It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these - here are five things I loved about this 5 star read:

1) The choice to start “halfway” through the MCs healing journey was spot on. I love how it captures the process - that we are always changing and always improving and that it isn’t on any set schedule. It also set up an interesting dichotomy in her when she kept trying to convince herself she was “fixed” while clearly knowing that wasn’t true.

2) The realistic love interest/love story. While it was definitely a romance, that part of the plot was more of a side topic than the focus, and was handled in a way that felt wholly real.

3) You know I love me a book about grief. This book got HEAVY, but the writing about loss of all types was incredibly poignant.

4) Despite dealing with some intense topics, this was also really lighthearted and fun at points, mostly due to how great the writing was. It kept it from becoming too depressing and made it a lot more relatable.

5) In addition to the romantic relationships, I found the connections between all the characters to be complex and moving. I love it when a book’s side characters have true personality!

All in all, a home run! Thank you to Mira and Netgalley for this ARC. Definitely Better Now is out now!

The perfect novel to end out my years reading on. This was funny and heartbreaking and -hopeful-. And I love Ben. I want to put him in my pocket and carry him around with me.

Well, this book was a wild ride!

I am not sure what I expected from this book, but it had a little bit of everything from romance to family drama and grief, and about everything in between. I enjoyed the diversity of plot points we got with this book, but I do think the book could have been stronger all around if it picked maybe 2 major plot lines vs. the 4 it had.

Overall, I do recommend this book, but I would like to warn anyone that wants to read this that this book does contain some fairly heavy themes including alcoholism and a terminally sick parent.

This was such a delightful read!

Definitely Better Now is the story of Emma, 26-year old New Yorker and recovering alcoholic. The book opens with her 1-year sobriety anniversary, a milestone for members of AA who are then allowed more independence and privileges, including the option to date. (AA has some cult-y sh*t happening, which becomes more apparent over the course of the book.) We follow Emma as she starts dating again, navigates the challenges of workplace harassment, and copes with the loss of her father.

This definitely qualifies as a romance, or "women's fiction" (somewhat derogatory term meaning there's a major romance plot with other emotional themes). I appreciated that the conflicts and misunderstandings in the book were short-lived. (Upside, it reduces the tension; downside, it reduces the tension.) I also appreciate that there was no alcoholic relapse for Emma, despite the challenges she went through. Even though the themes veered darker over the course of the book, the book itself wasn't too heavy.

Emma has reached a year of sobriety and feels like now things can really start for her-including dating as she hasn’t dated her first year of sobriety. This book navigates Emma’s struggles and challenges in her new sober life. I found it to be a great read. I always go into books blind and I didn’t know what to expect but it exceeds all expectations.

In Definitely Better Now, Ava Robinson offers an intimate look into the ups and downs of navigating life’s complexities. With raw honesty and heartfelt storytelling, Ava shares the struggles and triumphs of overcoming self-doubt, heartbreak, and uncertainty.

This is more than just a memoir—it’s a mirror for anyone who’s ever faced life’s challenges and questioned their own resilience. Ava’s journey is filled with moments of vulnerability, strength, and quiet hope that are deeply relatable on many levels.

Through emotional highs and lows, Definitely Better Now is a celebration of growth, healing, and the simple truth that sometimes just being “better” is enough. This book speaks to anyone who’s ever felt lost and reminds us all that we’re never alone in the journey.

#thankyounetgalley

DEFINITELY BETTER NOW by Ava Robinson follows 26-year-old Emma, a recovering alcoholic living in New York who is celebrating one year of sobriety. She’s a character that you can’t help but root for. She’s real, relatable, genuine, witty, and super funny. The reader comes along for the ride as Emma navigates work, family, friendship, and even a romantic relationship as a sober individual. By the end of the novel, she felt like a close friend, and I appreciated the opportunity to tag along on her sobriety journey.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Family drama and dynamics
- Father/daughter relationships
- Sobriety success stories
- Reflections on alcoholism
- Workplace romance
- Office holiday parties
- Character-driven novels
- New York setting

With Emma’s personal hardships and the somewhat triggering subject matter, one may call this a heavy read. However, Robinson uses humor, grace, and a touch of romance to lighten the mood, so to speak. She blends dark and light moments to create a satisfyingly balanced contemporary fiction novel. I highly recommend the audiobook as one of my very favorites, Karissa Vacker narrates, and does a phenomenal job doing so—as per usual. Overall, I thought that this was a super solid debut, and I’m excited to read more from Robinson in the future. 4/5 stars for DEFINITELY BETTER NOW!

Thank you for sending me an advance copy of this book, NetGalley! I appreciated Emma's journey and challenges as she rediscovered herself and started afresh. The novel is well-written and the main character is quite relatable. I must admit, however, that while I enjoyed Emma's story, I felt it to be plodding and predictable at times. Aside from that, I believe this was a very emotional and introspective book that I would recommend. Please do look up content warnings as it tacles themes of mental health, substance use disorder, past trauma, etc.

Emma is officially one year sober, and ready to start a new life. Since she's completed her first year sober, she's now able to date, and looking forward to seeing what the future holds. Emma is 26 years old, and truly trying hard to figure out how to live her new sober life, while also dealing with many mixed emotions. This book deals with self discovery, second chances, finding yourself, as well as forgiveness. There's friendship, family relationships, as well as dating, and a mid 20 something year old woman trying to figure out who she is, and find herself in this world where she no longer is relying on drugs and alcohol.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and seeing Emma's character evolve throughout it. It was heartbreaking, as well as heartwarming, and though dealing with sensitive topics, was very well written.

Emma is celebrating one year of sobriety and her new life is officially about to begin. Everything will be better now that she hit this major milestone, right? Maybe not. As Emma completes her first full year of sobriety, she realizes that rejoining the world isn't exactly as easy as she had thought and hoped, especially coupled with her mom moving in with her new boyfriend and her dad looking to come back into her life in a new and meaningful way.

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut! While some parts of the book were slower, I was still engaged with learning about the adventures and struggles of Emma's day-to-day life. While the description focuses heavily on the romance, I would argue that this is more so women's fiction and the romance is simply a subplot. Despite not being exactly what I thought it would be, I think keeping the romance as a subplot was a great decision.

Ava masterfully provides insight into AA and how sobriety and recovery looks different for different people. Learning about how different AA meetings and organizations run, along with watching how Emma approached sobriety in contrast to her Dad's futile attempts was my favorite aspect of the book. Having had various friends and family that have alcoholism, I appreciated the insights the novel gave to a difficult topic. Despite not directly relating to Ava in many aspects, I found her easy to like, root for and identify with.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin, and Harlequin Audio for an ALC and eARC of this debut in exchange for my honest thoughts.

It wasn’t the best self discovery I’ve read, but something about it made it feel real. Emma is real. A woman who realized she was an alcoholic and got help to get sober. Now sober Emma is figuring out life and love. It’s messy. It’s emotional. And it’s relatable.

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. this book was okay, i felt it started off very slow and predictable. oh no, she's newly sober and a relationship would throw a wrench into things. *yawn* i only kept reading because i liked the author's voice and writing style.

This was a lot of fun and I had a great time. I absolutely think people should check this out (and even look out for it as their book of the month pick!) such a relatable and fun story!

This a DNF for me. I didn’t realize that it’s a rom com but it heavier on the rom than the com. I don’t like romance. It’s formulaic and I could see where it’s headed and I’m not interested. I found I just am not picking it up and I don’t see myself doing so in the future. The writing was not the problem, I enjoyed that, it’s just the genre. I’ll give it a 3⭐️for the writing.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for a honest opinion.

funny and touching well written story about overcoming your stresses and sorrows. really not a romance, mostly just a very well written fiction. 4.5 stars, rounded up. tysm for the arc.

I didn’t love the main character and found her somewhat annoying. I liked the premise but it fell flat for me otherwise

This was a heartfelt and inspiring book. Definitely Better Now is such a relatable and honest book. It truly pulls you into her journey of ups and downs, showing how she found her way to a better place. The writing feels personal, almost like you're having a deep chat with a friend. Some parts could've gone a little deeper to show us more of the insight or thinking, but overall, it’s an uplifting and inspiring read. Definitely worth picking up if you need a dose of hope and resilience! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Definitely Better Now" by Ava Robinson is a unique and amusing/slightly dark debut novel about starting life over sober. Here you'll meet 26 year old Emma, an alcoholic who has been sober for over a year. Emma is ready to consider dating again, but is finding life challenging at every turn. If it's not her Mom moving in with her new boyfriend, then it's Ben the charming IT guy, or her new assignment to plan her office holiday party - either way sobriety is turning out to be far from the simplicity she was expecting.

I really enjoyed the characters here,. Even though I am light years away from my twenties, I found them all relatable in an endearing fashion. I think one of the main themes I enjoyed was watching Emma learn from her own experiences - self discovery, self awareness, self growth are all important reflections in your 20's and they were accentuated well here.

I also felt the author did a great job of showing just how difficult like can be in your twenties. I think people from different generations forget that over the years. This aspect was eye-opening for me and offered my a different perspective that was enlightening for me.

Read this if you enjoy fresh voices in writing and enjoy reading the complexities of complicated family dynamics.

Thank you NetGalley for offering me the opportunity to read this before release on 12/17/24.

this book was very relatable and i enjoyed the characters in this book. the cover is beautiful and everything about this book made me feel very seen.

Ava Robinson’s debut novel Definitely Better Now was very touching and dealt with many emotional themes. The issues of addiction, family struggles , mental health and finding oneself are dealt with very poignantly.

Emma is 26 and has just reached the goal of one year of sobriety. She has worked the steps to her sobriety with group called HG and her sponsor Lola. Her father lives in another part of state and denies his problems with alcohol. Emma thinks she may be ready to try dating but she is very hesitant. Then Ben, the IT guy, from work shows interest and Emma’s life new journey continues and changes. If you like books about finding yourself, put this on your to be read shelf..

Thank you to Net Galley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC to read and review with my honest opinions.