5 comments about Family Tree.

1. 
   This really sounded like a good concept. Interesting plot, etc. However, I found this book to be borderline boring and hard to follow. In fact, I found it to be very self indulgent and the characters unsympathetic.
   
   I could hardly finish the book and found myself wanting to skip ahead pages to get this finished. Despite the fact that they had a newborn, this was ALL they could talk about and seemed like they had discussions with random people. Seemed unrealistic.



2. This book was so engaging that I couldn't put it down and ended up reading it in one day. I found the situation in which this young couple found themselves very perplexing and was as anxious as they were to find out who in the family was responsible for their baby's African-American features.
   
   I also found Dana's confusion over her father to be quite plausible. His identity was a surprise and yet, even though rather unconventional, it was a believable situation. I wanted the character to develop this relationship and come to know her half-siblings.
   
   Delinsky's skill made me dislike Dana's husband for his reaction to the baby's appearance and his paranoia. Yet one has to wonder how one would react under the same circumstances. It was an unusual situation and the explanations did seem limited.
   
   Why three stars? I have a problem believing that a child so far removed from her African-American ancestor could inherit such strong physical characteristics. Even the genetics expert Hugh consulted seemed to dispel the possibility. So, since I question the foundation of the book, I couldn't rate it higher even though I really enjoyed it.



3. Three times I gave up on this book. First, a brand-new mother's first day home from the hospital, a dozen or so of her friends drop in to see the baby, and we're supposed to think this is NORMAL? What planet do these characters dwell in? Second, the father-in-law is such a thoroughly off-putting Eastern Liberal hypocrite turd that at one point I threw the book across the room. Third, the plot was so PC, such a PLUM ripe for the picking. And then, about halfway through, the story kicked in. Events happened, characters reacted and began to change. Well done!



4. This is an excellent book, easy to read, but would have been worth it if even more difficult since there are several plot threads. It is well written and shows obvious in-depth research in a couple areas--unusual for paper back "chick lit" books. My first B Delinsky book, but it won't be my last.



5. As an African American woman living in America and in the 21st Century I can say that this book is a complete concoction of the author's imagination. Do you want to know what offends other cultures, races, and ethnicities? I know one thing: People writing books involving those ethnicities and getting it completely and horribly wrong! I found 3 things to be terrible and indicative of ignorance on the author's part.
   
   1) The African American characters
   
   Okay I always wondered why so many white writers exclude diversity in their work. This book is evidence of why that should continue to be the norm. The black neighbor, the black woman a part of Dana's sowing group, and Dana's husband's great-great-great grandfather were all biracial! The majority of black people in the US are at least 80% black and 20% other races. Barbara Delinsky had the nerve to make all the black characters self-deprecating, self-hating, white loving, and biracial!!! Look lady, we got too much literature, movies, music, and other media showing that black people are more than pleased to be black and are proud of that. Yes, there are people who hate their blackness, but there are people who hate their whiteness, Asianness, etc... It happens, but does Dana's neighbor have to be such a Uncle Tom?! 'It sucks to be black. I wish my daughter wasn't black because her life will be crap...tear and sniffling'(Not quotes but what he basically meant)What?! Does he have to pine after every white woman in sight. Interracial love is a beautiful thing, but it seems that Barbara was trying to make a different point than that.
   
   
   2)Dana's family was too jacked up!
   
   First of all your child would not come out noticeably darker with two white parents unless you were creepin' with someone else who happens to be black. Not other way to explain that. Then your husband got a DNA test cause he thought you cheated on him and there were not repercussions for his distrust of you?! Your husband's family were jerks to you and your husband doesn't defend you and stop the ill treatment?! And by the end of the book you're still together?! Okay, Barbara this is so stereotypical meek and weak white woman that I'm not even going to get into all that. I just have to say that I hope that not too many white women will take that!
   
   3) The Story Was Not Researched!!!
   
   The premise was good and it had me hooked. I actually hope that the woman who wrote the book would provide some good meat within the story for me to chew on. But alas, Barabara Delinsky only provided one bun. The other bun, meat, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and condiments were missing. That for me makes the book sucky and offensive. If you are writing about another race in detail DO YOUR RESEARCH!!! Make sure that you know what offensive things need not be written. I guess she thinks being who she is makes up for not knowing a doggone thing about the black community and the black mentality when she writes about it.
   
   I guess I should stick with black authors for believable and empowering black characters. Sad, that this is the 21st century and yet we still in so many ways live in the 20th.
   
   I give here an F- for little to no effort! But I'm sure someone will enjoy it...

5 comments about Facets.

1. As far as I have got in the book, it is excellant. Of course I love Barbara Dalinsky's work.
   
   Tamara



2. What else can I say. I have never been disappointed with a Barbara
   Delinsky book. Enjoyable! Excellent.



3. This was a wonderful heartwarming story of a family. Easy reading , I could not put it down until I finished it. Barbara Delinsky is an excellent author and I enjoy all of her books.



4. I loved this book. I immediatly felt like I knew the characters. I was heartbroken when Eugene was killed. I was apalled by the things John did to his family and "friends". I loved the tenderness and true love that Pam and Cutter had for one another. I loved that Cutter rose up from being a street kid to a success. I truly loved this book. And I just picked it up by chance while milling around the books at Target. I will definitely read more of Barbara Delinsky's books.



5. Definitely not a typical romance novel. All the characters seemed very real and human most of all. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it when I first started to read it but I was completely engrossed after a couple chapters. I think that happens with every single Barbara Delinsky novel I read.
   Hillary had to be the most "real" character. I still can't believe she loved John despite of everything.

5 comments about The Secret Between Us.

1. This book has an intriguing premise: a mother lets her 16 year old daughter drive home via a country road on a rainy night. Suddenly, the car strikes an individual not far from the mother and daughter's home. The mother tells the daughter to go home, she will handle the situation.
   
   What happens then? Guilt? Relief? Does the individual survive? Does he die? Does he become crippled?
   
   I really thought I knew how this story would play out, but it didn't go in the direction I had thought the author would go. I found the journey intriguing, if only to investigate my own feelings and emotions.
   
   The writing is rather average, and the characters are a bit stereotypical. The ending is easy to guess at half-way through the book, if one is willing to think about that much. There are flaws with this book, yes. However, overall, this is a book where it's interesting to place oneself in the lead role and see how it might play out. And it's a quick read.
   
   It's not the greatest book I've ever read, but it's certainly not the worst I've ever read.



2. I really enjoyed "The Secret Between Us". I couldn't lay it down. It was very easy reading and I was anxious to see what came next. The family dynamics and the mother/daughter/grandfather relationship certainly kept me reading.



3. Like most have said, this is a very easy read. The premise is intriguing, but it quickly fizzles out. I didn't feel any connection or empathy for the characters. There are some strange subplots, including some that are difficult to believe.Deborah is an intelligent woman who seems to be sleep walking through her life, a doctor who makes ridiculous choices. I don't understand her motivation at all. It's not real that a woman like Deborah's would make the choices she does in this novel (without giving anything away).



4. Not one of Barbara Delinsky's better books. I found the standard of her writing a bit disappointing, I have read many of her books and this would , so far, be the only one I was not too impressed with. It's very repetitive and Deborah's children are a bit over the top with their histrionic behaviour. Aside from all that, I did finish reading the story.



5. I don't usually write reviews, but I felt the need this time. I have been forced to read this book for a class I am taking, and I absolutely hate it. I feel no empathy for the characters, especially the mother, who is a complete and utter liar. She lies to everyone she meets, and in the process teaches her daughter that it is okay to lie, even to the police, her teachers, her family, and everyone close to her. This woman even keeps from her best friend that her best friend's husband is coming on to her. This book reminds me of a bad Lifetime Original Movie. It is drivel, pure and simple. If I could give no stars I would. Don't waste your money.

5 comments about The Vineyard: A Novel.

1. After enjoying FLIRTING WITH PETE and LAKE NEWS I wasn't planning to read more Barbara Delinsky novels right away, since I believed I had already read the ones with themes related to my pursuits or interests.
   
   Then I read THE VINEYARD excerpt at the end of my LAKE NEWS paperback.
   
   I was captured with the ingenious way each main character was introduced by his/her reaction to a wedding invitation from a couple in their 70's and 80's. Of course I wanted to read more; curiosity was precisely stirred from the contrast of negative and positive reactions to this unusual situation.
   
   I bought and read THE VINEYARD, becoming fully involved and pleasantly satisfied with the story, even though I hadn't known I would be so thoroughly engrossed in a family owned vineyard. Was concerned that I might find the history interjections boring and the writing style of an older generation focus a bit too forced (not many writers can capture the beauty and graceful vitality of age until they've arrived there and developed the graciousness).
   
   But, BD handled all with just the right amount of detail, genuine warmth, and ingeniously natural intrusion techniques. For me this book was a reader kidnap, from the first page on.
   
   I have mountains of positive input on this exquisite novel, but I'm testing the effect of short and sweet, instead of writing my typical epistle on a novel. Since I've already slipped on a banana peel heading smack into too long and savory, I'll ...



2. So far, every book I've read by Delinsky (Coast Road, Three Wishes and Lake News) has been one I've had a hard time putting down. And one well worth the read.
   
   There is something about the stories and characters that Delinsky weaves....they instantly pull you in, you care about what will happen to them and you enjoy the journey.
   
   The Vineyard is mainly about family, those that have family and those that don't. It shows that even though you may have family, you may not get along with them, but perhaps it's better to be grateful, since some people don't have any family at all! It's also about courage and strength that people manage to find within themselves to carry them through out the obstacles and tough times in their lives. It's about opening up to other people and finding a good friend. It's about the old saying, "don't judge a book by it's cover"- as each of the characters prove of themselves.
   
   Good read- recommended!



3. The Seebring family appears to be the perfect family. Mother Natalie oversees a successful winery in Rhode Island, with a beautiful residence and gracious style. Daughter Suzanne is married to a successful businessman and has raised two children, doesn't have to work and busies herself with gourmet cooking. Son Greg has built his own successful business and is married to a smart, lively woman. But when daydreamer Olivia Jones comes to the winery to be Natalie's assistant and write her life history, she learns that nothing is as she imagined it. Recently widowed Natalie is marrying not another wealthy man of property, but a vineyard employee. Greg and Suzanne are so angry they are boycotting the wedding. Just like in real life, it's not black and white, right and wrong. The reader has a privileged view of the past through Natalie's memories, but there are a few surprises along the way.
   
   The Vineyard was such an unexpected pleasure that I am afraid to read Barbara Delinsky's other books in case they aren't as good. The Vineyard is a story about a family and the struggle of the adult children to acknowledge their parents as people. This important transition is an under-discussed phase of maturity that Delinsky handles with grace. The Vineyard is most like the best works of Rosamond Pilcher - yes there's a romance and a happy ending, but in a social context of a family and a community.
   
   Readers who enjoy well-rounded characters in a detailed setting with a touch of romance will love The Vineyard. It's not a family saga, just a story about a summer that brings changes to the Seebring family. I'm crossing my fingers to find more gems among Delinsky's work.



4. The Vineyard is a delightful, intimate story about women and their families. This is a book of anger, grief, love and affection that will really make you care for the characters.
   
   Simply put, Delinsky is one of the best women's fiction writers out there.



5. This was the second book I've read that was written by Barbara Delinsky. The first, "Secrets Between Us," was one I didn't think the greatest, but was enjoyable. When I noticed this audio book for a bargain price, I decided to give it a try.
   
   The novel is a story within a story, in that Natalie Seebring, 76 year old matriarch of a fairly profitable winery in Rhode Island, is about to marry Carl Burke, the vineyard's ex-manager. Natalie's children are upset, as their father has just passed away barely 6 months previously, and they feel their mother is either disrespecting their father's memory, or that Carl is attempting a takeover of the winery. In an effort to dispel their anxiety, Natalie decides to hire a writer to write her memoirs to be given to her children at her wedding.
   
   In comes Olivia Jones, a single mother, who is barely surviving as a photo restorer, and spending her days daydreaming about the family she never had. At 30 years of age, she has still not reconciled herself to the fact she never knew her father, her mother was not involved in her life, and she never had grandparents. She endlessly whines about all of this. And then there is Tess, Olivia's 10 year old daughter, who has learning disabilities, and is adding yet another stressor to Olivia's life. Naturally, even though she has absolutely no writing experience or skill to speak of, Natalie hires Olivia to write her memoirs. And, this includes staying at the winery, food, tutoring for Tess, sailing/tennis lessons for Tess, and a hefty salary to boot. Only in romance novels does this exist.
   
   From here the story becomes unbearably predictable and formulaic. There's the hunky guy who is supposedly fighting his own demons, who lets Olivia know he absolutely DOES NOT want a relationship. She tells him she absolutely DOES NOT want a relationship, either. Naturally, we all know these two are going to be together forever and ever, ad nauseum. Funny how quickly this guy can overcome all of his demons so darn quickly when Olivia - a woman unlike any he has ever known (isn't that the ultimate cliché?) - enters his life. Good grief!
   
   This could have been such a great story, but I felt the author went in the wrong direction. Rather than focusing on Olivia and hunky guy - and playing out every other boring romance genre formula - I really wished she had focused on the relationship between Natalie and Carl. The entire catalyst for the story was these two and their feelings for each other and how their relationship impacted those around them: the children and the working staff. And then it seemed as if Olivia and hunky guy became the interlopers, butting in where they really shouldn't have been. Perhaps, for me, the more interesting story was Carl and Natalie, a love story over the ages, and the conflicts that arise when two people can finally realize that. Not the flash in the pan lusting that Olivia and hunky guy felt, that lead to them jumping into bed together within 6 weeks of meeting each other.
   
   After reading the first Barbara Delinsky book, and finding it enjoyable, I was very disappointed in this. Way too much of the romance genre in this one, and that is usually just too formulaic and predictable for me.

5 comments about The Summer I Dared.

1. I've read almost all of Barbara Delinskys books. This one, like "Coast Road" and "More Than Friends" gets 5 stars from me. Barbara writes good, clean, hard to put down books. If you've read the others I've mentioned, you'll enjoy this one also. Happy reading.



2. This book was a quick read with a great message. Julia, the main character, finds herself re-examining her life after a near death experience. It is an uplifting story of living without regret, righting wronged relationships before it is too late and finding happiness.
   
   If you are looking for another story with a similar message of redemption and making every moment count I also recommend "The Time Keeper" by Kevin Cropp.



3. This book is great! Barbara Delinsky is a great author. I have so enjoyed this book while on vacation. I highly recommend it.



4. I always enjoy Delinsky books. This is one of my favorites. Really delves into the human emotions.



5. This was a very enjoyable story - a great "beach read" that was interesting with well-formed characters and a decent plot.

5 comments about A Woman Betrayed.

1. I have read several Barabara Delinsky books that were good--this one was very disappointing. I found the characters to be very annoying. Laura was pathetic and her children were very annoying. When her son is accused of rape he openly admits to sleeping around and no one bats an eye. Then she goes off for 5 days and leaves her daughter with the grandmother (who we all know will be too busy to pay attention to the girl) and comes back to find that her daughter has lost her virginity!!!!
   I couldn't like or relate to any of these characters--Lake News and An Accidental Woman are much better books.



2. As far as Delinsky's work is concerned, this was spot on! The characters are incredibly complex, likeable, but with human flaws. I'm kind of disappointed that the scumbag didn't get his own in the end, but I suppose he wasn't *really* evil.... I guess. Still disappointing. Not a fairytale ending, but then, Barbara Delinsky rarely writes them that way. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense with a bit of romance thrown in. I know Delinsky is generally pegged as a romance writer, but this is not a "romance novel" per se. Too much plot and other stuff getting in the way ;) This is a very sad, very nostalgic, and very touching story.



3. Delinsky's trademark has always been smart and sensitive handling of family dynamics and she doesn't disappoint here.
   
   The Daphne character is endearing.



4. I couldn't find anything good about this book. The plot (such as it was) didn't make sense. What was going to happen was apparent 10 chapters before it actually did. The dialog was stilted and unbelievable. The characters were two-dimensional and predictable.
   
   It's just too bad that Laura couldn't have been revealed to be the sneaky tax cheat on the last page!!!



5. This book was written in 1991 almost 20 years ago. This story is mainly about three adults Jeff,Laura and Jeff's brother Christian. The adults take no responsibility for their actions as they are self-centered. They are this way because of their parents. We get to meet them too. Especially Laura's mother who is so self centered she cannot love. Laura is just like her mother self centered and married to a passive man. Laura at least has some compassion. As the bible says "The sins of the parents will be passed down to the Children". Really meaning your behavior will effect your children. If I had read this book back in 1991 I would have been steemed at Jeff and my sympathy would be with Laura. I am twenty years older and wiser. My sympathies are with Jeff and Laura's children. The story comes down to this. Laura married Jeff for the wrong reasons and vs versa. She convinced herself she loved him. But she didn't. As her children keep correcting her about what their father Jeff liked or disliked. Laura was blind. After 20 years of a living without real love Jeff has a breakdown and ruins his children's lives. Laura wants us to feel sorry for her because Jeff betrays her but I can't. Jeff got tired of trying to please Laura. He knew she really did not love him not the way she should. Jeff gives up and screws Laura good. At the same time he forgets about two people who love him unconditional his flesh and blood. You want to reach out and shake this man. His brother Christian of course gets the prize. Jeff hands him his most prize gift his children. What a dope. He hands Laura to him as well. You might like this book due to all the media blitz lately about stupid men like John Edwards and his political cronies that don't think their self-centered behavior will affect their children. The Woman betrayed is Jeff's daughter who loved him. Really loved him. She was worth fighting for. Laura is not betrayed. Elizabeth Edwards is a betrayed women. She loved her husband.

5 comments about More than Friends.

1. After reading the first of the book where the indiscretion is described, I put the book away and decided not to read it. But a few days later on, unable to stifle my curiousity (what could possibly happen that made this book so long?), I picked it back up. By the time I reached the end, I decided that messy though it was, it is probably a pretty true-to-life account of forgiveness on the part of members of both families. When viewed in this way, my feelings about the book changed. It was suspenseful, and I couldn't put it down. I ended up liking it, but I don't think I'll be re-reading it! But, I'm looking for another Delinsky treat!



2. I really enjoyed this book, even though I think the premise is a little far fetched. As a result of a one-night stand--no, make that afternoon stand-- two families who have been close for years all suffer. I don't want to give away the whole plot, so you can enjoy it for yourself. But, as you read, ask yourself if you would really do that to your best friend. Hopefully not, which is why I think the premise is unrealistic. Reality is highly overrated in fiction, so I recommend this as an interesting book with a good story. If you like soap operas and romance novels, it is definitely a cut above that. Good read that keeps you interested and makes you care about the characters.



3. Such depth, interesting characters. I HAD to read day and night, each page left me hungry for the next. Great story beginning to end!



4. I am suprised by all the positive reviews. Seriously this book didn't make me feel anything but anger and disgust. Yes people make mistakes but the reason behind the affair was rediculous and the characters were shallow and unsympathetic.
   
   Annie and Teke were college roommates, their respecive spouces Sam and J.D. have been friends since childhood and work together at a law firm. One day Teke and J.D.'s son Michael witnesses Teke and Sam getting intimate and feeling betrayed runs into the street and gets struck by a car putting him in a coma.
   
   I find it difficult to find any sympathy for Sam or Teke. Sam cheats on his wife with her best friend even though she is the one he wants to sleep with? That doesn't make any sense. He rationalizes his behavior by saying that he was thinking of Annie while with Teke. And his "reason" behind the affair? Everytime he wins a case him and his wife have sex. His wife is busy so he sleeps with his wife's best friend who is conveniently available. It is this stupidity that makes Sam a character I cannot have any sympathy for. And I am supposed to believe he loves his wife.
   
   Teke is even worse. While sleeping with her best friend's husband she is thinking of her ex-boyfriend. Sure her husband is a waste of space but that gives her the right to damage her best friend's marriage as well? Instead of changing what makes her unhappy she takes others down with her. With friends like her who needs enemies.
   
   And poor Annie believes she caused the affair by having low self esteem. She doesn't think she is attractive enough so her husband went elsewhere. The husband says it's because she wasn't there when he needed her. But he was thinking of her so it's alright. I don't think so! That just makes it that much worse.
   
   And then it is all tied up with a big happily ever after ribbon. Michael wakes up, Teke gets back together with the ex she was thinking about while sleeping with her best friend's husband, and Annie forgives Sam. So what happens the next time he wins another case and his wife is busy? If it didn't take any urging the first time there's not much stopping a repeat.
   
   The characters made it hard to even like them much less find any sympathy for. Sam was stupid, selfish, and arrogant. Teke was shallow and heartless. J.D. was just awful. Annie was the victim for NO reason. This is a book I'll never read again.



5. I bought this for my mom to give to one of her table mates. When it arrived, my mom decided it was too big and too heavy so she never gave it to her friend.

5 comments about Suddenly.

1. How do you cope with the loss of your best friend - not an expected passing related to age or illness but a sudden, shocking death due to suicide? Do you weep, grieve, and chastize yourself for not being aware of your friend's anguish?
   
   Pediatrician Paige Pfieffer did all of the above when her best friend and business partner Mara O'Neill was found dead. "All she could think was that the tragedy might have been prevented if she had been more attentive, more understanding or more perceptive a friend."
   
   To compound matters Mara's parents ask Paige to make funeral plans, a painful task. Further, when she learns that Mara's body had been found filled with Valium she wonders as she and the other partners, Angie and Peter, knew that Mara was "....vehemently opposed to drug taking. Of the four of us, she issued the fewest prescriptions."
   
   All believed Mara to be her usual energetic self, enthusiastically working, happy, eagerly looking forward to the arrival of her adopted daughter from India.
   
   As author Delinsky reveals in Suddenly, sometimes when a tragedy such as this seemingly senseless, inexplicable one occurs others reevaluate their lives, their beliefs, their actions, their goals. Such is the case with all of the partners but is primarily explored through Paige who cares for Mara's young daughter and finds herself attracted to Noah Perrine, the acting head of a local school where Paige coaches girls' athletics.
   
   Many will be touched by this story and once again realize the value of friendship, compassion and love.
   
   - Gail Cooke



2. This is Barbara Delinsky at her best. Suddenly has all the qualities that have made me a fan of this author. It searches our values, faith and hope in the future. This book is totally entertaining and informative and I high recommend it to all you love a good romance mixed with enlightening characters.



3. I am a longtime fan of this author. However, how does an accomplished author like this get away with such glaring errors in the book? Two examples; Paige goes to talk to the girls at the school after Friday's funeral. Why then, do they get in trouble for not attending the mandatory study hall which takes place Sunday through Thursday evenings? It's Friday! Also, reference is made to it being near Labor Day, as well as it being the beginning of summer. Did she mean Memorial Day? These are just a couple that I noticed right off the bat. I expect an author of this caliber to be more accurate, and not leave these items in the hand of the editor and proof reader.



4. BARBARA DELINSKY'S BOOKS NEVER FAIL TO DISAPPOINT. THIS IS ANOTHER GREAT STORY....DIDN'T WANT TO PUT THE BOOK DOWN ONCE I STARTED TO READ IT. WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE WHO WOULD ENJOY A GREAT NOVEL. EASY TO RELAX AND ENJOY. MANY THANKS, BARBARA...LOVE YOUR BOOKS!



5. Usually I love Barbara Delinsky's books, but this one just left me cold. The plot line about one friend's surprise suicide and its rippling effects on her friends and family is a good one. The problem is, I didn't like any of her friends much and I found the new director of the local school to be just a big dork. The friends are very inconsistent in their personalities and almost too therapy-perfect to be true. They're all doctors and their breaches of professional ethics is really bad--one takes pictures of naked teenagers but never anyone who is underage (of course), another is a control freak who has a spineless wimp of a husband, and the third is so focused on her community relationships that she has no personal life whatsoever. Each one of them goes through a very predictable crisis and then resolves it quite neatly. One of the doctors has unprotected sex with a guy she barely knows and then that becomes the basis for their relationship. One character adopts the foreign child that her dead friend was going to adopt. Control freak learns to share control with her husband and remains remarkably calm even though her "good-guy" husband admits to having had an eight year affair with a local woman. I just kept shaking my head and sighing. Everything gets wrapped up neatly at the end with a big red bow, everyone is happy and has found fulfillment, and it's just too unbelievable for me. Oh, well. It was well-written & very mildly entertaining if I ignored the glaring personality glitches in the four main characters.

5 comments about While My Sister Sleeps.

1. This is a wonderful book about how long should a brain dead person be left on artifical machines. This is about a family with a secret and coming to terms with reality. Robin is a runner who drops dead from a heart attack during a race. Found by another runner and brought back to life too late to do any good. Mother won't except that Robin is brain dead because her heart is still beating. I thought at first Robin's father Charlie was a bit of a whimp letting his wife make all the decisions about Robin until the secret is told. Robin's sister finds her diary on a CD and shares it with the family. Lot's of good comes from Robin while she is kept alive by the machines to heal her family. Robin gives a gift to her sister and brother as well with her death.



2. This is the first book I have read by Barbara Delinsky and definitely not the last. I was impressed with her natural ability to write a story, while maintaining my attention throughout the whole book. Most fiction books I have read in the past may begin great in the beginning but I quickly lose interest. This book caught my attention from the beginning and I do not recall any dry torturous moments. Barbara also reminds us to live everyday as if our last because you never know what tomorrow will bring, or if it will even come. Also, she shows how different individuals respond differently in a crisis involving a loved one, and that sometimes our relationships with loved ones may not be as bad as we imagine in our heads...some individuals usually just do not express how they feel about each other , which leads to misconceptions that cause unnecessary heartache and spitefulness. This book made me cry, think of my relationship with my sister, my mother, as well as, others I love dearly.



3. This book was just ok. It was very predictable and fairly uneventful. I did not really find a deepness to the characters. I typically don't like these kind of books....and this book is pretty much the sum of why :)



4. All in all, this was not a great book, but certainly an entertaining one. It reminded me of the type of story you would see in a Lifetime movie. The characters were largely sympathetic, if a bit one-dimensional. The plot was predictable, but it still made for a satisfying Saturday afternoon read. I thought it was more believable than _Family Tree_, and I would certainly read another book by this author, though I would wait for a sale price.



5. 
   I have read many of Ms. Delinsky's books and most are really well thought out and have many emotional moments. This book I never really cared for the sister Robyn who was on life support. I never cared about Molly the heroine either. It was all too forced and the only reason I give this book 3 stars is because anyone who can write a whole novel should get at least 3 stars.

5 comments about Not My Daughter.

1. As a mom, there is some food for thought here. How will I deal when my children make choices different then what I'd like them to make? And what if the choices they make upset how I envision my family's life unfolding?
   That said, the actually story told in the book is pretty lame. There are a lot of boring sections and the whole bit about the principal losing her job because her daughter is pregnant is absolutely ridiculous. I know the book is supposed to be about the moms and how they deal, but the daughters are so lame... Three "perfect" girls who can't understand why their moms are upset?! And their reason for getting pregnant is pretty unbelievable...
   All this and I found a typo...



2. Because parts of the story were so incredibly unrealistic (my opinion only), I had to remind myself that I was reading this book strictly for entertainment purposes. I had my daughter when I was a 19 year old college sophomore and I'd have to say it was one of the most uncertain and scariest times of my life. I can't imagine any 17 year old would intentionally become pregnant, thinking it would be "fun" to have a baby and all that goes with it. The storyline would probably make a good "Lifetime" movie. :-)



3. That one word gives you a clue as to what to expect here since "Omigod" is used by the moms and the daughters as if they are all teens. I never thought I'd be giving a Delinsky book such a low rating. I could hardly finish this one. The whole concept was preposterous... 3 above-average intelligent and accomplished senior girls with bright futures ahead of them, involved in a pact to get pregnant together at 17 yrs of age. Actually there were 4 in the pact, one miscarried, it was her idea for all of them to have babies together before she miscarried, and these "smart" girls just went along with it. We are lead to believe that they are such responsible, good girls from good families, and the plot of the whole book is how to handle the situation after they are all pregnant. Apparently these girls aren't bright at all, they walked around with their heads in the clouds, never anticipating reality, not to mention being self-centered and manipulative (boy am I glad I don't have daughters). The main characters are Susan, principal of the high school, who was an unmarried single mom to her daughter Lily, a "lily-white" responsible girl, yet now pregnant by choice. She never anticipated how this choice could affect her mother's job, or the life of the boy who fathered her child? not to mention his family... the reaction of her teammates and peers, singing group, etc., come on!... how bright can she be? And the mothers, with their own personal dramas but all wondering whether to "out" the other girls that weren't showing yet.. jeez!
   
   I didn't like several things about this book, not just the concept. In the middle of all the drama about the pregnancies Delinsky interrupts this with filling in on what they are all physically doing at the time, like the boring processing and dying of the wool for knitting ... as if we even care. I was totally disappointed and surprised at this work, having read and enjoyed many Delinsky books through the years, I cannot recommend this for anyone. You don't even have to read it to the end because one reviewer here posted the ending, saving you the trouble, however she should have mentioned it was a "spoiler" so you, potential reader, can decide for yourself whether to read it or not.



4. When Susan Tate's seventeen-year-old daughter Lily announces she is pregnant, her mother can't believe it. After all, Lily is the perfect daughter, kind, responsible, popular, a good student--how could such a thing happen? Then, to add to the bewilderment, Susan learns it wasn't an accident. Lily, and her two best friends, also popular girls, made a pact to get pregnant.
   This shocks and horrifies the small New England town where Susan is the respected and well-liked principal of the high school. A single mother herself, who had given birth to Lily as a teenager, and was subsequently disowned by her own parents, Susan had still managed to finish college and make a life for herself. But knowing how hard it was she wanted more for her daughter and tries to understand. But the townspeople are not so forgiving. Several members of the school board start to question Susan's competence, and she is in real danger of losing her job. Nevertheless she sticks by her daughter, as they struggle to solve their problems, and along the way try to answer the question of what it takes to be a good mother.



5. I just finished this with tears in my eyes and that doesn't happen very often with a book. I was "hooked" by the end of the first chapter and this is the first book I've read by this author. It won't be the last!