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Title details for The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel - Available

The Sweet Spot

A Novel

by Amy Poeppel
Billie Fulford-Brown
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
Amy Poeppel brings her signature "big-hearted, charming" (The Washington Post) style to this wise and joyful novel that celebrates love, hate, and all of the glorious absurdity in between.
In the heart of Greenwich Village, three women form an accidental sorority when a baby—belonging to exactly none of them—lands on their collective doorstep.

Lauren and her family—lucky bastards—have been granted the use of a spectacular brownstone, teeming with history and dizzyingly unattractive 70s wallpaper. Adding to the home's bohemian, grungy splendor is the bar occupying the basement, a (mostly) beloved dive called The Sweet Spot. Within days of moving in, Lauren discovers that she has already made an enemy in the neighborhood by inadvertently sparking the divorce of a couple she has never actually met.

Melinda's husband of thirty years has dumped her for a young celebrity entrepreneur named Felicity, and, to Melinda's horror, the lovebirds are soon to become parents. In her incandescent rage, Melinda wreaks havoc wherever she can, including in Felicity's Soho boutique, where she has a fit of epic proportions, which happens to be caught on film.​

Olivia—the industrious twenty-something behind the counter, who has big dreams and bigger debt—gets caught in the crossfire. In an effort to diffuse Melinda's temper, Olivia has a tantrum of her own and gets unceremoniously canned, thanks to TikTok.

When Melinda's ex follows his lover across the country, leaving their squalling baby behind, the three women rise to the occasion in order to forgive, to forget, to Ferberize, and to track down the wayward parents. But can their little village find a way toward the happily ever afters they all desire? Welcome to The Sweet Spot.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 31, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797149806
      • File size: 380308 KB
      • Duration: 13:12:18

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 28, 2022
      In Poeppel’s fizzy latest (after Musical Chairs), a large cast finds itself in a number of messy situations. Leo Aston and Lauren Shaw are given a Greenwich Village brownstone by Leo’s father. With Lauren’s charming yet grotesque ceramics gaining traction in a local boutique and finally having enough space for their three children in the brownstone, it seems their lives are coming together. Then, Felicity Wynn, the pregnant owner of the boutique that sells Lauren’s ceramics, credits Lauren for convincing her to keep the baby and commit to his father, Russell, thus breaking up his marriage. Russell’s ex, Melinda, is forced to take an administrative job at what ends up being the school for Lauren’s children, which puts her in spitting distance of Lauren, whom she’s convinced ruined her life. The Sweet Spot, a bar in the basement of the brownstone; the bar’s hunky older bartender, Dan; and Dan’s daughter, Olivia, who has been canceled on social media for mistreating Melinda at Felicity’s store, all come to play roles in the delightful chaos that ensues. The author leans a bit too heavily on coincidences, but there’s plenty of fun to be had in this chronicle of misunderstandings and new beginnings. Readers are in for a treat. Agent: Linda Chester, Linda Chester Literary.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The Sweet Spot is the name of this novel, a pub, and the feeling one gets when everything goes just right. Eight narrators bring multiple dimensions to this story about relationships, adultery, aging, parenting, and finding oneself in New York City. At the heart of the book is Lauren, an overworked mom who is trying to juggle her work as an artist while also being a good mother; these difficulties are deftly captured by Carly Robins's narration. Aden Hakimi brings three distinct tones and nuances to his vocal interpretations of Leo, Harrell, and Charles, with Leo's absent-minded professor quality transmitted perfectly. Lastly, Jackie Sanders introduces listeners to Melinda, a betrayed wife out for revenge whose maniacal ramblings are just cover for a wounded human being. B.E.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from June 10, 2024

      Lauren's art career is an overnight success, and her young family has just moved into their ideal historic New York home, but she is about to set off a chain of events she could not imagine. Her life chaotically collides with that of Melinda, whose divorce Lauren inadvertently incited, and Olivia, whom Melinda then got fired in her post-divorce path of destruction. Despite these disastrous circumstances, the three join together to care for a baby that Melinda's ex abandons on her doorstep. Assisted by the unconventional assemblage of the Sweet Spot, a bar in the basement of Lauren's brownstone, they prove that it sometimes takes Greenwich Village to raise a child. Poeppel (Musical Chairs) presents a charming story of chosen family and female friendships. A full cast of eight talented narrators portray an array of engaging characters and their amusing misadventures. Their combined efforts create a quirky and compelling listening experience. VERDICT This audio will appeal to listeners seeking a refreshing relationship fiction in the form of a funky, feel-good Three Men and a Baby fiasco. Recommended for fans of Jojo Moyes, Lisa Roe, and Carolyn Prusa.--Lauren Hackert

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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