Review: Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook

About Seven Year Switch:

Jill Murray is content living a man-free existence. She’s got Anastasia, her ten-year-old daughter, and a sweet little bungalow to call home. Life as a cultural coach didn’t turn out quite the way she planned, but between answering phones for Great Girlfriend Getaways and teaching Lunch Around the World classes, the dust in this Jill-of-all-trades life is starting to settle.

Then her ex-husband comes back.

They say that every seven years you become a completely new person, and Jill has long ago stopped wishing her deadbeat husband would return. Now she has to face the fact there’s simply no way she can be a good mom without letting Seth back into their daughter’s life. But why can’t she seem to hold herself together around him? And then there’s Billy, the free-spirited, bike-riding entrepreneur who hires Jill as a consultant. When their business relationship seems destined for something more Jill’s no-boys-allowed life is suddenly anything but.

It takes a Costa Rican getaway to help Jill make her choice — between the woman she is and the woman she wants to be.

My Thoughts:

Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook is the perfect summer getaway book! It's pure summer fun as we experience a slice of life through the eyes of Jill Murray who is a creative, yet struggling single mom of a ten year old daughter Anastasia. Her estranged husband Seth abandoned them seven years ago.  Jill has a rhythm to her life and she has finally met a man that interests her. Whe she is starting to settle into a life that has it's challenges but is predictable...Seth suddenly shows up, seven years later. Here's a quote from the book that I found interesting:

"There are seven types of intelligence and seven habits for highly effective people. Hollywood has Seventh Heaven and The Seven Year Itch. There's even a New Age notion that every seven years you shed your skin and become a completely new person, sort of a seven year switch." pg. 20

Anastasia is thrilled to have her daddy back in her life but Jill has to figure out how to handle this situation and the mixture of emotions she holds in her heart.

I loved the stories of Jill's Lunch around the World classes at the senior center where she linked learning about food and culture and made it so much fun for the students. Every class was a theme related to food from a certain culture such as Thai food, Hawaiian food etc. The characters were a blast, funny and quite protective of Jill. Jill also worked at Great Girlfriends Getaways where she was able to work from home taking phone calls from prospective women who wanted to learn about wonderful girlfriend getaways. Jill's conversations also tied to culture and different countries and were a hoot to read about.

Ms. Cook  creates a cast of characters in Seven Year Switch that are full of imperfections, funny, sassy and wise. This is one of the best summer books that I've read in a long time as it made me laugh and think, it's definitely not a fluffy book! I believe that women will connect to Jill and the story in Seven Year Switch. It's an inspiring story of love, finding inner strength, and discovering it's never too late to start over. I highly recommend that you get a copy of Seven Year Switch, you won't be disapointed. This would make a great book to discuss with a book club, you can find Book Club Conversation Starters, here.

I have to admit that this is the first book that I've read by Claire Cook and I don't know how that has happened! I can tell you that I'll definitely be reading more of her books and the next one will be The Wildwater Walking Club, which I have waiting to be read on my bookshelf. I can't wait!

Check out this great book trailer for Seven Year Switch:

Claire Cook is the bestselling author of seven novels, including Must Love Dogs, which was adapted into a Warner Bros. movie starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, The Wildwater Walking Club, Life’s a Beach, and her latest, Seven Year Switch. Her reinvention workshops have been featured on The Today Show, and she has been a judge for the Thurber Humor Prize and the Family Circle fiction contest. Her books have been featured on Good Morning America and in People, Good Housekeeping, Redbook and more. She has two kids, seven brothers and sisters, and one husband. She lives in Scituate, MA.

Visit her website and find reinvention and writing tips at http://www.clairecook.com/. Friend her on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClaireCookbooks/. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ClaireCookbooks/.

You can read an excerpt of Chapter One from Seven Year Switch, Here.

Claire Cook is virtually touring the blogosphere during the month of July on her virtual Book Tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion. You can visit Claire's other blog stops and find out more information about this delightful and fun book and talented author, here.

Check out this giveaway that Claire Cook is hosting on her website for Seven Year Switch Reviewers:

Disclosure: A copy of this book was sent by the publisher as part of a Pump Up Your Book Promotion Tour. I am an Amazon and Indiebound associate.