Review: Act Your Age, Eve Brown

I, like many rom com readers, discovered Talia Hibbert in late 2019 with Get a Life, Chloe Brown. I absolutely loved it and was all in on her Brown Sisters series. Take a Hint, Dani Brown absolutely blew me away and was a top book of 2020. Act Your Age, Eve Brown released this week and I was both very excited and very apprehensive about this final book in the trilogy. I don't know why I was worried. I loved it from start to finish.

Here's the book's description:

Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It's time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she's not entirely sure how…
Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.
Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore—and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.

Given how much I loved Chloe and then how much more I loved Dani, I wasn't sure if Eve could live up to her older sisters. Like I said, it was silly to worry because Hibbert is so freaking talented that I feel like an idiot for doubting her skills at writing characters I'd love. Eve seems to be quite different from her sisters. She's bubbly and louder and full of sunshine that she loves to spread to everyone she knows. I loved that Eve learned so much about herself in this book and why she is the way she is (and that why is a reason she's more similar to her sisters than she thought). She's a character you're going to absolutely adore and seeing her become more confident and sure of herself was magical.

The hijinks in this book seem so completely bananas but it works! Because of course Eve would randomly come across a job, hours away from home, that she'd be good at. And of course she'd hit the B&B owner with her car. And of course there would be a Duck Incident. But it all works and it works so well. I was laughing at the antics so often and I loved it because there was so much joy and good intentions throughout too. Sure, you kind of have to suspend your beliefs a little bit but this is a rom com. It's meant to be a bit out there and full of love and laughter.

I love a good trope and this book has a couple I really like. Something I'm just learning about myself is that I do enjoy enemies to lovers, when they're done well (I think I've read a lot of bad ones that lean too far into the alpha male/dominant personality and they've scarred me a bit) and this novel has a nice twist on that trope. To say Eve and Jacob were enemies indicates there's some sort of history there where, in reality, the pair meet and Eve immediately offends every sensibility Jacob has and they get off on the wrong foot. (Eve hitting him with car doesn't help, of course.) I loved loved loved reading as they learned about each other and opened up. There's also the forced proximity trope as Eve just sort of...moves into the B&B. Jacob's reaction when he finds out was too funny. I liked that the sort-of-not-really-but-actually living together resulted in sexy times that were so natural. And steamy. Hoo boy. *fans self* These sex scenes are not for the faint of heart and I loved them!

Hibbert is fantastic at writing amazing female characters and wonderful heroes who fall in love with them. Cinnamon bun heroes are drastically overlooked and I very much appreciate Hibbert giving me so many men to swoon over who are smart, attractive, and super sweet. They might not seem to be squishy, adorable guys at first glance but, oh my, are they ever. They're respectful of the Brown women and just can't help but fall head over heels in love with them. Naturally that means I can't help but fall head over heels in love with them. *swoons* Just the best.

I can't comment from a personal experience on the portrayal of characters on the autism spectrum, just like with the sisters being Black. BUT. I can appreciate it and be so thankful that publishers are figuring out that readers want to read characters from every background. There's so much more to be done but I'm glad authors like Hibbert are out there writing these stories for us.

To compare all three Brown sisters books is like comparing cupcakes. (Provided you like cupcakes. If you don't, please think of something you DO like that can come in different flavours but are all equally delicious. And also tell me how you can not like cupcakes. No judgment. Just much confusion.) They each have their own style and flavour but they're all completely wonderful. I cannot recommend this series enough. Act Your Age, Eve Brown was so wonderful to read and I enjoyed every second I spent with Eve and Jacob. I didn't want it to end! I cannot wait to devour more of Talia Hibbert's novels and am really looking forward to the spinoff Skybriar series. Read these books, friends!

Review of Get a Life, Chloe Brown 
Review of Take a Hint, Dani Brown

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Too Much Lip

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll likely know that I've been to Australia twice and I absolutely love the country (and I don't shut up about it). I don't, however, read many Australian authors. I have a feeling that some of that has to do with rights and what is available to Canadian publishers for Canadian bloggers to read. All that to say, when I came across Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko, I was intrigued and immediately interested. It's a super dark comedy that was different than anything else I've read this year and I enjoyed it.

Here's the synopsis:

Wise-cracking Kerry Salter has spent a lifetime avoiding two things - her hometown and prison. But now her Pop is dying and she's an inch away from the lockup, so she heads south on a stolen Harley. Kerry plans to spend twenty-four hours, tops, over the border. She quickly discovers, though, that Bundjalung country has a funny way of grabbing on to people. Old family wounds open as the Salters fight to stop the development of their beloved river. And the unexpected arrival on the scene of a good-looking dugai fella intent on loving her up only adds more trouble - but then trouble is Kerry's middle name. Gritty and darkly hilarious, Too Much Lip offers redemption and forgiveness where none seems possible.

I do have to say I don't think I was quite in the mood for this book when I read it. I'm definitely a big mood reader and I hadn't realized quite how dark it was going to be. It's definitely more drama than comedy, I felt, but that's not a bad thing. Just took awhile for my brain and expectations to catch up.

Not only was this book set in Australia, but it takes place close-ish to where I've traveled. The town Kerry grew up in is fictional but a few real towns were mentioned so I could get a better idea of the location. It also caused massive wanderlust for me! I can't wait to go back. 

You may have noticed the synopsis mention "Bundjalung country." Bundjalung people are an Aboriginal nation in Australia, which, we should all know is a country with some problems with how they've treated the original custodians of the country (and I say this as a Canadian who knows her own country has many problems as well). Like a lot of readers, I've been trying to seek out more BIPOC authors for the last couple of years and show my support to those authors (and show publishers that we want and need stories by authors who aren't white and straight). I'm really happy to have stumbled across this book (seriously, I had to find it myself in the publisher's catalogue...no one was talking about it).

This novel is about more than a granddaughter returning home as her grandfather is dying. Lucashenko does not shy away from really tough subjects that need to be explored in literature and in life. There were disputes over land rights as well as a lot of trauma in the family. Some characters, like Kerry, have questions about their sexuality. Yes, there was a lot going on but it wasn't confusing in the least. It made my heart hurt and yet also made me laugh out loud a few times. And it taught me a few new words, too.

I think I would have liked Too Much Lip a little bit more if it were less literary (not my favourite) and more comedic. This is, completely, a personal reading preference and doesn't make the book any less good. Because it is that: a really good book. Melissa Lucashenko's novel was an engaging read though and I definitely recommend it, especially to those like me who are trying to expand their reading horizons. I'd also love to talk this book through with someone else who's read it!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*