Not many novels tackle surrogacy and especially not in a romantic comedy setting but this works brilliantly. When Ally agrees to act as surrogate to her sister the pregnancy helps to highlight the fragile state that all the family relationships have reached. Tensions mount, tempers flare and hearts are being wrenched in all directions. Some decisions in life should not be taken too lightly but then in this case perhaps doing just that makes everything work out for the best. Another great read from Zoe Barnes.
Ally is happily married to Luke, but she and her sister Miranda couldn't be more different. While Ally has four children and a cosy home life, Miranda is child-free, married to a millionaire and lives in a show home that wouldn't be out of place in the pages of HOUSE & GARDEN. Ally gave up trying to compete years ago. But she is shocked when Miranda asks her if she'll help provide the one thing that is missing from her perfect life: a baby. Ally has every sympathy for Miranda's infertility problems, but can she really have a baby and hand it over to someone else? Especially if that someone else is Miranda.
Zoe Barnes' varied career included stints as a hearing-aid technician, shorthand teacher, French translator and the worst accounts clerk in the entire world. When not writing her own novels, she translated other people's and also worked as a semi-professional singer. She died in autumn 2009.
