I went on a major glom of Kayla Perrin’s books several years ago and enjoyed many of them. I expected to like Single Mama’s Got More Drama. I hated it.

This is a follow-up to an earlier book, featuring Vanessa Cain. It does not work as a stand-alone since the first few chapters left me completely confused. Perhaps they would have made more sense if I’d read the first book, but I disliked the heroine and her family so much I have no desire to do so.

It’s hard for me to summarize the plot, as there isn’t much of one. Vanessa spends this book dealing with the repercussions of events that apparently happened in the first one. She reels from one catastrophe to the next.

There is no real “hero.” At some point before the start of this book, Vanessa had a hot relationship with Lewis, discovered he was cheating on her, then dumped him. She later became engaged to another man who was murdered while cheating on Vanessa (again, happened before this book begins). She almost immediately fell in love with Chaz (again, before this book began), but lied to him, and he dumped her. It turns out the second lover was married, and his wife is attempting to evict Vanessa from the condo in which she and her young daughter live. Vanessa gets engaged to Lewis, because he is rich. She manages to convince Lewis to wait for sex until they are married. The entire time Vanessa is engaged, she longs to be with Chaz.

As if the drama with the three men isn’t enough, the author throws in every catastrophe she could think of into Vanessa’s life and those of her friends and co-workers. Her daughter’s father – a gambling addict who stole from Vanessa – appears and makes numerous threats to get joint custody. Her daughter breaks her elbow, and the doctor assumes Vanessa abused her. Her married boss is having an affair and demands that Vanessa arrange for the lover to travel with her on business. Her sister, who caught her husband cheating on her, decides to have an over-the-top reaffirmation of her wedding vows in Thailand and expects all her family and friends to attend. These are just the tip of the drama Vanessa faces.

There is no HEA for the Vanessa. In fact, the last chapter leaves us with Vanessa dealing with yet another crisis. I assume this indicates the series will continue. I won’t be following it.

There aren’t any redeeming characters in this book, with the possible exception of Vanessa’s young daughter. Perhaps if you’ve read the first book you will like Single Mama’s Got More Drama more than I did. With its confusing beginning and incomplete ending, the book simply didn’t work for me on any level. It’s a train wreck.