"A Romance With Humor, Life Lessons, and a Hard Dose of Reality"
Reviewed by Rachael Dimond
Posted May 7, 2008
Women's Fiction Contemporary
NOT QUITE A MOM is the newest book by Kirsten Sawyer,
author of NOT QUITE A BRIDE. In this story, we are
introduced to Elizabeth Castle. Elizabeth works in LA as a
fact checker on a tabloid TV show. She loves her job but
wishes she had her own TV show or something more then just
spouting out Jennifer Aniston's true hair color and the
weight of the latest anorexic celebrity. Elizabeth left her hometown of Victory, California and
never looked back since. She isn't necessarily proud of the
small hick-like town she grew up in. She hasn't returned to
Victory to visit any of her old friends or even her own
parents. But fate has its own ideas on how to pull
Elizabeth back home. On the same night that Elizabeth becomes engaged to her
long time boyfriend Dan, she receives a call from her old
prom date Buck Platner. Buck is a lawyer back home in
Victory and has some bad news for Elizabeth. Elizabeth's old best friend from high school, Charla
Dearbourne, has died in an accident along with her
husband. Buck informs Elizabeth that Charla's will
appointed her the guardian of the child, Tiffany, and he
needs her to look over and sign the papers to finalize the
guardianship. Unfortunately, a fifteen year old girl isn't exactly in
Elizabeth's life's plan. So instead of doing the right
thing and handling the situation, Elizabeth decides to
unplug her phone and avoid talking to Buck about the
orphaned teenager. Buck Platner has harbored feelings for Elizabeth ever since
their high school prom. He feels that Elizabeth is his one
and only true love and the one that got away. Buck hopes
that he can win a second chance with Elizabeth when she
returns to Victory to meet with him about Tiffany.
Unfortunately, Elizabeth is avoiding talking to Buck and is
newly engaged. How will Buck win Elizabeth over if she is
already taken by another man? NOT QUITE A MOM is a contemporary romance that moves along
at a fast pace with hilarious ''get your man back
scheming'', ''what is the right thing to do'' situations, a
love triangle, and a touch of pop references that will put
a smile on your face. I was reluctant to like the main character Elizabeth Castle
after the way her character acted throughout the story.
The characterization of her was done very well because she
is vividly real and acts like a real person, flaws and
all. I enjoyed this story but I did have several problems with
it. I didn't feel like Elizabeth's character was ever
redeemed of her heartless ways. Even though there are
scenes where she is supposed to have changed, it just
wasn't believable to me. Also the ending was too abrupt
and left me unsatisfied. However, I did enjoy this book despite the small nuances
that I had with this story. Sawyer's writing is personable
and keeps the reader interested. I look forward to her next
novel with the hopes of another fantastic story.
SUMMARY
From the acclaimed author of Not Quite a Bride comes a
romantic new novel about a woman with a plan-for love,
life, marriage, and motherhood-and how one phone call
upends it all. When Elizabeth Castle's handsome Beverly Hills boyfriend
Daniel McCafferty proposes, she feels like all her hard
work has finally paid off. Granted, her fact-checking job
for a tabloid TV show isn't exactly the news anchor spot
she aspires to, but she's come a long way from the backward
hometown she left at eighteen. That is until a lawyer from
Victory, California, calls to announce that Elizabeth's
best childhood friend has died and left custody of her
teenage daughter, Tiffany, to Elizabeth... Buck Planter, a former high school football star in
Victory, has never forgotten his senior prom date, Lizzie
Castle, and her irresistible, too-cool-for-school attitude.
He always hoped he'd reconnect with her, but arriving at
Elizabeth's doorstep with Tiffany in tow isn't exactly the
kind of romantic reunion he'd envisioned. Though fate might
have other ideas when at the prospect of instant fatherhood
Elizabeth's fianc‚ breaks off their engagement.
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