Multiple Choice

by Claire Cook

March Monroe and her daughter Olivia are going to college. Not together at the same school, of course, just at the same time. March knows that Olivia is going, naturally, since she and her husband have just made their first exorbitant tuition payment. But Olivia doesn’t exactly know the arrangement . . . yet. It’s not as if March plans never to tell her; she just figures she’ll wait a bit––until they’ve had a little time to miss each other. So imagine Olivia’s surprise when one day she shows up for training at a local radio station and finds out that one of the other interns is . . . her mother.

Sharing an internship with her royally ticked-off daughter is not March’s only new challenge. Among the multiple decisions on her mind are what to do about a slightly tired marriage, a fourteen-year-old son who probably won’t be speaking to her for much longer, and a midlife crush, not to mention Quantum Physics and You––the class that just might put her over the edge. Laugh-out-loud funny, Multiple Choice is an effervescent novel of family life that will strike a chord with women everywhere––whether they have kids in college or are just now choosing their own majors. Required summer reading!

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Humor, Audiobook, Contemporary, Romance, Womens Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

CLAIRE COOK wrote her first book in her minivan at 45. At 50, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the adaptation of her novel Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, which is now an 8-book series. Claire is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling author of 25 books for 40-to-forever women, including her latest series, Bonus Time.

If you have a buried dream, take it from Claire, It's Never Too Late to Shine On!

Stay in the loop for new releases, giveaways, inspiration and insider extras at ClaireCook.com.

Read excerpts at ClaireCook.com/books/

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Reviews

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a poorly written book where a lot of things almost happen, but nothing really does. Most of the dialogue is forced and random, and doesn't seem like something people would actually say in the given situation. The husband and wife are in a "fight" after two or three sentences that seem harmless enough. The daughter is more like a bratty 13-year-old than a grown, college-aged woman. The characters are in turns one-dimensional, cliched, and unrealistic and you never really believe their motivations. There's a lot of talk about the pet bird and cat and you think the pets will have an important influence on the story, but it never develops. The best friend is completely pointless as she adds nothing whatsoever to the plot and in a movie would just be an unpaid extra. I speed-read through the last five chapters because it did not hold my interest and I just wanted to get it over with. Skip this one.

[Dianne · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Please, authors, can we get some women who have jobs such as secretaries, nurses, teachers, sales reps, coordinators, speech therapists, etc., instead of women who have a catering/gardening/decorating business?? I’m tired of authors painting such a charming picture of those self-owned businesses, when in reality most women can’t make a living in them.)

It was overly lightweight, relied too much on stereotypical characters and situations. Anyway, I got tired of the daughter’s horrid attitude and sassy mouth after two pages. And equally tired of the mom’s assumption that it’s the nature of the beast for her daughter to be that way, letting her get away with it.

However, there was one redeeming value. The author spends a few paragraphs describing the woman’s long-term marriage in ways that realistically reflect 1) the subtle signals and 2) the extent to which compromise is necessary.

[Allison Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! It was sweet, realistic, and at times had me laughing out loud. Claire Cook really knows how to hit close to home without making her characters seem fake or strained.

[Elliedakota · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute fluff - quick read.

[Whitney Oaks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally I rated this three stars, but I changed my mind after I summed it up for my husband when he asked what I was reading. It was just so ho-hum.

March and Olivia, mother and daughter, are both attending college at the same time, just not at the same school. However, when forced to take on an intern position, they both choose the same radio station by coincidence. Olivia acts like a stuck-up, spoiled teenager who's parents pay for everything. {I don't understand this at all, especially since I've always paid for my own things.} I sided with March, even though she's a middle-aged college drop-out who has decided to have a mid-life turn-around or something.

The producer or whatever he is, at the radio station decides to fill a time slot that is being vacated by this crazy lady who has no clue what she's talking about. The new show will be co-hosted by March and Olivia. March has a crush on a guy at the station and feels like her marriage is dull.

Those are the major points. I mean really, nothing happens. There was no climax or anything significant. I could have gone forever without reading this and never felt any regret. I hate to be so harsh, but when I read a book, I like for something to happen.

Maybe pre-menopausal women will appreciate this more than I, especially since I don't have kids and have only been married 3 years. If you're looking for a book that doesn't require any brain-power, this book might interest you. Otherwise...

**Note: This does not reflect on the author as a whole, just on this book.**

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not completely terrible, but not overly stimulating either so far. Just not much actually seems to happen. It's possible it's about pick up as of the last chapter's developments. I'm a bit worried though...I feel I can identify a little too easily with the 50yr old's pov instead of the 18yr old's should I? I'm only 32! I know March the Mom is who we're supposed to root for, but I'm just feeling a bit old. There's probably a good reason this was on B&N's clearance rack.

Ok, so a week later, and maybe "not completely terrible" was a bit generous, as I've been absolutely uninclined to pick this book up even once. I'm so close, and it's such an easy read, I just want to finish it and be done, but, alas, uninspired.

Well, I'm never going to finish this one because it's astoundingly boring & I cannot get myself to pick it up off the shelf at all. Put a fork in it. I'm done.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually really enjoy Claire Cook novels, but I was disappointed in this one. March Monroe has enrolled in college just as her daughter does. Although the women don't go to the same school, they end up sharing an internship at a radio station and soon end up with a radio show.

I had one big problem with this book. I HATED Olivia. I know that we are supposed to root for March, but Olivia came off as completely unlikeable. I kept thinking 1) that she acted more like a spoiled 13 year old than a college freshman and 2) how could these decent adults that I liked, raise such a brat!? It kind of ruined it for me.

[Marta Moran Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claire Cook delights readers with another book, ‘Multiple Choices,’ is rich in charm, wit, and life. One can easily become immersed in the lives of each character as we follow their decisions. So true to life is the plot of this book that one can only imagine what the consequences would be if you were in the position of any of the characters in this charming book.

True to her usual elegant and character driven novels, ‘Multiple Choices,’ takes you deep into the hearts, minds, and emotions of each and every character for she doesn't have any that are not essential to the story. Ms. Cook is truly a masterful story teller.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

March Monroe's daughter from hell is going off to college, unfortunately she's not going far enough away. She's much too close for comfort. Especially when March decides to go back to college herself and the two find themselves at the same radio station for their freshman internships. The failing radio station, desperate to put some spice in its line-up, give the mother-daughter spitting, hissing duo their own show. Now they can fight in public and get college credit for it.

If you've ever parented a teen-age daughter, this book will make you laugh until you cry.

[Melanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, glad to have finished this......I did skim “speed read” towards the end, because I just didn’t care anymore and wanted to be done with this story!
Olivia the daughter is a bratty obnoxious college freshmen and her mom is a whiny self absorbed housewife who goes back to school. They find themselves in the same internship, and act as I expected them too! Ridiculous!
The only thing I got out of reading this is that it counts towards the final number of books read for my reading goal for the year!

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am neutral on this book. Not good, not bad. I didn't love it nor did I hate it. A quick and easy read, although I have read better from this author. Mom and daughter attend two separate, but not distant, colleges. They then both sign up for interns at the same radio station, and end up with their own show, which is a hit.

[Pam Marcola Duff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok so this book had good potential but every aspect of the book falls flat. No well executed and mother story line is boring. Husband and wife aspect boring. Kinda a boring book then it ends with no warning. I kept reading then it was over and I was thinking wow what did I just read. A women with older kids goes back to school, ok great where’s the story line?

[Edwina Book Anaconda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow ... I hated this book so much and am glad to be done with it.
Not one single character is worth caring about, they are all really boring or somebody-please-slap-the-snot-out-of-them annoying.
Blech! What a waste of time.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A breezy beach read about getting older and the choices we are forced to make. I especially enjoyed the mother's relationship with her children.

[Linda Burell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is exactly what I was looking for. Easy, non-thinking read simply for relaxation. I gave it 4 stars because it accomplished what I wanted and made me laugh.

[Bookish Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Once again I was treated to a book that was complete hammered shit. Now Multiple Choice by Claire Cook sounded promising. The protagonist, March Monroe, has decided to go back to college at the same time her daughter Olivia is starting her freshman year. No, they’re not going to the same college. Olivia is attending Boston University and March is attending the local community college. But things get really weird when both March and Olivia end up as interns at a local radio station. Wait, don’t most people do internships when they are seniors in college? I guess things have changed since I matriculated at my alma mater.

To say Olivia is pissed to find her mom interning at the same is a bit of an understatement. Olivia is mortified and annoyed. And she acts more like a 13-year-old going through puberty than a young woman in her first year of college. For some odd reason, the bickering between March and Olivia inspires the powers that be at the radio station to give these two their own radio show. Why the station would give two untested, inexperienced amateurs a radio show over more qualified candidates is beyond me.

March and Olivia’s show is called, “I’m Rubber, You’re Glue,” a show that’s supposed to be about the relationships between mothers and daughters. The two don’t exactly know what they are doing, and in the show doesn’t come across as very riveting. But for some reason, they are encouraged to keep doing their show and they even get photographed for a huge billboard to advertise “I’m Rubber, You’re Glue.”

March has other things going on beyond her internship and the radio show. As mentioned, March is going to college. She has a hard time connecting to her fellow students due to most of them being much younger, but she does manage to make friends with an older lady named Etta. And though March enjoys most of her classes, she’s having difficulty with her quantum physics class.

March is married to a man named Jeff and also has a son named Jackson. The Monroe family also has a bird named Flighty and a cat named Feral that somehow fit into the story, but not really.

To make some money, March works as a directionality coach, which is a pretentious way to call oneself a life coach. However, March seems to need more direction than some of her clients, especially in the way she treats one of them in a very condescending manner.

Despite March and Olivia going to school and having a radio show, nothing much happens in Multiple Choice. Just when you think the action will pick up, the story falls flat and doesn’t go anywhere. The dialogue is insipid, and many of the characters aren’t fleshed out to make them interesting. And both March and Olivia are not pleasant people who you would want to spend time with even though I’m sure Cook was writing them to be relatable. Olivia is a whiny brat and March never seems to stand up for her. March is also really judgmental towards other people. She makes snot-nosed comments about a photographer hired to take pictures of her and Olivia for the billboard. I guess March was expecting Annie Liebowitz to waste her time and talents on two nobodies.

So should you read Multiple Choice? Yes? No? The answer is easy. No!

Originally published at The Book Self:
https://thebookselfblog.wordpress.com...

[Nancy Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

March Monroe is returning to college just as her daughter Olivia is beginning her freshman year of college. Different colleges, same town, but both of them becoming interns at a local radio station.

Their mother-daughter relationship is fragile enough, but this shared experience may put them over the edge. Told through March's perspective, the reader experiences all of her angst with her daughter's anger at sharing the same space as well as her growing inertia of a marriage going stale, her husband Jeff and son Jackson. Doing too much, spreading herself too thin, and struggling with a physics class may just too much particularly when there's a flirtation going on with the radio station's producer.

Each chapter starts with a multiple choice question, which is infused with humorous answers. Will March and Olivia settle their differences? Will March and her husband Jeff find their way back to each other? Is it possible to have it all? Lots of choices for Marc.h...multiple choices.

Lighthearted story with characters that could be friends, and situations that are both uplifting and sometimes sad

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so boring. I thought it would at least be cute with a nice mom/daughter ending, but there was nothing in this book. I rolled my eyes with many page turns. Nothing in this book seems to reach a resolution. All the characters are one sided with no depth. March is a directionality coach that displays no direction or even common sense of her own. I felt no attachment to or sympathy for her.

The thing that bothers me most is the "idea" or truly lack thereof for the mother/daughter radio show in the first place. Put these two on the air and, what, just let them argue and disagree? Don't give them any topics to discuss to get the show running, and just hope people call in to talk to strangers who argue. Why would anyone call in to a show like that? Neither March nor Olivia seem capable of offering any depth of thought to a concern outside their own lives. It's at best a half baked idea.

My review can't have any spoilers because this book had no plot.

[Stacey Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

What happens when your mom goes to college at the same time as you do? This is the worst thing that could happen to Olivia. At least they aren't going to the same college. But they both end up at the same internship. March Monroe has to try to balance college, not ruining her daughters' life and keeping things going at home....it's too much....things don't get done. The family doesn't have food in the house, the cat litter ends up in the oven and March can't get rid of a straggler hanger-on in her life directionality coach business. This tells the story of a mother learning to let some things go and a daughter seeing her mother as a real person with goals and aspirations. Very real emotions, mostly anger and resentment crowd the pages. We've all been somewhere near where March and her daughter are....at some point in life. Funny, true to life and a joy to read.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breezy, witty read targeted to women 40+ experiencing transitional stages of life. The mother-daughter relationship felt particularly realistic (speaking from personal experience!). Lately, I've been circling back with some of my favorite authors to read their earlier works that I'd missed the first go-around; published in 2004, Multiple Choice feels dated in some regards (e.g. there's an explanation of "Googling" within). Also, the ending seemed a little abrupt, but overall I enjoyed revisiting Cook's work and it reminded me why she's a personal favorite.

[Linda C · Rating 3 out of 5]

March Monroe decides to go back to college to finish her degree the same year her daughter starts college. Her community college requires all students to take an internship and she picks a local radio station. When she arrives she finds her daughter their interning also and pretty perturbed at finding her mother there. This short comedic novel deals with March trying to leave behind her old job, revitalize her marriage, let go of her daughter and start a new chapter in her life. Fun read.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hysterically funny. I was browsing one of my bookshelves toad, and noticed I had written those 2 words about it in 2007. That was before I discovered Goodreads, so never wrote a review. Whenever I finished books that I own, I wrote a little note inside with the date, so that I would know that I read them already.

[Amy Siegfried · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Cliched, with the usual suspect stereotypes. The fact that mom put up with the attitude and mouth of the daughter speaks volumes. It was a somewhat painful book to read masquerading in humor

[Cláudia Machado · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
225 pages in which nothing happens, needs a special kind of talent... Even more so, because I read it all and was waiting for the plot to move along and... it didn't...
The writing was good, but the characters were so unidimensional, and the plot was non-existent, as I said already...

[Debbie Tanguay · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute spots mom goes back to college with daughter

[Kyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Definitely enjoyed must love dogs more. Kept waiting for a plot twist but it never happened!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a good Claire Cook book. She writes about people that could be your neighbor except they end up in these humerous situations.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay... that was sweet.... little boring and predictable also

[Deedee · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars...