Release Day! The Way We Weren't by Phoebe Fox ~ My Thoughts #TheWayWeWeren't

 Happy Release Day!

Congrats Phoebe

on the release of

The Way We Weren't!

The Way We Weren't by Phoebe Fox

Contemporary Fiction, 384 pages

Published November 9, 2021 by Berkley

An unlikely friendship between a septuagenarian and a younger woman becomes a story of broken trust, lost love, and the unexpected blooming of hope against the longest odds.

You trying to kill yourself, or are you just stupid?

Marcie Malone didn't think she was either, but when she drives from Georgia to the southwestern shore of Florida without a plan and wakes up in a stranger's home, she doesn't seem to know anymore. Despondent and heartbroken over an unexpected loss and the man she thought she could count on, Marcie leaves him behind, along with her job and her whole life, and finds she has nowhere to go.

Herman Flint has seen just about everything in his seventy years living in a fading, blue-collar Florida town, but the body collapsed on the beach outside his window is something new. The woman is clearly in some kind of trouble and Flint wants no part of it--he's learned to live on his own just fine, without the hassle of worrying about others. But against his better judgment he takes Marcie in and lets her stay until she's on her feet on the condition she keeps out of his way.

As the unlikely pair slowly copes with the damages life has wrought, Marcie and Flint have to decide whether to face up to the past they're each running from, and find a way to move forward with the people they care about most.

My thoughts about The Way We Weren't ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First lines—"'It's his hands that let her know that everything is going to be okay after all."

Right off the bat, two things about The Way We Weren't made me want to read this book. First of all was the author Phoebe Fox. I'm a huge fan of hers and have loved all of her stories. She is definitely one of my must-read authors. The second thing was this cover! Isn't is beautiful? I fell in love with it the minute I saw it and it enticed me to find out more about the story. Isn't that an amazing blue?! 

Well, let me tell you, the story itself blew me away. I loved everything about it! What an intriguing, compelling storyline and interesting, unforgettable characters. Such entertaining people and interactions and a story that didn't go the way that I thought it would. 

Marcie hops in her car one day and just keeps driving, escaping her life and wanting to figure out some things about who she is and what she wants. Discovered on the beach in pretty bad shape by the old codger Flint, she tries to make a new life for herself, even as she knows its only temporary. She has to go back to her responsibilities at some point, right?

I absolutely loved the relationship between Marcie and the salty old guy, Flint. It still brings smiles to my face when I think about their interactions throughout the book and the way they treated each other. Such fun! And I loved the way that Marcie found her way in the community and earned the acceptance of the 'old timers'. 

Like I said, I loved everything about this book and would give it more than five stars on a five star scale. How about 5++? I'm not typically a re-reader of books but this is definitely one that I will need to pull down off the shelf at some point and enjoy again. Well done Phoebe! I highly recommend The Way We Weren't!! 

I received The Way We Weren't from the author and NetGalley. This is my honest opinion of the book.

About the author

Phoebe Fox has been a contributor and regular columnist for a number of national, regional, and local publications--currently for the Huffington Post as a relationship writer. She's been a movie, theater, and book reviewer; a screenwriter; and has even been known to help with homework revisions for nieces and nephews. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two excellent dogs. ~ Goodreads

Connect with Phoebe

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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A Little Bit of Grace by Phoebe Fox ~ My Thoughts #ALittleBitOfGrace

A Little Bit of Grace

A Little Bit of Grace by Phoebe Fox
320 pages
Published August 11th 2020 by Berkley Books

A heartfelt story about family, forgiveness, and starting over when the happy ending ends, and handling it all with a little bit of grace.

Family is everything—Grace Adams McHale's mom must have said it to her a thousand times before she died. Before Grace's dad ran off with an aspiring actress half his age. Before only-child Grace found out she was unable to have children of her own. Before Brian--her childhood best friend, business partner, and finally her husband--dropped a "bombshell" on her in the form of her stunning new replacement.

Which means Grace now has...nothing.

Until she receives a letter from a woman claiming to be a relative Grace never knew she had, sending her on a journey from the childhood home she had to move back into, to a Florida island to meet a total stranger who embraces her as family. There, Grace starts to uncover answers about the eccentric woman her family never mentioned: an octogenarian who is the keeper of a secret held for more than fifty years.

My thoughts about A Little Bit of Grace ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First line—"My mother used to say that when she read me bedtime stories, my favorite time of the evening because I finally had her all to myself, I would stop her midway through and tell her what was going to happen to the characters whose lives she was spinning for me."

A Little Bit of Grace is about the amazingly strong character of Grace, as well as the wonderfully wise, and outrageously fun, Millie. When these two women finally connect, look out! 

Grace knows what she wants and is happy with her life. That is, until it's all taken away from her. And then what is she supposed to do? 

Millie is a warm and caring woman, who swoops Grace up at just the right time and tries to help her turn her life around and let me tell you, they have so much fun along the way. Millie is such a wise and gregarious person—I wish I had someone like her in my life. 

This is a tale full of hilarity, love, compassion, strength, anger and frustration, understanding, forgiveness, family and friends, finding oneself and being happy with that discovery. And there are plenty of memorable characters that I fell in love with. This novel has it all! 

A Little Bit of Grace is a wonderful, heartwarming story written by one of my favorite authors. I loved everything about it and enjoyed my journey of discovery with Grace and Millie. I highly recommend it and I know you're going to love it—and them—just as much as I did!

I received a copy of A Little Bit of Grace from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

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About the author

Phoebe Fox has been a contributor and regular columnist for a number of national, regional, and local publications--currently for the Huffington Post as a relationship writer. She's been a movie, theater, and book reviewer; a screenwriter; and has even been known to help with homework revisions for nieces and nephews. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two excellent dogs.

Connect with Phoebe

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Out of Practice by Phoebe Fox ~ My Thoughts

Out of Practice

Out of Practice by Phoebe Fox
Series: Breakup Doctor #4
Print and e-book, 274 pages
Published: October 18, 2016 by Henery Press

When your relationship is on life support, the Breakup Doctor is on call.

There’s no shortage of broken hearts in Breakup Doctor Brook Ogden’s successful breakup counseling practice—if love is a battlefield, then Brook is the cavalry. Luckily her own love life is in full recovery: after a long, tortuous road, she and Ben Garrett are finally headed down the aisle.

But when a local TV personality—and former frenemy—invites Brook onto her show, she’s blindsided live on the air when the interview turns into an act of long-delayed revenge meant to publicly humiliate her. Brook’s an expert at getting back on your feet when life knocks you down, but as the blows keep piling on—with a betrayal she never saw coming and a family crisis that threatens to pull the foundation out from under her—her confidence starts slinking away. With her clients dropping her faster than a one-night stand, suddenly the Breakup Doctor’s career is in critical care.

Brimming with both the sublime and ridiculous aspects of love—romantic and otherwise—Out of Practice is a funny and heartwarming tale about loss, grief, and failure that will resonate with all who have loved, lost…and dared to love again.

My thoughts about Out of Practice ~~ 

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)

First line—"For god's sake, Ashley—we can't have side boob on daytime TV."

Out of Practice is book #4 in The Breakup Doctor series. I had no idea when I started with book #1 that I would come to think of Brook as a friend. I have loved being in her life, watching her grow and change in her professional life, as well as in her personal life, just like a real friend would do.

Brook, as The Breakup Doctor, counsels people who seek her out for guidance as they work through messy relationships. She imparts wonderful words of wisdom to all of the people she works with as they struggle trying to make sense of their lives. But even with all her wisdom and compassion, she is not perfect and her life isn't perfect either. Sometimes she has to take a step or two back, evaluate her own life, and make some changes herself.

As Brook struggles and goes through an emotional time trying to figure out what is right for her, I got caught up in the emotions as well. Some parts of what Brook goes through were so very touching that they grabbed my heart. Let the tears begin, such emotions! But throughout the entire series, Phoebe inserts her wonderful sense of humor, which makes the story so enjoyable and fun. So along with the deep emotions, there were plenty of laughs.

Out of Practice is the final book in this series and while it ended on a very satisfying note, I am sad that Brook, her family, and her friends will continue on with their lives without me. It was a great finish but I am sorry to see it all end.

Read my thoughts

The Breakup Doctor

Bedside Manners

Heart Conditions

About the author

Phoebe Fox has been a contributor and regular columnist for a number of national, regional, and local publications--currently for the Huffington Post as a relationship writer. She's been a movie, theater, and book reviewer; a screenwriter; and has even been known to help with homework revisions for nieces and nephews. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two excellent dogs.

Connect with Phoebe

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Twitter

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Release Day: Out of Practice by Phoebe Fox

Happy Release Day!

Out of Practice

Out of Practice by Phoebe Fox
Series: Breakup Doctor #4
Print and e-book, 274 pages
Published: October 18, 2016 by Henery Press

When your relationship is on life support, the Breakup Doctor is on call.

There’s no shortage of broken hearts in Breakup Doctor Brook Ogden’s successful breakup counseling practice—if love is a battlefield, then Brook is the cavalry. Luckily her own love life is in full recovery: after a long, tortuous road, she and Ben Garrett are finally headed down the aisle.

But when a local TV personality—and former frenemy—invites Brook onto her show, she’s blindsided live on the air when the interview turns into an act of long-delayed revenge meant to publicly humiliate her. Brook’s an expert at getting back on your feet when life knocks you down, but as the blows keep piling on—with a betrayal she never saw coming and a family crisis that threatens to pull the foundation out from under her—her confidence starts slinking away. With her clients dropping her faster than a one-night stand, suddenly the Breakup Doctor’s career is in critical care.

Brimming with both the sublime and ridiculous aspects of love—romantic and otherwise—Out of Practice is a funny and heartwarming tale about loss, grief, and failure that will resonate with all who have loved, lost…and dared to love again.

Stop by tomorrow to read my thoughts 

about this wonderful book!

And here are the other books in 

The Breakup Doctor series.

Read my thoughts

The Breakup Doctor

Bedside Manners

Heart Conditions

About the author

Phoebe Fox has been a contributor and regular columnist for a number of national, regional, and local publications--currently for the Huffington Post as a relationship writer. She's been a movie, theater, and book reviewer; a screenwriter; and has even been known to help with homework revisions for nieces and nephews. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two excellent dogs.

Connect with Phoebe

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Twitter

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Release Day!! Heart Conditions (The Breakup Doctor #3) by Phoebe Fox and a Giveaway!

Happy Release Day!! 

Heart Conditions

Heart Conditions by Phoebe Fox
Series: The Breakup Doctor #3
Paperback and e-book, 278 pages
Published: February 9th 2016 by Henery Press

Breakup Doctor Brook Ogden has spent the last year sifting through the fallout from the disastrous decision that led to her unconscious uncoupling with boyfriend Ben Garrett. Despite advising her clients you can’t be friends with an ex, she and Ben have somehow begun to stitch together a friendship—one Brook hopes is slowly turning into more. That is, until Ben introduces his new girlfriend, Perfect Pamela, a paragon of womanly virtues who is everything Brook is not.

While Brook navigates her newly volatile emotional life, an unwelcome surprise shows up on her doorstep: the ex-fiancé who broke her heart two years ago—one month before their wedding. Between her ex’s desire to rekindle their attachment, her best friend Sasha’s unexpected crisis, and her own unsquelchable feelings for Ben, Brook finds herself questioning the personal progress she’s made in the last two years—and threatened with the highest-stakes Breakup Doctor failures she’s ever faced.

The Breakup Doctor Series

  

Click the book covers to add to Goodreads.

I love this series!

Read my thoughts.

The Breakup Doctor

Bedside Manners

Heart Conditions

The Breakup Doctor will be on sale 

for just 99 cents until February 14!

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

About the author

Phoebe Fox has been a contributor and regular columnist for a number of national, regional, and local publications--currently for the Huffington Post as a relationship writer. She's been a movie, theater, and book reviewer; a screenwriter; and has even been known to help with homework revisions for nieces and nephews. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two excellent dogs.

Connect with Phoebe

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Twitter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Heart Conditions by Phoebe Fox, a $.99 Sale, and a Giveaway!

Heart Conditions

Heart Conditions by Phoebe Fox
Series: The Breakup Doctor #3
Paperback and e-book, 278 pages
Expected publication: February 9th 2016 by Henery Press

Breakup Doctor Brook Ogden has spent the last year sifting through the fallout from the disastrous decision that led to her unconscious uncoupling with boyfriend Ben Garrett. Despite advising her clients you can’t be friends with an ex, she and Ben have somehow begun to stitch together a friendship—one Brook hopes is slowly turning into more. That is, until Ben introduces his new girlfriend, Perfect Pamela, a paragon of womanly virtues who is everything Brook is not.

While Brook navigates her newly volatile emotional life, an unwelcome surprise shows up on her doorstep: the ex-fiancé who broke her heart two years ago—one month before their wedding. Between her ex’s desire to rekindle their attachment, her best friend Sasha’s unexpected crisis, and her own unsquelchable feelings for Ben, Brook finds herself questioning the personal progress she’s made in the last two years—and threatened with the highest-stakes Breakup Doctor failures she’s ever faced.

My thoughts about Heart Conditions ~~

Just when I thought Brook's life couldn't get more complicated, her ex-fiance reenters her life and wants a second chance to regain what they supposedly had. 

'Walking out on you was the best thing I ever did.'

What?? How do you come back and say that to someone you had professed to love? And then there's Sasha, Brook's best friend. I love her and the depth of her friendship. She has no qualms about telling Michael what she thinks of him and what she will do to him if he hurts Brook again. She's got her best friend's back! We should all have a best friend like that.

I laughed out loud at the part where they end up at a party where half of the adults there were wearing diapers. I was not expecting this to happen in the story and it cracked me up. It is amazing the level of support those two friends have for each other.

And Brook burned bridges with the guy I thought/hoped she would end up with. Ben falls for 'Perfect Pamela'. I loved this nickname that Brook gave to Ben's new girlfriend! Haven't we all felt that way when a loved one moves on to someone else, 'they must be perfect'? 

'Ben's girlfriend was the kind of woman you never, ever want the ex you still have very complicated feelings for—despite the fact that it was you who torpedoed the relationship—to date.''

I loved the first two books in this series and I loved going back to check up on Brook in book #3. One of the great things about this series is the growth and change we see in each of the characters. The books are not just the same old, same old where the characters aren't learning from their mistakes. They actually move forward with their lives and relationships change. 

I can't wait for the next installment from the Breakup Doctor!   

Read my thoughts

The Breakup Doctor

Bedside Manners

 

The Breakup Doctor will be on sale 
for just 99 cents until February 14!

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

About the author

Phoebe Fox has been a contributor and regular columnist for a number of national, regional, and local publications--currently for the Huffington Post as a relationship writer. She's been a movie, theater, and book reviewer; a screenwriter; and has even been known to help with homework revisions for nieces and nephews. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two excellent dogs.

Connect with Phoebe

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Twitter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Release Day! Bedside Manners (Breakup Doctor #2) by Phoebe Fox and a Giveaway!

Release Day! 

Bedside Manners

Bedside Manners by Phoebe Fox

Series: Breakup Doctor #2

Print and e-book, 266 pages

Expected publication: March 24th 2015 by Henery Press

Brook Ogden has never encountered a broken heart she couldn’t patch together. Her counseling practice as the Breakup Doctor—on call to help you shape up after a breakup—is so busy she’s expanded to offer group sessions. (Turns out there are far more than fifty ways to leave your lover.) Her radio show and advice column have made her a local celebrity, and even her personal life, after some gruesome breakups of her own, is in recovery: Ben Garrett started out as a revenge date against an ex, but has turned into so much more.

But when sizzling-hot Chip Santana, an old client she once shared a rather unprofessional midnight roll in the sand with, comes back into her life asking for her help, Brook can’t say no. Yet while she’s busy stitching up his relationship troubles, Chip reveals much more than a therapeutic interest in her. 

In the standoff between her heart and her hormones, Brook’s cool, collected Wise Therapist persona begins to crack like thrown wedding china. She’s yelling at recalcitrant cheating husbands. Offering crazy advice to radio callers. She’s even hugging her clients.

When the situation goes critical, Brook’s forced into a decision she isn’t ready to make—and the Breakup Doctor has to decide what kind of casualties she’s willing to accept. 

My thoughts about Bedside Manners ~~

I loved book #1, The Breakup Doctor and was so excited to see that there was going to be a book #2. Bedside Manners is a great follow-up that takes us back to Brook's world, where we get to learn even more about her life.

Brook is a very likable character and she has a great sense of humor, a very gentle kind of humor, which we get to see throughout the story. She decides to start a support group for people with relationship problems. Those sessions were some of the best parts of the book - what great characters and situations! Brook dispenses such great advice and words of wisdom throughout the book. 

'"I've fought some of the same battles a lot of you are facing," I went on. "And I still am, and I'll probably fight more in the future. But this last time through the wringer I learned that you can't keep it all bottled up - you have to let it out. And you can't do it alone - you have to be brave enough to share it with people who care about you. You have to let yourself be vulnerable enough to accept help. I hope that's part of what we're able to offer one another as we work through our situations in here."'

She is great at helping people and giving them good advice but she is human, and stuggles with relationships in her own life. She is torn between Chip and Ben and watching the struggle between her heart and hormones makes this story loads of fun.  

'I could help people. But there were only so many hours in a day - and I still had to leave time for a life of my own, or I'd have nothing to offer anyone else.'

I loved that Brook grew as a person in this story as she learned so much about herself, as well as helping other people figure themselves out. I really hope we will get to see more of Brook in the future, she has so much to teach us all.  

'... sometimes you have to get a little crazy to move past a broken heart...'

The Breakup Doctor

Book #1

You can read my thoughts about this wonderful book here. 

About the author

I love that Phoebe shares her 'official' bio with us but then also shares the 'real stuff' about herself. It made me smile. 

The official bio:  Phoebe Fox has been a contributor and regular columnist for a number of national, regional, and local publications; a movie, theater, and book reviewer; a screenwriter; an actress; and a game show host; and has even been known to help with homework revisions for nieces and nephews. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two excellent dogs.

The bio I’d tell you over coffee and doughnuts: My earliest memories are words: sounding them out with the characters on The Electric Company and Sesame Street; trying to decipher signs as my mom drove me and my brother and sister around town; using (and misusing) new words I’d seen in magazines or advertisements or on TV. The first failure I remember is blowing the third-grade spelling bee when I got to the finals (“analyze”—I spelled it with an i instead of a y). Words and language have fascinated me as long as I can remember—and even more so, the worlds that can be created with them. Nearly every childhood picture of me shows me with my nose in a book. Stories were my sanctuary, my fantasy life, my dreams, and my escape from childhood sorrows. As I got older, I realized that what I loved most was reading about people, and how they think, what they do, and why. Shoot-’em-ups didn't grab me, and neither did mysteries or thrillers or horror. I wanted to examine people’s actions, and the psychology behind why we do what we do, and when I started writing (another earliest memory—as soon as I knew how, I had a pen in my hand), those were the kinds of tales I wanted to create.

Connect with Phoebe

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Twitter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!