Customer Reviews

Crossing the Line

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Caution: Reviewers please be careful with this one. There are so many
wonderful surprises. I do not want to spoil them for you so I will step
lightly. The first one is a laugh out loud howler and it comes in the very
beginning. Believe me, you will stop reading to think about the
ramifications of this one sentence. That is, after you stop laughing.

The second surprise will be that you will find yourself really liking
Jane and wonder why you were so upset with her in The Thin Pink Line.
We meet many new, delightful characters just as quirky as ever, but my
favorite is Stephen Triplecorn , a social worker whose main goal in life is
to give Jane a hard time. You will love him. He needs his own book.

Baratz-Logshed is an author who will have you laughing one minute and
before you know it, you are shedding a tear. This book is a keeper. Enjoy !

Just as a warning to the casual review reader, this book is a sequel to The Thin Pink Line and you will not want to read this review until you have read that first book, as there will be some major spoilers contained here.

Crossing the Line starts at the exact point where The Thin Pink Line ended. Jane manages to solve what to do about her fake pregnancy in a "deus ex machina" fashion as another characters aptly puts it. Jane finds a foundling on the doorstep of a church on Christmas Eve. The fly in the ointment is the fact the baby is black and Jane and her ex-boyfriend are very white. Jane finally has to have true confessions, which meets with mixed reviews. It certainly helps her book sales when her "tell-all" book is released.

Jane is still the perfect prevaricator when she decides she must learn more about the black experience for baby Emma's sake. Of course, Jane is never one to use traditional methods. She "crashes" a funeral to meet some black people since as she puts it, the publishing house she works for is "lily white" Jane must also deal with a pit bull of a social worker who has to decide through an extremely long and arduous investigation if Jane will make a fit mother.

Tolkien, Jane's "Mr. Right" is back in her life, but Jane's choices and actions may be a threat to that relationship still. Foster motherhood has made for a kinder, gentler Jane, but she still has serious issues to deal with. Jane also has to learn to deal with the changing dynamics with her family and her gay best friend, David who is busy with his own restaurant and partner.

This is a book that could not be read as a standalone, but is the perfect sequel. The reader gets a glimpse of dealing with a baby carefully broken down into the first twelve months of life written with equal parts of wry humor and heartbreak.

The first person narration once again is the only way this book could work. It makes the subtle and drastic changes in Jane that much more believable. Anyone who has ever had a child can empathize with the fierce love Jane has for Emma and the lengths to which she will go to keep the child of her heart.

Besides the characters from the first book, the reader is introduced to several new ones that play pivotal roles in the plot. Stephen Triplecorn, the social worker, is one of the most notable. He is the typical bureaucrat that you love to hate, but the ladies he has to interview don't seem to mind all his questions because his best assets are on display in his business clothing.

This book has all the British humor and pitch perfect dialog that made the first book such a fun read. There is a satisfying ending that is pure serendipity. On her website, the author writes of plans for books in the future in a variety of genres. She displays great skill and creativity in both this book and the first. I have no doubt she will have success in whatever she pursues and I eagerly look forward to her next book.

Roberta Austin

How do you tell your whole world that you've been living a lie for nine months? I hope I never have to figure this out; if I do, I'll be using Jane as a role model. After reading "The Thin Pink Line" I could not imagine how Jane would ever get out of the corner she'd painted herself into. But, after reading this book, I cannot imagine any other answer. Clever and witty and all around smart - - that's what this book is; the most reading fun I've had all year.

Once again, the negative reviews puzzle me! This book was fun from start to finish, and kept my interest throughout. Jane is a truly funny character and the traumas she endures in this book are just as comical as in the first! If you enjoy over the top humor and neurotic characters, buy this book. I would note that readers should definitely read The Thin Pink Line first though, so the characters here are familiar. I truly cannot fathom why someone would dislike this tale. it was well written, engaging, and creative. A seriously good book for people who enjoy chick lit and women's fiction. You will not be sorry if you check this out. I wish the series had a third book because I loved this so much!!!!!!!!

It's not often that I read a sequel and like it better than the first book, but this is definitely the case with Crossing the Line. I had to work very hard to make myself finish the first book. It was often tedious and disjointed. Her relationship with Tolkien was almost nonexistent in its plot development. I honestly started reading the sequel because I had it and I wasn't expecting much.

It was really good! It flowed SO much better than the first book. The characters were so much better developed. I cared about them in this book, unlike the first. Jane became a real person with real feelings. I so wish that the author had written a sequel to this second book. I hope we will see one being published soon so I can continue to read about Jane and her crazy life!

I've never just up and threw out a book before - this is garbage - I think I wrote better stuff in grammar school - very poor vocabulary, eight grade level at best. Syntax like a children's book, but not even that good really. Sorry, Lauren - I'm heartened, however. Now I think I may actually get a book published!!

the only reason that i read this sequel was because i committed to reviewing the first book and this book. enough is enough. the whole "fake pregnancy" of Jane's was sooo....um...dumb? and, wow (!!!), Jane finds an abandoned baby on the steps of a church. *rolls eyes* it can't get more contrived than that. :/

this author has enthusiasm, which i think is great - but she's not a chick lit author that writes books that i enjoy. and it has nothing to do with "values" - the story was just so contrived and i just wanted to throw a brick at Jane...dumb girl.

anyway, kudos to those of you that enjoyed it.

This book is the sequel to The Think Pink Line. It is even funnier and more capitvating than the first! The book takes you on an emotional roller coaster with the main character, and you find yourself laughing out loud at some of the situations she finds herself in! This book is about every kind of love, and you find yourself falling in love with the characters and not wanting the book to end! The end is definetly a cliffhanger, so hopefully we can look for more from this author about the crazy Jane Taylor!!

I was so impressed with the cleverness of a THIN PINK LINE that I doubted the author could surpass herself. But she has! This is a wonderful summer read, and I really found myself rooting for Jane this time around as she makes her transistion from singleton to mommy.

ok, i know lauren has done amazon shorts regarded to Jane Taylor, but I'm ready for another novel dealing with Jane! whatever lauren writes, i seem to love!