You want to root for Gillian - Parker does a great job writing this character with humanity and grace. I also loved her students. They read as authentic teenagers and you had sympathy for them despite the privilege that brings them to boarding school in the first place. While I wasn't sure about the central romance, it wasn't the main thrust of the story. I was much more invested in GIllian's friendships, mentorships, and professional growth.

Gillian Brodie was a successful publicist to a roster of high-profile celebrity clients until her career implodes after she is caught up in her own public scandal. Leaving everything behind in Manhattan, Gillian accepts a position as a "dorm mom" at her alma mater in Sonoma, CA. Gillian must learn to help her teenage charges navigate high school in the digital age, while coming to terms with her own haunted ghosts from the past. This was a cute story about starting over in your late thirties and coming to terms with past choices. It is hard to make new friends as an adult, but this story was filled with friendship and girl power. There is also a little romance that adds a steamy factor. I would rate this a 3.5, but rounded up to a 4 because I enjoyed the story overall. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a quick read with characters who are somewhat likable just not lovable…the story moves slowly and doesn’t keep my attention…others may love this book…it is just. It for me…sent to me for review by Netgalley.

I wanted to be all over this story of rebirth and second chances. I loved the premise but quickly realized this book wasn't tailored to me, as the audience. Spoiled, self indulgent, occasionally ridiculous - I couldn't figure out if this was truth or what she thought a catchy narrative would be.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I especially liked the main character and found her to be very relatable. I loved getting an insight into what life in an elite boarding school would be like! That being said, I did find a few parts to be a little predictable but I still really enjoyed this book.

I was drawn by this cover and excited to dive in. However, I struggled to get into the story and I did not finish the book. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review

I chose this book due to its premise. It sounded very interesting - with a bit of mystery, love story and redemption. However, the entire story read like a bad boarding school sitcom with unrealistic relationships. I found it hard to believe students fell in love and trusted the protaganist and her developing relationship was unrealistic. Unfortunately, I would give this book 2.5 stars.

hated this. no thank you. it was work to read this and so boring. sooooooo boring. thanks a lot to neutrally for letting me read this early, but no thanks to a reread in the future

When big-time publicist Gillian faces a scandal that leaves her career in tatters, her exclusive boarding school alma mater reaches out with a chance to help her get back on her feet. Leaving the fame, glitz, and glamour of the big city for the high school drama in wine country, CA, Gillian realizes she might be up against her most difficult clients yet. High school girls.

I wanted to love this book! It has such an interesting premise, but the execution ended up feeling like a first draft, not a final product. There were too many storylines that all COULD have been good, but none of them were explored in-depth enough to provide a satisfactory conclusion. A few plot twists seemed a bit too far-fetched for me as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for my honest review.

A cute book about a publicist who goes back to her boarding school alma mater as a dorm mom. At times the plot felt like it was going in a lot of directions, but then it all came together.

This book was a little slow and all over the place for me. I was hoping to enjoy it more, the storyline seemed interesting.

When the #MeToo movement erupts, Gillian Brodie, a publicist with many high-profile celebrity clients finds herself jobless with no friends to call after accusations against one of her clients implodes her career. She goes from running a boutique PR firm in NYC to accepting a job as a dorm mother at her alma mater, a boarding school in Sonoma, California. Gillian’s plans to only remain in Sonoma for as long as it takes her to figure out her next steps are thwarted when she finds herself creating friendships, catching up with a former flame from her time in high school and caught in the middle of a scandal on campus that threatens to implode her life… again.

This was a cute book that was fun to read.
I found the overall story to be interesting & the atmosphere of the boarding school setting was idyllic and fun to jump into each time I picked up the book. I also appreciated the way we were given backstory on Gillian’s past only as needed. Instead of flashing back for an entire chapter, we were given little snippets that seemed to feel like we were inside of her daydreams & memories.

The story fell flat for me in the end, specifically regarding the way Gillian’s relationship conflicts with Lila & Aiden were resolved. I found myself unable to root for the romance. I was left wanting more development of Lila & Gillian’s friendship. And ultimately, I feel like there were so many storylines fighting for their place in the plot that all of them felt underdeveloped and not fully fleshed out.

Overall, I really loved getting to see Gillian redeem her past & present mistakes coming full circle through her relationships to the people around her & the place she grew up!

Thank you to Net Galley & Penguin Group Dutton for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a quick little story. Although I enjoyed reading it, I wish some parts of the story were more developed. I kept thinking I missed a few pages because of the “gaps”. All in all, it was nice read.

The book wasn't *bad* but I did skim through most of it. There wasn't a very clear plot and even the various mini-plots within the book felt rushed and anti-climactic. The relationship between Gillian and the love interest was so confusing as well.

It was definitely more introspective, but all in all it just wasn't my favorite. But I will say that even though this wasn't to my particular reading tastes, there is a reader for this one I'm sure.

Swing and a miss. I will read virtually any novel set in a boarding school and this sounded like it had a lot of potential, but boy was I disappointed. A late 30's publicist is forced to shutter her NY PR firm after a scandal and for some unexplained reason is offered a position as a dorm mother in her high school boarding school in wine country California. Okay.... She is immediately beloved by her teenage charges for no apparent reason. Okay..... She reconnects with a teenage crush and sort of kind of builds an adult relationship with him. Okay.... The plot and dialogue just didn't read as believable to me.

I went into this book thinking romcom, so was disappointed it wasn’t very rom-y or com-y. It was a lot of teenage drama and, honestly, may be the first time I ever read a book and didn’t want the main couple to end up together.

Nicely written though, and people who prefer more drama and less romcom would probably like it more than I did. You can check out the book when it’s released on August 16, 2022.

I was excited to read an early copy of Room and Board by Miriam Parker. I am usually intrigued by stories on a school campus of some kind, so when I saw that this was about a woman who goes back to her high school to become the dorm mom, I was intrigued. But somewhere at the halfway point, the book started to lose its draw, and I started skimming the novel to the end.

The characters lacked dimension and were flat. I wanted to like Gillian, but she didn't appeal to me. I don't always need a likable character, but it was hard to connect with her when we were in her head as much as we were through the novel,

Other things that didn't work for me in the novel were the lack of conflict (and there could have been so many plot points explored) and the simplistic nature of the dialogue. It wasn't a bad book, per se. I was just bored and itching for something big to happen and it never did.

Maybe this story would be better on the screen.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to review an early copy of Room and Board by Miriam Parker.

Gillian's life has just fallen apart when a scandal upends her life as a publicist for many famous clients. Needing a place to regroup and figure out her next step, Gillian is relieved when the elite boarding school she attended in high school as a scholarship students invites her to be a dorm mom for the school year. Gillian starts to piece together a new life filled with mentoring some amazing teenagers, making new friends, and reconnecting with an old crush from high school. But all of that might be in jeopardy when a scandal comes to light at the school. Can Gillian keep her new life together this time?
Gillian’s story is enjoyable. The relationships she develops in her new life are genuine and a contrast to what she had experienced previously. In a lot of ways Gillian’s story is one of growing up and finding out what is important in life, even if she is already an adult. The teenagers in the story have relatable storylines and feel very authentic. The book addresses the themes of consequences, learning and growth, friendship, trust, and authenticity. I enjoyed the book.

I was on Such a roll with Academic Set books....and then this book.

The premise starts off with such a good pull: A young publicist Gillian has to quit her glam lifestyle of the rich an famous because of some scandal (still unsure what exactly that was, the author could have told us but I could have very well fallen asleep during that part, as I did several times while reading this book---like literally I would rather read my AP US history text book before having to read 1 more page of this book---and if you know me, I am a math and science girl....history is not my cup of tea, INCLUDING my APUSH teacher telling me I was more suited for the sciences--wow what a confidence booster for a 17 year old, no harsh feelings, that you Mr M for a B---I think I probably was more of a C student in history--but that is neither here nor there--wow junior year of high school, would I go back? Actually yes! I enjoyed high school except forAP US and English class--it was SO COLD in that room and that was the year I had to read Scarlet Letter--4th worst book now that I started I Have to finish my top worst books because I know you want to know:
1. Portrait of An Artist as A Young Man
2.The Stand--Stephen King (SORRY TED)
3. My Dead Husband-NJ Moss
4.Scarlett Letter-Nathanial Hawtorne
5. The Wrong Family--Taryn Fisher
*Holly Note that KM is NOT on this list!!
But the rest of Junior year was fun: Golf team, clothing design, calculus <3. chemistry <3 , Spanish 2....
Sorry back to the review: I really did not like the "romance" between Gillian and Aiden. The chemistry was a total no. And what did she see in him? I mean he was unwilling to commit to her in high school and then their whole "courtship" in the present time was really off putting. It was all about him and he pretty much just wined and dined her to get her to bed. The thing that drove me CRAZY was he continued to call "Lyft" for her, what kind of man doesn't drive his date home or pick her up??? Excuse me ...No! Major jerk move.
I still am not entirely sure why they "broke things off" because he was on the board of the PTA. Really? Weak.
The whole story was just boring.
I think the two exciting things that were suppose to happen were twins whose names begin with F become popular singers at the school and Gillian becomes their publicist...
The second "twist" involves the misses of funds at the elite private school.

Pretty much 300 pages of nothing happenening and me not really caring about any of the characters. There was no development, all were super shallow. This review really is more of me ranting, because honestly nothing happened in the book. Oh there was a character named Rainbow and Bunny--I almost feel like the author was taunting preppy sorority types-
Sorry but not a good one.

Thank you Net Galley for this advanced copy of this book. I was not paid or did not receive anything for this honest review. (less)

Well… Once again I hear choo choo sound of disappointment train when I read a book doesn’t fit with my expectations!

The plot truly picked my interest! It seemed promising, engaging story with so much potential!

But as soon as I start reading about disgraced publicist whose reputation has been tarnished with the incident related #metoomovement , I thought this book was reliable second chance story and when Gillian the main character, who is leaving Manhattan to settle for a life to become dorm mom, I didn’t question why she got the job of why she was offered at the first place.

The thing I didn’t understand why a bunch of stereotyped ultra-rich kids who were portrayed worse than the characters at the remake of HBOMax’ s Gossip Girl chose that woman who was two decades older as a mentor or why they got so interested in her.

The plot could be more interesting if Gillian was a reporter, just a few years older from those students who was covering up a story about college girls and accepting this job to hide her identity or she could be disgraced Hollywood star hiding in the dorm to prepare herself for the next role and the dorm life can give her enough sources for the preparation of the character she’ll play! See: those plot lines made more sense than this one! At least the inner screenwriter in me thinks that way!

I patiently kept reading even though I found the incidents a little overrated and unrealistic and the characters are unreliable!

I’m still giving three solid stars for interesting plot line and promising start! But I wish I could enjoy it more!

Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.