Oh how I loved Daddy Issues. The content was all to relatable all the way up to growing up eating Graeters ice cream. Books hit different when they are also set in your own back yard. Not to mention the actual daddy issues and the longing for someone to make you feel as if you are worth it. Luckily I found my own just as Sam did. 💕

The character development of Sam was something I loved so much. She was so held back by what she thought was the end all be all, a shit boyfriend and job in the department you actually studied. In reality, her being, well, her was everything she ever needed and Nick was right there to help her realize that. Also don’t get me started on his little girl. I love her and the relationship she built with Sam. Just made my heart so happy that she was there when no one else could be.

Truly a book I will always recommend, it got me in my feels, it made me chuckle and it made slightly giddy and that’s really all a girl can ask for.

Thank you Kate Goldbeck, thank you NetGalley and thank you DialPress. Never a disappoint over here!! 🥰

THIS BOOK WAS BEAUTIFUL.
I loved how the main characters didn’t have their life figured out and we saw the process, the emotions and the connections throughout our time with them.
The writing was so relatable and easy. I felt like I was there feeling the same things they were!
Overall 4 stars but I need more please and thank you!

I ate this book up! Goldbeck is an expert storyteller with this new title. I liked the way relationships and self-discovery themes were played out. I was invested in the outcome for the main characters. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved how real this was. It’s sharp, funny in a dark way, and full of moments that made me pause and actually think about my own patterns. Goldbeck doesn’t try to wrap things up neatly or pretend to have it all figured out, which makes the book hit even harder. It reads like someone finally saying the quiet stuff out loud, about dating, attachment, and all the ways we get in our own way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House,Dial Press Trade the advanced copy!

I just finished this—literally two minutes ago—so let’s write this review while my memory is still fresh. (Warning: there will be spoilers)

The title, cover, and the description of this book is all so cute that I feel like I literally got punk’d.

Here’s our FMC: Sam’s life completely went to shit during the pandemic. She lost her prestigious internship, temporarily moved back in with her mom (temporarily, as in 5 years), works as a bartender at a Hawaiian themed tiki bar where her uniform is a coconut bra, is in a situationship where she’s too afraid to express any emotions or attempt to define the relationship, refuses to do any sort of therapy to cope with her trauma of being neglected by her absent father, refuses to take any jobs or continue her education unless it’s part of the vision she has built up in her head, AND she doesn’t even have a drivers permit…

She’s the definition of a hot mess. Sam refuses to take any sort of accountability for her life or any actions she made that resulted from the pandemic, and she’s basically in this state of limbo.

To say I wasn’t a fan of her character is an understatement.

Now for our MMC, Nick. He’s Sam’s mom’s (also hers, but she refuses to even accept the fact that she even resides at her mom’s apartment) next door neighbor who she literally shares a wall with. He’s a single father of a 9 year old girl, Kira. We love Kira, she’s cute and acts exactly house I expect a girl her age to act. Nick on the other hand? He’s fine, I guess? He has a dad bod and a beard, basically he’s described your typical, slightly above average looking, white, suburban, divorced father. He’s so not problematic, unlike Sam. Nick is emotionally mature, direct, and is actually a doting father to Kira. Although it’s not actually said in the book, it’s clear that Sam harbors a lot of resentment towards Nick as a parent because of how her own father treated her as a child. She’s constantly comparing the two, when Nick and Sam’s father aren’t even in competition with each other.

Nothing really happens for about 50% of the book. It’s just a lot of character dynamics and Sam’s pointless internal monologues which she turns into comics in her mind (this would’ve been a lot cooler if the comics were actually included).

After 50% in, we finally get some spice. But it’s just a little bit of spice, like literally just Sam giving Nick a blowjob in the backseat of his van.

After the 50% mark is where their relationship finally starts to blossom before it’s swiftly shut down. The ending felt so rushed and unfinished, I kept going to the next page thinking “this can’t seriously be it, right?” Yep. That’s all of it.

Also, my last rant, I received an uncorrected proof of this book and it’s clear that this was not gone through by a line editor bc there were so many mistakes. She literally copied and pasted the exact same sentence mere paragraphs from each other.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC.

This was such an astoundingly REAL romance book. Sam is a mess and this definitely resonates with the millennials who are struggling with where to go from here. I absolutely loved this book.

The perfect book for the black sheep reader. A nerdy neurodivergent love scape. Nothing else can quite compare.

I feel like a better more well rounded person after reading any Kate Goldbeck book. Her books give us characters that would normally drive me insane in normal life and somehow I finish this book with more understanding and compassion. Each of these characters leap off the page and challenge me.

I feel like reviewing this book by its tropes is doing it a disservice because it’s so much more than that. Romance+.

Gosh, there’s just very few books on this market that make me swoon while simultaneously challenging me. Kate Goldbeck fan for life.

Omg!!!! A single dad who is also a manager at Chili’s and has a dad bod??? Sold. This was so good!,, I was crying and laughing the entire time. Ugh I want to reread already!

Links to come

If you're craving a romance that feels deeply human, “Daddy Issues” is the one. Kate Goldbeck delivers a refreshingly grounded love story that trades in billionaire fantasies for something far more rare in the genre… realism. This book is warm, awkward, honest, and full of heart.

Nick, our not so typical love interest, might be the most relatable book boyfriend I’ve met in a while. He's a self proclaimed Star Trek nerd, manages a Chili’s (which is now, unexpectedly, very hot to me), and brings major "this guy actually exists" energy. And somehow, despite being average on paper, he completely wins you over.

What sets “Daddy Issues” apart, though, is how thoughtfully it explores what it really means to fall for someone with a life already in motion. The relationship between Sam and Nick's daughter, Kira, is beautifully, and realistically handled. There's no magical stepparent transformation. It’s slow, sometimes messy, and deeply sincere. That portrayal alone is worth the read. It’s a quiet love letter to stepparents everywhere, capturing just how complex and meaningful that bond can be. It made me incredibly grateful for my own stepmom and our relationship.

The pace might feel gentle at times, but that’s part of the book’s charm. Goldbeck gives the romance room to breathe, letting it evolve in the quieter, “off-page” moments, something the comic book metaphor smartly reinforces. The idea that we only ever see part of a person’s story, like the panels of a comic, adds depth without ever feeling heavy handed.

“Daddy Issues” isn’t about grand gestures. It’s about showing up, growing up, and falling in love in the most honest way possible.

I did enjoy this book even if it hit a little too close to home (another twenty-something who's living at home with their parents and unemployed not by choice). This was a cute and unconventional romance read!

I adored You, Again so I had such high hopes for this book... and it delivered so well. There was so much heart in this story and the relationship between Sam and Nick was so beautiful and moved me to tears.

3.5/5⭐

Read if you love:
- Age Gap (He’s 39, she’s 26)
- Single Dad
- Charlotte Lucas style FMC
- Romance books that lean into the literary fiction genre
- Gifted child now suffering burn-out

“I'm 27 years old. I've no money and no prospects. I'm already a burden to my parents. And I'm frightened.”
This quote from the 2005 adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” describes this book perfectly. This book was not solely a romance. It is marketed as one, but in my opinion it is more of a literary/women’s fiction with a romance plot included. The majority of the story follows Sam as she struggles with her life after her post-college plans have been derailed. She’s been sleeping in her mother’s office and working at a bar while living in denial about her derailed plans. It’s a very realistic story that portrays the struggles of many young people in this day and age.

Now for the romance. Nick is a single dad who just moved next door to Sam. He’s finally getting into the groove of life after separating from his wife and learning to co-parent their 9-year-old daughter. This book really shows the realistic side of dating someone with a child. Sam had no plans to have children anytime soon (if ever), but she finds herself falling for Nick and grappling with how his situation will make their relationship different from one without a child involved. I think the conversations this book had were very realistic to what would happen in real life. Although my husband and I are happily married, I’ve always wondered what it would be like if I ever had to enter into the dating world again, and this book pretty much covered what I imagined it would be like. I also want to add that Sam and Nick’s communication throughout the entire book was amazing, so if you hate the miscommunication trope, this will be a breath of fresh air.

One thing I found really unique about this book is Sam's love for comics. I loved how the author used them to help tell the story, and it even made me want to try some out for myself!

My only complaint about this book is that I wish we had gotten more of their relationship development. I felt like the build-up to them getting together was great, but we didn’t see much of them actually being a couple before they were declaring their love for each other. I also wish this book had been marketed a little differently, because if I had gone in expecting more of a literary fiction style story than a romance, I would’ve enjoyed it more. I LOVED You, Again by this author, and even though I enjoyed this one, that one is still my favorite. Definitely recommend trying out both books by this author, and I will be picking up a physical copy when this book comes out!

2.5 stars.This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2025 so it’s very difficult to review. I am a huge fan of You, Again by Kate Goldbeck and one of its biggest defenders. I thought it showed true character and relationship development over the years as both of the MCs had serious baggage. However Daddy Issues missed the mark for me.

While I think Kate Goldbeck is great at creating characters who are deeply flawed and relatable, I think this leaned **too** far into the flaws vs. redeemable qualities.
Sam was one of the most childish, self-absorbed 26 year olds I’ve read and it felt like the accountability taken was circumstantial. (I write this as someone who has anxiety, depression, and a masters degree that was rendered useless, all because of the pandemic, so I empathized with her for sure.) Nick is someone I would tell my friends to SPRINT away from. I know romance isn’t supposed to be like real life, but when you purposely write your characters to feel like they’re living in our world it can be difficult. 15- year age gap, single father, and general manager of Chili’s are all debatable yellow flags lol. BUT the choice to have him still legally married for the entirety of the book (?!?!) is where I had to draw the line that I couldn’t root for them as a couple. (I’m not marking that as a spoiler because it was not presented in the book as a a big deal to the characters or any sort of gotcha reveal, which was…odd.)

I think this could have worked if the relationship timelines were stretched out a bit? I actively jumped when they said they loved each other in the book because I felt like it had been .2 seconds. And I did like that it was an age-gap without some millionaire-hero complex thing. It could still be worth the read if that’s something you’re looking for. But they both had a LOT of things they still needed to work on and discuss before pursuing a relationship.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House, and the author for this ARC. Daddy Issues is out November 18, 2025.

I finished up this ARC last night. This was a cute and quick read. It one had such a real life feel to it vs the romance books I am used to. It was chaotic, raw, uncomfortable, and heartwarming all at the same time. This was such a good age gap romance!

Watching Sam go through what she did but also finding herself and her purpose while doing so was so satisfying. She came to the conclusion that some relationships in her past were lessons meant to lead her to her happy ever after. Like YES, GIRL YOU ARE STILL A BADDIE!!

I also loved the stepparent aspect of this book. I am not a stepparent, but my husband is. It's a hard role to play. Kate's reflection on that topic was eye-opening.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House-Dial Press Trade Paperback for the opportunity to read this in advance!

I was so excited to receive this book because I loved You, Again by Kate Goldbeck. I was not disappointed with this book. Loved the characters and the witty banter and dialogue. Kate Goldbeck has such a great sense of humor that really translates to the page. Would love to read more from her in the future.

i feel extremely conflicted by how id like to rate and review this book because in the moment i had a really great time reading it minus a few things here and there. however i decided to sleep on it instead of going straight to writing a review last night and im sitting here only really thinking about the negatives? i cant really remember what exactly i was loving in the moment which leads me to think, did i actually love it????

to start i would say that the romance in this book is definitely a subplot (which was fine for me but i know that a lot of others will be like…what? so im mentioning it) SO prepare yourself in that aspect. there is also the matter of Hal, who is the FMCs long time situationship. over all i get his purpose but at the same time his being there took away from more time we could have spent on nick and sam’s relationship.

the majority of this book felt like a shit on sam free for all, its absolutely no wonder this woman cant get her life together bc she has NO support system. she has her mother who goes from passive aggressive comments to just straight up aggressive and mean and thats it. she is an empty shell of a person walking around and NO ONE cares or notices enough to help??? truthfully this is my biggest hang up on this book in regards to “did i like it though?”.

nick and kira were like a bright spot of the book for me, i loved whenever they were around and i loved who sam got to be in those moments. there are a lot of different reviews pointing out “why is he a chilis manager?” “why does kira act like that at her age?” and personally those weren’t things that bothered me? i thought the chilis manger thing was realistic. it felt like a single parent doing whatever he needed to do to make sure he had the money to clothe, feed and shelter his child and ya know thats literally just real life lol. people work those jobs and thats ok and they deserve to have the happy ever after just as much as anyone else. as far as kira goes, she was fucking hilarious more often than not lol. were there times where she was a little annoying? sure, but what child isnt? shes a child of divorce and sometimes children regress in certain/all aspects because of the trauma of it all.

the spice in this book was also really fun, i’ve hit a bit of a wall on smut in books lately because its all just gotten really repetitive and boring and honestly just a bit too fake but in this book i didnt feel the need to want to skim through. i thought it was realistic and funny at times, i liked that there was fumbling around and learning. i liked that nick could tell sam needed to stop the first time around before her even mentioning it because as a woman that can be hard to tell someone that because you never know how the other will react and him actually paying attention to her body language made it easier for her which i loved to see.

i wish this book would have made sam and nick a bit more of a focal point, like i said in the beginning of this review the romance is very subplot in my opinion which led to everything feeling a bit insta lovey at times. over all i LOVED sam and nick together, i think their nerdiness complimented each other so well. i think he was wonderful at getting sam out of her head. he was really the only person in this book who actually SAW her and vice versa, sam saw nick and was able to bring a lot of color back into his life and show him that its okay to be a person outside of being a father.

i was a HUGE fan of the ending, this was one 3rd act break up i was 100% behind and felt like the resolution brought the book full circle, i loved how life brought sam and nick back together 😭

to say this book is aptly named would be an understatement truly lol, sam is the epitome of daddy issues. honestly this was the only aspect where sam ever got on my nerves, i feel at this age its one of those things where we shouldnt still be making excuses for shitty absent parents especially when he has been that exact thing her entire life. a part of me gets it, i really do but but it does get to a point where we gotta stop and say what the hell are we doing girl.

by now after all my rambling i feel like i can land somewhere between a 3.5 and a 4. i want so badly to land on a solid 4 but i think there are just too many little things that make me hesitate.

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!