Summary:
Beth Carter is a psychologist to many and a single mother to four unruly boys. Patients might almost be manageable, but her boys aren’t. While the household lurches inevitably from one catastrophe to another, Beth finds herself barely managing to hold onto the vital threads of sanity whilst leading her often complex patients through their own remarkable journeys.
Beth finds it to be a lonely venture, leading her to look for love—but in all the wrong places.
Kbird’s review
I very much enjoyed reading this book. The author did a great job of inviting the reader into the plot. The way that she was able to seamlessly entwine both the mother and psychologist side was excellent. I loved that I was able to see into her life as a single working mom…the joys, tears, worries and laughs. Ms. Callahan described each character in detail from the mom’s point of view. The little quirks and idiosyncracies she developed for each person made them more interesting. She did an excellent job of showing each character growth throughout the story and how the relationship with the main character, Beth changed.
The story takes place over several months and develops nicely. As a reader, I was drawn into Beth’s relationship with each of her sons and patients. You will be able to see that Ms. Callahan drew on her own experience as a psychologist with Beth’s interactions with the patients she treats. It was refreshing to watch as Beth went from trying to reign in Alf’s behavior to showing Madonna that she truly cares. You get to see the same interactions she has with each of her kids. All four of her kids are so different, yet they are all the same. The author did an amazing job of letting the reader in on the difficulties and delights of raising four boys who vary in age as well as disposition. They are a loving bunch who would do anything for their mother and each other. This book is a wonderful uplifting read!!
I very much enjoyed reading this book. The author did a great job of inviting the reader into the plot. The way that she was able to seamlessly entwine both the mother and psychologist side was excellent. I loved that I was able to see into her life as a single working mom…the joys, tears, worries and laughs. Ms. Callahan also described each character a little more throughout the book so you got to really know them. It was nice to see each one of them transform from the beginning to the end. An excellent read!!!
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Author Bio:
Joan Callahan is a clinical psychologist practicing in Melbourne, Australia. She commenced her career teaching English and history at the prestigious Melbourne High School and later retrained in the field of psychology. Joan set up her own private practice and has a heavy forensic caseload, while providing consultancies to commerce, industry, and government. She also enjoys several mediation contracts. She particularly likes working with anxiety disorders, couples, and the full spectrum of psychological disorders.
Joan is the divorced mother of three boys, has three brothers, and three grandsons—not to mention that she taught only boys at Melbourne High School. By her sheer survival as teacher, mother, and psychologist, she considers herself something of an expert on boys. Joan loves her job, going to the gym, making bread, (boring, boring, boring. Next it will be romantic fireside chats and long walks on the beach at sunset!), socializing widely, and travelling around the world as often as she can with the love of her life. Her vast travels around the USA have provided fodder for the third book in this series as the inimitable Carter clan enjoy the wilds of Yeehaw Junction.
Life remains wonderfully hectic. Any similarity between Joan’s life and Beth’s is not purely coincidental. Beth’s patients are pure fiction; her dogs are not. Her boys? Close!
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