Allison Clark is facing many challenges. She is going through a divorce, her mother is very ill and she is dealing with secrets from her twins, who are about to graduate.

Soon, she learns that her mother has had a secret that she has kept hidden for Allison's whole life.

Things are about to get very interesting.

This is a great story. Although it sounds a bit ominous, this story is actually pretty light hearted and humorous. A great read when you need a break from all the seriousness in life.

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

I really liked this book. It shows there are really screwed up families out there but in the end they do all come together. I did not guess the big secret but after it was reviled it was such a surprise. The twins had a great outlook on things. Starting there own company and the whole sneaker deal, what a smart idea.

I received an ebook Advanced Readers Copy of this book in exchange for my review. I wish to thank the author, publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is the first book that I have read from this duo. It was a very nice quick read, perfect for a beach read. But while it is a fine one, I'm not sure it was enough to make me want to read any others written by this duo.

One of the problems I had with this books was that I could not connect or relate to any of the characters. While they were all well developed and they grew throughout the story, there just wasn't anything that made me want to CARE about them and what happened to them. Once the book was over, I didn't have that yearn to find out what happened to them 5, 10, 20 years down the road or have that overwhelming distress at the parting with the characters that marks a good book for me.

I was torn as to what to rate it, between 2 (it was ok) and 3 (liked it). I was feeling generous and gave it a 3 because it was a decent enough book that I didn't have that "is this book ever going to end" feeling I get with books that I rate a 2.

#BetterChoices#nNetGalley
A new author for me but I will be looking for more. I couldn't put it down. Allison Clarke is a wife and mother who has always put herself last.. Her husband has. Been unfaithful and her twins are about to graduate from high school. Her mother is I'll and needs care. Allison finally decided enough is enough when her twins are threatened by a principal about not letting them give their co-valedictorian speech or even graduate . Her best friend who is a lawyer is with her as she takes on the school, divorced her cheating husband, and helps her through the family trials with her mom's health and living situation. When Allison sticks up for herself her mother and friends ,and family zrebthrilled. This is a book that makes you believe there are good days after had ones. It shows family not just by blue but chosen. It is family drama but you cheer on Allison as her life begins to change for the better. She realizes she is a much stronger person who can stick up for herself and know she will always have family and friends that love her. Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read and review this great book.

This is the story of Allison, mother of two, raising extremely smart and ambitious, twin 17 year olds, divorcing her husband of over 20 years, and caring for her ailing mother. She hasn’t always made the best choices for her life and is at a turning point. Can she learn to make Better Choices in the future?

Part chick-lit, and part self-help book, I found some helpful advice in the lessons that Allison goes through to make those better choices. An interesting, easy, entertaining read with humorous and endearing characters and relatable situations.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Better Choices by Rod Pennington and Jeffrey A. Martin was absolute delight to read. Allison Clark is soon to be divorced from her adulterous husband and become an empty-nester. While she ponders the pending changes in her life she dreads a meeting with an intimidating school administrator to discuss her mischievous twins. She is sidetracked when she learns that her mother has been hospitalized and can no longer live on her own. She quickly comes up with a plan to move herself and the twins in with her sharp-tongued mother who is dying. Extra help comes along when her “tell it like it is” Aunt Tilly and her best friend forever decide to move in too. The only person who Allison has to confide her deepest thoughts in is her best friend and attorney, Beth.

Allison’s never had the best relationship with her brother which is made worse when he challenges her mother. Edna isn’t going to have it and the only way to quell his concerns is to share a family secret that rocks everyone’s world. In the meantime, the twins are up to something that leaves Allison clueless. When it is time to celebrate the twins eighteenth birthday all things come to a head and Allison is challenged to reexamine her life and her relationships. This story is not only about choices, but family, love and second chances at getting it right.

The authors cleverly bridge the events together to make the book a complete page turner. It’s wonderful conversation starter and is packed with humor in the midst of the seriousness of events.

I enjoyed this completely unrealistic novel about a woman on the brink of divorce discovering herself trying to manage her mother's recent hospitalization, her teenagers (who are too clever and cool to ever be anything other than fictional characters) as well as a deep family secret.

The book takes place over a short period of time, maybe a week or two, but has a very satisfying and pat conclusion. I found this book to be a fun read,

A strong family drama filled with ups and downs and chaos. I love reading about other family dynamics and this one doesn't disappoint. It's tense and filled with emotional moments. See for yourself just how good this story is. Happy reading!

Better Choices by Rod Pennington & Jeffery Martin was a great book. It tells the story of Allison, a woman whose children are just finishing high school and she is getting a divorce and dealing with a sick mother. Life is crazy and Allison's life proves just that. The storyline is intriguing and keeps you on the line! I recommend this book to all who enjoy women's fiction.

Allison O’Connor Clark is having a very bad day – her twins are in trouble at the high school, her husband’s latest girlfriend is harassing her, and her mother Edna is in the hospital seriously ill. Trying to get everything settled, Allison must make a number of choices and her track record for decision making is not very good.

The O’Connor / Clark family relationships are complicated and when her brothers discovers a family secret, matters become even worse. With the help of her best friend Beth and her aunt’s partner Aunt Jolene, Allison begins to evaluate her decision-making process in order to ensure her family remains secure, financially and emotionally.

I had never read anything by the authors, but I have added their books to my TBR list. From page one, the story and the writing had me hooked. The characters and their dilemmas were intriguing. People were not who they seemed – generally they were more rational and compassionate than they appeared initially. (Sorry if that’s a spoiler.) The book is worth reading just for Edna’s character – she’s a bawdy, creative, dynamic, driven lady who knows what she wants and goes about getting it. Her clean expletives are a hoot. And Aunt Tillie – what a original. She and Edna almost steal the show.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley, but the opinion is my own.

“Better Choices” was a thought-provoking novel which begins with Allison finding out shocking deeply buried family secrets. She is on the path to begin her next life stages but has to figure out how to accept and learn to control her “lizard brain” and deal with the cards recently dealt.

Watching the evolvement of Allison with her family definitely kept me wanting to turn the page.

Rod Pennington has given us a motivating entertaining novel. This was a new to me author and glad to have found him.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for fair and honest review.

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. You can get your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Better-Choices-Rod-Pennington-ebook/dp/B086675G95/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=better+choices&qid=1592231915&s=digital-text&sr=1-1I

This, my friends is the kind of book we need right now! A high school Twin run business, hostile takeover, unknown relatives, drama, illicit affairs, long time coming divorce, emancipation, prenuptial agreements and more. I loved this book so much!
We begin this book with the aforementioned twins’ mother being requested for a personal appearance in the assistant principal in charge of discipline and decorum’s office. Say that bad boy a few times and you probably will get your facial yoga workout for the day! The twins’ mom soon finds out that her twins, almost 18 are quite the entrepreneurs and have set up a legitimate business. Essentially, they are helping out the senior community. Oh and they hired an attorney on top of it-their Aunt, who managed to keep this all a secret from their mother, her best friend for TWO YEARS! Their Maternal Grandfather and Grandmother were also in on the scheme and still, no one told her-WHAT!!!?? I am not sure if I would be mad, impressed or just baffled at this point! This right here is what I want to hear from my kids- mom, all that time I spend on Minecraft and Roblox is actually profitable- all those hours that I have been logging actually pays me money-real currency rather than rotting my brain! These twins are co-Valedictorians of their school, manage to run a business and get good grades and play sports- that right there is some serious parenting-does the mother have a guide that I can cheat from?? Holy cow, this is awesome to have kids that would do something that not only benefits them fiduciarily, but also helps out other people! I loved these twins in this book! They made some serious power plays, some may call them underhanded, but with proof and a little conniving, they managed to do some gray area business on the up and up. If kids these days put as much passion into one of these projects as they do into Roblox, Fortnight, TikTok and Minecraft, we would be living in a pretty productive world!

I received an ARC of this book for an honest review. I finished the book-despite my reservations, I wanted to see how it ended. The characters were not realistic, the plot was unbelievable, the weird self-help component was odd. The whole thing was just too much, and the lack of realistic dialogue made this a chore to plow through. I should have known there would be issues with a novel being marketed as woman's fiction written by two men.

I’m just not as excited about this book as I thought I’d be. Yes, it has the big family drama but at times it just seemed like too much and not quite realistic. Allison is on the verge of divorce with 17 year old twins who are about to graduate as co-valedictorians. She has a soon to be ex cheating husband. Then throw in other family mentes and best friends and you’ve got quite a cast. As the title suggest, Allison starts making better choices after reading a self help book by a close family friend and starts seeing her life for what it was. I think what bothered me the most was how they put her father up on a pedestal and how much of a wonderful family man he was but how he treated his son to me was not that of a great man. It made me feel sorry for him the most. I felt the late Charles’ behavior wasn’t excused due to his success as a business man. Just not got me.

I received an early copy for an honest review.

This books was wonderful. A combination renewal, love story, family saga and starting over. With humor to boot. As we follow the lead she tries to manage a recent divorce, an aging mother, twins about to make her an empty nest and the "one that got away." The story follows her journey and that of her family to show that common sense, love and the commitment and devotion of family can get you through everything. A lovely book.

Allison has made many choices in her lifetime, many of them not the best ones. As her twins turn 18, she is finally ready to divorce her cheating husband. Her mother has had a heart attack and is no longer able to live alone. Although some of the subject matter is quite heavy as Allison confronts the decisions that she has made, the book is lightened up by the other characters in the story. While very entertaining, this book also gave me some extremely interesting things to think about. I highly recommend this book.

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Sit down and get comfy for this enjoyable read. The story revolves around Allison and her very tumultous life. To call her family complicated is only skimming the surface. On a daily basis she is dealing with a absolutely miserable marriage to a serial philanderer/jerk of a husband while awaiting their impending divorce as soon as her twins turn 18 and graduate high school. That is if they graduate. They are brilliant, but trouble seems to find them often driving her crazy and she knows something is up, just not exactly what. Yet. Then there is her brother Robert, who inherited the majority of the family business that was her fathers passion, but he is terrible at it. Plus he has a really annoying trophy wife who wants what she wants and allows nothing to stand in her way causing Robert to try to get hold of the rest of the family money. He’s kind of a spineless jerk, but that’s just my opinion. A very opinionated stubborn mother who suffers a medical emergency and requires full time help permanently for which her brother is totally useless, secrets, lies and more people and issues. All of this is woven into a wonderful journey when one day Allison decides she has had enough. She is done with it all and finally stands up for herself. It is really wonderful watching her stand up for herself and feel so good about it. She is for the first time ever putting herself first and loving it. I really enjoyed the writing style and the character development. So be prepared to not want to stop reading once you’ve started. Enjoy the read, I did.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Allison is on the verge of a long overdue divorce. Her twins are about to turn 18, and she discovers them running a very successful business out of her mom’s house (which everyone knows about but her). Her mom just had a heart attack, the family visit is failing under her brother’s leadership, and her brother is threatening to try and break her father’s will.

That’s a lot for one woman to resolve in a short book, but this book packs all that in and more.

This book had a lot of potential, but characters started coming out of the woodwork, and it got a little challenging to keep track of. Although the story ended on a happy (if implausible) note, it was the epilogue that kind of rushed through giving all of the characters some sort of resolution.

I enjoyed the writing (side note: the phrase “Jolene said sweetly” is used in abundance. A minor thing, but after a while, I wanted to smack the authors with a thesaurus.) and found that the story held my attention. It was a quick read, and will be good for throwing in your beach bag.

Thank you, NetGalley, Integration Press, Rod Pennington, and Jeffery A. Martin for the advance copy.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, authors Rod Pennington and Jeffery A. Martin, and Integration Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to add Rod Pennington and Jeffery A. Martin to my favorite authors and recommend their work to friends and family. They write a tight tale with sympathetic, compassionate protagonists and gentle lessons in coping tucked amid a story that is compelling.

Written from the first-person viewpoint of Allison O'Connor Clark and occurring in the present time, you are going to enjoy meeting the whole O'Connor/Clark, family. Allison's father Charlie O'Connor, a very successful builder, died a couple of years ago. Her Mother Edna is a feisty, extremely independent woman with many interests - and a recent heart incident with a very bad prognosis and the impossibility of living on her own any longer. Husband Lindsey, guilty of casual promiscuity since Allison was pregnant with the twins, is on the way out of Allison's life as soon as the twins, Charles and Angela, graduate high school - co-valedictorians! - and she files the divorce paperwork. Well, the twins will graduate if they don't get expelled the last week of senior high. Brother Robert who inherited 60% of the very profitable family business on the death of their father is looking for someone to bail him out of a serious financial hole. Lifetime best friend Beth Longway Woodrow is a highly respected lawyer and always there for Allison, especially now that she is watching her mother dwindle away. Every day it seems like there are more pressures and angst and less of her life that is in her immediate control - Allison must find a way to ensure that in future she makes much better choices...

Thanks to Netgalley and Integration Press for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.
I really liked this book about family relationships.
I did find the over abundance of wealth of every person in the book a little off putting and fanciful but I liked the overall storyline.
I didn't really get to know the characters very well and that is faulted in the writing style.
It did read fast and kept me interested.