Review: Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook

First line: I sailed into the community center just in time to take my Lunch Around the World class to China.

From the inside cover: Just when Jill Murray has finally figured out how to manage on her own, her ex-husband proves that he can’t even run away reliably. After seven long years missing in action, he’s back – crashing into the man-free existence Jill and her ten-year-old daughter have built so carefully. What’s a good mother to do? To a child, even a deadbeat dad is better than no dad at all.

Jill’s life just hasn’t turned out quite the way she planned. By now, she’d hoped to be jetting around the world as a high-end cultural coach. Instead,she’s answering phones  for a local travel agency and teaching cooking classes at the community center.

Enter free-spirited entrepreneur Billy, who hired Jill as a consultant for an upcoming business trip. Is their relationship veering off in a new direction? And what about her ex? Jill couldn’t possibly still have feelings for him … could she? Suddenly, her no-boys-allowed life is anything but.

They say that every seven years you become a completely new person, but Jill isn’t sure she’s ready for the big change. It takes a Costa Rican getaway to help make a choice – not so much between the two men in her life, but between the woman she is and the one she wants to be.

My thoughts: I love Claire Cook’s books and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. Seven Year Switch, like Claire Cook’s other books, celebrates the independence of women who are coming into their own. You can’t help but cheer Jill on as she is deals with what life throws in her path while on a journey towards inner strength and independence. This book is laugh out loud funny right from the very beginning, filled with lots of really interesting characters who have tons to clever things to say, from next-door neighbor Cynthia to the members of the Cooking Around the World class at the community center. I love how Claire Cook takes you inside professions you might never know about – in this case, a travel agency for girlfriend getaways. This was a fabulous beach read that had me flipping through the pages and left me wanting more at the end.

About the author: Claire Cook is the bestselling author of seven novels, including Must Love Dogs, which was adapted into a Warner Bros. movie starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, The Wildwater Walking Club, Life’s a Beach, and her latest, Seven Year Switch. Her reinvention workshops have been featured on The Today Show, and she has been a judge for the Thurber Humor Prize and the Family Circle fiction contest. Her books have been featured on Good Morning America and in People, Good Housekeeping, Redbook and more. She has two kids, seven brothers and sisters, and one husband. She lives in Scituate, MA.

Visit her website and find reinvention and writing tips at http://www.ClaireCook.com. 

Friend her on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClaireCookbooks/. 

Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ClaireCookbooks/.

I received a complimentary copy of Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour.