"Uproariously tart." Entertainment Weekly "Debut fiction that's a cut above." Kirkus Reviews "The comedy hits the mark." Booklist

Notes From The Underbelly
Risa Green

I know that I’m not ready because, every time that I even think about having a baby, I keep going back to the fact that I still need to lose five pounds, and that I’m not ready to give up vodka martinis for nine months. Not to mention the pink skirt. There would be no point in buying it if I can only wear it for a few weeks, and I really, really want it. So how can I be a mother? Mothers don’t think this way. Mothers are supposed to be unselfish.

As a guidance counselor at an elite, Bel Air high school, Lara Stone works with spoiled, bratty kids every day, and she is definitely not ready to have any spoiled, bratty kids of her own. At least, not now. Not when her life is going so well, and certainly not since she has finally managed to kick-boxed and low-carb herself down to a perfect size four.

But Lara’s husband has different ideas, and they include fatherhood. Now.

Suddenly, Lara finds herself deep within the underbelly of pregnancy. A far cry from the blissful, glowing mother-to- be, Lara is instead a cranky, reluctant participant in all things baby. And her mood doesn’t improve when she’s given the task of getting one of her students—the punk, outcast daughter of a famous movie director—into a highly competitive college.

But as Lara struggles with uncontrollable crying, inexplicable weight gain, and scary hemorrhoids, she finds that she has maternal instincts she never thought she had. And discovers that expecting is nothing like she ever expected...

NAL Trade, April 2005
ISBN #0451214161
304 pages Trade Size
$12.95