Review: Ladies' Night by Mary Kay Andrews

Publish Date: June 4, 2013
Hardcover {p. 456}
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: Public Library
Grace Stanton, Wyatt Keeler

Grace Stanton’s life as a rising media star and beloved lifestyle blogger takes a surprising turn when she catches her husband cheating and torpedoes his pricey sports car straight into the family swimming pool. Grace suddenly finds herself locked out of her palatial home, checking account, and even the blog she has worked so hard to develop in her signature style. Moving in with her widowed mother, who owns and lives above a rundown beach bar called The Sandbox, is less than ideal. So is attending court-mandated weekly "divorce recovery" therapy sessions with three other women and one man for whom betrayal seems to be the only commonality. When their “divorce coach” starts to act suspiciously, they decide to start having their own Wednesday "Ladies' Night" sessions at The Sandbox, and the unanticipated bonds that develop lead the members of the group to try and find closure in ways they never imagined. Can Grace figure out a new way home and discover how strong she needs to be to get there?

Heartache, humor, and a little bit of mystery come together in a story about life’s unpredictable twists and turns. Mary Kay Andrews' Ladies' Night will have you raising a glass and cheering these characters on.

I almost gave up on this one around chapter five or so. Here's why. First off, Grace finds her husband cheating, and she chooses to leave the house? No not happening. If he wouldn't get out, she should have stayed in one of the fifty million bedrooms the house had. Secondly, her mother kept telling her to get a divorce attorney yet she refused. She wasn't sure she wanted a divorce even though she caught her husband cheating and he admitted to it being a more than one time thing. I didn't know if I'd ever get past her "kept woman" persona to truly like her. Her not knowing anything about their finances and lack of asking her husband questions regarding those things kind of put me off toward her. Even so that I was unsure if I would finish this book.

I'm so glad I did. It picked up a lot after Grace started "divorce camp," and befriend the people in camp with her. All of them had some horror stories of their own. And the divorce counselor was a total disaster herself. Grace's ex, Ben, seemed like a total a-hole from page one. Especially when it came to her work; he could come in and make what she'd been working on for hours seem like crap.

Camp is also where Grace connects with Wyatt, who is also going through a divorce and custody battle. I liked him from the start and thought he'd be perfect for Grace. Of course they have their issues, mostly his ex-wife Callie, but other than that they seemed to work together perfectly. He did manage to piss me off a bit when it came to his ex; he was far too nice to her.

I got a kick out of Wyatt's father Nelson throughout the entire book. I was always laughing at him and his oh so kind words for his son's ex. Grace's mom, Rochelle, I never really clicked with. I don't know what it was, but she just came across as a little dull.

Overall the story moved along nicely with no lags other than the bit there at the start. That could have just been something I experienced because I was upset with Grace for having her head in the sand when it came to her finances.