Rating: 
Summary: Charming contemporary romance
Review: In Queens, New York, Nina Chickalini is weary and wants to simply escape from her home and her borough to the French Riviera instead of the Rockaways or Jones Beach. She is tired having raised her younger siblings after their mother left for heaven and achy from filling in at the family pizzeria.However, Nina suffers from a responsibility bone so when her pal Joey Materi asks a favor she knows she owes him. He wants a child of his own so Nina agrees to be the surrogate mother, but makes it clear she did her child raising already and will not help him as Europe beckons just after the nine months are over. During the pregnancy the neighborhood plays matchmakers. Meanwhile, Nina reassesses her dreams for she feels so right in the muscular arms of Joey, who wants her as his beloved wife forever. New York neighborhood humor is what keeps this charming contemporary romance from becoming a farcical soap opera. The story line amuses the audience with the antics of those wanting Nina to marry Joey. Readers who had early responsibilities will commiserate with Nina and all fans will like Joey who is a huggable hunk. Still, paying her debt by achieving the goal of THE NINE MONTH PLAN seems a bit excessive, but then again Wendy Markham keeps it just light enough to also make it fun to follow the Chickalini clan. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: NOT a Light Breezy Read
Review: Judging a book by it's cover, I thought this book would be a light breezy read similar to the novels of Rachel Gibson, Elizabeth Beverley and such. Instead I found myself with a book about a mother's long ago death and the struggles a young woman faces dealing with raising her younger siblings. Nina dreams of the day she can leave her responsiblities behind but her best friend (whose fiancee ran off to become a nun 15 years ago)asks Nina to make him a daddy before she goes.
This book is packed with tragedy amd not many laughs. The tragedy drags on and on as Nina wrestles with the idea of being a mother herself. NOT a fun read. I barely made it to the end. The last few chapters of the book seem very rushed and not very fleshed out, a major revelation seems to be thrown in at the last minute without a lot of background.
This book just really seemed to drag. I think the publisher should have chosen a different cover for such heavy reading material.
Rating: 
Summary: A sweet story...
Review: Nina Chickalini has been caring for her family since her mother died of eclampsia while giving birth to Nina's younger brother, Ralphie. Nina's dreams of moving out of her neighborhood in Queens and seeing the world has been put on hold until Ralphie graduates from high school and her familial obligations have been met. Joe Materi, her next-door neighbor & best friend is a workaholic. He longs to be a father and begins to half-jokingly suggest that she be the surrogate mother. Nina considers this and agrees one day. The story continues with the pregnancy, the both family's assumption they will marry, and Nina's goal of reaching "Independence Day" which is conflicting with her feelings for Joe and the baby. At the same time, Joe is slowly beginning to realize that he also has feelings, may have always had feelings, for Nina. I have to agree with the reader below that pointed out that fact that this book was written in present tense. I am not sure what the goal was to write in present tense, perhaps to draw the reader more into the story, but quite frankly, it threw off the rhythm and flow of the scenes, especially the serious and intense ones. In addition, the reasons behind Nina's consent to have Joe's baby are a little off. She seems like an intelligent woman, but the fact that her main reasons to have Joe's baby is that she feels indebted to him for his kindness to her family over the years mixed in with the feeling that this is her only chance to know what it would like to be pregnant seems a bit odd. However, the scenes between Joe and Nina are tender and sweet. The main and secondary characters are likable, as well. Overall, "The Nine Month Plan" is a sweet story between two best friends who are selfless to a fault and do not realize that they are truly meant for each other. It's an enjoyable and entertaining read, if you can bypass the present tense in which it is written and the reasons for which Nina decides to have Joe's baby. I hope that "Once Upon a Blind Date", the Chickalini continuation to "The Nine Month Plan", with Nina's brother, Dominic, in the title role, will fare better.
Rating: 
Summary: Cute story...
Review: Nina was just a little girl when her mother passed away and she took over the responsibility of raising her siblings. Now, her youngest brother is finally getting ready to head off to college in just a matter of months. When that happens, Nina can finally escape and travel the world like she always dreamed about.
Joey is Ninas best friend since childhood. They were always there for each other no matter what happened. Nina was there for him the night his fiancé changed her mind about getting married and decided to become a nun and Joey was there for Nina when her father was ill.
Joey does not see if life going the way he expected and now wants nothing more than to be a father. He goes to Nina and asks her if she would have his child for him with no strings attached. At first, Nina said no. She did not want to have anything to do with bearing a child and was afraid she would be tied down. After some convincing and thought, Nina changes her mind and goes for it. She told Joey that she would have his baby for him.
Nina would be leaving within a few months, so they did not have time to go the red tape of clinical insemination, they needed to create this baby the old fashioned way by sleeping together. That act dredges up strong feelings that Joey or Nina don't want to admit to themselves or each other.
The Nine Month Plan was a cute story but the biggest complaint I would have is that as you are reading a conversation, you also have to read about what they are really thinking, not just saying.
Rating:
Summary: Plot drags, is too repetitive
Review: Parts of this book are funny, but it drags amd drags, and gets annoyingly repetitive. Reads like a first draft. Needs an editor.
Rating:
Summary: Plot drags, is too repetitive
Review: Parts of this book are funny, but it drags amd drags, and gets annoyingly repetitive. Reads like a first draft. Needs an editor.
Rating:
Summary: Nine Month Plan
Review: The back cover gave me the impression the book would be a light read. Needless to say, I found it more serious than what I expected. I didn't care for Nina's 'incubator' mentality. I found myself consistenly disappointed in Nina. I was drawn more to Joe. I found Joe's character endearing. He showed her the patience of a saint throughout the entire book. It was obvious he was having difficulty treating her as an impartial party in the whole pregancy scheme even though it's what she wanted. Yet, sometimes I got the feeling Nina seemed to want something else. Love? 'Mommy' status? What was Joe, a mind reader? She made her plan pretty clear and being a 'mommy' wasn't part of the plan. I admit I kept reading, chapter after chapter, hoping Nina would come to her senses sooner than later. Even though the end of the story left me feeling good I wasn't feeling good about Nina's character up to that point.
Rating:
Summary: Just remember who the story is about!
Review: The following are some of the reasons I gave this book 4 stars. It probably deserves less but it was a really good book despite all of its flaws. I think that Wendy Markham is a great author and knows what she's doing. Obviously the cover art is very misleading about the nature of the book. This is a "heavy" read in which I shed some tears! So be prepared! Nina is kind of a pain in the ass. What woman would HONESTLY think about having sex with her best friend just so he can have a baby and then walk about from them both? I would maybe think of caring the child of a friend who's married but not for some single guy whose biological clock is ticking! One word: adoption! It is pointed out (several times) that Nina gave up her life to raise her siblings. It is also pointed out that the siblings have no clue exactly what Nina had to give up. OK...then why was it never brought out? I would have enjoyed it if maybe Joe had stood up for Nina to Nina's family during Thanksgiving while she was pregnant since she does EVERYTHING at their house and the pizza place! I just find it funny that the reason Nina didn't want to be tied down with kids was because she had already raised her siblings. Lets review shall we.... Dom - an ass with no respect and responsibility! While I was reading I kept rolling my eyes every time Dom never showed up to work at the pizza place! If that was my brother trust me I wouldn't be treated like that. The Sister - a spoiled brat that only thinks of herself! All she would ever talk about was her wedding! She was so rude to Nina and Nina just took like it was her due! (I can't remember her name.) The Other Brother - in Germany the whole time The Younger Brother - gets a girl pregnant in high school and then has his older sister adopt the baby to raise as her own! No wonder...I wouldn't want to raise another kid either if I'd done such a bad job!
BUT, thankfully the story isn't about the siblings it's about Nina and Joe and their struggle to be together. This is one of the few books I ever read that actually made my heart hurt. I'm sure everyone knows what I mean. You feel the characters emotions. And then at the end you just know that the story is complete and as they say...they lived happily ever after!!
Rating:
Summary: disappointed
Review: THE NINE MONTH PLAN by Wendy Markham
November 16, 2004
In THE NINE MONTH PLAN by Wendy Markham, two best friends decide to have a baby together, but have no plans in making a commitment to get married or even to raise the baby together.
Nina has been dreaming of the day that she could leave her family and friends to travel the world. All her life, she's had to take care of her father and her younger siblings after the death of her mother who died giving birth to youngest sibling Ralphie. Nina had no choice but to take care of them all, since her father was emotionally unable to care for them after he lost his wife, and the others were too young to fend for themselves. Nina is now in her mid-thirties, and is ready to have a baby before it is too late. On the other hand, she has no desire to get married or to be a real mother. She is tired of taking care of others, but she has this need to experience the process of having a baby.
Joe, her best friend, has wanted children for a very long time. He's almost made it to the altar twice, but so far he's batting 0 for 2. He won't let this deter him from having a baby, and he figures that a great way to have one is to have Nina be the mother of his child.
It takes some convincing, but she finally agrees. As long as the baby is born before she leaves town, she is up to it. She has Joe promise that he will take care of the baby without her, and that she is not going to be the mother of this child, except biologically. She wants nothing to do with the baby at all.
THE NINE MONTH PLAN was a disappointment for me. While it was funny in spots, and I was able to get into the characters in the book, especially Nina's various siblings, I had a hard time believing that Nina could even think that having Joe's baby without a marriage proposal looming over the horizon was a good idea. If Nina and Joe were merely strangers that had agreed to work out a surrogate baby deal, that is one thing. But Nina and Joe were best friends and had known each other all their lives. I just could not buy this idea, given the circumstances of their relationship as it stood. I give THE NINE MONTH PLAN 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Okay, but...
Review: There is one huge unbelievable factor. And it's what the entire books stems from: Nina's pregnancy. This couple knows next to nothing about pregnancy (eg: some of the very obvious questions they have for the doctor), yet somehow readers are suppose to believe that Nina knew she was ovulating on the exact day she agreed to have Joe's baby. Huh? Not only that, but she gives him one night (that night) to conceive. To top it off, she's 36-years-old! Hello??? Most twenty-somethings have trouble conceiving the first month, let alone from one night! I know this is fiction, but seriously, that one line "It has to be tonight" makes the rest of the book (well-written as it is) a little hard to swallow.
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