The Sweet Spot, Amy Poeppel
The Sweet Spot, Amy Poeppel
4 Rating(s)
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

The Sweet Spot

Author: Amy Poeppel

Narrator: Billie Fulford-Brown, Stephen Graybill, Aden Hakimi, Daniel Henning, Nancy Linari, Carly Robins, Jackie Sanders, Erin Ruth Walker

Unabridged: 13 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/31/2023


Synopsis

Amy Poeppel brings her signature “big-hearted, charming” (The Washington Post) style to this wise and joyful novel that celebrates love, hate, and all of the glorious absurdity in between.

In the heart of Greenwich Village, three women form an accidental sorority when a baby—belonging to exactly none of them—lands on their collective doorstep.

Lauren and her family—lucky bastards—have been granted the use of a spectacular brownstone, teeming with history and dizzyingly unattractive 70s wallpaper. Adding to the home’s bohemian, grungy splendor is the bar occupying the basement, a (mostly) beloved dive called The Sweet Spot. Within days of moving in, Lauren discovers that she has already made an enemy in the neighborhood by inadvertently sparking the divorce of a couple she has never actually met.

Melinda’s husband of thirty years has dumped her for a young celebrity entrepreneur named Felicity, and, to Melinda’s horror, the lovebirds are soon to become parents. In her incandescent rage, Melinda wreaks havoc wherever she can, including in Felicity’s Soho boutique, where she has a fit of epic proportions, which happens to be caught on film.​

Olivia—the industrious twenty-something behind the counter, who has big dreams and bigger debt—gets caught in the crossfire. In an effort to diffuse Melinda’s temper, Olivia has a tantrum of her own and gets unceremoniously canned, thanks to TikTok.

When Melinda’s ex follows his lover across the country, leaving their squalling baby behind, the three women rise to the occasion in order to forgive, to forget, to Ferberize, and to track down the wayward parents. But can their little village find a way toward the happily ever afters they all desire? Welcome to The Sweet Spot.

About Amy Poeppel

Amy Poeppel is the award-winning author of the novels Far and AwayThe Sweet SpotMusical ChairsLimelight, and Small Admissions. Her writing has appeared in The New York TimesThe RumpusLiterary Hub, and Working Mother. She and her husband have three sons and split their time between New York City, Germany, and Connecticut. She would love to hear from you on Twitter or Instagram: @AmyPoeppel or at AmyPoeppel.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer

Crowded, retro, 70’s style Waverly Place brownstone building / lovely Greenwich Village theme with lots of unique, quirky, entertaining characters: another enjoyable novel from Amy Poeppel. I honestly focused on Lauren’s disorganized family gang a little more: nerdish professor husband Leo, three sw......more

What a wonderful book! 4.5 stars This is a novel about family--both the ones related and the ones that become a part of things. It's a book about misunderstandings and revenge, about forgiveness, making up, and discovering what you really want in life. This tale has a large cast of characters, and di......more

My Reviews Can Also Be Found On:My Blog | Twitter | Amazon | BRC Blog | StoryGraph This book was madcap, it was like watching a Three Stooges episode or a Laurel and Hardy movie; I loved that about it. I can't count how many times I literally laughed out loud. I enjoyed so much about this sto......more

Goodreads review by Theresa

I really enjoyed this novel. It’s very funny and touching. Lauren and her family get to live a brownstone in Greenwich Village while a family member is away. Lauren’s art is really taking off since a style guru has started promoting her work, so things would seem to be going well, except she inadver......more

Goodreads review by Kristy

In New York City, a group of women form unlikely friendships when they are brought together by forces of fate--and a baby. There's Lauren and her children, who just moved into a brownstone gifted by her husband Dan's father. But Lauren quickly makes an enemy in Melinda by hastening her divorce. Meli......more


Quotes

"The Sweet Spot is the name of this novel, a pub, and the feeling one gets when everything goes just right. Eight narrators bring multiple dimensions to this story about relationships, adultery, aging, parenting, and finding oneself in New York City. At the heart of the book is Lauren, an overworked mom who is trying to juggle her work as an artist while also being a good mother; these difficulties are deftly captured by Carly Robins's narration. Aden Hakimi brings three distinct tones and nuances to his vocal interpretations of Leo, Harrell, and Charles, with Leo's absent-minded professor quality transmitted perfectly. Lastly, Jackie Sanders introduces listeners to Melinda, a betrayed wife out for revenge whose maniacal ramblings are just cover for a wounded human being."