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Sleepless Nights

August 21, 2009 by Dawn

The early days of motherhood are imagined to be full of moment after moment of quiet snuggling in a glider chair with a content and dozing baby upon your chest, sniffing that wonderful new-baby-smell wafting up from your littlest one, right? Well, for Quinn (who prefers to go by “Q”) Boothroyd, that image is just a fantasy, and the reality is a bit harsher.

In Sarah Bilston’s new novel, Sleepless Nights, Q’s beloved new son has introduced her to motherhood by choosing to cry approximately 25 hours a day, just as she has convinced her husband to step out of their regular big-city lawyer lives for a few weeks of vacation, apparently something that is virtually unheard of in big-city lawyer life. At this new point, Q struggles to find peace, first and foremost wanting to learn how to help this crying baby and discovering that in the world of colic, there’s just not much that a mom can do but persevere through those tough early days. On top of that, the date on the calendar in which she’s expected to return to the professional world looms large in her mind, especially as she begins to realize that her priorities in life have shifted and the thought of returning to the office, along with its pressure-filled, dog-eat-dog environment, literally makes her stomach turn.

Add to the story a subplot involving Q’s sister, visiting from England and trying to find her way professionally as well as in the romantic portion of her own life, and you’ve got a novel full of stories within stories, starring sisters who are not all that much alike, but who each in her turn discovers her own right path. Sarah Bilston peppers this book with spot-on portrayals of lovelorn twenty-somethings, as well as of parents on edge in the face of colic. And personally, having been there, done that, I can say that was the most poignant subplot for me!

With the kiddos heading back to school, is anyone interested in doing some reading just for fun in all those quiet moments? If you’d like to win a copy of Sleepless Nights as part of our Back to School Giveaway, please leave a comment here. (US Residents only please.)

Dawn is beyond grateful to have left her own child-induced sleepless nights in the past, and the only thing keeping her from sleeping these days is her incessant blogging at my thoughts exactly. Stop by and tell her to go to bed already.

This is part of the 2009 Back-to-School Giveaway. We’d love it if you helped spread the word!

  1. Leave a comment on this post as your entry.
  2. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents. One entry per person.
  3. New giveaways will be posted through August 26. Winners will be announced August 31.
  4. Check out the list of the other giveaways in the 2009 Back-to-School Giveaway at the main post.


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Filed Under: Dawn, Fiction Tagged With: Back to School Giveaway

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Comments

  1. Shawntele says

    August 21, 2009 at 9:10 am

    I would like to enter for a copy of Sleepless Nights, it sounds like a fun book. The entry instructions mention picking which of the PakNaks I would like…hope you will include my entry anyway. 🙂

  2. Marj MCClendon says

    August 21, 2009 at 10:28 am

    I would like a copy of Sleepless Nights. I do so like to read.

  3. Alicia says

    August 21, 2009 at 11:43 am

    I was sold at “cries 25 hours a day!”

  4. Buffie says

    August 21, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    This sounds like it would be a really good read.

  5. Katie says

    August 21, 2009 at 3:18 pm

    Sounds like an interesting read! Sign me up, please!

  6. edj says

    August 21, 2009 at 6:33 pm

    I’ve had my share of sleepless nights! This sounds like a good read even though my current sleeplessness is no longer due to colicky babies–thankfully! 🙂

  7. susan varney says

    August 21, 2009 at 7:59 pm

    i am a winner everyday [email protected]

  8. Mary Ward says

    August 21, 2009 at 9:34 pm

    I read the first book Bed Rest and would love to read the follow-up!

  9. Carol Lawrence says

    August 22, 2009 at 7:07 am

    This sounds like a good book. Enter me in the giveaway. [email protected]

  10. Diane Perkins says

    August 22, 2009 at 11:26 am

    would love to own this book!

  11. Just Mom says

    August 22, 2009 at 1:01 pm

    This book sounds good – please enter me in the giveaway.

  12. mindy says

    August 22, 2009 at 1:38 pm

    looks great thanks

  13. Pat Connors says

    August 22, 2009 at 5:41 pm

    This sounds familiar around our house.

  14. corinne says

    August 22, 2009 at 6:16 pm

    Looks great. Thanks!

  15. Ellen C. says

    August 22, 2009 at 7:55 pm

    This looks like a great read. Thanks for the chance.

  16. Jackie says

    August 22, 2009 at 8:46 pm

    I’d love to have a book to read just for fun while the kids are in school. Thanks for the review and giveaway!

  17. Jackie B. says

    August 22, 2009 at 10:18 pm

    Count me in. This one sounds like a winner!

  18. beth shepherd says

    August 22, 2009 at 10:24 pm

    I would love to win
    Thank you for the chance
    [email protected]

  19. Beth says

    August 22, 2009 at 10:33 pm

    Thanks for the great giveaway!
    pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

  20. Mozi Esmes Mommy says

    August 23, 2009 at 1:21 am

    Looks like an interesting read!

  21. Debbie D says

    August 23, 2009 at 11:13 am

    Please include me in your giveaway.
    Thanks
    Debbie
    debdesk9(at)verizon.net

  22. Tonya says

    August 23, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    love to win this, count me in please

  23. Diane Westerbeek says

    August 23, 2009 at 3:40 pm

    Gift for mew mother

  24. Linda Kish says

    August 23, 2009 at 5:53 pm

    Sounds familiar

    lkish77123 at gmail dot com

  25. michele anne says

    August 23, 2009 at 6:13 pm

    sign me up….please….would like to win

  26. Sherry says

    August 23, 2009 at 6:34 pm

    Sounds great! Thanks for the chance to win.

  27. autie says

    August 23, 2009 at 11:35 pm

    Sounds like a neat book

  28. Nicole C. says

    August 24, 2009 at 8:47 am

    I would love to read this!!

  29. Ruth Ann says

    August 24, 2009 at 9:09 am

    Sounds like a good read. Thanks for the chance to win!

  30. Kathy Scott says

    August 24, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    Thanks for the chance.

  31. Tarah says

    August 24, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    I would love to win this book! 🙂

  32. Jessica C says

    August 24, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    Id love to win this read~!

  33. shelly says

    August 24, 2009 at 1:50 pm

    time to win!

  34. Julie H says

    August 24, 2009 at 5:49 pm

    I would love to read this! I feel like I’ve been waiting years to the sequel to Bed Rest!

    Thanks.
    JHolden955 (at) gmail (dot) com

  35. Ed Nemmers says

    August 24, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    Happy Monday!

  36. Jennifer Hedden says

    August 24, 2009 at 10:15 pm

    enter me

  37. Angela Winesburg says

    August 24, 2009 at 11:26 pm

    I would love to read this, thanks for the chance!

  38. Christina says

    August 25, 2009 at 2:43 am

    Yes, there are situations like this (where the child cries 24 hours a day and you can’t sleep), and I’d just love to win and read this book!

  39. Kimberly says

    August 25, 2009 at 9:40 am

    This sounds like a great prepatory book. 🙂

  40. R Hicks says

    August 25, 2009 at 10:57 am

    This looks like something I would like to read

  41. Kim B says

    August 25, 2009 at 11:39 am

    I have a daughter I would like to give this to. Thanks for the chance to win

  42. Heather Goldsmith says

    August 25, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    How funny! I’ve got a lot of sleepless nights to read “Sleepless Nights”

  43. May Schultz says

    August 25, 2009 at 2:03 pm

    OH, that book will surely bring back many many memories, of nights of no sleep! And by the time one child slept through the night, then the NEW baby started the same regime. I am SURE i will empathize with this mother.

  44. Molly K says

    August 25, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    I would love to win. Thanks for the giveaway.

  45. Ellie W says

    August 25, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    Sounds like a great book. Thanks for the giveaway.

  46. Brenda Park says

    August 25, 2009 at 4:29 pm

    Thanks for another greay book giveaway, would love to win this one.

  47. John says

    August 25, 2009 at 5:07 pm

    My wife needs more books….

  48. Abby Joy says

    August 25, 2009 at 5:09 pm

    My sister-in-law just had a baby–and I stayed with them! This book caught my attention!

  49. Sheila Hickmon says

    August 25, 2009 at 6:47 pm

    I would love this for my best friend who is about to have a new baby! Thanks for the chance!

  50. Bambi M says

    August 25, 2009 at 7:07 pm

    I’d love a copy of this book – I’m expecting my first and I’m reading like you wouldn’t believe!

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