DNF at 27% because that's roughly the point at which I could predict with 95% certainty how the story would unfold. And that's usually when the fun stops for me. The writing, the characters, the plot, none of those elements could entice me to keep reading until the end when I already knew what I would find there.

Maddie is simply exhausted. She put everyone else’s needs above her own. It was only a matter of time before she cracked. Her son has left on his gap year and her marriage is on the brink, it’s time for Maddie to take some time out for herself.

This is more of a book about self discovery than romance.

A little different to what I was expecting, but a pleasant read none the less! More of a self discovery book than a romance

The book was really good, and the writing was too! I just couldn't really connect with the characters.

Light and frothy, unfortunately this lacked substance for me and I struggled to concentrate or finish.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of “Take a Look at Me Now” by Kendra Smith. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was much too long. There was a lot of filler that could have been cut for pacing. I found myself frequently putting the book down or skimming large passages just to get through it.

While I liked some aspects of the different settings and travel, the characters were difficult to root for. Maddie is an indecisive doormat throughout the book. She doesn’t question any glaring red flags in her life and seems to take things at face value with no desire to investigate or ask more questions. Both Maddie and Greg suffered from this “no further questions” attitude and with their shared traumatic past this made no sense to me. They let their past ruin their subsequent relationships and never sought one another out for closure or to clear the air. It just made no sense to me and was frustrating.

Lately I’ve been struggling with romance books that have these big dark secret’s exposed and then not enough time is devoted to the fallout and the healing from the secret coming to light. This book definitely fell into that category and was overall too lengthy and frustrating for me.

2/5 stars

A cute read about the happenings on Maddie life where son had taken a stop gap year, husband was busy at work and her aunt had Alzheimer. Maddie at 40 wanted to discover herself again and in the reunion she met up with her first love Greg from whom she was hiding a secret.

A slow burn of a book where I got to see her strength and determination only in the latter half of the story. Quite a few emotions scenes added to the plot. Overall it was an easy breezy read.

A good book, what would be described as light reading with a foreseeable ending. Good holiday read.

I've tried 3 times to get into this book and just wasn't captivated by the plot or characters. DNF, unfortunately.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

<b> I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </b>

<i> Take a Look at Me Now </i> was a great read, didn´t expect it to be this well written. I mostly enjoyed the story, only thing bothering me was how often "that big dark secret" was mentioned without being explained. I don´t really like those types of teaser as they always give too much away. Spoils it a bit.

However for the most part I really liked this book, I enjoyed the mains character life and viewpoint. It was a great read.

A fun and feel-good romp, Kendra Smith’s uplifting new novel Take a Look Me Now is a hilarious tale that
explores whether you can ever really go back to your first love sure to strike a chord with readers everywhere.

Maddie Brown is used to putting everyone else first and herself last. Catering to the needs and desires of her family for decades has left her exhausted and also desperate to figure out who she really is when she is not running around like a headless chicken sorting things out for her nearest and dearest. With her nest scarily empty and her marriage on the brink, the time has come for Maddie to spread her wings and head back into the world and a university reunion could be just the thing to help her figure out how she is going to tackle this brand new chapter in her life. It is also going to propel her straight into the path of her first love, Greg, the one who had got away and the one man she still considers to be the love of her life. Will this be the second chance Maddie has been waiting for? Or is she setting herself up for heartbreak, embarrassment and disappointment?

It’s clear that the attraction between Maddie and Greg is still there and their feelings for one another seem to be as strong and potent as ever. However, picking up where they left off and taking another shot at their relationship is not going to be as easy as they had imagined. There is a lot of unresolved history standing between them – not to mention plenty of powerful secrets that could put paid to any chance the two of them might have to build a life together. Maddie has kept something from Greg. Something so shocking that could jeopardise the future which she would love to build with him. Is she going to be brave enough to take the plunge and reveal this guilty secret to him? And what will Greg’s reaction be?

Maddie would love nothing more than to start afresh with Greg, but when the past refuses to stay hidden, is she going to end up right back where she started all those years ago?

Take a Look at Me Now is a fantastic tale about self-discovery, fresh starts and finding the courage to step out of your comfort zone which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Kendra Smith certainly knows how to create characters that are flawed, relatable and believable and Maddie is a wonderful characters readers are going to love spending them with.

A book that will make you giggle and keep you turning the pages, Take a Look Me Now is a funny, fast-paced and fabulous read rom-com fans are going to love.

Could not get into this book at any point. The heroine felt flat, and I just couldn't be brought to care for her. Also, found it very hard to get past that she is still married (not separated or anything, but still actively married with the husband being clueless) and falling for another guy. Said guy which also came across as a pompous arse when we are introduced to him and who left me wondering who would even bother to go after such a horrible person, never mind how handsome and sexy? Sadly, couldn't get into this read and it really felt 'off' and very far from what the blurb suggested

Less of a romance, more of a find yourself type novel! A great read nonetheless and something I’m sure a lot of people could relate to!

First I'd like to say thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me access to this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Here it goes....
This book is about a 41 year old woman named Maddie who is struggling with a troubled marriage and an empty nest. She goes to a university reunion and sees her college boyfriend and has a spark of what might have been, but that gets put on hold for awhile. Her son is in Bali working at a surf shop during his gap year after high school and she gets a call that he's been in an accident so she goes to Bali. For awhile, she's juggling seeming feelings for 3 guys- her husband, her university love, and the owner of the surf shop in Bali. However, I felt ZERO emotion for any of these relationships. We also get the perspective of Olive, her aunt (actually her husband's aunt), who is in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimers. She loves Maddie even more than her husband and she may even know Maddie better than she knows herself. The relationship between Maddie and Olive is the only one that evoked any emotion out of me. As for all of the men, I couldn't care less who she ended up with and it was very weird how it was all handled. Relationships were just randomly dropped without further mention and seemingly no emotional impact on Maddie. Furthermore, theres a big secret that Maddie's been keeping from all the men in her life and the way she decides to bring it up is also really poorly done, in my opinion. Overall, this book was missing a lot for me. I felt like the writing was poor and the relationships were lackluster at best. I think marketing it as a romance is not accurate as its really just an unfocused "woman finds herself" story.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
Maddie's relationship with Johnny, the surf shop owner, never really comes to fruition, but then she goes home and he's completely forgotten. She runs into her "one that got away" Greg around the same time she finds out her husband has a gambling addiction and is cheating on her, so she files for divorce and again, seemingly without emotional impact, he's out of the picture. The rest of the book is mostly her relationship with Greg but it has its hiccups too. They dated in college and she got pregnant. He fled, but we find out it was because her mom was not very kind to him and she told him that she got rid of the baby. So all these years he assumed she had an abortion, but what really happened was that she lost the baby. HOWEVER, it was a vanishing twin situation so she lost one baby, but the other one is her now 19 year old son, Ed, who she's been passing off as someone else's his whole life. Understandably Greg is mad, Ed is mad that Greg fled because he doesn't know the whole story, etc. The drama all resolves and Greg and Maddie end up together. The end.

This book was not the romance I thought it would be. It was relatable for me and it was about the journey of discovering yourself at a different crossroads in life. I did find it entertaining and inspirational just was lacking the romance I hoped for.

This was definitely not my kind of book. It is not a romance, which it is categorized to be. I really didn't care for the main character and it was way too long. You'd be better off skipping this book if you want a fun fluffy summer read.

This novel is about a 41-year-old woman named Maddie. Her 19-year-old-son, Ed, is off traveling the world during a gap year and she is left at home with empty nest syndrome and a less than desirable husband named Tim. When Maddie attends her college reunion, she spots Greg, her true love from her younger days. This coupled with some wise and encouraging words from her Aunt Olive about getting out and living her life, sparks a change in Maddie.

This book is a long one, 498 pages to be exact. Honestly, I would say about the first 20-30% of it sort of dragged for me and I was worried that this one just wouldn’t work for me. Luckily, I stuck with it and found myself completely engrossed in Maddie’s story. Things get interesting when she heads to Bali to check on her son after a surfing accident. There, she not only meets a good-looking surfing instructor, but she also gets to relive some of her earlier days by trying out surfing again for herself. Moreover, she finds herself at concerts, beach parties, and having the time of her life. Unfortunately, while she’s there, a string of horrible things come to light regarding her ridiculous husband, so she’s not sure what waits for her once she returns. Once back in the UK, there’s a whole other chain of events, resulting in Maddie heading to Isle of Wight to fix up her Aunt Olive’s cottage. This is when things start getting interesting!

I’ve seen some reviews of this book that were from younger readers saying that they struggled to relate to/connect with Maddie, making them not enjoy the book. I completely get that because when you’re young, it’s hard to imagine getting to your 40’s and not being happy with your life. However, I completely got this book! Considering I remarried 5 years ago at 40 years old, I found it effortless to relate to and root for Maddie. Who says you can’t start over and create a new life completely unlike the one you’ve been living? Is it ever too late to find your own happily ever after? I found Maddie to be an honest, vulnerable, yet inspirational character. This woman was put through the wringer the entire novel, yet she carried on and excelled in a new career in a new place – for the most part, completely on her own. Yes, she had some circumstances requiring her to ask for help, but overall, Maddie’s character is amazingly independent and strong.

I did have some issues with Greg’s stubbornness and Ed’s judgemental attitude, but overall, I truly enjoyed this novel. Maddie’s character should serve as inspiration for anyone that wonders shouldn’t life be better than this. This was a 4-star read for me (not 5 because of the length and the slow start) and it is one that I highly recommend. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

*Thanks to Aria and NetGalley for providing this review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was a difficult read for me. At the very beginning of the book I was intrigued with Maddie’s story, especially as how it related to her reliving her first love. However, things took a turn when she went to Bali and I struggled to get back into the story after that. That derailed the rest of the book for me. I think part of the issue is that I was expecting this to be a book that mostly focused on romance and instead it was about a woman trying to find herself again after getting lost in the world of motherhood. Overall I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to read the story but I wasn’t the right audience for it.

The Blurb :
Out with the old...
Maddie Brown has spent most of her life putting everyone else's needs above her own. But with her marriage crumbling and her son away on a gap year, Maddie is finally ready to start thinking about what she really wants. If only she knew what that was...
In with the... ex?
At a university reunion, Maddie meets Greg. He was the love of her life – and the one that got away. Some things never change, and neither of them can deny the feelings that linger between them. But there are so many reasons they can't be together... not least the massive secret she has been keeping from him all these years.
Maddie is SO ready for a brand new start. But what do you do when the past just won't stay in the past?

My Thoughts:
Having loved Kendra Smith’s previous work I was pleased to see she had released a new book Take a Look at Me Now.
Here we meet Maddie Brown, in her 40s and realising that life it not what she wants it to be, having lost herself for years. She in unhappy in her life and marriage with Tim. Her son has left for a gap year in Bali, So Maddie decides its time she puts her own needs first and do some self discovery of her own. Enter Greg, he is the love of her life and the one that got away. Seeing him at a university reunion, Maddie thinks maybe she should had made different decisions all those years ago.
She is also dealing with her aunt Olive’s diagnosis of Alzheimers. Which was nicely covered in the story, but wish we covered it a little more.
Can Maddie be happy again or will she live the life she has always lived that she is used to!?.
I like Kendra Smith’s writing style and always get excited when she has a new release. Although at times the story did drag out a little, I was still eager to get to the end to see what happened with the charactors. Great enjoyable read.

I had the good fortune to read one of Kendra's earlier books last year and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. When I heard that she was due to release a new book, I knew that I was going to have to read it as soon as I could. I read the synopsis for 'Take A Look At Me Now' and it certainly sounded like the kind of fun and light hearted read I so needed at that moment in time. I did enjoy reading 'Take A Look At Me Now' but more about that in a bit.
It took me a little while to get into this book but that has more to do with the fact that I was finding it hard to concentrate at that moment in time and shouldn't be taken as a criticism of the author. Once I got into the story that was it and I was away. This wasn't one of those books that I was able to read over the course of a single day but I did manage to binge read the book over a couple of days. I would become so wrapped up in the story that I would lose all track of time and I would get a shock when I looked at the clock to realise that an hour or two had gone past. I reached the end of the book quicker than I had expected to.
'Take A Look At Me Now' is well written. Kendra has one of those writing styles that makes you feel as though you are chatting with friends rather than reading an actual book. I hope that makes sense. She grabs your attention with the synopsis alone and then gradually draws you into the story. For me, this book was more of a slow burn type of story than a fast paced one but that was ok because it meant that I could properly get to know the characters and get a feel for their personalities. I did feel as though I was part of the story myself, which is thanks to Kendra's very vivid and realistic descriptions.
In short, I did enjoy reading 'Take A Look At Me Now' and I would recommend this book to other readers and particularly to those readers who prefer a more gentle pace of story. I will certainly be reading more of Kendra's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board has to be 4* out of 5*.