When young mother Ava Johnson starts a baby group, little does she realize the drama and deceit that will be revealed in her small town. The mothers of Easthaven have ordinary lives on the surface, but underneath Ava discovers cruelty, comedy, and tragedy, as well as great caring.
So enjoyed this book. What an interesting mothers – baby club. Like a Peyton Place with some of the members. Fast moving reading book that threw a curve ball in every once in awhile. People are like books. You can never judge a book by its cover and people are the same way and that definitely held true in this book about these women. As is true as with the other books from this author I have read, I was not disappointed. This author’s books do not disappoint.
BOOK REVIEW
Diapers, Drama, and Deceit by author, Erina Bridget Ring
Think you can judge a book by its cover? Think again…
An engaging story that takes place in the town of Easthaven. A place that’s not all sunshine and rainbows with its humor and comedic elements~ but brimming with the dramatic, the challenging and the tragic.
In search of friendship, young mother, Ava has decided to take things into her own hands and form a baby group. This new outlet of support and good old fashioned girl-talk, quickly becomes more than she bargained for.
Underneath the surface of smiles, and what’s believed as truth, lies the anger, dishonesty, cruelty and raw emotions of what is truly brewing in the lives of these women. “The Women of Easthaven.”
Ms. Ring has stitched together many different personalities, situations and emotions all into one wonderfully, fast paced, intense narrative that will keep you glued to, and turning its pages!
5 Stars
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A baby group seems like a beautiful idea and a great way to meet other moms. But in the town of Easthaven one needs to beware and be weary as you find out in “Diapers,Drama, and Deceit” by Erina Bridget Ring.
Lovely innocent days filled with sunshine are devilishly disrupted by hidden lies and bigger lies when women get together for a meet up with their new babies. How can seemingly sweet mothers become morally corrupt ? Who’s to blame? Scratching under the surface of new friends bring to light some difficulties for the main character in Ring’s book. One thinks to themselves “this couldn’t get any worse”, well don’t bet on it!
Throughout this book, with Ring’s personable writing style, I had my mind bent in all different directions! And it was fun! I couldn’t put the book down, wanting to know what is coming round the next page I turned!
You’ll be delighted and wowed by getting a copy of this novel! I encourage everyone who loves mind blowing neighborhood tales of unimaginable going ons to delve into this book!
Wow, what a baby group, I was never a part of one while my son was young and after reading this book I am so thankful for that fact. Once I started reading this book I couldn’t put it down, the book was action packed filled with all kinds of drama. I laughed at times, almost cried at times and at other times was shocked by the actions of the members of the group. What a hard position to be put into knowing so much about other members of the group. I would recommend this book to anyone. I received the book from the author in a giveaway, but am under no obligation to get it a good review. I honestly enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading more books from this author.
When I think about a baby group I picture babies/toddlers together in a child friendly room or park surrounded by toys. There’s diaper bags all aligned and bottles stored in a refrigerator or cooler until needed. I picture moms discussing sleepless nights, lack of energy, and the desire for more time in a day. That is not this story.
It’s funny and so sad; it’s shocking and so tragic. It has deceit and both strong and weak friendships. What is right and just and fair comes into play. An overall great story that would be an excellent book club read because it touches on so many family related topics and life choice.
Our Gem this evening is similar to an Opal. It is mainly pastels of blue and pink with dashes of dramatic yellows and greens thrown in here and there. It’s Gem Maker is one who is familiar to us, Erina Bridget Ring. This Gem is Diapers, Drama and Deceit. It does not disappoint for it lives up to it’s name. There is plenty of all three of it’s D’s.
This story starts with Ava, a new mother again after ten years, strolling through a local park with her month old Nestling, after dropping her older ones at school. She meets another new mother and they strike up a conversation over the normal mommy things in common: lack of sleep, feedings, stains and other maternal woes. They instantly like each other and decide to meet again in the same place tomorrow. Then, they run into more mothers and they circle grows, the only constant for awhile bring the huge, Wedding Ring quilt that Ava inherited from her husband’s aunt.
It becomes a Baby Group for several new mothers in the neighborhood. 20-30 somethings who need support, advice and actual adults to talk to and to support each other. As with any group there are the polite, soft-spoken, let’s-take-it-easy-and-get-to-know each other types, but then there are also the odd balls. What I like to call the “pearl makers”, those people who add grit and grime to a group and will make the cream rise to the top. They will cause the people with negotiation skills, compassion or wit to come out of their shells and break the ice or the tension or stop the group short of murdering the “pearl makers”..lol.
Of course there is Ava, the default coordinator. Janel, the first member and stay at home mom. Sonja, quiet and unassuming, but a stand up gal when push comes to shove. Taylor, whose life is a train wreck and whose sense of boundaries is about as good as a wild Mustang on the open range. Ruthanne, whose little door that tells One when to shut up or not say something it stuck wide open. Ruthanne of the mini skirts, low cut shirts and as much tact as a 20 year Merchant Marine. And several others.
I liked this book. I don’t like drama in my own life, I avoid it like the Black Plague..but I like reading about it. This was a fun book and amazing how many of these people I knew back when I was actively employed out in the world…brr..happy to be spending tons of time with my books, in my cave, my Mate, my grandnestlings and my nice secretary who comes by on occasion or calls me to get the days entry ready to type for me. It’s so hard to type with claws, you know.
If you like, or even love drama, a good laugh and a bit of fun in awhile, pick up this book. It has all the fun of a good, old-fashioned soap opera with none of the commercials or never ending story lines or melodramatic actors.
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
When Eva Johnson is walking her newborn baby, Jill, through the park, she meets another mom named Janel and her baby, Mandy. These two moms hit it off and become friends. They decide it would be great to get together and meet with each other each week and talk all things baby! Then as more new moms start to become aware of their meeting, they want to become involved. So, what can go wrong with starting a baby group!? OH, how little do they know what they’re getting into.
Diapers: How cute little babies are. But then there are times they just plain wear a mom out. Each mom has different ideas and ways they think babies should be raised and taken care of. Put all these moms into the same room and they all have their own opinions. Hmm…what can go wrong there? I love that Eva has a baby quilt that is at every baby group and it’s a place that each mom gravitates to with her child. It’s almost like a character in the story.
Drama: Things start to come out about the characters to each other. How much drama can there be with moms and babies? That’s the understatement of the story! “Ava, your baby group is like a soap opera!” If there can be a situation that even seems wrong, then it’s going to bring out the drama!
Deceit: This is the part where secrets and lies start to be revealed. There are situations that are unbelievable. “It’s funny how you think you know a person but you don’t really know them at all.” As I was reading the pages, the level of what some of the characters were capable of had me shocked. “Everything about the women in this baby group has been crazy. How can they sleep at night doing the things they’re doing?” I had to keep reading to see what happens next!
I had a lot of emotions while reading this book. There are some very sad scenes that broke my heart. I laughed at some of the craziness. It also is a book that brings the meaning of what friendship and compassion for one another can do. We never know what a difference we might make in someone’s life by caring.
I enjoy Mrs. Ring’s personality and writing style. It’s descriptive and a bit anomalous. I particularly like all the dialogue throughout. This book is full of so many surprises and situations that I wondered how I would react if I were put in them. The mothers of Easthaven were quite the group of women who challenged each other in ways they never thought possible. They definitely redefine the term “soap opera” to the max! When I thought there couldn’t be any more drama, I’d turn the page and oh, my, gosh!! Drama abounds!
I enjoyed this book very much and can’t wait for the next novel Mrs. Ring is working on!
I am so glad I got the privilege to read this book. Who doesn’t love babies. Ava Johnson decides it would be a nice idea to form a baby group. Moms and babies would be so much fun. A great time to share stories and learn some new baby tips. A group of women and their babies meet weekly. At each meeting Ava always provided a special quilt which they all enjoyed and the quilt was a special object all through the story. But when you get a group of women together there will always be drama. And this certainly did not lack for that. Secrets, sad happenings, good times and knowing too much about others personal lives got to be quite a lot to handle. When you have your own values in life, it can be hard to understand why others do what they do. At each page you never knew what was going to happen next. A book that definitely holds your interest. I highly recommend this book.
Loved it great book
I LOVE how author Erina Bridget Ring takes a local news story and turns it into a book!! This one takes the cake!!
I’m sure there are many mothers out there that were part of some kind of “mommy and me” group when they had babies. Some might have been organized – some might have been friends having babies at the same time. Either way, with a group of moms comes stories. But the stories that were unveiled of the behind the scenes activities of some of these moms….well…seriously?? It really made my group of long ago look pretty darn boring!
I promise you won’t be bored reading about this group! It’s a fast paced read and leaves you shaking your head. Keep track of the quilt. It was a nice touch – a little sense of normalcy in an otherwise mind-boggling story!
Talk about a story that will keep you reading from beginning to end. Erina Bridget Ring has written a tale with so many twists and turns you don’t see coming.
Who knew a story about a baby group could be so interesting? This group has more secrets/non-secrets you need a scorecard to keep track.
I really enjoyed this book and was well worth the read. If you’re looking for something different, that will keep your interest and is a fast read, this book is the one for you.
Sometimes a person wants to be in a group to have friends and learn new things and share information. But there are people that just have to make life difficult for everyone involved. This was the case when Ava decided to invite women and their babies to gather together each week at each other’s home or at the park. So if you enjoy a book that has constant drama, you will certainly enjoy this one!