The Bright Side of Disaster

Previously I have gushed about Katherine Center's novels. Today I finished off the last Center novel that I had yet to read, The Bright Side of Disaster. This is a book I purchased back in 2007 when it was first published. And even though I read her newer books, this one continued to sit on one of many TBR piles. An insurance policy of sorts for whenever I needed a guaranteed good book.

I was not disappointed. Although I decided to read this one only while using my Airdyne bike, today -because I was 50 pages from the end- I broke down and quickly read the rest while the house was still quiet this morning.

Jenny and Dean are awaiting the birth of their baby. Life might not be perfect, but overall, Jenny is happy with her life and all she has to look forward to. Dean may not be the most supportive potential father, but he doesn't seem to have any glaring flaws. Until he goes out one night and never returns. Jenny is left to begin her life as a parent alone. Although she finds her role as a mother all-consuming, she does manage and even appears to be making an effort to move on with her life, when - of course- Dean returns. Now Gardner, the neighbor she had a date with seems a distant memory as Dean tries to move back in and resume life as it once was. However, although Jenny was not angry when Dean quickly departed, she is angry now that he has returned, and things aren't so "happily ever after" for them.

Of course I knew how I wanted this one to end, and Center did not disappoint. Her novels seem to fall somewhere between chick lit and women's fiction, which makes for a great read, full of characters I can relate to.

I wish Center could write more quickly because now I have no more of her work to read until something new is published.