Jack has something he needs to announce – he wants a divorce!
Rather than split up, Lucy and Jack decide to live together as friends. This way, they can share expenses and parenting responsibilities. Co-parenting is a fine deal for Jack who is back in the dating scene by Lucy’s third trimester of pregnancy, but is a frustrating one for Lucy who has unfulfilled sexual fantasies about every man from restaurant delivery boys to puppeteers.
Meanwhile, Lucy’s mother is taking over her life. The grand dame of Planet Earth, Anjoli frequently visits her daughter to share her own brand of maternal wisdom.
As Anjoli leaves her Drama Queen bookstore to “help” Lucy with baby Adam, the new grandmother has an affair with baby’s pediatrician, hosts two weddings (including cousin Kimmy’s wedding to herself), and constantly frets about which kind of pie to serve guests. With a cast of family and friends from Lucy’s Jewish aunts to Junior League neighbor, Candace, Tales From the Crib is the story of how one baby can bring people together – so they can drive each other nuts!
GIVEAWAY: Tales From the Crib by Jennifer Coburn
Talk about bad timing!
When Lucy Klein gets her positive pregnancy results, she’s overjoyed. She and her husband Jack have been trying to get pregnant for years throughout their rocky marriage. But before she can tell him the big news, Jack has something he needs to announce – he wants a divorce!
Rather than split up, Lucy and Jack decide to live together as friends. This way, they can share expenses and parenting responsibilities. Co-parenting is a fine deal for Jack who is back in the dating scene by Lucy’s third trimester of pregnancy, but is a frustrating one for Lucy who has unfulfilled sexual fantasies about every man from restaurant delivery boys to puppeteers.
Meanwhile, Lucy’s mother is taking over her life. The grand dame of Planet Earth, Anjoli frequently visits her daughter to share her own brand of maternal wisdom.
As Anjoli leaves her Drama Queen bookstore to “help” Lucy with baby Adam, the new grandmother has an affair with baby’s pediatrician, hosts two weddings (including cousin Kimmy’s wedding to herself), and constantly frets about which kind of pie to serve guests. With a cast of family and friends from Lucy’s Jewish aunts to Junior League neighbor, Candace, Tales From the Crib is the story of how one baby can bring people together – so they can drive each other nuts!
I have two copies of Tales From the Crib for giveaway! To enter, please send an email to Samantha(at)chicklitplus.com with your full mailing address. For bonus entries, comment on this post, comment on Facebook, or re-tweet on Twitter. Only those who email me their mailing address will be entered! Winners will be chosen on Wednesday March 9th. A big thank you to Jennifer Coburn for sponsoring this giveaway! Please check out her website for more great books, including her latest novel, The Queen Gene.
