Better Than None

“The conversational style that Olivia Jake uses in her book Better Than None will surely make this a fan favorite. It gives readers the feeling of sitting across the table from their best friend and sharing some of their most intimate thoughts. I particularly enjoy the wry wit that offers I-totally-get-what-you're-saying moments that are nestled in between the more dramatic events. While this book shows extremely emotional losses, it also gives readers hope of being able to get through whatever comes their way. Jake has an uncanny ability to touch on all of the senses and take emotions from one extreme to the other — from sobbing to laughing and everything in between.”

Judge, 2nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards


“Is half a loaf better than none?” From an early age, Stephanie Lawson knew the answer to her mother Barbara’s rhetorical relationship question. As close as they were, Steph never wanted to be like Barb when it came to men: someone so desperate that she routinely settled for crumbs. So Steph built walls long before she truly understood why and thought she was protecting herself by using sex as a weapon. But by 37, she realized that her own self-destructive behavior wasn’t protecting her at all. All it did was prevent her from ever getting close to anyone.

Ready to remake herself with a new job, the challenge isn’t the work, but rather creating her new identity and trying to be the person she wants to be. Unlearning everything she ever knew is difficult, but it doesn’t compare to the news that her mother and best friend has cancer.

The diagnosis creates a new reality for both Steph and Barb. Their quality time goes from shopping and errands to a gut-wrenching maze of procedures, hospitalizations and suffering. Like with anything else, they tackle it the only way they know how: together.

The disease not only gives Steph perspective, it also introduces her to her mother’s prick of an oncologist, Dr. Brad Rosenberg. Perhaps because she recognizes a broken soul when she sees one, Steph begins to slowly let Brad in. Their budding relationship isn’t without hurdles, but dealing with Barb’s illness accelerates the changes in Steph’s own life. If only it didn’t take losing her mother to start finding herself.