cover image The Other Mothers' Club

The Other Mothers' Club

Samantha Baker, Avon, $14.99 paper (432p) ISBN 978-0-06-184035-7

Soon after Eve, the heroine of this overbusy debut, plunges into stepmother territory, she realizes she's in over her head. She turns to best friend and single mother Clare for advice, and the help sessions soon mushroom into the Stepmothers' Support Group. Members include Clare's younger sister, Lily, who is dating an older man with a toddler; Melanie, who wants a family of her own and is recovering from a bad breakup with a man who didn't want kids; and Mandy, who is trying to juggle the blending of two families full of teenagers. Baker partially succeeds at polishing the image of the much-maligned stepmother, thanks to strong characters like Eve and Clare. But the glut of personalities at play between club members and their families and friends proves too much for Baker to handle, and as she loses the battle to develop even some of players central to the increasingly convoluted plot, contrived developments and uneven storytelling become ever more apparent. (July)