Mom's Perfect Boyfriend was a quick and fun read. Perfect for Summer reading. I really enjoy the format of being written in texts, IM's, and journal entries. The mother daughter relationship in this book is quite funny, and downright silly sometimes. This book make for an enjoyable break from my usual drama type reads.

I love episolatory books. Thank you netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Crystal's boyfriend decided to take a break after her mom hijacked their vacation. She also got laid off. So she thought she'd take this time off to finish her Rapunzel retelling novel. With no job and less money and no other go, she ended up being with her mom. What she thought would be free time wasn't what she expected it to be. With her mom's new passion for baking and selling in Sunday markets, gave Crystal no time to write her novel. Her life was turned upside down. Crystal signed up for a smart companion - a trial robot, on her mom's behalf. After Adam, the Robot came into her mom's life, Crystal's help was no longer needed. But her mom started liking Paul.

This story is about a mother-daughter relationship. They both have their own problems to be dealt with. Crystal's story of Rapunzel and Mother Gothel resembles her life as her own mom drives her crazy and is overbearing. It's not like Crystal doesn't like her mom or vice versa. They just don't balance things well. Crystal's sister keeps her mom at arm's length but is close to Crystal. I don't like her much.
I've found all three of them being selfish at one point or another. There isn't much room for romance as it's mostly a family drama.

It's some sweet moments. I won't say this one is fast paced but it's not slow paced either. There are dragging in some parts and rushing in other. The story is engaging but I just haven't felt connected. It's just a happy, fun and a light hearted read for me.

I am sorry to say that this book was a waste of time. I was hoping for a fun, lighthearted and humorous book but this book is not that. The book begins with Crystal’s mother Margot having forced herself on Crystal’s romantic Hawaii vacation with her boyfriend Dave. Obviously Dave is not very happy about this. With such a beginning I was expecting Margot to be overbearing and Crystal to be a too kind pushover but apparently the author was not paying attention to how this book begins. Margot is a very sweet and kind woman who somehow raised ungrateful and spiteful daughters who don’t appreciate her and always think the worst of everything she does. This obviously makes it hard to care about Crystal.

Of course this all takes place over emails, texts and journal entries. I’ve read other books in this format that were fun but this one was slow and boring. This could also be because the author chose to have Margot and Crystal writing long and tedious journal entries about their lives. Even worse are the excepts from Crystal’s attempt to write a novel. Now the novel is obviously an example of how Crystal is feeling about her mother and Dave but it’s annoying to wade through.

Given the title of the novel I was expecting more about the robot but he doesn’t show up until about the halfway point. It’s a hard concept to swallow that Crystal is going to set her mother up with a robot. How do you set your mother up to be left heartbroken by a robot? Especially such a kind woman? This might have worked if the mother was going to be as overbearing as I expected and the daughter needed to distract her but that’s not the case here.

We learn so much about the mother and her daughters but there is no real growth in the characters. By the end they are still keeping secrets from each other and not in a good place with each other. This is certainly not a rom-com type of novel either. Most of the time Crystal is quite down. It also seems strange that we don’t know more about the girl’s’ father. He’s never mentioned except as an ex. He’s not a thought at holidays which makes him seem absent but it’s not mentioned. There’s a mention of him not paying for school which only frustrates the ability of a reader to care for the daughters who have no appreciation for their hard working single mother.

Unfortunately there is nothing redeeming here so save yourself the time spent reading this novel and find something better.

I am a sucker for epistolary novels, so when I saw this book was written with texts, emails and journal entries, I had to read it immediately. I am so glad I did, as it did not disappoint!

The story revolves around Crystal, her sister Lisa and their mother and how they interact with her. Crystal finds herself possibly single and out of a job, forcing her to move back in with her mom. She begins to feel smothered, so she hatches a plan to help her mom meet a man! Or something like that...
because it's not a man but an android that "Boople" is testing out! A robot with feelings?! Meanwhile she is trying to write a novel and figure out where her relationship is going while her fiancee is off "finding himself."

I found this book highly entertaining. It was a fast read and one that I enjoyed!

I received this book in exchange for a review via Net Galley. I loved the cover and the description. It sounded like an awesome story and I can definitely relate to a complicated, overbearing mother relationship.

The whole story is excerpts from text message conversations, emails, articles and story blurbs. It was unique but I felt really removed from the story. Everything happened past tense and we didn't even see about it but read a few lines through some form of communication. You don't even know what the main character looks like.

The story was predictable and I didn't care for the characters, probably because the reader is so far removed from the actual story. I love Sophie Kinsella books and I was drawn to this book, because its claimed to be similar, it is NOT. I didn't find this book or scenes funny nor was it really a romance (minus weird stuff with dinosaurs).

Its an easy read but I had to push myself to read it for this review. It wasn't my cup of tea but others may, and that's okay. This is just my honest review.

I had high hopes for this book when I requested but unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. Whilst I enjoyed the complex relationship between Crystal and her Mum, I found the style of the writing in the form of texts, emails and journal entries very annoying. I did persevere till the end but it was hard work. I will avoid books like this in the future.

I thought that this was an interesting story idea and enjoyed the format and way that the story was told. It was light, it was humorous, and you could follow what happened and the anticipated fall-out easily. You could feel empathy for all the characters - yes, all of of them.
Seriously though, at what point does an AI become a human? When does life come into being? There is a set of questions that supposedly, according to our AI friends would tell when an android has reached full understanding and thus can be classed as human. And this book illustrates this conundrum fully - because the religious philosophers would argue that still the android does not have a soul and thus cannot be considered human, even if it has a set of morals and morality and rationality. And emotions.
The concept of an android - or robot - falling in love with a human and vice versa is a trope that sci-fi writers have often used to try and discover a definition of human. Turing famously said that in a conversation between a computer and a human if you cannot tell the difference then both are human. And it is this idea that is taken up in this book.
So a good enjoyable read with a serious philosophical question hidden, if you want to think about it.

When I first looked at this book and saw the way it was written, i.e. texts, diary entries, I put it down again, because this was not for me. Then I found myself on a train just finished a book and this was sitting there. Once started I could not put it down. Is this because I am the mother of a daughter.? Do I recognise the odd comment as being a bit close to home? The story was totally engaging, in the end I loved the style. I delighted in the interactions between mother and daughters. The eternal angst and guilt and yes the love. I found the story to be clever. I don't think I can say much more, suggest you read it.

I'm left a bit confused after reading this book. Rather than a story, it consists lots of emails, messages, blog posts and similar. I found the narrative hard to follow and wouldn't classify this as a traditional book. Having said that, it was entertaining, it just didn't suck me in in the way a more traditionally written novel would have. It didn't take very long to read, because of the format.

This book is a fun, easy, quick read that's just what you might need after tackling a heavy subject matter novel. Told through fun interfaces like text, email, etc. the pace soars. Very engaging and very fresh. Exploring the relationships in a mildly dysfunctional family, and holding a magnifying glass to the mother-daughter relationship, AND THEN ADDING AN ANDROID seems like it wouldn't work. But it does. Seems like it would be too weird. Seems like the author would have to work really hard to provide depth of connection, larger truths about the mother-daughter bond, but Hemmingway gets it right. This is a fun beach read, an easy choice for a plane trip of any duration, and I can see this as a great book club pick. Lots to chat about here. This is a fun one.

Thanks so much to the publishers and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! Pub Date July 16, 2019!

A cute and quirky read. This is perfect for a summer read. Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review. This book tells the story between two generations and I feel many people could relate to it.

Mom’s Perfect Boyfriend by Crystal Hemmingway a four-star read that you will find to be the perfect reading companion. This way my first read by this author and I can’t wait to check more out, it was so funny, I liked the writing set up once I got a handle on it, but it did take me a while. It was weird as I enjoyed watching everything fall apart, it made me question everything about myself. Crystal was great, she told her story and everyone else’s and made you care about them even if you wanted to slap a couple of them at times then hug them and cheer them at other times. I for one am excited about the next novel in the Smart Companions series, and who knows I may even look for some stories about Dinosaurs while I wait.

I enjoyed this book a lot! It was a quick, quirky light read about a somewhat dysfunctional family. It explores relationships between a couple of generations of mothers and daughters. This book will make a perfect summer read - i found it to have a unique storyline. The entire book is written through text messages, instant messages, journal entries and emails. I liked this format - it made it quick and easy to read.

A great book from Crystal Hemmingway. I’ve never read a book by this author before and I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed the story. The characters were well thought out and the story was well paced.

Mom's Perfect Boyfriend by Crystal Hemmingway is a fun, fast-paced read that makes no apologies for that fact that it revels in the ridiculous. If you are not one to suspend your disbelief, this one is not for you. If you have an appreciation for the absurd, or are just looking to change things up from your typically preferred genres, then read on.

I must preface this by saying that I absolutely loved the format of the story, and relished the opportunity to read something completely different. Presented exclusively in emails, texts, letters, and journal entries, this is a quick read that I gobbled up in a single afternoon. Despite their quirks and foibles, I found the characters to be endearing on the whole. This is an interesting take on the mother/daughter relationship, and in this format of personal correspondence, we are given unique insight into the psyche of each character in a way that a traditional narrative would be unable to provide. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of Margot's numerous gratitude lists.

Overall, this is a fun and humourous read that I would recommend to anyone looking to foray outside of their literary comfort zone.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Galbadia Press for this ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Such an easy read, with an interesting story line and likable characters. I loved the structure of the book and will be looking to read more from Crystal Hemmingway. (Also, I appreciated the drawing of the dinosaur at the end)

Usually I don't enjoy books with this formatting (especially when narrated on an ebook reader), and for a while thought I wouldn't be able to finish it as written, but the story line drew me in.It tells the events that took place within a mildly dysfunctional family unit through a series of journal entries and texts,chronicling all the good ,bad and humorous situations that happened as their lives unfold over a period of months.I found some of the situations wildly improbable but that was the essence of the book and what kept you enthralled to the end.Crystal and her sister Lisa kept open lines of communication about the entity that affected them most-their mother, and she in turn shares her views and thoughts about the way she felt her family treated her.It is interesting how each person can interpret the exact same instance and words differently based on where you are mentally.There was a good balance of hilarity and seriousness mixed in to make this a good read that didn't seem to lag but sprinted toward the finale.

Thanks so much to the publishers and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my review! Pub Date July 16, 2019!

What an incredibly fun and silly way to spend a few hours! (Well, okay. I didn't finish it in a few hours. But this was a very fast read, even for someone who is as slow of a reader as I am, so if I hadn't had to work yesterday I probably could have finished it within just a few hours.)

This book is all told through the form of texts, instant messages, emails, journal entries, etc. giving it it's very fast pace. I always think that that can be a really engaging way to tell a story when it's done well, and it is definitely done well. There are enough instances with each character to feel like you are invested enough in their lives, but not enough to draw on too long. And there are plenty of different things happening to keep your attention.

I didn't learn anything, I didn't come away from this reading experience with too many deep or philosophic issues to ponder (although once or twice we do dip our toes in that pool), and I didn't feel like my life was changed for reading it. But I didn't want to put it down, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. What I did walk away with was a sense that I needed to call my mom, and thankful for the relationship that I have with my family.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who maybe wants something lighthearted after a deeper read, or even someone who just has a few hours to kill and wants to be reminded that there is always a family out there stranger than yours!

What a fun, easy read that I enjoyed so much! A quirky if a bit unbelievable tale about a daiughter, her mother, their relationship, marshmallows, dinosaurs, and robots! I found that the story told through emails, texts, and journal entries to be a fun and interesting approach. It made it flow and fit together well.

The plot, the characters and the book aura did not appeal to me the slightest. It was slow, there was not enough trying points or smoothness in the plot. I was berry disappointed.