Book #44 of 2010

Book #44 of 2010 was "Get Lucky" by Katherine Center.

Sarah Harper is on the New York fast track at a top advertising agency until she grows a conscience overnight and sends out a companywide e-mail debunking her popular bra campaign. Fired, she flies home to Houston, where she crashes with her older sister, Mackie, and Mackie's husband, Clive. Turns out Mackie has problems of her own: after years of trying to have a baby, she announces she's done. In an effort to do something good for a change, Sarah offers herself up as a surrogate. In the nine pregnant months that follow, Sarah juggles unexpected feelings for her brother-in-law and expected feelings for an ex-boyfriend, and instead of the pregnancy bringing her and Mackie closer, it drives them apart.

I was going through this book thinking it wasn't my favorite of Center's novels. I couldn't relate to the main character (Sarah) and I wasn't sure about all of her foreshadowing - if disaster was going to happen just get to it already. Then I got to the end and everything made sense. It wasn't that the book ended neatly and all-too-perfectly. In fact, that might be why I liked the book so much -- Center has an incredible knack for writing about real people who live real lives. The ending helped me look back over the entire book with a different attitude (and I teared up a bit at the end too). Kudos to her and her writing - I expect more great books in the future.