Paige

 

Here's the blurb:

After a bitter divorce from her unfaithful husband, Paige moves from Utah to California with her two little boys and vows to make a fresh start. She finds a job at a dental practice that helps her get back on her feet, but it’s the friends she makes at her new book club who help her realize how strong she is and who give her support to carry on as she faces the challenges of being a single mom. She also meets Derryl, a wonderful, kind, attentive man who treats her right—something her ex never did. Yet, Paige struggles to figure out who she is as a woman rather than a wife, how to help her boys adjust to a broken home, and whether she can ever trust a man or love again. As Paige leans on the book club ladies and Derryl’s ever-present care, one thing becomes clear: healing from the past requires more than a change of address.

Paige was a little tough to read—we all know a single mom that we watch struggle with the challenges of money and time and guilt. For me, it’s my little sister. I thought Annette Lyon approached this topic bravely and compassionately, and I really enjoyed watching Paige grow and find herself—being able to identify herself as a person instead of through a man. She faces some pretty tough choices, and handles them gracefully, although they were often painful. The place she found strength was through the women in her book club, and as I’ve read through the series, I have been so impressed by the way the women affect each others’ lives. My favorite thing about the series is seeing the women from each others’ different perspectives, and then finding out the truth about them. We all judge and compare ourselves to other women, and no matter how different we are, there is always something that we can learn or a way that we can grow by our associations with other ladies in our lives.

Paige is in places funny, and in others, heart breaking, but overall, I loved it, and I came away feeling uplifted.