The Baby Chronicles

The Whitney Chronicles #2

by Judy Baer

Whitney Blake left spinsterhood behind when she became Mrs. Chase Andrews, and marriage is all she'd hoped for. But when her friends Mitzi and Kim start going baby-crazy, she longs for her own little bundle of joy. Wouldn't it be fun if they all could embark on their baby journey together? And so begins The Baby Chronicles, Whitney's journal of pregnancy, recording every bump and blessing--and a few unexpected detours and discoveries-- on the road to motherhood.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Fiction, Chick Lit, Christian, Contemporary

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

aka Judy Kaye

Judy Baer was born and grew up on a farm on the prairies of North Dakota, USA. An only child, she spent most of her days with imaginary people-either those she read about or those she made up in her head. Her most ambitious conjuring did not succeed, however. She kept a clean stall with hay and oats for the horse she imagined would come but unfortunately, it never did. As an adult, however, she managed to make that dream come true and raised foundation quarter horses and buffalo for some years. A voracious reader, Judy learned to read with comic books, anything from Little Lulu and Superman to the Rawhide Kid. She sold her first story for $10.00 to a farm magazine. She still has the $10.00.

She graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota with a major in English and education and a minor in religion. At the time, she was simply studying what interested her, but now realizes that she was educating herself for her future career as an inspirational christian romance writer.

Judy wanted to write for Harlequin even in high school but it wasn't until her youngest child learned to say "No" that she realized that she'd better consider a second career to fall back on when mothering was done. Her first book was written with her little girl on her lap. Judy would type a few words, say "Now, Jennifer," at which time her daughter would hit the space bar before Judy continued typing. It wasn't the fastest way to work, but it offered a lot of mother-daughter time together. An over-achiever, she's written 71 books for various publishers. The mother of two and step-mother of three, she now has lots of family to enjoy.

In 2001, she went back to school and became a certified professional life coach. Currently she is working on her Master's in Human Development in the areas of writing, coaching and spirituality and writing inspirational Chick Lit which, she says, is the most fun she's ever had writing.

Reviews

[Trish]

Made it through the first in the series and enjoyed the light tone (and the fact that it still managed to convey a nice faith element), but this one was just ridiculous: the couple who've been married two years but just can't keep their hands off each other, annoying Mitzi (seriously, why is she working? She's tolerable for the last three pages, but still an abrasive, annoying character), and every ridiculous pregnancy cliche known to woman, including, "Oh no, her water just broke!"

[Melissa (Always Behind)]

Ok story of a woman who gets pregnant. Took too long to get to the point. Good spiritual content.

[Mandy]

I nice, easy read. Not a page turner, but I appreciate the Christian messages throughout.

[Sarah]

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I was ready for fluffy after reading some heavy Civil War fiction, and this sure fit the bill. Sometimes funny, often completely over the top, but surprisingly brought home a message about God's sovereignty and care.

[Eryca Caldwell]

This book is cute.

I've read this book a couple of times. I still like it now many years after reading it the first time. Enjoy I couldn't put this book down.

[Shannon Barnett]

It was just a bit slow at first and i was a bit frustrated at the time skip but i got over it quickly and love this book ♥️ The whole labor scene had me laughing out loud.

[Darinda]

The second book in The Whitney Chronicles. Light and enjoyable Christian chick lit.

[Adrienne]

THE BABY CHRONICLES
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"Kim grinned and took a piece of milk chocolate with almonds...[a few pages later]...Kim...took a piece of Dove dark chocolate."

(This book sponsored by Dove?)

When the writing involves non-action descriptors (as above), the reader is in trouble. Yet, superfluous descriptors are so common in chick-lit that I think many readers, including me, just ignore them in pursuit of the ultimate goal of a "light, fluffy" read.

Unfortunately, I did not find this to be a "light, fluffy" read. I found the story tedious to plow through. Lest I complain without citing reasons, here is a list (from my perspective):

1. Most of the forward-action in this story is flat. For example, the protagonist and her "perfect" (more on that later) husband go out of town for a romantic getaway. Yet, if the reader were to skip the mini-vacation entirely, nothing would be lost. A few lines planted elsewhere in the story would have had the same effect. And... the protagonist gets attacked by a turkey. Yes, you read that correctly--a turkey. The turkey attack is not at all connected to anything else in the story. No one shoots, eats, pets, talks about, or otherwise has anything to do with the turkey save for this brief interlude.

2. The protagonist's descriptions of her husband almost send this book into the category of a romance novel. He is perfect in every way, and his abs are washboard, and...

3. There are too many major things going on. Pregnancies, adoptions, depression-scares, a random ministry scene (that similarly does not forward-drive the story), a health crisis, a spiritual crisis, fertility treatments, etc. These are all things that warrant treatment, but attempting to discuss them all in one short book leaves nothing with its just due.

4. To me, the protagonist is difficult to connect with. True, I am not a perfect example of the target audience for this book...yet, there is something unsettling about a character who is "so amazing at her job" that she can basically do it in her sleep, who shops incessantly, who turns "liquid" every time her husband is near, who gets everything she wants, etc...

5. Personally, I found the sections where the cat "talks" to be distracting and annoying. These sections do nothing to push the action forward.

I admire the author for writing stories in this genre--in my opinion, Christian readers are desperate for quality fiction with which they can connect. There seems to be thousands upon thousands of Christian fiction books about the Amish, etc..., so books outside that sphere are more difficult to find.

Overall, a quick read.

[Kristy]

Great light easy read continuing on from earlier book titled Whitney Chronicles. Loved readin about character Mitze, great fun. Dissapointed in inaccuracies related to China adoption presented in this book. To the average reader, am sure its no big deal. However, being knee deep in that process, I noticed a lot that wasn't quite right. However, I am grateful to see books coming out dealing not only with women giving birth, but creating families through adoption.

[Robyn]

Kind of a weird book--the story was fine--and completely clean-- but dull. The climax was anti-climatic. But, sure, there were some funny parts. It seemed like the author was trying to be important and funny and friendly...and trying to hard. Oh, and it a Christian book, and all the lingo was...odd.

[Kristie J.]

This book was a quick, easy read. I did like the colorful character Mitzy and the funny "letters" from the main character, Whitney's, cat Mr. Tibbles. I gave the book two stars because some parts, like Mitzy having triplets (spoiler--sorry!) were hard to believe and most of the references to their pregnancies were about clothes, shopping, and getting fat.

[Lindsey]

Cute story loved how it showed the different aspects of becoming a mom the ups and downs and all. the little blurbs from the cats were cheesy especially since they started part way in . Overall a good summer read.

[Tiffanie]

liked the book a good read was hard to put down, i agree i liked the cat's tid bits but hated how they waited half way through the book to start doing them. I just had a baby 4 months ago so i thought this was a cute book to read. had a bunch of funny parts.

[Wilani Wahl]

This is a wonderful book. I loved the humor throughout the book. I also loved they way the author wove the Lord and faith throughout the book. This is one I will want to read again. i am looking forward to the 3rd book of this series.

[Michelle]

This is a sequel to The Whitney Chronicles, which I loved. It was just as good...would recommend it!

[Liticia]

Very light reading. Started it, got 45 pages in and skipped to the last third. Not a favorite but compelling enough toward the end to read through.

[Brenda]

I enjoy Judy Baer. Nice light end of the day type reading. Take me out of my own everyday life into someone else's world for a while kind of stuff.

[Lisa]

Whitney Blake series / book two

[Kathryn]

I found this much, much better than The Whitney Chronicles. the story moved better, and was easier to digest. seems like their may be another book coming eventually, maybe. :)

[Natalie]

I love these Judy Baer books. They are very easy, quick reads and most of them are set in the Twin Cities.

[Jessica]

This is great Christian Chic-lit. It was a fast read and not overbearing with a great plot and an inspirational message. I adored it!

[Just - The romance reader]

Yet another book to add to my reasons for being a Judy Baer fan. As usual per her novels, the full cast of characters is likeable and often quirky.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

[Rebecca]

This was a wonderful book! Very cute and unplifting I had toruble putting it down :)

[Lorraine]

I could relate to all the pregnancy and baby stuff!

[Kelly Watson]

I loved this book! It had me wanting to have another baby even though I just had twins 7 months ago! Could definitely read this book again sometime!

[Tanya]

As excited as I was to get back into these characters, the story took a long time to develop. Regardless, I enjoyed reading an easy book. Great poolside book.

[Lolkatings]

Didn't really talk much about her experiences with pregnancy. A little heavy-handed with the Christian messages, and I'm Christian, so that's saying something.

[Mackenzie]

Book 2 of 3

[Amandasaved]

After a while all of the characters were annoying.

[J.]

This is the "sequel" to the Whitney Chronicles (Shopaholic funny). While this one wasn't as funny or entertaining, it held its own. The escapades of 3 women in various stages of babydom will have you laughing and reconsidering how necessary reproduction really is to you. Definitely a fun & light read.
I love Whitney's prayers. I might have to crash Judy Baer's Bible study or enlist her as a prayer partner because they're real deal Jesus in the moment prayers.