SEVEN YEAR SWITCH by Claire Cook (2010)

This confection of a novel is perfect fodder for a screen adaptation by Nancy Meyers (think It's Complicated for the 40-something set) with leads played by Ethan Hawke, Jennifer Garner, Gwyneth Paltrow and Greg Kinnear.

At the outset Jill Murray has finally discovered how to manage raising her 10-yr-old daughter Anastasia on her own, while her ex-husband gallivants in Africa nurturing his social conscience but ignoring his family responsibilities. Jill teaches cross-cultural cooking classes at the local community centre where her senior clients show their weekly appreciation for her talents and she freelances as a consultant for Great Girlfriend Getaways, a travel company that caters exclusively to women.

When Jill meets a potential independent client named Billy Sanders who plans to hire her to help finesse a business opportunity in Japan, she discovers that she just might have more than professional feelings for him. And, those feelings become complicated when her ex-husband Seth decides to breeze back into her life, arriving with fresh flowers and take-out Thai to smooth the way.

Jill's boss convinces her to do something finally for herself and it is on this Costa Rican Great Girlfriends Getaway excursion that Jill figures out how she'll move forward with Billy and Seth.

As we head into the final week of summer, it seems to me that reading Claire Cook is a perfect way to lighten your heart as you find yourself cheering for her always-plucky protagonists.