Welcome to those on the CLP blog tour of Unexpecting by Lori Verni-Fogarsi.
After the review stay a while and find a great easy recipe for supper or walk through my garden to see what is blooming this month. As for the regulars who come all of the time, you know where the tea cups are stored. Find your favorite and let’s get into this book.
Image from Chick Lit Plus
So, some of us knows what it feels like to finally have kids out of the house or just about out of the house. You plan a great vacation for just you and the spouse. You buy a white couch. And you count down the days until that moment of peace with kids out of the house.
That is until a child shows up with no place to go, claiming to belong to your spouse. She comes along with a big drooling dog and a pregnant belly a month away from delivery.
Holy mid-life crisis not of your making.
Well, that is exactly what happens to Shelley and David who are both on their second marriage. They have been married about 10 years, raising their combined family of 4 children, the last of whom is a senior in high school.
But with Alexandra’s arrival, the finish line suddenly disappears. While she is a senior in high school, she is no where near being ready to handle the huge responsibilities that await her. Worse yet, she will drag the family through trauma they never expected.
The situation feels very real as this family goes through highs and lows from dealing with Alexandra’s issues as well as other family members who are trying to find their way. In that way, I appreciated the book for being real and honest, for not just focusing on Alexandra and what her inclusion does to the family.
Image from CLP
The other part I like was how the parents dealt – or didn’t – with the problems brought on by Alexandra. A marriage gets rocked and both sides have to figure out what is most important to them.
So here is the long of the short – would I read it again? I think the answer is yes because I like Shelley to certain extent and I feel for her in a problem that was not her making.
Shelley did not ask for Alexandra’s mother to die, she did not expect David to do some of the things he did. Nor did she expect to have to be the tough guy. She and David have a great marriage but when the going gets rough, suddenly he is acting like a dofus, forgetting how she has been there for him through the years.
Perhaps that is what bothered me the most, characters getting a little out of character. Some of the characters went in directions that seemed totally out of their normal routines. And yet, does that not happen to all of us when life throws a curve ball? We act a little crazy and reject those around us? That I can understand while not liking it one bit.
What perplexed me the most was the emotional buffer in this book that I or the characters could never break through. I could see their pain but never touch it. Alexandra – with all of her teenage drama and justifiable but unnerving angst – may have been the truest character.
In the end, the journey was worth the ride. We watched a couple make the next steps towards redefining their lives as well as slowly accepting a new person into their lives. Life, as it turns out, is never really all that boring.
Lori Verni-Fogarsi has been an author, speaker, and small business consultant since 1995. She has been featured in major media including Lifetime Women’s Network, the My Carolina Today Show, and Boston Globe Forums Live.
Her public speaking has occurred at many prestigious venues including North Carolina State University, Nassau Community College, and many more.
She has received two awards for her novel, Momnesia, and her nonfiction, Everything You Need to Know About House Training Puppies and Adult Dogs, continues to be one of the most highly recommended in its genre since 2005.
Lori is a happy married mom of two, step mom of two more, and has two cats, both rotten. Originally a native New Yorker, she now divides her time between Raleigh, NC, and Lake Gaston, VA.
She is very excited about the release of Unexpecting, and looks forward to her book tour, interviews, launch parties, and other festivities!
Notes from Rumbly Cottage 