3⭐️

Trixie has a huge heart, especially for little furry friends. So when she spots a chicken trying to cross the road she has to help. Trixie is able to save the chicken with the help of a large bearded man, little does she know this chicken would change her life. She now needs a new apartment and surprisingly her new roommate is the stranger that helped her. Bear is a construction worker with a love of flowers, who doesn’t like leaving his home or being around people. However, the unlikely trio will help each other figure out how to navigate their own emotional baggage while testing the boundaries of their platonic relationship.

First off my favourite line in this whole book is “the sexual tension is as thick as Tom Selleck’s moustache”. I had to pause the book and laugh for like five minutes.

Trixie is a social butterfly. Her smile is as big as her personality but it’s so fake. Trixie works at an animal shelter and will do anything for an injured chicken, even if the hospital bills will drown her. Bear is the epitome of a book boyfriend. He’s described as a lumberjack, tall, large, big beard, loves making pancakes, wine, Grey’s Anatomy, huge family man and making flower arrangements. He looks like he could kill you but is a cinnamon roll.

I think the character development of both Bear and Trixie is the best part of this book. They grew so much as people and were able to move forward and past their traumas well. I do think Bear’s development is more well done, Trixie’s felt a little rushed at the end. While it wasn’t PARTICULARLY insta-love, there was some insta-love aspects which I am usually not a huge fan of but I did enjoy this. While this wasn’t TOTALLY miscommunication, there was little communication better Bear and Trixie. The third act breakup wasn’t really a breakup? But it put up a major red flag for one of the characters for me (two guesses on who). *also I will stand my ground and say “blue-balls” IS NOT A THING. Bear says so many times that Trixie is giving him blue-balls for just existing and UGGGH I can’t!

Now I initially thought that the chicken part of this story would make my eyes roll but I ended up loving Chick-Chick and wanted her to be okay! I received an audio version and enjoyed the narration, which was easy to follow. If you want forced proximity, roommates to lovers, closed door, dual POV, grumpyxsunshine, slow burn and some meddlesome siblings this ones for you!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audio copy for an honest review. I love you guys 💕

I received a copy of this audiobook from netgalley for an honest review.

I could be this woman! She saves a chicken from a busy street and needs a new home since her landlord doesn't allow pets and the shelter, she works at doesn't accept chickens, Trixie finds the perfect solution in being Bear's roommate. Which his sisters conveniently set up. I felt bad for Trixie and her belief that if she ever let anyone see her cry, they'd run but she had proof from her own life. Bella was a joy, as was Bear's entire family.

"Lots of people use different personas to protect their feelings."

Despite one of the funniest meet cutes when Trixie stops traffic to rescue a chicken crossing the road and Bear helps her, To Get To The Other Side by debut author Kelly Ohlert is a sweet romance about honoring your true self.

Trixie has to move when she is found with another rescued animal in her apartment. What a shock when she answers an ad for a roommate and it's the "very sexy Brawny beard man," Bear. As they both pretend they are just roommates their feelings grow for one another.

Narrators Stefanie Kay and Paul Heitsch are fantastic at slowly revealing the real frayed emotions these two have kept hidden from others and themselves. Trixie is all sunshine because who will like her if she's ever unhappy and Bear has hidden the things that bring him joy to keep an emasculating father away. They need each other to get to the other side of their true selves

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Dreamscape Media via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

2.5-3/5 stars

I'm still not quite sure where I stand on my thoughts about this book as there were both incredibly poorly written parts but as well as cute romantic moments.

I would say that it was difficult to get through the beginning (the first 10–20%). For this, I was listening to an audiobook, which I believe increased my progress because if I had been reading it all by myself, I doubt I would have ever finished. The way they first met was unique and had the potential to be a funny romantic story, but the character writing ruined it. Trixie and Bear appeared to have no other real characteristics than Trixie's fake happiness and Bear's size and shyness. However, it did make up for it toward the middle and end. Instead of them constantly checking out one another, it explored their interactions and relationship in greater depth. It had so many more endearing opportunities, but it still felt weak. Their core argument was pointless and underdeveloped. TRIXIE'S ABILITY TO FAKE A SMILE IS NOT SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID A THOUSAND TIMES. It becomes so monotonous that I want to slap her in the face, not to mention her constant inner monologue about Bear possibly leaving her if she ever revealed that she got upset over certain things. I can understand why Trixie was reluctant to talk to people, but they could have done a better job of conveying that to the reader so that they felt sympathy rather than anger. However, I think this book has plenty of potential and has moments where you want to smile and be happy for the characters, especially with such a fun concept.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. First off the narrator 's did a good job. I love the cover and the book started out cute and kept my interest. But about the half way point it started to fall flat. I have a major issue with the language. Wow it is so strong that it is vial. The plot itself is very Hallmark romance story plot but then add the horrible cussing it just doesn't go with the book. As the story goes along the plot just gets more and more unrealistic.

Did i ever think i'd read a romance book where one of the main characters is a chicken? no, no i did not. But honestly I loved every minute of it. I was so freaking cute!

super cute. I didn't like trixie but I loved bear. he was the perfect book boyfriend. I also loved his family dynamic. chick chick did steal the show and was the best character of all. I loved the plot but I knocked it down a star because of trixie.

This was a cute romcom! Loved Bear and Trixie and their tangled love for a chicken that was trying to cross the road. Also the moral of be who you truly are and do what makes you happy even if you think others will judge you for it was great! I will definitely recommend it.

This book started out so cute. I had such high hopes. Who doesn’t love a book about a pet chicken? Unfortunately, it just fell flat for me. I lost interest about 1/2 way into the book. It because boring and dragged in the middle. The characters had a decent backstory and I could even identify Trixie’s goal. This one was just a little too rough to hold my interest. The narrators did a good job of narrating the audiobook. Huge thanks to Netgalley and the audiobook publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

It started out good and the will they won't they was a little more back and forth then I wanted. I love the bases of the story and I was having a good time then there was a moment in the book and when Trixie makes a decision and says something then gets mad her requests was followed.
I really enjoyed bear as one of the main characters. He is a strong character and I love how he starts silent and starts getting stronger as a character. Trixie on the other hand started out strong having a mask on which I get but I felt she never let it go even after the resolution of the conflict. So I never really connected with the real her.


Thank you NetGalley for this audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

So I wanted to like this. A quirky woman and a hot mystery guy find a stray chicken in the middle of the city she lives in and takes it home. Instead of finding literally any other home for it, she gets kicked out of her apartment and ends up living with the hot mystery guy. Love ensues.

She made so many silly decisions that I didn't love and it was hard to root for her. Spending $3,000 on a chicken's medical bills that forces her to take on multiple part time jobs probably makes her a better person than me but bless her heart, it was too much. I thought the chicken, named Chick-Chick unfortunately would be a cute side plot and it was a huge plot point through the whole thing.

The alternative curse words drove me nuts. It was supposed to be charming and I was not into it. They kept edging around Trixie's trauma and Bear's father as far as things that majorly shaped them into the adults they were and it started to bug me after a while that we didn't get to it quicker.

I liked the narrators and thought they did a good job with this one.

Thank you to Netgalley, Alcove Press, and Dreamscape Media for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

While I liked the listening experience, I wasn’t a fan of the actual book itself. The romance didn’t do anything for me, Trixie was a pretty annoying character and why was the love interest named Bear?

I truly felt nothing for these characters or for the story. And I know this book is one I’m not going to remember in a year from now.

However, the only thing I will remember about this romance was that our female protagonist had a chicken for a pet.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Read/listen if you like:
🐓 Chicken Crossing the Road Jokes
🏠 Roommates to Lovers
❤️ Meddling Siblings
👫🏼 Dual POV

This was cute, sassy, sarcastic, and heartfelt! If you are looking for a cute romance that starts out with a chicken crossing the road, this one is definitely for you!

I definitely didn’t love the voicing of the male MC, his voice work just didn’t do it for me, but the female Mc narrator was pleasant to listen to.

These characters had great chemistry and I really enjoyed how their story came together! This one also had a really well done slow burn plot and I’m so thankful I got to ARC copy to listen to in exchange for my feedback!

This was so cute! I'm surprised this doesn't have higher ratings to be honest. I am usually a fairly harsh critic when it comes to romantic contemporaries because they're often overdone tropes with one dimensional characters and unbelievable romantic storylines. That being said, I was very pleased to like this one as much as I did. I found the relationship to develop rather quickly but still naturally and the addition of the chicken was just a real delight. I thought their relationship was fun to follow. I would have preferred a bit more development of both the characters, but felt satisfied by the end that I had a good understanding of the type of people they were. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story had me cracking up.

One chicken, one animal lover, one helpful stranger, 4 meddling sisters, and a housing arrangement made necessary by the chicken is a recipe to bring two unsuspecting people together. Throughout though, their growing friendship had to heal some long standing wounds before more could grow.

#netgalley
#arc
#togettotheotherside

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the review copy of this audiobook.

I thought this book was adorable. I loved Bear's family dynamic and his sisters meddling. Trixie reminded me a lot of myself in several ways so I was able to relate to her. There were a few things throughout the book that I thought would have been better left out, but it didn't effect my liking or rating of this book. Narration was good for both.

In a big city, Trixie sees a chicken running across the street. Being that she works with animals at the animal shelter, she couldn’t help but get this chicken to safety and give it the help it needs. She names this chicken Chick Chick and brings it home to her apartment where she isn’t allowed to have any pets.

Trixie is caught with her chicken and is told that she needs to move out within week!! So she looks for an apartment that she can afford and luckily finds one where she will be someone’s roommate.

Her friend tells her that she should invite this potential roommate to a game just to see how he really is. Trixie thinks that’s a great idea and invites this roommate, named Bear, to the game and he accepts. Trixie ends up moving into Bear’s apartment.

What happens with Chick Chick? What happens to Trixie and Bear’s living situation?

I thought this was a cute concept, but I really didn’t see the appeal of both characters and I didn’t see their chemistry. I liked that this book dove a little deeper about how they are psychologically like why one pushes the other away, but I also felt like their flaws were awkwardly added instead of naturally added. I also thought it was weird when Trixie and Bear’s little niece had a lemonade stand to make some money and Trixie accepted half the money from Bear’s niece. I get that she was desperate for money, but I also cringed when I read that.

I didn’t really enjoy reading this book and saw the opportunity to listen to the audiobook. I figured that might help me enjoy the book more, but the male’s voice annoyed me and I didn’t find it appealing.

Let's start with the cover! It is so cute! I have chickens (29 to be exact) so I can absolutely relate to chasing chickens  🤣 

The narrators were fantastic!! Stefanie Kay who spoke for Trixie was PERFECT. Paul Heitsch did a wonderful job as Bear!

How the main characters ended up living together is hilarious. I loved Bear's sisters! They are hilarious! The whole family is warm and welcoming which added to the story.

However, I think it was about 3/4 through they have a disagreement. She doesn't want him to see her when she isn't anything less than perfect. She has unresolved issues with how her parents treated her when she showed any emotion that wasn't positive or uplifting. He wants to help in anyway possible. Anyway, she yells at him to get out of her room and SHE THROWS SOMETHING AT HIM! WHAT!??!🤯🤨 This is a relationship that is litterally a few hours oldAnd the part that irked me the most was that it was never addressed! It was never talked about again! She never apolized! He never said "hey can you not throw something at me again?" Her issues with her parents were on repeat over and over throughout the book.

Unfortunately, for me that was a deal breaker in the book. I had to force myself to finish listening to the book because I always finish the books I start.

On the Scale of Buy, Borrow, Bargain, Bud or Bust if you really want to read the book Borrow & Bud. This book is going to be perfect for a lot of people but it just wasn't for me.

I almost abandoned this audiobook several times. I had a hard time connecting the male narrator to his character- the voice didn't suit, in my opinion. I also had a really hard time with both of the main characters. For a good portion of the book, the MCs felt unlikable and unrelatable. Spending thousands of dollars on a chicken was just mind boggling to me, and I'm a chicken owner! Overall, I just didn't buy the characters or the plot for 90% of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so cute! I loved Bear and Trixie as they were such a cute couple and brought out the best in each other. The book overall was a fun, quick read that was just adorable.