A Is for Amy
Steven Crandell
Quinn, Rose, Elliot & Ellery (2026)
ISBN: 978-0978935832
Reviewed by Rachel Jitsawat for Reader Views (05/2026)
Amy is a 26-year-old mother of three kids under five. And she’s newly widowed, but she was exhausted well before her husband passed. Going through the motions of motherhood in survival mode, she yearns to be seen as a woman by a man, not just as a milk machine to her youngest.
Nursing a crush on the exotic man who delivers her food, Amy has to battle with the desire to “go for it” against her instinct to just “let it be” and focus on only her kids. With a friend who believes her only job in life is to guide Amy through her struggles, a mother who never listens, and her late husband’s previous coworkers trying to buy her house against her will, Amy looks to Oprah and the Dalai Lama to guide her through a transformation from overworked, widowed, single mother to a loving mother of both her children and herself.
A cleverly designed book, A Is for Amy by Steven Crandell, looks like a children’s book from the outside, with primary colors, children’s drawings, alphabet words, and a picture-book-sized cut. Inside, it’s a romance novella, with chapters listed from A to Z instead of 1-26. This is a book made with parents of young children in mind, providing an opportunity to fit a little romance in their day without anyone on the outside judging their book by the cover.
Steven Crandell constructs a quick and funny story, with Amy’s children creating just the right amount of chaos for parents to relate and laugh along with (like flinging diapers into the driveway), and enough discomfort and longing for moms to relate to Amy (like how expensive new underwear is and referring to the years before children as “BC”).
A fun read, Crandell crafts Amy’s story with both humor and insight, with quippy one-liners for readers to carry with them throughout their day or to which to return: “…what you believe alters what you experience…” Amy must discover if she believes she has the audacity to go for it, or if she only has the audacity to dwell on desire.
A Is for Amy is a great choice for parents in need of a quick, fun read and a spark of romance to glitter up their day, all while still sitting in the living room with the kids.
[AT A GLANCE] A contemporary romance novella aimed at parents of young children, featuring a 26-year-old widowed mother of three navigating exhaustion, grief, and a new crush. Packaged to look exactly like a children’s book, with alphabet chapters, primary colors, and picture-book dimensions. Lighthearted, funny, and warm throughout.
[BEST FOR READERS WHO ENJOY] Contemporary romance, lighthearted romance, single-parent romance, widowed protagonist, women’s fiction, books about motherhood, humor and heart, fast reads, novellas, books for busy parents, romance with relatable everyday life