Book Review: The Accidental Mother by Rowan Coleman

The Accidental Mother tells the story of Sophie Mills, a successful party-planner in a prestigious company. She's surprised to one day receive a visit from her social worker who says she's been named as guardian to her old friend's two young children. Sophie finds her life turned upside down by the arrival of Bella and Izzy and makes it her mission to track down their errant father before she loses her shot at promotion and everything she's worked for.

This book has been languishing on my shelf for quite a few years, mainly because it's a little lighter than the novels I generally go for and I've been submerged in seriousness for quite some time now. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it, the first half in particular. Sophie's attitude towards the children is your typical fish-out-of-water scenario and it works wonderfully. She's a high-powered, commitment-phobic workaholic and the disruption the girls cause to her well-ordered life is acute and amusingly depicted. The inevitable thaw towards the children, also, is well-handled and it's good to see Sophie going through all those things parents do - for instance, idly wondering why the three year-old is screaming her head off now instead of rushing to help like a woman possessed.

The novel started to lose me a little in the second half with the introduction of Louis, the girls' father. Although, again, I suppose this facet of the plot was inevitable, I didn't really like it and it drew me out of the book somewhat. However, for the most part I enjoyed this novel and I laughed out loud at certain lines.

This book was read as part of the 'New Author' reading challenge, details here.