The Bright Side of Disaster is Katherine Center's first book. I listened to it on audio and really enjoyed the narration. It truly felt like someone telling their story. I truly sympathized with Jenny as she worked to navigate her life as a single mother. At the same time, I just couldn't get why she even entertained any thought toward a possible relationship with Dean, her baby's daddy. What a loser! Yes, people can change but he definitely did not. Overall this was an entertaining read and I will continue to check out Katherine Center's back list. 4 Stars ( )

Such a moment by moment delightful story of ALL of the ups and downs of Jenny's pregnancy and following single motherhood--yes, full of disasters of many kinds. Dean versus Gardner...mother versus father's mother....just one event after another. A very readable book, no matter how old (yes, me) you are....remembering. I missed several of Center's books during her writing so I'm catching up. ( )

Jenny is forced to wade into motherhood alone when her boyfriend Dean abandons her just before her due date. This had delightfully colorful characters and was quite unlike the other Katherine Center book I’d read, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Absolutely loved the hilariously snarky descriptions of the very real moments of motherhood. That birth plan that so did not go as planned. Nursing. I couldn’t stop laughing at poor Jenny’s experience with the almonds. She was such an everyday character and you could so relate to her problems. And ugh. Dean!! Such a man-child with the band always coming first even when he has a baby and crashing on the couch. I loved Jenny finally earning her way to her happy ending.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
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Sweet. Finished in 1 day. No drama and a predictable story line. Her later books are better. ( )

When my dear friend Annie gave me ‘The Bright Side of Disaster’ to read, I was so elated that I couldn’t wait to ‘dig into it.’ The story is about Jenny Harris, a pregnant, young woman who is engaged to Dean, the most despicable of fiancés. It is incredible that Jenny ever even gave Dean a nod, since he seemed like a shiftless, irresponsible scoundrel with a ‘wandering eye’ for other women. Anyway, Dean walks out on Jenny the day before she goes into labor, but fortunately, leaves her with her supportive mom who sees her through the first days of motherhood with a newborn baby. The story speaks for Jenny’s tenacity to succeed at being a nurturing mother to Maxie, and her perseverance in carrying on after being abandoned by the untrustworthy fiancé. At one point, when Dean tries to wrangle his way back into a relationship with Jenny, I was disappointed that she let her guard down and even allowed him in the front door. I thought that Jenny was in some ways fortunate because she relied on her mom to assist her with childcare, and she possessed parents and future in-laws who supported her financially. Some single mothers do not have those support systems and must rely completely on their own ingenuity to succeed. I loved Jenny’s helpful dog-walking neighbor, Gardner, and the stark contrast between Gardner and Dean was conspicuously obvious. ( )