Okay life is chaotic, crazy and sometimes even scary. Carr introduces us to a really eclectic group of characters in BLUE SKIES. But it all works. Somehow she manages to take this group and find a way for them to function as a rather odd family. Written in 2004 it still resonates with validity and power.

It's all about starting over and living up to your potential -- not down to other expectations. Everyone deserves a second chance, a new beginning every once in a while and for Nikki, her children and a couple of friends they were overdue. Life was getting complicated and not in a good way.

Nikki's ex-husband dies suddenly and now her children will be living with her full time -- something she always wanted but wasn't in the cards. Her ex did quite a number on her in too many ways to mention. When he died there was nothing left for the children and so Nikki was going to have to be really resourceful. Luckily she was a well qualified and respected pilot and an amazing opportunity came at just the right moment. Becoming chief pilot at a newly formed airline wasn't something she had ever planned for but it was a welcomed offer. Her entire family was so excited about the new career and the move. Seems they were all on board for a new life.

Lucky for Nikki she had a strong support group which was essential for a full time working mother with a very demanding job. Thing is her friends lives had also begun to spiral out of control and starting over was definitely a step in the right direction. Her friend Carlisle had to recover from an abusive relationship with his lover. And their friend Dixie needed to distance herself from what had become a self deprecating series of disastrous affairs of the heart. Well that was the problem -- to Dixie it was about finding love -- to the married idiots that seduced her it was about an entirely different part of the body.

Women making it in a primarily male dominated profession -- like commercial airline pilots -- face some huge problems usually with regard to respect from their co-workers. Nikki had personal experience with some really nasty, vindictive men who probably saw this feisty woman as a threat in several ways. At the new airline Nikki was dismayed to see one particular pilot who didn't seem the right choice for the position he was hired for. He was her superior and there was no disguising his dislike for her and unfortunately was quite vocal about it. That's where it gets rather dicey. Women have to be real careful knowing when to step over the line of power and exercise their right to be heard. Nikki needed to use her female smarts where a man could perhaps use his brawn.

That's when the fun begins in earnest -- watching Nikki gain the confidence and guts to give as good as she got. BLUE SKIES is a real eye opening look into the world of aviation and Robyn Carr does it with her usual panache. The book is written post 911 and references the events of that time as it affected the airline industry for sure but it was her inclusion of how lives were forever affected that make BLUE SKIES heartwarming and relative.