How not to lose your mind with all the pressure of a family and being main breadwinner.

Synopsis

‘Clever, wise and achingly funny.’ Cathy Kelly

‘You can have it all,’ they said. ‘Happy children, happy marriage, great career – no problem,’ they said…

Mother-of-one Saoirse is just about holding it all together – combining part time work with the school run, while her husband David gets to focus on his career. But when David loses his job, everything has to change.

With no hesitation, Saoirse suggests she takes on the role of main breadwinner. After all, how hard can it be? And when a new client offers her a life-changing sum of money, Saoirse can look the other over-achieving Woodvale school-run mums in the eye with pride.

But there’s a problem with keeping too many balls in the air – eventually one is bound to drop. And when that happens – well, who knows what the consequences could be…

Laugh-out-loud funny, achingly relatable, but with a heart of gold, and warmth running through every page. This is the perfect read for anyone who has way too many balls in the air! The novel may or may not have been inspired by real life…

My review

Saoirse is still combining her part – time job with taking care of her daughter Anna, while her husband David is focussing on his career. This all works perfectly, even with the minor hiccup between Saoirse and David after the revelation in ‘Time Out’.
But when David loses his job, Saoirse suggests to be the main breadwinner, giving David the opportunity to find a job he likes.
Yet being the money bringer is not such an easy task as she thought… Because will the offer of a new client really be the solution to all her problems? And she is still competing with the overachieving Organics at the school gate…

For this story I truly recommend to read first ‘Time Out’, because there are several references to it, and if you have not read it, it will not make a lot of sense.

But how fun it was to see Saoirse and her family and friends again! Especially after the cliff-hanger of the previous book.

It’s clear that it’s not all puppies and sunshine between Saoirse and David, but as a real couple, they are working on it.

Saoirse is her usual self, trying to please everyone, even The Organics know what button to push to let Saoirse do what they want.
Yet I see a more determined Saoirse. She does not just accept at each first opportunity, and especially when it concerns a new client, she overthinks what the best thing to do is.

This is again a realistic view of how current days parents (not only mothers) are struggling with a normal life. No matter how hard you try to keep everything going smoothly, there is always something going wrong, it can be a small thing but also a bigger thing.

I had several laughs, together with Saoirse, but I also felt frustrated with her too. And oh, how I wanted to give The Organics a reply that would show them!
And to see how Saoirse and David are working together on several issues, shows that when you work on a marriage, not everything Is lost.

In this sequel I had the same fun as the first story, but it all felt more familiar, because I knew what our characters were like and how messy their lives could get. But again it was a peep in the life of an average family, with sometimes not so average problems, but it is clear that no matter how hard you try, sometimes life takes a turn you didn’t expect, and that is the same for everyone. So whenever in despair, just remember : we’re not alone!