Mixed Blessings A Novel

After the wedding of Diana Goode and Andrew Douglas, Diana teases that theywill make a baby on their honeymoon. But long afterward, she is still notpregnant. As Diana and Andrew wait out each month only to be bitterlydisappointed, they are forced to question just how much they are willing to gothrough to have a baby.

Charlie Winwood dreams of a house filled with children. His bride, party-girlactress Barbie Mason, has other ideas. When he discovers he is sterile, Charlie has to rethink his deepest values -- and his marriage to a woman whoshares none of his dreams.

After ten years of living together, Pilar Graham, a prominent Santa Barbaraattorney, marries Judge Brad Coleman, who is nineteen years her senior andfather of two grown children. They are happy with their comfortable lifetogether, à deux, until Pilar begins to wonder if she will somedayregret not having a baby with Brad. Are they crazy to begin now -- with Bradabout to become a grandfather and Pilar with a busy career, and in her earlyforties, possibly putting herself at risk?

Through the lives of these couples, Danielle Steel shows us the mixed blessingswe face as we build our families and live our modern lives. She touches uswith the triumphant people who prevail, their victories, their defeats, theirtragedies and joys, their compromises, their lives.