Review: Seven Year Switch
When Jill Murray’s husband left her to raise their daughter, Anastasia, all by herself seven years ago, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to make it on her own. Since her parents were no longer living, she turned to her in-laws, but they were no help. Left with no other options, Jill picked herself up, dusted herself off, and moved forward. Things haven’t always been easy, but in the last seven years, she has managed to make a life for herself and Anastasia.
Since her focus has been on her daughter, Jill hasn’t had much time for a personal life, but has finally met a man with some potential. At around the same time, her husband decides that he wants to come back into Jill’s and Anastasia’s lives. Of course, Anastasia’s thrilled at the prospect, but Jill’s not so sure. Jill has to find a way to strike some balance in her life.
Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook is a delightful book! Even though I have very little in common with Jill, I could totally relate to her, and I think a lot of other women will be able to as well. She was fiercely protective of her daughter and didn’t want her to be hurt again. Jill often sacrificed her own wants and needs in order to do what she thought was best for her daughter, yet she struggled with self doubt.
Jill has two girlfriends – her boss and mentor, Joni, and her next door neighbor, Cynthia – who play large roles in her life and are very supportive of her. I loved reading about their friendships, because they were so true to life. Even though Cynthia could drive Jill crazy, some small part of Jill still wanted to be like her. I loved that Joni and Cynthia were there for Jill when she needed them and the two of them were instrumental in her finding her own strength and discovering how she wanted to live her life.
Don’t let that cute cover fool you into thinking this is a fluffy book – Seven Year Switch is an uplifting story of love, determination and finding your inner strength, and I do recommend it!
Review copy provided by Hyperion Voice for this Pump Up Your Book Blog Tour .
I am an Indiebound Affiliate.
What a great find. Nice to see a woman striking out and managing on her own.
Thank you for the review. I have this in my tbr review pile and am now looking forward to reading it.
CMash
Love the cover and the story sounds great as well!
I want to say Seven Year Itch for some reason.
I can’t wait to read this one! 🙂 Sounds like the perfect summer read with just enough substance to make it good fiction!
THANK YOU for the wonderful review, Kathy! I’m thrilled you enjoyed Seven Year Switch, and so grateful for your support!
Even though it’s my seventh novel, this is my first blog tour, and as I’ve followed the review trail to post comments on the blogs, I’ve loved seeing your kind and supportive comments at so many of the blogs! You have such a big heart, and you give so much to your sister bloggers! It’s truly an honor to connect with you!
Thanks for the nice comments, Vivienne, Cheryl, Diane, and Julie! Tea – the title is a twist on Seven Year Itch, so that’s perfectly understandable!!
Thanks again – so much!
Claire
Go to http://ClaireCook.com to win a beach bag filled with all 7 of my novels, plus a beach towel!!
That husband sounds like trouble to me.
Great review. This book definitely grabs your attention. Looking forward to reading it.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Sounds great. I love the name Anastasia. I remember when I was in my Russian novel phase, and I wanted to have kids named Alexander and Anastasia!
Thank you for the review. I love every book that Claire Cook writes. I hope I may get to her book this summer. I only like to read beach reads in the summer months.
I left you a award on my blog. Have a great weekend.
I’ve heard such good things about this book lately. I’m so glad you liked it too!
Thanks, Kathy!!! I’m almost done with it myself and I am loving it. Claire has done a magnificent job during her virtual book tour this month and she loves feedback. I love it that your readers have made her day (as well as mine!)…thanks for the review..it was wonderful, stupendous, couldn’t ask for a better review!
I have been reading a lot about this book, and seem to think it’s more solid than the cover and title suggest. I am glad you liked it and will have to be looking for it. Great review, Kathy!
haven’t seen this one around–how do i keep managing to miss such prolific authors?? i’m off to clare cook’s page to read a bit more about her. enjoy the weekend!
Great review! I have this one out from the library right now – it was recommended by the librarian who really enjoyed it. I’m going to start it this weekend.
Well, I hope that never happens to me!! Looks like a great story.
This sounds terrific.
Fabulous review Kathy. You have really made me want to read this one!
The video doesn’t seem to match the story line either. Maybe the marketing people didn’t read the book.
Great Review, Kathy! I loved Claire’s book too.
I haven’t read it, but liked your review. Any mother would probably relate with her!
I could use a getaway about now! The beach looks divine. Glad you enjoyed the book! 🙂
I just finished reading and reviewing this one yesterday. It was great, wasn’t it? I think that I’ll start bringing this one to the beach and slipping it into people’s beach bags, LOL. I’ll be the beach read fairy!!
I am thrilled that you enjoyed this book.
Isn’t it fascinating how they will stick a cover on a book that totally misleads you? I would never had picked this one up with that cover if I hadn’t read your review.
I loved your review. I had not heard about this book so thanks for letting me know about this awesome book. I can relate as I became a single parent when my son was 15 and it was a very rough road. He really needed a father but then his father had not been there for him before he just needed a father figure and my Dad filled in. I would not have made it without my familys support. Just being there for us made a world of difference.
I sure thought it was fluff .. thanks for clearing that! 🙂 I like the sound of this book.
Thanks… this book sounds very interesting! Thanks also for stopping by my blog… I appreciate it!
I’ve read nothing but great things about this book. A friend offered to send me her copy once her family members finish with it….so excited!!
This one has caught my attention with good reviews – will have to watch for it! Always enjoy your reviews!
So glad there is some substance behind the cute cover. I might have passed this one by but now I’m going to add it to the wish list.
This one sounds great and I would be able to relate to some of it. I hate to say it (or maybe I don’t) but this would make a really good movie.
Wonderful review. And I was wondering when reading your review if the cover really matched what seemed like a more serious story.
Sounds like it’s a good story about friendship too.
I have been hearing so much praise for Claire Cooke, I’m thinking she’s an author I could really get into. This really sounds like a great story and I love the little bit about the friendship that you mentioned. I always love reading about great friendships – they are so inspiring!
Glad to hear the book isn’t fluffy. It sounds worth checking out…but of course, the husband has to come back around when she finds someone else! 😉
Uplifting story is what I like! Again, thank you for another wonderful review. Just today alone, I’ve included several more books into my wish list, thanks to you.