#IT'S RAINING BOOKS SPRING READS BONUS BOOK: Will You Won't You Want Me by Nora Zelevansky

Book Information

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Women's Fiction

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (April 19, 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1250001277
• ISBN-13: 978-1250001276

Synopsis: Who is the real Marjorie Plum? Marjorie herself has no clue. She’s spent the decade since high school dwelling on her glory days. When things go from bad to worse, Marjorie is forced to move into a tiny Brooklyn apartment and take on a tutoring job for extra money.

At her most lost moment, Marjorie is surprised by renewed interest from a childhood crush and increasingly flirty banter with a grumpy new boss. Suddenly with the help of her 11-year-old tutee and mini-me, as well as her Dalai Lama-channeling roommate, Marjorie must decide between the life she’s always dreamed of and the one she never thought to imagine.

Review: I'm so glad this was included in the spring reads collection, otherwise I might never have chosen to read it, and I would have truly missed out. There is a lot of humor in the story, but there is also a lot of truth beneath the surface. Things don't always go the way we plan in life, and we have to find a way to deal with whatever comes along.

I think most women can relate to Marjorie as we've either been in her shoes or known someone like her--trying to figure out who she really is without the popularity of her high school years to define her any longer. She has to make some difficult choices along the way to discovering what really matters the most.

The third person POV used by the author is perfect for telling this story. There is a great deal of humor, a wide gamut of emotions, and some amazing descriptions of the settings--all of which combine to tell a moving tale which will stay with you long after you finish reading.

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.**

Rating: Four stars

About the author

Nora Zelevansky is the author of Will You Won’t You Want Me? (April 19, 2016) and Semi-Charmed Life. Her writing has appeared in ELLE, T Magazine (The New York Times), Town & Country, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and Vanity Fair, among others. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, New York.

#IT'S RAINING BOOKS--SPRING READS TOUR: The Goodbye Year by Kaira Rouda

BOOK INFORMATION

Genre: Women's fiction, domestic life, coming of age

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: SparkPress (May 3, 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1940716330
• ISBN-13: 978-1940716336
• 
  

Synopsis: Melanie, a perfectionist mom who views the approaching end of parenting as a type of death, can't believe she has only one more year to live vicariously through her slacker senior son, Dane. Gorgeous mom Sarah has just begun to realize that her only daughter, Ashley, has been serving as a stand-in for her traveling husband, and the thought of her daughter leaving for college is cracking the carefully cultivated facade of her life. Will and his wife are fine as long as he follows the instructions on the family calendar and is sure to keep secret his whole other life with Lauren, the woman he turns to for fun (and who also happens to have a daughter in the senior class). 
Told from the points of view of both the parents and the kids, The Goodbye Year explores high school peer pressure, what it's like for young people to face the unknown of life after high school, and how a transition that should be the beginning of a couple's second act together empty nesting is often actually the end.

Review:  Wow! These five families are all such a mess--I felt SO sorry for all the kids, honestly. Not one of them had what I would consider a normal family life. There was the helicopter mom with the drinking problem, the dad who admitted to a lengthy affair with another man (after giving his wife genital herpes), the dad who was having an affair with another mom....the list of dysfunction just goes on and on.

Among all that, these kids were trying to navigate senior year and figure out what they want to do with the rest of their lives. College fairs, college applications, career choices, just being able to finish high school--the trials and tribulations are numerous.

I'm glad that my "Goodbye Year" before the empty nest wasn't like any of these, but theirs definitely make for interesting reading.  This would make a great summer beach read if you don't get to it before then!

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.**

Rating:  Four stars

About the author

Kaira Rouda is a USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of contemporary women's fiction and modern romance novels that sparkle with humor and heart. Her previous award-winning and best-selling women’s fiction novels include Here, Home, Hope and In the Mirror. When she's not writing, she can be found walking the beach, practicing yoga, playing Pickleball, and enjoying as much time as possible with her family. Connect with her at www.kairarouda.com.

#IT'S RAINING BOOKS--SPRING READS TOUR: Meternity by Meghann Foye

BOOK INFORMATION

Genre: Women's fiction, romantic comedy

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Mira (April 26, 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 077831930X
• ISBN-13: 978-0778319306
• 
  

Synopsis: Not quite knocked up… 

Like everyone in New York media, editor Liz Buckley runs on cupcakes, caffeine and cocktails. But at thirty-one, she's plateaued at Paddy Cakes, a glossy baby magazine that flogs thousand-dollar strollers to entitled, hypercompetitive spawn-havers. 

Liz has spent years working a gazillion hours a week picking up the slack for coworkers with kids, and she's tired of it. So one day when her stress-related nausea is mistaken for morning sickness by her bosses—boom! Liz is promoted to the mommy track. She decides to run with it and plans to use her paid time off to figure out her life: work, love and otherwise. It'll be her "meternity" leave. 

By day, Liz rocks a foam-rubber belly under fab maternity outfits. By night, she dumps the bump for karaoke nights and boozy dinners out. But how long can she keep up her charade…and hide it from the guy who might just be The One? 

As her "due date" approaches, Liz is exhausted—and exhilarated—by the ruse, the guilt and the feelings brought on by a totally fictional belly-tenant…about happiness, success, family and the nature of love.

Review: To be honest, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book. From the synopsis, I thought it would be just a fun, silly read, and I wasn't sure I wanted to spend my time on that when I have so many other, more intense books waiting for me.

I am very glad I decided to take the chance on it, however. Yes, it is comedic, but it is also much deeper than that. It is a very realistic portrayal of what women deal with in the workplace in terms of their life choices.

Liz is a character who grows on me as the story progresses. In the beginning, I thought she was ridiculous for coming up with the fake pregnancy idea....but as she worked through the entire situation, I could see her becoming more mature and self-aware.  I wasn't thrilled with the way it all wrapped up, though, which is why I could only give it four stars. I can see this as a FABULOUS rom-com movie, though---keeping my fingers crossed!

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.**

Rating: Four stars

About the author

In addition to writing Meternity (MIRA, May 2016), Meghann Foye is the Senior Web Editor at Redbookmag.com, where she covers topics such as parenting, relationships, and infertility. She is an experienced women’s magazine editor, previously serving as deputy editor ofSeventeen Magazine, and has also worked at Woman’s Day, For Me and Elle.com, where she got her first taste of good strong coffee while covering fashion shows as an assistant in the Paris office. Meghann took her own #Meternity from 2010 to 2012 when she quit her job to travel to China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia and Australia to pen freelance travel articles and write this book. She has yet to figure out her own marriage and baby plan but hopes it ends up something akin to Angie and Brad’s globetrotting brood (no pressure there).