GIVEAWAY & REVIEW of The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness: A Novel by Maddie Dawson

(Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book:

Three women, three lives, and one chance to become a family…whether they want to or not.

Newly orphaned, recently divorced, and semiadrift, Nina Popkin is on a search for her birth mother. She’s spent her life looking into strangers’ faces, fantasizing they’re related to her, and now, at thirty-five, she’s ready for answers.

Meanwhile, the last thing Lindy McIntyre wants is someone like Nina bursting into her life, announcing that they’re sisters and campaigning to track down their mother. She’s too busy with her successful salon, three children, beautiful home, and…oh yes, some pesky little anxiety attacks.

But Nina is determined to reassemble her birth family. Her search turns up Phoebe Mullen, a guarded, hard-talking woman convinced she has nothing to offer. Gradually sharing stories and secrets, the three women make for a messy, unpredictable family that looks nothing like Nina pictured…but may be exactly what she needs. Nina’s moving, ridiculous, tragic, and transcendent journey becomes a love story proving that real family has nothing to do with DNA.

my thoughts:

The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness will have you smiling, crying, and laughing out loud.  I just loved reading this book on a dreary, rainy afternoon with a huge cuppa. It brightened my mood and left me thinking about what it means to be a family and how grateful I am for mine.

This is the story of Nina, Lindy, and Phoebe.  Three women who are all connected to each other thanks to DNA.  Phoebe is the biological mother who put Lindy and Nina up for adoption as babies.  Nina is the one who decides to start looking for her biological mother.  She's just lost the only mother she's ever known and is feeling a bit lost.  She wants answers and begins to look for them.  Along the way, she discovers that she has a younger biological sister named Lindy.  Lindy is the woman who has it all, or at least appears to.  She's not happy when Nina shows up and into her perfectly tailored life.  The two do not get along that well at first, but slowly as the book unfolds their relationship goes from strangers to sisters.  Its heartwarming to read about these two developing a friendship and a sisterly bond.  I just loved it! As for Phoebe, well, she's not exactly keen on having her two daughters show up on her doorstep.  She doesn't think she has anything to offer these two women.  The trio don't make for a happy family at first.  Its when secrets and stories are shared between them that the ice thaws and they start to figure out who they are, what they want, and how they can be a family.  Talk about a tearjerker!  The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness broke my heart, mended it, and warmed it right up.

I would happily recommend this book to fans of Maddie Dawson, fans of women's fiction, and anyone looking for their next great read.  You will LOVE this book!!

Here's the link to the TLC Book Tour schedule for: The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness

GIVEAWAY:  Thanks to the publisher I am able to give away one (1) copy of this book! All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave me a comment. Don't forget to include your email address - that way I can contact you, if you win the book.  Last date to enter is November 10th.  US/Canada residents only.  Good luck!!

Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!