I received this book as a gift and thought it looked like a fun summer read. I couldn't have been more wrong. The premise for the story (two "fish-out-of-water" mothers in their late thirties start their own line of beauty products) is wasted in the hands of the two writers who collaborated under the name Annie Sanders. The "plot" just drones on and on: They need more supplies to make their face cream! Whew, they managed to get the supplies. But now they need MORE supplies! Oh, what a relief, they got the supplies . . . but now they need still MORE! Ugh. As far as the two main characters, Izzie and Maddy, are concerned, I agree with the reviewer who said they were more or less interchangeable, not to mention shallow and vacant. Furthermore, though the two authors pat themselves on the back in the book's Afterword for writing about mothers of small children rather than single women, the children barely appear in the story at all except as personality-free creatures who are constantly interrupting things by needing to be picked up from school each day. In addition, Izzie's troubled marriage is dealt with so ham-handedly that it almost seems like a parody of a bad marriage, except that, unlike a successful parody, it's not at all funny.
And that's the main problem: The book isn't funny, and it's not entertaining. I can already imagine future reviewers telling me to "lighten up," but I respect fiction as an art form and in return I demand that it respect me! A book billed as funny, entertaining, and smart should actually BE funny, entertaining, and smart. It should not be rambling, pointless dreck about forgettable characters, conveyed in the world's most lackluster prose. The two authors should stick to writing how-to manuals and not inflict another "masterpiece" like this one on the world.
I agree with the reviewer who recommended Marian Keyes' new novel over this one. It has some of the same elements (tragedy in a marriage, creation and promotion of a miracle beauty cream), but it's about a million times better. Do not waste your money on this book by "Annie Sanders." You'll regret it if you do.