I'm in the process of writing a glowing review for Library Journal, so these are more my raw thoughts. I'm absolutely going to be picking up a finished copy and urge everyone to do so as well!

Such a delight, I'm just so pleased to see one of my favorites get a wide release. Talia Hibbert never shies away from difficult topics but always in a way that never makes you feel despair. Seeing a character with chronic illness get their HEA is important. Seeing a character who is emotionally abused and find their way to therapy and their own HEA is important. Seeing people who are very much like us, very much different than us, or a mix of both, is important. Talia Hibbert does all of this with sparkling wit, humor, and sensitivity.

Talia provides CW at the beginning of her books, but the ones that stood out to me I've described above.

GET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN is tied for favorite of the four titles I read for Book Buzz.

The novel follows our titular character, Chloe Brown; Chloe is chronically ill and, after her last stint in the hospital, she decides to create a step-by-step list in order to, finally, get a life. The first step? Move out of her parents’ mansion in the suburbs. After acquiring her first apartment, however, Chloe is stymied – but happily ropes her tall and mysteriously brooding neighbor, Redford “Red” Morgan, into checking off items on her quest to Get a Life. But Red has his own issues and secrets, including Chloe’s casual reliance on her wealthy parents.

GET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN was fun, quirky, and insightful. Chloe had a complete arc within the novel, which I appreciated, and you could see her character growth as she was exposed to new things. Red’s character was the perfect balance for Chloe – and was just the right dose of blue-collar realism this book needed.

This book reminded me of all the best parts of BRIDGET JONES’ DIARY meets WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER meets JUST FRIENDS. Read-alikes for this title would be PRIDE, PREJUDICE, AND OTHER FLAVORS by Sonali Dev & Jasmine Guillory THE WEDDING DATE series.

Special thanks to NetGalley, Talia Hibbert, and Avon for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

As a first time reader of Talia Hibbert, I went into this romance with no expectations and came out a TOTAL FAN of Talia Hibbert. Get A Life, Chloe Brown provides so much joy. I could not stop laughing or smiling throughout the entire story. The plot put a huge smile on my face for days.

After a near death experience, Chloe Brown who is chronically ill with Fibromyalgia, contemplates what her obituary would say. This promptly inspires her to write a bucket list that will force her to start living. I never laughed so hard during an epilogue. I know it sounds a bit weird laughing at a near death experience, but Talia Hibbert's writing is pure comedic genius.

Chloe (it is really hard for me to refer to her as just Chloe / I want to call her Chloe Brown all the time) is my kind of heroine. She's sarcastic and funny. She's kind of a little rude but doesn't really mean to be. She has been dealt some tough cards in her life which has forced her to build walls with everyone except her family. Chloe Brown is a strong, determined female. She is awe-inspiring.

The first chapter begins with Chloe living in her own flat where she begins to have awkward moments with the building supervisor, Redford.

Red is a total gingerish hottie who is also a bit down on life, He is a little stuck and is unsure how to get out of his rut. He almost seems fine being stuck. Whereas Chloe is very self aware of her issues, Red is not.

Initially, Chloe and Red cannot stand each other and I am all about it. Their personal prejudices hold them back from becoming friends. To make matters "worse", they are both equally appalled to find themselves secretly attracted to each other, leading right into a perfect enemies to lovers, slow burn set up.

I swooned hard when Chloe and Red became more. Their story is so beautiful. They both overcome so much. But the most stunning aspect is that although Chloe may have been the one trying to get a life, she gives new life to Red, too.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown is a must read. Hysterically funny. Delightful. Extremely clever. Inspiring. If Chloe Brown can get a life, so can you! I now must go buy myself a paperback copy so that I can spread it all around Instagram.

Side note: Talia Hibbert, your novel dedication is beautiful.

GET A LIFE CHLOE BROWN is a rom-com with more heart than most, because of the special heroine.
Hibbert deals with a relatively unknown but looming issue in society, silent chronic illness delicately and sweetly.
It was clever to make the typically handsome love interest vulnerable as well, so that the heroine was not 'saved' but they helped each other.
I'm glad Hibbert is writing another book with these characters, and I hope there is a lot of Chloe in it. She is like a modern Mary Poppins, feigning dismay at the fun her and her companions are having.

Loooved this book! The characters were amazing, the dialogue was great, and it was overall a great read. If you’re looking for a cute rom com with some emotional depth, read this book!

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a hilarious, sweet romance between two broken characters that learn to accept their differences and find love through their imperfections. Chloe suffers from chronic pain and has lived a life of seclusion and pain. She decides to make a list of things she wants to do in order to feel alive. She builds a tentative friendship with Red who is quietly infactuated with her and also feeling stuck in his life. Slowly they overcome their own fears and through quirky banter fall in love. Loved it because the dialogue is incredibly fresh and uniquely funny. The characters flawed but sarcastically refreshing. A must buy.

This book was an absolute joy to read. Chloe and Red are fantastic characters, and the author did such a fantastic job fleshing them both out and seeing how the two of them fill each other's gaps. It took my a bit to warm up to Chloe, and I think that was because she's so utterly British, but the more you see things from her point of view, you cannot help but love her. You see her growth as a person from Chloe at the beginning of the book to Chloe at the end of the book. You can see it, this transformation into what Chloe wants to become. You cannot help but root for her while rolling your eyes are her ridiculously posh-ness. She is bossy and demanding, but not in that "Ugh what a witch" kind of way. She knows what she wants, how she wants it, and she will go for her when she is ready to. She doesn't allow her illness to hold her back any longer.

Red has become my favorite male character this year so far. He is wonderful. He is not without his own issues, and you see how they've affected his life just as Chloe's issues affected hers. We see the effects of an abusive relationship, and I LOVE that the author chose to have the point of view from a male survivor of an abusive relationship. How the automatic negative thoughts take hold when you've been told you're nothing over and over again. The great thing about this novel is that Red recognizes this and seeks out treatment. And when he tells Chloe, she praises him for doing what he needed to do to get mentally healthy. And how he works with Chloe and her chronic pain, ensuring her needs are being met and that she is comfortable just melts this cold heart over and over again. I know in every romance novel, the two characters are going to end up together. Talia does it in a way that you just feel that these two were destined for each other. There was no one else on this planet for Red or for Chloe.

I love that this book had a plus-size MC with a disability and was a Black woman. We don't see that a lot of the time. But these things were not what Chloe was. She was so much more, and that was also what was refreshing about this book. Her size wasn't talked about at all. It didn't have any bearing on her chronic pain. It was just the way it was, and homegirl owned her body and knew she was stunning and sexy. I was a little worried that she would be fetishized by Red, but no, he genuinely found her sexy even she was sick, because Chloe is who she is. The way he worshiped her body made this plus-size reader swoon just a little bit.

This is a romance novel, and there are sexy scenes in it, and they were glorious. Not too raunchy, but not vanilla either. The scenes were sexy, sweet, and perfect.

I cannot recommend strong enough to go buy this book when it comes out. It will be absolutely worth it, and I know I will to add it to my collection.

I was given this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

It was a little slow at the beginning but it picked up and became so wonderful. I've always heard amazing things about Hilbert's writing and characters and they were not wrong. Chloe is an amazing character, living with an invisible chronic illness that wasn't believed and now is making a bucket list to get her "life" back together. Red is just a precious cinnamon roll boi that wasn't treated well in that past. But these two are just so great with each other. Can't wait to read more books from Hilbert.

Description from back of book:

Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?

Enjoy a drunken night out.
Ride a motorcycle.
Go camping.
Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
And... do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.
Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…



I’m in love with this one. This is my first book from this author and she definitely has my attention now. This book was filled with witty and funny anecdotes that caught even me by surprise. I could say I really understood Chloe’s apprehension after everything she’s been through. It’s always beautiful watching/reading anyone take back their lives. And boy, did she?! And Red was everything! Hahaha. He paid attention, noticed things people would not, and always had a great comeback. And even though he had a bit of hang up about his past relationship which is very understandable. I thought who he was, was a great pairing with Chloe.


You are definitely going to love this one.

Hope you enjoy.

And as always Happy Reading!
Dee

I really liked the mental health rep that this book gave, it was really good. my only gripe is that the romance was a bit slow

Get a Life, Chloe Brown was my first Talia Hibbert book, and I can’t wait to read more. This was a sweet, fun, and sexy romance, but it was more than that. I love that it featured a disabled/chronically ill heroine and a hero who broke stereotypes in another way. This is representation we don’t see a ton of in the romance world, and I for one was happy to see it.

Chloe Brown is living life on her own for the first time. She’s 31 years old, and after a life altering near death experience, she decides to take life by the horns and live a little. This includes making a list of things she needs to do. A ‘get a life’ list.

There are many things on this list. Some are big things, and some are little things. They’re all important to Chloe. Chloe lives in an apartment building where Redford Morgan is the super. Red is a lovable guy and gets along with everyone. Except for Chloe. I love the banter between these two so much. The enemies to lovers romance done right is one of my favorite troupes ever. Even though Chloe and Red don’t get along, there is a lingering attraction between the two of them. 



Somehow, Chloe and Red decide to help each other out. Red will take Chloe on his bike (part of the list) and she will help with a website (he’s the opposite of tech savvy). Once Red finds out about this list, he wants to help with even more…

I loved Chloe and Red together so much. Both of them were wonderful characters. Red was the sweetest guy. When he found out that Chloe was ill, he took care of her while letting her be independent. I think that’s so important. Red had a lot of relationship baggage and it was hard for him to let Chloe be there for him, but whit time they worked it out. Chloe was such a strong and feisty character. I admired her and think she will be relatable to a lot of women. She certainly was relatable to me in some ways.

YES!!! I loved this so, so much. Chloe Brown is exactly the kind of cantankerous, relatable heroine I love to see in contemporary romance. I do like my romance with a bit more steam but this is a great introduction to the genre. Happy to see this coming soon!

My absolute favorite thing about this book was Chloe's POV. I was sucked into her voice right away, and thought she was smart and funny and that her struggles to connect with others due to her chronic illness was incredibly well done (I do not have a chronic illness such as fibro, nor do I have one that affects my mobility, so I cannot speak to the authenticity of that specific rep.) I did not love Red's POV as much as Chloe's. While I do think he was a great love interest in many ways (very sweet and very accomodating of Chloe's disability without at all belittling her) and that the rep for PTSD from emotional abuse was fantastic, I just didn't really jive with how overtly and, in my opinion, OVERLY horny he was at all times throughout this book. I am OK with some raunchy scenes (if I weren't I wouldn't have picked up this book; they're fun to read and add a level of realism to any romance) but this erred more on the side of erotica than rom-com, and I just wasn't expecting that? I found some of the sexy dialogue sort of cringe, which pulled me out of shipping Chloe and Red as much as I could have if we'd only gotten Chloe's POV. Overall I think the rep of a fat, black, disabled woman is FANTASTIC and that there is a lot of wit and heart here, but if you're not one for hyper-horny male love interests, be aware of that going in!

I LOVED this book! It had a wonderful plot, great character development, and the writing was hilarious. The idea that a very real life disease, fibromyalgia, is holding Chloe back from living her life to the fullest is realistic, and makes a reader think about their life and if they are living it up. I found the plot inspiring and the love story heartwarming. The author describes her characters in such a way that i felt as though I was Chloe and Red when they were narrating, the author had the characters make decisions and I supported everyone of those decisions because they fit the characters perfectly. I loved the Chloe and Red's banter and the endless sarcasm, it was so much fun to read. I kept catching myself laughing out loud and then realizing that other people probably thought I was crazy. The only thing that I wanted from this book that I didn't get was a longer epilogue, but I am sure there is more of Chloe and Red's relationship in the next book in the series about Danika! Overall, 4.5 steaming cups of tea to recommend to all of your friends.

Firstly, I'd like to officially thank the romance novel industry's collective graphic design team for making the shift from two people almost kissing to these cute pastel cartoons.

Alright, on to the review.

If you've read a good amount of romance you know that they can be pretty algorithmic. I've pointed this out before (specifically in my review of The Unhoneymooners), but I want to talk about it again here because Hibbert follows this algorithm in all of the books of hers that I've read.

So here's how it goes:
1) Brief introduction for each of our main characters, probably a chapter or two each.
2) Meet cute / first contact at around 7%
3) Resistance, courtship, relationship starting 10-30%
4) Characters get together! Sex! 35-40%
5) Cuteness (but also reveal of the Conflict of the book) 40-80%
6) Misunderstanding/miscommunication and/or culmination of conflict leads to breakup 85-90%
7) Grand gesture! Triumph over evil! MC's back together, HEA 95%
8) Time jump epilogue 97%

There's nothing inherently wrong with this blueprint. However, I will note that there are two main pitfalls of it: it can get repetitive and boring, and step 6 is easy to do wrong. These are the two things that made me dislike The Unhoneymooners.

Talia Hibbert's books never feel repetitive and she never does step 6 wrong.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown is the story of chronically ill Chloe Brown deciding to start living her life outside her comfort zone after a near-death experience. Her first step? Moving into her own apartment where she meets Red, the superintendent. The two make a deal and Red agrees to help Chloe with her list in exchange for her help with creating an online presence for his art.

Both characters feel real and relatable and the plot never feels forced. Hibbert's books always make me feel just...happy. I was just sitting in bed grinning ear to ear reading this and I'm sure my roommate thinks I'm insane. Genuinely funny and joyously genuine.

I thought this was a fun little romance. I found the characters relate-able and likable and I found their relationship believable. I know we will have some strong interest in this book at my library and we will be ordering a couple copies. Thank you so much!

I heard so much Hype on booktube about this one so i was so mm super excited to get this one and it did not disappoint. I loved this it is swony and cute and I can not wait to get my hands on a physical copy

Wow 4.25, I was expecting to like this book so much and I prepared myself an easy peasy cheesy rom-com but I got emotional whirlwind, heart wrecking second chances of traumatized, struggling two beautiful soul’s story and I adored, devoured, savored and finally found my juicy romance STARS! HALELUJAH!

I’m so happy because in the meantime I read another romance story which I detested (its review is coming up and unfortunately it’s one of the popular , highly promoted books of the year) and I was about to give up reading something decent and lovable book, something makes you feel alive, something makes your heart ache, refresh your soul, put a smile on your face which couldn’t be wiped so easily. I’m happy to announce: this book gave me more than I expected and I finally found LOVABLE AND ADORABLE AMAZING CHARACTERS.
Chloe, witty, sophisticated, who has great taste when it comes to buttoned cardigans and colorful vintage dresses, carries the pain as indispensable piece of your life because she’s suffering from fibromyalgia, accompanied by fatigue and altered sleep, memory, mood. One day she had a nearly dead experience. A drunk driver got into a store, instead of crashing her which made her think she had one life to live so she needed to escape from the cocoon that her protective and lovely family wrapped around her and prepare a list to teach her how to take more risks and bring more fun into her dull, foreseeable life.

As soon as she moved to an apartment she meet with super-duper hottie intendent Red-ford who was always seeing red in their encounters. Then we start witnessing their slow burn romantic relationship. Chloe has to deal with her insecurities because of her illness. Her own fiancée and close friends ghosted her after they found out her chronic disease.

And Red who was once upon a time a selected, famous painter, still trying to bury the ghost of ex girlfriends’ ghost, suffering from wrong decisions of his life. Now he needs a take a step to embrace his new opportunities by opening his heart to new and meaningful love.

Two of them literally collided and made wrong impressions about their real intentions. They started to think the worst about each other. But a beautiful cat made her job as a secret cupid to bring them together and helped them connect. So they took a first step from enemies to become friends.

Chloe needs help of Red to fulfill her list and Red needs an efficient website for his comeback operation for his new drawings. It started with friends with benefits agreement (not including sex, Chloe excluded that option from her list) but then…. No more spoiler… Grab the book and keep your sassy smile. A small spoiler… The chemistry between the couple is hot as hell.

I was truly adamant to give five stars to this book. But… there is an angsty moment… which is not too necessary… a little pissed me off… I know every new relationship with the characters have heavy baggage from their past can stumble with struggles but I wish the author visualized far better obstacles between those characters. I love edgy, heart breaking moments about the characters’ breakup to realize how they cannot live without each other. But this hearsay kind of misunderstanding caused a great cliffhanger of their relationship didn’t work with me!

But I still loved this romantic story! I adored the couple! And I’m curious about those incredible sisters’ entertaining stories! I’m all in for the sequels!

Special thanks to Avon and Netgalley to share this wonderful read with me in exchange my honest review!

This was soooo so so so cute. Cute like the kind that makes you feel warm and fuzzy and soft. I love Chloe and Red and their story and their relationship so much. I also super appreciated reading from the perspective of someone with a chronic illness because I never have. I can't speak on how good the rep was, and I'm not sure if it's own voice, but I enjoyed seeing life through Chloe's eyes in that way.

So I'm not one for contemporary romances, but when I saw this on NetGalley I had to give it a try, and it was SUCH a good decision!! I've never read Hibbert before, but she does a bang up job at romantic comedies with well rounded, funny, interesting characters and some goooooood sex scenes. I was bugging my partner with excerpts I found particularly funny, hot, or heart melting, and bless him for nodding along!

The plot is one a lot of readers are familiar with -- enemies to friends to MORE than friends -- with a few really impactful choices: most notably the heroine being a curmudgeon with a dry sense of humor who also happens to be black, fat, and living with a disability (fibromyalgia). The hero is a hot, warm, lovable building superintendent with a motorcycle, gorgeous red hair, and tattoos who's really an artist recovering from a hard few years in an abusive relationship. Red's willingness to accomodate Chloe's disability in a way that no one outside her family ever has, while still not infantilizing her is a breath of fresh fuckin' air in a genre that doesn't tend to have the best representation for WOC OR people with disabilities, and I loved it!!

I cannot recommend the book highly enough, and I will be impatiently waiting for Hibbert's next books in the series, which promise to tell the stories of Chloe's two sisters, Eve and Dani!!