That cover! And a lovely slow-burn romance set in a cozy Vermont town in the fall, in beautifully recreated 1997, fun playlist and all. Romance fans will adore this, as I did.

SPOILER ALERT !!!!

I wanted to read this book because of the cover (+ I kept hearing about it), and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s the perfect romance for fall!! I loved the story and the 90s nostalgia vibe.

When I saw that the book had over 500 pages, I was a little worried it would feel too long but I never got bored. The writing is great and it’s really easy to get into. I loved Cliff right from the start. A single dad who’s always cracking jokes? I’m in!!! I also really enjoyed the small town setting and all the side characters, who are all super lovable. The only downside for me was some of the time jumps. For instance, we only get to see Michelle’s first night staying at Cliff’s. I really wanted to see all the days she stayed with him to feel the tension building between them. Same for the ending: after Michelle decides to stay, I would have loved to see her reunion with Britt and Emily. Still, the ending was adorable — a classic 90s romcom style conclusion, I loved it.

I had such a great time reading this, never felt bored, and I’ll definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a cozy autumn romance. And I’ll for sure be reading more books by Julie Olivia!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Julie Olivia's *If It Makes You Happy* was such a cozy read. I loved the small-town setting with its charming atmosphere that made me want to pack my bags and move there. The back-and-forth POVs were fantastic, giving us a peek into both characters' heads and really letting us connect with them. The way their relationship unfolded was so sweet, even though the FMC frustrated me to no end. Seriously, there was so much to love about this book, and I was happy with where the characters ultimately ended up.

However, I have to admit, the plot felt a little convoluted at times, and the characters’ reasons for not being together throughout felt unnecessarily complicated to the extent it didn’t seem believable. And then there's the epilogue. Yikes. I honestly think it almost ruined the otherwise perfect ending for me. It was written from the dog's POV, which, while cute in theory, just didn't land for me at all. After investing so much in the main characters, I really wanted to see the closing moments from their perspective, to fully bask in their happiness. It felt like a missed opportunity to wrap things up in a truly satisfying way. Despite that one misstep, I still enjoyed the overall story and would recommend it for anyone looking for a sweet, small-town cozy fall romance.

If a romance book is 500 pages it needs to have an excellent story with sharp dialogue and interesting main characters. Unfortunately, this book had none of this. DNF at 40%.

This book is titled "If It Makes You Happy" by Julie Olivia. This book is scheduled to be released on September 2, 2025. This has the small town romance vibes that you may be looking for! I was a fan of the feeling of this book for sure as it takes place in Vermont during autumn. This book also gives off a bit of a 1990's vibe since it was set in 1997.

This book was an absolute DELIGHT, and I know it’s going to do wonders when it release and throughout the BER months.It’s genuinely the perfect blend of the 90’s, romcoms, and hallmark movies. My only complaints are that this is not already a movie that I can continue to binge watch with popcorn and tissues, and that the epilogue hurt my feelings because it was from someone unexpected.

🍁If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia🍁

I absolutely love this book & think about Cliff at minimum once a week - he is quite literally the single dad of my dreams 😌

The Gilmore Girls vibes were IMMACULATE, truly chef’s kiss. And Cliff being a single dad, baker?! Say less. I was immediately sold.

The banter and friendship between Cliff and Michelle was a soliddd 10/10 & I just LOVED Michelle’s character development and the relationship she had with everyone in her life but especially with Cliff’s daughters.

I’m so so excited for this book to go trad & will be gnawing at the bars of my enclosure until I get my hands on the new cover 🤭

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for a chance to read If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia!
The ending was everything I needed and more!! This was my first book out of Romantasy and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. This was also my irl book club, Between The Covers, first club book!! It holds a very special place in my heart. I really didn’t have anything bad to say. Nothing to complain about. I loved everything about this. I felt the fall vibes and small town love Copper Run gave off. Cliff was everything!! I love that man. He is a great dad and I loved how his relationship with his girls grew while having Michelle around. Sometimes you just need that one person even if you don’t realize it. God let me not cry about THE ENDING!! I need more authors to write PET POVs THANK YOU!!! That’s all or else I could go on 😩

This book had me feeling all of the late 90s nostalgia! Flannel shirts, walk-men, trips to Blockbuster, all wrapped up in a small town straight out of 90s rom com! Such a strong and capable FMC on a journey of self discovery post-divorse, and in the wake of her mom's passing with her "talkative" dog in tow. And the MMC, we need more men like him! He takes the time to listen to her, get to know her, he's such a great dad, and he figures out her favourite baked good (it's "a weird baker thing").

I ate this book up and couldn’t get enough of the 90’s references! Ahh the nostalgia! Definitely linger side for a romcom but I could easily read couple hundred pages more and enjoy it! This book read as if I was watching a 90’s tv sitcom (which were my essentials for a long time). Absolutely recommend giving this book a try, it even threw in a tamagotchi mention hahaha. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this arc!

This is a great feel good book for the Fall!! Will absolutely encourage our library to buy this and also include it in any relevant recommendations. This could be very popular if people start hearing about it.

*Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

If you want a 90's inspired romance with all the Gilmore Girls feels, this is for you. It's quintessential FALL y'all. And what a chunk of fall it is. This book spans from September to December, so you get Halloween, Thanksgiving *AND* Christmas. So maybe it's a fall-iday (fall + holiday) romance? And Copper Run, omg. I feel like I need to pack up and go to Vermont right this second, because it was the perfect New England small town. Take me for a sandwich at Betty's and book me a room at Bird + Breakfast y'all.

It's an absolute slow burn, chapters upon chapters of the most devastating smolder until all that heat explodes. It's spicy, it's sensual, and it's somehow still sweet! I think part of that is the friendship between Cliff and Michelle and their innate trust of one another. The family drama added a whole other dimension to this book. I loved Emily and Brittany as characters and their relationship with each other and Cliff and Michelle. Also Britt's obsession with Steve Austin, I died laughing. And of course, Rocket is the goodest boy and his chapter made me tear up.

Is this a series?? Because I'd love to see Sara and Lars's happy endings (or ending if it's together). And if it's not? Catch me rereading it each fall because it's PERFECT for the season.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC. 

I love a good 90's romcom, so I was very excited to get this book and it lived up to my hopes and dreams so well. 

The main characters had so much chemistry and the whole cast was so great. 

I love that Cliff had ginger hair and freckles, we need more MMCs like that. 

Michelle's relationship with Emily was my favorite part of the whole book. 

I also loved the leaf theme that was carried through the entire book and the discussions of different mother daughter relationships. 

If you love yearning and 90's romcoms this is the book for you!

Slowburn. But it had a very cozy vibe, with a mix of 90’s tv show and movies vibe that I loved. It will be perfect for the ber months and it will make you never want to leave. I truly adored this read

I am completely in love with this book. This was more than just a romance to me, it was nostalgia of the 90's era, it was managing grief and life afterwards, it was a book of sacrifice. It was just incredibly REAL. There wasn't a moment in this book that I didn't love, the relationship between Cliff and Michelle was so sweet and perfect. The backdrop of a quaint Vermont small town just added such a nice feel to it overall.

The single dad trope was done incredibly well, I loved that there were 2 kids with a pretty significant age gap, it gave such a cool dynamic to the story and difficulties of parenting both phases of life.

Big city Michelle was also so interesting. Seeing her growth with personability and relaxing was lovely. It felt organic over time with what she had to do to make the inn thrive with her running it. It wasn't an overnight thing, it was over time and it was beautiful to read.

The side characters of the small town were so fun. I loved how pushy they were to be helpful, how personable everyone was and they just had great personalities. It added such a nice ambiance to the town and story as a whole.

This book is one I would absolutely read again in September, curled up with some hot apple cider or hot cocoa. It's just the perfect autumn romance and I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy.

Ahhhhh!!!! How do I even express how much I loved this book! The slow burn and yearning were tearing me up!!!! And the 90’s nostalgia were so perfect I could have been watching a movie from my childhood!

These two were so fun to read about and I couldn’t put it down. The town was a character and I loved all the other people involved in the story along the way.

I’m truly not putting this into words properly. But if you are an Emily Henry or Abby Jimenez fan you need to read this! It’s not just the romance it’s everything! The family dynamics and the friendships, the kids were perfectly written and not an annoying plot point. Just everything was so good. Including the suggested playlist. Perfection!

"𝔹𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖, 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕒 𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕣. ℕ𝕠, 𝕓𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕘𝕒𝕣. 𝕆𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖, 𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕓𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕣, 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕞𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕨 𝕤𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕥, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕓𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕘𝕒𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕝𝕕."

I read this one when it first came out and I adored it so much!! This was my first book I read by Julie Olivia and I loved every second of it! She had quickly become one of my favorite indie authors and I'm so glad that Berkley picked this one up! 🫶🏼

I absolutely adored this one! It is the perfect fall read with all the cozy vibes and characters with depth.

I loved getting to see Cliff tear Michelle's walls down slowly through their friendship and his girls! I also was in love with the small town, B&B, and bakery settings. It felt very Gilmore Girls-esque and just what I needed for the fall!

I love how goofy Cliff was, how secretly funny Michelle was, the sassiness of Emily, and the adorableness of Brittany! Also, the way the Epilogue was done was so sweet and heartwarming! It was all perfect and did a great job of eliciting all the emotions from me.

I literally cannot say more or I will spoil the whole book, but please read this!

What to expect -

🍂 Fall Vibes
🥧 Reverse Grumpy x Sunshine
🍂 City Girl x Small Town Guy
🥧 Single Dad
🍂 Set in the 90's
🥧 Friends to Lovers

AUTUMN. I mean orange leaves crunching, first perfect crisp in the air, first chai latte of the season, cozy energy galore.

Maybe it's just me being a snob, but recently I've been adoring these deeply complex and dare I say.. "older" characters in a love story. The days of relating to college or high school students have sadly passed me and have been replaced with a deep love for the divorced or single-parent (or both!) romantic leads struggling with real life and real emotions.

This story was all of those compelling things mixed with the oogey gooey tingles of romance and family and all the best end-of-the-year holidays.

I LOVED how this was set in the late 90s, felt super nostalgic of a John Hughes or Nora Ephron movie with all the best yearning lusty moments, combined with the most beautiful backdrops.

This book really had it all: tough-no-nonsense FMC meets sunshine MMC, found family, an adorable dog, and a career change. Ties it all in a bow with the classic show-stopping running through the airport love confession (in a time pre-TSA), to really tug on my heartstrings.

Buy it now, and save it for a week before Halloween. Totally worth it, loved every minute.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC.

This was really cute and nostalgic! Loved the references to all the 90's music throughout, though the 90's clothing still makes me cringe!. Stylistically, I thought it was very cinematic (the dialogue, cuts, and scene switching) but sometimes bordering on Hallmark movie. Banter was A+! The Epilogue was super cute too, since Rocket was such a big part of the story!
Tropes include: single dad, slow burn, low stakes, small town, mid-level spice.
Overall, this book is perfect for lovers of You've Got Mail, It Takes Two, Full House and/or a cozy fall read.

Thank you for the opportunity to receive and read this ARC!

This is a book that kept me reading till 3am, which doesn’t happen that often anymore🤩

The characters are just so amazing, and the writing just clicks!

Friends to lovers, single dad with two daughters, a cute doggie (but with a character) as well? How can it get more perfect than this🥰

Highly recommended if you’re in the mood for a fun and cozy read🤍