Babyland

by Holly Chamberlin

When an unexpected pregnancy enters the picture six months before her impending nuptials, Anna Trauslen, a thirty-seven-year-old events planner, is forced to evaluate her glamorous lifestyle and make some minor adjustments. Reprint.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Beach Reads, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Holly Chamberlin is a native New Yorker, but she now lives in Portland, Maine - the aftermath of stumbling across Mr. Right at the one moment she wasn't watching the terrain. She's been writing and editing - poetry, children's fantasies, a romance novel or two, among many other genres and projects - her entire life. She has two cats, Betty and Cyrus, and when she's not writing her hobbies include reading, shopping, and cocktails at six.

Reviews

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Babyland by Holly Chamberlin felt like a soap opera of emotions!

I'm in this weird adult phase where I feel like an adult and want to think about marriage and babies but also feel like a child still (college does that to you, I hear). Picking this book up was part of my 'I'm an adult who likes babies and marriage and soap operas' phase. I have to say, it didn't disappoint on what I wanted it to deliver.

I nabbed this book as a discount book store and I was stoked. I love getting books from random authors I've never heard of and I love sales. After reading the reviews for this book, I figured I needed to go in expecting a dramatic ride full of babies and girl gossip, and it delivered on that front!

I have to say, I really enjoyed this book! I wanted exactly what it delivered on and I couldn't ask for much more. I want to read more by Holly Chamberlin because she does have her own style, and I dig it.

Anna is married to Ross (think Ross from friends) and they decided they aren't going to have children. Then, TA DA!, she gets pregnant. The drama coming from this event, plus his family being rich, stereotypical jerks and her questioning her life brings out my inner soap opera addict. It's full of silly drama, insane gossip and twists you can probably guess if you've ever watched a soap opera. Will she stay with Ross? Will she want another baby? Duh, duh duhhhhhhh. There's lots of questions and this book doesn't end up answering half of mine, but I still liked it.

My negatives for this book was that it felt a little too long and that I didn't get to see the final happy ending shot of Anna and her man. I really wanted to hear about the happily ever after, but I didn't. Oh well.

Overall, I liked this book. It was a nice change and it was easy to read. I was able to binge this book within a couple hours even though it's so long, but that's because Holly knows how to write a good book that's easy to read.

Three out of five stars.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars 🌟

[Charlene · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book. I found it to be quite the struggle to finish but was determined hoping it would get better. I found all the characters to be very unlikable and 2 dimensional. Not even the romantic connections could keep me interested. 40 year old characters acting like moody teenagers. And the final chapter was annoying. Talking directly to the reader for the first time updating on how all the characters are doing in the lives currently. Totally unremarkable book.

[Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out great. Anna is a woman who is going to marry the man of her dreams, Ross (As in Ross and Rachel from Friends). She is 37 years old. She has her own business and she never wanted children. Then she finds herself pregnant. She finds that the man she is going to marry is not the man that she loves. The man that she finds herself loving is someone else. There are some pretty heavy things that are being dealt with. The concept of God is tackled. Loss of child and the life path of women is also tackled and questioned. Anna loses the baby and cancels the wedding. It takes 100 extra pages to nab Jack who has his own complicated situation dealing with a son he didn't know about. It would have had a better rating but I'm telling you right now the last 100 pages made the book too long. Chamberlain should have ended it with Anna moving closer to Jack and we could have guess that they would get together but she didn't work enough on developing Jack during the novel so I think she did it so that we could see who Anna was ending up with.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost feel like two out of five stars is a little harsh for this book as, although I wouldn't go as far to say I really enjoyed it, it did sustain my attention at times. However, just like a school assignment, I had to take some points off due to the number of spelling and grammatical errors - I understand there will always be a few that slip through, but I think there were just a little too many, bordering on carelessness.
The other aspect of this book that I couldn't quite warm towards was the writing style. It's by no means bad, but I find the sentences are all very short and at times, it is almost like reading a string of thoughts from the author rather than immersing yourself in a story.
As for the story itself, it's fairly predictable and the characters lack the depth to develop any extensive involvement from the reader.
It's okay if you're after some light reading that you'll finish relatively quickly, but you won't be left with anything lasting at the end.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of disconcerting fluff. Not the greatest.

[Tin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was a hundred pages too long. Still, lessons can be learned from the story. Unexpected pregnancy may either make or break you as a couple. Tell that someone you really love what and how you feel before it's too late. And lastly, a girl can never survive a heartbreak without the help of her girl friends.

Full review:
http://amaterasureads.blogspot.com/20...

[Tisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story about Anna who is engaged to Ross. Their relationship is not passionate. It is very simple where there are no arguments, they agree on most things. Ross is a sucessful business owner and so is Anna. They agreed on no children and now Anna gets pregnant while on the pill. We see how their families and friends support them at this time. Anna is also planning their wedding. This is the first book by Holly Chamberlin I have read and now I plan on reading more.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book of questions. Every chapter was a lot of questions and no answers so you had a lot to think about. It was cute, but not great. I am not sure that I would read another by this author. The chapters are very short, so it does read pretty quickly. I think I might have read a similiar book about a woman being engaged and getting pregnant and then when she lost the baby, she found out she didn't want to marry the guy.

[Mιss •kαthєяίиє• Τhε Emεrαℓd Pяίиcεss® · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story kinda brought in my mind a mid-life crisis but thankfully it wasn't too cheesy.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars
This book sat on my bookshelf for a long time before I decided to read it because I had looked at the ratings although not the reviews. I actually don’t think I had even read the cover of the book before I bought it. I like the author and that was enough. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the book and found it much more than just mindless romance. The characters were all fairly well defined and believable and I found all to have different personalities. There were some difficult life situations that were part of the story and I thought were written about with honesty and thoughtfulness.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished it but I have to agree with some other posts that the back stories in the beginning were a little long and too detailed and I wanted the story line to get to a point faster! I hated the ending, I'd rather imagine what happened to everyone instead of a recap. Overall good story idea just writing style is not one I care for. Chapters jumped topics more like a textbook than a novel.

[Marnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was hard for me to get into this book. Anna is very unlikable- she's very self centered & thinks she's better than other people, & probably wouldnt make a very good mother. The ending was really predictible & the writing was overly complicated- the author could have told the story in half as many pages.

[Angela C · Rating 1 out of 5]

***spoilers***
Horrible. First of all, the only people who would be interested in this book are those who either have a baby, are currently pregnant, or want a baby someday. So why in God's name would you have your main character get accidentally knocked up, and then have her LOSE (as in miscarry) the baby, and end up childless at the end? WTF?

Horrid. Horrible. Horrendous.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was nothing like what I was expecting. After reading the blurb about the book, I thought I was in for a lighthearted, funny, easy read like Sophie Kinsella or Jennifer Weiner, etc. This book was way more serious than I was led to believe, and so I was disappointed. I mostly skimmed through some of the scenes as they were boring and repetitive.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing I liked about this book was the short chapters...I find books with short chapters go faster and although 400 pages, the book was a quick read. The story itself was cute, although the characters didn't have much depth. This is a perfect beach read where you don't have to think too much about what you're reading.

[Elke · Rating 2 out of 5]

i'm sure there are better fiction books out there are about women and their qualms about having babies. but once i started reading i just HAD to finish even though the characters were annoying and the writing is so so. it's no masterpiece but it's something that'll get you through a plane ride.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull and predictable

I was hoping for a bit more excitement. The friendships/ relationships in the story are often relatable, but overall the novel lacked plot and I had to force my way through it.

[Brookelyn Wilkerson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really could not get into this book. It seemed as if the entire book it was trying to get better but it just never got there. I did not like any of the characters besides the main one, Anna. It was just a super hard book for me to even finish, good luck to all who read this one.

[AnnMarie Messick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really 3 1/2 stars. The ending redeemed the beginning. The story was not just about babies and pregnancy. It dived into taking chances and not wondering. What if....? All in all enjoyable and not too deep if you want a fluff book to fill in between your serious reads.

[Brittney Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

beach read

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute book that i read while i was pregnant. i have it if anyone wants to borrow it

[Egonce Gonce · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book was a bit wordy-- and the author needs a better editor, I found it thought provoking and was able to relate to the story

[Nicola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre chick lit but at least it had a (slightly) unexpected ending.

[Georgina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really interesting subject matter but could not get into it. Will have to try again to see if interest increases

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

True chick lit. Woman finds out she is pregnant and planning a wedding. Life ensues and things don't go as planned. Typical story with predicatble ending.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read.

[Hazel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was just ok. It was like reading a boring chick flick movie, complete with long dialogues between friends. It would have made a better movie than a book.

[Andijkl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun pool read but fluff. Not as good as her other books.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book on the beach, and that's all it's good for - a bubblegum book. Uber predictable and cheesy.