Baby,Baby,Baby - Holly Kerr

 

Pages: 326

Published: August 31st 2012 by iUniverse.com

Genre: Chick-lit

Format: Kindle Ebook

Acquired: Gifted from the author

Date Finished: 16^th January 2012

Link to Amazon

Synopsis:

Thirty-five-year old kindergarten teacher Casey Samms has always dreamed about having her own baby. With her copy of A Young Woman's Guide to the Joy of Impending Motherhood on her bedside table, Casey has been steadily wading through the pool of eligible bachelors for years-with absolutely no luck. Now as she bids farewell to a cheating boyfriend and to dating in general, Casey just needs to figure out how to get pregnant without having a man in her life.

Casey immediately discounts her male friends as potential fathers and decides to pursue having a baby the artificial way, even though her sister and friends do their best to try to talk her out of it. But Casey is determined to see her dream come to fruition and begins looking at every male as a potential donor. Just when she is beginning to give the word desperate an entirely new meaning, an old ex-boyfriend, David Mason, saunters back into her life. All Casey has to do now is try to convince him that he is the one who can help her become a mother.

As Casey prepares to realize her lifelong dream, she is about to get the surprise of her life-a surprise that changes everything

Quick thoughts: A frustrating, but heartwarming story about pregnancy in modern times.

The first half of Baby,Baby,Baby was a downwards spiral from interest to annoyance. Our main character, Casey is a single female desperate to get pregnant with no real thought as to how to go about and the mental maturity of a teenager on the edge of adulthood.  It is no surprise she comes across as flaky and self-absorbed though because it is explained numerous times that her mother has the same self-absorbed mentality and her best friend Brit is not that far off. If I took anything from the first 45 percent of the book it’s that the way people treat their friends and the family and those they associate with truly do reflect a person.

I am by no means one of those people who things conventionally; i.e – there must be a man and a woman who are married to have a child or even together. I believe single women are just as strong to take care of children as those who are in partnerships and marriages. But she was not in the right frame of mind at all. Now don’t get me wrong, life is messed up and dark and there are people who are self-absorbed and uncaring and unthinking. But damn it grated on my nerves. Not only that, but I found it hard to take in that she really did care about anyone aside from using them as a baby making machine. And I truly do understand the need, and the pain it takes to make that dream come true, but to me it felt all kinds of wrong and I lacked that attraction towards her quirky ways and her determination.

There were of course characters I responded to and cared for deeply, Coop for instance, Morgan and even to varying degees, David, Emma and J.B. But everyone else reminded me to much of the people I work hard to avoid and as hard as I tried to feel for any of them, they were to self involved for me to give that time and attention to getting to know them. And damn I do know that there needs to be a good mix in a novel and conflict and you need to throw rocks at your characters before you can give them what they want, but for the most part of the first half of the novel I wanted to throw my kindle at the wall.

And then the story took a complete 180 turn, as did Casey when she learned that she had achieved her dreams, and all that annoyance went out the door when she, for better or worse grew a backbone and grew a little. It was actually really enjoyable to read and while I am not 100% convinced about her character the journey from the midpoint was an addictive one, and I found myself laughing, smiling and even tearing up a little. I even enjoyed that a certain [BITCH] got a good speaking too. But the most endearing part of the book for me was the growth of a few particular characters, J.B included and how everyone had formed and changed a little from the joy of Casey’s gift.

All that being said Holly’s writing style is easy to read and even fun at times. Plus who doesn’t love a sexy older man or two. I think the joy of being a mother and the little quotes was a fun little way to tie in fact and fiction and I had to laugh at the1940’s look at pregnancy and motherhood {thought these quotes } compared to modern times; it’s a great thing to see how far we have come as partners, lovers, friends, family and parents and the roles we now take on in regards to creating a family. I do believe that underneath all the layers of this book; that was what I have taken from it - the less conventional look inside the raw and emotional turbulence that is life, love and the joy of a dream come true.

I do want to personally thank Holly Kerr for allowing me to review this book. While it wasn’t 100% my cup of tea I am still glad that I read this book and I would like to thank Samantha over at CLP tours for allowing me a spot in the tour. It has been a fun, if not frustrating month.

I am giving this one:

★★★.5

Pee sticks