Dear Carolina by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Dear Carolina is the debut novel of Kristy Woodson Harvey. The book is a letter to baby girl Carolina who was given birth to by Jodi, a 19 year-old mess of a girl, cousin to Graham, who is married to Frances AKA Khaki. Graham and Khaki want a baby but haven't had any luck getting pregnant. Khaki persuades Jodi to keep her baby rather than have an abortion. Within the first few chapters, Jodi surrenders Carolina to Khaki and Graham because she realizes that she is ill-equipped to care for the baby, having almost surrendered to drinking again before coming to this critical decision.

With that suspense resolved quickly early in the book, the rest of the novel details how the two women co-mother Carolina writing alternating chapters addressed to the baby. Many changes occur for both women as they figure out the important things in their lives.

Kristy Woodson Harvey is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s school of journalism and holds a master’s in English from East Carolina University. She and her mother  Beth Woodson write a blog called Design Chic about home decorating, an interest that is the occupation of Khaki in the book. Currently working on her sixth book due out in 2021, Harvey lives in North Carolina with her family.

Babyville by Jane Green

In Babyville by Jane Green, three women have decidedly different baby experiences. Julia desperately wants a baby even though she's unhappy with her partner Mark. Maeve never wants a baby or a man as she is strictly a career woman. Sam is deliriously happy being pregnant but did not realize the experience it would be to actually have full responsibility for a baby. This book was structured a little bit differently from most of Green's others in giving each of the women a separate section of the book but tying them altogether throughout.

Sam is the one pregnant friend that Julia can stand to be around even though her own plans to get pregnant are failing.  Maeve's pregnancy is totally unplanned when she has a brief encounter with someone she works with. Sam is overwhelmed by her responsibilities for baby George and thinks she us starting to un-love her husband. Julia met Maeve at a wedding of a mutual friend of all threee women, and Sam met Maeve at a coffee shop.  As in all Jane Green books, things will have a way of working out...although there might be a surprising twist or two.

Jane Green is one on the consummate writers of women's fiction. Her chick lit is always enjoyable and often infused with humor. Formerly a journalist in the United Kingdom, Green lives with her husband and their blended family in Westport, Connecticut.