"An intelligent and lighthearted guide to navigating the dating world as a single mother"--Provided by publisher.

Recounts the physical and spiritual self-discovery of the author as she tests her limits, reclaims her body, and takes control of her life along the way.

When a buttoned-up professor and her unbuttoned daughter fall for the same irresistible man, a delightful, subversive comedy begins. . . . Life isn’t easy for single mother Ally Hughes. Teaching at Brown, her class load is huge and her boss is a menace. At home, she contends with a critical mother, a falling-down house, and a daughter who never misses a beat. Between taking care of the people she loves, teaching full time, and making ends meet, Ally doesn't have time for a man. She doesn’t date. She’s not into flings. But then she meets Jake, an eager student, young in years but old in soul, who challenges his favorite professor to open up her life, and her heart, to love. It doesn't work. In fact, his urging backfires. Ten years later, Ally's still single. Jake reappears and surprises her in a brand-new role: He's dating Ally's now-grown daughter. In this hilarious, heartrending tale, Ally is finally forced to concede (not only to herself) that an independent, "liberated" woman can still make room in her life for love.

As a single mom, Tasha is doing well for herself and her two kids. When it comes to love, she doesn't seem to make the right choices. She finally broke up with Terry, her kids' father, who constantly cheated on her. She then meets Tyvon, who is a great guy, and falls in love. Everything goes well until Tyvon's ex starts causing problems and then Terry comes to her claiming he wants his family back. Can her relationship with Tyvon last despite all the obstacles? Tasha's best friend, Sandy, is tired of her trifling boyfriend, Lee. The only good thing about him is the close relationship that he has with their daughter. He lives off of her and refuses to keep a job. She reconnects with her high school sweetheart and things are looking good for them but will it work out or will secrets be exposed? Through all the drama, Tasha and Sandy have each other to lean on. But, will they ever find true love as single moms?

Offering insightful perspectives on real-life scenarios, two therapists maintain that single parenthood and having a love life doesn't have to be an impossible dream.

From Sex and the City (Warner, 1997) to The Sexual Life of Catherine M. (Grove, 2002), literary tales of modern women's sexual escapades have never been more popular. Titillating details about the sexual lives of some of the nation's most eligible bachelors and the author's connections in the world of print journalism guarantee vast coverage in major newspapers and women's magazines. The vicarious pleasure at witnessing such bad behavior has never been so much fun. The author is a freelance journalist whose pieces regularly appear in the New York Times, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar.

Long perceived as the ultimate symbol of social breakdown and sexual irresponsibility, the single mother is now, in the context of welfare-to-work policies, often hailed as the new spokesperson for hard work and self-sufficiency. A dozen years after Dan Quayle denounced the television character Murphy Brown for making the decision to become a single mother “just another lifestyle choice,” President George W. Bush applauded single mothers for “heroic work,” and positive on-screen representations of single mothers abound, from The Gilmore Girls to Sex and the City to American Idol. Single Mother describes the recent cultural valorization of this figure that—in the midst of demographic changes in the U.S.—has emerged as the unlikely heroic and seductive voice of the new American family. Drawing on her own life as a single mother, interviews with dozens of other single mothers, cultural representations, and policies on welfare, immigration, childcare, and child custody, Juffer analyzes this contingent acceptance of single mothers. Finally, critiquing the relentless emphasis on self-sufficiency to the exclusion of community, Juffer shows the remarkable organizing skills of these new mothers of invention. At a moment when one-third of all babies are born to single moms, Single Mother is a fascinating and necessary examination of these new “domestic intellectuals.”