Product Description

Advertising executive Marta Zinsser is no poster child for her wealthy Seattle suburb-and nothing could please her more. This former New Yorker wears combat boots, not Manolos, and drives a righteous Harley hog instead of a Mercedes SUV. Now she's launching her own agency in this land of the Microsoft elite, even though her ten-year-old daughter wishes she'd put on a sweater set and just be normal.


Can this ex-urbanite remain uniquely herself without alienating the inner circle of smug, cookie-cutter executive wives? And when push comes to shove, can she stop being the proud odd mom out and take a chance at something frighteningly-and tantalizingly-new?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38357 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Marta Zinsser has made her nine-year-old daughter Eva, conceived through sperm donation, her whole world. The two move from Manhattan to a wealthy Seattle suburb, where Marta plans to run a successful advertising agency from home and be close to her ailing mother. Soon however, Marta's bohemian ways stick out like a sore thumb among the impeccably groomed housewives of Bellevue. Pressured by a tenderly and believably drawn Eva to be a real mom, Marta signs up for school chaperoning and committee duties, with near-disastrous results. And when Marta falls for a handsome billionaire, she must decide whether to refocus her lone wolf self-image enough to allow a man to enter the picture. The alpha moms Marta detests are cartoonish, catty villains, and self helpese creeps into the plot gaps. But Marta is an intriguing heroine: she values freedom and toughness, but her jeans and combat boots mask vulnerability, heartbreak and fear of change. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Marta Zinsser is not your typical suburban mom. Single, strong, and confident, she wears camouflage pants and chunky boots and rides a motorcycle. When her New York advertising firm asks her to open a branch in Seattle, she agrees to return to her hometown, mostly because of her mother's ill health. Now she's running her own firm out of her house, while her nine-year-old daughter is trying and failing to fit in at her new school. Eva is heartbroken, but Marta, who has never felt the need to be part of the pack, is at a loss as to how to help. Eva's subsequent attempts to change Marta into a normal mom and her sudden, not-so-subtle hints that Marta should get married and create a regular family are funny and poignant. With the increasing demands of her daughter, her ailing mother, and work, Marta's life begins to spiral out of control in a way most women will all-too-readily recognize. Porter's tale of a mother and daughter's journey to "normalcy" is keenly emotional and truly uplifting. Hatton, Maria

About the Author
Jane Porter lives in Seattle, Washington, with her two children. You can find out more about her at www.janeporter.com.

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable, but...
I enjoyed this book, however I felt the author dropped the ball halfway through the book. The first half of the book seemed to focus more on Marta and her daughter, Eva, while the second half focused on Marta and Luke. The author never shared with the readers how Eva suddenly gained friends and I found that a true disappointment to where the story appeared to be going. I would still recommend the book to others as it was still an enjoyable read.

Awesome!!
I loved this book!!! It hit home for me. If you like this one you have to get the follow up book Mrs. Perfect.

LOVED this book--
I LOVED this book -- one of my best summer reads and perfect for Mom's New (School) Year.

Jane Porter writes pitch-perfect chick lit for the thirty- and forty-somethings, with just a hint of her bestselling Harlequin Romance writing experience peeking through in the sex and larger-than-life (ahem) physical descriptions of male characters; easily forgiven with her humor and brutally accurate portrayal of PTA social circles.

It is easy to identify with Marta Zinsser, the 36-year-old Odd Mom Out of the wealthy suburban Mommy social set in Bellevue, Washington (the land of the Microsoft elite and a bedroom community to Seattle). Marta is a fiercely independent woman, the head of her own advertising company, a happily single mother raising her 10-year-old daughter, Eva. Marta conceived her daughter with a sperm donor, which is an unusual twist to the story, but verification that this lady is truly independent, with NO interest in complicating her life with a man. Enter, of course, the incomparable Luke Flynn shortly into the story and that Harlequin description: "He's so...so...everything...He has the coloring of great Scottish warlords, his short, thick hair shades of red and gold, and his features are strong, male, as though whittled by the wind and weather and war. He reminds me of a time long ago, of battles and warriors, peasants and kings...Makes me almost wish I believed in love. (page 158 -159)

Although Marta grew up in Seattle, she had escaped early to build her life and advertising career in Manhattan. Reluctantly, Marta has abandoned her glamorous life in New York to return home to be near and support her aging parents. She finds herself outside of a social situation she never wanted to be part of in the first place. But Eva, her 4th grade daughter, desperately wants to fit in, to be popular, and she wants her mother to be 'normal' like the other moms, especially like perfectly-perfect Taylor Young, who quickly becomes Marta's PTA nemesis.

ODD MOM OUT is Marta's first year back in Bellevue: building her company, caring for her parents, stabilizing life for herself and her daughter, navigating the social scene and the intricacies of the PTA structure; above all, setting her own course to happily ever after, which may or may not include Prince Charming.

-- Sherri Caldwell, Humor Columnist & Reviewer at RebelHousewife.com
Co-Author, The Rebel Housewife Rules: To Heck With Domestic Bliss!