Notes From The Underbelly

Book excerpt: As a guidance counselor at an elite, Bel Air high school, Lara Stone works with spoiled, bratty kids every day, and she is definitely not ready to have any spoiled, bratty kids of her own. At least, not now. Not when her life is going so well, and certainly not since she has finally managed to kick-box and low-carb herself down to a perfect size four. But Lara’s husband has different ideas, and they include fatherhood. Now. Suddenly, Lara finds herself deep within the underbelly of pregnancy. A far cry from the blissful, glowing mother-to-be, Lara is instead a cranky, reluctant participant in all things baby. And her mood doesn’t improve when she’s given the task of getting one of her students—the punk, outcast daughter of a famous movie director—into a highly competitive college. But as Lara struggles with uncontrollable crying, inexplicable weight gain, and scary hemorrhoids, she finds that she has maternal instincts she never thought she had, and discovers that expecting is nothing like she ever expected.