MOMMY TRACKED

Author: Whitney Gaskell ISBN: 0553589695 9/2007 CHICK LIT Publisher: BANTAM DELL

For Anna, Grace, Juliet, and Chloe, the idyllic town of Orange Cove, Florida, is home…but even in paradise, balancing the challenges of motherhood and life is never easy. With a son in the throes of the Terrible Twos, divorced restaurant critic Anna has too much on her plate to reenter the frightening world of dating—no matter how expertly her new admirer wines and dines her… Grace has three beautiful daughters and the perfect husband, yet she’s increasingly obsessed with one nagging flaw: her excess baby weight… Ambitious Juliet is desperate to make partner at her law firm. Fortunately, her husband stays home with their twins. But at the office, Juliet is finding more than work to occupy her time.... When newest mom Chloe gives birth, her husband seems indifferent to parenting their son. Chloe is so overwhelmed that she finds herself slipping into a nasty habit she thought she’d overcome.…

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Finally! A novel that explores the challenges and complexities of working full time and trying to balance kids in your life and succeeding while doing this.

Four ladies form a "support group" of sorts—Anna, Grace, Juliet, and Chloe. Anna is divorced and has a son in the Terrible Two's. She is also a restaurant critic and a single mom, and feels that she has too much on her plate to date right now. Grace, a mother of three daughters, has a perfect husband. But Grace has become obsessed with losing her excess baby weight.

Juliet is a career-minded woman who is trying to make partner is her law firm. She is a new mother to twins, but has a stay-at-home husband who helps to balance her life.

Chloe has just given birth, but her husband seems to be indifferent to her and to their baby. Chloe is so overwhelmed that she is ready to make a move that could jeopardize everything.

I can sincerely relate to this book—juggling twins, a husband and a special needs child. But, like Juliet, my husband stays at home with our boys while I work. I felt a kinship with this novel—it was outstanding. The characters are real, with real problems that women face today. But, the novel is still full of humor and charm that will keep the reader entertained. I would suggest to any mother who works and has children to pick up MOMMY TRACKED and read it. Gaskell's work is a wondrous debut for a book that could give a tired mother a reprieve.

Kym Oetting