The Bright Side of Disaster, by Katherine Center

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.


I only read "The Bright Side of Disaster" because I loved "Get Lucky." Incidentally, both are about pregnant women in odd situations. What I loved about both books was how real they were. Instead of skipping over the dirty details, Katherine Center includes the totally unromantic parts of having a baby, which adds to the overall realistic and at the same time feel-good tone of the book. Even at Jenny's most desperate points, there were still remnants of hope which left me confident that she wouldn't give up.

Jenny had the perfect blend of charm and flaws that made her seem like a real person, but the lack of focus on any other characters gave me the impression that Jenny was the only one. Although their lack of presence can be attributed to the fact that Jenny was on her own for most of the novel, I still felt as if she was the only developed character. Though I did like how Gardner's one flaw came into play at the end, Meredith's sudden disappearance bugged me. What kind of best friend abandons her best friend who just had a baby? How could Jenny forgive her so easily?

How can anyone dislike a book with a rubber ducky on the cover?

5 stars.