Window Dressing

by Nikki Rivers

Sometimes Reality Bites!

Lauren Campbell thought she knew where she was going. After dropping her son off at college, she'd have four years to live out her dreams and plan the future. But she'd been so living in denial, spending her days baking cookies, cleaning the house and going to PTA meetings, that she missed the fine print on her divorce. Now she's about to go from empty nest to no nest because her ex's support has ended!

From dressing as a milkmaid at the local grocery to working on window displays, Lauren struggles to make lemonade out of lemons. But a strange thing happens along the way. This "temporary" life starts looking more appealing than the life she's built in her fantasies....

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

Reviews

[Katie(babs) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable read about a middle aged woman who realizes regardless of her age, she still has a lot to learn about her life in general. Lauren Campbell is one woman I would have loved to have as a neighbor and friend. She will amaze you with her outlook on life and her journey for her second happily ever after as she moves into her forties.

Lauren is sending her eighteen year old son off to college and her nasty ex-husband tells her she now must now support herself and sell the house she has lived in during and after their marriage. At first Lauren is lost and adrift because she was at a stay at home mom for years.

She has a support system with her best friend and neighbor Moira, but there are also skeptics such as her ex, her mother and even her son. But the story has its humorous moments as Laurens goes through very strange jobs till she finds the perfect one for her, along with having a sweet romance with a man twenty years younger than herself.

Any women, married or even single with sympathize with Lauren. Her thoughts and view on life are very cute and her worries for her son and her new found friends are admirable.

Harlequin's Next line has a good deal with Nikki Rivers and this story is perfect. I recommend you take this journey with Lauren and see her ups and downs as she goes through the next step in her "new" life.
There are some nice sex scenes that are very tasteful and you will be surprised who and if she ends up with in the end. (and no it is not the nasty ex-husband!)

[veoneo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cozy read. I enjoyed the story. I didn't quite like the kid's attitude and how she was dealing with it at first, which was off putting, but at least it was wrapped up nicely at the end. Another thing, I personally think it's OK to have a spare room for your child to visit, but to enable his idea of not cutting it out in the real world by giving him the bigger room in your new tiny apartment so he can live with you is a bit much. Grow a set, and let that child fall and learn like she did.