Ramona’s life seems to take the phrase “when it rains, it pours” to a new extreme – in this case, it comes in the form of a Category Four hurricane in the midst of all her other issues.

With a boss with no concept of work-life balance, a toddler struggling through potty training, and an over-sharer for a mother, Ramona already has her plate full when she discovers her husband cheating on her with one of the mom’s from her son’s elementary school. At this point, Hurricane Matthew seems to be the least of her troubles.

As the storm nears Savannah, Ramona makes the decision to evacuate with her two young children, but picks up two unlikely companions along the way: Bailey, a neighborhood teenager left home alone, and Clarence Thomas, the class guinea pig left in her son’s charge for the weekend.

What follows is a difficult yet humorous attempt to evacuate town, with the constant looming of not only the storm on the horizon, but her minivan’s check engine light’s constant glow. Avoiding apology texts and calls from her husband and his mistress while also worrying about her mother, Ramona remembers the days when her life was like a Prince song, and longs for a time before he died, when none of this would’ve happened.

As a main character, Ramona isn’t entirely likeable – she doesn’t fall into the “perfect” mold that a lot of main characters might fall into, and at times can be frustrating; it is in her flaws that the ability for the reader to relate to her shines through. Carolyn Prusa deftly toes the line in creating a character that shows the realities of dealing with life as it hurdles at us, rather than painting the picture perfect solutions usually found in fiction, creating the leading lady we didn’t know we needed until now.

This was cute. I liked Ramona a lot and how she handled everything. She was a little quirky but it worked for her personality. The last 2/3 of the book when she went back to get her mom from the hurricane with all her kids really lost me and it started going downhill from there for me. So much happened in that time span and also she put her kids back into the eye of a hurricane which made me so mad, not to mention she also had the neighbor boy. And her mom wanting the neighbor boy to live with her at the end? It just was so random. Overall cute but I’ll Probably forget about it pretty soon after reading.

Ramona is a hard working, under appreciate, over worked women. She's trying to juggle a job (where she is not treated fairly), a cheating husband, and a mother who is just over the top. Now let's just add a category 4 hurricane, and we've got a true hot mess. I think Ramona as a character can be relatable, especially how much she does and how under appreciated she is. The take home message was just do the best you can. Thank you for NetGalley for providing me with a copy to review.

I thought this was relatable and entertaining- a book to read if you want a warm hug! Exactly what I want from a summer book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this book.

At first, I really enjoyed this book. I liked the plot and as someone who enjoys music, really liked the connection to Prince. However, as the book went along, I just found myself growing less interested.

None of This Would Have Happened If Prince Were Alive by Carolyn Prusa. Pub Date: November 22, 2022. Rating: 2 stars. When I read the synopsis of this novel, I was intrigued by the premise of a woman in the middle of a category four hurricane who is just trying to keep her and her family's life together. Honestly I really wanted to love this one and I did not. I felt it was a train wreck, dry writing and kind of all over the place with emotions, the characters were unlikeable and I thought the kids were awful as well. Also, I thought there would be more connections to Prince due to the title but there were not. This novel was a miss for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own. #netgalley

A relatable story about a mom who doesn't have it all together. An excellent genre in itself.

Ramona is having a bad day. She's got marriage problems, work problems, and challenges as a mom. So naturally there's a category four hurricane on the way.

This is light, funny reading. I liked Ramona and found her incredibly relatable, even as an unmarried woman without children.

Definitely give this one a read!

This was just so so for me. I had a hard time sitting down to read it, but I enjoyed enough to finish because I was interested in finding out the ending.

A funny, smart, heart warming read. I’d recommend to anyone. I really enjoyed the characters and the way the plot moved by time

Very well written with moments of humor.

Unfortunately I didn’t find this as engaging as I originally thought I would.

In this book we follow a stressed mother as she tries to navigate the chaos of evacuating ahead of a category 4 hurricane as her life seemingly comes crashing down around her. The writing in this book is chaotic, sometimes in a good way and sometimes not. The character growth is largely lacking, and many of the problems that Ramona stresses about have solutions that are so simple that it draws you out of the story. Put a diaper on your kid and go girl.

It’s a short read with lots of humour added in, but it’s not quite what was promised.

I found this book to be a uch a funny and relatable read. I will definitely be recommending it to others.

While hurricane season is officially June first through November thirtieth, those of us who live near the water know the biggest danger is late August through mid-September. Since I live 10 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, at the end of every summer I’m drawn to hurricane stories like manatees are drawn to warm water. And while None of This Would Have Happened if Prince Were Alive is a comedy, the tension from the storms is always very real.

For the complete review, click on the link below.

While I love books about the complexities of motherhood, this book missed the mark for me- mainly because I didn't like the writing style, and also I felt that the jumping around the timeline took away from the pacing of the main hurricane evacuation and philandering husband plot. It was too distracting and disappointing when it would cut away.

I am DNFing at about 50%

Not sure exactly what I was expecting from the title, but this definitely was different than my expectations. I found myself completely confused at why Ramona would not evacuate/RETURN to the hurricane path with her children and didn’t leave them with her beloved friend Christopher and out of harms way? Why it was so accepted that her mom was homophobic? Many unanswered questions… the best part was the Prince references for sure!

I'm not a big Prince fan, but I loved this book! The main character in the book, Ramona, has always been a Prince fan. His music is a reminder of when she was unmarried, childless, sexy and creative, and when she is in line at the post office and hears the news he passed away, she feels all the magic has gone out of the world and her life has just become a calamitous, monotonous existence. Her boss is a young bratty guy who doesn't seem to understand motherhood comes first.. Her three year old daughter refuses to potty train properly. Her mom won't evacuate and the fact that she has just come home to decide whether to evacuate from a Cat 4 hurricane, only to find her husband having sex with a woman whose child goes to school with her son, is the last straw. Which is worse, the impending breakup of her marriage or this hurricane, called Matthew?

Ramona has to keep things together for her children, but there's so much other stuff going on. She learns things from other people she would rather not know..

This is the debut novel of an exciting new author. I look forward to reading the next book she puts out. The book is funny. The line about teenage boys' eating habits had me laughing out loud, because I certainly can identify with it.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions expressed are mine, and freely given.

Picture this: you’re a working parent who has just been called to pick up your kid early from daycare, pissing off your chauvinistic boss. The laundry needs doing, the fridge is empty, among the three dozen other things on your to-do list. You walk into the house and all that temporarily turns into background noise upon discovering your husband is cheating on you. Oh, and there’s a literal category 4 hurricane on the way and the region has been ordered to evacuate.

I imagine this could either be really cathartic or really activating for people who can relate to these circumstances. If you use reading as an escape, maybe avoid. But if you use reading to feel seen and yell, “YES!!” at the book, this could be for you.

Not going to lie, I initially fell for the cover and title of this one. I would put this in the category of quick, contemporary fiction. I read 75% of it on a plane. While the themes were relatable and I laughed out loud at parts, I do wish this would have had more depth for such serious topics. I mean, the hurricane is an actual metaphor, but that’s about where the analysis ends. And no spoilers, but, the MC completely lost me when she made the most idiotic decision I think I’ve ever read (not related to the spouse cheating situation). I get that it added needed conflict to the story, but just… utter foolishness.

Read this if:
😵‍💫 You’re an overstimulated mom doing it all
📚 You like Chandler Baker’s stories about women
🎸 You’re a Prince fan who is white

Funny, inspiring, and heartwarming. A witty debut novel that was a page turner and so engaging to read. Very relatable, especially for women trying to juggle it all. The title caught my attention and it didn't disappoint.

This book was pure chaos. The story takes place over a 2 day period, beginning with the author discovering her spouse is cheating and a category 4 hurricane is on the way. Add in kids, work, a class pet, and about a thousand other responsibilities and you can about tell how the book is going to go.

I related to the main character having to function through the chaos, but there were so many times I really wish she would have made better choices and stopped trying to do *everything*.

Overall it was a quick and fun read.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

This book was interesting, because it was set in Savannah, and there was a hurricane, headed their way. However, there were lots of people involved, and the main character struck me as slightly crazy because she evacuated her family and when they got to Augusta they turned right back around to come back to Savannah. The story was funny in parts, and it was very light reading, but it was not really my cup of tea.