Mommy by Mistake [Paperback]

Rowan Coleman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2009

No longer just her --

-- but her with a baby.

From the acclaimed bestselling author of The Accidental Mother and Another Mother's Life comes a moving novel of how having a child really does change your life...forever.

When a spur-of-the-moment romantic weekend in Venice has an unexpected outcome, Natalie Curzon thinks she's ready to take on single motherhood. But while it's love at first sight between Natalie and baby Freddie, being on leave from the office, alone all day with her baby and her post-pregnancy hormones, makes her feel trapped in some alien body.

Just when she's at her wit's end, a major electrical issue in her London home leads Natalie to a whole new circle of friends. There's handsome, dependable Gary the electrician, and his assistant's young girlfriend Tiffany -- also the mother of a surprise baby. A crazy impulse leads Natalie to invent a husband who's working in Dubai, but when she and Tiffany decide to start a baby group, Natalie finds her lie spiraling out of control. Then Freddie's real father, Jack, unexpectedly reappears, and Natalie realizes just how much there is to win or lose...not just for herself, but her baby as well.

A comedy of errors, a lesson in living, but most of all a story told straight from the heart, Mommy By Mistake is a funny and poignant tale for anyone whose heart has ever lifted at the sight of a baby's smile.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

On her way to a business meeting on the London tube, Natalie Curzon starts a flirtation with Jack Newhouse that ends with a weekend in Venice and her anticipation of a relationship. But she does not hear from him, and nine months later receives a wonderful little reminder of that time—her son Freddie. Natalie plans on finally acting like an adult and does something she never imagined: she joins a baby group. Luckily, the other members are just as quirky as Natalie and include an earth goddess, an extremely mature 16-year-old, an overprotective mother, an uptight mother, and a house husband. The group gets on surprisingly well except for a bit of fiction from Natalie that takes on a life of its own. Rather than admit to her unmarried state, she creates a husband who is working in Dubai, so when Jack re-enters her life things get even crazier. Coleman creates an entertaining view of motherhood that will have readers laughing and crying along with the inimitable heroine and her band of appealing friends. --Patty Engelmann

About the Author

Rowan Coleman worked in bookselling and publishing for seven years, during which time she won the Company magazine Young Writer of the Year award. She lives in England, where she is working on her next novel.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 396 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; Original edition (March 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416583882
• ISBN-13: 978-1416583882
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,216,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm Rowan Coleman, I live in England with my husband, children and a poodle called Polly. I've been a published writer for almost ten years, although a story teller since I could speak. I've written a total of eight novels for women, including the bestselling THE ACCIDENTAL MOTHER and ANOTHER MOTHER'S LIFE and my most recent book THE HOME FOR BROKEN HEARTS has just been published. Growing up as a dyslexic made my dream of becoming a writer seem impossible, but I never gave up trying and in 2001 I won Young Writer of the Year competition in Company Magazine. This lead the publication of my first novel I've never looked back since.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Humor Carries Them Through..., March 8, 2009

By 

Laurel-Rain Snow "Rain" "Rainy Days" (Fresno, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mommy by Mistake (Paperback)

Reminiscent of characters in the "Shopaholic" series, Rowan Coleman's Mommy by Mistake follows the adventures of a thirty-something woman as she embarks on child rearing - unexpectedly.

When Natalie Curzon impulsively connects with a charming man - Jack Newhouse - and agrees to a weekend in Venice, she has no idea of the consequences that will unfold. After the weekend is over, she hopes to see him again. But he doesn't call. And then she discovers she is pregnant.

Fortunately, she is part-owner of a successful lingerie business and has a lovely house of her own. Despite these blessings, however, she finds herself sinking into despair during the initial few weeks after her son's birth; she has decided by then that she will never see or hear from Jack again. And this new adventure is more difficult than she expected.

Then her life begins to change again when her home's electrical system needs revamping and through her new electrician, she meets a whole series of new people - some of them other mothers - and a sisterhood connection develops.

But a seemingly harmless fabrication, followed by her embarrassingly flawed mother's unexpected visit and the surprising reunion with her "baby daddy" - all will turn everything around. Will she rebuild her relationship with her mother? Will she be able to tell Jack about her baby Freddie? And when will she be able to confess her cover story to her new friends?

This is a light-hearted book about serious topics. Just when it seems depressing, the humor of the characters and the situations in which they find themselves creates a warm and funny tale of the unexpected twists and turns of life and new parenthood.

I deducted one star for the predictability of the plot, which was enjoyable, but held no big surprises.

Laurel-Rain Snow

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun mommy lit, March 8, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mommy by Mistake (Paperback)

She is stuck on a train when she meets him where they talk. The next thing Natalie Curzon knows is that they are in Venice enjoying the sights in between making love. Jack tells her he will call her soon, but does not; breaking her heart. She soon learns she is pregnant and keeps her baby Freddie. When her electricity fails, she tells Gary the electrician that her spouse Freddie's daddy is in Dubai.

Natalie meets Gary's assistant teenage girlfriend Tiffany, also as a single mom is raising a child who black and tells her the same lie. The pair attends a first aid class where they meet Meg who believes her husband is cheating. They begin to form a single moms' group with two other women. Jack is back and wants to be a father to Freddie, but shows no interest in Natalie, who detests the word platonic because she loves Jack. She also wonders how to tell her new sisters that she is single having made up a spouse in Dubai.

The latest Rowan Coleman mommy lit (see THE ACCIDENTAL MOTHER and ANOTHER MOTHER'S LIFE) will remind the audience of family dramas by Eileen Goudge and Barbara Delinsky. Natalie learns the hard way that raising a baby nukes the parent's lifestyle as does her new friends who forge a support group to help control the nuclear waste. Points of view rotate so the audience knows what the prime characters are thinking and feeling, but Natalie is the focus as a likable vulnerable single mom.

Harriet Klausner

3.0 out of 5 stars Set in London so why the American spellings?, January 19, 2012

By 

nom de plume - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mommy by Mistake (Paperback)

This book is a good chick-lit read and the characters are amusing and relatable. The thing that confused me from the very beginning is that the book is set in London, the characters are English, and yet throughout the entire book the words 'mom' and 'mommy' are used and never the English spelling of 'mum'. There is also an inconsistent mish mash of American and British words; in one sentence you'll read about the 'buggy' whereas in the next sentence it's refered to as a 'stroller'. Not sure if I got an American copy or something, but still, very confusing and slightly annoying!