Blueprints opens with the taping of the women's house renovation show "Gut It!"
hosted by carpenter Caroline, with support from her architect daughter, Jamie.

The intriguing plot struggles as repeated angst about their job conflict, mothering, and phone calling
sequences dominate. Second guessing and cliches like "...a hand to her mouth" interfere and lessen any reader connection to the female characters.

While main males, Dean and Chip, at first seem promising, they eventually get channeled into shirtless paradigms of masculinity who always say and do the right thing
for the helpless females they are somehow still attracted to.

Still, Chip holding up his hand to stop interfering gossip at the playground is a lingering great image. ( )

The day after her 56th birthday, Caroline is told the network wants her daughter, Jamie, to replace her as the host on Gut It!, their family-based home construction TV show. The resulting rift couldn't come at a worse time.
For Jamie, life changes overnight when, soon after learning of the host shift, her father and his new wife die in a car accident that orphans their two-year-old son. Accustomed to organization and planning, she is now grappling with a toddler who misses his parents, a fiancé who doesn't want the child, a staggering new attraction, and a work challenge that, if botched, could undermine the future of both MacAfee Homes and Gut It!

For Caroline, hosting Gut It! is part of her identity. Facing its loss, she feels betrayed by her daughter and old in the eyes of the world. When her ex-husband dies, she is thrust into the role of caregiver to his aging father. And then there's Dean, a long-time friend, whose efforts to seduce her awaken desires that have been dormant for so long that she feels foreign to herself.

Enjoyed this book, major criticism would have to be that it's a little too heaving handed with explicit detail. Compared to many books, it's pretty mild, but I have come to believe that our world could do with a little less sexual content. ( )

4.5 stars.

Blueprints by Barbara Delinsky is a very charming novel about a mother and daughter whose close relationship becomes strained due to a job conflict. Their professional issues are further complicated by unexpected changes in their personal lives which puts even more distance between them. Although a bit of a slow starter, this compelling story quickly gains momentum and thunders its way to a delightfully unconventional conclusion.

Caroline MacAfee and her daughter Jamie are more than mother and daughter, they are also best friends. Both work for the family owned company, MacAfee Homes, and they also star in a popular reality show, Gut It!. Not long the current season draws to a close, Jamie learns that the show's producer wants her to replace her mom as the show's host when filming resumes in the fall. Jamie delays telling her about the switch and when Caroline learns the news from someone else, not only is she devastated but she also feels betrayed by her daughter. Before the pair can repair the rift between them, Jamie's father and stepmom are killed in an accident and she becomes the guardian of her 2 year half-brother, Tad. While Jamie is struggling to cope with her new role, Caroline begins taking over more duties at MacAfee Homes and the gulf between them widens when the two begin keeping secrets about their personal lives.

Caroline's marriage was doomed almost from the beginning but her divorce still did a lot of damage to her self-esteem. It was not until she took over hosting duties on Gut It! that she finally began to believe in herself and finding out that she is being replaced by Jamie really shakes her self-confidence. After her ex-husband's death, Caroline finds herself turning to her old friend Dean Brannick for comfort and when he reveals he would like more from her than just friendship, her long dormant libido comes roaring back to life. While Caroline is willing to give in to her newfound desire, she is in no hurry to give up her independence when Dean admits he would like to make their relationship permanent.

Jamie is way out of her element when she becomes Tad's guardian and she quickly discovers her fiancé Brad is unhappy with this unanticipated change in her life. Feeling like she cannot turn to Caroline for advice, Jamie gets helpful advice from single dad, Charlie Kobik. This new friendship forces Jamie to confront some unpleasant truths about her engagement and she impulsively makes a few decisions that shock everyone she knows.

There are numerous story arcs in Blueprints but all of the threads tie neatly together in the end. The change in dynamics between mother and daughter is necessary for them to grow in both their personal and professional lives. The romance aspect of the storyline is very sweet and although a bit rushed, the relationships are believable. Barbara Delinsky closes the novel with a lovely epilogue that is very heartwarming. All in all, an enjoyable, thought-provoking story that I highly recommend to anyone who reads contemporary women's fiction. ( )

The story centers around a mother and daughter that are co-hosts of a reality TV show about renovating homes. Throughout the course of the book several events threaten to pull them apart - but love and courage conquer all.
I definitely got wrapped up in all the family drama involved in this book -- as well as the romances. I was glad to see everyone end up with who they should have ended up, and come to a much better place for their work and life balance. I even talked about what was going on with Jamie and Caroline with friends and family so the characters were definitely read to me.
I'd definitely recommend this for anyone looking for an engaging novel to listen to, with realistic characters and a dramatic story line that will pull you out of everyday life. ( )

This book just didn't work for me.
It sounded cute and I really liked it in the beginning before Jamie and Caroline's fight.

But then they got into a huge fight because of Jamie being offered Caroline's job as the host of a house renovation tv show.
Well, ofcourse I knew that was coming because of the book description but it just got to be such a bad fight. Jamie and Caroline were best friends as well as family but when Jamie got offered Caroline's job, Caroline reacted as though Jamie had been plotting to steal it.
They're mother/daughter/best friends but Caroline thinks her daughter is capable of betraying her?
I just didn't get that.

Then Jamie's dad suddenly died and Jamie wound up with custody of her half brother. Everything in Jamie's life was changing, she's suddenly a mom, her dad is gone, her fiancée is not handling things well and her job is in flux. And Caroline is still barely talking to her. I found it really hard to like Caroline at times, I felt like she had to atleast put her feelings on the back burner a bit to comfort her daughter about the loss of her dad.

I stuck with it through chapter 23. I'd been enjoying Jamie's chapters and the storyline had gotten more interesting. But then something happened that could only lead to more mother/daughter drama and I just didn't want to do it again.

I hate to not finish a book but I just couldn't make it with this one. It might be a better fit for someone who enjoys dramatic story telling more than I do. ( )