FLIRTING WITH FORTY – Jane Porter
5 Spot
ISBN: 978-0-446-50943-5
May 2008
Contemporary Fiction

Seattle, Washington & Hawaii – Present Day

Jackie Laurens is facing the one-year anniversary of her divorce and her fortieth birthday. Everything is harder than she thought it would be. She tries to maintain the traditions her family has created during the holidays -- to make it a happy time for her two young kids -- but she feels desperate, anxious, and unhappy. When her best friend Anne suggests they get away for a long weekend, just the two of them to celebrate Jackie’s birthday, Jackie is at first reluctant, and then cautiously excited. Anne cancels at the last minute because her husband is ill and doesn’t want to take care of the kids while she goes to Hawaii, but Anne insists Jackie go and enjoy herself.

Despite the fear that gnaws at her at the thought of being alone in paradise, Jackie goes to Hawaii. Initially, her anxiety and unhappiness seem like a cloud she can’t escape, until she meets Kai Carson, a sexy surf instructor ten years her junior. Suddenly Jackie feels young and reckless, and happy for the first time in years. But her mini-vacation soon ends, and Jackie finds herself back in Seattle, running her interior design business, car-pooling the kids, and desperately trying to hold on to the happiness and feelings of hope her brief affair with Kai brought to life. Her friends don’t understand; her ex-husband, Daniel, ridicules her for her infatuation with a beach bum, but Jackie misses Kai, and the possibilities he represents. Jackie has some hard choices to make, and some eye opening internal examinations. What does Jackie want? Who is she now that she is no longer Daniel’s wife? She is still William and Jessica’s mom, but is that all she is? Where is the girl Jackie used to be?

FLIRTING WITH FORTY sounds like a fun book about a woman of a certain age finding herself. Even the back cover gives that impression. But let me say right now, FLIRTING WITH FORTY is anything but a light, romantic romp, or even a simple May-December romance. This novel has depth, and offers glimpses into the heart of a woman that will resonate profoundly with women who are starting families, raising families, in a monogamous happy marriage, or trying to move on after a divorce. Jackie Laurens is a sympathetic character to whom many women will strongly relate. She has spent the last eleven years ensuring the happiness of those around her while neglecting her own needs and happiness. She is not a saint; she is simply a wife and mother who is doing the best she can for her family. She learns that making others happy or comfortable is not enough to ensure that you will be happy. Jackie, like many women, has given away pieces of herself throughout her life until the woman she was all but disappears. Kai, while sexy and carefree, is not the cure for Jackie’s blues, but he is the catalyst that opens her eyes and her heart to possibilities. Her struggle to find the pieces of herself and redefine her life is heartbreaking and, at the same time, uplifting and hopeful.

Told in the first person from Jackie’s perspective, the reader shares her fears, her hopes, her anguish and her triumphs and, most importantly, her deepest dreams. Secondary characters are all integral to Jackie’s life, but this is Jackie’s story. If there is any message to be had from FLIRTING WITH FORTY, it is a message of hope, of believing in yourself and knowing that you deserve that piece of cake with the roses on it. Jackie’s journey is one that touched me and made me remember that there is more to life than routine and the daily struggle of life -- there is laughter, and love, and hope for more. If you are a voracious reader or only read one book a year, I highly recommend FLIRTING WITH FORTY; it is an outstanding novel. The original edition earned an RRT Perfect 10 and was voted Best Book of 2006 in the contemporary fiction category.

Terrie Figueroa