"I'm Jackie Laurens and eighteen months ago if you looked at my life on paper, you'd think it was fabulous: gorgeous husband, Daniel, eleven years married, two kids, big house. The not-so-good part? I discovered Daniel's affair at the worst possible time."

Flirting With Forty

Playful and smart, a coming-of-middle age story of a woman not ready to give up on love and life.

He got the second home and the Porsche. She got the kids and a broken heart. Now Jackie, post-divorce and heading toward the big four-oh, is on vacation, staring down her upcoming birthday in sunny Hawaii—alone. But not for long. She's soon falling for Kai, her gorgeous, much younger surf instructor, and the wild passionate fling they have becomes the biggest surprise of Jackie's life.

Returning home, Jackie has to struggle with single parenthood...and memories of Kai.   He hasn't forgotten her either. With her friends disapproving and thousands of ocean --not to mention an age difference--separating them, Jackie starts to wonder what she got herself into. When a choice must be made, can she, will she risk everything for her chance at happiness?

Mass Market Paperback:
» IndieBound
» Amazon.com
» Barnes+Noble
» Amazon.co.uk

Trade Paperback:
» IndieBound
» Amazon.com
» Barnes+Noble
» Amazon.co.uk

E-Book editions:
» Kindle edition from Amazon.com
» eBook from Books on Board

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Also, see what readers and fellow authors have to say.

» "This book was one of the best books I have read in the last year! ... I love Jane's writing style and will be sure to read her other books. I really recommend this book and think it is an easy read with some depth and situations that most women can relate to."

~ The Book Czar
Read the whole review.
(posted December 2008)

» "Flirting with Forty is a book about a woman who finally realizes who she want to become and goes after it. As you read you’ll learn about yourself and think about your goals and whether you’ve chosen the right path to make you happy."

~ Gabrielle Pantera, Hollywood Today
awarding Flirting with Forty a 4-star review
Read the book review and the movie review.
(posted December 2008)

» "This book is a coming of age book for the forty- or fifty- or sixty- year olds. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not only was it entertaining, it was affirming and real — or as real as it could be if you were in these circumstances. While it is chick lit, it is not typical. It has more thought in it, as well as being life encouraging and affirming for those of us who could use some."

~ Karin, Savvy Thinker
Read the whole review.
(posted August 2008)

» "Ms. Porter has a wonderful flair for showing how turning forty can hit hard, especially if recently divorced and feeling inadequate about oneself. The gift of true friendship, the love a mother has for her children, and the passion of a love affair are tastefully and wonderfully depicted. This is a must read offering joy, heartache, passion, angst and a delightful and surprising ending."

~ Nancy Lepri, Reader To Reader Reviews
Read the whole review.
(posted June 2008)

» "Jane Porter has written a powerhouse of a novel with this her second foray into chick lit. Jackie is a character that will resonate with readers long after the end of this great tale. Many women will see themselves in her and her struggle to become all that she wants to be in life, and mothers, single and otherwise, will see their daily lives reflected in hers. By turns funny, thrilling and poignant, this tale is always compelling and ultimately empowering.  ...readers will rejoice with Jackie as she finds triumph and fulfillment. This reviewer certainly did!  Highly recommended!"

~ Leah, Senior Reviewer for Love Romances & More
Read the whole review.
(posted September 2006)

» "Flirting With Forty is the perfect example that chicklit does not have to be restricted to a certain age public. Women of all ages will find this book appealing and will laugh and understand what Jackie is going through. Being forty does not mean there is no room for romance or comedy anymore! ...Refreshing, playful and witty."

~ Eveline Soors, Euro-Reviews
Read the whole review.
(posted September 2006)

» "This is an interesting coming-of-age story... true-to-life dialogue and... true-to-life feelings."

~ Romantic Times BOOKreviews
Read the whole review in the July issue.
(posted July 2006)

» "Jackie's journey is one that touched me and made me remember that there is more to life than routine and the daily struggle of life -- there is laughter, and love, and hope for more. If you are a voracious reader or only read one book a year, I highly recommend Flirting With Forty; it is an outstanding novel and an RRT Perfect 10."

~ Terrie Figueroa, Romance Reviews Today awarding
Flirting With Forty a PERFECT 10!
Read the whole review.
(posted June 2006)

» "Forty' will knock your socks off.”

“Each and every page of this remarkable novel shows tremendous insight into the female psyche and also reveals one huge writing talent. Flirting With Forty may well become the anthem of the Baby Boomer generation. It's fun, it's serious, it speaks to the part of us that never wants to grow old."

~ Helen Holzer, Book Beat
Read the whole review in the July/August issue of
Book Beat
Read the whole review.
(posted June 2006)

» "Porter's thoughtful prose and strong characters make for an entertaining and thought-provoking summer read. Strongly recommended."

~ Library Journal awarding Flirting With Forty a
STARRED review
(posted June 2006)

» "...this book fits the bill as a calorie-free accompaniment for a poolside daiquiri."

~ Publishers Weekly
(posted June 2006)

» "Flirting with Forty is a must read for all women whether single or in a relationship as one learns though the main character’s journey to “be all that you can be”. It’s a story so profound it will have you laughing and crying at the same time. It’s a story of dreams, hope and learning to be comfortable with one’s self."

~ Marilyn Shoemaker, Reader To Reader Reviews
Read the whole review.
(posted June 2006)

» "If you're looking for a story with sultry sunsets, sexy characters and smart dialogue, don't miss Jane Porter's Flirting with Forty.  It's a 'must-have' for your beach bag this summer ~ simply delightful.  Don't miss it!”

~ Leena Hyat, Senior Editor, The Best Reviews
(posted February 2006)

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» "I picked up FORTY and I was up until 3:14 a.m. reading it. I could not put
it down."  

~ Dee Buckingham,
Harlequin Presents author
(posted August 2006)

» "I loved every word. I laughed. I cried. I couldn't put it down. "  

~ Susan Stephens,
Harlequin Presents author
(posted July 2006)

» "What a great surprising ending. Hope it becomes a movie."

~ Shonna, reader
(posted July 2006)

» "I found Jackie's experience to be devastatingly accurate and painful and funny and moving, sometimes simultaneously and sometimes in such quick succession that I simply reeled... I believed in Jackie -- in her insecurities and her worries and her tiny toehold on self-confidence, a toehold that grows into a solid staircase which she will ascend as she becomes her own woman."

~ Anne McAllister, author, on her blog.
~ Read the entire post
(posted June 2006)

» "I could not put down Flirting with Forty. Its is sooooooooooo great. I loved it loved it loved it! I was just dying to get to the ending."  

~ Jamette, reader
(posted May 2006)

» "Flirting with Forty is a terrific read! A wonderful, life-and-love affirming story for women of all ages."

» Jane on New Day Northwest! Watch the interview in which Jane is a guest on New Day Northwest, where she dishes about Flirting With Forty and She's Gone Country. (posted September 8, 2010) » Featured Author! The Novel Blog interviewed Jane as their September Featured Author. Read the online interview here, in which Jane talks about how her own life parallels Flirting with Forty. (posted August 31, 2010) » Interview with HerExchange. Jane shares with HerExchange how her own life experiences shaped Flirting with Forty. Read the interview online! (posted August 31, 2010) » An Interview with Jane. Jane talks about Flirting with Forty on Montana This Morning. Click the thumbnail to view the video! (posted May 5, 2010) » Winner! Flirting with Forty won the award as the "Best Contemporary Novel of 2006" for Romance Reviews Today. (posted April 2, 2007) » Finalist! Flirting with Forty finaled in the Colorado Romance Writers' Award of Excellence contest. The winner will be announced in May. (posted March 13, 2006) » Top Ten in Australia! Flirting With Forty ranked in the Top Ten Romance Books sold in Queensland! (posted November 30, 2006) » Hot Off the Presses for the Seventh Time! Flirting With Forty has gone back for its seventh reprinting since the book was released July 12th! (posted September 6, 2006) » Barnes & Noble Bestseller! Flirting With Forty danced in the top 60 of Barnes & Noble's Bestseller list, peaking at #45! (posted July 21, 2006) » Bestseller! Flirting With Forty is currently at #12 of bestselling Romance at Amazon.com hits #45 at BookScan! (posted July 20, 2006) » Featured "Great Summer Read"! Flirting With Forty is featured in RCI’s Endless Vacation Magazine as one of the "Four Great Summer Reads" listed their July 2006 issue. (posted June 30, 2006) » Hot Summer Read! That's what Redbook Magazine has named Flirting With Forty in their June issue. They've excerpted it in their June and July issues and look for another excerpt their August issue. (posted May 30, 2006) » TELEVISION APPEARANCE! Jane was featured on Evening Magazine in a Hawaii segment airing during the Winter Olympics on February 23rd. Evening Magazine is a Pacific Northwest program on Channel 5 in Seattle. (posted February 14, 2006)

» Flirting Goes to Australia! Flirting With Forty will premiere for the first time in Australia on Foxtel TV at 8:30pm on Christmas Day! See the television guide listing and advertisement below. (Pop-up windows will appear.) Get the details on the here! (posted December 2010) » Flirting Makes Netflix Top Ten! Flirting With Forty made the Top Ten Netflix rentals. Rent it at Netflix today! (posted August 2009) » Now on DVD! Flirting With Forty is now available on DVD at Amazon.com. Order it online today! (posted May 2009) » Available for Rent! Flirting With Forty is now available for rent at Hollywood Video. (posted May 2009) » Flirting With Forty on MySpace! Flirting With Forty is now on Myspace, in addition to Facebook. Click over and become a fan! (posted April 2009) » Mark your Calendars! Flirting With Forty will enjoy a special Valentine's Day airing on Lifetime TV on February 14 at 7pm ET/PT. (posted February 2009) » Jane and Flirting With Forty are featured in the Seattle Women & Business Examiner. Read the article online. (posted February 2009) » Flirting With Forty can now be seen in its entirety on the Lifetime site. For anyone who missed the movie premiere or couldn't get enough the first time, be sure to check it out! (posted January 2009) » Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch Blog claims, "Flirting With Forty is my new favorite Lifetime movie!" Read all about it on the blog. (posted December 2008) » The Lifetime network flirted with over four million viewers Saturday as those viewers tuned in to watch the Lifetime Original Movie "Flirting with Forty." Celebrity News Service has learned that the high ratings for "Flirting with Forty" gives Lifetime Television the year's four most-watched original basic cable movies among W25-54 and W18+. "Flirting with Forty," joins "The Memory Keeper's Daughter", "Coco Chanel", and "The Two Mr. Kissels" as Lifetime's most-watched 2008 movies. (posted December 2008) » Flirting With Forty is featured as the cover story of the New York VUE. Check out the cover and read the article by clicking on the thumbnails. (Pop-up windows will appear.) (posted December 2008) » Seattle P-I interviews Jane as she shares about how her own life imitates art in novel and in the Flirting With Forty movie. Read the article online. (posted December 2008) » Take a sneak peek at the Flirting With Forty movie: watch the trailer online at Lifetime! (posted November 2008) » Click over to the Flirting with Forty movie page at the Lifetime website to read interviews and get a look behind the scenes of the film. (posted November 2008) » Read an essay by Jane about her experience being on the movie set. (posted November 2008) » Become a fan of the Flirting with Forty film on its Facebook page. (posted October 2008) » Jane is featured in the July 2008 issue of MORE Magazine, where she shares about her "First after 40" and dishes about both the Flirting With Forty book and movie. (A pop-up window will appear.) (posted June 2008) » Check out the fun photos of Jane on the movie set with the cast, as well as snapshots of Jane and her friends as extras! (posted May 2008) » Above: Jane with Heather Locklear on the set of Flirting with Forty. Click over to the blog to read about all the fun on set! (posted May 2008) » A photo of Heather Locklear during the filming of Flirting With Forty is posted on E!Online. (posted May 2008) » People.com features a photo of Heather Locklear during a shoot of the film. (posted April 2008) » Jane shares her thoughts on the film's casting with Romantic Times in its May 2008 issue. Click the thumbnail at right to read the article. (A pop-up window will appear.) (posted March 2008) » Hollywood bombshell Heather Locklear has been cast as Jackie in the Lifetime original movie of Flirting with Forty set to premiere December 2008. Read a couple of news articles (Reuters and The Honolulu Advertiser) and check out Jane’s blog for her take on this exciting announcement. (posted February 6, 2008, updated March 4, 2008)

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German Edition

I turn away, push wet bangs off my forehead as the hood on my coat doesn't quite cover my face. I'm cold, tired, wet and grouchy and would give almost anything right now for a tall, non-fat, sugar-free vanilla latte. Or just a plain old cup of coffee would do.

"William. Jessica," I call, trying to inject some enthusiasm into my voice. "Come and help me find a six foot tree."

Jessica comes skipping out of the drippy pine tree forest, her lavender sweatshirt soaked, her long blonde hair matted.

"Where's your coat, Jessica?"

She stops, gazes back, around, blue eyes wide. "I don't know."

"Honey, go get it."

"I'm hot."

"Jess, it's raining."

"I'm hot."

I will say this for children born in the Pacific Northwest, they're not wimps. Fog and rain don't slow them down any. "It's forty degrees, Jess. Get your coat on or we go." I warm to the threat. I like this threat. I'd love to go home right now. "If you can't cooperate then we're heading home."

William, my nine year old, has heard this last part and he comes stumbling out of the trees in protest. "But you said, Mom, you said--"

"I know what I said, but I'm not going to fight with you or your sister, not today. Getting the Christmas tree is supposed to be special. I want this to be fun, not a hassle." Right.

And there are times (like now) when I wonder where I got all this parent-speak from. Is it something inherited? Something transmitted in the XY chromosome? Because sometimes (like now) my mouth moves and words come out and I hear my voice, and the tone, and I am a nag. A mother.

William turns to his sister who is conveniently three and a half years younger and continues to live up to her status as the baby in the family. "Knock it off, Jess," he hisses. "Get your coat and do what Mom says or we'll go home and we won't have a Christmas tree and there won't be any presents and Santa won't come and it'll be all your fault."

Jessica gets her coat.

I look at William, my handsome first born who is thicker around the middle then he used to be, putting on size where I didn't know size would go, and silently congratulate him on getting the job done. These days I'll take all the help I can get.

Reaching up I wipe my face dry again and think of the two umbrellas in my car that have been there for two years and never used. Odd to live in a place that rains so much and yet never use an umbrella. It's just that most of us who live here don't pull out umbrellas for something as insignificant as showers. We're well...tough...tougher.

Or maybe just stupid. Stupider.

I feel stupider right now, walking through wet mushy soil to stare at staked trees. We're the only ones at the lot. Yes, it is a Monday at four in the afternoon, but surely there must be other parents who promised their kids they'd buy a tree today if they were good.

If they were good, and glancing at my two, I see Jessica take a swing at William. Jessica with her blonde hair and blue eyes and great dimples at her mouth may look like an angel but is the devil incarnate. She's hell on wheels and I wish I could blame it all on Daniel, but word has it I was difficult at five, too.

And six. Seven. Eight. But whose counting?

Certainly not me because I just want to go home.

"How about this one?" I say, pointing to a relatively attractive fir that's in the five to six foot tall range.

Both Jessica and William shake their heads. "It's short," Jessica says.

"It's ugly," William adds, moving his hand in one of the tree's huge holey-pockets. "There's nothing here. How will you hang ornaments if there's nothing to hang them on?"

He has a good point but I've seen the price tag. The tree is sixty-five dollars, twenty less than the better groomed brothers in the seven foot row. "We can put something special there," I say.

"Like what? A piñata?"

He's getting funny in his old age. I can only imagine the excitement of adolescence. "It's not perfect, but it's a nice tree."

He hrmphs me, much like his father used to do, and then finds the tree we end up buying. While Jessica splashes in puddles in her best shoes (why didn't I see she was wearing her best shoes earlier?) and then cries the whole way home that she's cold.

The good news is we have a tree tied to our roof and we're in our car heading home.

The bad news is that it's only step one. Swiftly I review the other steps--

Step one: buy tree & tie on car

Step two: drive home without losing tree

Step three: get tree off car

Step four: get tree in house in stand

We're home soon--I like step two, I feel really good about step two and congratulate myself for a job well done and now it's time for three.

End of Excerpt.
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