Waiting for Paint to Dry is an emotional, thought-provoking story that delves into one woman’s deeply personal journey of healing. The narrative gracefully explores the often-painful process of forgiving those who have wronged us—especially when those people are family.
What stood out to me most was the raw and honest portrayal of complicated family dynamics, particularly between parents and children, and more intimately, between sisters. The story doesn’t offer easy resolutions but instead presents the gradual and often uncomfortable process of mending broken relationships. It’s a powerful reminder that healing is nonlinear and sometimes, the most important growth happens in the quiet, messy in-between moments—like waiting for paint to dry.
A moving and relatable read for anyone navigating the difficult terrain of family, forgiveness, and finding peace.

An empowering, emotional journey about healing from past trauma and rediscovering one's strength. This novel balances humor and heartbreak really well, offering a protagonist you want to root for. While it deals with heavy topics, the tone stays accessible and hopeful. A great pick for readers who love stories of resilience.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to review this title in exchange for an honest review. *TW* this book talks about rape; it does not go into details, but the topic/flashbacks and trauma related are a repeated theme throughout. I loved Ty's character and the overall plot. I had a difficult time liking El and even Matty's mother (what brief parts she plays). I used to paint murals myself so it was nice to read about Matty being recognized and following that passion as she healed. This story sends a great message that one can find love and self worth after experiencing trauma as Matty did.

Great book. I enjoyed Reading it. The characters and plot were interesting life like and easy to connect with.

This book struck my heart as I can personally relate to the main character's story. Her journey is raw and realistic. Throughout the book, she struggles to move on from a painful past, while also allowing love into her life again. I enjoyed her journey and felt the tale was respectful to survivors of trauma while also being truthful about the trials we go through.
The author also donates a portion of proceeds to advocate services which is awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait to read the second story in the series.

A thought-provoking read, displaying the struggles and anxiety of the protagonist. Very atmospheric, fast at times, and necessarily slow at others, the story kept unwinding and unravelling. Very enjoyable

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of Waiting for Paint to Dry in exchange for an honest review.

Although the subject matter was heartbreaking, I could not connect to this character. It felt like there were big pieces of the story missing and that made to story one-dimensional and flat.

I have been reading books about this particular subject matter for a long time, and I thought that this was a strong addition to the genre. Thank you for letting me read it!

I really enjoyed this book. I am a huge fan of this genre so it does take alot to impress me but The writing is spectacular and the plot was interesting and engaging enough to keep me on my toes and interested the entire time throughout the read. I would highly recommend this one!

My favorite thing about Waiting for Paint to Dry is the aspect of healing and transitioning from victim to survivor, and the journey of transitioning from surviving to thriving. That is something anyone who has ever experienced trauma has gone though, and it really makes it relatable. I really hope this story helps victims of sexual assault to know that they can heal from it, that they are so, so much more than their trauma.

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault

This novel centers around Matty Bell, who has been dealing (and not dealing well) for many years with the psychological aftermath from being raped by her boyfriend in college. An act she believed was encouraged by her own sister.

Matty goes through quite the journey in this book and we also see how the sexual assault affected her relationships with her family members and her friendships. We meet characters dealing with alcoholism, infidelity, grief after loss of a spouse, but also a lot of love, hope, and healing.

Seeing this journey through the mind of a victim of sexual assault, gaining even a small understanding of how it affects every bit of your being, the author does a wonderful job of portraying a characters who are simply so real.


(Thank you to NetGalley and Blissfully Beguiling Books for a copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest feedback)

I rate this book 3.75 stars.

Waiting for Paint to Dry grapples with various elements of a young woman healing from the aftermath of sexual assault. Matty Bell, our protagonist, was raped by her boyfriend, during her family's time in Naples, Italy. Years later, on the day of her sister's wedding, she confessed details of the assault to her mom, who disregarded Matty's story. Reeling from this callous reaction, Matty leaves Southern California and goes as far away as she possibly can. She ends up in Baltimore, Maryland, where a friend named, Claire, picks up the shattered pieces of Matty for the next decade. After living years with immense trauma and emotional anguish, Matty seeks out therapy to instigate the healing process. Finally, Matty decides to visit Southern California to continue healing her relationship with her estranged family. Along her journey, she finds love, passion, & happiness.

My one gripe with this novel is the ending. I wanted WAY more than the author put forward. I loved Matty's newfound happiness and had hoped to share in that with her more than just the short epilogue. Overall, I thought this story was beautifully written and thoughtful. It explores the depths of trauma that may lie within an individual and the deeply difficult process of facing that trauma head on.

Thank you to Lia Mack, Blissfully Beguiling Books and NetGalley, for gifting me this eArc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher’s for giving me this wonderful arc.
It was incredible and it left me speechless a few times while reading!

Thank you net gally for providing me with a free copy of Waiting for Paint to Dry in exchange for a honest review.

My rating went through a roller coaster starting from four and lowering up to even two stars before I finally settled into a three star rating.

My issue with this book is that although it manages to successful portray the self destruction, guilt, rage, self hatred and prejudice victims of sexual assault often face, something that cannot be fixed easily or quickly, mid way through the book all this is thrown away to the side for a while and we see romance taking place. The problem with this, is that the book started way too heavy ,with the reader seeing exclusively the depressing state of the MC so when the author completely pushed that aside for a while, it felt really awkward and wasn't a smooth continuation of the story.


Further more when it came to the romance although I liked Ty as a character (god knows we stan for a single parent trope) the way he meets the MC along with the really quick progression of their relationship felt very insta-love like and made me consider dnfing.

Finally although I could see what the author was trying to do with the side characters, especially Eleanor, they we're all too simplistic and lacking, and with the Mcs sister in particular, it really felt like reading a cartoon villain at times.

The pacing as a whole was an issue as the ending was disappointingly rushed.

However I DO wanna leave this review in the positive note that this book did well in exploring the themes of the psychological state of someone who has went through sa along with the hopeful message to all survivors about healing being possible.

I strongly recommend reading the trigger warnings before starting this book.

At its core, this book is about the journey of healing and self-discovery.

The one thing I think this book got correct is that even though the incident happened to Matty when she was a teenager and didn’t get help until many years later, she doesn’t magically heal from it one day to the next. She went to a therapist for a year and even though she is in a much better place she still isn’t done healing. I thought that process was shown beautifully. In real life, we don’t heal overnight or in a linear format. We heal with time and through a winding road.

Spoiler Warning
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I wish we got some resolution on if her cause ever got filed and placed on the guy’s permeant record. Maybe we will see/hear about it in the next book? Or are we just going to be left with our own imagination?

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Lia Mack and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own..

Complicated, wonderful, suspenseful, entertaining, impossible to put down.

I tried to read this book, I really did. At first the print was tiny but I managed to make it bigger on my tablet. But the biggest problem was there were no spaces between the words. It gave me a headache and I finally stopped trying. It could be the best book ever but I was not able to read it... Sorry!

In this book we follow Matty, who has to face a life-long trauma when she goes back home to see her family after many years spent apart from them. It's a journey to find truth and closure but maybe also a journey to new beginnings?

I find it very difficult to review this book since the topic is so important and the cause that surrounds the sales of it so noble, but if I strictly look at the style and plot, it unfortunately wasn't for me.

The style struck me as too confusing and the story too slow at times. Further, the side characters sometimes felt a little inauthentic.

Sadly, I did not enjoy it but I want to say again how important the cause behind the book is.

An intimate study of trauma told through the eyes of a fictional character. I was absolutely grabbed by this book immediately and interested. The main character has undergone extreme emotional discord and is trying to find her way toward living a healthier life. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough!

This is such a moving and delicate books which truly showcases what survivors of abuse have to face, unlike many books the abuse is not at all glorified however it shows the raw truth and after effects many are left to face with and the pieces left to pick up