I am so happy to welcome guest blogger Melissa Amster from Chick Lit Central back to Book Coffee Happy today! I always love working with Melissa. If you haven’t checked out her lovely book blog, you absolutely must! Hers was the very first book blog I ever read and she definitely was one of the inspirations for me to start blogging myself. We have a GREAT book (and giveaway!) for you today! Thank you so much, Melissa, for sharing an Advance Reader’s Copy of The Seven Day Switch by Kelly Harms with me this past spring.

Goodreads Synopsis of The Seven Day Switch {Kelly Harms}:

Celeste Mason is the Pinterest stay-at-home supermom of other mothers’ nightmares. Despite her all-organic, SunButter-loving, free-range kids, her immaculate home, and her volunteering awards, she still has time to relax with a nice glass of pinot at the end of the day. The only thing that ruins it all is her workaholic, career-obsessed neighbor, who makes no secret of what she thinks of Celeste’s life choices every chance she gets.

Wendy Charles is a celebrated productivity consultant, columnist, and speaker. On a minute-by-minute schedule, she makes the working-mom hustle look easy. She even spends at least one waking hour a day with her kids. She’s not apologizing for a thing. Especially to Celeste, who plays her superior parenting against Wendy whenever she can.

Who do Celeste and Wendy think they are? They’re about to find out thanks to one freaky week. After a neighborhood potluck and too much sangria, they wake up—um, what?—in each other’s bodies. Everything Celeste and Wendy thought they knew about the “other kind of mom” is flipped upside down—along with their messy, complicated, maybe not so different lives.

Jenny Share’s Review:

I read (and loved!) The Bright Side of Going Dark by Kelly Harms a few months back (you can the synopsis and my review HERE) and was so excited to read her newest book The Seven Day Switch. She has such an easy to read, easy to love style of writing and I am a BIG fan. I had a pretty good feeling about this book before I even opened to the first page and I’m so happy that my first thoughts turned out to be correct.

I absolutely loved this wonderful book.

This book should be required reading for every parent out there! You truly don’t ever know what somebody else is going through and what that person chooses to reveal to the world does not in fact always tell the entire story.

This book has made me look at so many people in my life in a whole different light and has made me wonder about what is going on in their lives that I am not privy to.

“Mommy Wars” are a very real thing and moms are constantly comparing themselves to each other. STOP THAT! The decisions that you make for your own family should never be compared to decisions that somebody else is making for her own family.

I recently came upon this quote and it really spoke to me:

“Your kids don’t care what other moms are doing.”

How incredibly true is that? Your kids really don’t care what other moms are doing as long as you are doing the right thing for them. Parenting doesn’t come with an instruction manual and what is right for one family may not be right for the next.

This book really spoke directly to my heart and if you are a mother, it will speak to yours too! Every mother will be able to identify with at least something within these pages. The characters, the storylines, the messages…I truly loved this beautiful book so very much.

***I would be absolutely remiss if I didn’t say the following. Those who know me in real life know that I am a HUGE advocate of breastfeeding. Extended breastfeeding (breastfeeding toddlers) is normal, beautiful, and something that I did with both of my children. As much as I love this book, I did not love the negative connotation that came with this particular storyline. For a book about breaking judgmental parenting barriers, this storyline was clearly negative against parents who choose to feed and nurture their children in this way. I really wish that this particular storyline and all that went along with it could have been written with a bit more objectivity.***

Melissa Amster’s Review:

I’m always a fan of surreal stories, where you have to suspend disbelief. So the premise of The Seven Day Switch was definitely up my alley before I even opened it! And what was inside was even better than what I was expecting. Even though the topic of switching minds has been done before, such as in Freaky Friday, Kelly Harms puts a fun and refreshing spin on it, while also emphasizing the importance of balance in one’s life. As soon as I read just one chapter, I knew I had to tell my friend who runs Balanced Working Moms on Facebook about it. And, of course, I knew this book would be perfect for Jenny and I was not only excited for her to read it, but also to review it together at her blog.

 
I really liked and identified with both Wendy and Celeste in different ways. I enjoyed seeing them navigate each others’ lives and the things they did to try to help each other out, even if it wasn’t always with the best of intentions. There was one part I didn’t agree with at first, but I’m glad it was recognized and hashed out between the two women. Wendy’s son reminded me so much of my younger son. (Even Celeste’s son was similar to him in some ways.) I think, personally, I am more of a Wendy. However, I am thankful to have a relationship with my husband and kids that is more on par with Celeste. There were a lot of great moments, as well as some humorous ones. It’s always tricky to write about one character living another character’s life, but Kelly did this flawlessly throughout the novel.

 This was a sweet and touching story that I definitely recommend!

Movie casting suggestions:

Wendy: Piper Perabo

Celeste: Ginnifer Goodwin

Seth: Alexander Skarsgård

Davis: Sam Page

Hugh: James Roday Rodriguez

Ruthie: Mary Elizabeth Ellis

***GIVEAWAY DETAILS***

Would you like to win a copy of The Seven Day Switch? We have 5 copies to give away (open to our US and International readers!)

To be entered, just leave a comment below (on this blog post)!  Your comment can be about anything!

**You must comment below to be eligible for the giveaway and you must comment here on this blog post (not on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)**

Giveaway will close tomorrow (7/8/21) at 6:00 pm CDT and the winners will be randomly chosen and announced here on my blog on Friday (7/9/21).

Make sure you check the blog on Friday to see if you’ve won (you will have 48 hours from the time I post the winner to email me the mailing address where you would like your book sent.  If I don’t hear from you within 48 hours, I will pick a new winner).

Good luck!  We can’t wait to read your comments!

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The 12 best books that I read in 2020 can be found HERE

The ultimate list of my top book suggestions can be found HERE