Book Review: Sisters Like Us

By Melissa Amster

Divorce left Harper Szymanski with a name no one can spell, a house she can’t afford and a teenage daughter who’s pulling away. With her fledgling virtual-assistant business, she’s scrambling to maintain her overbearing mother’s ridiculous Susie Homemaker standards and still pay the bills, thanks to clients like Lucas, the annoying playboy cop who claims he hangs around for Harper’s fresh-baked cookies.

Spending half her life in school hasn’t prepared Dr. Stacey Bloom for her most daunting challenge—motherhood. She didn’t inherit the nurturing gene like Harper and is in deep denial that a baby is coming. Worse, her mother will be horrified to learn that Stacey’s husband plans to be a stay-at-home dad…assuming Stacey can first find the courage to tell Mom she’s already six months pregnant.

Separately they may be a mess, but together Harper and Stacey can survive anything—their indomitable mother, overwhelming maternity stores and ex’s weddings. Sisters Like Us is a delightful look at sisters, mothers and daughters in today’s fast-paced world, told with Susan Mallery’s trademark warmth and humor.

I've been a fan of this series ever since I read The Girls of Mischief Bay in 2015. The books are such comfort reads and the characters feel like real friends after a while. I like that Susan Mallery revisits some of her characters from previous novels. This time around, she included a couple of secondary characters from her first few books, but one had an even bigger role than last time. (I am still waiting to revisit with Shannon from the first novel of the series.)

Mischief Bay is easy to visualize from Susan's descriptions, and I can also picture the characters and their homes easily. I really got into this story to the point where I was squealing when certain things happened that I had been hoping for. Having said that, some parts felt a bit predictable, but there were still other surprises and I didn't mind when I got my wish for a particular outcome or two.

I liked that Becca was one of the narrators, as I always enjoy hearing a teenage perspective in a novel. Susan did a great job making Becca seem realistic. She was awkward and impulsive, dealing with peer pressure and feeling lonely and left behind. Bunny, on the other hand, seemed like a caricature. I had a hard time believing anyone could be that difficult to reason with. However, her role made me feel even more sympathetic toward Harper and Stacey.

Overall, Sisters Like Us was a sweet story and it is now my favorite in the series. I already am looking forward to a fifth novel (and a sixth, seventh, eighth, etc.) in this series. While it can be read as a stand-alone, I highly recommend starting with the first book and just binge-reading because they're that good!

Movie casting ideas:

Harper: Michelle Monaghan 

Stacey: Shannyn Sossamon 

Becca: Mackenzie Foy

Ashton: KJ Apa

Kit: Mark Duplass 

Bunny: Frances Fisher

Dean: Tom Ellis

Lucas: Johnny Messner (I chose him when I read A Million Little Things)

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for the book in exchange for an honest review. See all the stops on the tour.

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