I received an ARC of this book from Sarah Goldstein of St. Martin's Press.

First of all, there were several typos in the book, which I hope the publisher plans to fix before the final copy is released in March 2012. It drives me insane to find typos in books and I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Now, here are some of my thoughts on the book.

Title/Author: Another Piece of My Heart by Jane Green:

Summary: Andi has spent much of her life looking for the perfect man and at thirty-seven years old she's finally found him. Ethan-divorced with two daughters, Emily and Sophia- is a doting father and even better husband. Always hoping one day she would be a mother, Andi embraces the girls like they were her own. But in Emily's eyes, Andi is an obstacle to her father's love, and Emily will do whatever it takes to break her down. When the dynamics between the two escalate, they threaten everything Andi believes about love, family and motherhood-leaving her standing at a crossroad in her life... and in her heart.

This was the first Jane Green novel I've ever read and I'm sad to say I have mixed feelings about it. At some points, I really, really loved it and felt like the characters were easy to relate to but at other points, it just didn't work for me.

I understood Emily's anger, but some of it seemed a bit to out there to be even the slightest bit real. Towards the end, I really started to see some amazing traits in her that I wish would have been shown throughout the novel.

Andi. What is there to say about Andi? She always felt as if she were the victim in every single situation, which kind of annoyed me. Though there was something, and I can't quite put my finger on it at the moment, that I liked about her. I really started to like Andi when she started standing up to Emily.

Ethan was supposed to be this amazing husband, but I never really saw that until Andi quit talking to him after one of the large fight. He always stood up for his daughter, Emily, and tried to calm her when she would throw her tantrums. But he didn't do anything like that for Andi, his wife.

Some of the dialogue was a bit lengthy and should have been broken up by some form of action. There was a bit that would be better just omitted.

As a warning, there is a lot going on in this book and occasionally the author has goes off on a random tangent, so if you like the story to be straight-to-the-point, this may not be the novel for you.

Now, for the things I really loved about this novel. First off all, the overall concept of the story was really strong. It is complicated to join a pre-made family, especially with older children. That point is well conveyed in the book.

Most of Andi's friends were well written and very likable. They seemed to give her very sound advice. They were honest and caring.

I loved that the ending felt right. It concluded at a point that actually made the book feel whole.

Overall, the book was interesting; I was pretty satisfied with the story and characters. I'll probably check out some of her earlier work.