Stacia in Progress

What an overrated book. Nothing about the story was new or interesting to me. The sex scenes were hot, but if you want to read a hot sex scene, it's just as easy to pick up an erotica, which I'd rather do to be honest. The story aggravated me on so many levels. It felt like I had fallen into a manufactured after-school special on the dangers of alcohol. I have a teen son and I'm telling you now, he would never be caught dead saying this : I didn't know. I just wanted to be cool like the other guys. It doesn't matter if those are/would be his motives for drinking, he would never say those words out loud, and I'm guessing most teenagers wouldn't either. Also, since when is the "announcement" of someone admitting to be an alcoholic such an earth-shattering moment? I almost expected to hear the faint sounds of a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie in the background. Now, if the guy had admitted he was a raging alcoholic who couldn't stop taking out his anger on people - that might have been another story. But to see a woman get so emotionally worked up because the guy she's dating admitted he partied too much in high school and now he chooses to abstain because he realized he was drinking way too much back then? Give me a fucking break. Please let me disclaimer that I am not taking alcoholism lightly. I have experienced the downfalls of it first hand, as I'm sure many of us have through close friends and family members. This disease can wreck lives. Maybe because I know how much it can wreck lives, I was very disappointed in how ridiculous this particular version of alcoholism seemed like a silly plot device.This is the woman's reaction when she figures out why "Mick" has refused her offers of a drink over the past few weeks. Her throat went dry as the realization of all these weeks together finally fell into focus. But she waited, not asking, knowing it had to come from Mick."I'm an alcoholic, Tara."The gut punch hurt. She palmed her stomach, was glad she was sitting, because the room spun."How long?""Since I was a teenager. Still think I lived a perfect life?"She didn't know if she was angry or hurt, at him or for him.Really? A gut punch? A bit melodramatic, I'd say. Now, if she had immediately fessed up to having past issues with people drinking in her life, I would have said...oh yeah, that sucks. No one wants to have to open old woundsOh, but we have to understand because this woman did have her own normal seedy past, and she gave us her own words of "it's okay, most of us have been there and none of us had profound reasons for doing what we did" wisdom. Here's her gem from earlier in the book : By then, I was drinking, doing a few drugs too, anything to numb the pain, you know? Now, I know where the kid gets his lingo from. Apparently, mother and son watched one too many Lifetime movies together.Last complaint. I'm thoroughly sick of every "single mother" story being about a woman who is emotionally unavailable. I'm tired of so many single mom stories painting this bleak picture of someone who has sacrificed 100% for her kids and won't date because their child comes first in every single area of their life. Yet, the person is sad and hollow on the inside, just subconsciously waiting for a man to come and set them free.Usually single moms (again, been there, done that, got the t-shirt) don't date because they don't have a sitter, they're too busy with work, or they don't have the time to go somewhere to meet men. It's not because we don't want to date, or automatically assume that any guy who tries to get close to us is a dead end. I dated here and there when I was a single mom, and was wise enough to keep my dating life separate from my home life until I was seriously involved with someone. I'm guessing most moms are sensible enough to do the same thing.In closing, this book was so not my thing. Why the 2 stars instead of 1? I actually did enjoy a couple of the sex scenes. It wasn't a total fail...