Alex Carter has worked hard to build her career, and she has her dream two-story home to prove it. All of a sudden, it looks like it might come crashing down: her company is facing a massive restructuring and her job might be on the line, and she and her boyfriend finally decide to call it quits. She’s thirty-five years old and is starting to hear the ticking of her biological clock, so it’s not an ideal situation for her. While friends and family are pressuring her to get a man and settle down, she’s getting desperate enough to toy with the idea of getting a sperm donor.
Then she runs into her old flame, Nathan. She can’t deny that the chemistry is still there, but because of the way their relationship ended, she can’t fully trust him even though he seems to have matured into a thoughtful adult. As a control freak, Alex always has it in the back of her mind that she can do everything herself. She likes the idea of settling down, but when it comes to actually handing over the reigns and letting someone else take care of her for a while, she can’t bring herself to fully make that leap.
The problem with Alex is that she’s her own worst enemy. For such a successful person, there were so many times where she made situations soooo much more complicated than they actually were. And as someone who’s just a few years younger than this character, I can’t imagine myself responding to similar situations the way Alex did. She sometimes came across like a young, confused twenty-something rather than a career woman who wants a child so badly that’s she’s possibly willing to become a single mother in spite of how friends and family would react.
It was interesting to see this type of story line about a woman of color, though. I can’t think of many examples in literature where a woman of color considers the possibility of seeking out single motherhood, cultural expectations and stereotypes be damned. My problem was with how it played out. I won’t say much about that because of spoilers, but I will say that for all of Alex’s moments of internal chaos, she sure did have some convenient ways to pull everything together! I would have liked more tension in that regard, but overall it’s a quick and easy read.
The Cost of Love and Sanity will be released on January 2014 by Strebor Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. The book is on tour right now, so see what other bloggers are saying about it.
Goodreads | Amazon
I read it as a(n): ARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 304
Feminist Texican Reads 
Hmmm. I’ve never read a Zane book before though I’ve been wanting to. You’re right there’s not a lot of books (fiction or nonfiction) about a woman of color choosing single motherhood. Nice review. 🙂
Zane has several authors and we all write different types of books. 🙂 I can’t speak for all women of color and single motherhood but, in regards to my book, Alex’s choice to pursue a baby hinges on her lack of confidence in her romantic future. She wants some part of the life she always hoped she’d achieve.
That’s my number one complaint with romance novels…the obstacle that’s not an obstacle. So annoying! I do really feel like people in romance novels make life way more complicated than it actually is.
I can appreciate your complaint about romance novels. It’s not uncommon to find a woman who is in her 30s, professional and unmarried. Some women don’t understand why they haven’t married and had children. I just wrote a story about a woman who considers taking matters into her own hands, largely because she doesn’t see the opportunity right in front of her. Hence, the cost of love and sanity-the faith that one can find love and willingness to work towards a stable relationship.
Thanks for your review.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this book for the tour!