Charming Falls Apart by Angela Terry is a fun women's fiction book that I really enjoyed. This is my first book by this author, but won't be my last. Allison James has a terrible day, the day before she turns thirty-five. Allison get fired from her public relations firm where she has worked for twelve years. When she gets home her fiance calls off the wedding because he has been sleeping with her maid of honor. Allison takes her friend Jordan advice by focusing on herself. I really enjoyed this book, I love it when women realize how strong they really are. I highly recommend this book, for anyone who wants to escape a few hours away, rooting for Allison.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

So, this book is about Allison. Allison is a 35-year old woman and a rule-follower. On the day she gets fired, her fiancé breaks the news that he has fallen in love with someone else: her maid-of-honour. So, basically her life has fallen apart. Taking a friend’s advice, she takes this time to figure out her life again. She starts by reading self-help books, hoping that there’s something in there that can help her. Meanwhile, she starts stopping by at this new coffeehouse in her neighbourhood and she meets Eric, the owner. And guess what? He’s cute! So between the coffeehouse, a mother who’s pressuring her about grandbaby’s, an asshole ex-fiancé, and a saboteur at her old job, Allison tries to get her groove back.

At first, I thought that this was going to be a romance book. But it was actually more of a contemporary, which I enjoyed. This way we didn’t need a man, and we could focus on Allison and building her life back up. I liked the writing. The story in general was okay, but kind of boring. I mean the author definitely stuck to writing what she knew: a 35-year old, white, middle-class woman. But the thing that kind of stuck with me and bothered me in a sense, was that shit happened to Allison. She was never the person to cause something for herself. Things just happened or people did something to her. Like, her mom is an asshole for pressuring her for grandchildren, harassing her about freezing her eggs. Her fiancé cheated on her, and is an asshole about cancelling the wedding, and he cheated on her with her maid-of-honour, her friend! And then there’s this colleague who is supposedly sabotaging her, having her fired. She had a very passive role in everything. This made it more difficult to relate to her, because she was perfect, but she surrounded herself with assholes in every aspect of her life, which was kind of stupid. And when you find out who everyone in her life was, you could basically spot the red flags everywhere. So yeah, that is my opinion on this book. All-in-all, it was a quick read and it had fun parts, so I ended up giving this 2,5 stars.

Much thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes it's nice to have a novel into which you can completely escape, especially in this day and age. Angela Terry's debut Charming Falls Apart: A Novel fits that bill and I read the majority of it in one day!

I really enjoyed this impressive debut! While the subject matter is cliché for this genre, Angela does a great job with keeping the story interesting and engaging. Allison was a sympathetic character throughout and I cared about what happened in her life. I found her relatable, even if we didn't have the same kinds of experiences. (However, I can sort of relate to one of her experiences now.) I really liked the supporting characters (aside from Allison's ex and her former best friend). While her mom tended to be annoying, it was just enough to make me angry on Allison's behalf.

I liked that the story took place in Chicago (as I grew up in the suburbs), but it didn't capture the feel and mood of the city for me. For what it was worth, it could have been any city. (Authors with several books under their belt have done this with certain cities too.) I may just be more critical since I am still a Chicago girl at heart, or maybe it's just been too long since I last lived nearby.

Overall, this was a fun and engaging story about friendship and relationships and it will definitely keep you entertained this summer!

Movie casting suggestions:
Allison: Emily Wickersham
Neil: Matt Lanter
Jordan: Katharine McPhee
Eric: Justin Hartley
Stacey: Allegra Edwards
Kate: Shannon Woodward
Alistair: Justin Baldoni
Paige: Alison Sweeney
Suzy: Nikki Blonsky
Theresa (mom): Rene Russo

Charming falls apart and this book just totally fell into my life at the most perfect time. After recently going through a long term relationship break up myself, I began this book. I am Allison. I’m pretty sure this book was written for me. No need to go out and get my own self help books, when this book did it for me.

Allison loses her fiancé, job and friend all in one day. Things can’t get much worse, but she is determined and positive and does what she can to move on and move forward. She learns from her mistakes and does her best to find peace at the end.

Cute, real, and fun. This book had it all. You get your heartbroken with Allison and are right there helping her pick up the pieces.

I received a copy of this book to review from Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.
This book is a sweet, easy to read book. It is a great book for a summer holiday. The writing is good and the characters are quite interesting.
The story is a bit unnecessarily complicated at times.
On the whole a good book

I got through 36% of this book before giving up because...

1. How many times can I read about this woman's post-break up life of working out and getting coffee? Do I need to read about it 4-5 times?

2. How many times is this 35 year old woman going to allow her mother to treat her like a child and verbally abuse her?

3. I'm 36% in and she has exchanged a handful of meaningless convos with the male lead. Talking about scone flavors is not setting my panties ablaze.

I just don't know what the author was going for here. We don't need an entire chapter dedicated to linch with her awful mother. Or another full chapter dedicated entirely to packing up the ex's stuff. Or a chapter of coffee and spin class followed by a chapter of coffee and barre class.

This book lacked focus, engagement, a strong female lead, and a good editor.

I received an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

I was hooked on this tale of one woman finding her ownself and her own happiness. Generally, I am a great fan of this sort of books and that's the reason I picked this book, and I wasn't disappointed.
What I liked about this book was the journey of Allison towards finding her own self after her life had been on some really bad patches. The self-help book refrences over here,was really great. I really loved when Allison decides to take time reflect on her life. I think it's necessary for everyone. It sends the message that, people really need to start thinking what makes them happy than following what is expected from them. Thinking about oneself, is not always being selfish, it's necessary, because others will never know better what actually makes someone happy than they themselves. I really adored this theme of the book.
This book doesn't have a great depth to it's story and is quite predictable but that didn't take away my adoration towards it.
If you are into self discovery type books, you should read this.

This was a light, enjoyable read. It was fairly predictable and cliche, however I was expecting that going in. It's a cute book about moving on from a breakup and finding yourself. I'd recommend this one to those who are fans of this genre.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

I really enjoyed Charming Falls Apart. It was the such a comfort read for me. This is my first book by Angela Terry, and I had that same feeling of when I read Sophie Kinsella. It was the strong female lead whose life is falling apart, and you get to take part in her journey of rebuilding.

This was a super cute story with likeable, relatable characters and nothing too heavy weighing it down. While it was a fairly predictable read, I enjoyed the ride anyway! I feel like it's a good book for the time and place we're in - where many seem to be doing some self-reflection. 

Thank you to NetGalley and SparkPress for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a simple page turner and I really feel it offers more than a fluffy chick lit plot. Angela Terry writes a beautiful and strong tale of going through break up and moving on. I am really grateful to netgalley for sending me the e arc as I really pick up so many things and this one motivated me on various levels.

The protagonist Allison suddenly faced breakup with her fiance and got fired from the job. but I am so glad the story did not grow on her quest of finding love but her struggle and strategies of staying on the path, being motivated, and so on. The writing is good and very easy to fly through. It's a comfort read but with underlying strong messages. The romance in this book is not that commendable for me but I really like how it does not overshadow things which should be talked about.

For me, It is a great reading experience and I am looking forward to read more books by Terry in future.

i really liked this! i didn't know what to expect when i first started reading, but the story really captured me. i was rooting for Allie, i was so invested in her journey and everything in her life. i loved Jordan as a character, the best of friends. and the romance! i waited what felt like years for the romance to happen and when it did i scream.
the few things i didn't love: the number of times Bravo is mentioned. Allie's relationship with her mom, i wished we had a bit more resolution there. and, also, i feel like almost everyone in this book have a drinking problem. i don't know any 35 year olds who actually drink that much.

Welcome to the worst day of Allison’s life. Fired from her job after 12 years of loyal service and unceremoniously dumped by her fiancé (who has been sleeping with her maid of honour) just hours after. She has no idea how to start picking up the pieces.

Her best friend convinced her to take time off to do some soul searching. So over the next few months that is exactly what she does. However, after listening to friends, advice from self help books and yogis, maybe now it’s time to start listening to herself and follow her heart.

I loved this book so much. If ever there was a book I needed turned into a Netflix film this is it!

I flew through this book. I loved the humor and the romance - my favorite genre of the moment. It had a lot of yoga and coffee and self-reflection without being preachy or heavy. I love books that make you think about how you think but aren’t clinical. Eric is one of my favorite male characters in a long time and we all need a Jordan in our lives! ;). I will definitely pick up future books after reading this debut.

Charming Falls Apart is an enjoyable, fairly light read. It’s the story of a woman whose life, at 35, falls apart. Everything falls apart on the same day, The story details what she does to try to pull herself together again and what she learns about herself in the process. The characters are pleasant, and not too deeply drawn. This is a good read for a holiday, or a beach read. On the whole an enjoyable novel.
Thanks to Girl Friday Productions and NetGalley for an arc of this novel for review.

ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

This was my first read by Angela Terry, and while I enjoyed the story it seemed a little cliche. I couldn't really connect with the characters, and it was a little slow at times. Since it was well-written, I would read other books by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

And honestly? This book was not a clear cut four stars for me. Sometimes I really enjoyed it and sometimes it was a struggle. The book starts out with Allison losing her job and coming home to inform her fiance about it. When she gets home, however, instead of the "it's going to be okay, honey" pep talk she kind of thought she would get, he informs her that he doesn't want to get married anymore because he has fallen out of love with her. Not only that, but he has been messing around with one of her best friends and has fallen IN love with her. This has never personally happened to me but I have dated a tool like that so I was easily able to picture it and feel empathy for her. She has lost one best friend and another is suddenly not returning her calls but she has one best friend who has always been there for her and suggests some self help. She can't go to her mother about how she is feeling because she has lost her mind and is wanting Allison to do whatever she has to so that she can get some grand babies. So every day she winds up at the coffee shop where she slowly starts to become friends with the owner. From there, things just naturally lead to new things happening in her life. What I DID love about the story was all of the growth that happened. I can handle cliche reads but what I want to know is did they come back from it? Who helped them? What did they learn about life and themselves along the way? And Allison did take the time to learn who she is basically...and once you do that, the things you lost are not quite as important because you are no longer that person. I would definitely recommend this book. :)

This is a lovely, charming book. It's not a roller coaster of a plot, but it is steady and remarkably insightful. I appreciated the growth that the character experiences over the course of the novel. Without all of the crazy weirdness that usually accompanies characterization in these types of books (under the guise of making the main character quirky) there's just - a lot of growth. I really appreciated reading this book. Not necessarily as a silly time waster, but as something deeply reflective and insightful.

Allisons life falls apart when she loses her job and then gets left by her fiance on the same day. The book is her story of how she deals with this - self help books are a strong feature!
A great read - looking forward to reading more from this author.

This was sweet and cute, but a little trite? I did like how it all came together at the end with Allisons realizations about her journey this far.