Now or Never

Post-menopausal Maggie Rockford, deliriously happy at the thought of becoming a new mother via in vitro fertilization, receives little support from her three life-long pals, Nicki, Stella and Alice, in this soap operatic offering from Jordan (For Love or Money). Nicki, the most vehement objector, proclaims that the pregnancy is unnatural and accuses Maggie of using the baby as a means of holding onto her young lover, Oliver. Stella and Alice, meanwhile, have too much on their plate to pay Maggie much attention. Stella must deal with her son s pregnant teenage girlfriend, Julie, who ends up on Stella s doorstep after her parents toss her out, and Alice fears that her husband is having an affair and that her daughter is an alcoholic. The plot grows even murkier with the addition of poison pen letters, extramarital affairs and a heinous crime. Sorting through the huge population of characters may challenge readers patience and have them backpedaling to keep track of who s who, but there s enough drama here to keep Jordan s many fans titillated.