More:
Melanie Jesko does her best, but it never seems to quite be enough. It's possible her "best" is limited by her habits and her low opinion of herself, but she's never taken that into consideration. She married her husband, a high school crush, shortly after getting pregnant with Annie, and when her husband left her after thirteen years, she fell into a spiral of confusion, depression and desperate dating that she hasn't yet managed to climb out of. She recently drained the last drop of good will from her employer.

Sample:
The sound of the door clicking shut took the last of the wind from her already-flagging sails, and she slumped onto a stool, staring vacantly at the classifieds for another moment before reaching for her cereal.

It wasn't as if she'd actually expected anything out of Roger. Of all the men she'd dated, he was probably the least reliable -- and possibly the most charming, initially.

She chewed silently for a moment, the last of the crunch gone from the soggy flakes, and glanced at the rest of the meal Annie had put out for her. She must have slept in a little, herself. The bacon was conspicuously absent.

A low sigh slipped from her throat, and she turned to rest her forehead against the heel of her hand. It had been two weeks, but at least Annie hadn't figured it out yet. Or if she had, she was being especially polite about it.

Right.

She definitely didn't know.

Her gaze drifted to the paper again.

File clerk. Well, she was sure she knew how to alphabetize, but the pay was a little less than she was accustomed to ... not that she could afford to be choosy. She pushed away from the counter to retrieve a red grease pencil from the fridge. They used it to mark important days on the calendar.

She tapped it against the newsprint for a moment, then circled the clerk job. Maybe if she stretched things, they could still afford payment on the house.

Secretary. Another circle. She'd actually done that for a while -- even if it had been several years. Live-in nurse. No. Nurse practitioner. She didn't have the qualifications for that. Contractor. Did they actually hire women for that kind of work?

She closed her eyes.

There were grocery stores in the area. Restaurants. Even a department store or two. There had to be something.

Her gaze fell across her breakfast as she opened her eyes again. They might lose the house. Her hand started to shake, but she only gripped the pencil a little harder and forced her eyes back to the newspaper. There were worse things.

She sucked in a deep, angry breath and reached for the phone.