Book ~ "The Pregnant Pause" (2023) Jane Doucet

From Goodreads ~ Just before her thirty-seventh birthday, Rose Ainsworth has her first attack of baby fever. She adores children, especially her sister’s kids, but she’s facing a dilemma. Not only is her husband refusing to commit to becoming a parent but her friends are drowning in the joys of mothering. She feels cut off and, worst of all, she’s worried that maybe she isn’t motherhood material. 

Rose’s journey through the potential pitfalls and prospects of parenting is a roller coaster ride - a journey that many women travel as they work, play and listen to their biological clock ticking away. 

Rose and her husband, Jim, have been married for a few years and living in Toronto. Her 37th birthday is coming up (Jim is a couple years younger) and it seems like everyone around her is having babies. Since she's getting older, she knows she has to make a decision soon about whether she wants kids or not. Jim has made it clear that he doesn't want kids but she's not sure. She loves her sister's three kids and has seen how having kids has changed her friendships once her female friends have had kids. Throughout the story, she waffles back and forth about what the right decision for her and Jim.

This was a cute story and I liked it. The writing is in third person perspective with the focus on Rose. I've always known that I never wanted kids so it was interesting to read Rose's arguments to have or not have kids. The story takes place in Toronto so I knew the neighbourhoods Rose was talking about. I'm originally from Nova Scotia, as is Rose, so I knew the places where she was when she went "home" to visit her sister, Daisy. As a head's up, there is some swearing.