** spoiler alert ** Ugh. It's very rare that I get this pissed off by a book, especially such random chick lit. This review contains spoilers, so don't read anymore if you ever plan to read this book.



Ok, here goes:
The story was about a NYC couple, Ben & Claudia, that are madly in love. They both agreed before marriage that they never want kids, but after a close friend had a baby, Ben changes his mind. It's out of the question for Claudia, and since neither will compromise, they promptly divorce. (and this was the fastest divorce I ever heard of, fictional and all!) No counseling, no conversations, nothing - just divorce.
Claudia then starts dating this hot guy from work and after he takes her to Lake Como and gives her this wonderful cocktail ring, she decides that she doesn't want to be with him. (WTH?!!! The only way I wouldn't want to be with him after this would be if I met George Clooney at Lake Como!) Nope, she decides that she wants Ben back and will do anything, even have a baby, to get him back. This is where I really got pissed off at the author - I'm all for twists in a book, but really?! You portray this strong, successful woman that wouldn't back down on her stand and now she leaves a good relationship and will sacrifice everything she believes in for her ex? Why didn't they explore counseling instead of just getting a divorce? Why couldn't she have watched her sister's kids and had a change of heart? Or make her fall in love with the new man, to only find out he has a child, then what would she do? I'm no author, but I definitely could have thought of a better twist or plotline. I felt conned. But not as conned as this future fictional baby would - "mommy never wanted you, she just wanted daddy."
The other plotlines in the story were also ridiculous. Her best friend always dates bad guys and right now she's with a married man. To keep him, she tricks him into a pregnancy. Now this friend is also friends with Claudia's sisters - one that's desperate to have a baby, the other has been cheated on multiple times by her husband. Why would these 2 sisters even be friends with her, it's like she's rubbing it in their faces?! She ends up miscarrying and the dumped by the married guy, but no worries, as she ends up in a serious relationship about 2 minutes later with a nice, black man. (The author didn't tell us his race or I missed it before they were dating, but proceeded to mention that he was black in about every conversation thereafter. That annoyed me too, as there was no reason for her to make that point).
The sister that wants babies asks Claudia for eggs and the plot goes like this: let me think about it, maybe, no because I'm saving all my eggs for when I get Ben back! But that's ok too, because she meets a very pregnant teenager at the shoe store around Thanksgiving and adopts her baby right in time for Christmas! And both birth parents are tall, so the baby won't be short like his adopted dad!
Ben refuses to cooperate with Claudia when she doesn't want kids, but takes her back no matter if they have kids or not. Ummm, so you divorced over this but now it's all okay? Good grief, I hope they never have babies because they might change their mind and not want it, give it away, and then ask for it back again.
Claudia also bad mouthed the cheating brother-in-law, but when her sister temporarily forgives him, all is okay with him, he's not that bad.
The author had some witty lines and would probably be okay if this was a short story. I think she wanted to please all the readers and not try to stir up controversy, but she managed to annoy me to no end.
Jodi Piccoult could take a very controversal issue and still give a satisfying ending without pissing off a lot of people, I wish this author can learn something from her. I picked this up at a yard sale (thank God I didn't pay a lot for this or I'd be really annoyed!) along with her other books - they're all going directly into my yard sale pile, I'm not wasting my time again.