Definitely Better Now by Ava Robinson is about an alcoholic attempting to reform her life and finds that there are many obstacles.
I found the book to be a hard read and not a good fit for me.

I received an arc of this ebook through NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing . I will be giving an honest review.

I went between 4 and 5 stars so I decided to give this book 4.5 stars. I loved it and it definitely made feel, and cry, but it was also slow at times.

This book starts out with Emma at work, trying to write a speech for her 1 year sober birthday. This is about Emma learning how to live again after getting sober, but also coming to terms with and accepting the things she did in the past and the things that happened to her.

I have experience with AA (Alcoholic Anonymous) so this book made a lot of sense to me. It talks heavily about AA because it is the program Emma is in to stay sober.

Emma has different parts of her life she tries to keep separate, but throughout the book they merge and she realizes she can only be herself. Ben is a lead IT worker at the same job. They like eachother but Emma feels very awkward after putting off dating for 1 year.

This book also tackles family issues, which were really sad. I did cry pretty hard through some of this. But it was written beautifully.

Overall it was a beautiful story and it definitely helped that I could relate to Emma. Again it was a little slow at times, but it’s definitely worth it to read this.

This felt deeply personal and real, and I had so much anxiety about Emma's interactions - I didn't feel like Savannah and that backstory was fleshed out enough for as often as it was alluded to, but I really appreciated the brokenness that she felt. Ben was a bright star in this story, as were Jerome and Vanessa. I was so glad she had a soft place to land. It was hard to get through and slow going at times, but by the time the book wove to the end, I felt it all.

As Emma reaches the milestone of one year sober, she fears the consequences of revealing her recovery to her coworkers, especially to Ben the dreamy IT Director.

While the book includes romantic elements with Emma’s attraction to Ben, the bulk of the book focuses on Emma’s sobriety from drugs and alcohol and her relationship with her alcoholic father. The book includes several references to the Big Book, the primary text of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Emma’s sobriety journey impacts all aspects of her life. Her voice is wonderfully engaging and her internal thoughts quite frank, which makes it easy to become invested in her journey.

The dynamics of Emma’s workplace are well-constructed, as are the characters of her boss, coworkers, and the members of the Fun Team.

Cat people will love the scenes with Emma’s father’s cat Houdini.

I liked the epilogue, but I would have liked it to go a touch farther.

The book made me laugh and it made me cry. I am extremely interested in the topic of addiction, so I enjoyed the strong focus on Emma’s sobriety.

I found the romantic elements heartwarming. Initially I saw a Ben as a kind of manic pixie dream boy, but later in the book more of his backstory is provided, which beautifully illuminates his character.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Mira, an imprint of Harlequin Enterprises ULC., for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.

I honestly had no idea I would like this book as much as I did. while the description intrigued me, I am not a non romance reader, or non fantasy reader, but I thought that this might be good so I requested it. Thank the lord I did because I loved this book. It was so good and refreshing to be able to read something other than straight up romance and like it. It took me for a trip of appreciating people and understanding that a lot could be going on in other peoples life. It also helps with the negative ideas that pop up when someone mentions alcoholism or going to AA. I cried a little, I squealed, I got mad but most importantly, I had a blast reading about Emma journey into really taking a hold of her sobriety and finding a stable relationship in between.
I usually get bred if I'm reading non romance, or non fantasy, like i mentioned in the beginning, but this one got me in a grip where I had to take my kindle to work just hoping for free time to get another page or chapter.

it was kind of hard to know which were the messages and which were the thoughts, but other than that there was nothing wrong with the book.

thank you for the opportunity

A chillingly-relatable story of struggle, sobriety, terminal illness, and the ways that real, solid love can change the trajectory of one’s grief and life.

This is one of those books where the characters seem three-dimensional and tangible, as though they aren’t just the figments of someone’s imagination but a close friend who is recounting their stories over the middle compartment of a car parked somewhere in the pouring rain. While the novel begins as Emma’s journey through sobriety and her challenges to balance the different versions of her identity in a corporate workplace, the book diverges into a haunting and beautiful walk through a new relationship, complicated parents, and mortality. A lot of books describe the throes of dating as cliche, straight-cut, and linear, but this novel has a special talent for weaving insecurity and inexperience into a love story with an exceedingly likeable and genuinely GOOD man that every reader will root for. Love is not the central focus of the book, but the support it can provide feels like one of the many pillars holding up an incredible and compelling story.

This story followed Emma as she navigated life sober. The story started a little slow but did a good job describing the challenges a person in recovery faces. I would have liked to see how the relationship between Emma and Ben played out- maybe a sequel?!

This book was nothing like I expected and I loved it for that. My favorite details would include major spoilers, so I'll just mention that it was an emotional and beautiful read, especially towards the end.

This was such a good book! a heavy take on addiction and the struggle the MC is going through. I definitely enjoyed it as a whole and I would definitely recommend! Thanks for the arc!

This book was both hilarious and deep at the same time. Ava Robinson did a wonderful job of highlighting how starting over, especially after an addiction, doesn't suddenly make things all better. Sobriety is a journey and sometimes it's harrowing, but it has funny moments too. I loved Emma and I felt like I was rooting for her the whole time. I can't wait to see more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

I loved this book much more than it appears from the length of time it took me to read it. Emma’s character is so flawed and real in her quest to lead life as a newly sober person. I particularly enjoyed the love story aspect with Ben.

Trigger warnings: addictions, parent with cancer, death of a parent.

If you are looking for a story about a young woman’s earnest and heartfelt desire to find her place in the world, Definitely Better Now is the book for you.
We meet our protagonist, Emma Finley, on the eve of her one year of sobriety. Emma has worked incredibly hard to get clean at 26 and reinvent herself in this new, shinier version. What Emma soon learns is that she must grapple with the past and learn to be vulnerable if she truly wants to move on in her life.
I found Emma such a beautifully honest and flawed character, and I appreciated the centered focus of her sobriety and the role AA played in her life; it felt really authentic. While the book did have elements of romance, Emma’s friendship and eventual romantic relationship with Ben was more about her self-realizations and self-discovery than her finding a romantic partner.
This book tackles big issues including alcoholism, recovery, and dysfunctional family relationships. However, it ends with a hope that made me so happy for Emma.
Thank you to Net Galley and Harlequin Enterprises for this ARC. I can’t wait to read more from Ava Robinson!

Definitely Better Now is about a women who is finding her way through life after a year of sobriety. It's also an interesting take on how friends, family, and coworkers interact with someone who is sober. I think this book would be great for anyone that has a friend in AA. It was interesting that several of the main character's friends told her she didn't have to be completely sober, just drink less. This is something I image a lot of people hear in AA and it's definitely not helpful. This story also dove a bit into grief and starting a new romance after changing your lifestyle. There was a lot of heavy stuff going on in the story but it still felt hopeful instead of sad. Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this eARC for unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this novel and I feel like it is a really strong debut. I found the story to be unique and the main character, Emma, to be very relatable. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book but I was hooked right from the start. I liked the back and forth of Emma's story where she focuses on the present but sprinkles in little parts of her past. I felt like this was a very real depiction of what alcoholism can look like for families.

The only issue I had was when it came to the text messages depicted in the book. I just had a hard time following who was sending which message but I got the hang of it eventually.

I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

This review will be cross-posted to my social media accounts closer to the book release date.

I really liked this book. I liked the raw emotion we saw from the main character, Emma. Even though I’ve never seen AA or dealt with what she went through, it was so easy to relate to her and cheer her on.

A fun sweet read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

I think this is a good book. The alcoholic approach to a storyline is a different one, but I feel like there were a lot of secrets kept from the reader. The characters didn't really flesh out as much as I would have liked, but it was a good story.

We open to Emma, 26, New York native, and about to celebrate her one year sobriety anniversary. The past year has been wildly different. No dating. New career. Limited social interactions. Tenuous. Shaky. Emma is ready to have the one year stigma behind her and begin to live again.

But, what does that look like? Work Emma isn't Real Emma. Without numbing out, emotions are big, real. Wasn't everything supposed to be easy after she reached this anniversary.

This is a biting, deeply poignant, and darkly humorous look at the politics and cultlike status of AA, the prominent role booze plays in all social interactions, and the reality that life is hard both with and without alcohol. I had never read a novel through the POV of someone newly sober. It was wildly refreshing and. definitely gave this reader some nuggets to digest.

I adored this debut novel. I think you will as well. Thank you NetGalley and MIRA for a copy of this book. Definitely Better Now debuts on Dec 31, 2024--just in time for Dry January. But, this reader thinks Dry June and July may follow this read.

I really enjoyed this read. It took me a while to get through but that’s partly because I’ve been so busy lately. This book had some heavier themes to it but I liked Emma and the growth she had throughout the book. I also enjoyed reading about Emma and Ben’s relationship as well. Overall a good read.

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and the author for the ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This book will be available December 2024.

(Copied my review over from Goodreads)

Dnf at 35%. This book wasn’t by any means bad or awful. I just don’t think I was the target audience and it was really difficult to push myself through it at the moment. The writing was good and I think the main character was relatable. I wasn’t really feeling the romance between the two main characters which I think is contributing to me not being motivated to continue. If you relate to any of the stories themes (addiction, family dynamics, etc) I can see others really enjoying this!