What Came First by Carol Snow
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Release Date: 4th October 2011
Rating: 4/5
Source: Publisher, thank you!
Publishers Summary:

First comes love, then comes marriage, then . . . things can get a little complicated.

Vanessa wants just one thing for her twenty-ninth birthday: an engagement ring from her longtime boyfriend, Eric. But when the ring turns out to be a mix CD and Eric turns out to be a guy who doesn’t want to get married or have children, Vanessa considers a new path to having a family.

When Wendy and her husband, Darren, couldn’t have children the old- fashioned way, a sperm donor seemed like the perfect solution. She never imagined she’d have out-of-control twins who’d drive her to cookie binges and scrapbooking while Darren escaped into the virtual world of computer games.

Single and career-driven, Laura didn’t need a man to have a baby - at least not one that she ever met. Thanks to an anonymous donor, she shares her life with her adored eight-year-old son, Ian. She’ll do anything for Ian - even fill their backyard with a bunch of noisy chickens. But the one thing Ian really wants is something Laura’s never been able to give him: a sibling.

Now, to grant Ian’s wish, Laura starts a search that will not only change her life but Vanessa’s and Wendy’s as well…

Three women and one goal…children. Unfortunately for Laura, Vanessa and Wendy life isn’t always simple and getting pregnant doesn’t always happen the way you’d imagine. One single with a successful career, another in a relationship that’s going nowhere and the last in a marriage that’s lost it’s flame but each has a dream of a family filled with children and love. On their paths each discovers that they might be more connected than they ever thought possible to complete strangers who may one day be classified as “family”.

Carol Snow definitely knows how to tell a compelling and entertaining story! What Came First was such an original concept that I could help but be sucked in. The only bad thing about it being so original is that I don’t want to give away too much and ruin the story for everyone. Two of the three, Laura and Wendy, had to have a sperm donor to get pregnant and then Vanessa had a boyfriend who didn’t want to get married or have children. Lets just say I wasn’t completely shocked by how these three women were connected, but the way Snow got there was what intrigued me.

As for the actual characters, I really enjoyed all of them except for the Vanessa-Eric relationship, but I’ll get to that. Laura and her son Ian, who she conceived by using a sperm donor, only want a sibling for him but need to track down their original donor. Wendy and her husband Darren having two completely annoying little terrors they conceived by using a sperm donor as well. Though Laura and Wendy were on completely different ends of the spectrum, one a lawyer the other a stay at home mom, they still connected through their shared struggles and made it an interesting dynamic. As for Vanessa, I really wanted to scream at her throughout most of the book. Who stays with a guy who is so aloof and floundering? He flat out does not want children and yet though she wants them desperately she still stays with him. To be honest, all of the characters at one point or another really drove me crazy with their choices but discovering how they would end up and the way they were connected was too much of a pull to not love the story.

From infertility to the lack of a willing partner What Came First by Carol Snow covers nearly every aspect facing women wanting children today. Told from the viewpoints of three very different women you get a look into these situations first hand and discover things aren’t always as simple as they seem from the outside. With the exception of an annoying character trait or two (but who among us doesn’t have one of those?) I loved everything about What Came First. This was an original story that shows life isn’t as easy as it seems, but however you travel on your journey things seem to have a way of working themselves out.

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