Rating: 
Summary: a little like the show Providence
Review: I think I would have enjoyed this first time author's book more if the main character, Shelby, had not been SO whiney, SO selfish and SO mean to her sister! She could have been negative but she was overboard annoying for me. The story reminded me of the show PROVIDENCE where the dead mother speaks from above. Shelby comes home because her father and stepmother have been hit by a car while out jogging. The scenario unfolds and it becomes providential that Shelby return to other reasons.
Rating: 
Summary: Highly entertaining
Review: I'm not even done yet and I cannot wait to find out what happens - you just know Shelby is going to find a heart. I recommend it. I LOVE the way she writes.
Rating: 
Summary: Amusing but no substance
Review: If shallowness could speak, this book would roar. Family dysfunction, selfishness, and intimate secrets have their literary places, but this book misses the boat. Full of preposterous coinicidences, underdeveloped characterers, and a foul-mouthed rather hopeless heroine, I would say a light beach read, but no more. The "lessons on life" were too trite to carry much weight. If looking for a view from heaven, check out Lovely Bones, but this one is very skippable.
Rating:
Summary: Makes you want to kick the dog
Review: If you are basically a nice person who does routinely trash your family and friends with derogatory remarks, I recommend that you not bother with this book. I can't remember the last time I read a book with a main character who is so rude and annoying that I don't even want to see her reformed by the end of the book. The basic premise is that Shelby, the main character, has led a miserable and unfulfilling life since her mom died when she was ten. Her mom decides to interfere from heaven by getting her father and her aunt (who is also her stepmother, in a soap-opera twist) into an accident, forcing Shelby to speak to her family again and make amends. Also, Shelby, at 38, is loveless, so thrown into the mix is the boy next door who moved away the week her mother died. Shelby says such awful things to everyone she meets, like her overweight sister Lauren, whom Shelby taunts with fat jokes at every possible opportunity while subtly reminding her that she's never had to work on being thin. And she's so obnoxious about it that I couldn't even love to hate her. Saralee Rosenberg also actually throws in lines like, "As she looked around the parking lot, it occurred to her that men were like parking spots. The good ones got snapped up right away, and the only ones left were disabled.", as if "Shelby" had thought up this very original line herself. I can't believe that a few reviewers thought this was like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and gave it five stars! I'm giving it two stars because the writing wasn't bad, if you overlook the cliches and kitschy sayings. Don't buy this book just because the cover is cute. The story isn't.
Rating: 
Summary: whimsical look at serious modern day women¿s issues
Review: In Long Island Lauren calls her older sister Shelby Lazarus, a Chicago Tribune reporter, that their parents were critically injured while jogging. Shelby, estranged from the family for two years, does not want to return home, but reluctantly does. In heaven the girls' mom had intervened with the estrangement by causing the crisis, but did not mean for her husband and his second wife (her sister) to be severely injured. Still, Shelby is coming home. Shelby notices that Aunt Roz (she cannot call her mom) has kept all her childhood awards and meets Lauren's second husband even as she wonders when her sister married. Lauren asks Shelby to come see their parents, but Shelby has never stepped inside a hospital since her mother died three decades ago. She learns that Lauren is a DES baby who cannot conceive a child when her sibling asks Shelby to become a surrogate mother. As other secrets are revealed that hurt everyone, even Shelby's mother realizes that her beloved family may need a higher level of heavenly intervention if they are to share a loving future together. A LITTLE HELP FROM ABOVE is a whimsical look at serious modern day women's issues. Shelby is an interesting character though she "kvetches" too much while the strong support cast deals with too many different crises so that none fully retain audience empathy. In her debut, Saralee Rosenberg shows plenty of talent with a plot that will leave her audience wanting similar tales (with less baggage) while wishing her mazel tov with her career. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Could be the next "My Big Fat Greek Wedding!"
Review: Saralee Rosenberg's character development and story line are so vivid that I would love to see Shelby and Lauren come to life on the big screen. Mothers, sisters, and daughters everywhere...if you're looking for a book that promises to make you smile and laugh out loud, this book is for you. But don't let its whimsical nature fool you. Ms Rosenberg's sharp and honest wit keeps you thinking about a mother's work and how it's never done.
Rating:
Summary: The *kayters* review
Review: Shelby Lazarus has it all - a great career as a columnist for the Chicago Trib, a wonderful condo on Lake Shore Drive and independence. She's never been married and has no children. Sure, she doesn't speak to her family, hasn't for two years, and the Great Love of her Life hasn't been heard from since they were both 10. Obviously, Shelby's a bit on the touchy side. So when her estranged sister Lauren calls early one morning to let Shelby know her father and step-mother/aunt (don't ask) have been run over by an errant landscaper and she must come home to Long Island immediately, needless to say she is less than thrilled. Things get worse before they get better in this bizarre tale of family, long-lost love and karma (yeah - Shelby's long-dead mother plays a major role from her perspective looking down on it all), but of course it all works out in the end. The first part of this novel seemed like it might have been edited by a different person than the rest of the novel. It's not very coherent and things seem to happen behind the reader's back leaving you re-reading sections a couple of times to make sure you got what happened. But once you get through the first part, it's smooth sailing. I was a bit put off by all the talk of karma and astrology and what-have-you, but if you can brush that aside, this is a cute read.
Rating:
Summary: If you like soap operas...
Review: then this book will be right up your alley. The book is mildly entertaining if you enjoy unrealistic plots. The main character is so unattractive it's hard to get into the book. The book is a fast read, but like I said before, there is so much drama that if that is not your thing, pass this one up.
Rating:
Summary: good book...
Review: this book is really really good. at first it seems like it may not be that fantastic but once you get through the first 50 pages the book flows and you cant put it down! if you enjoy good books that you can just pick up and read this is a good one for you!
Rating:
Summary: Sweet, funny, satisfying
Review: This book was one of the best books I had read in a long time. Yes, the main character is highly self-indulgent, but that's pretty much where the annoyances end. It moves along nicely, there are so many different stories to be told it keeps you interested in a 'can't put it down' kind of way. My only complaint is that the ending is a little too neatly wrapped.
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