The Stepmother

The Stepmother by Carrie Adams

Description from Amazon:
"Bea Frazier hoped she'd rediscover her incredible self after divorcing Jimmy. But being home alone with three daughters brings her demons back with a vengeance. The only solution is to reunite her family. The trouble is, her ex is about to marry someone else. Tessa King has finally found true love, but her knight in shining armor comes with three sullen daughters and an ex who doesn't seem nearly "ex" enough. After years of singledom, what does Tessa have to do to finally live happily ever after? As the two women negotiate carpools, puberty, and family loyalties, each finds it almost impossible not to fall into the old cliche of the bitter first wife and the wicked stepmother. But if Bea and Tessa are brave enough, they just may find a friend where they once saw an enemy. . . . "

My thoughts:
I was torn on this one. While there were some things I really enjoyed, there were also some disappointments.

I enjoyed the plot--Becoming a single Mom after so many years of being married, trying to find yourself after being lost for so long.

I was often disappointed in the character development--Bea cannot seem to let go of the past and move toward a future. Her character was almost too raw, and she became one-dimensional. The "other" woman, Tessa, also lacks substance. Having a man be the center of their universe, to the exclusion of all else, is just not very realistic. And Jimmy, the center of all the drama, is also a hard character to like. I found myself mostly on Bea's side, but felt pretty ambivalent about all the characters. I was mostly engaged with the children. As in real life, they were the ones suffering the most from the dissolution of their family.

While I didn't always like the characters or the way things played out, I would still recommend this as a decent read.