I listened to the audio book - and it took some time to get into it. Not because of the story itself but b/c of the narrator. The narration was painfully slow. I had to put the speed to 2x - which I usually do not do. Their voice was distinct enought to differentiate between characters but their reading style did NOT bring the text to life. Once I changed the speed - I really enjoyed the story.

Loved the Senior Citizen characters. I loved how the author had stories and friendships develop across the generations of characters.

The author painted such a fantastic view of life in this community that I am ready to move in and I am not a senior citizen!

I enjoyed this coming-of-age-as-an-adult story, and I think it’ll be a fun read for anyone with an interest in theatre. I really liked the ensemble cast and the unique setting. However, the pacing didn’t work for me in the second half of the book; it didn’t keep me as engaged as the first half. I also found the FMC’s friendships a bit frustrating, likely because I can’t relate to not opening up to your friends and actively thinking “I can’t tell them that” when they’re meant to be her very best friends. For the audiobook specifically, I think it would’ve been great to have a full cast narrating or at least more differentiation between characters; as it stands, Arthur and Booker sound like the same person even though one is a grumpy old man and the other is a hot young love interest. Overall, I gave this book a 3.5

Love how wholesome, sweet, and endearing Walsh’s books are. You immediately fall in love with Rosie and then love watch her falling in love. The cast of characters are so well developed. I wanted to climb inside this book and spend a summer here! At times I felt the narration was too cute and silly, but then when you get to know Rosie, you get it! Enjoy!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the ALC.

This was a delightful read! I thoroughly enjoyed the setting, the camaraderie among friends, and the residents of the retirement community. Rosie’s sisterly bond with Dylan was absolutely adorable! The story included humor, romance, and impressive character development.

I highly recommend it for anyone seeking a heartwarming experience.

Okay. Not going to lie- I was REALLY turned off by this book for the first couple chapters. Rosie came across as VERY immature and it all was just a tad too juvenile and cheesy for me (I’m looking at you random musical number meet cute). I mean, I’m all for a quirky character… but there are still limits, ya know? And the narration when she was with her childhood friends made them all seem very air-headed and obnoxious, which was really hard to listen to. BUUUUUUUUUUT I kept listening and I was completely won over. This was ABSOLUTELY the palate cleansing delight I needed it to be. Thank you thank you Ms Walsh for not letting me down. This was so light and fun, but also had me tearing up a bit (I love me a grumpy old man). Rosie had some major growth and found herself, as did quite a few of the other characters. I think my only other miss was that we didn’t get more of Daisy and her nurse man- they were precious.

All in all, another great read from Walsh!! Just the sunshiney summer read I was looking for!

Rosie has finished training to be a professional actress but with no money or job opportunities in New York, she has to go stay with her parents. Returning to her old home town she will not admit that she is homeless and jobless. How could she, when her Mum and her friends have been led to believe that her career is blossoming. Comparing herself to her friends and their life stages Rosie feels like failure.

An opportunity is presented for work, a position she forgot she had even applied for. In a state of desperation Rosie asks no questions and accepts the job offer.

Rosie is thrown in the deep end. Her feelings of failure are exacerbated and her hopes of being an actress are shattered. Sometimes life doesn't go to plan and it can't get any worse for Rosie now. How can she cope?

This serious plot is written light heartedly. Unfortunately some parts are way too corny and soppy. However, the humorous side of the story makes #EverythingsComingUpRosie an easy and enjoyable read. I rate it a 3.5.

Thankyou to #Netgalley for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Everything’s Coming Up Rosie by Courtney Walsh


A BIG thank you to #NetGalley , Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio, and author Courtney Walsh for sending me this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

About the book: Main character Rosie Waterman has one dream, and that’s to become an actress. Unfortunately for her, that dream just isn’t working out.
After she loses both her job and apartment in the same day, she starts applying for other jobs. She decides to make a trip home, because she hasn’t been in a while.
She meets back up with all her best friends from high school and quickly realizes that whiles she was trying to make her dreams come true, her friends have all become real adults…with real careers, marriages, and baby’s on the way. Rosie has been trying to make it as an actress all her life and she has nothing to show for it.
Things are looking pretty grim until she is offered a job as the director of a regional theatre's production of Cinderella. She is so excited and jumps at the chance, even though she doesn’t exactly have the experience. But at least she be getting paid doing something theatrical.
However when she arrives she quickly realizes that the “regional theatre” is actually part of a retirement community and the “actors” are all senior citizens with zero acting experience.
Working in this show brings even more challenges to Rosie, forcing her to step up and be the leader the others need her to be. The more time she spends with the cast and crew, the more she starts to rethink her own dreams. Will this unexpected detour in life lead her on a different path?

Oh, Courtney, you have worked your magic once again. Everything’s Coming Up Rosie was charming and witty and down right adorable!

Rosie Waterman had big dreams, but those dreams just haven’t been working out for her. An aspiring actor, she is struggling to make ends meet, while her friends are all out there living life to the fullest. But she never lets on about the way things truly are, she is always playing a part. The friend with no problems, no disappointments, no worries. In an act of desperation, she applies to more jobs than she can count and luckily receives an offer that is a lifeline to her sinking spirits. Until she shows up and realizes that it is not the job she signed up for. With no other options and a stubborn will to succeed, Rosie digs in to produce a show for the ages—or actually the aged.

This story was absolutely wonderful! Courtney does such a fantastic job with character development and depth. You can’t help but fall in love with each one of them. And hope to have a friend or a family member as fun and sweet or endearing (read “occasionally curmudgeony”).

Rosie’s journey was reflective and eye opening. She learned so much about herself and what true contentment is. Plans can change, dreams can evolve, and happiness can be found in the most unexpected places. Rosie’s story was very relatable and relevant.

Enjoyed this one immensely and if you loved Isadora then you’re sure to love this one. And as with Isadora, Jorjeana Marie does a marvelous job with the narration.

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan for the ALC. All opinions at my own.

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
I am a big Courtney Walsh fan. Her books always have a way of invoking hope and warm fuzzy feelings and Everything’s Coming Up Rosie is no exception. Rosie is a struggling actor in New York who hasn’t exactly been honest about the struggling part to her friends and family back home. While desperately trying to make it sound like she has her life more together than she actually does, she accepts a summer job in Wisconsin that she doesn’t even remember applying for. The paycheck and included room and board are too good to pass up, so who cares if she’s never been part of a theatre department before? When she makes it to Wisconsin she finds out the job is a little different than she expected. She not part of a theatre department, she IS the theatre department…and the community? It’s a retirement community. Now she’s in charge of saving the entire theatre department with this senior citizen production of Cinderella.

I really loved this book! Rosie struggles a lot with negative self talk/self doubt in a very honest and relatable way. The cast of characters was so vibrant and delightful, I couldn’t get enough!! There’s a romantic sub plot that doesn’t take away from the story, but isn’t the sole focus of the book, either. This was a feel good, found family, self discovery story full of small victories and learning to let go. There’s so much to love in this one!!

4.5⭐️

I absolutely loved this book! It’s a quick, fun, and uplifting read that follows Rosie, a struggling actress who finds herself at a crossroads after losing both her job and her apartment. With her dream of making it big in New York fading fast, Rosie heads home feeling like everyone else has their life together—while she’s still chasing a goal that no longer feels within reach.

What made this story really special to me was Rosie's new job directing a production of Cinderella at a retirement community. I adore older people, so seeing her work with a group of senior citizens who have no acting experience was both hilarious and incredibly touching. The interactions were full of charm, humor, and surprising wisdom. It was such a joy to watch Rosie find connection and purpose in such an unexpected place.

The book does a wonderful job exploring the idea that it's okay to change direction—even when you've poured years into a dream. Sometimes, the path we thought we wanted isn't the one that brings us the most fulfillment, and that's perfectly okay. Rosie’s journey is a beautiful reminder that success doesn’t always look the way we imagined it would.

If you're looking for a feel-good story with heart, humor, and a cast of unforgettable characters (especially the retirees!), this one’s for you.

If you wanna book that will make you smile, this is one for you! I seriously think I had a goofy smile throughout the entire book. I loved the quirky seniors at their retirement community and the relationships they had with each other, as well as a new relationship. They developed with our main character. I laughed out loud at several parts and overall just felt happy and relaxed while reading this. I did feel like the plat moved a little too fast and the main character had a lot of internal thoughts that just seemed redundant at times. However, the relationship was super cute and I enjoyed how they just naturally got to know each other. The narrator,Joreana Marie, did a great job of bringing the story to life, and truly capturing the main character’s personality. Overall, this was an easy, lighthearted, entertaining, super cute book that I highly recommend!

Thank you too NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for advanced copy of this audiobook!

I loved this book! The characters were funny, quirky, lovable, and just overall wonderful. I especially appreciated the relationship Rosie had with her best friends, and I envied her ability to see more in people than they see in themselves and know how to bring out their best.

I listened to the audio version, and the narrator was a good choice.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

Thank you to @ThomasNelson and Zondervan fiction audio for this ARC of "Everything's Coming Up Rosie" . This was a very cute and sweet book to listen to. Rosie is the main character that strives for family and friends to see that she is living her dream of becoming an actor in New York city. As she soon finds that she has no work and no place to live, she scrambles to find any job that pays. She finds herself directing a play of Cinderella at a retirement community. Here she finds love, acceptance and a new way to dream big. Life isn't always perfect and we cannot always compare our selves to what others are doing. Rosie is smart, funny and had me rooting for her through out the whole book.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #ZondervanFictionAudio for an advance listening copy of #EverythingsComingUpRosie. A really sweet story of a struggling actor who mistakenly finds herself producing a production at a retirement facility. 5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book. It did start out slow and I did roll my eyes and sigh loudly at the non-communication from Rosie to her friends but it wasn’t at a level that turned me off from the story. Overall I loved it and was pleased with the ending. I’m happy about the choices Rosie made. I thought for sure things would go differently.

The narration was good but I noticed the word shoulder is used a lot in this book. I noticed this because the narrator doesn’t pronounce ‘L’s in many words. This really bothered me and I considered taking a star off because every time it took me out of the story. I decided not to since my rating is for the book not the narrator.

Thanks to NetGalley and for the opportunity to read this story!

This is a difficult review to write. For the first 50% I really wasn’t enjoying this one. I found our main character annoying and not very bright. I also very much disliked the way she lied to her friends and seemed to be pretty stuck up. The second half of this book I found far more enjoyable. Obviously Rosie has some character growth (but her being annoying in the first half is still a genuine complaint) And the story becomes more engaging.

While I didn’t like the “insta love” vibes in the romance to start off with, I do think they end up being pretty cute together. This book falls right in the middle of general fiction and romance. It’s both not enough romance to be a full on romance book, but at the same time I find it doesn’t focus enough on the other aspects and characters for it to feel like a true general fiction.

Some things that I didn’t enjoy: the name Booker (no offense to anyone with that name, but sometimes in the audiobook it sounded like booger), the pacing of the story, the writing and metaphors were a bit weak. I would have liked even more theatre references and maybe have them included in a way that didn’t feel as disjointed. Also, some of the southern accents in the audiobook seemed off to me.

One aspect that was a stand out for me is the arc with Arthur. It genuinely almost made me cry and felt very special. I wish other relationships with the people involved in the cast would have been developed in a similar way.

From the author note this feels like a quite personal story and so I don’t want to critique it too harshly, while also still giving my honest opinion on the book.

If you are looking for a quick read about a woman who feels like her life in the theatre industry is becoming a bit of a mess, finding her way, and finding love, this could be the one for you!

Thank you netgalley for this eARC and audiobook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The narration for this book was pretty god. It was easy to tell which character was speaking and transitions were clear. There are female narrator’s that I enjoy more, but she did a good job.
This was a sweet book with a fun cast of characters. I loved that the setting was a retirement community with the feel of summer camp. Watching as Rosie came into her own was heartwarming. The romance was sweet and I really enjoyed the growth and development of other relationships, too.

As with everything Courtney Walsh writes, Everything's Coming Up Rosie was pure joy to read! Rosie Waterman dreams of working in theatre but has a fledgling career despite years of hustle, so she jumps at the chance to direct a regional theatre production in Wisconsin... which turns out to be at a retirement community with inexperienced senior citizens as actors. The romance aspect took the backseat to Rosie's self-development journey, which I actually enjoyed, and the various characters were such a delight to get to know. The narrator, Jorjeana Marie, did a fabulous job capturing Rosie's effervescence, uncertainty, and pluck in equal measure. I highly recommend this book if you're looking for joyful and inspiring women's fiction with a whole lot of heart!

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for gifting me with an ALC to review. All opinions are my own.

Such a feel good and easy to enjoy vibe! Loved the sweet relationships between the characters and Rosie’s heartfelt emotions as the story progressed!

Rosie. Waterman. What a story!
I loved everything about this book, about the characters, about the community. I almost felt like I was a part of the story. Ive been there, in a place where I felt like I needed to hide myself even from the people who loved me most and it’s hard and lonely. It made me feel seen to hear her struggles and watch as she opened up not only to herself, but to the people around her!

Booker was so patient. He was so sweet and kind and their banter was perfect! I wish we could have learned more about him, but I still loved his character all the same.

Arthur will stay with me forever. He reminds me of my grandparents and that is a blessing of a person to have in your corner!

I will never not recommend this beautiful and sweet book!