Today’s theme is Rumors, Scandal and Fabulous Books! Be sure to check out the posts on Jane Rosen & Marisa de los Santos too.

It’s not often you have the opportunity to see the beginning of an author’s career and feel like you’re witnessing something great, but that’s how I feel about Abbi Waxman.

From her debut, The Garden of Small Beginnings (which is currently $2.99 @Amazon), until this year’s I Was Told It Would Get Easier, Waxman has delivered four extremely different books, and every single one is a sheer delight in its own unique way.

The thing about Abbi Waxman is that her writing style is so accessible, that we feel not only that we are inside her characters’ heads, but that all the characters are people we want to be best friends with (well, the main characters, anyway…)

The books are funny, wise, heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, and just overall wonderful. Each one has a distinct voice and a very different tone from one another, but they’re all ultimately uplifting and brilliant displays of Waxman’s discerning eye and keen understanding of human nature.

Waxman has become a must-read for me and her recent title didn’t disappoint. This year’s I Was Told It Would Get Easier is a study in roller coaster emotions and both teen and middle age angst but it’s a joy to watch the characters as they begin to understand each other’s strengths and talents that very much reflect the people they currently are, even as they try to make sense of the vast changes and misperceptions they’ve had and seen in each other over the past eighteen years.

The examination of the single mother/teen daughter relationship as the two take an East Coast college tour, and re-examine their changing bonds and expectations, is chock full of heart and reflection. A scandal at the daughter’s school creates an extra level of confusion but also offers them an opportunity to connect in a new way and rethink what might make them happier.

This year’s I Was Told It Would Get Easier is a study in mother/teen daughter relations, complete with roller coaster emotions and both teen and middle age angst.

It’s lovely and brilliant, as are all of her books.

Jessica and Emily Burnstein have very different ideas of how this college tour should go.

For Emily, it’s a preview of freedom, exploring the possibility of her new and more exciting future. Not that she’s sure she even wants to go to college, but let’s ignore that for now. And maybe the other kids on the tour will like her more than the ones at school. . . . They have to, right?

For Jessica, it’s a chance to bond with the daughter she seems to have lost. They used to be so close, but then Goldfish crackers and Play-Doh were no longer enough of a draw. She isn’t even sure if Emily likes her anymore. To be honest, Jessica isn’t sure she likes herself.

Together with a dozen strangers–and two familiar enemies–Jessica and Emily travel the East Coast, meeting up with family and old friends along the way. Surprises and secrets threaten their relationship and, in the end, change it forever.

Find the books:
Abbi Waxman @Amazon

The Garden of Small Beginnings @Amazon I Was Told It Would Get Easier  @Amazon

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(This review is part of Read-A-Romance Month. Hope you’ll come back every day to check out my book recommendations. You can find the calendar here. Also check out The Romance of Reading, a Facebook “book club” where we’ll have great authors guest hosting every week.)

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Enjoy!