Sandy was tired of relationships that went nowhere-the three guys that she loved had toyed with her heart then split, leaving her to believe her late mother's maxim "men suck." Tired of pizza for one in her studio apartment, she finally used a dating app to match up with another guy, Justin. While not her ideal (he was an off-key singer in a grunge band), he did have a certain charm and they began seeing each other, but only every few weeks. He owned a window washing company, and with his erratic band schedule there wasn't a lot of time for Sandy. She noticed that he didn't seem interested in her life or friends, and she realized one night that she was spinning her wheels-she didn't love Justin and couldn't wait to dump him. When she woke up in the morning vomiting, she ran to the drugstore for a pregnancy test and saw the inevitable two lines.
What to do? All of her college besties were married and they were having a hard time trying to have children. Sandy was in her early 30's and she knew the cruel timeline that relationships needed-was this her only chance for a baby? She decides to keep the pregnancy and Justin told her that his mother would give her a baby shower, even though Tara did everything she could to cut Sandy out of their lives. At the shower, one of Tara's friends said something confusing, "this one barely eats too," Sandy was too depressed to care what it meant.
When she had Rosie her life blew up-no sleep, pumping breast milk at work, and Justin only came over sporadically to help. But when he did, he said something puzzling before he left, "I'm not going through this again." Then Tara blew the secret-Rosie wasn't Justin's first baby, he and Stephanie had a baby together eight years ago...and who's Stephanie?
Sandy becomes a dedicated stalker and finally tracks down Stephanie and her daughter Ashley. Amazingly, they hit it off. They both have time constraints and agree to share housing and babysitting so that Sandy can concentrate on her job and Stephanie can go to class. But soon they have to deal with a new wrinkle-Justin got a new girlfriend pregnant and he dumped her too after trying to convince her to have an abortion. She had her own house and the two other mothers moved in with her, creating their own momune. Things worked out pretty well until Justin married a religious woman who strong-armed him into suing for full custody of Ashley and Rosie. The moms only knew one thing-that was never going to happen.
This was a book of complicated relationships and trust issues. Each woman learned to rely on the others and built a caring and nurturing family that, while unusual, was just what each needed. I really enjoyed how the author took a disparate group of women and wove them into a cohesive group who would give their daughters positive role models as well as sisters. It recalled the old feminist saying, "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle"...men, take heed.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
May 6, 2025
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