Amy PoeppelAnmeldelser

Hysterical. Smart. A welcome diversion. Perfect for the summer or if you're looking for something light.

The Sweet Spot was too saccharine for me. I didn't get past 2 hours of listening.

A sweet and funny story. Basically it is about a woman who?s husband divorces her for a much younger, attractive and successful woman. Melinda is very bitter about the break up and is out for revenge. Her revenge ends up getting one person fired from her job, making the life of another very difficult and causing her ex to become distraught over his new love. Kirkus: The lives of a disparate group of people in Manhattan?s Greenwich Village unexpectedly become intertwined.A brownstone, a bar, and a baby�these create the sweet spot where the lives of a group of people intersect. In the brownstone are Lauren Shaw, a potter; her husband, Leo Aston, a professor; their three children, Charles, Harrell, and Waverly; Lauren's mother, Evelyn; and Philip, an antiques expert and Leo's gay biological father. Then there's Olivia, the children's nanny; Todd, a freelance sound engineer and Olivia?s former boyfriend; Melinda, a receptionist at the children?s school; Russell, Melinda's ex-husband, philanderer, real estate lawyer, and father to the aforementioned baby; Felicity, a TV home-makeover expert and mother to said baby; and Dan, Olivia's father and owner of the Sweet Spot¥the bar below the brownstone. And, of course there's the baby: formally Horatio, informally Hank. Melinda, enraged by how her husband of nearly 30 years has destroyed her life by having an affair and leaving her¥although the resulting destruction of her career and possessions was all her own doing¥is hellbent on revenge against Russell, Felicity, and Lauren (who she has been told convinced Russell to leave her). As Melinda wreaks havoc, she causes Olivia to be fired. The story follows Melinda?s efforts to destroy, her realization that revenge is not as satisfying as she?d hoped, and the way most of the group comes together to take care of the innocent caught at the center of it all¥Hank. There is an engaging whirlwind of characters, an exploration of unruly and conflicting emotions, and an investigation of whether a lifelong monogamous marriage or a heteronormative family unit are the only places familial happiness lies.Staged much like a play or TV show, this is another enjoyable exploration of the messiness of life from Poeppel.

Silly but cute, easy to relate to this mom of 3 moving to the city, her momming is very believable even if the other premises are a bit silly.

I'm glad I read a review about this book from a trusted book blogger that I follow. She stated it took her a bit to get into the story because there were a lot of characters to keep track of in the beginning, but that she was so glad she stuck with it. I agree!
I really enjoyed this story of family, diversity, perseverance, tenacity, and love told with humor and surprises! The author did a great job of weaving several character's stories together yet not following the easy path for any of the character's journeys.
This is the first book I've read by the author and will definitely read her other books.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this fun story!

Lovely fun book. Family look after a baby. 3 women working together

This again was a great read with fresh characters and new bouncy storylines! The fourth book I've read by this author and she will continue to be one I wait for new books to come soon. Every book has a different plot and makes for a very fast read.

Bridget and Will have been friends since Juilliard, but that is it, they are strictly friends. They form 2 of the Forsyth Trio - the third being Gavin, their classmate. However, Gavin left them, and has become a star, while their trio is floundering.
One night, Bridget wants to have a child, and has sex with a very handsome man. The next day, she goes to the doctor to be artificially inseminated. She has twins (Isabelle and Oscar), but doesn't know who the dad is.
Now, years later Bridget is at her home in CT, and her dad, wealthy Edward, is getting married. A series of mishaps and family crises follow.
Comical, romantic, and a nice story of friendship.

3 women enter into an unlikely friendship to care for a baby that isn't theirs. Lauren and Leo live in a beautiful, but outdated, brownstone in Greenwich Village. Their life is in constant chaos. They have 2 children, and when Lauren is given a lucrative contract by celebrity entrepreneur Felicity to create unique ceramic pieces, her mother comes to live with them.
Unbeknownst to her, Lauren has encouraged Felicity in her affair to a married man, advising her to go for it. This causes her to become an enemy of Melinda, who becomes the ex-wife. Melinda is bitter over the divorce and seeks revenge. She not only goes after Lauren, but also gets young Olivia fired from her job at Felicity.
After Melinda's ex leaves his newborn with her and travels to find his love, all 3 women unite to care for the child. It is a mix of love and revenge, finding yourself, starting over, and letting go.

Clever, funny, entertaining, and irresistible – with a plot that gets more involved and humorously twisted with each chapter. The characters become entwined and connected in ways that make sense when you’re reading but are nearly impossible to explain. Four women who start out as enemies become close friends by the end of the novel – bonding over a baby that doesn’t belong to any of them. Themes of family and forgiveness abound, with offbeat characters coming and going just like a screwball comedy.

This is the second Amy Poeppel novel I’ve read, and now it’s official: I will read anything she writes. This was so good I found myself saying “just one more chapter” even when I should have turned off the light and gone to sleep.

“The Sweet Spot” is now on my favorites shelf – I highly recommend this charming, feel-good novel.

This was a well written witty book with some characters I liked yet I didn’t if that makes sense. It was definitely a page turner which intrigued me.

This was a well written witty book with some characters I liked yet I didn’t if that makes sense. It was definitely a page turner which intrigued me.

Small Admissions. Amy Poeppel. 2016. Kate loses it when she is dropped by her French boy friend Robert, drops out of grad school, and spends the year on a sofa moping. Thanks to her sister she gets a job in the admissions department of a spiffy private school in NY City. Kate interviews prospective students and their aggressive parents. She gradually realizes that the relationship with Robert was a mistake begins to come into her own as a person. There is not much to this book even though the reviewers found it hilarious. The only laugh-out loud parts were the descriptions of Kate’s parents who are college professors in the social sciences. She really hit the nail on the head, so much so that it almost worth reading the book just for that.½

#FirstLine ~ PROLOGUE - Felicity had walked by the brownstone on Waverly Place dozens of times without noticing it.

I loved this book! It was so original, clever, witty and unforgettable. I laughed, felt deeply for the characters and the story. It is one of those stories I wish I could read for the first time over and over again, so I can it experience again and again. It was so perfectly plotted, with depth and tenderness. There is drama too, which helped create a beautifully balanced story! This book is not to be missed! A homerun!

While reading about war and homelessness I needed a fun read before bedtime and Amy Poeppel didn’t fail me! The Sweet Spot is a delightful. zany comedy. The pages are filled with a host of eccentric characters caught up in a domino effect of action with unexpected twists, pulled together with a happy ending.

Lauren is an artist whose pottery is sold in homestyle guru Felicity’s upscale store. Lauren and her husband Leo and two kids and a dog live in Leo’s Greenwich Village childhood home owned by his uncle Phillip. Phillip was supposed to take a job in Germany, but a misunderstanding had him return home in shame. Below the brownstone is a bar, The Sweet Spot, run by divorcee Dan, who raised his daughter Olivia. The household is chaotic. the house needs a clearing out and updating, but the family is filled with love.

Felicity has scored Lauren a huge order. Now, Lauren has to pull together a way of getting the work done. She calls her aloof, elegant mother to come and stay with the kids. Felicity also revealed that she is pregnant with the child of a married man, Russell. Lauren tells her to go for what she wants. The father leaves his wife of thirty years, starry-eyed over the younger Fecality’s beauty and the prospect of becoming a father in his sixties. His wife Melinda is blind-sided; after she recovers from her grief she gets angry and determines to get even. Her devious plans wreck vengeance on Felicity, and Lauren, and gets the blameless Olivia fired from Felicity’s story.

When Felicity leaves the baby with Russell to film a series, and Russell believes she is having an affair, he takes off after her…leaving the baby behind. “It takes a village” to juggle the baby’s care. Meantime, new love affairs are developing, and Melinda is trying hard to undo the damage she has caused.

Now, this is a book I would like to see as a movie! With 21st century sensibilities and a 1940s classic screwball movie sense of comedy and style, I loved this one.

Thank you to Book Club Favorites at Simon & Schuster for the free copy for review.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The witty tune of the introduction hooked me. The allegro pace of the plot kept me reading. The alto range of the energetic cast of characters encouraged me to get to the coda, which wraps the motif this romantic comedy with jovial accents.

This is a new author for me, but this won't be the last book by her that I read. Musical Chairs is a delightful menage of characters thrown together for one summer in northwestern Connecticut. Will and Bridget are best friends and two-thirds of the Forsyte Trio, a classical music group. They're currently looking for a third, a violinist, but Bridget is at her weekend home for the summer hoping for a romantic getaway with her current boyfriend. However, Sterling breaks up with her, and her two grown children invade the premises along with Will, who discovers a new love in the nearby town. Meanwhile, Bridget's famous composer father, who lives nearby, decides to marry and throws everyone involved into a tizzy.
This is an erudite story about rich people, but I don't mean that in a bad way. Indeed, Ms. Poeppel writes very accessibly and tells a very enjoyable story. There are a lot of characters, but I never felt overwhelmed, and I was entertained by their different quirks and adventures. It's a somewhat complex story that's all woven together no matter the aspect: Bridget's renovations, everyone's romantic relationships, jobs, travels, and music.
This is one of those books that I'd recommend to book clubs and readers of just a good story. And I'll be looking for more of Ms. Poeppel's books.

This light-hearted story is full of reflection on life choices and their consequences. Fluffy with minimal character development and less plot. The rural Connecticut setting was appealing and perfect for the “rich people problems” that abound. It was billed as humorous and it is, in a sit com kind-of-way. I would recommend it as a palette cleanser and there are some characters (I’m looking at you Will) who are worth the read. In fact, the male characters seemed to have more depth, which is a turnabout for me. I generally gravitate to strong female characters…not too many here…maybe Lottie? I’m not sorry I read it but wonder if it would be better on the screen.

Thanks to #NetGalley for this book.

Rounding it up to 3.5 stars. Loved the concept of music intertwined with long lasting friendship, family, and falling in love throughout. Then there's Bridget's house falling apart (her country cottage), her famous father, a composer and musician in his own right just like Bridget. Bridget and Will who are not lovers but best of friends for decades, rethinking their careers since they can't seem to find the right musician to fill in the gap in their long lasting trio. Then there's Oscar and Isabelle Bridget's twins from maybe a long ago affair (not going to spoil it by saying by whom), and the people who are involved in different aspects of helping Bridget keeping her house up to date, which is a challenge it seems.

There are some humorous scenes in this book and hardly a sad one for a change.

Kate is the child of flighty academics, all set to go off and get her PhD and be part of academia herself (or maybe she'd already gotten her PhD? I wasn't paying close enough attention). She enjoys her research and lab work...and then she meets a handsome French guy named Robert, forgets all her plans and goals in favor of her "almost fiance", and is completely wrecked when he dumps her. She falls into a deep depression and can barely function. Her friends and sister want to help her out of her funk but have different ways of going about it. Chloe, Kate's friend and Robert's cousin (who feels partly responsible for the way Robert wrecked her), sets up a fake dating profile for Kate and goes on dates on her behalf, trying to find the perfect guy for her. Angela, Kate's control freak sister, helps set her up with a place to live, meals, and a dog walking job. If I remember right, she also gets her a job interview for a position in the admissions department of Hudson Day School. Vicki, Kate's elegant and high-powered friend...does something to help, but I can't remember what. Mostly I remember her agreeing to meet with Robert, dressed all sexy while telling herself that she was doing something good for Kate.

This is one of the books I got in a blind bag at Book Bonanza 2019 (I think the bag was labeled "comedy"). This is technically a DNF. I read up to page 160, spending most of that time hating the characters, and then I followed some advice I was given and skipped to the last 50 pages and read those. I missed out on some character relationships (Kate ended up with the guy I was expecting her to end up with, but I didn't see any of their on-page relationship), certain characters apparently took a turn for the likeable (Kate appeared to have become less frustrating), and some big events happened, I didn't feel like I missed enough to go back to page 161 and give the rest of the book another go.

The way the story was told was confusing. It wasn't linear - scenes from the past were mixed in with scenes from the present, and sometimes the progression of time wasn't clear. There were also italicized portions from Chloe's POV and emails from other characters mixed in. Some of this was done, I think, to mask certain information from the reader, but that doesn't negate the fact that the results were a little confusing.

Kate's relationships with Chloe, Vicki, and Angela made me think of a Nora Roberts novel gone wrong. Chloe and Angela clearly wanted to be supportive but came on way too strong (even considering that's potentially what Kate needed, since her depression was bad enough that she had zero desire to take care of herself). Vicki told herself she was being supportive but was actually just awful. I'm not sorry at all that I missed out on her relationship developments with Robert.

I have no idea why Kate was offered the admissions job at Hudson Day School. Maybe it was one of the revelations in the 150 or so pages I skipped. She showed up to her interview completely unprepared and then proceeded to say everything that entered her head, including some things that came across as borderline offensive. She had zero experience working in schools and zero admissions experience. She didn't actually do any research on those topics until after she was offered the job. It felt like some kind of "white woman failing up" storyline, and it really bothered me.

Based on the last 50 pages, yes, at some point Kate became extremely good at her job and did her best to help the more sympathetic characters. I'm sure her relationship with the guy she ended up with was cute (but definitely not the point of the book). It sounded like some of the ways she reacted to Robert (both when she was in a relationship with him and after he dumped her) were due to unrelated things she was working through that she hadn't told anyone else in her life about. That vaguely interested me, but again, not enough for me to go back and reattempt the 150 pages I skipped.

I don't generally rate DNFs, but at around page 160, my gut was going with 2 stars. It didn't necessarily seem like a bad book, but I hated most of the characters too much to want to rate it higher.

Bridget is excited to spend her summer at her Connecticut summer home. She is hoping for a romantic season with her new boyfriend, Sterling. But, Sterling breaks up with her, her twins decide to come home, and then her dad decides to get married. Needless to say, her summer is not going as planned.

The characters in this novel are just plain wonderful. I love Bridget. She is no nonsense, charming and downright adorable. She handles all life throws at her with ease. (She is wealthy and that helps!) Then there is Will. Will is Bridget’s best friend and he tends to ride on her coat tails.

There are also quite a few secrets floating around. And when these secrets start to come out…better watch out!

Need a good, cute, all around read…This is it! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the author for a honest review.

Fun book, fun relationships, nice characters.

Enjoyable chick lit about Kate Pearson who re-invents her young life from horrible breakup (French Robert), grad school drop out (bio-anthropology) and a year on the couch to become an admissions director at a private NYC school, Hudson Day School. Very 20-something with all these existential issues, but funny and charming and clever. Multiple points of view (Kate's responsible sister Angela who has deviated from the family academic tradition to pursue high-powered career and family; the flighty Pearson parents who are on sabbatical studying native peoples around the globe, Kate's best friends Chloe (who blames herself for Kate's breakup since French Robert is her cousin) and Vicki (who wants Kate to move on so she can put moves on Robert). Some wacky private school parents and applicants figure in once Kate gets her new life-changing job and the whole thing is a send-up about over-achieving and trying to create the perfect life. EVERYthing gets tied up very neatly by the end, but also makes this a little longer than necessary. Good escape.

Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel
Source: NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Rating: 5 stars

“What kind of life path does one have to be on to end up with a flock of sheep you didn’t ask for?”

Bridget has given her life to her music and her group, the Forsyth Trio. Being the daughter of a world-renowned conductor has always been a bit a pressure, but her skills are excellent and her drive to work and be better has never been questioned. By her side from the very beginning is her best friend, Will, a man who is perfectly content with his life and doesn’t anticipate any changes in the near future. Will and Bridget are both perfectly content with the way things have always been and see no reason for things to change.

Oh, how Fate and the Universe like to laugh at such complacency. . . .

As she does every summer, Bridget packs her bags and looks to spend her time off in her Connecticut summer home. The house is ramshackle, at best, and falling apart at worst, but she loves her home and it will be made all the better once her boyfriend arrives. Unfortunately, Bridget’s boyfriend not only fails to show, but he breaks up with her just as her two grown children, both running from their own lives arrive to lick their wounds. WTH?? As if all this unexpected company and heartbreak weren’t enough, Bridget’s elderly father is up to something and it may turn the entire family on their respective heads.

Neither Bridget nor Will were looking for change but it seems to be coming for both. Confirmed bachelor Will comes to town to support Bridget and meets a woman who throws him for a loop. Bridget is completely thrown off by the presence and pain of her twins, her loss of her boyfriend, and her father’s shenanigans. To occupy herself and keep from worrying about all the little fires cropping up around her, Bridget decides to finally start working on sprucing up her summer home. With contractors afoot, sheep mowing the lawn, and people coming and going at all times of the day and night, Bridget isn’t sure she’s ready for so much change. At least she has the security of the Forsyth Trio and their upcoming fall tour dates.

Unfortunately, Bridget doesn’t have the Forsyth Trio and when she discovers this harsh truth, she about loses her mind and her friendship with Will. Rather than completely melting down, Bridget begins to look to the future in a way she never has before. When she unloads her thoughts and feelings on Will, it alters his life as well and in ways he never could have imagined. As she is dealing with her own issues, Bridget does her best to support her twins, their life choices, and her father and his life choices. It’s a wild summer and certainly nothing like Bridget expected but in the end, it is exactly what she needed.

The Bottom Line: Amy Poeppel has a wonderfully weird sense of humor that really speaks to my own weirdness. Musical Chairs really is a wonderful story that focuses on the changes no one ever expects to come to their lives. Nearly every character in this heartwarming and funny read has a huge life-altering summer that none saw coming. I liked the great sense of support that permeates this read from one moment to the next. Though everyone is thrown for a loop, they are still there for one another and willing to help in any way imaginable. This is a story of kindness, calamity, friendship, love, support, and change; it is a story that has loads of feels and I found myself absolutely enamored with every aspect of this book.

Musical Chairs is the funny and heartwarming story of The Strattons, a modern family which consists of not only those related by blood or marriage but also the other people with whom they've chosen to spend their lives. Their world revolves around music - patriarch Edward Stratton is a renowned composer and his daughter Bridget is a professional cellist - and when the group unexpectedly comes together for a summer in Connecticut, it changes them all forever.

Bridget, middle-aged and recently single, is trying to decide what her future holds. Meanwhile, her two grown children, twins Oscar and Isabelle, move in with her while they deal with issues in their own lives, her best friend and musical partner, Will, is reassessing his life choices, and her 90-year-old father surprises everyone with the announcement that he's getting married. Definitely not the makings of a relaxing summer in the country.

Amy Poeppel has created characters you want to get to know and whose motivations and quirks feel completely realistic. There are a lot of people in this book - aside from the family, there are co-workers, friends, new acquaintances and more - but they're all so well written that it never gets overwhelming. The author also has a gift for comedy and I can't count how many times the dialogue and interactions between characters literally made me laugh out loud. I rooted for Bridget and Will and Edward and Oscar and Isabelle to find happiness in their next acts and while I wish the event at the end of the book wasn't so rushed, I loved the way their stories wrapped up. Edward says "Life is a perfect combination of chance and choreography" and that proved to be true for all of the Strattons.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books and the author for an advanced copy to review.