Totally and Completely Fine by Elissa Sussman is chaotic, heartfelt, and laugh-out-loud real. It went into the mess of adulthood, family, and mental health with honesty and wit. Elissa is back and I was there for it 👏 Beneath the humor is a story about holding on, letting go, and figuring it out one imperfect step at a time. This was such a fun read!

This one just felt flat to me, unfortunately. I felt like there was no chemistry between the characters and the banter and flirting just felt forced and fake. There was too much of a focus on the MMC being bisexual and not enough focus on the potential for a relationship. Grief is present in the book, but I wish there was more emotion and less just mentioning it. The small town feel is there, which I loved! I wish we got so much more of it - I love a small town romance! To me the light hearted and the deep parts were not well connected and the characters were just blah. I really wanted to love this, as I have enjoyed her prior books, but this one was just not for me. Maybe my expectations were set to high?!
Thank you netgalley for advanced reader copy

Totally and Completely Fine is a sequel of sorts to Sussman's debut romance novel, Funny You Should Ask. I adored Funny You Should Ask so it's no surprise I felt the same way about Totally and Completely Fine.

In Totally and Completely Fine we are given views into Gabe's sister's life prior to the death of her husband, Simon, which is mentioned in the previous novel. We also get a present storyline as Lauren and her daughter Leah visit Gabe on set. While there Lauren lays eyes on the deliciously handsome Irish actor Ben Walsh. What Lauren thought was going to be a one night stand with Ben eventually turns into a friendship then so much more. Quite a bit of the novel is focused on grief from different angles, which is so important to the story and also just life in general. Just because we lose someone suddenly doesn't mean we don't stop loving them or forget about them. This sentiment is discussed at length in the novel.

I enjoyed that we got to see more of Gabe and Chani's relationship but from a different perspective this time. It definitely makes me want to re-read Funny You Should Ask. I ended up listening to the majority of this novel and highly recommend the audiobook, narrated by Patti Murin, who is a thespian herself. If you're looking for something with a lot of heat on the page, this one may not be for you. The sex scenes tend to be more closed-doors. If you want something where the characters leap off the page, where the heat isn't from sex but from the attraction of the characters to one another, boy is this the book for you.

Lauren Parker is a widowed mother of a teenage girl and the sister of a movie star. When she and her daughter visit her brother Gabe on set, she meets Ben Walsh, his very handsome (and younger) co-star. They have instant chemistry, but can a relationship with a celebrity work in a small town?

What I liked:
*The dual timeline - with the past informing why the characters are the way they are in the present.
*Love in "middle-age"
*The truths about marriage, grief, and parenting a teenager.
*Lauren's past with Spencer.
*The pizza dough

What I disliked:
*Insta-love
*The book felt like it had a lot of agendas (religion and sexuality especially) that weren't fully fleshed out, but felt forced on the reader.
*The ending did not seem realistic.

Ultimately, while I appreciated the way this book handled grief, love, and family, it wasn't enough to overcome the aspects I disliked about the book. 3 stars.

Thank you to Dell and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

i don't think i learn because as much as i want to love the books by this author i think that her writing style just isn't for me and thats okay.

Thank you net galley for my copy but…

Had to DNF this book at 50%. This story is so boring.

I also could not stand the FMC. She annoyed me.

If you haven’t yet read a book by @elissa_sussman, you’re missing out. “Funny You Should Ask” is one of my god tier books. And as I read and realized that…we could have a follow up with Lauren and Ben’s story. Elissa did such a phenomenal job with “Totally and Completely Fine” - unique and raw and beautifully real in all the ways she does best.

It’s important to know that this book is about Lauren. She has a love interest but really…this book is about grief and healing and motherhood and learning who you are again after a life changing event. And in a unique twist we get to see Lauren live two romances - we get her relationship with Spencer (the then, he passed away years before the start of this book) and with Ben (the now). I related to Lauren in ways I don’t normally relate to FMCs. She is older and has lived a life. And seeing her growth as a teenager, young adult, mother, widow through the lens of what’s expected of her absolutely hit hard for me.

I adored Ben and how he was able to be exactly who and what she needed to start her life again. He was patient and kind and mature. I also couldn’t help but giggle ever time he called her “love” because he has an Irish accent and…well…how could I not?! He was all in with her from the beginning and did all he could to be exactly what she needed at any given point.

Lauren’s relationship with her daughter was also brilliant. Both of them are grieving - Lauren lost her husband, Lena lost her dad - and Lena’s a teenager on top of it all. Discovering herself, angry at her mom, frustrated at the adults in her life - it’s all a right of passage and Elissa explored it with such rawness. Their dynamic felt so honest, and the way the Ben of it all helped not only Lauren but also Lena had me sobbing more than once.

I knew going into this book that there’d be a heartbreak but I wasn’t fully prepared for how much I felt for Lauren. Her and Spencer were such a romantic story - childhood loves who had their struggles but ultimately loved each other and built a life together. Their flashback chapters were bittersweet but so beautiful for Lauren’s arc.

Thank you @dellromance for this early copy!

Sometimes the review is right there in the title - totally and completely fine. Not good, not bad - just fine.

Since losing her beloved husband, Spencer, Lauren has managed her grief in a small town in Montana - raising her daughter and running the small book and craft store. When visiting her mega-famous brother on the set of his latest film, a spark with a handsome co-star shakes her grief cycle, challenging her to explore love again while addressing how the loss has affected all of those around her.

I think that I went into this with the wrong expectations - this has romantic elements but the beauty of the book is in the relationships that Lauren has with her daughter, late husband, and brother and in the unraveling her past, leading up to Spencer's inevitable death, navigating her life as a widow and single mother. I found the romance aspect to be haphazard and, well, not romantic? I'm also so confused why this is not advertised as a companion to Funny You Should Ask? If you haven't read that novel, the relationship between Chani and Gabe would make not a lick of sense.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for the advanced reader copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own and freely given.

Elissa Sussman does it again. She has a way of writing love stories that just captivates my heart and mind. Couldn't put this book down!

I really love the way Elissa Sussman writes. I’m always instantly hooked and feeling emotional within the first few pages. Even with multiple timelines this book had a great flow and it worked really well together. At times the romance development didn’t feel strong enough for me. I didn’t totally connect with our male lead or feel a big pull there. However, it was really a story of both grief and romance and I think she did a great job portraying that. I loved the way the grief journey intersected with the romance and the way our main characters were able to move forward together. I just always enjoy her books & am happy for another!

I received an advance reader copy of this book. All thoughts are mine alone.

I don’t know what it is about books with themes of grief that I have read this year, but honestly I have loved them all. This was heart wrenching at times and I loved how she went back and forth with her love story with her husband and then to current timeline with Ben. I love the relationship with her daughter and the queer representation. It was well done and I definitely highlighted some honest and motivational quotes!!

Elissa Sussman’s books are always a treat, though this wasn’t my favorite. I liked returning to the world of Gabe and Chani, this time for Gabe’s sister, Lauren’s story. This is a sweet second chance romance with some plot holes. I wish the age gap had been discussed a bit more, and that there was more of a conversation about Lena and how Ben and Lauren’s relationship would work long-term. Things seemed to fall into place a little too easily. It’s easy to just go with it when you’re 30 with no responsibilities, it’s another thing when you’re a 40-something homeowner and business owner with a teenage daughter. I also felt like Ben’s decision at the end of the book was crazy, rushed and not explained enough. If you don’t think too much about logistics, though, this is a fun read.

I really loved this book. I don't think it's truly a romance; more women's lit. It's very emotional and thought provoking. I loved the characters and the writing. Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.

4.25/5⭐️ 2/5🌶️ 2/5😢

Oh this was really lovely!! When I saw that Gabe’s sister Lauren from Funny You Should Ask was getting her own book and with BEN MF WALSH, I couldn’t snatch this book up any faster. It ended up having a lot of my favorite themes and tropes, and the heavier topics were handled so well. I loved that the FMC was so comfortable with herself and sex positive, especially with a younger man. I would definitely recommend picking up Funny You Should Ask to set the stage for their small town and Lauren & Ben’s relationship.

tropes & themes:
→ Montana small town setting 🌾
→ actor/celebrity MMC ☘️
→ widower & single mom FMC 🧶
→ reverse age gap (30M/41F) 🔄
→ instalust/one night stand🔥
→ loss/grief 🕊️
→ addiction ❤️‍🩹
→ lgbtq+🏳️‍🌈

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I will read anything and everything that Elissa Sussman puts out! This was such a good follow up to Funny You Should Ask, a criminally underrated romance in my opinion, and I loved it! This book centers around Lauren, who is the sister to Gabe, the main male lead in the first book. Lauren is a widow who is dealing with grief from losing her father at a young age and then losing her husband Spencer a couple of years ago. She is also working through the after effects of losing Spencer on Lena, their teenage daughter. When Gabe brings home Ben Walsh, a hot actor who is going to star in a play that is slated to be Gabe’s big homecoming show, Lauren finds herself in a romance that she doesn’t know if she is ready for emotionally or physically.

I thought this was such a swoon worthy romance. Not only did we have some hot scenes with Lauren and Ben, the reader gets a chance to fall in love with Lauren and her journey through grief. I definitely had a tear in my eye in parts where Lauren was helping Lena work through their grief together and separate and I thought it was so important to have a main character who is nuanced and has baggage but still desiring romance. The setting of the book was fantastic, a small town in Montana. Made me want to dust off some cowboy boots and go out west. Truly had so much fun reading this book and I’m very thankful for having a chance to do so!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for an advanced reader's copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

I have been waiting for years for a continuation of Elissa Sussman’s fantastic celebrity/normal person romance debut, “Funny You Should Ask”. And now we have it! Another celebrity/normal person romance, “Totally and Completely Fine”.

Except, truth be told, this barely felt like a romance. Main character Lauren (sister to Gabe, the male main character and celebrity from the first book) is falling in love with Gabe’s friend and fellow actor Ben. Except she’s also still grieving the loss of her late husband. And single parenting their daughter Lena who is struggling to figure out who she is and how to handle the loss of her dad. And Lauren is still dealing with the trauma of being slut shamed in her teens for being sexually active from an early age in a small conservative town.

There’s a lot going on, and most of it doesn’t feel very swoony. I think it’s me, I’m the problem it’s me, for not enjoying this book. Sussman’s previous romances have been much more … romantic. The description of the book makes it clear that this won’t be a straightforward romance like her past books. My fault for not paying close enough attention to that.

I think if you go into this book knowing what you’re getting, and read it at a time that feels right to you to read that sort of story, you’ll enjoy it more than I did. Just maybe don’t pick it as a beach read.

I really enjoyed Totally and Completely Fine - Elissa Sussman's third adult romance. TaCF brought us back into the world of Gabe and Chani, introducing Gabe's sister Lauren as the FMC. Lauren is a widowed single mom of a teen and I appreciated a romance where the FMC wasn't 21 years old! I always love interconnected romances where I get to revisit old characters and see how their relationships are doing.

TaCF deals with some heavier topics such as grief, addiction and coming out and is handled with care by Sussman.

This story for me leaned more towards women's fiction than romance. There were heavier themes dealing with grief from the loss of husband/father, and the healing process mother/daughter needed to go through. The romance took a backseat to that storyline and I was not prepared for it.

Reading the grief was difficult for me as a mom, and so I struggled to connect with the characters. This book was not for me, but I hope others enjoy it!

Elissa Sussman's follow up to Funny You Should Ask reads more like women's fiction than a traditional contemporary romance. There is a love story here but it isn't the main focus of the book.

Instead, the reader is treated to a thoughtfully characterized story that touches on grief, being a middle-aged woman, being a mother to a teenage niece, being a single-parent, and so much more. Told in dual timelines, we get to see Lauren's before with her husband spencer, and her after as a widow. Readers of Funny You Should Ask will be excited to see Gabe, Lauren's brother, carry through to this story. This was a fun read and I think a great summer book for many so long as they know what to expect in terms of the romance.

Felt more women’s lit than romance (can we please stop marketing women’s lit as romance???).

I didn’t feel like we got enough focus on Ben and Lauren; most everything was just about Lauren (which wasn’t bad, but again goes back to this not being a romance).

And another James Bond plotline??

I didn’t think this was bad, just mismarketed. I will continue to read Sussman’s books, but this is definitely my least favorite of her romances.