Single mom Jenny James is not a disaster, she’s just going through a rough patch. Losing her job was tough, with her teenage son getting ready to head off for university, that was the last thing she needed, to make things worse, her car dies on her and the darn rain just won’t quit, so much so that as she arrives home she finds her house and all its contents literally sliding down the side of the cliff. Talk about kicking ya when you are down, but is she a disaster? Nah, just a little down on her luck. With little left to do, Jenny and her son find them selves embarking on a road trip with her handsome neighbor Luke in his RV.

More than once I’ve found myself at an unexpected crossroads in my life where I just needed a little nudge to make a change to move forward, take a leap of faith so to speak, so I found it easy to relate to Jenny’s feelings of worry and angst. I fell in love with her resilience, the love she felt for her son, her ability laugh at herself, and her ability to forgive, and the banter between her and her son and Luke was just delightful. While the story could have felt heavy, it was well balanced with humor. I thoroughly enjoyed tagging along on her life-changing journey toward self discovery. Despite the hardships she faced, she found something good that emerged from each experience and managed to find joy every day. A Lighthearted yet thought provoking story about second chances, this one will have you laughing, crying and cheering for Jenny all the way through!

A hearty thank you to HarperCollins Focus/Harper Muse and Debbie Johnson for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of this title via NetGalley. The opinions voiced above are my own and this is my honest review.

Jenny James Is Not a Disaster by Debbie Johnson

Jenny James is not a disaster, but her life definitely is! Jenny’s car breaks down in a storm when she and her son Charlie are on their way home. When they get to their cottage, they discover that it and the cliff it stood on have literally slid into the ocean. Later that same week, she is made redundant, and her eighteen-year-old son Charlie is about to head off to university. As a result, she’ll become an empty nester, prompting her to rethink what she wants to do with her life.

Jenny and Charlie are rescued from the storm by their neighbour Luke, who lives a mobile life in a campervan. Alongside Luke and his dachshund, Betty, as they head off on a road trip around England, along the way, Jenny starts to take a hard look at her life and past choices.

This is not my usual mystery/thriller; this is a feel good book about love, relationships and family with a side of ‘what would you do if you could start over?’ and a very slow-burn romance.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse Books for providing me with an eARC of Jenny James Is Not a Disaster by Debbie Johnson to review. Jenny James Is Not a Disaster by Debbie Johnson is out now. It was published in the UK as Falling for You.

Thumbs up 👍

Body Count = 0 (or, one house, one car...)

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When I started reading the novel I realised that I had already read it and loved it, so it was easy to re read and enjoy again.
It is the story of two people’s journey from just coping with life to the promise of enjoying life to the full with a new life partner. Jenny James loses her job and her home but is rescued by a man whom she has previously not rated very highly. He has hidden sadness and both benefit from their
adventures, journeying in his motor home with his dog and her son. They get to know each other along the way. She reconciles with her parents and discovers her talents as a writer.
It is the sort of novel which is a pleasure to read and leaves the reader with a warm glow.

It grabs you from the start to the finish. Easy read, Fun and quirky characters

Thank you to Debbie Johnson, Netgalley and Harper Muse for the arc of this book.

So, Jenny kind of is a disaster. But the point is, we love her for it. And Luke ... well, we all hope to have someone like Luke to trust (fall apart in front of) in our lives. Right? Or maybe it's just me. This book was chaotic, heart-warming, funny ... and a great reminder of what's important in life. I really enjoyed it!

Thanks a lot, Debbie Johnson; your book Jenny James Is Not a Disaster made me cry. I hope you're happy.
Seriously, though, I haven't been brought to tears by a book in what feels like decades, but when I hit a certain touching spot at the end of Jenny and Charlie's adventures with Luke, the tears came. Perhaps it was because I'm a mother and a daughter familiar with the challenges those relationships bring, combined with the skillful manner in which Johnson portrays the moment in question, but it hit me, to use a now defunct saying, in all of "the feels".
This not at all a disaster of a book has it all - catastrophe, recovery, plenty of humour, richly described locations in England that I now want to see, cute dogs, relationship drama, and romance. What more can one ask for, except maybe not to be brought to tears? (Honestly, though, I don't mind that either.)
Superbly written, Johnson has another hit of a page turner on her hands. I'm so happy to have received an ARC of #JennyJamesIsNotaDisaster from #NetGalley.

This was a nice read. Warm, filled with laughter and lot of emotions, it felt too slow in some moments and quite instalovey but still I enjoyed it

Jenny James does what we would all love to do. And what a ride she took us on. This is the road trip we all want to go on and what a trip it was. I loved the adventure, the cosiness and facing your past. This book has it all and more.

I love teh characters, the quirkiness and the story was written with such ease, making it a joy to read. I devoured it in no time at all and loved every minute of it. I just couldn't put it down. We need more books like this in our lives.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was one of the most enjoyable and heartwarming books I’d read recently, a light read but thought-provoking. Jenny James, single Mom to 18-year old Charlie, learns that the carpet business she works for locally may close their office for good, causing employees to relocate elsewhere. This is something Jenny would not want to do. Then her elderly car, “Nina,’” refuses to start (eventually deemed too expensive to repair) and she and Charlie take the lengthy bus trip home. They walk home in stormy weather to relax, only to find their cliffside cottage sliding to oblivion, possessions flying about.

Trying to grab some treasured pictures as their belongings swirl away, Jenny is rescued by Luke Henderson, who is staying in his motorhome in a nearby field. He and his friendly dog, Betty, turn out to be hospitable, and Jenny and Charlie eventually decide to travel for about a week with Luke to check out the mobile life. Gradually, their horizons change and contentment grows. The characterizations are lovely—Jenny sees life apart from her daily work grind and endless penny-pinching to survive. Charlie thrives beside the kind, mature male he has never experienced as his father had left the family when he was a toddler. And Luke enjoys the company and the exploration the three do together of areas of interest chosen from scraps of paper the three have written and choose from a hat.

This is a fun read with themes of eventual family reconciliation for Jenny and Charlie and healing of traumatic life events as well as building of deep friendships for Luke. An easy read in summary, with many life lessons about finding joy.

'Jenny James is not a Disaster' is a slice of life cozy read about a woman and her son who lose everything and take a journey through the UK, rediscovering themselves and reconnecting.

The book is funny, as Jenny, the narrator, is witty and has often funny banter with Charlie, her son. The story is also bittersweet, with many lovely descriptions of the places that Jenny, Charlie, and Luke visit, as well as their connections to pop culture references. But I especially enjoyed the trip down memory lane and how Jane had to rethink some of her past choices and see her family's perspective. Actually, the growth journey of the characters was impressive and well handled by the author. The healing process was also nicely done.

The romance, on the other hand, was not that impressive, probably because the connection was rather humane and on the level of trying to comfort each other, rather than sparks flying. Moreover, it was kind of pushed aside many times, but, fortunately, the family drama and love as well as the self-love stole the show, so that wasn't that big of a letdown.

This review is also posted on Goodreads and Storygraph

Laugh out loud funny. Really enjoyed Jenny’s character. While I didn’t give it five stars it’s definitely book worth recommending.

There's having a bad day . . . and then there's having a Very Bad Day.

Thirty-something single mom Jenny James is used to the typical run-in-your-tights, milk-turned-sour, break-a-nail bad kind of day. Attitude from her teenage son? Count on it. Car problems? To be expected. Never quite enough money for monthly expenses? Guaranteed.

And then arrives the Very Bad Day—when Jenny finds out her dull but reliable office job is in jeopardy, her car totally and completely breaks down, and she arrives home (on foot) just in time to see her modest-but-cozy cottage sliding off a cliff into the sea. Jenny's life—not to mention her home—has reached its ultimate low point.

Estranged from her parents since she became pregnant at age eighteen and set out on her own, Jenny has nowhere to turn when she and her son, Charlie, find themselves without a place to live. Her neighbor, the reclusive but attractive Luke who lives alone with his dog in a surprisingly homey RV, opens up his camper—and his vagabond lifestyle—to Jenny and her son.

As the unlikely threesome—four including the dog—hit the road, Jenny finds herself experiencing a new sense of freedom as she reflects on who she was, who she is, and who she could become. Maybe when you fall, you actually find the best way to move forward.

This was my first book of Debbie Johnson's, and I really enjoyed it! I went in fairly blind to the story, and it pulled me in right away, but then got a little slow for me once they were on the road. We were able to see Luke and Jenny's relationship slowly progress, however, and the bond developed between them and Charlie. I loved watching how Luke and Jenny made space for each other to share their experiences and traumas and help each other take steps towards integrating those experiences/traumas with people and parts of their lives they had set aside for awhile. The last 1/3 of the book is what I loved the most though, seeing Jenny reconnect with her family and begin to find her footing again, and try to balance what's right for her with what she thinks she should do. 4/5

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

CW: Death of a child, estranged parental relationships, grief, trauma

I absolutely loved this book! The female main chapter was so likable and she makes you feel for her too. I really loved the characters development.
This book was so lovely! I really enjoyed everything about it but I especially liked the way the characters were written.

I very much enjoyed this book! Jenny James was an exceptional model for turning a disastrous series of events into "exactly what (she) needed". After losing her cottage to the sea and her job to new ownership, Jenny and her son Charlie are rescued by Luke and Betty-the-dachshund. Whimsically traveling around England in a motorhome, the group learns more about not just their surroundings but also themselves. The lighthearted humor was a welcome change from my recent reading! Additionally, I enjoyed the important message of finding one's joy. I will be adding this title to the reading list for my book club.

Who among us hasn't dreamed, at one time, of dropping everything and embarking on a journey? Jenny James did just that—with a little nudge from Mother Nature—and found herself amid a life-changing journey. "Jenny James Is Not a Disaster" by Debbie Johnson follows a 36-year-old struggling single mom who discovers happiness and joy in an unexpected place.

Jenny James is not a disaster, even though her life may have been. After her cottage on the Norfolk coast fell off a cliff, and she lost her job in the same week, Jane is at a crossroads. It's just her and her 18-year-old son - sadly, she is estranged from her family - and she has to decide what to do with her life. When her handsome nomadic neighbor, Luke, who lives in a camper van with his dachshund, Betty, offers them a road trip around England, she accepts. As they frolic around England, she is forced to take a hard look at her life and past choices, stop and smell the roses, and come to terms with her past.

I enjoyed the book very much. It was a less light read than I thought it would be, which is not a bad thing, and full of inspiring life lessons. I loved the humor and banter between the characters, the growing relationships between them, the sharing of backstories that made them close their hearts to love, and the way the heroine reinvented herself. I also loved the descriptions of the various historical sites. I could smell the roses, so to speak, and envision those vivid scenes.

I have to say that the way Jenny went on a trip with someone who was a perfect stranger until then made me raise a brow at first. I also thought that being estranged for about 18 years from her family was unreasonable, as well as her unwillingness to share her story with her son. I loved the resolution of the heroine's issues, though, and the ending warmed my heart. Some scenes were touching, causing me to shed a tear.

The book highlights the complicated relationships between parents and children, and it's done with humor and heartfelt insights. I loved the message that "home is wherever you are happy." The author paints a compelling story of a journey of happiness, self-discovery, and individual pride. With themes of friendship, trust, love, letting go of the past, and self-discovery, the author has woven a tale that I enjoyed reading. The gentle budding romance added to the enjoyment. Highly recommended!

* I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I thought I already reviewed this so this will be short and sweet. I really enjoyed this book. It was so interesting to see how things can get worse before they get better. I found myself rooting for Jenny through every disaster, every twist and turn. Definitely check this one out.

As noted in the author’s bio, Debbie Johnson writes “feel-good emotional women’s fiction,” and that description fits this novel.

Jenny James is a single mother who faces extreme change in the beginning of this novel. The story takes her on an adventure geographically around England and leads her to face her past and her future.

Jenny’s resilience as she raised her son into adulthood alone is admirable, but her life experience has also led her to keeping her defenses high. Her son, Charlie, is 18 in the novel, so we see Jenny coping with a new crisis in her life in addition to the natural emotional feelings that come with having a child leaving for university soon.

If you like to read stories about personal development that includes travel, this one is for you. Jenny and Charlie end up on the road in England, and the travel piece of the story is quite enjoyable. Jenny is also forced to evaluate her decisions and regrets, as well as how she wants to spend the rest of her life now that she has raised her son.


A very slow burn, closed-door romance is in this novel, but the romance isn’t the centerpiece of the story, so it is more in the genre of women’s fiction than romance.

Funny and heartwarming, I enjoyed this story of a single-mother who's having a very bad day. She learns she will likely lose her job and then, literally loses her home which slides down the cliff where it was perched, into the sea.

Then, an unlikely neighbor comes reluctantly to the rescue, taking Jenny and her recently-graduated from high school son into the sanctuary of his motor home temporarily. Subsequently, they all end up going on a road trip that becomes meaningful in different ways to each person.

What I enjoyed about this book was the humor about it all. Even though it felt a little bit unbelievable at times, particularly regarding the reasons Jenny has been estranged from her family for so long, which she has never divulged to her son, the 'real' parts, in terms of emotions and relationships, were lovely.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and the author for allowing me to read an eARC of this book ahead of publication. I loved it and hope to encounter more from Debbie Johnson in the future.

Jenny James is Not a Disaster by Debbie Johnson is a hilarious and heartwarming rom-com about self-discovery, love, and learning to embrace the messiness of life. The story follows Jenny James, a woman who feels like she’s always falling short—whether in her career, relationships, or general day-to-day life. She’s made some questionable choices, but she’s also determined to turn things around.

Jenny’s journey is relatable and filled with humor, but also moments of vulnerability. She’s an imperfect but lovable protagonist, and readers will find themselves cheering for her as she navigates the ups and downs of career challenges, romance, and personal growth. Johnson’s witty writing and sharp observations make for a laugh-out-loud read, while still managing to delve into deeper themes of identity, self-worth, and second chances.

The romance aspect is charming and sweet, with just the right amount of tension and humor to keep the pages turning. Jenny’s romantic journey is just as much about learning to love herself as it is about finding love with someone else.

Overall, Jenny James is Not a Disaster is a delightful, feel-good read that will leave readers with a smile on their face and a heart full of hope.

I must admit to enjoying the author’s writing style. This book is heavier than her usual series ( at least the ones I have had the opportunity to read). I expected this difference based on the title and the cover page which varied from the others. I am glad the author/ publisher decided to go for this change because it helped me visualise what I might encounter. It’s not always the case with some of the books I end up reading.

Jenny is a mother of an eighteen-year-old who is at the cusp of life changing events. Little do they know that both of them will be facing drastic changes and forced introspection.

When their house falls off a cliff, Jenny decides to travel in a motorhome. Choosing to travel with someone she’s known for such a short time may seem absurd but the sequence of events and the chatter building helps make it seem feasible.

The author does familial relationships really well. They are not perfect, but have that vein of fondness timing through it. The complexities of relationships are well done and there was a whole page I randomly showed my husband where she’s thinking about her parents which he was able to appreciate with no context whatsoever.

Jenny spends time with Charlie and Luk, trying out a whole new life and starts to exercise her writing skills. The journey takes them to certain places that might seem like the obvious route to us are readers but the prices of getting there was enjoyable.

I would recommend this book to fans of the author and those who like a story which almost works like a coming-of-age narrative.

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience of this and other books by the author.