This is a first time author for me (never read anything before this from her) but I have been wanting to pick one of her books up before so I am glad it was this one to start with.

I found her writing style very engaging, there was lots of dialog, which I love in a book, and the characters were all well defined and likable.

It starts out with a loss of a person that is the catalyst of bring the main characters together. One is very wounded with PTSD and an introvert, the other a work driven woman who loves the city and the people. There is push and pull with the characters and I was cheering for both of them to see what was right in front of them. Throw in a teenage girl they both started to co-parent and you have a good story line and dialog that keep my interest throughout the book.

I look forward to reading more from this author - I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but would have written the same opinion if I had come across this author on my own.

To see my Amazon review, it is under CC-Enjoyable Read

This is a well written book. The story starts off as a straightforward romance, but then goes on to cover a host of complicated issues. Pulling off heart warming and pathos without getting schmaltzy is not easy, but here it appears effortless. Writing a believable child is impressive too.

This novel is quite interesting, although I may not be very objective because, generally, I really enjoy the books of this author.

The story begins with a sad event, the death of Becki. Becky leaves her daughter Gabe, her cousin Autumn and her neighbor Catherine, in care of each other. And this is going to be a bit complicated. Gabe is a teenager who is orphaned, since her father was never part of his life, without other relatives who can take care of her. Autumn is surprised first by the death of Becki and then by the inheritance that receives, not only in economic terms. And Catherine, although not related to Becki or Gabe, also receives the unexpected legacy.

Both Catherine and Autumn are in difficult moments of their lives and this event will complicate it even more. This premise makes the story with enough potential to be a good romance with its dose of drama and for my taste it does not disappoint. Although the final crisis may seem a little exaggerated, the reaction of Autumn to a fact that is quite accepted nowadays, the lack of understanding that she has is perhaps a bit excessive.

There is also a dog that has a lot of prominence, since it seems to have enough intuition to know who needs it most at all times.

In short, I think that this book has enough interesting topics so that it can be recommended to read.

I'm not exactly sure how this is possible, but I realized that this is the first book that I've ever read by D. Jackson Leigh. I can safely say this won't be my last.

<I>Ordinary is Perfect</I> didn't jump off the page, but it slowly grew to be a book that I knew I would love by the end. It had issues, of course, but they were easily overlooked. The main premise is that city-girl Autumn has to return to her cousin's farm when her cousin dies. When she gets there, she realizes she's suddenly going to need to co-parent her cousin's teenage daughter Gabe along with the family friend Catherine.

Even after being beat over the head by this publisher on the theme of inheritances this month, this one still stood out as being quite good. I think mainly because it had some twists that made it just different enough from the other releases this month. I'm not sure I buy into the two MCs being overwhelmingly attracted to each other, but still, it somehow worked. There's more time spent apart than together, and the romance was slow burn, but it was worth the wait.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

**Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.**

Although I totally missed the sub-genre designation (LGBQT) when selecting this pre-pub book (whew--really graphic sex!), this was still a nice read, especially if you can relate to the intense life situations these characters experienced. Topics: family of choice, the impact of childhood on life choices, balancing friendships/love and career, real friendships, and same-sex relationships. If the sex scenes were eliminated this could even be a young adult book.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. It was rife with conflict and angst which helped move the story along. I thought the two main characters finally coming together in a physical way was a bit sudden, though, but that's just my opinion. I hate to say it, but I don't think this is the author's best work. It's great escapist fluff to read before bed, just not the best this author has produced. The cover caught my eye first, I'm a sucker for anything with a farm in it. So I was expecting the canine character to be a labradoodle. Nope. The dog on the cover doesn't match the description of Elvis the dog at all. The ending seemed rushed, which was a disappointment. It read like there was another book coming as a follow-up.
As I said before, not the best work by this author, but still okay if you're looking for escapist fluff.

This book had so much going on. There was a bit of a age difference romance going on, each of the main characters had some serious baggage to wade through, there was also a bit of 'family member dies and relative meets the neighbor and falls in love' going on. Although, in this novel that is ramped up to 11.

Autumn's cousin (who was more like a sister) Becki dies, leaving an 11 year old child, Gabe alone. In her will she gives co-custody of Gabe to both Autumn and a neighbor who has been a guiding force for the both of them, Catherine.

They are totally different people. City vs. Country. Loner vs. a person who seems very much to be a people person, etc. And yet, they're thrown together to be parents for this precocious kid and find themselves drawn to one another.

I really liked a lot of the novel. Honestly, the only part that I really didn't love was the fact that the issues that Autumn had with some of the twists in the book never really got a fair shake from the other characters. She sorta gets told by secondary characters to 'grow up', that life isn't black and white, but shades of grey. Perhaps I'm too much of rules sort of person, but, I would have liked her issues to be better addressed j just a little bit by the end of the book, instead of having the thrilling ending that we got.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to Bold Strokes Books.

A relationship can come along when you least expect with a person that was not on your radar. Because we all know, there is more to a person than looks. There is quite a bit going on in this read. Army veteran Catherine Daye is ordinary looking as stated by her and struggling with nightmares. Autumn Swan is proving herself to be a marketing "rockstar". Both characters have "issues". In my opinion, there are topics and types of characters that are atypical in lesfic which makes this read unique as well as interesting. Autumn is a business woman that likes shopping, designer clothing, and femme women. Catherine is a butch woman that likes to stay in the background and impact the lives of others through various outreach projects. The underlining thread that tickles the reader throughout had me guessing as various clues were presented. The ending was quick and left me wanting more detail but it is what it is.

*** sorry posted on wrong book (covers appeared similar** will update on correct book and update this one once I have finished this book ***I haven't read a lot of books by Black, but those I have read have all been 3 stars. So for me she is an author I will continue to read. Her books are okay reads, but not great. This one was a lot like the others. I enjoyed it enough to continue the book and it was good while reading, but forgettable after it was finished. I actually prefer these types of books on vacations, or trips for work. They allow for mindless entertainment and can be put down and picked back up often without much effort. There were parts of this book I really enjoyed, but the majority was just okay. . If you are a fan of hers I am sure you will really enjoy this one as it appears she is very consistent in her writing. Worth picking up if you want a quick easy read.

This was a cute and refreshing love story about one Ordinary woman and a younger attractive workaholic who finds love despite being two women who seem to have little in common.

Autumn Swan is a young, ambitious marketing business owner who enjoys her life in the city. She thinks all things work and trying to make her business successful. When her cousin Becki dies, she is forced to go to the small town where she spent her summers to sort out Becki's affairs. Catherine is an Army Vet suffering from PTSD who runs away to a small rural community and is friends with her next door neighbor - Becki and her daughter Gabe. Catherine's PTSD doesn't allow for her to live a life other than what she has in her small community.

Here is what I enjoyed. Ordinary is Perfect one of the few romances that I have read, where looks is not the focus. Catherine is just an average woman. She isn't pretty nor unattractive, She is butch in appearance. Autumn is femme, pretty, young and shapely. The eventually fall for each other over time. This seems so real to me. I also enjoyed how there was a few elements of surprise in this story line. It kept me interested in what was lurking around the next corner without making my nerves bad. Even though this one moves slow, the romance builds at a steady pace and there is chemistry in the bedroom.

One thing that bothered me is the suspense around how Becki made her money. The story line just seem disjointed and could have been smoother.

I rate this one 4 stars.

This was a good book by Leigh. In fact I liked it much better than her last one. There were a few bumps that stopped me from rating this more than 4 stars, but it still was an enjoyable read.

The main storyline is about a family member dying and the main character suddenly becoming the guardian of a 12 year-old child. This is a storyline that has been done before. What is nice about this particular storyline is there was a twist to the guardianship that made the story more unusual. I won’t mention what it is as I don’t want to spoil anything, but the twist made the storyline more interesting and different than what we have normally read.

Besides dealing with death and becoming a parent, this book also is about someone living with PTSD. One of the mains used to be in the military. I guess you could put this book in the family drama-romance category. Anyway, it all worked and I found the book to be well written. I read it in one sitting not wanting to put it down.

There were a few bumps. As MJS wrote in her review the math on one of the main characters age and her not knowing the child existed before hand doesn’t really add up. Her character should have been older than the 25 Leigh made her out to be. This didn’t really bother me too much, but it does seem like a mistake. My other issue was the ending. It felt too rushed. It’s not a bad ending, but I really wanted more. I feel like there are a few small unanswered questions.

On the good side the romance is enjoyable. It is slow-burn, which I prefer, but it builds at a nice pace. The characters have decent chemistry and the sex scenes were good too.

If you are a Leigh fan or are looking for a good family drama-romance, don’t hesitate on this one. I thought this was well worth the read.

I liked this book and its slow burn. While I don't think Catherine's life is ordinary but understand compared to the go-fast world it might be. Autumn had the most growing up to do character-wise. Having had to deal with her past and prejudices. I liked Elvis the dog the most and how much he helps Catherine. Definitely four stars!

I really enjoyed this book, although it was a bit of a slow burner. Very easy to read writing style and well written sex scenes. Although it’s not something you would want to dwell on in a romance I do feel there was limited grieving for the death of a mother, friend and cousin- so for me there was a lack of depth to the emotional side of things.

Such a sweet story. I couldn't stop reading. This had me smiling ,laughing and crying at times. Every character was a perfect fit, I absolutely loved elvis. I will definitely read more from D. Jackson leigh .

Loved this book! The characters have real depth, and the story is engaging. It was well written and the subject is handled with care. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be looking out for more by this author.

I received an ARC from netgalley for an honest review

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ordinary gets mentioned a lot in this book, and I seem to be in the minority, because that’s exactly what I thought this was. I couldn’t warm to Autumn, who was self-centred for the majority of the book. She puts what she wants ahead of her best-friend and then the child entrusted into her care (seriously, who leave a grieving child that they’re responsible for for a whole month a week after her mother dies? When she’s in the city, she leaves Cat to do all the work with Gabe and when she’s in the country, leaves her workers to carry her business.

I also couldn’t work out Autumn’s backstory. She’s supposed to be 25, she’s estranged from her folks but is said to have started college early even though they didn’t know where she was at first, how did she start college early without their permission? And her estrangement from her grandmother and cousin made even less sense (especially the reason for it, and the fact that they knew where she was but didn’t bother to get in touch). Strange for people who professed to love her so much. Gabe’s 12, which means Autumn hasn’t seen Becki in at least 13 years, since Autumn didn’t know Gabe existed. That would make her 12 the last time they saw each other, yet they’re constantly refered to as ‘being as close as sisters’. I certainly wouldn’t leave my kid to someone I last saw when I was 12. And how old was Autumn when she left her parents then? Honestly it made no sense.

Cat was a much better character, far from ordinary in my opinion and also way to good for Autumn, and I would have liked more time spent on her issues. Gabe was written far too mature for a 11-12 year old. More like 15-16. All of the other characters were very superficially written, especially Autumn’s parents. The requisite drama with the whole ‘secret’ storyline was unnecessary and resolved in a rush at the end.

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

This was a page turner from chapter one. Great love story. I was drawn in from the beginning to the end and couldn't put it down. One moment I found myself laughing and another in tears. D. Jackson puts you on the emotional roller coaster with this one. Her writing is amazing. The story line is captivating. The characters are intriguing and the dialogue is spot on. You won't go wrong reading this book. I highly recommend.

I enjoyed this book very much. The characters are rich and very likeable. The story is warm and funny for most of the book. But just when you think it's all wrapped up, it takes a startling turn. The way the problem is resolved is predictable but with a scary twist that made me read faster. Overall a very good and satisfying read.

This was a sweet story. There are some scenes that truly pull at your heart strings. Rarely do I cry reading a book, but this one was the exception. The issues they dealt with were handled with care and honesty. This book is a definite recommend for me.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful story, honestly I got to the end so fast. I loved the dog tho I dont think it was realistic at least I never heard of such thing. the dynamic of death was light it did not bother me much but tbh the author treated that lightly

Highly recommended.