Review by Booklist Review
Amy wasn't expecting to run into her husband at the drugstore. Not after he left her and their two children, moved to Hong Kong, and started his life over again. But now he's back in the picture, working remotely and excited to rebuild a relationship with his children. Amy agrees to a weeklong summer visit, which goes well enough to turn into a longer stay. With an unexpected amount of child-free time on her hands, Amy heads to New York for a conference and some much-needed downtime. She enjoys catching up with friends and revisiting old haunts, but a new romantic interest leaves her feeling revitalized, energized, and deeply confused. In the easygoing, character-driven style of Liane Moriarty and Barbara Davis, this story of an underappreciated single mom with more freedom than she's entirely comfortable with mixes the self-assured highs with the guiltiest lows of modern motherhood. Harms' (The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay, 2016) warm and witty novel will tickle fans of Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2012) and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017).--Stephanie Turza Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
School librarian Amy Byler grabs the opportunity to get away to New York for a week of rest and reading while her children get reacquainted with their long-lost dad in rural Pennsylvania. But the week stretches into more than two months and a makeover that changes her life. Through a series of journal entries, Cori, Amy's daughter, shares the adventures that she, her brother Joe, and Amy's sort-of ex-husband John have as they get to know one another. Meanwhile, Amy is learning how to be herself, someone she lost when John left her three years ago. Her friends encourage her to date and laugh at herself as she makes mistakes and finds her way. Readers will be rooting for Amy as she navigates the dating world and makes friends who will stick with her, even in times of tragedy. VERDICT Librarians and book lovers will fall for Amyand. Harms (The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane) writes a great light read full of tears, laughter, and charming, relatable characters.-Jane Blue, Davie Cty. P.L., NC © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Freed from her responsibilities for parenting her two children, a school librarian from Pennsylvania spends a self-indulgent summer in New York City in this novel by Harms (The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane, 2013, etc.).Amy Byler is understandably surprised when she sees her husband, John, an attorney for a food products company, in her neighborhood drugstore. Three years earlier, John went to Hong Kong and never came home. Now, he wants to spend a week with the children he abandoned: Cori, 15, and Joe, 11. Amy heads off to New York, where she delivers a presentation at a library educators' conference and has first-date sex with "hot librarian" Daniel Seong-Eason. When John's week with Cori and Joe turns into a month, Amy stays on in New York, where she gets a new wardrobe and hairstyle and is featured in Pure Beautiful, a fashion magazine managed by her college friend Talia, who offers Amy her apartment, rent-free, for the summer. The whole expensive adventure is financed by John's seemingly unlimited credit card, the magazine's makeover budget, and Amy's generous online dates, arranged by Talia's assistant, Matt. Amy misses her children, worries that they don't need her, and is torn between her glamorous life in New York and her responsibilities at home. The story is unevenly paced and has some clichd characters and a contrived setup. In the end, convenient compromises make everyone happy, and Amy achieves easy success in her family, love life, and career.Worn-out moms might enjoy this escapist story of a runaway mother's fantasy "momspringa." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
