Jenny Gardiner

SLEEPING WITH WARD CLEAVER
by Jenny Gardiner
ISBN-10: 0505527472
ISBN-13: 978-0505527479
Dorchester Publishing
Release date: Feb. 2008

*Winner, American Title III contest
*2nd place, MMRWA Happily Ever After contest

Claire Doolittle realizes her life hasn't quite met up with her expectations. Overwhelmed with the demands of motherhood and life in general, it doesn't help that the funny, romantic and thoughtful man she once married has turned into a real-life version of Ward Cleaver, the famously dull, bossy father from the 1950's sitcom Leave it to Beaver. And the last person in the world Claire ever imagined having to sleep with for the rest of her life is a man whose sex appeal more closely resembles that of George Washington than George Clooney.

Throw in an ex-fiance who returns via e-mail to try to woo Claire back with promises of what was, and a sexy young colleague of husband Jack's, whom Claire suspects of some sort of hanky panky, and you have the ingredients for a mid-life crisis that threatens to plunge Claire's world into chaos.

Read an excerpt here.

If you enjoy funny, laugh-out-loud books, stories of women going through mid-life crises, you will enjoy SLEEPING WITH WARD CLEAVER. Although the situations are serious, the author looks at them with such a comedic bent that readers will laugh, even when the situation is somewhat grim... Well written and well paced, SLEEPING WITH WARD CLEAVER is a romp and a lot of fun -- it is a book readers are sure to enjoy.
- Marilyn Heyman Romance Reviews Today

Fast paced and funny...Sleeping With Ward Cleaver is a clever and engaging romance with humor and heart. - Carrie Padgett, Armchair Interviews

Sleeping With Ward Cleaver is the most refreshing book I have read in quite some time.
- Maggie Grinnell, Rose & Thorn e-zine book reviews

This debut novel, winner of the American Title III competition, is an engaging, thought-provoking and humorous insight into what happens when harried meets surly. You won't be sleeping til you've finished it. - ChickLitClub.com book reviews

An engaging look at a middle age marriage as the two lead characters have become cemented in their ways and spontaneity no longer exists to unite them in fun. Claire is fabulous as she wants more than being Mrs. Cleaver mother to five, but her Jack expects her to meet his list of demands, keep the kids in line, and take care of his needs; he no longer seems to care about hers. SLEEPING WITH WARD CLEAVER is a deep look at marriage as the relationship goes into the phase of raising children. - GenreGoRoundReviews.blogspot.com

Jenny Gardiner's debut novel offers a boisterous and engaging glimpse of the realities of marriage. As brash and funny as it is moving and insightful, SLEEPING WITH WARD CLEAVER will leave readers wanting more from this delightful new author. -Kristy Kiernan, author of CATCHING GENIUS

You won't kick Jenny Gardiner's debut book out of bed for eating crackers! Sleeping with Ward Cleaver is a sassy and sexy read. - Eileen Cook author of UNPREDICTABLE

"Honest, real, and wickedly funny, Sleeping with Ward Cleaver is a keeper!"
-Jane Porter, author of Flirting with Forty and Odd Mom Out

"Alternately giddy and moving, Jenny Gardiner's Sleeping with Ward Cleaver is a novel that would leave the original Ward shaking his head...but his wife June would be clapping her hands and twirling her pearls." ~ Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of How Nancy Drew Saved My Life and Vertigo

"Quirky, hilarious, thought-provoking; Jenny Gardiner is my new favorite read."
-Suzanne Macpherson, author of The Forever Summer and Hysterical Blondeness

"With its razor sharp (and, at times, deliciously bawdy) wit, as well as its uncanny insight into the secret lives of married women, Sleeping with Ward Cleaver is certain to both resonate with and delight wives and mothers everywhere. Jenny Gardiner is a refreshing new voice in women's fiction."
- Bev Katz Rosenbaum, author of I was a Teenage Popsicle and Beyond Cool

GOING HOME AGAIN
by Jenny Gardiner

*1st place, fiction, Frontiers in Writing Contest
*3rd place, MMRWA Happily Ever After Contest

Reese Larkin's adult life has been defined by the harrowing culmination of her parents' acrimonious divorce: the murder of her mother at the hands of her paternal grandmother at Reese's wedding reception. Following her mother's death, Reese shuts down emotionally and retreats one-dimensionally into her marriage and career while renouncing her past, steadfastly avoiding contact with anyone from that part of her life. Her benevolent husband, Taylor, who has been supportive to a fault, eventually leaves Reese when he can no longer tolerate her emotional bankruptcy. Soon Reese learns of her grandmother's death, and is unexpectedly lured back into her past to try to right her imbalanced world.

Read an excerpt here.

YOU FIT THE PROFILE
by Jenny Gardiner

*finalist, Emerald City Opener

Affable newspaper columnist Libby Fletcher has a wonderful life. Perhaps the one thing that Libby could complain about is that extra ten (make that 20, well, maybe 30, no, truthfully, 40) pounds she could do without. Oh, and her hard-to-please and self-absorbed mother who continually reminds Libby how much better she'd look if she were thin. Oh, and perhaps the fact that her beloved father walked out on her family when she was fourteen, leaving her with a sense of unrequited inadequacy that maybe manifests itself in a bit too much pleasure eating.

When Libby's handsome doctor (on whom she harbors a secret crush) announces that she has to have her gallbladder removed, explaining it's because she “fits the profile,” Libby is mortified to learn what her profile is: “female, fat and forty-ish.”

Libby taps into a societal nerve when she boldly addresses the vexing issues of being “somewhat overweight” in her column, and she becomes an overnight sensation. When her deadbeat dad sees her on TV and decides to get in touch with her, Libby's world is thrown into a tailspin, and she is forced to come to terms with the harsh unspoken truths of her family's past.

Read an excerpt here.

MARY KATE GOES OVER THE FALLS
by Jenny Gardiner

Mary Kate Dupree has reached a crossroad in her lifeless life. Literally. While running an errand for her oppressively controlling husband, she encounters a handsome hitchhiker whose siren-like lure tempts her to do the unthinkable: pick up a strange man on the side of the road and keep on driving. Like the mesmerizing lip of Niagara Falls, which has tempted many an unsuspecting soul to plunge to an icy demise, the hitchhiker woos Mary Kate from her mundane existence into an adventure she could never before have imagined.

Randy “Smoothie” Cunningham is abandoning convention. After one too many life surprises thrown his way, he’s decided to chuck it all and take to the road. When meek and mousy Mary Kate unexpectedly picks him up, the two downtrodden souls embark on a road trip that eventually leads them to the source of Mary Kate’s temptation: Niagara Falls, where they confront the fabled water’s edge in search of elusive redemption.

Read an excerpt here.

THE GOOD SEED
by Jenny Gardiner

Tired of waiting for the “right man” to come along, Capitol Hill photographer Lucy McSweeney decides to get pregnant through local sperm bank Capitol Cryogenics. Handsome entrepreneur Drew Madigan, a regular donor at Cap/Cry since his sister's marriage fell apart over unresolved infertility issues, is the unwitting father to Lucy's soon-to-be born twins. Drew is well on the path to marriage with long-time fiancé and serial narcissist Felicia Daltry when a chance encounter with Lucy at a Capitol Hill reception prompts him to begin re-thinking his options. Before he knows it, a very pregnant Lucy is photographing his wedding, going into labor and creating chaos in Drew's life, where calm once reigned.

Read an excerpt here.