Baby Proof

April 24, 2006
The bestselling author of Something Borrowed
and Something Blue
now tells the story of what happens after the "I do"s. As a successful editor at a Manhattan publishing house, Claudia Parr counts herself fortunate to meet and marry Ben, a man who claims to be a nonbreeding career-firster like she is. The couple's early married years go smoothly, but then Ben's biological clock starts to tick. A baby's a deal breaker for Claudia, so she moves out and bunks with her college roommate Jess (a 35-year-old blonde goddess stuck in a series of dead-end relationships) while the wheels of divorce crank into action. Even after the divorce is finalized and Claudia embarks on a steamy love affair with her colleague Richard, she begins to doubt her decision when she suspects Ben has found a smart, young and beautiful woman willing to bear his children. Standard fare as far as chick lit goes, but there are strong subplots involving Claudia's sisters (one is coping with infertility, the other with a cheating spouse) and the childless-by-choice plot line produces above-average tension. 300,000 announced first printing
.

August 7, 2006
Cynthia Nixon is the perfect choice to narrate this seamlessly abridged chick lit novel, which unfolds like an extended Sex and the City
episode and deals with many of the same issues that the series' beloved TV characters faced during six years of shoe shopping and martini swigging in Manhattan. Nixon succeeds brilliantly with the tough challenge of making baby-shy editor Claudia Parr likable and appealing when her early selfishness threatens to undermine the listener's loyalty. She does a fine job creating a unique, throaty, confident voice for Richard (the office hottie with whom Claudia has an affair after her marriage dissolves), but the voices of some other characters, including Claudia's two sisters, blend too casually into one another. The bonus feature, a brief interview with novelist Giffin at the end of the final disc, is a mixed blessing. Although the sound quality has a poor call-in feel, fans will enjoy Giffin dishing on her characters, her life, and writers who have influenced her. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 24).