This is my second Susan Mallery book and I enjoyed it even more. Big books usually intimidate me, especially, mmpb with small print, but this was fast moving.

Harper, who's divorced, and Stacey, who's married and pregnant and scared to tell her mother for some reason probably because she was 40 and she was worried about her mother judging her since she was already 40. She was 6 months pregnant! Well, we knew that wasn't going to go over well at that stage.

Harper and Stacey have totally different lifestyles but they seem to get along fine. Their mom Bunny lived in the garage apt at Harper's. Harper never did anything right and she thought she was a “bad” mom for working and not being Suzy Homemaker.

Becca was a typical teenage girl, worried about her schooling and her social life. But of course her busy mom had no time for her, neither did her father.

A lot of good characters to help the book along, especially Lucas, the cop, who was one of Harper's clients. I'd want him as a friend. He was good to Becca and didn't treat her like a child. ( )

I loved the perspectives of the sisters. Everyone always thinks that others have it all together, when they don’t. But nobody does, really, have it all together. This book felt real to me, unlike some of this genre. ( )

"Sisters Like Us" focuses on two sisters (Harper and Stacey) and Harper's daughter, Becca. This book picks up more than a year after the events in "A Million Little Pieces." There is a connection via the hero in this book to the characters in the last book, so you do have a tenuous connection there. I think that my problem with this one is that the transition from Harper to Stacey's POVs don't work. You honestly did not need Becca included in this. And I still don't know if Stacey had Asperger's Syndrome or what. Mallery is not clear about that and it just felt like it was something that someone would mention. There is also unresolved tension from Harper and Stacey's mom that I wish had been actually worked out. She acts like a jerk and everyone ignores it.

Stacey is the top in her field and now that she is expecting her first child, she and her husband agree that he will be the one to stay home while she continues to work. Though Stacey gets science, she doesn't get how having a baby is going to change her and she honestly doesn't want it to. Stacey is also hiding her pregnancy from her mother because she's terrible. I honestly didn't get why anyone was even dealing with the mom in this story, she's a nasty piece of work and I was not a fan.

Harper is still trying to recover after being left and divorced. Running her own virtual assistant business (which I was very intrigued by) doesn't leave her with a lot of time to be there to listen to her daughter Becca, but she is trying. Harper has a long time client, Lucas, that definitely seems to be sniffing around her and she's wondering if she is ready to give romance another go.

Becca's story should have been another book since it didn't fit well in here that much. Becca is dealing with losing her friends during the school year when she finally admits a secret to her best friend. Falling for her aunt's nephew, Becca starts thinking about having sex for the first time and what to do about her lack of a relationship with her father.

Stacey's husband was not really there at all in this book. Lucas was up front and center in the story and I am sorry, I was over that clown after he pulls a BS move after forcing his way into Harper's life. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth and I did not find myself rooting for him at all. The only saving grace was Becca told his tiresome butt off and he deserved it.

Most of Stacey's POV is oddly flat and it's so jarring to go from her to Harper. When we jump into Becca it becomes a bit worse. I think if we either focused on the two sisters the book could have been stronger or just have a stand alone book with Becca.

The ending was abrupt as anything and I was surprised there was not more to the story. There was so much left unresolved regarding Becca and her father that if Mallery does another book in this series, I hope she follows up with her. ( )

Not the most eventful of plots yet even without a lot going on, there was a certain page-turning quality to it if you’re in the mood for some simple, low-key melodrama.

There were times where I felt like Harper, her mother Bunny, and even occasionally teenager Becca, seemed like they were from another era, the way they thought and behaved, it felt like it may have been more how someone their age might have been in say, the seventies or eighties, in certain moments there was just something kind of throwback about them, though to be fair, that’s true of some people in life, too, where it just feels like they would have been more suited to a different time.

Most of the characters were fairly aggravating, for instance, Bunny’s a toxic presence in most of her scenes, Harper is a hall of fame pushover, and Lucas as “perfect” as he is kind of nauseated me with always knowing what’s best for everyone, but it’s a weirdly entertaining sort of aggravating, I didn’t particularly like any of them yet they had me annoyed enough not to be bored, if that makes sense?

Aside from the dogs, the most compelling moments in the book belonged to Stacey, there was something refreshing in how her pregnancy was depicted, that it wasn’t all sunshine and roses like you’re “supposed” to feel, she experiences fears and anxieties more often than joy, and she has to figure out that there isn’t just one right way (her sister’s way) to be maternal. I’m all for any story that might help someone feel better about feeling “different.” ( )

4.5 stars.

Sisters Like Us by Susan Mallery is a winsome story about three generations of women and their sometimes complicated relationships. This fourth installment in the Mischief Bay series easily stands on its own, but I highly recommend the previous books as well.

Forty-two year old Harper Szymanski is a divorced mom who loves her sixteen year old daughter Becca but works long hours trying to keep her virtual assistant business going. She is a people pleaser who lets people walk all over her since she has a difficult time standing up for herself. Her relationship with her mother Bunny is a bit of a mess since Bunny is firmly stuck in the '50s where a man is always right and a woman should always put her husband and family's needs before her own.

Harper's younger sister, forty year old Stacey Bloom, is a super smart and socially awkward scientist who works on the cutting edge of MS research. She and her husband Kit are about to become first time parents and Stacey is greatly concerned over her lack of maternal instincts. She is also worried about Bunny's reaction to their nontraditional plan for Kit to become a stay at home dad while she continues working. But what troubles Stacey the most are her fears about what effect a baby will have on her and Kit's relationship.

Becca is a typical teen who is insecure, somewhat self-absorbed and struggling with the loss of one of her closest friend's after she moves out of state. She is also quite unhappy with the situation with her father who makes promises to her that he never keeps. He has virtually disappeared from her life which leaves her feeling unloved. Just when Becca reaches her lowest point, she meets Kit's nephew, Ashton, and their friendship becomes a highlight in her life.

One of Harper's favorite clients, Lucas Wheeler, is a fifty year old cop whose dating life is an endless array of short term relationships with vapid young women in their early twenties. He is a frequent visitor in their home whose friendship she greatly treasures. Lucas is surprisingly attentive to Becca and he becomes a father figure of sorts after he spend a lot of time with her helping her get her driver's license. Lucas and Harper unexpectedly fall into a relationship but since she is so different from the women he typically dates, will there be a shelf-life to their fling?

Sisters Like Us is an emotionally compelling novel that is poignant yet humorous. The chapters alternate between Harper, Stacey and Becca's points of view as each of them attempt to overcome their personal issues. Harper and Stacey are both struggling with Bunny's negative influence in their lives as she continues to make them both feel inadequate. Becca matures with guidance and advice from Lucas and a surprise romance of her own. Lucas and Harper's transition from friends to lovers is understated and their interactions are laugh out loud funny and quite moving. Old and new fans of Susan Mallery are going to love this newest addition to the enchanting Mischief Bay series.
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