The premise of the book sounded very interesting as I am often drawn to stories that hint at second chances (not to mention the idyllic boarding school backdrop!). I enjoyed reading the story from Gillian's perspective- from her scholarship days at Glen Ellen (love the second day picnic tradition!) to her downfall as a celebrity publicist to her second chance at Glen Ellen. She was a strong character who was a loveable dorm mom. I adored her teenage students and how they could still see a 38 year old woman as a cool mentor. Gloria and Lila were much appreciated characters as well

Unfortunately, I did not ship Gillian and Aiden. I wish Gillian had been able to reconnect with Miranda after the random message she sent her earlier in the book. However, I did love the references to Gilmore Girls and The Americans!

I love a book set on campus! I was immediately drawn to this book based on the cover and summary.

So glad I read it as I enjoyed this quick read.

Gillian takes a role as a Dorm Mother after leaving her PR business under a bit of a scandal. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing her find her confidence again, helping the girls with planning their next steps in life and dealing with all of the different items that came up throughout the story. It was pretty entertaining.

I had two challenges with this one. 1) I feel like the dialogue between characters was really strange. Maybe too proper? Repetitive and at the same time, jumping to conclusions. It felt a little weird in several places. 2) The love interest. Big thumbs down. I don't care about the redemption story, still a big thumbs down for me. I would have enjoyed this story so much more if there had been no romance and it was just Gillian making her way in her new life.

Still, it was a good read and I'd love to read more books like this one

This was a brilliant story. I knew from the start that I was going to love it. This was definitely a page turning novel. That took me on a roller coaster ride. I just loved all the characters and their development which made the book all the more enjoyable. I especially liked that there was such a varied age range of characters. They really worked well together. I loved the hint of romance in this book especially with all its complications. I was a little surprised by the ending. I loved how unique the storyline was and how the story develops. It was so nice and drama in a relaxed fashion. She was unflappable which is more realistic. Its nice to see a level headed female protagonist. When I found out her job I was wondering how this story would evolve. I came up with nothing so the events in the story was a nice surprise. Going off other reviews I think this is going to be a marmite book. You either love it or hate it. I loved every minute. So definitely try a sample to see if this book is for you. I can't recommend this book enough it will be great for YA, new adult and adults.

Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating such an exciting story that will have you rapidly turnering the pages. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this fantastic author. 
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/room-and-board-by-miriam-parker-penguin-dutton-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

Gillian was a well-known publicist that helped a “playboy” try to redeem himself in the #meToo era (think Harvey Weinstein). When the scandal got to be too much, she summarily shut down her PR company she built. While licking her wounds, she’s offered a Dorm Room Mom job at her high school alma mater, Glen Ellen Academy.

Gillian arrives before the school year officially starts and reminisces about her time as a student. We read throwback snippets about her former friends and her life, including an embarrassing “scandal” that happened to her during senior year. (Spoiler alert: it didn’t seem that bad.)

In high school, she had two best friends, Miranda and Aiden. She was in love with Aiden but it turned out Miranda and Aiden started dating. Cue heartbreak. During the present time, Gillian meets Aiden again - this time as a parent of one of her charges.

This story is marketed as a second chance romance and reset. And maybe it is to an extent. Aiden and Gillian start dating before another scandal starts to present itself. But to this reader, they had little chemistry together.

This fell flat and was pretty boring. I kept waiting for the pinnacle moment and didn’t find it. Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN Group Dutton for this eARC.

I was initially drawn to Room and Board because of its premise. There aren’t really a lot of novels that are steeped in the world of boarding schools from an adult perspective. In addition, back to school has always been bittersweet for me, first as a student, now as a teacher.

Room and Board is centered around Gillian, a publicist who is fleeing the industry after a career related faux pas. Then she receives an unexpected (and unearned) offer to work as a dorm mom at her high school alma mater, Glen Ellen Academy. Journeying back to her high school roots unearths unresolved feelings of the friendships she lost and the love that was unrequited. As she works through her complicated feelings from the past, she helps navigate a group of high school girls in the present. Reuniting with her old flame, as well as dealing with the fallout of multiple PR related scandals, leaves Gillian wondering if she finally found where she belongs after all.

Folks, I can’t sugarcoat this. This book was a hot mess. Everything but the kitchen sink was thrown into this one, with no real traction gaining in any one storyline. The pining Gillian was still grieving from years before felt childish and typical of high school drama. Simply put, at 38 years old presently, get over it. Reuniting with “the one that got away” felt hollow as well. Why was I supposed to root for these two? Or better yet, was I?

I would have liked the teenagers to be more fleshed out, too. The impact of social media is touched upon, as well as the pressure to fit in, but all of the student stories felt randomly placed in contrast to Gillian’s self discovery. As if all of this wasn’t haphazard enough, the author throws in a school related scandal a little more than halfway through the book. I guess all of these events are placed to help Gillian become the person she was meant to be, I’m just not so sure I like the person she becomes.

I know authors work very hard and books are like their babies. I don’t want to take away from the effort the author undoubtedly put into this book. I just wish this had more of a focus instead of feeling like three unconnected books in one. As a result, Room and Board just left me feeling bored.

3 stars. I'm afraid this just wasn't the book for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me take a peek at an early copy. My views are my own.

I really wanted to give this one a higher rating because it's a great story about finding the thing that makes you feel fulfilled and recognizing the things that you're good at on the way to finding a happier life. But a big part of my not being sure about this is how Parker decided to end the story with Gillian in a relationship that, earlier in the book, had already been discussed as not good for her and that had already proven would not stand up for her. It made a lot of the character growth feel wasted. I guess that technically counts as a HEA and qualifies this as a romance, but I would have preferred to just let Gillian find the awesomeness inside her without needing to have a man in her life.
Now, there are some great elements to the plot that highlights how hard work and being passionate about what you do can help you go a long way, not to mention that Gillian at all times displays a solid sense of morality and willingness to help others. I also really liked her interactions with the girls who lived in her dorm and the fact that the more things change, the more they stay the same. It's just that, in the end, I wasn't happy with how one part of the story was resolved and it messed up the rest for me.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the interesting read!

Loved this sweet book about a girl that goes back to her high school to become a dorm mother. This is not the usual genre that I read but I found this book to be quick and delightful. Will they or won’t they is the main question and I was very satisfied with the way this story was told.

When Gillian’s life as a publicist in New York City blows up, she’s grateful for the chance to be a “dorm mom” at Glen Ellen Academy in charming Sonoma County. But returning to her alma mater drudges up some uncomfortable memories from her past, including seminal friendships that have long since faded. But it’s also a chance to rewrite her relationship with the school, including a new potential suitor who isn’t so new after all. Can Gillian’s background as a publicist help her navigate her student charges? While I loved all of the descriptions of boarding school life, I found myself not fully engaged in this narrative. Perhaps there wasn’t enough external conflict for me to maintain my interest as much as I’d hoped. Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting out of this book, but unfortunately what I got was pretty disappointing. There’s nothing offensive or objectionable about this story. It’s sort of a boarding school book, minus all the usual elements that make boarding school books a personal favorite of mine.

It’s sort of a chick lit book, except it has no real sense of humor, and the “career gal” motifs in it are nonsensical and pretty boring. Had this been, at the very least either humorous and possessing a well-rendered setting, it probably would have been palatable. But it’s not well written or well plotted, and I spent most of the book shifting back and forth between being bored by the inanity of the plot and the dullness of the protagonist and annoyed by the ham-fisted dialogue and lack of meaningful or intriguing plot.

Gillian's life has imploded after she trusted the wrong person . Now she is back at the boarding school she attended as a scholarship student, this time as a dorm mother. She figures it gives her room and board and time to figure out her next steps. What she doesn't expect is that one of the girls in her dorm is the daughter of her high school friend and crush, Aidan, who broke her heart in high school. The girls are not what she expected and neither is reconnecting with Aidan. Can she find a life and happiness or will she continue to repeat the same mistakes.

I was really looking forward to reading this one - I love cozy boarding school vibes - but it just missed the mark for me. I absolutely loved the setting and the concept but it felt like a bit of a slog to get through.

Overall the writing felt a bit clunky and pretty detached - I didn't get enough of a connection to any character to really pick up on the romance, the scandal, or the friendships formed. It was just pretty bland.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for the advanced e-book!

An interesting storyline and well written.

It deals with several issues which were handled very well.

Overall - a good read in spite of it falling flat at times.

"Room and Board" is a domestic fiction novel that tells the story of a New York City publicist who is ousted from the industry due to scandal. As a result, she is forced to move back to her hometown in California and find a new job. She settles on being the high school dorm mom of the boarding school that she attended when she was a teenager. Doing so, she travels down a path of nostalgia as she redefines her life and future.

I found the idea behind this book quite appealing when I first happened upon it. It immediately caught my attention. As I began reading it, I realized that it covers many interesting themes such as change, identity, career, friendship, love, trauma, nostalgia, generational disparity, class, corruption, and more. The plot, though prominently featuring a romance, is generally void of clichés, which is something that I definitely appreciate. It makes it original. More unique. Additionally, there are some likeable characters, one of which I believe could serve as the protagonist of a sequel. However, I do not believe that there should be a sequel if the main character of this novel remains the protagonist of a subsequent one.

Regarding negative aspects of the book, I found there to be a general lacking of sufficient exploration of the themes that I mentioned. It is unclear as to what the scandal actually is that drives the main character to her hometown to start over. It is also unclear as to how a certain boy from her past betrayed her. These are important aspects of the story, and they are under-developed. Due to this, most characters in the novel come across as one-dimensional; their stories are not adequately explored and, therefore, seem incomplete and inconsequential to the story. Their reactions also often seem weak, especially in situations that would normally merit a strong response in reality. Though this is largely due to what they say in dialogue, it is the narration within the dialogue that is disappointing. Almost every character speaks with the simple and repetitive description of "said." There is not much variety, colour, or emotion present in the characters' conversations, at least when it comes to their narration. As such, this presents a dismissive quality in the story line of the book. It does not drive the story forward with intrigue, but rather stagnates it upon each repeated and predictable usage of "said" and halts the reader's interest in the characters and the book's plot points. The book also has a nice open ending, but that is found at the end of chapter 22, so the subsequent chapter and epilogue seem unnecessary, especially since they appear to negate the journey of re-self-discovery of the protagonist, which seems to be the purpose of the story: re-self-discovery. As a result, I was left confused and wondering what the point of the book was. Its message was more or less clear throughout the read, but with chapter 23 and the epilogue it was blurred, and not in a good-twist-like way.

Room and Board is a second chance novel by Miriam Parker. I struggled to connect with the main character Gillian and ultimately it fell a bit flat for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Room and Board by Miriam Parker was an ok read. It wasn't what I was expecting. It seemed more like a young adult read which isn't my favorite. However, others will definitely love this book.

This book was an absolute disappointment!
When reading the synopsis, I thought it had potential but no nothing interesting or inviting to continue on reading.
I'm sorry but I don't think I will be reading other books by this author.
Her style didn't grab me at all

In ROOM AND BOARD by Miriam Parker, a woman returns to her boarding school as a dorm mom to get her bearings when life as she knows it as a successful publicist is over. There, she connects with young women who remind her of herself and who she used to be, offering them perspective and publicity while finding her own new life and romance. I found it hard to get involved in reading this story, not liking the characters that much and disappointed that the reveals weren't bigger. Ultimately, it fell flat for me -- possibly those who have lived the life as a publicist or been to boarding school might have a different perspective. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

In Miriam Parker’s new novel, Room and Board, Gillian’s career as a publicist for high-profile celebrities has imploded. She’s jobless and drifting, unsure of what to do–friends she thought she had aren’t calling. When she receives an offer to become a “dorm mom” at Glen Ellen Academy, the prestigious Sonoma boarding school she attended two decades earlier on scholarship, she leaps at the opportunity. Gillian actually finds herself enjoying her new role and even runs into an old crush. And then a scandal breaks and Gillian isn’t sure what’s going to happen next.

Here’s what worked for me: I liked the campus setting, especially in such a beautiful part of California. I love a redemption/figuring yourself out story. I also loved “at work” Gillian – whether as a kind and firm dorm mom or as a woman using her publicist skills to help teenagers and the school. She was awesome.

Here’s what didn’t work for me: “In a relationship” Gillian. I felt that she was too obsessed with the crush from high school who treated her terribly back then and honestly seems kind of iffy now. For such a strong woman, her neediness in any kind of relationship felt so frustrating. I think I was supposed to empathize with her, but I just couldn’t.

This story of second chances follows Gillian who had an amazing job until she loses it all and accepts an offer as “dorm mom” at the boarding academy she attended on scholarship. This time back at the academy is good for her until something is threatening it all.
.
I really rooted for Gillian as she tries to figure out her life.
.
Thank you #dutton and #netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.