A forced position switch with a lot at stake.

Synopsis

Married couple Molly and Dan are forced to swap lives. But will it bring them closer together or drive them even further apart?

It was only a blip. Just a little mistake. But in the world of television, Dan Whitehead’s little slip could cost him his career.

His only chance is to swap roles with his wife, Molly, who also works part-time, behind the scenes at the show. It’s just for a couple of months. Easy. What’s so hard about looking after their twins and taking a step away from the limelight for a bit? Only, it’s not quite as simple as Dan may think.  With more time, his past begins to haunt him. Then, when a friendly school-mum offers him the comfort he needs, is she everything she seems?

Meanwhile, Molly is more than happy in her sweatshirt and leggings. Why would she want to go back on-screen when she doesn’t even like leaving the house? But she needs to save her husband’s job. After all, it is her fault.  Then, when she’s offered an exclusive interview on the other side of the world, her life in Cherry Blossom Park is under threat. Why is she the only person to ever be offered this interview?  Dan must never know the truth.  

The Juggle is more than just a story about parents keeping everything in the air. It’s about secrets from the past and hopes for the future.

It asks the question – is a marriage every big enough for two dreams to come true?

My review

After messing up big time on live television, Dan Whitehead’s career is at risk. To make things even worse, now he has to swap jobs with his wife!
Molly isn’t jumping at this new opportunity. She enjoys just working one day at the week, and then taking care of her twins. But how can she refuse if the other option is that Dan loses his job?
Dan now finds himself struggling with looking after the kids, and having his wife in his spotlight. And when Molly appears to have exclusive interviews, Dan becomes even more jealous of her success.
The genie is totally out of the bottle when Molly is requested to have an interview with a millionaire who has never given an interview before. And he only wants her, and it’s on the other side of the world.
While everyone in Cherry Blossom Park is proud of Molly, Dan finds himself on the receiving side of the attention from a friendly school – mum, who has an offer that is impossible to refuse.
Will this swap turn out to be the start of the ending of a marriage that started as love at first sight? Or will the swap turn out to be what this couple needed to see the real Molly and Dan again?

I always enjoy reading a story where a husband and wife swap jobs and then the wife appears to be better at the husband’s job than the other way around. I find it hilarious to see how the man is struggling with tasks that seen so mundane to us women.

Even if there are many moments that made me laugh, this is also showing how far things can go, and not always for the better…

And that’s the beauty of this story. It shows us the perks of doing something completely different, but also the downsides.
Molly is comfortable in just yoga pants and hoodie, so forced to be standing in front of the camera is not something she is looking forward to.
But with the help of some great friends, she manages to get strike after strike. Of course it helps that she knows so many people in Cherry Blossom Park, making people wanting to talk to her.

But when her success is being noticed and even a ghost from the past is requesting specifically after her, the story took a turn I didn’t want it to take.
Because the shared past was a bigger one than initially thought.
Also Dan is taking a direction I didn’t like, even if he had total different motives. And Jessica, the school – mum is surely not easy accepting “no” for an answer.

I loved those flashbacks, seeing how Molly and Dan got together and how it was almost love at first sight and how their relationship evolved to that deeper connection.
And those bits of Help with Helen were really useful, not only for married people, but just for each one of us, because the advice she is giving is really helpful!
The community of Cherry Blossom Park was also wonderful to read, the close friends of Molly and Dan were the kind of friends I want to have myself, and just all the inhabitants, even the grumpier ones, are great to read about. And even when it’s clear that there is something dodgy going on, my heart went out for the duped ones.

This book was very entertaining to read. I cannot say lovely, because until the very end I did not have a clue the direction the characters would take. and even if I had my own preference, there was this big chance of changing just everything, leaving me biting my nails because I was so anxious and hoping that the ending would be what I wanted it to be.
The author managed to put perfectly into words what a couple can be going through, when out of their comfort zone.
The characters know when they are in the wrong – doing, but so much like in real life, it’s easier to be sulking and ignoring the hurt we are causing to our loved ones.

But even if the couple is facing a crisis like they never faced before, the love is still there, and the lengths they would go to protect each other, is heart –warming.

This is a very realistic story about real feelings and inner demons each and every one is facing. But it’s also about seizing opportunities and making the best of a situation. And eventually, you’ll never know what a change in your life will turn out to be for your future!