Then Came You

By: Jennifer Weiner

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

An unexpected love story…

Jules Strauss is a Princeton senior with a full scholarship, acquaintances instead of friends, and a family she’s ashamed to invite to Parents’ Weekend. With the income she’ll receive from donating her “pedigree” eggs, she believes she can save her father from addiction.

Annie Barrow married her high school sweetheart and became the mother to two boys. After years of staying at home and struggling to support four people on her husband’s salary, she thinks she’s found a way to recover a sense of purpose and bring in some extra cash.

India Bishop, thirty-eight (really forty-three), has changed everything about herself: her name, her face, her past. In New York City, she falls for a wealthy older man, Marcus Croft, and decides a baby will ensure a happy ending. When her attempts at pregnancy fail, she turns to technology, and Annie and Jules, to help make her dreams come true.

But each of their plans is thrown into disarray when Marcus’ daughter Bettina, intent on protecting her father, becomes convinced that his new wife is not what she seems…

With startling tenderness and laugh-out-loud humor, Jennifer Weiner once again takes readers into the heart of women’s lives in an unforgettable, timely tale that interweaves themes of class and entitlement, surrogacy and donorship, the rights of a parent and the measure of motherhood.

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I have to admit I'm looking at this cover and wondering which character is sitting on that desk looking out the window. Honestly it is probably Bettina or Jules. It's such a simple intriguing cover, either way.

The flow is fantastic - there are 4 main characters and they each get their own share of the book. They all have their own problems and issues to overcome in the story.

This story sucked me right in and I read it all within 2 days. It's not short, but it moves so fast. I don't think any part ever slowed down except for Bettina's parts because she could be such a brat...but I think that was intentional, so good job!

I had a hard time with Annie's story as well. I loved her character and with 2 small boys and no where near enough money I could easily relate to her. There was mention of vacation at Disneyland and also about digging through the bins at a clothing swap hoping to find winter coats...these 2 things do not match up. It was a bit of a jolt in the storyline. I can tell you for a fact - if she is praying to find winter coats at a church bin, no way are they vacationing for a week in Disneyland.

But that was early in the story and easy to let go. All 4 women had good traits and baggage to deal with. You come out loving all of them for the courage they show as they go through all the heartache to get to the end.

It is fairly sad through some of it, but there are a lot of triumphs as well. It's like reading a fantastic Lifetime movie.

Best point in the story - after working so hard to be rich India realized that instead of feeling secure she was just as stressed out knowing it could be gone at any moment. I think that was by far her most eye opening moment. And my next favorite part was learning that even though Jules was stunningly beautiful she had no idea how to deal with the stares. That men leering at her made her uncomfortable and that women treated her badly because of it as if she were asking for that attention. She was so lonely.