Babies and Burps

MILKED by Lisa Doyle. 

* I received this as a free eBook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. *

Amanda Keane seems to have her life together.  Okay, she’s not quite as successful in her career choice as her friends and she doesn't date much and she’s turning 30 but she has a loving supportive family, she lives “downtown” where she has always wanted to live; she’s pretty happy.  Enjoying her 30^th birthday party she meets handsome, young musician Eamonn.  Cue … whirlwind romance, unplanned pregnancy, unexpected job loss and disappearing Eamonn and Amanda finds herself in a fix.

She loves her new daughter but has no means of supporting her until she accidentally lands a position doing the only thing she seems to be good at these days.  She becomes a wet nurse for a rich couple, and then another and one more.  Could this be her new career?  If so, how was she ever going to explain it to anyone … especially the wonderful new man in her life.

I enjoyed this light, fun book.  Ms. Doyle has a comfortable, conversational style of writing that made me feel as if Amanda was sitting across from telling me her story.  I am torn as to my rating of this book. 

·        The concept is great, not a plot line I have read before

·        The writing style is comfortable

·        Amanda is a woman who accepts the decisions she’s made and does her best for her daughter no matter what

·        Too late for me, but I did learn a few things about nursing

For those reasons I would give it a four star rating.

There are a few drawbacks to this book for me.

·        All the moms that Amanda worked for had issues with their babies which Amanda magically overcomes the minute she touches them – one dad even calls her the “Baby whisperer”

·        All the babies and toddlers in the book were “easy” (even the colicky one … sheesh).  I've had children, there had to be one in the bunch that was a little cranky.  It would have added a little something to the story.

·        I know this is being picky but Amanda is supposed to be a “professional baby nurser (is that a word?)” and every time something goes a little off track she is knocking back wine or NyQuil or Tylenol.  Bad example for nursing moms!

Those are the reasons I am going with three stars.

Overall it is a good debut novel for Ms. Doyle and I did enjoy the book.  It’s a step up from much of the other “chick-lit” available.  This would be a perfect read for the beach or the deck on a summer day, maybe with a glass of chilled Pinot  – ONLY if you’re not nursing a baby!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (from her website)

Lisa Doyle is a communications manager and freelance writer based in the Chicago area.  A graduate of Miami University, she spent several years editing business-to-business publications for the personal care industry before moving to the non-profit sector, and currently works in advocacy for homeless families at bridge Communities.  Her writing has appeared in Writer’s Digest, The NaNoWriMo Blog, Global Cosmetic Industry  and numerous other publications. 

Her fiction debut, Milked, was published by Simon & Fig in November 2014.