Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

This one has a little bit of all my favorite things about Leesa Cross-Smith's books. Solid friendships, creature comforts, romance, strong women and a lot of fun. the ending felt a little forced, but it is over all, a delight.

A total blast, just incredible fun. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much. The characters were amazing, the plot was really nice, what else can you ask for? I'll be recommending this to everyone.

3.25 ⭐️

Four lifelong friends reunite in their hometown after the 15 years since high school graduation in this dual timeline story. The story flips between their senior year of high school in 2004 and 2019 when they’re all back in their hometown again for the first time since then.

When three friends suspect one of their own is in an abusive relationship, they confront her and convince her to leave - only her abuser discovers her plans and the abuse escalates. The other three know it’s time for this “Earl” to say goodbye.

For me this was just okay. The first 1/3 or so it was engaging and felt well told. But somewhere near the middle it really started to drag. You pretty much know how it’s going to go but it takes forever to get there.

Also, there were some weird descriptive and phrasing choices throughout the book. And there were times it seemed like the author just grabbed a thesaurus and picked out the most obscure synonym she could. And although the Christian stuff wasn’t super in your face and down your throat, I didn’t feel like it added anything to the story.

Overall, it could have been better but it wasn’t bad.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book!

Don’t be fooled by the cover, this story is not just a revenge tale. It’s so, so much more. The book was like a warm hug; deeply heartfelt and emotional with sisterhood and friendship and love. It’s dual-timeline, with two heart-wrenching stories woven together, and ultimately results with you having a deep cathartic ugly cry. If you were a teen in the early 2000s, the nostalgic music mentioned will absolutely resonate with you, and the overall feel of the book. The book reminded me of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants meets Steel Magnolias meets Waitress. I absolutely loved it and all I can say is, nah nah nah nah nahhh nahhh nahhhhhhhhh, Eaaaarrrllll.

I absolutely adored this book. The links between the four best friends and their little found family was so poignant and lovely, and the idea that taking care of one of their own as well as holding men accountable for their actions really resonated. I love stories set in small towns as well so this was really for me. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the arc.

#GoodbyeEarl #NetGalley

I loved the idea and concept for this book, however, it is so slow. Along with that, it’s hard to keep track of all four of these women, their present and past storylines, and all of the side characters. I’m choosing to set this aside. Love the cover and title.

Goodbye Earl by Leesa Cross-Smith was the story of four girls who had been friends all their lives. It follows a dual timeline, from 2004 to 2018, which was hard to follow at first. I didn't know the song the title referenced or The Chicks, was almost expecting a Regency romance. I found the premise a little crazy, I can't imagine my friends killing anyone for me. Maybe I don't have good enough friends? Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Goodbye Earl is a song by the Chicks that features an abusive man that is murdered by his wife and her best friend. Cross-Smith chose this as a book title to signal the overall theme of the story and to alert us that there will be numerous nostalgic songs references through the book!

Rosemarie, Ada, Caro, and Kasey (or RACK ) have been friends for many, many years. They are the friends you love to read about and wish you had more of. Cross-Smith does an excellent job of characterizing and defining each friend - both their good and bad qualities. As the song states, there is an abusive person in the story, and they have to go. As the story moves forward there are plenty of flashbacks to explain what split the group up 15 years ago. It's a fun read ! #GoodbyeEarl #LeesaCrossSmith #GRandCentralPublishing

As someone who graduated around the same time as one of the timeline points, I totally remembered the song Goodbye Earl, although I was never a country fan. Despite that, the story premise still intrigued me and I was glad I requested this book! It’s a great story of friendship for the RACK women (—the name the girls use as an acronym for their names) and them sticking together through thick and thin. I’m a huge fan of female friendship stories and this one was no different! I absolutely loved the women and really enjoyed the dual timeline writing of the book! I’d recommend this one for anyone looking for a friendship book with a side of revenge.

I am going to be honest it took me a minute to get everyone straight and the timeline straight in this book. With the four characters and the two different time periods it was a little confusing at first.
The slow also felt slow in the beginning but once it picked up it took off.
My favorite part of the whole book was all the police reports the women filled out. I found them funny and a nice reflection of women supporting women against abuse and being taken advantage of.
Overall it was a pretty good but it was just lacking something I can't put my finger on.

From the title, I was expecting this book to be a dark comedy, but it wasn't that at all. The book tells the story of the friendship of RACK (Rosemarie, Ada, Caroline and Kasey), four girls in the small town of Goldie. The book alternates between the years 2019 and 2004 and among the viewpoints of the four girls. They all had/have their own issues (ranging from family issues to health problems) but have remained "besties" throughout the years. Rosemarie and Kasey have relocated to different parts of the country, but they all remain close. In 2019, all are reunited in Goldie for the wedding of Ada's younger sister Taylor. When the four friends are finally reunited, they realize they must come together to help each other, as they have all their lives.

The girls were apparently all big fans of the group The Chicks back in the day, as several of their more famous hits are mentioned. Calling this book after one of their biggest hits, about an abusive man who gets his just desserts, but in a humorous way (it's a fictional victim, of course) lead me to believe the book would also have that sense of humor, but it didn't at all. The book would have been more aptly named if it had been called after the Martina McBride song "Independence Day." At least it would have let the reader know the tone and feel of the story better than this mis-matched title did.

This was so good! Unfortunately I don’t have a group of friends like RACK who would go beyond their duties and murder someone for me 😂

I’m a sucker for sisterhood/friendship books and this was no exception. I enjoyed all the characters and their POV’s. At first I was wondering why they weren’t mad at Kasey for leaving town 15 years ago, but the group of girls was so supportive of each other. It did get a little heavy so I would check the content warnings! Also, smaller town vibes people!! Everyone gets a pie in this town! I think my favorite part was all the different women coming together for Caroline.

Thank you Grand Central for the ARC!

When I saw this one on NetGalley I knew I just had to shoot my shot!! I was so excited when I got approved and started reading it pretty quickly!! This is a story of friendship and sisterhood that can’t be broken. If you know the song you have an idea of what this book may be about, but honestly it’s so much more! I laughed, I cried, and I fell in love with these characters!! Definitely add this one to your summer reading!!

I was so excited when I came across Goodbye Earl by Leesa Cross-Smith. The title of the book instantly caught my attention and I previously LOVED This Close to Okay by Cross-Smith. But unfortunately, this book did not work for me. I ended up DNFing this book around 35%.

The overall premise is interesting to me, four friends reunite for one of their sister's wedding in their small southern hometown. The timeline jumps between 2004, their senior year of high school, and the present (2019).

The POV shifts between the girls both in the present and past timelines. There are a LOT of characters mentioned, each girl has her own relationships, family members, friends, etc. I just could not keep people straight.

This book is SLOW. In the part I read, I felt like a whole lot of nothing happened. I loved Cross-Smith's lyrical and descriptive writing in This Close to Okay, but in Goodbye Earl, it often felt repetitive and drawn out. Paragraph on paragraph about dresses, and lip color, and food/drink. I just couldn't get into it.

I assumed, based on the title, that this book was going to be a cozy mystery wrapped in a blanket of nostalgia and female friendship. After 35%, I wasn't really getting much of that and I just didn't feel like investing more time trying to slodge through it to get there (if it was there at all).

I’ll be completely honest - Southern fiction is generally not really my thing. I have read the occasional Southern novel that I’ve really enjoyed, but it’s not generally something I seek out. The synopsis for Goodbye Earl was intriguing and I decided that this was one Southern novel I wanted to read.

Being completely honest again, I often read more than one book at a time in any given week. I was reading two other titles when I started this one, and by the time I was 15% of the way in, it was the only novel I was reading, because I didn’t want to put it down.

Told in dual timelines, I really liked the low-key stress of the story arc, along with the character development, plot development, and enduring sister friend relationships.

The novel proved to be just as intriguing as I’d hoped and I enjoyed it.




Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC!

Anyone who has heard the song "Goodbye Earl" probably knows of at least one Earl. At least one that got away with it and didn't see justice.
That's the premise behind this book. Kasey is returning home to Goldie, after being gone for 15 years (since just after high school graduation) After a big and terrible thing that made her leave.

But for now, she is reunited with her 3 best friends, affectionately called Rack. And the group is about to face dealing with another Earl that threatens to hurt them.

It's a story about love, friendship, and the last straw that makes women stand together against someone that might have deserved what happened to him

My one negative is that the timeline was a bit confusing. It wasn't just past and current, but it was past, not so long ago and current - sometimes it got a bit confusing as to what was when and what was I actually reading.

I did get anxiety towards the end, wanting the story to wrap up quickly. I think the transcripts from the police and the emails just felt out of place to me and I needed closure sooner. I also struggled with every-topic-under-the-sun being included in this. There was much of that I felt could have been removed for a quicker-paced and more intriguing story but all in all a great fun read.

Thanks Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley

What I liked:
- Vivid small-town setting
- The group of friends and their differences + similarities
- The women coming together at the end
- How the story came full circle

What didn't work for me:
- For some reason, this book just felt long. It took me about twice as long to read as a typical book for me. While I enjoyed it, I just couldn't get sucked into the story.

I was 19 when this song came out and still to this day know every word by heart. And it's no wonder I have an attitude like "so what, Who Cares" now I know why. And the author mush have felt the same way. I was completely drawn into this story. The characters were amazing and I just loved the whole thing.
I just reviewed Goodbye Earl by Leesa Cross-Smith. #GoodbyeEarl #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL

Love this book!!! I seriously wish I was part of this group of friends. The writing characters are wonderful though guy wrenching at times. Highly recommend