This was a really sweet story! I enjoyed following along as Rosie found her footing and rebuilt her confidence after some set backs. It was an uplifting and heartwarming book, with lots of personal growth and found family. All of the characters were so lovely and vibrant, and I particularly loved the retirement community residents. Although this is marketed as a romance book, I would say the romance isn't the main plotline, which I actually really appreciated. I thought it was nicely balanced between plot with a good side of closed door romance.

This was my first book by Courtney Walsh and I will definitely be picking up more in the future!

Calling all Thespians - this is a must read! This story made my theater loving heart so happy with every reference (and there is quite a bit of them!)

The cast of quirky characters is so wonderful but I loved Rosie the most. She’s passionate and resilient, even when feeling down on her luck and in over her heard. I found myself rooting for her every step of the way. As wholesome as this story is, it touches on some very real fears and insecurities we all feel when chasing our dreams.

This was a wonderful audio - the narrator captured Rosie’s quick wit and humor perfectly. I was very quickly swept up into this story.

I am in the minority on this one so definitely check out some of the other reviews if you are thinking of picking this one up. The thing that bothered me most about this one is that Rosie felt more like a 12 year old throughout the book in terms of how she approached romantic relationships as well as friendships, and the communication style she used with others. I did not feel any romantic tension or build up, and the ending was a let down for me on so many levels. In some ways Rosie showed some growth as a character, but for the most part it felt very contrived. The messages that Walsh was making were heavy handed, and she used a lot of telling instead of showing to convey her messages. I did enjoy the theater setting in a senior residential area, and I wish the uniqueness of the setting could have been used to carry the story in a more effective way.

Rosie has always wanted to be a Broadway actress. Every since she was a little girl, it's been her dream, and she promised herself she'd never let anyone take that dream away. Unfortunately, the universe doesn't seem to agree.
Jobless, homeless, and prospectless, Rosie agrees to take a job she doesn't even remember applying for, as a member of the theater department in Wisconsin for a summer run of Cinderella. With nothing to lose, and an unwillingness to admit to her friends that her life isn't perfect, Rosie accepts. When she arrives in Door County, Rosie realizes that she's actually agreed to be the director of a show at a retirement community. Unwilling to admit another defeat, she trudges on.

I will say, Rosie really annoyed me at first. Her friends obviously care about her, and would be supportive of her life without the star-in-the-making facade. It didn't become clear to me until about halfway through that Rosie wasn't just selfish and stubborn, she was protecting herself, and the small, scared girl she once was. Once I realized that, I could understand her choices a little better.

The narrator was not my favorite. Her voice sounded nasaly, like she had a cold. And even when listening at 1.25x speed, there were long pauses or sentences that dragged for no reason.

Sweet little low-spice (no spice?) romance about trusting yourself and letting others in.

This is a fun rom-com that follows Rosie as she is a struggling actor. She moved to NYC but has been struggling to find work and is eventually evicted by her roommates for not being able to pay rent. AS she is applying for any and every type of acting job, she recklessly accepts an offer without even reading what she was accepting. She has to figure out if she will stay or leave to pursue her dreams.

So this book was good, but I grew so tired of Rosie's inner monologue. She kept saying "I'm an actor", and similar quotes that was way too repetitive. I almost DNF'd it based on her immaturity, but kept going. I see what the author was trying to do with the character growth, but there was way too much repetition.

The audiobook was well produced and the narrator did a very good job with all the character's voices. I would listen to this specific narrator again.
3.5 stars but rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a delightful book to read, I loved it! Rosie is an aspiring actress that feels like she is a failure compared to her 3 best friends. She gets an offer where she thought she was going to be part of a directing team, but when she gets there, it is quite the surprise. I loved the strong friendships and the unconditional support they provide. I loved all the side characters, the banter that was simply delightful and fun. This is a book that has all that I am looking for in a book, romantic, heartwarming, fun and funny banter and wonderful characters. This is a book you don’t want to miss reading.
This audio is awesome; the narrator really brought the story to life. Highly recommend listening while cleaning.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Fiction; this review is completely my own opinion.

Everything's Coming Up Rosie is full of almost-exclusively likeable characters, starting with Rosie herself (despite her emotional baggage and current job crisis), as well as her best friends from home; retirement community staff—human resources director Connie, hot physical therapist Booker, events coordinator and Rosie's roommate Daisy, and Nurse Louie; teen Dylan, who has been dumped on her grandparents for the summer (she grows on us quickly); and a motley crew of retirement community residents, most notably Booker's grandmother, Bertie, and the curmudgeonly Arthur (who, like Dylan, grows on us). While the book opens in New York City, settings include Rosie's small hometown of Pleasant Valley, Illinois; Door County, Wisconsin, where the bulk of the story takes place; and Chicago; along with a few mentions of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where one of Rosie's besties has taken a news anchor position.

There are some great zingers, including this one (of several) from Bertie: “Ha. Connie never met butter she didn't like to spread.”

Content warnings include family abandonment and parental and spousal death. Overall, though, the book is quite cozy—no foul language or explicit sex scenes.

This is at least my second experience with narrator Jorjeana Marie, who gives a fine performance.

This book was more entertaining to me than Walsh's The Summer of Yes (2024), which also featured a developing friendship between a younger woman and a much older person. This recipe seems to work well for Walsh—the younger and older characters learn from each other's experiences. There were quite a few more-significant relationships in Rosie, which went a long way in my increased enjoyment. 3.66⭐

"There's a man here making my stomach flutter...." — me too, Rosie, me too.

Swoony, funny, and absolutely perfect! Even as someone who's not into theater, I couldn't get enough of Rosie, the seniors, and Booker. The narration was spot on. My favorite Courtney Walsh book yet! Thank you, NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Audio, for the opportunity to read, listen, and review this advanced copy.

This was a refreshing read!! I appreciated the humor of the setting and the confusion that led to it. This really felt like a new adult book (an age range that doesn’t get the spotlight a lot, but this book is it!!). The relationships felt real and I loved every one of our older characters and just want to watch a musical with them in it! Such a fun read.

🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧

Title: Everything’s Coming Up Rosie
Author: Courtney Walsh
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

{Thank you @librofm @netgalley @thomasnelson for the #gifted audiobook of Everything’s Coming Up Rosie by Courtney Walsh. It’s narrated by Jorjeana Marie and I loved it!}

In this newest book by Courtney Walsh, the story shines a spotlight on the preforming arts world and asks the question—what happens when your dreams aren’t going as planned? And then what happens when somewhere along the way maybe your dreams aren’t really what you want after all. Is it okay to pivot in life? It’s a real look at the comparison game adults can play when your friends feel further along in life than you are. When really we all are just doing the best we can in life. Add in a retirement community with an excellent cast of characters and you have another heartwarming winner!

I really appreciated the character growth in this story and while the romance was a smaller focus and secondary to the story, it was very, very sweet.

You know I love an octogenarian character in a story and Arthur had my whole heart!

“That’s part of the adventure. If everything was good all the time you wouldn’t appreciate any of it. It’s the hard stuff that makes the good stuff so much sweeter.”

Out TOMORROW 6/10 and you 1000% need COURTNEY WALSH in your life!

Other Favorite Quotes:

“And you don’t feel like you were giving up on your dream?” “Nah. I just got a new one.”

“I’m a master at pretending. At only showing the shiny side of the apple, while hiding the rotten part.”

This was such a good listen! I loved Rosie & Booker! Booker was the sweetest, and I loved how Rosie rediscovered herself. This was a beautiful and inspirational story.

Courtney Walsh's gift for storytelling shines through in this charming book, presenting a narrative that was both relatable and heartfelt, with a perfect blend of humor, wit, and depth. The characters' captivating journeys of self-discovery and growth were moving, and I felt like I was being reminded of some very profound and meaningful life lessons.

The characters from the retirement community were a delight and added so much to the story. I loved their quirkiness and the wisdom they had acquired from their life experiences.

This was a great audiobook, and the narration brought this lovely, fun, and heartwarming story to life.

Thank you for the free ALC, Thomas Nelson, Zondervan Fiction Audio, and NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Irresistibly cute and full of heart.

Rosie can't get an acting job in New York to pay her sky-high rent and is ready to slink home and admit defeat when she gets an offer to work on a production of Cinderella off off, way off Broadway. She eagerly accepts this high paying, board included offer, heading to Wisconsin to find she is IT! The entire production staff consists of one, just Rosie, and her pool of actors are all seniors with no experience.

Rosie was greeted by handsome Booker, welcomed by matchmaking Connie, and treated to a literary smack down with old timer Arthur. I love a story with quirky old people, and there is no shortage here, in addition to Arthur there are a multitude of fun residents.

After her initial surprise, Rosie is determined to do the best job she can, and her attraction to Booker might be the silver lining of this job. The Author's Note is personal and worth reading!

If you love sweet (clean romance), fun side characters, found family, and finding yourself, give it a try!

The narration was perfect for the character and very enjoyable.

Another sweet romance by the queen of clean rom-coms. In this one, Rosie needs to re-evaluate her career in theater. Her dreams haven’t panned out and compared to her friends who seem to be hitting all the “adulting” steps right on target, she feels like a failure. After blindly applying for every possible acting job she could find, she gets an offer to join a creative team in a production of Cinderella. If only she’d actually read the job description before jumping on the offer. Rosie finds herself in a retirement community, directing an unusual cast of characters, but also examining her life, her past hurts, her future options, and what it means to truly succeed at what you love.

Courtney Walsh is so good at writing perky heroines with witty quips and peculiar quirks. Rosie is FUNNY and utterly enjoyable.

What worked for me:
Realistically confronting the fact that sometimes your dreams don’t come true the way you imagined they would. It’s ok to pivot.
Strong friendships and found family relationships.
The setting (a retirement community) is so refreshing - totally overlooked by most rom-com writers. There’s even a retirement love story.
NOT a slow-burn: Booker and Rosie hit it off immediately.

What didn’t work for me:
The beginning was slow and dragged a little until Rosie was well into her stay among the retirees.
I think this was the right narrator - she was appropriately “Rosie;” however, the perkiness just got grating for me after a while. I think I may have enjoyed reading the story rather than listening to it. It was like listening to Bernadette from TBBT for hours.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the advanced access to the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

🎭 Everything’s Coming Up Rosie 🎭

This audiobook was darling. I loved Rosie’s story SO much! I worked in Senior Living for 6 1/2 years - so this story holds a spot in my heart for sure.

Rosie’s dream of becoming an actress is falling apart. After losing her job and apartment, she takes an opportunity to direct a play — only to find it’s for a group of senior citizens. She failed to look at the job description so it’s not what she expected when she arrived in a small town’s retirement community.

The FMC starts out with a lot of self doubt. It was so heartwarming to watch her growth and self acceptance throughout the story- ultimately finding what truly makes her happy.

🎙️ narrated by Jorjeana Marie - this was my first sorry narrated by her! She was enjoyable to listen to and portrayed Rosies voice so nicely.

If you’re an audiobook reader, the audio is an absolute MUST! Jorjeana Marie’s narration makes the story come to life!

Rosie has struggled to make a name as an actress for herself for years. To avoid having to live with her parents, she blindly accepts a summer position in Wisconsin to direct Cinderella without knowing that the theatre is the senior living community’s theatre — where all the actors are senior citizens. Will she let go of her dream of being an actress? Will the unexpected be exactly what she needs?

For years, Rosie has been hiding the struggles of her life and career from everyone close to her because she deeply cares what people think of her, She is afraid of being seen as a failure. Rosie’s struggles and insecurities are all so relatable.

I loved watching Rosie learn how to step up to be the leader the theatre needed. Booker was such a cinnamon roll. I love how he was so caring, patient and non-judgmental as he helped Rosie work through her feelings. I loved watching her grow as a person, learn to love herself and trust that her friends will always love and support her. There is lots of witty banter and so many wonderfully funny side characters too!

This would be the perfect summer read! It does lean more towards women’s fiction rather than romance.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the copy of this book and audiobook. All thoughts are my own.

CW: Parental Abandonment

I knew from following the author's Instagram that she is involved in theater, and it was so fun seeing that world come to life in the unique setting of a retirement community. Rosie, a struggling actress, is such a relatable and sympathetic main character, and being along for the ride as she reimagined her acting dreams was such a treat. The love interest, Booker, was so endearing, as were all the supporting characters, young (Rosie's roommate, a teen girl she takes under her wing, her best friends back home) and old (the colorful residents of the community.) This novel is heartwarming without being cheesy, and uplifting in the truest sense of the word, and not in a false or condescending way. If you liked this author's The Summer of Yes and The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley, you will love this one as well!

This book was such a heartwarming story! I loved the journey Rosie went on of finding her dream! I loved the evolution of her dream and how she chased it and developed it. There’s such a great message of keep your hands and mind opened to let your dream change and be open to surprising ways of finding happiness. The friendships were super sweet…all of the different relationships were super endearing! The romance was incredible. It’s sweet and just kisses, but there was plenty of chemistry!

Such a sweet and charming book! I really enjoyed Rosie’s coming-of-age journey, her story was heartfelt and relatable. The setting was beautifully written, and I loved the friendships she formed along the way. There were also some lovely life lessons woven throughout the story. A truly enjoyable read!

Thanks to Netgalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction | Thomas Nelson

Everything’s Coming Up Rosie by Courtney Walsh is an uplifting story. Rosie Waterman is a struggling actor. She loses her New York apartment and has no real plans for her summer. That all changes when she agrees to be the director for Cinderella for a production company in Wisconsin. She befriends a variety of characters. It isn’t what she expects but it turns out to be exactly what she needs.

It is narrated by Jorjeana Marie. She did a nice job. Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for this advanced reader copy in exchange of my honest review.