Wow! I ended up loving this book! I wasn’t sure in the beginning because the main character felt so secretive and her friendships didn’t seem real. However, I loved the storyline of the retirement community! I wanted to visit! This book made me laugh and cry, and I will highly recommend to others when it comes out.

I do believe this book has made it to the top 5 of my top reads for 2025 and it's only February! All the characters had such heart and I really enjoyed the senior citizens the most.

Courtney Walsh delivered such an inspiring, fun and sweet story!

Everything's Coming up Rosie gives us some real-life advice while also being a cute read! Rosie Waterman's story reminds us that it's ok to re-evaluate our dreams, sometimes they will change or sometimes our own wants, needs and desires will change.

Rosie loves acting but acting doesn't seem to love Rosie right now. After losing her job and apartment, she has no choice but to apply for any and every acting-related job she comes across. While she is back home, spending time with her successful friends and feeling completely inadequate, she receives an email with a job offer that sounds great. Rosie doesn't even remember applying for this specific position but with how she was submitting applications, she figures she has just forgotten. Without carefully reading the description, she accepts the offer and from there, her new adventure begins.

The setting of this story was absolutely perfect. A retirement community is definitely not where Rosie saw herself living out her acting dreams but that's where she finds herself, as a theater director. It takes some time for her to work through her initial shock, but once she does, she is able to give this opportunity a real chance. She forms some of the best, sweetest and most unexpected friendships that will ultimately, change her life for the better. And no worries, you will also get some low-spice romance with love interest, Booker.

I love Courtney's writing and her stories. I also love the fact that my young teen, who is completely into romance books right now, could read this book without too much spice for her to handle!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the opportunity to read the e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

This book was just not for me at all. The MC, Rosie, was totally self-involved for most of the book, with little moments sprinkled in here and there were she actually wondered about someone else, or asked someone a single question about themselves. Those moments felt like an afterthought. And it made her very unlikeable to me, so it was really hard to understand how the love interest, Booker, just falls for her right away, no questions asked (except for a single one on Fridays). Rosie is bordering on narcissism and really seems to believe she’s the only TWENTY NINE year old who doesn’t have their life figured out, or who has flaws, or who isn’t happy with their current situation. Really? She believes it so much that she lies to almost everyone about her life because it would just be too hard to come clean and admit she is among the 99% of actors who aren’t making a living wage with their craft. She really was just a terrible character to me.

Then we had sub-plots popping up left and right, no first kiss until 65% into the book, barely any theater (her entire reason for existing) and MOST things happening off page.

I will not be reading this author again.

This book was so much fun! There were so many things to love about it!


The story is set in Door County in a senior citizens community and it is such an idyllic setting. It was the place I would want to live when I am older!

The cast of characters was pretty incredible too. I wanted to be Rosie despite her struggles that she went through. She has three best friends who are always there for her no matter where she lives. Booker is hunky, sarcastic and supportive. Arthur is grumpy but you can tell that he has a sensitive side. And Rosie is definitely the star of the show. She's funny, quirky and such a love for the theatre. I love the banter that she has with people especially the sulky teenager, Dylan.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

Courtney Walsh does it again. Courtney has quickly become of my favorite authors. I always know going into a new novel that it’s going to be something warm and familiar.

I love the theatre, especially musicals, but only as an audience member. I really enjoyed this glimpse into the life of an actor/director. Rosie’s struggles can be translated to any person, whether an actor or any other profession. This quote I found really resonated with me as an avid reader. “I sometimes find fiction easier than reality. Easier to escape into someone else’s story than to face everything in my own.” This book was beautiful and had some fantastic side characters that really made the story. Oh, and I can’t forget about the cinnamon roll that was Booker, who I just swooned over.

I enjoyed this cute story about a young woman who accidentally winds up directing a play for a retirement community. The characters are a lot of fun in this story!

I have come to really love Courtney Walsh books. She always brings the right amount of humor, character depth and loveable sidekicks to the story. It took me a little bit of time to get into the book but once I did I really enjoyed it. I thought it was interesting to know that Walsh has a background in theatre and directing. I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC of this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Everything’s Coming Up Rosie is classic Courtney Walsh writing, if you’ve loved her previous books you’ll love this one. If you’ve have never read anything by her, you’ll love this one, so pick it up you won’t be disappointed.

Rosie dreams of becoming a working actor, but somewhere along the way she misplaced her why.
She finds herself needing a job and a place to live. That’s where a summer program called the Sunset Players comes in.

As the story moves forward Rosie builds real relationships and her true self shines through with some help from her new found friendships.

What I Loved :

Courtney writes so vividly you see the characters!

Curmudgeonly Arthur, he’s so fun!

Pop culture references, I watched “The Muppet Movie” again with my kids after reading this book lol

Sweet Booker!

I love books that make me laugh out loud !

A quote:

“Funny.” He eyes a sign on the side of the road and slows down to turn as he says, “I don’t think anyone actually knows what they’re doing. We’re all in various stages of making it up as we go.” I know I am. But is he right? Is everyone, to some degree, pretending?

I LOVE Courtney Walsh books..... every single one of them! So when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it ASAP. And somehow, this may be my favorite (though I say that about every one of her books as I read them).
Everything's Coming Up Rosie is a sweet journey of adjusting to what your dream may really look like in real life. Rosie's development is incredible and the characters are so lovely. I love this book and cannot wait to buy it for my daughter when it is available.

Thank you netgalley for an arc of Everything's Coming Up Rosie by Courtney Walsh

I ADORE Courtney Walsh's books and this one may have come out to be a top favorite so far. This was full of heartwarming moments, many laughs, and lots of happy tears.

Rosie and Booker were adorable and I love how he brought out the positive side in her. Rosie has been struggling and feeling like a failure so when she takes a job she knows nothing about, she's even more defeated to learn it is a retirement center. But the younger staff quickly become friends with her and show her what a great place it is to work. I loved the feisty senior citizens in the story and how they proved they are capable of putting on a show and deserving of the community support. Rosie and Booker were just too adorable and I was crying happy tears at their ending. All of the side characters had me cracking up. But Rosie's awkward moments really had me giggling.

I can't wait for everyone to read this story, it will definitely be a top favorite this year!

Thank you Netgalley and Courtney Walsh for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!!

Courtney Walsh has done it yet again. I just love the way she creates characters that feel so realistic and real. With their dreams and hopes and anxieties and worries. It just makes them so easy to relate to.

This book was a little slow moving at first but picked up eventually. I loved Rosie’s journey and how it was filled with such wholesome, heartfelt moments. “Pivoting isn’t quitting, happiness isn’t linear and seeking isn’t selfish” is probably my favorite quote from the book. It makes me feel like my own dreams are within reach and the journey to get there might look different than how someone else got there, and that’s ok.

I do wish we had gotten just a tad more romance, but alas, not the end of the world.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Another brilliant 5 star read from Courtney Walsh. I loved this one so much, i don't want to give anything away, but is a must read for someone who needs a laugh and also some encouragement when their life is feeling stuck and disappointing! Go get it now!

Everything’s Coming Up Rosie
Courtney Walsh
Publication date: June 10, 2025
5/5 stars

I adored this book! Rosie is chasing her dream of becoming an actor on Broadway in New York and applying to any and all jobs. With no other prospects, Rosie accepts a director position in Wisconsin only to arrive and realize all her actors are residents of a retirement community.

I loved this book!! If it’s possible, this book felt like a hug. Courtney writes such heartfelt stories with amazing character development. I really appreciated the open communication between Rosie and Booker and the underlying message about chasing your dream but also allowing it to evolve and change. Highly recommend this book!

Thank you Courtney Walsh, Thomas Nelson Fiction and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

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

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction and Netgalley for this chance to read and rate this ARC!
Courtney is the queen of cute reads that don’t disappoint! Well done. Recommend!

4.5 stars!
No spice/closed door

I love Courtney Walsh's books. Her characters are so genuine and relatable. You cannot help but love them and be moved by their character development. The lessons/themes of this book (like all of Courtney's) really touched me in a deep way. I will be thinking about it for awhile really. The plot and setting was so fun and quirky - the whole thing would have been cheesy by any other author but Courtney has a really magical way of making it so authentic and heart-felt. The FMC has some childhood trauma she's working through but the story is not heavy at all but extremely light and positive - while also being reflective.

Rosie and Booker were so sweet and I loved the little sub-plot of romance we get from them, and their happy ending. Rosie's relationships with her friends, Arthur, and all the other seniors were so fun to read about. They were funny and lovable. I loved reading about how they become a little family. I kind of wish we got to see more of her friendship with Daisy and Louie - it really feels like they dropped off the face of the earth part of the way through. I also wished we had gotten more resolution between herself and her mom, who we never really get to know up close.

This story meant something to me and I am honestly not sure how I haven't binged all of Courtney Walsh's other books. They are consistently 4.5-5 stars for me and I love her way of writing contemporary fiction so much!!

Oh my heavens! Courtney does it again. I fell in love with all the characters. I laughed and cried and cannot say enough good about this darling book!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This book was fun, but it felt a little recycled. When I’m reading a story like this there are certain expectations of the genre that are always a little serotonin boost, but there’s also the understanding that subverting a few of those expectations to give the book a unique flavor is fun, I was just missing a little bit of that uniqueness.

This is a book about Rosie who is convinced that her friends all have better lives than she does. She thinks she has done a good job faking that she’s doing very well herself. (She who has never done this, throw the first stone.) Very relatable novel with oodles of wisdom.

What I liked
A lot! The details about life as an actress and in the theatre. The friendship between the girls. The turn around in how the main character views herself and how she views old people. The effect words and situations can have on someone and how those might get people’s lives completely off the rails. My favorite part was probably the emphasis on pursuing a new dream if your old one doesn’t work out and the realization that we all battle fears, worries, disappointment and hurt.

Good piece of advice
Don’t dwell on the past but be thankful for what you have now.

Favorite quotes
“What if feeling deeply is my superpower because it’s the thing that allows me to connect with other people?”
“..you have to ask yourself what you want most….and you have to be okay if what you want most isn’t what you thought.”

What I didn’t like
It took Rosie a very long time to see the error of her ways and I found myself getting impatient with her. But, truth be told, that’s how it is in real life too.

That book is funny, deep, has momentum and colorful characters. You’ll find that it enriches your life.

Many thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing me with a free complimentary copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.