This book was a silly and over the top satire (?) about a women who is a massage therapist. I would have trouble recommending this book because it was not super well written and didn't feel like it was either a charming light read, or worthy content. I would skip this one. Sorry!

Short synopsis: Joan is grieving the death of her boyfriend, and trying to make ends meet as massage therapist. When her job is threatened, she makes a deal with a romance author to give her the behind the scenes look into the spa for her next book.

My thoughts: This book had some in depth looks at grief, Growth, finding your best self, and following dreams especially when it’s scary. The friend group was top notch, and they were there for each other when needed the most.

I liked watching the growth Joan went through. And while there is definitely some very heavy moments there were lots of humor to offset it!

Read if you love:
-cucumber water
- romance novels
- co-workers that feel like family
- working through grief

It's a cute book- an interesting premise with the spa connection and the writer. Sometimes, it felt a little too slow, but it was a fun, easy read. A "book in a book" can feel overdone but I think the author did a great job with this. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Super Bloom
Author Megan Tady
Available now!

Thank you, @zibbybooks, @netgalley, and @megtady, for my #gifted finished and e- arc copies!

Witty, funny, and light- hearted, Super Bloom is a perfect new beginnings and finding your way through grief novel that's filled with hope to add to your tbr today!

Joan Johnston is a massage therapist who's terrible at her job, in debt, and among other things, grieving the death of her boyfriend alone because they never met each other's friends and family. Desperate to keep her job at the posh Vermont spa, Joan agrees to share conversations and secrets of spa clients and the spa business with Carmen Bronze, a labile bestselling romance author, who offers to pay off Joan's debt in exchange for written material to help her publish her next book. But somewhere along the way, Joan remembers who she is and what she wants for herself - and that's to write her own story.

Inspirational and entertaining, Super Bloom is a fun and heartwarming debut!

Fun and light and you couldn't help but root for her from GO! This would make for a great movie plot, for sure. Very interested in reading future books by the author!

I really enjoyed this story about a young massage therapist processing heartbreak. When a romance authors wants notes and information about the spa industry, it’s sparks, a young woman‘s journey of writing a different ending to her own story. Very fun.

I enjoyed this book and was fortunate to participate in a Zoom chat with the author which really added to my enjoyment overall.

I absolutely loved this book and the timing of our actual super bloom here in California couldn’t be more perfect! Meg Tady had me laughing, crying and everything in between!

Joan is a massage therapist at an upscale resort spa. Her life changes when a well-known author becomes her client and has a crazy offer for her. Joan explores her friendships, career, addresses grief and much more.

🌺 Super Bloom is a debut novel from the fantastic @megtady that follows massage therapist, Joan. Our protagonist is dealing with a lackluster career (the novel itself was inspired by a real life disaster massage 😂), evolving friendships, and overwhelming grief after a heartbreaking loss.

Super Bloom is chock full of charm, found family, a hilarious bull-dozing romance novelist, second chances, and poignant moments. The story was a delight to read and it was even better to talk about.

@thisfamilyreads.alot hosted an author chat with Megan Tady and it was an absolute delight to listen to her discuss the inspiration for her novel as well as the writing process itself. There are so many years of hard work, revisions, cuts, and rewritings that go into producing a novel—it takes me two hours to compose a completely ridiculous one paragraph review—I am in complete awe of these amazing authors who put it all on the line to get these pages filled with their blood, sweat, and tears into the hands of readers. 👏👏👏. So great to chat with @wereadlikethat and @wellred.bookclub as well.

Read this one if you’ve ever had a bad massage, if you feel like it’s never to late to start over, or if you love a quirky cast of characters and found family.

Thank you to @netgalley and @zibbybooks for the digital ARC and to author @megtady for taking the time to chat with us about her fantastic novel.

Three years after the accidental death of her boyfriend, Joan Johnston is still grieving. Stuck working as a massage therapist at a luxury spa in Vermont, she’s certainly not thriving. When she meets bestselling romance author Carmen Bronze, she’s offered a way out of her debt and a way to save her job. All she has to do is share insider spa knowledge with Carmen, who is setting her next book at a spa. Easy peasy. That is until Joan’s passion for writing wakes up and she finds herself writing her own romance novel, which is strictly against her contract with Carmen. With Carmen after her manuscript, Joan must find a way to move past her grief and standup for herself.

This is such a cute debut. As someone who gets a monthly massage, I also wonder what my massage therapist thinks about me, so it was fun to get an inside look at the spa industry. Outside of the setting though, this is a wonderfully put together story about overcoming grief. Joan is wallowing in her own loses and while I was frustrated with her at first, she shows tremendous growth throughout the story. I love her relationship with her boyfriend Sam, and you can tell what they had was deep. But I also enjoyed the way Tady worked to have Joan move on and continue living her life.

Filled with lots of humor this is great debut that is perfect for when you need something witty and heartfelt.

Super Bloom is out now. Huge thank you to Zibby Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.

Loved this book. Actually, anyone who has lost a loved one, anyone who writes or journals, and anyone who loves a good massage will love this book too. Though it tackles some heavy subjects (grief, healing, feeling unaccepted...) it is written in a light, almost fun voice by Megan Tady with some hilarious "intel" about the world of massage therapists. I personally loved how Joan (the protagonist) slowly evolved and found a way to finally heal and begin living again. Truly worth reading and highly recommend it.

This humorous, fun, a little silly, and eye-rolling at times novel is the perfect pastime for a rainy day, beach chair, or airplane trip. Joan, a massage therapist at a Vermont spa, cannot push past her grief and get her life rolling again. Then Carmen, a famous romance novelist and massage client, hires Joan to research the author's next book. Can this be the break Joan needs to give life—and love—another chance?

Thanks to Net Galley and Zibby Books for the ARC.

An iconic Vermont spa is the setting for Megan Tady’s debut novel. Joan Johnston, depressed over the accidental death of her boyfriend is stuck in grief. Tady divides the novel into four seasons, beginning with fall and progressing along with Joan’s outlook, toward summer. Joan’s career as a massage therapist is hanging by a thread when a famous romance novelist , Carmen Bronze, becomes a client. Joan’s buried dreams of becoming a writer are awakened and she realizes “to try and possibly fail is the only way to bloom.” Tady creates recognizable spa clients to despise or easily love. Filled with humor and wit, this novel focuses on second chances and moving on, with a mystery as an “add-on” treatment for readers

Super Bloom started off a little slow for me, if I'm honest. The main character works a job that she doesn't really enjoy for not enough money. She is still grieving the love of her life who died a year ago and she just doesn't know where she's going in her life. All that doesn't sound much different than many other books. However, when she strikes up a deal with a famous author, things start to get interesting.

Once the book picked up a little bit for me, it was very enjoyable! I don't always like the book-within-a-book deal but this book pulled it off beautifully. I was invested in both the novel I was reading and the one the character is writing.

We really get to see the character grow into herself and learn who she is. While she definitely annoyed me in the beginning, I had respect for her by the end.

I gave this book 3.5 stars on Goodreads. This book was a good read---not bad by any means---but I didn't get the over-the-top, best book I've ever read, 'wow factor' that most of the other reviewers seemed to get from this. I want to preface that statement by saying that this is a really solid debut and I would love to see what this author publishes in the future. I don't want to discredit the author at all---I enjoyed her writing style but ultimately didn't connect with the story as much as other readers seemed to.

I do want to really commend the author for the way that she created and developed the characters. They were the highlight of this book, for me. Each of them added something to the story and showed progress/growth by the end of the book. So much of my enjoyment in this book was rooted in the characters. The time the author put into crafting these characters was so evident and appreciated!

Overall, I am glad that I read this book. I think that reading this book reinforced the idea that 'Just because a book didn't work for me doesn't mean that it won't work for you' and also 'Just because a book worked for you doesn't mean that it will work for me'...and both of those feelings are valid and normal! My favorite book may be someone else's least favorite and vice versa.
If you love workplace dramas, casts of quirky characters, and redemption storylines----I think you would really enjoy this book!

I thought this was such a funny, sweet and delightful book about second chances. We hosted the author in our store and she is SO lovely in person—funny, engaging, thoughtful and fantastic at Q&A. This will be a wonderful beach read, especially for those of us in the northeast who can relate to this lovely setting. I’m excited to read Megan’s next book!

Can a partnership with a quirky and demanding author be the key Joan needs to unlock her potential?
Joan is stuck in life. She’s mourning the loss of her boyfriend and is barely going through the motions as a massage therapist in a swanky Vermont spa. Everything changes when she meets successful author who has a proposition – get some inside intel on the spa for her next novel.

Joan sets out to help her client, but what she unwraps is her joy of telling her own stories and the passion she once had for writing.

Super Bloom is about finding yourself, following your passion and being authentic. It’s about healing and blossoming into who you’re supposed to be. It’s the perfect read to curl up with at the spa, or with a glass of “spa” water on the couch. I adored this book and feel like I need to book a weekend away stat.

Thank you to NetGalley, Zibby Books and Meg Tady for an advance e-book.

I began reading Super Bloom when I was super exhausted after a long week at work. It kept me entertained through the crowded subway ride and got me inspired to book a much needed spa day at the Blue Lagoon in Iceland! I learned so much about the massage trade and kept engaged on my plane ride through the soaking in the volcanic water! Thank you for a fun ride. Get the book, and you will be revitalized.

I really enjoyed this book !! I love books that are stories within a story and having Joan feel inspired to go back to writing and have it be therapeutic for her was such a heartwarming story. Really enjoyed the supporting characters!

I was excited to read a novel where one of the themes was grief because that is rarely done well. Unfortunately, there were some plot points in this particular book that weren't believable to me. I had a difficult time keeping my attention on this. The story was okay, but not one that I'd want to read again. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.