A family drama story. It had me rolling around on the floor giggling. It inspired me to put out there how I honestly feel. It makes you feel free and there are some cute dogs along the way.

This is the third book I have read by Melanie Summers and she still keep me wanting more of her books. I'm not a mom but I understand how life can get overwhelming and feel like you haven't done what you thought you would have done in your life. A lot of us get caught up in taking care of others and not ourselves. That was nice to read. We're not alone out there. I enjoyed Jessica's journey to figuring herself out. There are funny moments and even sad times, too. I would definitely recommend this book!!


Thank you NetGalley and Indigo Group for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

Super cute story that I would recommend to fellow mama readers who need a cute book that will make you giggle. I would recommend this book to my friends.

This was a fun book that had many relatable moments. You can't help but root for Jessica to make changes to her life and find herself again. I am recommending to readers who want a little humor in their women's fiction. The scene with the mistaken office at the therapy appointment stands out for those who want a chuckle and some light moments. Perfect for the beach bag.

this is for the "older crowd" IE .. the books i should be reading hahahahha
This is the story of Jessica who truly is having a midlife crisis at the age of 40 she is revaluating her life, its purpose and her reason for being. For me, i expected the comedy Melanie Summers usually puts in her books but it felt like a different author it was more gripping than comedy which I wanted. I get it Jessica feelts like moldy cheese and the concept of you shouldnt lose your own identity but for me this book really needed some comedy because it felt complainy and boring at times. I have read EVERYTHING from this author and will still do that even tho this fell flat for me

okay, this book was so adorable!! i know a lot of people did not like this one, but i really really did! it was so fun and sweet and precious! thank you so much to netgalley for letting me read this one early!!!

For moms who don’t find the routine of the mom life they have settled into as fulfilling anymore this is a book that I think you will love.

Never before have I identified so strongly with a book character as I did with Jess. 46 years old and longing to live a different life. Feeling exhausted and unappreciated, Jess has dedicated her life to her husband and children, at the cost of her own dreams. Consummate people pleaser and doormat, she has reached the end of her tether.

Making an extreme decision about her future causes tensions and a rift between her and her family. But for the first time she is putting herself first. Ultimately she learns what it is she needs to make her happy and fulfilled and eventually she reaches out to her family who finally see her for the amazing woman she is. She learns she is enough, has a new found confidence and finally finds the big, juicy life she has longed for.

Don't be fooled by the cover or blurb. This is not a light, fluffy romcom. It's a testament to the battle women go through to find themselves after years of giving their all to everyone else. It's moving, important and ultimately joyful.

This had me laughing right away!!

Oh goodness, so relatable it kind of hurt. I loved the concept of this book and I knew right away that it was the kind of one the nose humor that would keep me engaged. Well edited writing, well developed characters, and a concept for women’s fiction that is simultaneously very real, and yet handled with grace. This book is a touching and laugh out loud worthy look at a woman’s midlife crisis, and a thoughtful journey toward finding what will make her happy again.

I was so glad looking into it and seeing that Melanie Summers has a lot more out there. You can bet that I’ll be adding some of them to my TBR ASAP.

This sounded like it was going to ultimately be an uplifting book about women finding their power. Maybe in a weird way, that’s what happened. What I perceived was that a woman made an attempt to changed her unfulfilling life and instead realized that her horrible kids and the husband who was demeaning to her were the best that life had to offer because she loved them and they loved her.

I was mildly sad when I finished reading. Not depressed, but sad, because I hope that life offers more than this for people and that the author believes that there is more happiness available than what this poor woman has. But I also counted my blessings that my kids weren’t like her kids and my husband wasn’t her husband, So-I guess my power is that my life is good, especially compared to this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Author Melanie Summers for an advanced release copy for an exchange of my honest review/opinion of the book!

Jess is in her mid 40’s and is struggling in life with feelings of inadequacies, being under appreciated by her family, and felling unfulfilled. She has put her career and life on hold to raise her children and be a great wife. She has problems with saying no and always wants to help people. Enough is enough! Jess takes matters in her own hands and makes drastic changes to begin her journey of fulfillment and purpose.

**LIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD**

This was one of the most frustrating books to read. It had so much potential but didn’t deliver for me. I disliked the main character, Jess, immensely. She came off as a complaining privileged woman. The book is called I Used to be Fun but the reader doesn’t get a glimpse of what “fun Jess” was like.

Jess makes drastic changes within the family dynamics and causes all of this drama. She was an amazing mother and wife but then becomes completely missing in action with her family. The burden of being the foundation of your family is very real but I couldn’t get behind the way Jess decided to make changes. The ending caught me off guard and felt a little rushed.

I did enjoy the authors writing style and loved the use of the Secret Journal entries. Although I didn’t enjoy this book I would try another book by this author.

The book starts of slow but does build up over time. She feels unfulfilled and buying random things isn't making the feeling go away. Until she decides to go back to her college dream of becoming a lawyer. Is she willing t out herself through LSAT and law school? What if it came at a price of her relationship with friends? Husband? kids?


It's a 3 star read.

*****************I received an ARC for my honest opinion from NetGalley************************

Jessica is having a midlife crisis. Faced with the monotony of keeping house, making dinners, raising two teens and pressure to help with every PTA event, Jessica leads a life of predictable routine. When Jessica has a car accident, she decides life is too precious to waste on predictability and revisits her dream of pursing a law degree. The novel focuses primarily on the negative reactions of Jessica's friends and family to this change in Jessica's plans and her coming to terms with who she is at this phase in her life. Revisiting her dreams and prioritizing herself are familiar themes for many women, but the conflicts resulting from Jessica's decision felt overdramatic and characters lacked depth.

“That’s not how therapy works, Jessica. It took years to build these unhealthy patterns you’ve described. You can’t expect to fix things in an hour.”

We know it, Jessica knows it, but she can still hope. Dissatisfied is not a good look on a stay at home suburban mom of two teens. Maybe the next overpriced lifestyle gimmick will fix everything. Or, maybe a catastrophic accident will change the way you look at your life, and how it’s working (or not).

As second attempt at therapy, and a chance meeting make Jessica rethink the bit of her life where she put her dream of law school on permanent hold to play full-time wife and mom. Chaos ensues. Imagine the person who always says yes, suddenly starts saying no. Feelings are hurt, relationships are tested. Pick a direction, no one is happy with Jessica’s plan to go back to school. Except Jessica, and even then it feels like she jumped off a cliff into the icy waters below - if only to get away from her life at the top of the drop.

If you have parented a teenager, some of the scenes in this book will remind you that wild animals have been known to (rightfully) eat their young, The teenage characters were very believable portrayals.

As Jessica nears her goal of retaking the LSAT and preparing to apply to law school, she learns some things about her family, herself, and where she wants to be in the world. Happily Ever After is never guaranteed, but Better Than Before is an achievable goal - particularly if you stop and reassess, and figure out if you’re on the right track.

Even though I’m older than Jessica, her situation and her feelings really resonate with me. Her dreams and goals are real and important, as everyone’s should be.


Thanks to @NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours and the author for my ARC.

I am sad to say this I didn't like this book at all and normally I love stories by this author. Hard pass on this one.

Thank you to NetGalley & author Melanie Summers for allowing me the opportunity to read a copy of "I Used to Be Fun".

This novel follows Jessica, who has an overly needy husband and two children who are almost grown and highly ungrateful. She is also not a fan of her mother-in-law, and is desperately seeking some sort of escape from her real life. She used to be an attorney but gave it all up for motherhood, and every once in awhile, she is secretly regretting that decision. She's not as fun as she used to be., and wants to reconnect with her past self, in a sense.

Overall, I rated this novel 4/5 stars!

This book was so relatable to mothers. Jess’ story was well written. I kept looking around wondering who was watching me. I tore through this book and encourage every mother to read it.

A realistic look into the life of a woman who felt unseen and unappreciated, that brought home the message that it’s never too late to chase your dreams and that it’s okay if your dreams are different now than they were before.

Jessica Holloway has everything going for her, she is happily married, her two kids are doing well (for teenagers), she has a part-time job, regular visits with her friends, and she volunteers at the school. But Jess is not happy. Her kids are ungrateful, her husband doesn’t see her misery, her one best friend doesn’t understand her frustrations. She misses her younger self: the fun, smart woman with an excellent LSAT score who had dreams of becoming a lawyer. Why did she give it all up, was it worth giving up, and can she have her career now?

I think Jess is very representative of a lot of women in their 40s and 50s whose kids are growing more independent. Her role is changing and it’s leaving her feeling a bit empty. Jess didn’t know how to fix it, she just knew that something had to change. Her methods were maybe a bit haphazard and unwise, but all that made her more real, flawed, and relatable. She was supposed to keep a gratitude journal, but instead she made up fantasy scenarios where she was living a dream life somewhere far away. Jess felt unfulfilled and she made some impulsive decisions that she stubbornly clung to.

Some of Jess’s choices made me feel super frustrated. Sometimes I felt sympathy for her and other times I just wanted to shake her. Throughout the book I was rooting for Jess and Mike, but nothing between them was locked down until later, towards the end. That, and Jess’s uncertainty about her life, created a good amount of tension that made me want to continue reading. Mike and their children were also far from perfect, and they added to the mix of making bad decisions.

Even though it’s in the third person, the story is told just from Jess’s perspective. I enjoyed the quotes at the start of each chapter and Jess’s dream journal entries. The very last one seemed to be too good to be true, very few people get that lucky, but it was a good ending.

This isn’t a romance, it’s more about Jess finding herself again and it does have a happy ending. I can recommend this if you like women’s fiction with flawed, conflicted characters.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Melanie Summers hit the nail on the head on the “mom” life for me! I really connected with (and I’m sure most women will) the main character. She’s a wife, mom, and has a part time job; but it’s just not enough. After years of glorious fantasy journaling, she finally decides to take a leap and go after her dream of being a lawyer; a dream put to the side after getting married and having children. It’s not just about putting your dream aside, Jess realized that she has been unfulfilled and is worried that her life will come to an end with her feeling like she didn’t do anything important, like she didn’t matter. So many of us can relate to this and so many of the scenes I could play in my head as reality. I enjoyed the quotes at the beginning of each chapter to set the the ambiance! I would recommend this to all adults and I wouldn’t hesitate to read more novels by Summers!

Jess is depressed because she doesn't think she has accomplished anything in her life. She decides she is going to change that.
It was a very funny book and I loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and to the publisher Indigo.