Review: One Pink Line

One Pink Line by Dina Silver
Release Date: October 20, 2011
Purchase @ Amazon

Can the love of a lifetime be forever changed by one pink line? Dina Silver's tender, absorbing novel, One Pink Line, is a warmhearted, wry story of love, loss and family, as seen through the prism of one singular, spirited young couple who find themselves in a predicament that changes the course of their lives, and those closest to them. With heart, humor and compassion, this debut work of women's fiction is certain to stir anyone who relishes a good laugh, can stand a good cry, and, above all believes in the redemptive power of love.

This unique, contemporary story gives readers a dual perspective. Sydney Shephard, a sweet-tempered, strong-natured college senior is young, in love with an exceptional man, and unexpectedly pregnant. Faced with a child she never planned for, she is forced to relay this news to her neurotic mother, relinquish her youth, and risk losing the love of her life. Then there's Grace, a daughter, who believed she was a product of this great love, grows to realize her existence is not what she assumed, and is left with profound and puzzling questions about who she really is.

Spanning generations and every imaginable emotion, One Pink Line reveals how two points of view can be dramatically at odds, and perhaps ultimately reconciled. Simultaneously deeply felt and lighthearted, One Pink Line deftly mines how the choices we make are able to alter so many lives, and how doing the right thing and living honestly can bring unexpected, hard-won happiness. It's a must-read for anyone who craves a great love story, absorbing characters, and plenty of laughs along the way.

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Going into this book I can’t say my attitude wasn’t a little judgmental. Once you’ve read one book about an unexpected pregnancy you’ve pretty much read them all right? Wrong. I was pleasantly surprised when One Pink Line took a completely unique take on unexpected pregnancy and not only did I finish the book in a few hours, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.

The main character of the book, Sydney Shephard, was marginally popular in high school, had a rich and popular best friend and a neurotic Mother who made it clear in no uncertain terms that Kendra, Sydney’s older sister, was her favorite child. One Pink Line starts off with Sydney finding out she’s pregnant and you can’t help, but feel for her especially when you find out that the baby in question is not her boyfriend’s.

Speaking of boyfriends, Ethan, let me take a minute to tell you how much I love this character that Dana Silver created. There was not a second throughout this book that I could not feel Ethan’s love for Sydney. Even though they had gone to high school together they didn’t really meet until Sydney’s best friend Taylor’s graduation party during a game of spin the bottle. Yes I know high school seniors don’t typically play that anymore, but ignore the cliché and keep reading.



There was an instant connection between Sydney and Ethan and while there isn’t too much detail between chapters there is enough to get across what this budding romance is becoming to both of them. Ethan is the kind of guy you want to bring home to your Mother. He’s got an amazing sense of humor; he’s bright, handsome, polite and completely inappropriate when it counts. His love for Sydney literally took my breath away.

The first time they had to leave each other to head off to their respective colleges after spending their first summer together and falling in love, tore at my heart strings. The fact that they stayed so close and so in love over the course of four years of college, only to have it ruined by one mistake, and when I say mistake I’m referring to the one night stand, not Sydney’s daughter Grace, was just heart wrenching.

One of the things I love about Silver’s characters in One Pink Line is that they aren’t perfect and the situations are portrayed in a realistic manner. Being in a long distance relationship with someone is bound to take it’s toll on you no matter how much you love that person. It would be ridiculous to think you don’t grow and change as a person over the years and the fact that Ethan and Sydney had trouble and some emotional distance between them is all kinds of realistic.

When she told Ethan about the baby he wasn’t happy, but he didn’t cut her off completely because they still had that connection and even though they were both hurting, Ethan because the love of his life cheated on him and Sydney because she had made the biggest mistake by hurting Ethan, they were still there for each other when it counted.

I like how Silver portrayed Sydney’s baby daddy, I honestly don’t remember what his name was, I think it was Kevin, but who cares. He was an idiot, but alas his response is often what some women hear when in this situation. While I want to do nothing more than gush about how amazing Ethan is, he was not the only thing I loved about this book.

Throughout the chapters as Silver switches between Sydney’s point of view and her daughter Grace’s point of view we see growth between family and friends. We read as Sydney has to put aside her youth and become a responsible adult to take care of her daughter. We see the bond between Sydney and her Mother grow as well as her relationship with the other characters in the book.

The theme here isn’t just about romantic love, but familial love as well. I can’t tell you how many times I teared up while reading this; then again apparently I cry at commercials these days so who knows. But Sydney’s Mother was there to help her for the first few weeks and you could tell she was proud of her for the decisions she had made. Choosing to raise her daughter wasn’t easy, but she never once regretted it. Plus she had Ethan there when he was in town and not working, which of course grew more frequent as time went on because he’s wonderful. [Swoons]

Another aspect of One Pink Line that I thought was incredibly distinctive was seeing things from Grace’s perspective. When she found out Ethan wasn’t her biological Father I just wanted to reach into the book and hug her. She was so distraught and seeing what she was thinking and feeling was a great addition to the book.

Not many author’s go into that aspect of things, but Silver lets us see the confusion and anger going through Grace and the struggle that knowing this information has put on her. I loved seeing these snapshots into the important parts of Sydney and Grace’s lives and when Ethan proposed in the end I’m pretty sure I let out a very undignified, girly squeal at that point. I give Sliver major props for taking what could have been a very boring story and spicing it up so it would appeal to a contemporary audience. I swear this book made me fall in love with love again and if you know me personally you would know that’s not easy to do.

Overall this was a heartfelt and warming story and definitely something you should read if you have the time and inclination.