The Bright Side Of Disaster by Katherine Center

Title: The Bright Side Of Disaster

Author: Katherine Center

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Release Date: Published June 26, 2007

Jenny Harris always expected that she’d fall in love, get married, and have a baby–in that order. Now, very pregnant and not quite married, she actually doesn’t mind that she and her live-in fiancé, Dean, accidentally started their family a little earlier than planned; she’s happy to have so much to look forward to. But Dean–whom Jenny loves enough to overlook his bad facial hair, his smoking habit, and his total commitment to a cheesy cover band–is acting distant, and not in a pre-wedding-jitters kind of way. The night he runs out for cigarettes and just doesn’t come back, he demotes himself from future husband to sperm donor.

And the very next day, Jenny goes into labor.

In the months that follow, Jenny plunges into a life she never anticipated: single motherhood. At least with the sleep deprivation, sore boobs, and fits of crying (both hers and the baby’s), there’s not much time to dwell on her broken heart. And things start looking up. She learns how to do everything one-handed, makes friends in a mommy group, and even manages to give dating tips to her sweet, clueless father–who’s trying to court her sassy mother again, fifteen years after their divorce. She also gets to know a handsome, helpful neighbor–with a knack for soothing babies–who invites her out dancing. But Dean is never far from Jenny’s thoughts or, it turns out, her doorstep, and in the end Jenny must choose between the old life she thought she wanted and the new life she’s been lucky to find.

A spirited debut novel with a terrifically appealing voice, a fantastic sense of humor, and a lot of heart, The Bright Side of Disaster reminds us that sometimes it takes the worst-case scenario to show us the best in everything.

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Continuing with my desire to read everything written by Katherine Center, I had to go back to her beginnings. The Bright Side of Disaster was her first published novel. Although, I do wonder about her Duran Duran fanfic :)

The Bright Side of Disaster is about a young pregnant woman, Jenny Harris. When the story begins, Jenny is staying home waiting for the arrival of her first child. Jenny is sure it's a boy. She's enjoying her pregnancy and she's happy and in love with her fiance, Dean. But her happiness won't last. Dean becomes distant and suddenly one day, he just leaves and never comes back. The day after, Jenny is in labor and all her careful birth planning goes out the window. Being a single mother is not easy. The painful birth, the lack of sleep, the battered nipples, the constant worry about this new life you have created are all things carefully brought in by the author.

There were many things I enjoyed about The Bright Side of Disaster. Katherine Center has a knack for making me smile and sometimes laugh out loud. Her characters can make me quite angry and some I wish I could hurt them physically. Dean was a perfect example. He was simply a bad man. A man who was not happy with his life and who was not mature at all. He thought Jenny was beneath him. He used her and left her high and dry when she was counting on him the most. A despicable man.

I hated that Jenny decided to sleep again with Dean. It was bad enough that she knew he wanted her friend instead of her back when they first met. I was mad enough when she let him stayed at her home but when she slept with him, I was furious. I also didn't like that Jenny decides to hide it from Gardner. He deserved the truth. Starting a relationship with omitted lies is not a good idea.

Other than Dean's parts at the end of the novel, the rest was quite enjoyable. I wished I had seen more of Jenny and Gardner together. Maybe after a year has passed.

Cliffhanger: No

3.5/5 Fangs

The Lost Husband by Katherine Center

Title: The Lost Husband

Author: Katherine Center

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Release Date: August 1, 2013

"Dear Libby, It occurs to me that you and your two children have been living with your mother for -- Dear Lord! -- two whole years, and I'm writing to see if you'd like to be rescued."

The letter comes out of the blue, and just in time for Libby Moran, who, after the sudden death of her husband, Danny, went to stay with her hypercritical mother. Now her crazy Aunt Jean has offered Libby an escape, a job and a place to live on her farm in the Texas Hill Country. Before she can talk herself out of it, Libby is packing the minivan, grabbing the kids, and hitting the road. 

Life on Aunt Jean's goat farm is both more wonderful and more mysterious than Libby could have imagined. Beyond the animals and the strenuous work, there is quiet, deep, country quiet. But there is also a shaggy, gruff (though purportedly handsome, under all that hair) farm manager with a tragic home life, a formerly famous feed-store clerk who claims she can contact Danny "on the other side," and the eccentric aunt Libby never really knew but who turns out to be exactly what she's been looking for. And despite everything she's lost, Libby soon realizes how much more she's found. Libby hasn't just traded one kind of crazy for another; she may actually have found the place to bring her little family, and herself, back to life.

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“You can’t just wish strength for yourself. Or wisdom. Or resilience. Those things have to be earned.”

Another great novel by Katherine Center!

After reading 3 books by Katherine, I've come to appreciate her writing style. I'm a fan for life.

The heroine of this novel is Libby Moran. She's a widow and has two children, Abby and Theo. Her husband, Danny, passed away three years ago in a motor vehicle accident. Her daughter Abby was hurt during the same accident and she still walks with a limp. Libby still feels residual guilt about his passing. They had an argument the morning before the accident.

For the last year, Libby has been living with her mother. They don't get along and arguments are always present. Then a letter from her aunt arrives. In this letter, her aunt offers her a job at her goat farm and a place to live for her and her children. Libby doesn't think about it twice. She immediately packs their few belongings to start a new chapter in her life and the life of her children.

At the farms, things are different. She has to wake up early to milk the goats. She's dressing in overalls and makeup is a thing of the past. She has to learn to deal with the farm manager, who has a lot of facial hair. Her children are starting a new school and she worries about Abby and her limp. So many changes but at the end of the day, she's happy she made this choice.

The shaggy manager, James O'Connor stole my heart. He was so good to Libby's children. He was sweet and caring. I love all of their interactions.

“That’s not a farm manager,” I said. “That’s Chewbacca.”

The Lost Husband is quite inspirational. It's about family, loss, despair, love, and hope. It's also about moving forward and adapting to changes.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

Title: Happiness for Beginners

Author: Katherine Center 

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: March 24, 2015

A year after getting divorced, Helen Carpenter, thirty-two, lets her annoying, ten years younger brother talk her into signing up for a wilderness survival course. It's supposed to be a chance for her to pull herself together again, but when she discovers that her brother's even-more-annoying best friend is also coming on the trip, she can't imagine how it will be anything other than a disaster. Thus begins the strangest adventure of Helen's well-behaved life: three weeks in the remotest wilderness of a mountain range in Wyoming where she will survive mosquito infestations, a surprise summer blizzard, and a group of sorority girls.

Yet, despite everything, the vast wilderness has a way of making Helen's own little life seem bigger, too. And, somehow the people who annoy her the most start teaching her the very things she needs to learn. Like how to stand up for herself. And how being scared can make you brave. And how sometimes you just have to get really, really lost before you can even have a hope of being found.

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I love E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G about Happiness for Beginners! I love the growth of the characters, the theme of the book and the wilderness trip. In my opinion, there was not a single scene that didn’t have a reason to be there. 

I can’t express how in love I’m with Helen and Jake. Their banter was magnificent. Jake was ultra McDreamy in so many ways. From his sense of humor to his nerdiness. From his accomplishments to his fake insecurities. From his confidence to his personal suffering. I LOVE him.

Helen was such an original character. It was easy to identify with her. If she was embarrassed, I felt embarrassed for her. When she was feeling down, I was feeling down. When she learned to look for happiness on a daily basis, it made me think of all the things that made me happy every day. When her heart broke, my heart broke for her. 

What's Happiness for Beginners about?

Helen Carpenter is a 32-year-old teacher. She's had a tough time in the last year since her divorce. As a challenge to improve herself, she has signed up to do a survival trip in the Wyoming mountains. The night before she has to leave, she stops by her brother Duncan's house. He's supposed to petsit for her. She wasn't expecting to find a party going on, her brother nowhere to be found and her brother's best friend, Jake thanking her for driving him to the same survival camp. Here is where I stop telling you more. I would rather you experience this story. I thoroughly enjoy it. I hope this is not the last time we see these characters. Duncan is worth getting his own book.

Having read 3 books by Katherine Center in less than three weeks, I can assure you that I've become a huge fan.

Cliffhanger: No

5/5 Fangs

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center

Title: How to Walk Away

Author: Katherine Center

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: May 15, 2018

From the author of Happiness for Beginners comes an unforgettable love story about finding joy even in the darkest of circumstances.

Margaret Jacobsen has a bright future ahead of her: a fiancé she adores, her dream job, and the promise of a picture-perfect life just around the corner. Then, suddenly, on what should have been one of the happiest days of her life, everything she worked for is taken away in one tumultuous moment. 

In the hospital and forced to face the possibility that nothing will ever be the same again, Margaret must figure out how to move forward on her own terms while facing long-held family secrets, devastating heartbreak, and the idea that love might find her in the last place she would ever expect. 

How to Walk Away is Katherine Center at her very best: an utterly charming, hopeful, and romantic novel that will capture reader’s hearts with every page.

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“Dying is easy. It’s not dying that’s hard.”

How terrifying it has to be to have your worse fears come to life! This is exactly what happened to Margaret Jacobsen.

Margaret, a young woman, has everything to live for. She loves her boyfriend, Chip and she's about to start an amazing job. Anybody who knows Margaret knows she's driven. Then, a horrible event will destroy all her dreams and aspirations. Maggie will have to ask herself, is life worth living?

I read The Things You Save In A Fire, my first book by Katherine Center and I absolutely loved it. It was a 5 star for me. I couldn't believe this was my first book by this author and I immediately had to download this one. 

There are so many things I loved about How to Walk Away. There's the banter, Maggie's sister Kitty, who's by the way, my favorite secondary character. And then, there's Ian. Oh Ian, so many things I loved about you. From your Sottish brogue to your amazing connection with Maggie. 

Katherine Center has a knack for making up characters that I wish I could meet. I wish I could've helped Maggie. My emotions were all over the place. I didn't want for her to give up but I also understood how losing it all can devastate someone. It's so hard to start over! Maggie had more than enough reasons to not want to.

“I wasn’t a person who failed things.

I was a person who aced things.”

My one complaint will be the scene closer to the end. It was too cookie cutter for me. Too over the top if you know what I mean.

How to Walk Away had a winning combination. Realistic characters and dialogue. I can't wait to see what Katherine Center delivers next.

“When you don’t know what to do for yourself, do something for somebody else”

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs