I enjoyed this book but I also liked Desperate Housewives. I agree with others saying that it is Desperate Housewives ish.

It kept my interest and I enjoyed reading it and turning my mind off. It isn't thought provoking but not every book needs to be.

Definitely chick-lit. ( )

I listened to this book. When listening to an audio book, the reader is a huge part of the enjoyment. I know the reader of this book has won some awards for her work. But I think she is too mellow. I almost fell asleep driving to work on day. This book is about two families and the relationship between the married couples and between the couples. Wren is married to Alec and Darlene is married to Lance. Alec and Darlene are opening a restaurant together and Lance and Wren are having an affair. Their kids are also friends. This book is a chick-lit book but also covers how different personalities can get along and not match each other. Do you have a job or a career. How do you categorize someone. It's not too deep of a thinking book but it's not bad. Good for the beach. ( )

Playdate by Thelma Adams, who lives in upstate New York and is the film critic for US Weekly magazine, tells the story of Lance, Darlene and their ten-year-old daughter Belle. They have just moved to Encinitas from Barstow because Darlene is opening a restaurant with a new partner, Alex, who lives in their new neighborhood.

Lance gave up his job as a TV weatherman in Barstow, and now he takes care of Belle and runs their new household. Darlene is spending a great deal of time with the demanding Alex, who has a plan to turn Darlene's Diner into a chain of restaurants like Marie Callender.

Belle is not happy with the move. In Barstow she had friends and spent time out in the great outdoors. Encinitas is the "land of playdates, where every encounter is staged and scheduled". There are mean girls, led by Jade, who make her life very difficult. Jade and her friends even make fun of Lance because he is a stay-at-home dad and he runs the Girl Scout cookie drive.

Lance is happy spending more time with Belle; they have a very close relationship that feels authentic. But his marriage to Darlene is suffering. She is all about work, and while Lance is home all day, he has strayed into a series of "playdates" with Wren, his neighbor and Alex's wife.

The best part of the book is Lance and Belle's relationship. They are a loving father and daughter, and these two characters are the most well drawn of all. I can't say the same of Darlene; I felt like I didn't know her as well, maybe because the story centers more on Lance and Belle. I didn't really understand her very well at all.

The only secondary character that had much dimension to her was Wren's nanny Julia, who has the hots for Lance. Julia has a hard edge to her, but at least she was interesting. You could really feel Lance's discomfort at Julia's aggressive attempts at seduction.

I wouldn't give Playdates my highest recommendation, but it was worth reading for the warm, loving father-daughter relationship between Lance and Belle. It's not one you see very often. ( )

This book was just so-so. I enjoyed the message which basically is it doesn't matter who raises the kids, all the jobs are important but they go hand in hand. It isn't just the moms who are important it is the dads too. However the affairs and the way the kids were just pushed through the book kinda irritated me. Also there seemed like parts that just went on and one with no real meaning.
No one really had any depth to them, because if they did, they wouldn't be in those situations! All the guys except for Lance were painted as jerks, which today's society says they are if they go out and work for a living they are not "good fathers". This book is worth a read, but not much more ( )

I tried to like this book, but the characters were just so brash and sometimes just over the top I couldn't like it. I felt like it was cliche, and as another review said, "DesperateHousewives," like.... ( )