The Thin Pink Line - Sex~Kitten.net

Did ya ever notice how pregnant women are often treated like porcelain – tender, fragile, budding flowers of motherhood? Upon the very first announcement of impending birth, they are offered the choicest foods, given longer breaks at work, dealt with in a gentler manner and given comfy foot rests? And when they begin to show? Oh Gods – then the fun begins. No lifting. No sitting. No standing. People open doors for obviously pregnant women. No one mugs pregnant women.

Well, Jane Taylor noticed. And so, when her pregnancy scare turns out to be nothing more then that – a scare – Jane decides to run with it. (Not literally – that could hurt the baby!)

The Thin Pink Line, by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, is the sometimes laughter-inducing, sometimes thought-provoking story of a perpetually flat-stomached woman caught in the web of a very big lie.

While occasionally, unbelievable…some of the stuff Jane manages to pull off as she tries to balance (and remember) who knows her as “Pregnant Jane” and “Not Pregnant Jane” seems a bit impossible…I found myself cheering her on. (Though I did not always like Jane, I did commend her for knowing her own faults. And she admits them rather freely. Which is commendable.) I wanted to see if she could really do it. I wondered how it would eventually change her relationships with her co-workers, her best friend, her Mother…and more importantly, with Tolkien. (No chick-lit is complete without a fabulously odd-named love interest!) And when a co-worked co-conspires with Jane to turn the entire experience in to a novel…well…

Honestly, the concept thrilled my sneaky-side. Can you really say you’ve never wondered how differently life would be if you were pregnant. Sometimes I do…I’ve known women that have gotten pregnant on purpose just to get what they want. But why bother with more stretch marks if you don’t have to?

I knew just from reading the small author-blurb on the back cover that I would enjoy the read:

Lauren lives with her husband and daughter in Danbury, Connecticut – and unlike her heroine, she did not fake her pregnancy.

I will say that I was concerned about reading an obviously Britcom book written by an American author... seriously. I was pleasantly surprised to fine that, from my American perspective at least, that it was very well done. No overdoses of “bloody hells” or “jolly old chaps.” And, as the author says, ”When PINK started writing itself, the voice of Jane Taylor was distinctly British and there was no arguing with her. After all, can you imagine an American beginning her story by speaking the immortal line, “Have you become a fuckwit, Jane?”

A definite fun read, while dark and satirical it was still lighthearted and funny, and I’ve just begun reading the sequel: Crossing the Line, so look for the review in a coming issue of Sex-kitten, as well as an interview with the author.