My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

When he got his tonsils out at ten, he came to and immediately looked between his legs… The neighbor’s dog got neutered the week before… Jon was confused about what sort of surgery he’d had. The more we tried to explain it, the more agitated he got, until we finally let him go ahead and inspect things.

 

She points to the screen. “That’s the next one. The next time you’re nude, take a moment to stand naked before the mirror and repeat the following—‘ I’m a beautiful sunflower, fragile and proud, mighty and soft.’” She looks at me and snorts. “I would pay one million dollars to see you do that.”

 

When Chuck takes Wendy’s hand as we pass from the south hall to the north lab, she smiles at him like he invented dark chocolate.

 

“It’s my birthday,” Archie announces proudly. “Eighty-five.”… Archie just beams and takes a bite out of his drumstick. “No one’s spanked me yet.”

 

We wait in silence for more kittens to appear, or for Jessica’s head to spin around. It’s the first time I’ve witnessed feline birth, and it’s not unlike an exorcism. But also magical.

 

I’d never say that to the girls, but Jon was beautiful the instant he came out. The others took a few days to stop looking like rashy coneheads…

 

“How do mothers know the exact right thing to say?” “It’s in the manual,” she says. “They hand it to you in the delivery room, along with a fifth of vodka and a pair of earplugs.”

 

My Review:

 

Tawna Fenske’s clever rom/coms are a guaranteed giggle-snort.   I relish her keen wit and amusingly observant insights and inner musings as much as her well-drawn and charismatic characters. Her engaging stories are always smirk-worthy with irreverent humor and comical antics deftly penned along with the thoughtful insertions of real-world issues and cunning incorporations of unique family drama, personal insecurities, and emotional vulnerabilities.

 

Her characters tend to highly appealing, multifaceted, and exceptionally bright as was the case with the main characters featured in this installment. Blanka was beautiful as well as brilliant with a head full of random facts, which she spouted uncontrollably when anxious. I adored her. Jon was not just a good guy – he was the superhero model of good guys. He was gentle and kind, gave generously from his wallet, and his entire career and much of his free time was spent in exceedingly admirable, selfless, and meaningful service and duty to the less fortunate and a mind toward the greater good. Blanka was all too familiar with these tendencies as her father was of the same mentality, although to the far extreme and to the detriment of his family life, something Blanka had no interest in repeating.   I enjoyed their blossoming romance and laughed aloud through their impromptu picnic with the ribald and saucy octogenarian Archie and his mortified relatives.