Maybe spoilers, idk.

Starting out with something positive, I think the author really knows how to craft very real and complex characters. Sam felt like a real person to me, and that is no easy feat. I felt her depression as if it were my own. Which was great character work but also, well, depressing to read about. I kept waiting for her to get at least a bit better, to feel happier again and get some help, anything really. But all she got was this weird older guy and his insanely annoying child.
Nick was supposed to be the hot older guy here that I was supposed to root for. But all I actually did while reading was cringe and hope Sam would just wake tf up and run far away from him. She needed to concentrate on herself and not be pulled into his mess. Her mother even spelled it out for her:

<i>“You’re young.” The hug turns too tight. Tense and stiff. “You have no responsibilities. Don’t trade that for someone who has no freedom.” I roll my shoulder and lean away from her. “I like Nick. He seems like a good guy. But divorced guys with kids? There’s a reason they want a young, single woman with no kids of her own. It’s easier for them. It’s more fun. They want to plug a young woman into the life they already have. His life gets better and yours gets exponentially more difficult. The stepparent makes all the sacrifices.”</i>

And that might not be the case for every relationship out there where a kid from a previous relationship is present, but it did feel exactly like that in this book. Nick to me seemed like he just wanted to get laid on the regular and get himself a live-in nanny too. I did not like him at all, and there was no chemistry between them. I actively didn’t want them together. I wanted her far away from him, starting her own life, free from all the responsibilities he wanted to put on her.
Their relationship was also kind of insta-lovey and rushed. We spent half(!) the book with her and Hal (they aren’t in a serious relationship, but Sam kind of wants them to be), which made no sense to me, like why was he a topic for so long? And then we jumped straight into her thing with Nick. I genuinely did not understand the development of their relationship. Probably because there was no development. Like they had some normal interactions in the first half of the book, but definitely not enough to build up any sort of connection or tension for what happened in the second half. Because in that second half, all of a sudden she blows him in his car, then they eat waffles in his apartment, and then they are in a relationship. What? How? Why?

And since Nick had like zero appeal, it kind of felt like she latched on to the first person that showed some interest in her after Hal just so she had something to distract her from everything else and not for, you know, romantic reasons. I just didn’t buy her feelings for him. Didn’t see it.

The only part I actually liked were the last 10%ish at the university. Because that was literally the only time when Sam was at least remotely happy.

So while the whole story did feel very realistic, it just wasn't very fun to read and kind of missed the mark imo.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Daddy Issues by Kate Goldbeck is a deliciously witty, grounded, and realistic story.

Our main character Sam is twenty-six living in her mother’s spare bedroom/office. With the pandemic upending her career plans, Sam moved back, except it’s been five years and she doesn’t see a clear path in sight. Sam is a complex character, sometimes I wanted to hug her, sometimes I wanted to shake some sense into her—that made the story all the better. Her need to get into a PhD program to find semblance of routine and guidance was all too real—I had those thoughts at one point and I know many friends who contemplated going back to school as a way to find some direction.

I went into this book knowing almost nothing except that the male main character was a manager at a Chili’s. Sam’s relationship with Nick was refreshing. The two were very honest with each other from the beginning, which I greatly appreciated. This is an age gap and single father romance so I was curious to see how it would all play out and was extremely grateful that miscommunication did not play a part in the conflict between Sam and Nick.

Sam’s relationship with her father, or rather lack of, plays a huge part in the story. She’s into comics and began drawing because it was something that connected her with her father—reading how this influenced her life was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. There was something so comforting and relatable about this book and I was probably 15% in when I knew I loved this book. The chemistry between Nick and Sam felt so real and simple (in the best way I promise!).

The start of the book definitely has a bit of a slower pace, the story is low-stakes, and these characters feel like regular normal people, and I was absolutely hooked and invested and devoured every second of it. I make it a point to highlight this because when compared to other romance novels there’s no grand gestures or big reveals, but that’s part of the charm. Both Sam and Nick feel very real and regular, in the best way possible.

I really like this one! This was very funny and very cute. I absolutely adored Nick and I loved how kind and caring he was. I loved Kira as a side character and the side characters in rom coms usually annoy me. The mom’s wedding was so perfectly chaotic I was getting second hand embarrassment from a fictional character.

I also liked that Sam got to grow emotionally outside of her relationship with nick i think that was important for her

I personally enjoy more spice in my rom coms but the sex scenes in this were really tastefully done.

Also the ending that made her cross paths with nick again was so soft and so perfect

I have hot pink feelings for this book

This book was great and I will be reading more of Kate goldbeck’s work!

Age gap, single dad, slow burn, Bruce Wayne & hot pink feelings.

This is a story about getting your shit together as an adult.
Deciding what you want in life

What a refreshing romance for a change.

I definitely am going to check out the author's other book.

Four stars ****

Thank you NetGalley
Thank you Random House/Dial Press Trade for this arc read!

Put a single dad in a book and I am going to love it. Nick was such a fun character to read about and I genuinely enjoyed him. Sam was also such a fun to read about character and was extremely relatable and scary as that may be. The romance between Sam and Nick was just too good. Sam feeling stuck with her academic life made her such a relatable character and I found myself hooked on her story simply just becuase of how relatable she is to me. Slow burns are always the way to go in a romance book and I feel like Kate Goldbeck did this one amazingly. The yearning was undeniable and made me refuse to put the book down. I have said it so many times but this book was just relatable and honestly thats what is missing with romance book nowadays. I loved this book so much and will be buying this the second it comes out phsyically.

Sam is living a life many of us are familiar with post-pandemic. The pandemic blew up every plan she has ever had and now she's stuck. She lives with her mom, working a deadbeat job, in a never-ending loop of YouTube makeup tutorials. Her very sad status quo is disrupted when Nick moves in to the apartment next door with his daughter Kira. As Sam confronts her own relationship with her father, she starts a relationship with Nick. While there were some awkward moments with the whole dad thing, the book hits on the ways the pandemic affected everyone's lives. For those that don't mind some uncomfortable truths with incredibly sweet love stories aka the Kate Goldbeck special.

I was a super underwhelmed by this book, their relationship felt instalovey and a bit lust driven, but I’m all the worst ways, I don’t think they knew or liked each other seriously at all to be honest.

I did enjoy the idea of where the character growth was going but wish we kind of saw more individual growth from both main characters. I didn’t feel like the tension was really there either, it was just like listing off things happening no natural progression of plot or character growth. Missed the mark for me.

It does however read quickly and had lots of emotional pull but maybe not in the right ways, just didn’t totally convince me here. This is a 2.5 for me rounded up.

This was not what I was expecting, but I ended up really enjoying it! I liked it way more than the author's first book (You, Again). Also, the cover makes so much sense once you read the novel.

Daddy Issues is a love story, but perhaps not in the traditional sense. Sam was thriving in her academic career until something happened that led her to lose her spot in the PhD program she had been accepted into. She ends up stuck living in her mum's apartment, frustrated and with her life on hold. Before she knows it, five years have gone by, and she’s still living with her mum. Her mum's new neighbours — Nick and his daughter, Kira — gradually become part of her life, and a romance starts developing between Nick and Sam.

However, for me, the true love story in this book is between Sam and herself. In these years living with her mum, she was feeling completely lost, stuck on a path that was not working for her. The relationship she ends up having with Nick seems to give her the confidence and encouragement to glimpse other paths and possibilities; to love herself before anyone else. Yes, there are a lot of daddy issues tied to Sam's sense of worth, so the title is fitting. Was it what I was expecting? No, but perhaps that's exactly why I liked it.

Thank you very much to Random House / Dial Press for the e-ARC!

Daddy Issues has been on my TBR pile ever since it was announced, so getting this eARC was a lovely surprise!
I enjoyed the book, but I could feel myself comparing it unfavorably with other romance novels I’ve read and then forgotten. Compared to Kate Goldbeck’s previous novel, the fabulous You, Again, this one just felt a little bit lacking.
I liked the characters, and certainly commiserate with the FMC, Sam. Feeling like you’re treading water, waiting for the right opportunity is such a universal experience. As a parent myself, I recognized the all-encompassing nature of parenthood that Nick is experiencing. The characters felt real.
My favorite narrative device used in Daddy Issues was when Sam was “writing the scene as a comic”, which I found wholly entertaining and novel. As a fan of comics and graphic novels myself, it really added to my enjoyment.
There were a couple of instances of missed editing issues - in one scene the characters are eating one food and then switch to another - they are eating taquitos and then suddenly pizza. Another is when the daughter is describing her OC characters, there is a sentence where the name Emily is used in place of Lana.
All in all, this book felt like a love letter to the author’s real-life relationship, and that is a beautiful thing.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ebook arc!
When I first started this I was LOVING it! Like seriously loving it and thinking it was going to be 5 stars for me. However the FMC started to be so insufferable. Also as a mother myself I didn’t like how she constantly made the child of the MMC seem like such a problem. I also didn’t feel a connection between the love interests at alllll. I will however say I did enjoy the non romance parts and the parts that didn’t have to do with the MMC and his child. When the FMC wasn’t being insufferable I liked reading about her dynamic with her dad and mom. I also enjoyed the comic book aspects of the story. I think this book had the bones to be absolutely incredible but the plot just fell flat for me throughout it. I did however enjoy the writing enough that I think I will give this authors other book a shot.

I ate this up. What a delightful single dad romance with a few dashes of spice. I fell in love with these characters and their story and I just had so much fun with them.

I absolutely loved Nick and unfortunately for me, Sam is a super relatable FMC. Nick’s kid, Kira, was absolutely hilarious. As someone without kids, she felt pretty believable and realistic to me.

Of course, I loved Nick and Sam as a couple. Nick has it together (mostly) and he loves Sam even though she doesn’t have it together. They have some really cute moments and they both just genuinely want the best for each other. And we can’t forget what happened in that Chili’s.

The side characters also shined in my opinion. Sam’s best friend was hysterical and her PowerPoints were so funny. Sam has a bit of a learning curve when it came to navigating her relationship with Nick’s daughter Kira. I thought that this was really well done, but note that I do not have children so what do I know.

In addition to Sam and Nick’s love story, I appreciated the depth to Sam’s character. Exploring her issues with her father and navigating the complicated relationship with her mom was really well done and interesting.

Overall this book was so fun and I think anyone looking for a good single dad romance where he is just a normal, good guy. I highly recommend this one. It was just such a good time I can’t emphasize enough how fun this was.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishing company, for this arc!

This was a fun time, so let's dive into it!
Positives:
- I found Daddy Issues to be an entertaining romance!
- Sam and Nick had a pretty cute dynamic and understood each other well.
- I actually really liked the ending as it especially gave the FMC time for growth.

Negatives:
- I'm not a huge fan of the "woman who does not have her life together trope." I sometimes find it quite painful to read.
- I wish Kira and Sam had more scenes together.
- I'm so sad that we get deprived of an epilogue or time jump.

That's a blurb of my thoughts! Thank you again for the opportunity to review this book!

I love Kate's writing and I adored these characters - this is less about the romance and more about our FMCs journey of self discovery in a way. I love Nick and Sam so so much, I did feel the romance lacking a bit but I do think that these two are really good for each other - I felt SO frustrated with Romily and Sams Mom at points because although they were making good points, the execution was horrible.


the break up was necessary for Sams character growth. I like how it ended a little ambiguous on what her plans are because it felt so realistic to still not know where your life will lead but I love the place she is in and believe that her and Nick will continue a long relationship together.

As a woman in her 20s who moved back in with her parents due to the pandemic I knew this would hit different. The way Kate has written Sam’s story and pulled me into her world felt so relatable to when I was at that time in my life (living in an office, working a job i didn’t love, unsure about school or where i was going next). This was a deeply romantic story to me that didn’t shy away from conflicts. Kate wrote the conflicts openly and without fear. It felt very real and because of that the book was that much better.

In this book we follow Sam, an art student, and Nick, a single dad who lives next door with his daughter, Kira.

The main tropes are the guy next door, he's a single dad, and she is an artist.

For the characters, I liked Sam's love for comics, I also liked being a part of her imagining drawing one, the dialogues, and the descriptions. Nevertheless, I didn't like her childish behavior at times, I can get the interrogations and questions she could get about raising a kid, but some of them were too passive-aggressive in my opinion. At some time, it felt like she only wanted Nike and not Kira.

Now, for Nick's character, I liked the fact that he knew what he wanted with Sam while still prioritizing his daughter, he set clear boundaries, which I liked. However, I didn't appreciate him having to hide a side of his personality just for his daughter's sake, but he was still a great father.

For their relationship, I think that some cute and chill moments were missing. A lot of the relationship was based off of physical attraction, with a lot of scenes involving it, which made me roll my eyes a bit.

There were some typos in this book, the mention of ChatGPT was not the greatest thing to add to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review

I think this is a great book for people who feel lost to read! It’s a good reminder of just figuring yourself out. There’s great banter and chemistry! I love the plot.

I loved this author's debut, You Again, which I was also fortune enough to get an advanced copy of...so I was over the moon when offered this arc. Sadly, this one fell a little flat for me. The pacing felt very off, very slow yet somehow alos an insta romance, and then the third act breakup felt rushed and the resolution....wasn't really a resolution? I just didn't buy any of it. While I appreciated wanting to bring some complexity to the story, the power point discussion sections and the comic dialogue sections just really distracted me from the story.

I loved this story so much! Not to get too personal, but I resonated with Sam (FMC) very much. Sam feels like she is stuck and behind in life because she is 26, lives with her mom still, and doesn't know what to do with her life. I enjoyed reading about a person who didn't "have it all together." As I get older I realize how different everyones path is, it's not just achieve something at each age and keep going until the end. While this story is a romance, a big focus is Sam finding a way to be happy with HER life not what society expects a person to do with their life. The book felt real and messy, which made me love it more. "Daddy Issues" has a double meaning as a title because we also see the effects of the type of relationship Sam had with her dad, which also trickles to her relationship with her mom as well. The author did a great job developing and evolving that storyline.

Now to the romance.... I WILL BE YOUR FATHER FIGURE, PUT YOUR TINY AND IN MINE! It was such a good romance! They meet when Nick (MMC) and his daughter move into the condo right next to Sam and they share a wall. You would think that a relationship between a 26 year old who has no idea what she is doing with her life might not fit with the pushing 40 father who has to be stable and super responsible, but it works so well! The spice is also very good hehe.

Just a note though, there were some spelling and grammar errors in the ARC.

Overall, my opinion of this book was positive. I loved You, Again and was delighted to get an ARC of Daddy Issues. Like Goldbeck’s first book, this story had great pacing, snappy banter, and really thoughtful and believable character arcs. I find her voice to be so much fun to read and breezed through this book in one evening pretty much nonstop.

Sam and Nick’s chemistry was great and I felt like the heady, overwhelming feeling of connecting with someone you really like was well captured on the page. I also thought that the relationships that were depicted with Nick’s daughter were very endearing.

All that said, there was one glaring thing that took me completely out of the story and made me know from the first few chapters that this was never going to be a 5 star read for me. Why, dear god why, is Nick a manager at Chili’s? I mean, I know *why* in terms of his character’s backstory and circumstances—but I mean why was this an authorial choice that was made and kept. Even a fictional southwest grill would’ve been less distracting, if he really needed to be managing a restaurant. I don’t need my MMCs to be billionaires and I’m sure I’m coming off as a snob, but a romance book is a fantasy and Chili’s manager (no matter how great his reason for being there or how charming he is) is simply not a fantasy man.

Yes, I know we’re experiencing Sam’s messy quarter life crisis and it makes sense for Nick to have something a little less than perfect about him too but if hot guy working at my local neighborhood chain restaurant was the dream I would simply reminisce on my own messy mid-20s. Maybe in my mid-30s I’ve just aged out of overlooking a job with a horrible schedule and a ton of stress as things that are chill in a potential partner but wow did that ruin the whole thing for me.

If my fellow readers are more flexible on their qualifications for a leading man they will probably love this book! I would have if it weren’t for that.

This is my first book by this author and I have mixed opinions. I loved the FMC's humor, it felt like I highlighted everything she said or thought. Nick was such a likeable MMC. That said, their relationship felt very insta-love. The pacing in the second half of the book was much different than the first half and it felt like the conclusion was rushed through. I really wish she'd had some resolution with the crappy dad. And I wish we'd had an epilogue to see how they all meshed as a new family since we didn't see any of that on page. It felt a little inconclusive.