REVIEW: SISTERS LIKE US, BY SUSAN MALLERY

 

Divorce left Harper Szymanski with a name no one can spell, a house she can’t afford and a teenage daughter who’s pulling away. With her fledgling virtual-assistant business, she’s scrambling to maintain her overbearing mother’s ridiculous Susie Homemaker standards and still pay the bills, thanks to clients like Lucas, the annoying playboy cop who claims he hangs around for Harper’s fresh-baked cookies.

Spending half her life in school hasn’t prepared Dr. Stacey Bloom for her most daunting challenge—motherhood. She didn’t inherit the nurturing gene like Harper and is in deep denial that a baby is coming. Worse, her mother will be horrified to learn that Stacey’s husband plans to be a stay-at-home dad…assuming Stacey can first find the courage to tell Mom she’s already six months pregnant.

Separately they may be a mess, but together Harper and Stacey can survive anything—their indomitable mother, overwhelming maternity stores and ex’s weddings. Sisters Like Us is a delightful look at sisters, mothers and daughters in today’s fast-paced world, told with Susan Mallery’s trademark warmth and humor.

My Thoughts: Sisters Like Us is a family story. One that shows the reader how the mother/daughter/sister bonds could be very challenging, but could also lead to the chance to watch the characters grow and change.

Harper is a fascinating woman who has taken on the task of single mother/business woman, and even tries to stand up to the criticism of her mother, Bunny, who seems to believe that she is the only one who knows the right way to be a woman.

Sixteen-year-old Becca feels ignored due to her mother’s full schedule, and as a result, she sulks and closes herself off instead of accepting her own part in the relationship issues.

Stacey is a brilliant scientist, pregnant at 40, with an unusual parenting plan ahead of her. She is terrified of her mother’s critical nature, and as a result, she is keeping a very big secret.

I liked the setting of Mischief Bay, and enjoyed how the characters interacted with one another.

Issues of abandonment, loss, and starting over kept me engaged until the last page. 5 stars.

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