“Maybe it’s the power of Aunt Maggie’s words in my hand, but for one of the very few times in my life, I don’t want to do what it takes to make sure everyone else around me is comfortable.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 stars!

Major points to any book that starts off with an epigraph of Taylor Swift.

This book is about Mallory, who’s already turned her life around by divorcing her husband of ten years. Suddenly, she is bequeathed the once beautiful home of her late Aunt. Despite her toxic family’s advice, she decides to fix it up and live on her own. The only problem is that the house is an absolute disaster and she may be as in over her head as everyone thought.

If you love HGTV, nightmare homes to beautiful fixer-uppers, and hunky home builders. Congrats, this stunning author duo has a constructed a hilarious, swoon-worthy romance with amazing heart.

Starting with Mallory, I couldn’t empathize with her enough. I really felt for everything she was going through. Beside her toxic family, the book puts a lot of attention on how Mallory had no idea the house her aunt lived in was going to ruin while she hid. She didn’t even know her Aunt had a hoarding problem. It was so sad how she felt terrible for not paying more attention until it was too late.

I also really loved how even though the entire book takes place after her aunt is gone. She still felt like a character, you can feel how much she wanted more for Mallory. As she changes over the book, you can see how much it helps Mallory to know that someone always believed in her.

Enough with the heavy, this book is full to the brim with snarky comments, hilarious dialogue, and the funniest hijinks. I kinda love house-building romance tropes so this really hit the spot for me.

I will say that sometimes, there is so many jokes the writing almost drags. I would have liked the book to be a bit shorter. The book also goes over the same stuff a lot, but overall it wasn’t too big of a thing. It also takes quite a while to even introduce the romance, at which point it is kind of sped through. But I was plenty invested in Mallory herself so it was okay with me!

TL;DR: Hilarious read full with heart and fun home making jokes. You’ll love the heroine and cheer for her every step of the way.

E-galley provided by Entangled Pub and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are based off an uncorrected proof.

I really liked this book, I can’t think of a single moment that I didn’t enjoy. I loved reading Mallory’s story, and I was in fits of laughter over a certain scene involving some sex toys 😂

If you’re looking for a good pick me up book that will make you laugh and give you that warm happy feeling then I’d give this book a read. I really hope there will be a possibility of a sequel for this one, especially with that ending. I’d love to get more stories about Mallory’s new life and even some more stories about pictures arranged from bright pink lawn flamingos... although clearly the next time I need some help in the garden I’m just going to mow SOS into my lawn. Why the hell not, right? 🤷🏼‍♀️

I read a few rom coms and this one was no disappointment. Avery Flynn and Tracy Wolff kept me laughing and captivated with the story. Mallory is great to watch out her life together and move on while growing. This was a great read that I could not put down. I was able to read it on my flight so it kept me entertained.

This is a pretty good story about finding love the second time around. As someone who divorced and remarried in her thirties, many of the situations here stuck a chord with me. And as someone who recently moved into an HOA neighborhood, I can definitely commiserate with Mallory.

I was truly appalled at how everyone in her life — with the exception of great-aunt Maggie — treated Mallory! And even more depressing was how she just let them do so. I wanted to go smack some sense into her! True, she did progress throughout the story toward being a normal human being with some semblance of self-love and self-preservation, but it was definitely painful to watch.

And just when you start to think that she has achieved some sense of normalcy... well, not to give anything away, but she goes from being a doormat to acting like a spoiled brat. Once again, I found myself wanting to smack her upside the head.

Nick, in contrast, starts out as a grumpy guy, not very supportive or even tolerant of Mallory (or seemingly much else). However, as his personality begins to be revealed more, we learn that he is actually something of a nice guy in disguise. The transition was rather abrupt, and I wondered if we were seeing a dual personality or evil twin situation.

In fact, much of the book did feel as though the characters were at odds with themselves, let alone each other. Probably due to this, the actual romance between the two characters seemed to fall rather flat. But in between all of the stops and starts, there were a lot of moments of fun and friendship, not to mention some hot love scenes.

Despite the overall sense of gloom and doom, and dealing some very serious mental health and abuse issues, this was a fairly good read; one that would be especially appropriate for a lazy spring evening or summer afternoon.

This book was definitely a step out of my comfort zone in terms of genre. I typically tend to stick close to either the YA or New Adult genre, but I saw this book being shared throughout instagram. Tracy Wolff is one of my all time favorite authors so of course I wanted to read her newest release! Though this book was a different direction for me, I enjoyed the book immensely.

Thirty-five year old Mallory Martin finds herself suddenly living back in her childhood home; broke, jobless, and soon to be divorced. She’s been in a wallow of sadness until she received a home of her own through the will of her recently deceased aunt. Too bad the home is in shambles and she only has a few months to fix it.

As I said, this book was a different step for me, but one that was enjoyable (and might help me branch further out into this genre). In the beginning, Mallory kind of annoyed me with how much of a pushover she was, but dang did this girl completely reinvent herself! She took her experience and trauma, and used it as a motivating factor to reinvent herself and take the world by the balls! There were also so MANY twists in the book as well that I did not see coming. At first some of them seemed really odd to me, but overall worked themselves into the story well. I loved being able to see Mallory not only reconnect with herself but with everyone else in her life.

This was a good read. The writing flowed well, but I did have a few things that took the rating down for me. First, Mallory was a mess and was mean to Nick for most of the book. Second, she goes on several dates with a completely different man before she finally stops seeing him (even though she knew she didn't like him that way). I'm not a fan of books where one of the MCs has a relationship with another person, however long it lasts. Third, this book is a lot more about Mallory trying to get her self together than it is about the MCs relationship. While I don't mind a part of the story being about her, I was really expecting more of a romance. All in all it was a decent read, and I would read a collaboration from these authors again.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Back in the Burbs by Avery Flynn and Tracy Wolf
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When life comes crashing down. That's Mallory's life right me. At Thirty-five she just love her job because she caught her ex-husband (also her boss) cheating on me with his paralegal. Even in death her aunt takes care of her. At her will's reading Mallory discovers she inherited her late aunt Maggie's house. Taking life by the jewels, she takes the long drive the suburbs and discover a house that has so many HOA violation, that her meager bank account probably won't be able to fix. However there is nothing YouTube and a good glass of wine won't fix. Except my annoying neighbour who, like all the men in my life starts telling me what to do, starting with mowing the lawn.
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Back in the Burbs is a laugh out loud romcom! I had so much fun reading this one! Mallory and Nick had great chemistry. Nick definitely made the book for me. Through this book Mallory undergoes so much personal growth. I loved rooting for her against the world. I did feel like throughout the book Mallory made so many assumptions about everyone around her, without letting them express their own feelings. However I liked how this problematic was resolved. We got to see all her assumptions about the world around her clear up and reveal that people are not all good, and not all bad. (except her ex - don't worry). Avery Flynn and Tracy Wolf make quite the pair, if they ever publish another one together I will for sure be picking it up!
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Steam Level | 3 | Descriptive soft sex scenes.
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Thank you so much @valentine_pr for the E-arc! As always all thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.
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What a fab book. I loved that it discussed such difficult topics but didn’t feel heavy. It’s a laugh out loud rom-com with a love triangle and a relatable amount of emotional baggage. Super likeable characters and fun twists. It’s a fab reminder that you can drop everything and start over whenever you choose to. Really enjoyed this one.

I first want to thank Netgalley and entangledpublishing for this copy!

This book was just the type of romance I needed it was so cute and hilarious that it made me remember so much why I love Avery Flynn's books. I absolutely loved Mallory's character she is one of my favorite characters in a while. Seeing her growth throughout the book I really enjoyed too. She went from being a sad divorced woman to standing on her own two feet and making things happen. All of course with a little love is thrown in there. I think if you are looking for a good rom-com this one for you!

I’ve never read a Tracy Wolff book, but I am a big Avery Flynn fan. Thus, I was eager to dive into this one to see what the authors would cook up together. As I’d hoped, it was a story that had me hooked.

Back in the Burbs grabbed me from the start, sucking me in deep and ensuring I could not put it down. It had me smirking at many of the things that unfolded, ensuring I quickly fell for the characters and could not get enough of the way their story played out. It was not a perfect read – there were a few things I would have liked a little bit more of – but it was exactly what I needed. That is, it was a quick and gripping read. It kept me hooked and I adored watching things play out.

Without a doubt, Tracy Wolff and Avery Flynn work well together and I’ll read more if they decide to give the side-characters their own stories.

How CUTE is the cover for Back in the Burbs? It honestly makes me long for summer when I can just lay outside and enjoy the sunshine. This book was a bit of hit and miss for me, and for the most part, I did enjoy the storyline. (I also absolutely 100000% loved the hero and would like to keep him with me at all times, but we’ll circle back to that.) Back in the Burbs is a cute, funny, romcom with a 35-year-old heroine (finally!) trying to pick up the pieces of her life and get back on track, and it sucked me in right from the start. I was so excited to be reading about an older (...ish, I mean I’m close in age to the heroine for once but I refuse to call her old) heroine like Mallory that honestly I needed nothing more to start reading. It was also hella funny, and I love when authors can land subtle jokes really really well. (Avery Flynn and Tracy Wolff nailed it, don’t worry).

Mallory, overall, was pretty great. She was funny, she was relatable, and she was a hot mess, but she was still a delight. She had been so beaten down that you wanted her to succeed and so you cheered for her every time she started to stand up for herself. Her tête-à-têtes with Nick, Mister Growly “Measures the Grass”, were absolutely delightful and hilarious and I found myself audibly snorting a few times because the image in my head was honestly just so funny. Their little battles, in addition to the slowwww process of getting to know one another, was one of the best parts of this novel. Those moments were sweet, they were funny, and they were, a few times, kinda heart-squeezing, and those are my favorite.

Back in the Burbs was a really solid and well put together story for about, 65-70% of the book. I’m not entirely sure what happened, but for some reason around that mark things went downhill. I absolutely support a heroine finding herself, but for some reason Mallory became a little too self-absorbed and “woe is me” and I know she went through a lot so she needed time to process, but she was too busy acting like a teenager than a thirty-something year old woman who knew what communication was. It became frustrating watching her continually make certain choices when a lot of her problems could have been solved by being honest, not only with herself, but with the people around her. I won’t say more than that because I don’t want to get too far into it and reach spoiler territory, but I was disappointed in the added (unnecessary) drama of it all.

One of my other issues with this book was that you could tell (more times than I want to admit) that it was written by two different authors. There were a number of continuity and consistency errors that I couldn’t overlook because a few of them actually impacted the story and what I thought was happening because the plot shifted quickly and it was a bit like whiplash. I wish like hell those hadn’t been in the story because I was struggling enough with where the plot was heading that those little errors just made things slightly worse. I think it also impacted the romance of the story, because that fell flat as well. There was so much focus on Mallory and how she was improving upon herself that the romantic side of this book fell to the backburner and then when it did happen it just kind of … happened. I’m all for insta-love, but this wasn’t quite believable because for most of the story they just felt more like friends/neighbors than anything else, and the transition was a bit abrupt.

But Nick. Sweet, sweet Nick Holloway. Talk about a book boyfriend! That man more than made up for Mallory’s faults. The gooiest cinnamon roll of a man with the grumpiest outer shell, Nick was patient, he was kind, he was a neighbor with the best intentions and a hidden superhero cape, and I adored him. He found humor in Mallory when she was completely and unapologetically herself, and honestly, what more could you want? He was an absolute treasure and I’ll probably be gushing about him for the next forever.

I love Nick Holloway.

Overall, this story was cute. I did (for the most part) really have a lot of fun with Mallory. And I love that she was a constant work in progress and doing her best to not repeat her past mistakes. She was endearing and she got to spend time with Nick who, did I mention already I love? Because I love Nick. I know this book is being very well received, and I encourage you to pick it up if you love to laugh and enjoy a story with more mature characters. Problems aside, I’m happy to have met Mallory and, again, I really and truly loved Nick. Very much.


{Many thanks to Entangled Publishing for my review copy of this story!}

I have not yet had time to read this novel before the archive date. I am looking forward to reading it and once I do, I will come back and leave a proper review!

I really enjoyed this one. Full of laugh out loud moments inbetween some serious topics. Mallory and Nick are so different but together they are fire 🔥
Mallorys dealing with alot after the break down of her marriage which she had given up everything for and the loss of a much loved family member. She's looking for a change of direction and it falls in her lap when she inherits a house that needs some tlc (understatement of the century haha)
Nick is her hot but broody neighbour. They don't start off on the best foot but the slow burn between then was great.
Between laugh out loud moments there are some omg ones and definitely some major swoon worthy ones which is just how I like my romance.
This was a really great read and having never read anything by either author I will definitely be changing that. I hope these 2 are going to be teaming up again.

Mallory, a 35 year old woman in the middle of a divorce, inherits her great aunt's house in the suburbs. It has a drawerful of HOA violations, a porch that's about to collapse, and a mean (but hot) neighbor.

I really liked this one. It was a fast and fun read. There's a solid balance of humor with seriousness. The heroine is dealing with the fallout of a marriage to a manipulative, lying jerk and doesn't trust anyone. There are some soap-opera like twists and turns, one of which comes kind of out of nowhere. But at the same time, there's a lot of wackiness and situational humor as Mallory decides who she's going to be for the rest of her life.

It's a fairly slow burn, but then it ignites. There's a running bit about watching The Lord of the Rings that really hit home.

I hope these two authors collaborate again, because this was a win.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Spoiler alert: This is not just a romance story :) This book is the story of how Mallory got her groove back :) From my perspective, this was more about Mallory taking the bull (her current life) by the horns and standing up for her wants and needs. Nick was a swoony addition in her trail. Together they made a laugh-out-loud, sometimes want to slap them silly, journey :)

Mallory was a hot mess! I mean … xanax martini anyone? LOLOLOL But that’s what endeared me to her. Life just kept on coming for her, but she never quit :) She doesn’t make it easy on the reader sometimes. She is the epitome of the chic you will hate to love/like but you will in the end #trust Her transformation in the unfolding of the story from what/who she was to who she is now is a thing of beauty and will put a smile on your face. It warmed my heart for sure. I will say that as much as I enjoyed all the shenanigans and swoon-worthy experiences in the book, there were times when I skimmed. #sorrynotsorry The book is not short, but the length is duo to wordiness rather than experiences and that just drives me bananas. If you can convey something perfectly well in one sentence, ten is overkill. Feel me? I don’t think I missed a single plot point in this story, but I probably didn’t read about a third *shrug*

I’ve read both these authors as individuals but never as a team and they are seamless and make an excellent writing duo, so props for that!

Back in the Burbs will give all your emotions a workout! You have all the moments - laugh out loud, swoony sexy, angry and finally the heart happiness moment. I loved every one of them! Mallory is going through a really, really rough time in her life. Nick is the annoying, but good hearted, guy next door.

As Mallory and Nick work through the giant tangle that has become their lives, you see the start of a true friendship. As the story progresses, Mallory realization about what her life was, what it is now and what it can be will make you smile. OK, I’m going to confess this, sometimes I got a little exasperated with her but in the end, I was happy.

Avery Flynn and Tracy Wolff have given us a really great book that is exceptionally written. Their outstanding characters have been fully developed with remarkable individuality that has each one taking a piece of your heart in one way or another.

Love love love this story
Gunnar and Chase - Instant flirtation, instant attraction, refusing to give into feelings, a strong independent woman and a soldier that will melt your heart.

Chase has a purpose for her business trip and is determined to help her company shine. However, a white lie turns into more white lies and then Chase was in too deep to confess to the truth.

Gunnar is an amazing man with a heart of gold but his nightmares haunt him and he cannot forget the day that changed his life. He’s working hard to make things right, taking care of people, living his life and defiantly not looking for a relationship.

After their initial meeting, Gunnar and Chase start spending time together and learning about each other...but both are hiding something. Gunnar is more forthcoming but Chase continues her “deception” and knows she’s in trouble. They both are falling for each other but will the deception and secrets tear them apart.

I really loved this story, the main characters and the surrounding cast. This is a story filled with love, hurt, forgiveness and acceptance.

Hilarious, relatable and uplifting
4 stars

I’m a fan of Avery Flynn but a Tracy Wolff virgin so was hoping that, at the very least I’d get some of Flynn’s signature humour and vibrancy with this new pairing. And we get that and then some. Flynn and Wolff make a great team, not just because they sound like they could be a big haired, 80s, crime-fighting cop duo. They obviously get each other’s humour, giving us a story that’s hilarious and snarky with enough depth to make you care but without ever dragging you down into a pit of emotion or despair.

I really loved Mallory as a character. She’s in a bad place in her life in more ways than one - but she’s still got enough of a spark in her to make us like and root for her. And even if you’re not in any of the situations that Mallory finds herself, she’s still hella relatable. We can all relate to a time when we weren’t happy with life or when we felt a little downtrodden. Or maybe just overwhelmed and needed more than just a glass of wine!

I’ve heard this book described as ‘not quite a romance’ and I suppose that’s accurate. This is definitely Mallory’s book, written wholly from her point of view and is about her journey. Having said that, the relationship between Mallory and Nick is definitely the most important of the book and I’ve read romances with less romance than this one. Bottom line - if you like romance, you’ll like this book and be satisfied with it!

With that said, Nick is the kind of hero that gets my heart pitty-patting hard. He’s grumpy and straight-laced on the surface, but like Mallory, when we get to know him, we realise he’s a real softie and maybe, just maybe, his standoffish attitude is due to attraction. Ah - he’s like a sweet, grumpy nerd! And hot. Obviously.

I felt the connection between Mallory and Nick and although there are sex scenes, it was more in the small movements. The touch of a hand. The slight move towards each other. The smouldering looks. I was here for this pair and so happy with the way things worked out. And there’s an epilogue! Woo hoo!

I seriously debated between 4 and 5 stars but had to go with 4 as it took me longer than it possibly should have to finish the book - and probably the fact that I was even debating at all, meant it shouldn’t be the full starage! I think the sheer number of chapters (there are 59 and an epilogue) - and their short length meant that it was easy to dip in and out rather than needing to read on just a little bit more and more each time.

This was an hilarious, relatable and uplifting story that I couldn’t help but very much enjoy reading. I will definitely be looking up what else Tracy Wolff has written and Avery Flynn remains firmly on my favourite author’s shelf. Any future collaborations between this pair will be eagerly snapped up by me. A very high 4 stars for this story.

Mallory has always tried to do what was expected of her so finding out her marriage is nothing but a life leaves her floundering. No income, no home, no husband but the house she inherited from her Great Aunt is exactly the lifeline she needs until she sees it and wonders if she will have a better chance of sinking than swimming.

Nick is her new neighbor who on hand makes her difficult life even more difficult but on the other hand helps her get through this rough patch. Once she gets past his bad-tempered persona, she learns a lot about not only him but herself as well.

This is a heartwarming story of self-discovery as Mallory becomes the woman she is meant to be and finds love along the way that shows her worth rather than brings her down. Humorous interactions, a slow building romance and relatable characters will draw you in and have you invested in the outcome.

Je me suis régalée avec cette comédie romantique comme on les aime. Ce duo d'auteurs nous emmène dans une banlieue avec une héroïne qui compte bien repartir de zéro après de nombreuses épreuves dans sa vie . On va se régaler de ses "mésaventures" avec le syndicat des propriétaires qui vont exiger d'elles des règles assez folles.

Mallory Martin est une jeune femme de 35 ans qui va connaître de nombreuses déboires et qui va tirer un trait sur sa vie maritale. Karl , son ex , est vraiment un sacré numéro et les trahisons qu'il va infliger à notre héroïne ne semblent pas le perturber au plus haut point . Elle va voir en l'héritage de la maison de sa chère tante Maggie un signe du destin et elle va donc tout quitter pour retrouver une maison dans laquelle elle a vécu des moments heureux. Sa surprise sera d'autant plus grande qu'elle est en piteux état. N'ayant pas les moyens financiers pour la retaper comme il se doit , elle va pouvoir compter sur Mikey, un entrepreneur du coin qui saura lui donner des bons conseils. Par contre, elle n'est pas prête de redonner sa confiance à la gente masculine même si le mystérieux homme qui ne cesse d'apparaître près de chez elle est très tentant. J'ai aimé découvrir cette jeune femme qui va tenter de remettre sa vie sur les rails et aller de l'avant. On espère que la magie va opérer entre elle et notre héros et qu'elle aura une belle vie.

Nick Halloway est également un héros que j'ai aimé découvrir. Nous n'avons jamais son point de vue et de ce fait, nous ne savons pas vraiment à quoi nous en tenir avec lui. Il est avocat fiscal et donc notre héroïne pourrait voir en lui un double de son ex mais il est évident que ce n'est pas le cas. Il n'a pas un fond méchant et de plus , nous allons apprendre qu'il a passé du temps avec Maggie lorsqu'elle en avait le plus besoin. Il saura lui apporter de l'aide dans des moments opportuns et même s'il est parfois maladroit, il est évident que notre héroïne saura voir en lui un homme bien. Il représente tout ce qu'on aime dans un héros et on va se régaler en le découvrant en même temps que Mallory. On se demande si Mickey sera un obstacle pour lui et s'il va vraiment privilégier le bonheur de notre héroïne même s'il n'est pas l'élu. Parviendra t-il à apaiser les tensions dans la vie de cette jeune femme qui veut repartir d'un mauvais pied?

Bref, j'ai passé un très bon moment de lecture avec ce roman et si vous lisez en VO, je ne saurai que vous le recommander. On s'amuse avec les personnages et on espère un happy ending digne d'une belle comédie romantique. Tous les ingrédients sont réunis pour passer un bon moment en charmante compagnie.