When You Least Expect It

A 30-something science fiction writer and his photographer wife endure the rigors of adoption in Gaskell’s latest easy-gaited look at contemporary women’s lives (after Mommy Tracked). Following more fertility treatments than they can afford, India and Jeremy Halloway plunge into the treacherous process of adoption. Through an attorney, the couple meet Lainey Walker, a manicurist who hopes to find fame on reality TV once she deals with her inconvenient pregnancy. After she moves into the Halloways’ guest house, an uneasy friendship ensues, while India and Jeremy juggle finances, their relationship, helpful friends, and sometimes less-than-helpful relatives. Gaskell walks her likably vanilla characters through the required emotional paces, and while the story won’t win an award for originality, it’s competently done and appropriately affirmative. (July)