Synopsis

Overworked and underappreciated Emily Esposito thinks wrestling her young son Dante into his Halloween costume is her biggest worry-until her husband shows up with his new girlfriend and tells her their marriage is over.

Emily resolves to put three-year-old Dante first. Her sister Clara and best friend Michelle are her greatest cheerleaders while she works desperately to carve out a sunnier future for herself and her son. In her heart, Emily never stops dreaming of a man to grow old with and a true love to call her own.

Review (contains spoilers)

After her husband leaves her for another woman on Halloween, Emily is rightly devastated. Left with her young son Dante (with whom she fell pregnant at college), Emily struggles to keep it together, hoping that it’s just a phase and Tyler will be back.

Yet a mere 7 months later she is engaged to someone else… who she’s only just started dating? Surely after one failed marriage, you wouldn’t rush into another? Especially with your friend’s brother… he might have fancied Emily since school but she hadn’t ever looked at him like that so maybe get to know him a bit first? Meanwhile her ex husband is also engaged & his fiancé is pregnant…

The book was very readable, much like an amusing story your friend would tell you over a glass of wine, with plenty of drama. However, the main character Emily was spoilt and quite shallow. She didn’t seem to care about anyone but herself and while she clearly loved her son, she often put her needs above his…

At times she came across as strong and feisty (especially when dealing with her parents), but her behaviour was still borderline brattish and she couldn’t seem to accept the idea that she didn’t need a man in order to survive.

There are some really good sub plots like her father’s accident, her work situation and her experiences with online dating (such a shame the author sent Liam off to Lima). Clara and Sophia are great characters and their friendship with Emily was a delight – they were well-written and developed nicely throughout the story. As for Zoe… I’d personally remove her from the story as she didn’t add anything to the story and was just a bitch!

The fact that by the end of the book Emily has found someone else and is able to sell the house and move on was lovely, but that would’ve been enough. The story would have been more believable and Emily would’ve ended up feeling more confident and dependent, able to take control of her life.

Unfortunately, the rushed engagement ruined the whole book, because it was unnecessary and unrealistic.

I was given a copy of the book by the author. All opinions my own.