Emma Lord is one of my favorite YA contemporary writers - Tweet Cute and You Have a Match are both cute, filled with salivating food inventions, lighthearted, and a joy to read. They also focus a lot on family and growing up with adorable romances on the side. When You Get the Chance checks all those same boxes.

Just as her previous two are reimaginings of popular movies from childhood - You’ve Got Mail and The Parent Trap - When You Get the Chance is a gender-flipped modern telling of Mamma Mia! and is as bubbly as you’d expect a retelling of a story based on Abba songs to be.

Millie is a bit of a drama queen - she’s the star of her school’s theater department with Broadway dreams - and a big personality. She has “Millie Moods” that can be all-encompassing, and she has a bit of a rivalry with the stage manager, Oliver. But she also doesn’t know her mom - she was left with her dad as an infant (she refers to it as her mom “pulling a dumbledore”) and through some sleuthing with her geoteen best friend Teddy, narrows the list of potential moms to 3. What follows is Millie’s investigation into figuring out which one is the one.

But of course there’s a cute, if predictable, romance; a recipe I want to try (milkshakes!); nerdy cultural references (another Emma Lord staple); and a slew of people and places I wish were real (I want to see the Greek Gods in college Broadway musical and hear The Four Sons play!).

Just a fair warning: if you’re in your 30s, as I am (and Emma Lord is), be prepared to feel old. Millie finds her dad’s former flings through his LiveJournal - which of course prompted me to read through my old postings. I wouldn’t recommend the experience (but definitely recommend the book!).

It’s not perfect and it’s not going to blow your mind, but it’s a perfect way to spend a summer evening. Grab a milkshake, put on the Mamma Mia! soundtrack, and enjoy When You Get the Chance.

4.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy of this book!

I knew Emma Lord was a god before I started this book, but now I KNOW Emma Lord is a god. This is the third five star from me.

I'm not going to lie, I doubted this book from the blurb. I'm not super into musical theater and I regret to admit that I have never seen Mama Mia. HOWEVER, it was so funny, so charming, so beautifully awkward, and so so so good.

Emma Lord is AMAZING at writing characters that you absolutely fall in love with. Millie was moody and a bit arrogant at the beginning, but by the end you are fully rooting for her.

There were moments reading this book where I caught myself smiling and also when I caught myself tearing up. I would highly recommend this one - or any of Emma Lord's books for that matter.

This book struck me in my soul. From the first page one the characters were vivid and alive on the page. Each of them was believable and had their own faults and quirks. Meanwhile, the story started off strong. I knew this was another young adult coming of age story by Emma Lord, I've absolutely adorable her past two novels and read both of the previous works as ARC as well. I know what she can do, and yet I'm still so pleasantly surprised how easy it is to read her work. I don't notice the pages going by and there aren't moments in the dialogue or description that take me out of the story.
I was entranced reading her work and it stayed on the corner of my screen during slow periods at work. I loved how the characters in this story progressed and learned more about themselves and each other. And I can honestly say that the ending surprised me in the best way. Right when I thought the story was over and there was no more to tell, it kept going. There was also a little Easter egg for anyone who read Tweet Cute, which was a really fun find. Absolutely recommend this book to anyone, especially people looking for books in the New Adult category but finding too few in the genre. While this story focuses on a high school students, her voice can be for anyone seeking a little older voices in the genre.

I loved this so much and it's so hard to have a nice and lengthy eloquent review because: I have aww'ed out loud so many times, my cheeks hurt from smiling, I kept giggling while I read, and I swooned the whole way through. Literally a perfect romcom.

Millie Price is a drama Queen. Literally. She’s super into acting and singing, but not dancing unfortunately. If she were a triple threat she’d be a shoe in for Broadway, but for now she’ll take going to the prestigious art school she just got into. The only problem is it’s across the country and her dad doesn’t want her to go. If she had a mom, maybe she’d let Millie go, which is why Millie starts off on a path to find her long lost mother. In true Mamma Mia fashion, she finds her Dad’s old online journal and narrows the possibility down to three women. Meeting these women make for an adventurous summer for Millie and an unpredictable journey for readers. Lord draws readers in and keeps them guessing with her quirky characters and New York backdrop. The callbacks to previous novels are fun Easter eggs for her fans as well. This was a fun, heartwarming read about the love of theater and the meaning of family.

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒓: 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑵𝒆𝒕𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘.

This book was sooo much fun!!!

THINGS I LOVED :

• The gender-swapped Mamma Mia storyline

• Tropes : enemies to lovers + found family

• Taking a Tolkien obsession to a whole other level

• An awesome cast of side characters

• Profound childhood friendships

• Millie herself : a loud, proud, expressive, extrovert, fun, oozing confidence, and talented theater kid

I did manage to predict who Millie's mother was, but pretty much at the last minute 🙌

Emma Lord has my heart in her fist!!! Seriously though, I'd been in a huge reading slump and knew this was exactly the one to get me out of it. I felt like I was smiling through reading this whole book. I downed it in one sitting like an indulgent, too-sweet milkshake.

I will read all of Emma Lord’s books because I can thank her for chucking me back in the world of YA with Tweet Cute.

I think When You Get The Chance might be my favorite EL yet. It’s filled with drama, confidence, glitter, ice cream sundaes, cookies, BIG teenage emotions and even bigger dreams.

I loved every character for who they were and what they brought to the story. Millie and Oliver had my whole entire heart.

Another thing I loved about When You Get The Chance was the story of second chances among the adults of the story. My heart swelled so many times while reading this one, it’s like YA queen Emma Lord bottled up fate and New York and sprinkled it all over When You Get The Chance.

And might I add that I maybe had a bit of a crush on Cooper??? (Literally Millie’s dad) I guess that’s what happens when you’re an adult reading YA.

When You Get The Chance is New York, it’s Broadway, it’s love and lights and the thrill of possibility.

Thank you so so SO much for sending me this one!!!!

This book was so sweet! I loved the focus on family and community. Millie Price is a really vivacious, bubbly musical theater character, and her energy leaps off the page! Although I'm not much of a musical theater person, I know how much the community means to many people (especially during the past year or so), and it really comes across in this book.

Emma Lord has a knack for creating interesting and funny characters and stories with emotion. While a big focus of When You Get the Chance is Millie's search for her mom, there's also really great things like family relationships, strong friendships, first crushes, set in the backdrop of New York City and Broadway. It's a unique story full of heart!

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me a copy of this book via NetGalley!

Utterly delectable and tons of fun, When You Get the Chance is another romp of a book from Emma Lord. I've been a fan of Lord's since Tweet Cute and this book is another fantastic story from her, this time in the world of musical theater. It made me laugh, cry, and smile incessantly. Loved it!

I started this thinking I wasn’t sure I would be able to finish this because Millie was too much for me, but wow; this was so much fun and I am so glad I didn’t give up! The back half had me rushing through this book so I could learn what happens at the end. Yes, there are the things that you just know are going to happen (romance, who her mom is, what the school musical will be), but the rest is such a fun surprise. I could totally picture all my musical theatre friends as I read this. And then the feelings, omg the feels. I was totally balling at the end of the book. Emma Lord has definitely written another winner!

Such a fun book! I thoroughly enjoyed following Millie through her ups and downs with theater life and her quest to find her mom. She was so relatable and I couldn't help rooting for her from the get-go. I love her friendships and complicated family relationships. As someone who was a theater geek in high school, this book felt nostalgic and fun to me. I stayed up way too late reading it because I couldn't set it down. Emma Lord came thorough, once again, with a YA voice that was spot on, lovable characters, and a story full of heart. I loved it! Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the free eARC to review.

I’ve loved all of Emma’s books, but When You Get the Chance is my favorite by far which is saying a lot. As a theater kid, she gave me everything I could have wanted and more with musical references galore and the viewpoint of a young actress trying to make it. I will give a caveat that I have never seen Mamma Mia and don’t know much about it, but I know I have to watch it after reading this book because I loved the premise so much.

One of the best things about Emma’s books is that I genuinely have a good time reading them. It’s so easy to get caught up in the story and root for the characters. I mean I did get emotional toward the end of this book and start crying, but that counts as a good time for me. Some of my favorite parts of this one were the scenes with Chloe, the band’s energy, and the dancing Milkshake Club scene. It honestly got to a point near the end where every chapter kept getting better, and when I thought there was nothing more that could surprise me, there were still more revelations to shock me.

Now this book might not be for you if you hate dramatic main characters because Millie is all that and more, but I found her charming and similar to actors I was friends with in high school. My jaw did drop a few times at some of the things she said during her Millie Moods, but I enjoyed seeing her journey and the things she realized about herself over the course of the story. She said so many little things that I connected to, and I had a couple of those ‘wow I haven’t been able to put this into words, but this is exactly how I feel’ moments. The romance was also *chef’s kiss*

Overall, this one was a joy to read and kept getting better as I read. There were also some quick references to Tweet Cute that I loved. Definitely pick this one up!

So far, Emma Lord is 3 for 3. I greatly enjoyed this book-between its references to musical theatre and the relationships.

Emma Lord has done it again. As in her previous two novels, she tells the story in a way that is absolutely captivating. Millie’s adventure to finding her mom is Mamma Mia to the core, down to the constant Broadway references that have readers searching for the recordings of the mentioned Broadway shows. This book is lighthearted with just enough moments to make the reader emphasize with the characters. Lord’s writing of family and friends is amazing, and her blend of both into found family is just as perfect as it has been in her other books. I cannot wait to follow Lord as she continues her writing career.

This was a cute romance novel perfect for summertime, wintertime, ANYtime. I fell in love with Millie's dreams, her life and love, and everything. She has my heart, as does her story.

Thank you for the e-arc.

I loved this sweet book!! Millie was a very endearing main character and I also really liked all the side characters orbiting around her. I do wish there was more drama and theater involved but I throughly enjoyed reading this one. And the Milkshake Club is my kind of club!

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. This was a very sweet retelling of the "Mama Mia" story told for a teen audience with the mother character in question. I enjoyed the boisterous, over the top characters. This was a sweet, light romance that was great for a summer beach read for teens/tweens.

<b>I absolutely adored When You Get the Chance! Emma Lord deserves a standing ovation for this heartfelt YA romance.</b> I’m pre-ordering my print copy and can’t wait to re-read it again and again!

Millie Price fears her dreams of becoming a Broadway star may never come true when her dad says no to the highly competitive pre-college program she’s dying to attend in LA. The program will give her an edge up on the intense competition in New York and Millie’s determined to get her dad to say yes, even if it means getting her mom on her side. There’s just one problem, Millie doesn’t know who her mom is. Luckily for Millie she stumbles across her dad’s LiveJournal from college and discovers three potential moms. She sets out to track them down, find out which one is her mom and get her help convincing Millie’s dad that the pre-college program is where Millie belongs. Millie’s search takes her to interning at a top-notch talent agency with her rival Oliver, attending a Broadway lovers social group with her best friend Teddy and attempting dance classes with her potential half-sister. The deeper Millie gets into her search, the harder it becomes for her to decide who her real mom is and whether she’s even ready to find out.

<b>I loved everything about this novel!</b> Millie is a totally blast to read. She really is effervescent, and her Millie Moods make her relatable. Every single character is so well-crafted, you feel like you know and understand them all even though you’re only ever reading Millie’s POV.

The Mamma Mia references are amazing. Calling the search for Millie’s mom Millie Mia was brilliant! You can tell Emma Lord is a Broadway fan from the way she lovingly wrote about that world. She also did a wonderful job writing about New York. I truly felt transported to the city while reading this novel.

Emma Lord expertly delivered some of my favourite tropes: rivals to lovers, workplace romance and forced proximity. I loved watching Millie slowly realize her feelings for Oliver after all these years of facing off against him. Speaking of Oliver, he’s now one of my favourite cinnamon roll heroes.

Emma Lord has an incredible gift for capturing what it’s like to be a teenager – trying to find your own identity separate from your parents, struggling to find your own place in the world, and wondering what to do next. I can’t wait to see what Emma Lord comes up with for her fourth novel.

<b>Can someone please adapt When You Get the Chance? It deserves to be made into a movie!</b>

<i>Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books and Emma Lord for the chance to read this digital ARC. </i>

Millie is a talented singer-actress, thrilled to receive an acceptance into a pre-college theatrical program. Only problem, it's located on the opposite coast, costs partial tuition, and her dad doesn't understand how important this program is for her future. Determined to attend at all costs, Millie decides to find her birth mother. If one parent doesn't agree with her, there's got to be another one out there who will pave the way for Millie's golden future.

Millie is such a driven character. She knows exactly where she wants her future to lead, and she won't shirk from sweating her way to the end goal, be it the lead role on stage, competing with her nemesis for an internship position, or in doggedly searching for her mother. I loved Millie's spunk and fierce vivacity. She practically leaps off the page and drags us into the drama that's her life.

The story is set in modern day NYC. It was so much fun to read NYC love, from its theaters and their star studded world, to quieter places like the highline and Hudson River walkways that are practically backyards to everyone living on or near the island. The local haunts and characters introduced are all a major part of NYC life. I was able to relate to a good number of places that popped into the story, and I wish that her aunt's milkshake place was real. I can half imagine hopping onto a train to check it out and to meet the characters. 

I learned a lot about theater life from this book. It's not my dream life, but Millie's excitement and love for it all was contagious. I know that the next time I watch a Broadway show or even pass by a theater, I'll appreciate it a lot more.

I really enjoyed this book. Millie was a fantastic drama queen character, with awesome friends, and lots of roller coaster emotions. Most of all, I loved her strong presence and confident way of bulldozing through all obstacles. There was a great enemies to friends subplot, and a really good Mamma Mia based overall mother search plot. Plus, lots of happily ever afters for everyone.