by Susan Mallery

A Romance, 2024 by Canary Street Press, 416 Pages 

What I Didn’t Like:

• It takes a bit to keep everyone straight. I think it’s because their voices sound too similar. You’re dealing with three main characters and, despite differences, they’re hard to tell apart. You can’t, for example, pull up a single page at random and identify who is talking. 
• Predictable and repetitive. Some phrases are overused, you know exactly how the storylines are going to go, and everyone is gorgeous. 
• The throw-away second wife trope. This bothered me to the levels of the How I Met Your Mother finale. That whole “I settled for someone else” nonsense. Those “extra” women deserved so much better. 

What I Did Like:

• Characters who break the cliche. I adore characters who aren’t what you expect and this book has that. I appreciated their struggles and flaws, it made them unique! 
• The romances are cute. I like the inclusion of kids for a realistic twist on what dating at other times in your life looks like. 
• The book club angle was cute although you’d never catch me in a genre specific book club. I need variety! But the small discussions about books was a cute way to let you know who the characters were by who they identified with. 

Who Should Read This One:

• Romance fans who want women who already have kids, lives, and baggage as the main character.

My Rating: 3 Stars