Wife, lovers tend dying man in ‘Sweethearts’

By M.L. JOHNSON

Lucy Shoreman is still coming to terms with her husband’s cheating when she finds out he’s dying. Unwilling to go through a second crisis alone, she gets drunk, takes his little black book and calls his sweethearts to invite them to take their turn at his deathbed.

She’s stunned when the women start showing up.

A 20-something drug addict turned art student and 50-something widow arrive first. Then there’s her husband’s high school algebra teacher, a lesbian, an actress and, finally, mother and daughter.

Eager to avoid the drama in her home, Lucy turns matters over to her mother and some of the sweethearts while she focuses on reuniting the philandering Artie Shoreman with his long-lost son. But when Artie’s son turns out to be as charming as his father, Lucy’s life gets even more complicated.

“My Husband’s Sweethearts” is best-selling author Julianna Baggott’s first novel under the Bridget Asher pen name. She also writes children’s books as N.E. Bode.

“Sweethearts” is a laugh-and-cry novel whose plot includes equal portions of heartache and hope.

One of Lucy’s most appealing qualities is her determination to make something good out of something bad. She does this by coming up with a plan to help Artie achieve peace with himself and his scorned lovers, reunite him with his son and help one sweetheart regain custody of her daughter.

But Lucy finds it hard to forgive Artie herself and is struck with guilt when she learns Artie dumped someone else for her. She realizes, as one subtitle says, “At some point, each of us is someone else’s bad guy.”

Asher’s quirky and quick-moving plot keeps the pages turning, but the action comes with some sacrifice in characterization.

Lucy and Elspa, the first sweetheart to arrive, are well-drawn, but the other main characters could be developed more — particularly Artie, whose thoughts and feelings remain mostly a mystery.

Even with this shortcoming, the novel is thoroughly enjoyable, and, like Lucy, readers will probably fall in love with “My Husband’s Sweethearts.”

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