Izzy Lane never thought of herself as a liar. In fact, she’s always played by the rules. She’s an excellent mother, has loyal friends, and a rich career as a school counselor. Fresh from a new divorce, however, Izzy feels like she needs a little fun. So when, on a whim, she starts a blog it seems like a rather benign indulgence. But as her online quips begin to gain traction, Izzy makes a slip. … slip. Somehow a new boyfriend winds his way into the picture. The problem? Izzy makes him up.
What, at first, feels like a harmless fib quickly spins out of control and Izzy must figure out how to balance fantasy and reality. Keeping up appearances while managing an absent ex-husband, two very nosy friends, a toddler son, and full-time job soon prove impossible, and Izzy feels utterly lost. It’s only when her long-time neighbor and surrogate mother, Mrs. Feldman, re-enters her life that Izzy begins to see the mess she’s made. And it’s with Mrs. Feldman’s guidance that Izzy learns to face reality, find comfort in new norms, and open herself up to the possibility of real love.
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What a wonderful read. When you have to find your way after a divorce and you move back into your parents home to get back on your feet. The have retired and moved and you have the house to yourself in your old neighborhood. The next door neighbor is someone you have known all your life and she is a wonderful lady and she lives by herself. She helps you with your son and you go over and keep her company. Her sons decide that she needs to move to a smaller place and are going to sell her place and you need to get on with your life. The neighborhood is changing. I love this book. I laughed, I cried and very much enjoyed this book.
Elizabeth “Izzy” Lane is an ordinary person who has issues in her life just like you and me. She is a single mother and soon to be divorced from her husband, Bruce. Together they have a five-year-old son, Noah. She and Noah move back to Philadelphia and try and live a normal life in her childhood home. As Bruce has moved on with his life with his girlfriend, Amanda, it’s Izzy who’s having difficulty, so she creates this imaginary boyfriend, Mac.
Izzy is a guidance counselor at a high school and she’s also a blogger, but her salary isn’t enough, so she still needs Bruce’s minimal child support to help make ends meet. Bruce, however, loses his job and decides to take a trip to California with Amanda for several weeks. Izzy is left on her own devices to pay the bills and take on both rolls of mother and father to Noah.
Jade, Rachel and Mrs. Feldman, her elderly neighbor who lives next door to Izzy, are her best friends. To help Izzy’s financial issues, Jade offers her a job blogging about the 40’s and over dating scene. Izzy reluctantly takes the job and starts blogging about Mac who doesn’t exist, and the blog instantly becomes a hit! Izzy really wants to come clean and tell everyone the truth that Mac is non-existent, but things just get ahead of her. She’s not about lying to her best friends and to her own son. She’s really in trouble when her friends want to meet the mysterious Mac, and someone online suspects Izzy’s a fraud. However, the good news is that a guy in real life seems interested in her. Oh, happy day!
I enjoyed Mrs. Feldman’s character and felt she was Izzy’s sounding board, and vice versa. These two are old souls who really respect each other’s advice and opinions. Izzy, on the other hand, just wanted to make things right for her son, but I didn’t always agree with her actions. However, sometimes we do what we have to do to get by, no matter what. In the end of the story, we find out that Mrs. Feldman has a secret of her own, and together she and Izzy get their lives on track, and the lies cease. For Izzy, a brand new and exciting relationship is blooming, and Mrs. Feldman can live her life pain free. These two characters are both The Good Neighbor.