This new book by Sussman has to be her best so far. Lauren lost her husband, Spencer, three years prior to the book’s beginning and is learning how to navigate life and love. She is still grieving but is determined to do the best for daughter and herself. Her actor brother invites her to one of his shoots where she meets Ben, another actor on set. Set in dual timelines, we get a front seat to Lauren and Spencer’s life together and her burgeoning romance with Ben.
Examined in this novel are themes of grief, parenting challenges, love, and addiction.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for the copy. All opinions are my own.

3.5/5 rounded up.

The last 1/4 of the book did redeem itself for me quite a bit though. I did enjoy viewing the past through the FMCs eyes, getting to know Spencer through her eyes. I hated how she treated Ben from the start. She took it upon herself to use him based on assumptions and rumors she heard and did not take into account that he is a real person with real feelings. I didn't think her daughter's behavior towards her was fair and I hated the MIL upon first meeting on the page.

I just don't think this author might be for me. All of her characters (especially in this book) are incredibly messy, and even though this translates well in the real world, I seem to have a problem with the way she writes them into the storyline. Why? Because no one really speaks this way outside of her books. The overuse of the MMC sexual orientation was nailed onto every other sentence when he was first introduced, you know, in case you missed it the first 20 or so times. The title of the book was also overused every time our FMC was going through it...which was also spoken about in every other page.

Totally and Completely Fine is a beautifully honest and introspective novel that delves into themes of grief, healing, and self-discovery. Elissa Sussman’s writing is heartfelt and authentic, creating characters who feel real and deeply relatable. I appreciated the delicate balance of humor and sorrow throughout the story, which made the emotional journey feel genuine without becoming overwhelming. It’s a moving and hopeful read about finding light even in the darkest moments.

Wow - this hit so hard. A romance about grief and finding space for love after loss.

I was surprised to see a sequel to Funny You Should Ask but Totally and Completely Fine doesn't really present itself that way. This can easily be read as a standalone as we follow newly single-mother of a teenager who just so happens to be the older sister of one of Hollywood's biggest actors. Her desire to grieve privately was lost because of this and her daughter is struggling.

We follow Lauren as she falls in love with her husband in the past and in the present we see her trying to move forward with her life with a co-star of her brother's.

More of a women's fiction novel than a romance, this book serves as a companion book to Funny You Should Ask.

While the premise of the book had potential, I felt too confused. There were too many topics discussed that never followed through. It was always halfway or completely forgotten, which left me wondering what's going on. It didn't make me connect with the story or the characters. I am not saying I hate the book, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I did.

I did not find this book to be completely fine until after chapter thirty. It was difficult to like the characters because they were slightly annoying. Lauren is processing grief, her daughter is processing grief, it’s a bit all over the place. Lauren is attracted to her brother’s costar, who happens to be younger than her. Throw in a judgy mother in law for added drama. Funny You Should Ask set the bar high, this follow up didnt keep up. For me.

I read Funny You Should Ask by this author many years ago and I fell in love with her writing style. I was absolutely obsessed with the plot and the romance was chef’s kiss. However, the author severely disappointed me with this one.
The book starts off with lust and remains like that throughout the book. The couple is so focused on being intimate that when they plan to ‘date’ they are rushing to tell each other their traumas and life stories rather than letting the relationship mature naturally. I understand the author was grieving when she wrote this book, but I still felt like the grief was misrepresented and stereotyped. Everyone has known grief but no one reacts to it in a movie-like way. I might be harsh about this.
I cannot recommend this book in good faith since I was dying to DNF it at multiple points.

This was a lovely and complex romance in two timelines centered around a strong widow and her past and future love stories. It was nice getting insights into both relationships, seeing her fall in love for the first time and then move through her grief to find love again. Ben is a great MMC with a lot of depth and I think the age gap component was handled with care. There's also a lot of great side characters (including many you may already know from Funny You Should Ask) and it was cool seeing the two book timelines interwoven a bit). The story stands on its own but reading that one first definitely enhanced the experience. Grief played a staring role in the book but it was handled well and made the story richer. Thank you NetGalley and Dell for the ARC.

If Elissa Sussman writes it I am going to read it and buy it!!! Not only is the name Lauren a great name (no bias what so ever), but the journey she goes through you can’t help but want the best for her. It’s reflective and hooks you!!! Love love love.

I was super excited to hear we were getting a follow up to Funny You Should Ask about Gabe's sister but to be honest, this feel just a bit short for me. Maybe it is because FYSA is one of my favorite books of all time that I set my expectations too high, but I was a little bored by this, especially toward the end. It is overall a really well written book - Elissa is fantastic at what she does. But lacked the addictive quality I found in FYSA. I did love Lauren's character through and Ben was HOTTTTTTTTT. Still a good book though!!!

I really enjoyed this book! I have read several of Elissa Sussman’s books and was excited to see that this one included previous characters. I really enjoyed Gabe’s story and was happy to see it continue here. I also really enjoyed Lauren as a character. I think that the storyline of loss and how to move forward was done really well and will help a lot of people who are in that situation. I would definitely recommend this book to others, it was wonderfully written and I could not put it down.

Totally and Completely Fine by Elissa Sussman was everything I wanted it to be. I have loved all of Elissa's books and this was no exception. Lauren Parker was the kind of main character that you can't help but relate to. Her tragic and troubled past combined with her hope has you rooting for her from the very beginning. Ben Walsh was the kind of male main character that makes you swoon and keep reading so you can figure out his mystique. The character development in the story was so good. Each and every character had a story and I loved getting to dive into them.

I hope Slussman isn’t a one hit wonder but this one wasn’t for me. The flirty dialogue was very cringe. She also had to mention the MMC was bi 47 times. This book was trying to do a lot and it never quite got there.

For fans of Nora Goes off Script, Totally and Completely fine is a story of love amidst grief. Lauren is a widow raising a teenage daughter in a small Montana town who happens to have a famous brother. While visiting the brother on set, she finds instant attraction with one of the actors, Ben, a bisexual, Irish, thrill-seeker.
While insta-love isn’t my thing, I still really enjoyed this story. A true example of dealing with loss while trying to live.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC! This follow up to Funny You Should Ask was a sweet journey into grief, love and finding oneself. Lauren is a recently widowed mother of a teenager visiting her movie star brother on set when she meets Ben, a younger up and coming actor. Their chemistry is instant but Lauren can’t help but feel out of place as the older/normal person to Ben’s hot rising star. Is there a place for each other in their lives or is this supposed to be a fling? Pick this one up and read solo or enjoy Funny You Should Ask first for a little more context.

first read of August and it was so good!! I have a few other books of Sussman’s and I think this gave me the motivation to pick them up finally. This was fantastic! I devoured it too, choosing to read this even when I was so sleepy my eyes went blurry.

The chemistry between the two characters is 🔥
The story also deals with grief and especially loss of a partner and helping your child navigate the loss of a parent too. This was an emotional read at times, but it was so well written and I was rooting for Ben and Lauren the whole time

I loved Funny You Should Ask, so I was determined to read this one as soon as I could. It took longer than I thought to get to it, but once I started reading I realized that this book is actually sort of a companion novel to her other book. Also, since I was running late while reading this, I listened to part of it on audiobook.

While this is very much a romance novel, it also delves into some heavier topics than many, including grief, addiction, death of a parent, and loss, while also adding in the draw of not one, but two romances in the life of one endearing woman that occur in separate timelines. There are flashback chapters to Lauren’s romance with her now-deceased husband, juxtaposed with her current reality and how an unexpected meeting gave her the opportunity for a second chance at love.

That is, if she can manage to get out of her own way. I loved Lauren’s character and the way she grew across both timelines, in very different ways. Her inability to stop self-sabotaging, however, was incredibly frustrating, and I wanted to reach into the book and shake some sense into her. It wasn’t tough to empathize with what she was going through and her fears, especially knowing what she was thinking and feeling. That kept my frustration from bubbling over too much, although I had some serious empathy for Ben as well, seeing how he didn’t know what she was thinking.

One of the things that I loved the most about this book is that it focused on more than just the romance. It also zoomed in on the entire life arc of a woman, from her teen years into her early forties, and the ways that her interactions with loved ones has changed, as well as clearly showing a family in crisis, one in the past timeline and one in the present.

I could see how in some ways, Lauren as a grieving teen is mirrored in her own daughter Lena’s grief. It sort of allows Lauren a bit of insight to know how much leeway to give Lena. Lauren’s ability to respond in a neutral way when Lena shouts how much she hates her was one of the most admirable qualities she possessed, as well as not pushing Lena to talk before she was ready. Additionally, the relationship between Lauren and Gabe changes immensely over the course of the story.

The story is complicated also by the fact that Cooper, Montana is a really small town, and Lauren wasn’t quite ready to open up her entire life to town gossip. Plus, she’s still got the mother-in-law from hell, who continues to try new methods to get Lena involved with the church they belong to. I still didn’t think it necessarily required Lauren to go to the lengths that she did in search of some privacy, but then again I’ve never lived in a small town where I knew the names of my neighbors (and everyone else) and all of their business. Then again, that might also be due to the fact that I’m a New Yorker.

Now on to some of the things that didn’t quite resonate with me. First of all, I wasn’t expecting there to be a Jewish character in the majority of the book. Actually, I was hoping for a Jewish main character, which we typically only see in romance written by Jewish authors. Unfortunately, the only Jewish character in sight was Gabe’s girlfriend Chani, and she played a small role, her Jewishness an even smaller role. In spite of this, I was impressed that the audiobook narrator Patti Murin could correctly pronounce the throaty ‘ch’ sound in Chani’s name properly, since audiobooks of even Jewish romance aren’t always narrated by people who can pronounce the words properly. Another thing that I didn’t like was the way Ben’s bisexuality felt shoehorned into the story except for one small scene where it came in handy. It was mentioned quite a few times, yet it didn’t really seem to move the plot forward or show particularly good representation. However, other queer characters didn’t feel forced, like Ollie! I didn’t realize how much I had missed him.

Overall, it still wound up being a great book, even with the two small things that didn’t resonate as strongly for me. It features some awesome tropes that I haven’t seen much of before, including an age gap romance with the woman being older than the man, Lauren being in her forties, and dating as a widowed mother of a teenager. These are of course mixed with some of romance’s favorite tropes, including a second chance romance, a small town setting, and also getting to see the romance she had with her brother’s best friend in her past timeline. This is a strong read, but Jewish readers beware: there are only so many Jews in the state of Montana and the author had to be realistic here, so only one was featured in that part. There were some positives and some things I wasn’t as fond of, but the book was still good and I’m probably going to automatically read all of her future works because she’s a great writer. This talent was further demonstrated by the sensitive way that she wrote about grief, death, loss, and addiction.

I love this cast of characters, the literal family and the found family! I loved watching Lauren and Lena's relationship change and grow and how they both navigated Spencer's loss - it felt very honest and raw.
While admittedly the romance of this was my least favorite part it was still very solid! And onestly Ben is a catch I recommend

4.75 ⭐️
It really be the books you don’t expect that will SLAP you with that five-star feeling!!!

I judged this book by its cover. How could you not?! It’s stunning. The synopsis was quick to draw me in as well- a widowed single mother meets a handsome *younger man* actor on the set of her brother’s latest movie and goes on a journey of discovering what her life looks like after loss.

I loved the way this book was written, almost like you were inside Lauren’s mind listening to her inner monologue. It was the perfect mix of contemporary fiction and rom com- say it with me, now: “ROMANCE WITH A STORY!” Sussman didn’t shy away from any of the tough stuff we are handed in life, and I thought that added such a “real” element that I just adore in a romance.

There was a *lot* of emotional baggage in this book, and if I’m being nitpicky, I do think if the book was 50 pages longer, some of the topics addressed could have been sussed (no pun intended) out a bit more. That being said, I didn’t found that it took away from my reading experience at all- Sussman did an excellent job writing an emotional but hopeful romance that could strike up a good book club conversation. It's would certainly recommend it!

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!