Ellie Black was 13 when her mother died, so, when she meets her future mother-in-law she is delighted that she may finally get to have a mother again.
When Linda tells her that she is more a daughter to her than her own daughter, Ellie is thrilled.
Even before the wedding takes place, Ellie begins to have second thoughts about her relationship with Linda.
First there is the wedding itself. Ellie and Dan wanted a small, intimate affair. When Linda and Michael offer to pay for the wedding, Linda takes over, telling Ellie she’ll have to have a daughter of her own to get the wedding she wants.
Then there are the weekly family get-togethers, the daily phone calls, the unexpected drop-ins. And, when Ellie and Dan’s first child is born, things get even worse for Ellie.
Suddenly she feels like she’s competing with another woman for both her men — her husband and her son — and neither appears to be willing to take her side. After all, her child is only an infant and as far as her husband is concerned, this is the way his mother’s always been.
Although her friends as well as her husband counsel her to learn to accept Linda for who she is, Ellie can’t seem to do it. It seems to her that Linda is trying to push her out of the only family Ellie has — Dan and their son, Tom.
When Linda and Michael babysit for Tom one evening and a horrible accident occurs, that’s the last straw for Ellie. She cuts her mother-in-law completely out of her life.
By doing this she seriously damages not only her relationship with her husband, but with her friends as well.
As with most chick lit, it’s best not to search too deeply for meanings, but this novel does bring up some interesting points about what makes a marriage and a family work. Although Ellie is a bit whiny and her mother-in-law a bit bossy, we don’t often get to pick our family or those who love them.
Lisa Dees is a Raleigh freelance writer.
