Here’s the blurb
Life just got life-y…
On the night that Trudy Asp discovers her ex is engaged to the same dental hygienist who’s been picking at her teeth for ten years, her daughter, Madison, suddenly announces that she too is getting married, in Europe.
Frumpy, floundering, and forced to live with her martini-swilling mother, Trudy is swamped by these revelations. And on top of it all, she’ll be wearing the second most scrutinized gown at the wedding.
Having packed on the pounds during the demise of her marriage, the idea of being eyeballed by her ex and his scrawny fiancée Zelda, is truly horrifying. To make matters worse, there’s the paralyzing fear of a transatlantic flight — something Trudy has avoided for decades.
When Zelda offers to stand in for her, Trudy is forced to confront the forces that stole her marriage and threaten to steal her daughter’s wedding too. With three months until the ceremony, Trudy must get to Europe, squeeze herself into a gown, and claim the role she wants more than anything: Mother-of-the-Bride.
Will this Odd Mom Out sink or swim? Or will she drown in a sea of humiliation?
Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP1GB4V2
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CP1GB4V2
My Review
Odd Mom Out is not my usual read, but wow, I’m so glad I picked it up and gave it a go.
Our main character, Trudy, is quite frankly a mess. Recently divorced, massively unhappy, all but estranged from her daughter and forced to live with an overbearing mother, she’s also deeply unhappy with her weight and general well-being, not helped by the fact she runs and bakes for the local bakery. Our first meeting with her reveals a woman often angry with every one else, but not necessarily herself. To be honest, I didn’t really connect with her to begin with, but she certainly grows and develops into a very likeable character.
Determined to do something different when she hears her ex-husband is about to get remarried, while her daughter is also about to marry, Trudy eventually decides to turn her life around. It takes a while. For about 30% of the book, she isn’t prepared to face her demons, and she doesn’t want to do anything about it.
But from 30% in, Trudy is a woman transformed, all be it, one who still struggles. Her battles are very relatable, and while the reader might be a little frustrated with the lack of information concerning her daughter’s upcoming wedding, Trudy presses on with her plans to be the best Mother of the Bride she can be. Along the way, she makes some new friends, and reconnects with some old ones, and even her relationship with her mother improves, as does her business. She comes to terms with her husband’s decision to divorce her, and reconnect with her daughter, eventually.
The story has some unexpected twists and turns, which all build into it being a relatable story, and I powered through the last 50%, keen to know how everything would work for our main character.
A really engaging story. It will certainly appeal to fans of the genre, and those who wouldn’t usually read something like this, like me:)
Meet the author
Sandy Day is a recovering chatterbox and writer of riveting slice-of-life poetry, memoir, and fiction. She has authored five books to date, with two in the works. A graduate of Glendon College, she studied creative writing under Michael Ondaatje and bp nichol. A lover of cheese, coffee shops, and illustrations, she lives on the shore of Lake Simcoe in Georgina, Ontario, Canada. You can find and follow her on Substack and sandyday.ca – it rhymes!
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MJ Porter 