Amy Poeppel

A sweet and funny story. Basically it is about a woman who?s husband divorces her for a much younger, attractive and successful woman. Melinda is very bitter about the break up and is out for revenge. Her revenge ends up getting one person fired from her job, making the life of another very difficult and causing her ex to become distraught over his new love. Kirkus: The lives of a disparate group of people in Manhattan?s Greenwich Village unexpectedly become intertwined.A brownstone, a bar, and a baby�these create the sweet spot where the lives of a group of people intersect. In the brownstone are Lauren Shaw, a potter; her husband, Leo Aston, a professor; their three children, Charles, Harrell, and Waverly; Lauren's mother, Evelyn; and Philip, an antiques expert and Leo's gay biological father. Then there's Olivia, the children's nanny; Todd, a freelance sound engineer and Olivia?s former boyfriend; Melinda, a receptionist at the children?s school; Russell, Melinda's ex-husband, philanderer, real estate lawyer, and father to the aforementioned baby; Felicity, a TV home-makeover expert and mother to said baby; and Dan, Olivia's father and owner of the Sweet SpotÂ¥the bar below the brownstone. And, of course there's the baby: formally Horatio, informally Hank. Melinda, enraged by how her husband of nearly 30 years has destroyed her life by having an affair and leaving herÂ¥although the resulting destruction of her career and possessions was all her own doingÂ¥is hellbent on revenge against Russell, Felicity, and Lauren (who she has been told convinced Russell to leave her). As Melinda wreaks havoc, she causes Olivia to be fired. The story follows Melinda?s efforts to destroy, her realization that revenge is not as satisfying as she?d hoped, and the way most of the group comes together to take care of the innocent caught at the center of it allÂ¥Hank. There is an engaging whirlwind of characters, an exploration of unruly and conflicting emotions, and an investigation of whether a lifelong monogamous marriage or a heteronormative family unit are the only places familial happiness lies.Staged much like a play or TV show, this is another enjoyable exploration of the messiness of life from Poeppel.… (mais)

I'm glad I read a review about this book from a trusted book blogger that I follow. She stated it took her a bit to get into the story because there were a lot of characters to keep track of in the beginning, but that she was so glad she stuck with it. I agree!
I really enjoyed this story of family, diversity, perseverance, tenacity, and love told with humor and surprises! The author did a great job of weaving several character's stories together yet not following the easy path for any of the character's journeys.
This is the first book I've read by the author and will definitely read her other books.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this fun story!… (mais)