Another Piece of My Heart: A Novel Mass Market Paperback – December 31, 2013

When Andi met Ethan in her thirties, she knew he was just the man she'd been waiting for...and the fact that he had two daughters already felt like the icing on the cake. Andi had always wanted a family.But family life did not unfold in the way that Andi had anticipated, and their "blended" family began to feel more like a chaotic cauldron of warring temperaments and unsolvable conflicts. At the heart of these conflicts was Ethan's teenage daughter Emily, whose histrionic behavior and horrific tantrums began to define their daily lives. Sophia, on the other hand, despite being the youngest, presented as calm, mature, and easily loved.Because Ethan had a neutral kind of personality, he found himself constantly mediating between Andi and Emily; and in trying to calm Emily down during her tantrums, he appeared to be taking her side.Something happens during Emily's seventeenth year that changes the dynamics and direction of this family. How will these unexpected events unfurl and cause them all to take another look at things? And what will be the ultimate outcome?In the beginning, I could see much of the story through Andi's eyes, and felt her frustration for Emily.Toward the middle, the author brought Emily's point of view into play through alternating chapters in first person narrative voice, so finally I could understand some of what she was feeling.To say more would be bringing spoilers into the mix, so I will only add that I sometimes couldn't breathe with the intensity of emotions churning up within  Another Piece of My Heart . I could understand each of the characters, even as I felt frustrated with most of them at one point or another. In the end, I liked the way things came together, and while I hoped--and even expected--they would play out this way, the ending gave me a very good feeling.Five stars!

Having read a few of Jane Green's novels now, I can see aspects that are similar in the storyline to many of her other books. At first I though, oh we've been here before but as I read on I found this book was different. Yes there were threads of the story lines of other books but this was the first about a blended family and the sometimes joys and often difficulties faced in parenting someone else's children. It's no picnic in real life and this is captured beautifully in this story. What made the book interesting was it was depicted in three parts. The first is solely from the view point of the step-mother Andi. Unable to have children of her own and married to a man with two daughters she is desperate to love, Andi finds parenting 13-18 year old Emily a nightmare. Emily is precocious, selfish, manipulative, and downright dislikable. Her sister Sophie who is 3 years younger is a darling and easy to love. Andi struggles to manage the abuse from Emily and Ethan, the girls father refuses to stand up to Emily. He feels guilty about the marriage breakdown and the girls being exposed to an alcoholic mother. When you hit the second part of the book the story is told from the perspectives of Emily, Janice (mother), Ethan as well as Andi. The story still flows but you get such different perspectives about what is happening to the family. The third part is still from multiple perspectives and tells of the tearing apart of the family due to Emily's actions, but we see Emily finally mature and become a decent person and the reunion of the family. Another very easy and compelling read.

I think everyone has gotten the gist of the book from other reviews, so I won't repeat it, but I have to disagree with the retractors-- I think this is the best Jane Green book I have read in a long time! While her stories are usually enjoyable, I have found the last few to be a little predictable. However, I found Piece Of My Heart to be different and - more importantly -to stray from the usual chick lit formula. As the stepmother to a 13-year-old daughter, I can tell you that A LOT of the descriptions of Emily's behavior were not overblown in the slightest. Also, while you might not *like* Andi, I have felt her reactions to be accurate and, unfortunately, familiar. While my personal experiences have been nowhere near as extreme as Andi's, I can definitely see how Andi's character could have gotten to the emotional place that was described in the book.An additional point that can be made is that this book is also an example of a good couple (Andi and Ethan) sticking it out through a rough time, and I personally don't see that often enough in fiction... particularly in the chick lit genre.If I had to make mention of anything I didn't like about the book, it is the part when Emily leaves her child rather quickly and then the subsequent quick and easy fast forward three years in the story. Also, while the book finally gets to Andi admitting that she can't do it all as a full-time business owner and mother, I feel like that theme wasn't fully explored-- it was introduced quickly and then never really resolved. For these reasons, if there were the option, I would have given the book 4.5 stars instead, but the fact that I truly couldn't put it down prompted me to lean toward the 5-star mark.

I used to be a big fan of Jane Green, Jemima J, Straight Talking, and Mr Maybe whilst not exactly cerebrally challenging were all fun, easy to read books. Recently, however, her subject matter has become much darker, add to that the fact that this book had a bunch of badly written characters with whom you could have little sympathy you are left with a book of abject misery.Andi, the stepmother, with whom I suspect you are supposed to feel empathy, is self centred, and not at all likeable. She is desperate to become a mother but has no concept of what motherhood entails, she has an idealistic idea of family life with no idea that parenting involves taking the rough with the smooth. Her lack of understanding in parenthood means that she does not understand the guilt her husband feels at the break up of his first marriage and the effect it has had on his elder daughter, having said that he really is a wimp and needs to "grow a pair"!Emily, the protagonist of all the troubles is actually quite believable as a troubled teen affected by her parents marriage split but that does not make her a pleasant or likeable character.There are a lot of descriptive passages in this book which are well written but add nothing to the story other than a break from the constant arguments and angst.Finally, the "happy ever after" ending does not sit well at the end of this story, almost as if the author got fed up of all the arguments and decided enough was enough.I struggled to the end of this book purely and simply because I had "binned off" too many rubbish books recently (all by established authors) and it's getting expensive, but I think this is where Jane Green and I part company.

Let me start of by saying I love Jane Green's books that is until this one! What a huge disappointment as i had waited eagerly for it to be published and downloaded it as soon as it came out! Oh dear what a change from her usual colourful, strong, loveable characters.This book was full of characters i disliked intensely because they were boring, sad and totally disconnected! Andi the stepmother was a drippy, sad, lonely character that had no warmth or strength about her, her husband Ethan was a weak man in every area, Emily, Ethan's daughter and the source of friction within the family, was a strange mix of sad, lost, screwed up teenager and feisty who i did feel sorry for because she had such drippy parents\stepmnother.If you like lots of sloppy, dumbed down, 'can see what is coming a mile off' type of books about family relationships when a new addition arrives then this book may be for you.This could have been an excellent read if Andi had been a differnet character (Jane's usual strong, assertive, loveable character) as it was she decided to go for a weaker, passive character!I hope this isn't a decline in Jane Green's writing because she will be sadly missed by me if it is. I always felt sad finishing her earlier books because i loved them so much but couldn't wait to finish this one so i could start something better!!

I've read all of Green's books and this is one of the worst. It's safe to say her books are getting progressively awful and I'm not entirely sure I'll bother reading the next one.The plot line of this book is so drawn out, making it boring and difficult to read. The characters are one dimensional and stereotypical. Andi, the stepmother, is extremely annoying, spineless, drippy and hard to like. In fact I disliked Andi so much, it caused me to feel sorry for Emily who is supposed to be some kind of devil child (although I personally didn't think she was THAT bad.) Ethan, the father is just bland, boring and unrealistic. There are other characters too, for example the neighbours and Andi's friends but they offer nothing to the story other than a break from the repetitive arguments that are re-hashed over and over and over again.I wish I knew when I'd purchased this book that I was parting ways with my hard earned cash in exchange for a load of psychobable, flat characters and ridiculous cliches. Sadly this book has Jane Green's name on it, thus people will continue to purchase it.Avoid at all costs.

I have read all of Jane Green's books and there are few that I don't love. I was a little disappointed with this one, it's almost like it's written by a different author. The story follows Andi's struggles with her step daughter Emily, and how this affects the rest of the family; husband Ethan and younger step daughter Sophia, as well as Andi's desire to have a child of her own.I was only looking for a light, entertaining read for my holiday but found this really hard going. I found it hard to have any sympathy or empathy for any of the characters - Andi comes across as being very whiny and needy, Ethan is infuriatingly weak and Emily is just obnoxious. They are obviously intended to be flawed characters as the story arc takes you through their development and growth but for me these flaws were accentuated too much, as though the author was worried that the reader wouldn't understand their role in the story. It also seemed overly sentimental in places, characters either seemed to be screaming at each other or perfectly in love, and some of the dialogue felt like it would be more suited to a self-help book than fiction characters.It's not all bad, as I kept reading, but it wasn't the most enjoyable story and I didn't feel satisfied when it finished. I've felt this way about the last couple of Jane Green's books, not just this one, so perhaps her new style isn't for me.

I have read all of Jane Green's books, and thoroughly enjoyed them, but I found this particular one cringy, lots of talk of ' co dependency' and other such yawn yawn claptrap . Quite enjoyed the idea behind the story, woman meets man with kids, stepdaughter is a nightmare, has a baby which she abandons with stepmom, and then comes back into their lives.But I really found the constant exploration of relationships American style tedious and it had me rolling my eyes at times.Disappointing from someone whose comparisons between USA and UK I have always found colorful and interesting .