LOVE, LIFE AND A CHRISTMAS DUE DATE
Ellie is fresh back from her honeymoon and can’t wait to share her news with her best friends Katie and Jane. To everyone’s surprise, mother-of-two Jane has news of her own… The women are due a day apart and Katie can’t wait to be an honorary auntie to the babies.
But it’s hard to keep your sense of humour, not to mention your self-esteem, in the face of hemorrhoids and elasticated waistbands. Add a clingy mother-in-law, a career in cardiac arrest and a sex life that makes Mother Theresa look lusty, and soon their lives are as out of control as their bodies.
As the co-founders of The Curvy Girls Club, where loving yourself is the only rule, will the friends be able to practice what they preach?
The Curvy Girls Baby Club by Michele Gorman was published for Kindle by Notting Hill Press on 20th August (also available in paperback). It’s a novella, around 120 pages in print, and I know it was very eagerly awaited by everyone who had read The Curvy Girls Club. I’ve never read anything by this author, and when her publishers offered me a copy, I decided it was definitely about time I did.
I’ll be honest – I do rather wish I’d read The Curvy Girls Club first, just so that all the references to the earlier story meant more to me. The girls’ friendship and support network is quite lovely, and I’d like to have experienced it from the very start. That said, the author very cleverly made a new reader feel welcome, with enough “catch up” that it really didn’t feel like I was coming late to a party – and that’s pretty brilliant within the space of a novella.
Michele Gorman writes quite beautifully – very readable, a light touch with the humour, and well-rounded characters you can really believe in. Nothing could have been further from my comfort zone than this story – the maternity/motherhood cycle is something I’ve never experienced, and all the characters are young enough to be my children (OK – maybe grandchildren!). But I loved the female friendship, found Jane’s story particularly good, and just loved Ellie’s excruciating mother-in-law. The story moves really well, jumping forward in time to its inevitable conclusion.
I was quite surprised how much I enjoyed this one, and I’m sorry I haven’t read anything by Michele Gorman before – I’ll have to remedy that with her next full-length novel.
My thanks to Michele and Notting Hill Press for my advance reading e-copy.
Michele Gorman is the Sunday Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of nine romantic comedies. Born and raised in the US, Michele has lived in London for 17 years. She is very fond of naps, ice cream and Richard Curtis films but objects to spiders and the word “portion”.
You can find out more about Michele by following her on twitter, Facebook and by reading her blog or website. Do chat with her online – she’s always looking for an excuse to procrastinate!