Virginia Franken

Pearl Rule #51 (34%)

Rating: 2.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Last week, high-powered coffee buyer Amy O’Hara was trekking through the Ethiopian cloud forest on the verge of a discovery that could save the coffee bean from extinction. This week, she’s unexpectedly fired.

Suddenly Amy’s days are no longer filled with meetings and upscale tastings, but with put-together PTA moms, puke-ridden playdates and dirty dishes. Her husband has locked himself in the garage in order to write the Great American Screenplay, while both kids are steaming mad at her because she insists on dressing them like normal people and won’t give up sending them to school with healthy lunches.

It’s becoming clear that Amy may just be the world’s most incompetent mother, and she’s beginning to wonder if the only thing she’s good for is bringing home the bacon. When salvation appears in the form of a movie mogul ex-boyfriend who wants to employ her husband and rekindle their relationship, Amy starts to find she’s sorely tempted. . . .

One thing is certain: whatever happens, she’s going to need a lot more caffeine.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: It was the title. The title made me do it. And by gawd I slugged it out through nine chapters! I can not be accused of short-changing this story in the attention department.

I think I've mentioned how little I like the sexist and stupid "dumb-ol'-dad" plot...the one where the breadwinner comes home and, for reasons best known to comedy writers of the last century (or those stuck there), becomes incompetent and borderline moronic.

Here we are in a brand new century and here's that plot again! Only this time it's extra-funny stuff because it's Mom who's the clueless schmoe! Barely seems to know her kids. Definitely doesn't know the other mothers whose lives center on their own kids, or get what the power politics are.

Honestly, whether well done or not, this stuff's tired and needs to be laid to rest. This version's got tolerable writing. I am not the audience for it. I don't like to think most of y'all are, either, but you know your own tolerance for tired old comedy tropes from Bachelor Father and Married...with Children.… (más)

Half Sisters by Virginia Franken gives a whole new meaning to family drama. As per the title, the main characters are Maddy and her half sister Emily, who moves into Maddy’s family home in her teens, when Maddy was a few years younger. Until then, the girls had not known of each other, which made the transition to a new family dynamic difficult, to say the least. But the family did its best until a terrible incident resulted in Emily being forced to leave, not to return until the death of their father, decades later. This is when everyone’s true colours are revealed. Virginia Franken has drawn complicated characters . It’s difficult to determine which of the sisters is the most detestable and dishonest. There are also great secondary characters who make this story even more challenging. The plot evolves in a most satisfying manner, giving the reader plenty of characters and incidents to love &/or hate. The story alternates between the sisters’ teen years and their reunion as adults many years later. Half Sisters is fast-moving and akin to watching a car wreck. It’s always difficult to determine which one is the bad seed. Highly recommended. Thank you to Lake Union Publishing, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.… (más)

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review. There was very little I liked about this book. The writing kept switching from hip Californian to British conjunctions to invective, diatribe, and all over the place. The story was a poor excuse for ego, super ego, loss of ego and how could I possible be anything but a coffee buyer, screenwriter, poor mother, great mother even if we can't make the mortgage payment, our credit cards are maxed to the limit and on and on. The story was a testament to how many smarmy, insincere, hypocritical people making bad choices could be squeezed into 265 digital pages.… (más)