I received a copy from Goodreads.
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I would give this book 2.5 stars.

Ok, let me say this, when I picked up this book, I thought it would be a quick, mindless and light read. Boy, was I wrong. Marta certainly showed that as a single working mom, she doesn't need to conform in order to have it all...after a lot of work and frustrations.

I love how feisty and independent Marta Zinsser is. She is a single mother trying to raise her pre-teen daughter, juggle her home business, be a 'normal' mom and try to be there for her ageing parents. Now that is definitely a handful! However, with the pressure of Eva pushing Marta to 'fit' into the world of the West coast, it gets to be too much and often times I felt like Marta's fighting spirit was waning and losing her uniqueness. Honestly, I feel that apart from her revelation of what those 'Stepford Wives' have to do with their lives, she didn't do more to put those 'bullies' in their place. Ok, I'm not saying she has to stoop to their level of bitchiness but I would have loved to seen her give Taylor Young an in person talk down as oppose to talking over the phone and what not after a frustrating day. Marta's a busy working mom, I get that, but I felt that it would have been nice to ultimately see how Marta puts Taylor in her place in the end of the story. I felt like Marta was judging the other moms a little too much throughout the book, after all you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Also, I know she has a lot on her plate and new interests come into her life near the end, but it felt like she wasn't as feisty and eccentric as she was in the beginning of the story, which is kind of a let down since I rather enjoyed how she was in the beginning.

Eva on the other hand.... I understand how the minds of children/teenagers work, after all I was one of them once. I feel that Eva has a lot of wisdom and fight in her for her age, however there are times when I want to shake her and make her wake up from the delusion that being super popular is everything and her temper tantrums get a bit much at times. I get that she is an emotional nine year old, but there are times throughout the story where she acts really bratty or she acts very wise... it gets to be a bit much, but hey kids are like that.

The story does have a lot of interesting and valid points about popularity, conforming and being different. While the storyline didn't drag, I was getting sick and tired of hearing about the fund-raisers and duties that the PTA and volunteer moms had to do, which usually leads to some sort of awkward interaction between Marta and the other moms. ( )

As a rule, I do not pick up things with the word 'poignant' associated with them. My general rule of thumb is that I cry more than enough for perfectly legitimate reasons; I do not need to read a book or see a movie the main purpose of which is to tug at my heartstrings. So I have to admit, seeing a blurb on the cover of this book saying that it was "Funny and poignant...delightful," gave me pause. But the description was intriguing, and I'm on a major chick lit/romance kick -- quest, dare I say -- that I was willing to give it a shot. And I am very glad I did.

Truth be told, it didn't look good at first. Note the whole kick/quest thing I am on as mentioned above? Most of what I've been reading lately is straightforward, quick and dirty (emphasis coming close to dirty) romance. That this book started with a mom having to watch her daughter go through the whole mean girls thing was not promising. But the writing was... I was about to say that it was a notch above, but I'm not going to because I think romance writers get the short end of the stick when, in fact, they have some pretty decent writing going on. So let me say instead that the writing was a little bit more layered than what I've been reading lately; it kept my attention.

I liked how the author handled the 'odd mom out' part of the book -- not in a way that made you think the mom being referred to was a lemming or a wannabe, but, in fact, presenting a pretty realistic portrayal of what it's like to have your own strong viewpoints, but then have to see your child live with the consequences. Having to see your child struggle with anything, period. And, yes, those heartstrings did get tugged. Is it surprising, given the following passage?

And yet my baby won't be my baby forever.

One day, this gorgeous, divine human being will leave me.

Sometimes it blows my mind. Imagine falling in love with a man, an amazing handsome loving man who makes you feel like the best thing in the world, who gives your day purpose, *hope*, and yet you know from day one of meeting him that you'll have only eighteen years with him.

One day, about eighteen years after meeting him, falling in love with him, he'll go. Move on. Do whatever it is he was meant to do.

And this is my job as a woman, as a mom, to love her, prepare her, and then, once she's ready, push her out of the nest and make her fly.

As I mentioned, this wasn't a straightforward romance, so that aspect was almost secondary. There was enough of it, though, to sustain me as I move ahead on my quest, and what there was was mighty nice. Porter managed to convey a believable attraction and story arc even though it wasn't the main focus of the book. Extra kudos for fantastic friends, and a beautiful description of how hard it is as an adult to make friends you truly care about (plus a little bit of a payoff there as well).

I hadn't realized this was part of a series, and I am very much looking forward to reading the rest of the books, not to mention everything else Porter has written. ( )

The Odd Mom Out by Jane Porter
Marta works at home in the advertising area. She attends PTA's and just does NOT feel like she belongs - her ideas, and clothing, her lifestyle, nothing.
Eva her daughter is all about fitting in. Her mom overhear the women talking about her daughter and her clothes. She is devastated but so happy her daughter
didn't hear.
Her daughter wants her to hang around with other mothers in hopes she will become more like them, dress properly and feminine and not stand out by wearing her
combat boots, holy jeans and driving her motorcycle.
Marta has vowed to never fall in love with a guy again but she keeps running into a macho man everywhere she goes in town.
She deals with business problems and her daughter is acting out by doing cruel things to herself, and her mom being sick isn't helping.
I like this book for a few reasons: the mom is going through wandering around lost as she has alzeihemers, hits home as we are dealing with the disease with a family
member. Like the scenery of the Seattle area-places I've yet to go when we visit my daughter and her family.
Her friend who travels to visit them puts her foot down and intervenes to get her to start dating.
Her daughter is also helping in that regard.
Is this just what she needed or should she get back to working in her business as it's on a downfall? As life goes on
business is now her personal life, they are one. ( )

This was an ok beach type read. Marta couldn't be more different than all of the other moms at her daughter's school. New to the area for a year and a half, Eva (9)still hasn't made any friends and just wants to be popular, much to her mom's chagrin. Marta hopes her daughter will see that being your own person is good. There are some good characters in addition to the main two and the story was easy to read, if perhaps a bit long. ( )

Marta and her daughter Eva have just moved across the country from NYC to Seattle for her work and to be closer to her sick mother. Suddenly, her confident little girl, aged nine, has decided that she needs to be in the in-crowd and Marta has to watch her struggle while trying

The rest of the review can be read here: http://l-mocooks.blogspot.com/2011/02/odd-mom-out-book-review.html ( )