In her lifetime, Allison Clark has made many bad choices. Topping the list; she married the wrong man. Now, on the cusp of signing her divorce papers, she finds herself sandwiched between caring for her often difficult and dying mother and dealing with the seemingly endless drama of her rebellious teenaged twins. When she thinks life couldn’t possibly get any more complicated, Allison discovers … discovers her mother has concealed a family secret from her for her entire life. Why had her recently departed father been making large and unexplained monthly payments to someone through his personal attorney for nearly fifty years? What was the money for and where did it go?
Stonewalled by both the attorney and her mother, and prodded by the antics of her financially strapped brother, Allison goes on a quest to uncover the secret. Along the way, with the help of her zany aunts and her best friend, she begins to make better choices which completely change the direction of her life.
At her twins’ eighteenth birthday party, and nearing the end, her mother checks off the last item on her personal bucket list and reveals the long-hidden family secret. Allison’s world is immediately turned upside down and the revelation stuns family and friends alike.
Despite dealing with the serious topics of divorce, complicated family relationships and death, this is a lighthearted and life-affirming story full of funny and interesting characters. Even though the clues to solving the mystery are all in plain sight, only the most astute reader will see this third act plot twist coming.
Rod Pennington and Jeffery A. Martin have combined to write seven previous Kindle niche international bestsellers.
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I enjoyed this book, and it was not quite what I expected. Most of the contemporary fiction I read is written by women, and this had a little different flavor. There were a lot of interesting characters, some a little sharper and less conventional, and some not so believable. Allison really NEEDS to make better choices in her life, so obviously that is the recurring theme. She and her husband should have divorced years ago, but are just now doing it. Her precocious, intelligent, and very unbelievable twins are about to graduate from high school, and her mother’s health is declining. So what should Allison do with HER life besides wander around cluelessly? Fortunately she has a best friend who always knows what should be done, and is the rock who can help do it. The good guys generally win out, and the “bad” guys get their comeuppance, so it is satisfying. It was a fast, fun read.
I really enjoyed the way this book allowed me to get to know the members of the O’Connor family. They are well developed and kept you interested. It’s a story about a family. And, as we all know, there is no perfect family . . . and drama is sure to follow. What a thoughtful read and entertaining. Put this on your to-be-read list.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kindle for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
Sit down and get comfy for this enjoyable read. The story revolves around Allison and her very tumultous life. To call her family complicated is only skimming the surface. On a daily basis she is dealing with a absolutely miserable marriage to a serial philanderer/jerk of a husband while awaiting their impending divorce as soon as her twins turn 18 and graduate high school. That is if they graduate. They are brilliant, but trouble seems to find them often driving her crazy and she knows something is up, just not exactly what. Yet. Then there is her brother Robert, who inherited the majority of the family business that was her fathers passion, but he is terrible at it. Plus he has a really annoying trophy wife who wants what she wants and allows nothing to stand in her way causing Robert to try to get hold of the rest of the family money. He’s kind of a spineless jerk, but that’s just my opinion. A very opinionated stubborn mother who suffers a medical emergency and requires full time help permanently for which her brother is totally useless, secrets, lies and more people and issues. All of this is woven into a wonderful journey when one day Allison decides she has had enough. She is done with it all and finally stands up for herself. It is really wonderful watching her stand up for herself and feel so good about it. She is for the first time ever putting herself first and loving it. I really enjoyed the writing style and the character development. So be prepared to not want to stop reading once you’ve started. Enjoy the read, I did.
Allison O’Connor Clark is having a very bad day – her twins are in trouble at the high school, her husband’s latest girlfriend is harassing her, and her mother Edna is in the hospital seriously ill. Trying to get everything settled, Allison must make a number of choices and her track record for decision making is not very good.
The O’Connor / Clark family relationships are complicated and when her brothers discovers a family secret, matters become even worse. With the help of her best friend Beth and her aunt’s partner Aunt Jolene, Allison begins to evaluate her decision-making process in order to ensure her family remains secure, financially and emotionally.
I had never read anything by the authors, but I have added their books to my TBR list. From page one, the story and the writing had me hooked. The characters and their dilemmas were intriguing. People were not who they seemed – generally they were more rational and compassionate than they appeared initially. (Sorry if that’s a spoiler.) The book is worth reading just for Edna’s character – she’s a bawdy, creative, dynamic, driven lady who knows what she wants and goes about getting it. Her clean expletives are a hoot. And Aunt Tillie – what a original. She and Edna almost steal the show.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley, but the opinion is my own.
“Better Choices” was a thought-provoking novel which begins with Allison finding out shocking deeply buried family secrets. She is on the path to begin her next life stages but has to figure out how to accept and learn to control her “lizard brain” and deal with the cards recently dealt.
Watching the evolvement of Allison with her family definitely kept me wanting to turn the page.
Rod Pennington has given us a motivating entertaining novel. This was a new to me author and glad to have found him.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for fair and honest review.
I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, authors Rod Pennington and Jeffery A. Martin, and Integration Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to add Rod Pennington and Jeffery A. Martin to my favorite authors and recommend their work to friends and family. They write a tight tale with sympathetic, compassionate protagonists and gentle lessons in coping tucked amid a story that is compelling.
Written from the first-person viewpoint of Allison O’Connor Clark and occurring in the present time, you are going to enjoy meeting the whole O’Connor/Clark, family. Allison’s father Charlie O’Connor, a very successful builder, died a couple of years ago. Her Mother Edna is a feisty, extremely independent woman with many interests – and a recent heart incident with a very bad prognosis and the impossibility of living on her own any longer. Husband Lindsey, guilty of casual promiscuity since Allison was pregnant with the twins, is on the way out of Allison’s life as soon as the twins, Charles and Angela, graduate high school – co-valedictorians! – and she files the divorce paperwork. Well, the twins will graduate if they don’t get expelled the last week of senior high. Brother Robert who inherited 60% of the very profitable family business on the death of their father is looking for someone to bail him out of a serious financial hole. Lifetime best friend Beth Longway Woodrow is a highly respected lawyer and always there for Allison, especially now that she is watching her mother dwindle away. Every day it seems like there are more pressures and angst and less of her life that is in her immediate control – Allison must find a way to ensure that in future she makes much better choices…
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is my first book by these authors and I’m not sure how I feel about the book. It was a bit unusual in the writing and the characterization. The plot was kind of a jumble of different things. I couldn’t really tell where the book was going as I was reading it but it eventually came to an interesting ending. Enjoy!
Better Choices is the newest offering by author Rod Pennington and his collaborator Dr. Jeffrey A. Martin. The story unfolds over a few months period of time from a little before Memorial Day until a bit after Labor Day. To put it simply, middle aged Allison Clark is having a bad day, including spilled coffee, errant twins she has been called to a school meeting to discuss, and an emergency phone call from the hospital her ornery mother, Edna O’Connor, has been taken to. Allison, a champion of poor decisions, is just trying to remain invisible and move along. Her philandering husband, her rebellious/enterprising high school senior twins, and her mother have other ideas.
When Allison decides she, along with her twins and aunts, will stay with her mother when the prognosis is dire, there is a real change in her personality after reading some of her Aunt Jolene’s writings. As though a switch has flipped, Allison is a new and surprising person with a take charge attitude. Accompanied by her best friend and attorney, Beth Woodrow, she takes the school by storm, finalizes divorce papers, and is finally welcomed into the O’Connor sisterhood.
This delightful novel, while dealing with very serious subjects such as divorce, dementia, and end of life issues, treats the unfolding story with humor, quirky characters, and lightheartedness, allowing the reader to become a first hand witness. I very much enjoyed this book and have found a wonderful new author to add to my bookshelves. I do recommend this book!
A new author for me I was pleasantly surprised at how well I loved the book. I loved the family drama and the amazing characters in the storyline. The twins are scary they are so smart, full of plans and always seem to be getting into trouble. For me this was a quick read and would be perfect for a beach read. I loved this quirky family, and would love reading more books about them in the future. I would certainly recommend this book to others.
I received a copy of a Advanced Readers Copy from NetGalley and the publisher, and this is my fair and honest review.
A Life Well Lived
This is a very refreshing book that I hated to see end. The central personality is facing more than a few mid-life defining moments. She is juggling her mother’s life coming to an end, her children turning 18, divorcing their father and finding a life for herself. Most of the characters in the story are growing and surprising the others. It is such a good story with so many people finding their full stride that it kept a smile in my heart. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
Better Choices by Rod Pennington and Jeffery A. Martin
This was my first book by Rod Pennington and Jeffery A. Martin. It was a great read. The language and the dialogue flowed.
It is the story of a family, right down to the crazy aunts, and the dynamics that make it function. The lessons we learn as parents as we watch our children grow from child to teen to dare I say it – adult. There are complex relationships in life and families. The authors explore the choices we make and why we make them.
The authors are able to weave a tale that is believable, humorous and thought provoking. This was a great read. Definitely should be on your “To Be Read” pile. Pick it up today!
Netgalley and Integration Press provided me with an ARC of this book. The comments and review are my honest opinion.
Allison Clarke is on the threshold of divorcing her philandering husband, being an empty nester as her twins are off to college and she, as she looks back over her life just might make some better choices than before. That is until some parts of her new life become quite different than what she expected. But in the end, she would not have had it any other way.
Colorful characters with a touch of insight into what Allison should have done versus what she did, Better Choices is a fast paced, entertaining book by two authors I have not read before. But if their other books provide the entertainment as this one did, I’ll be sure to read them.