I went into this with an open mind, even with the whole single dad situation because I really do enjoy this author’s prose and think she’s a talented writer. But i wasn’t not at all prepared for the direction this book headed towards.

The MMC is a nearly forty year old single father with a long, chaotic sexual and romantic history that he brings up way too casually and little too often for my like which I thought was quite distasteful. Meanwhile, the FMC is a twenty-something who’s underemployed, still living at home, and honestly just trying to figure herself out. The main “relationship” experience that the author touches on for her is a toxic situationship that barely counts as a relationship.

So, this man has had a full life and she’s just getting started. The imbalance there was quite unsettling.

The worst part is that it’s not just me who saw the red flags, the FMC was made aware of them too. She had doubts, she hesitated, and the author still steamrolled her into a hea for them that felt way more like a compromise than a win. I kept waiting for her to pull back, move to New York, focus on herself… but nope. She just walked straight into the mess like everyone wasn’t screaming at her to run the other way.

Her mom, who I was side-eyeing at first actually ended up being the voice of reason. She gave the realest speech in the whole book, and I genuinely wish the FMC had actually listened. Her mom laid it all out, and it went in one ear and out the other. The author kept trying to make the FMC’s choice feel romantic, but to me, it read like she was being slotted into a life that was already built without her. I was never convinced that that life was something she really wanted especially the kid that came with it.

To be fair, there were things I liked. The MMC being a Chili’s manager and the FMC kind of floating post-grad made it feel grounded in a way a lot of romance novels don’t recently. And I really respected the inclusion of a nonbinary side character and the fact that the FMC had an abortion without being demonized for it , that kind of representation truly matters.

There’s something undeniably comforting about a romance that feels both wildly entertaining and emotionally grounded—and Daddy Issues delivers just that in the best way possible. Kate Goldbeck has written a messy, tender, sharply honest story about the in-between years—the ones where you’re old enough to feel the weight of missed expectations but still fumbling your way through what it means to really grow up.

At twenty-six, Sam Pulaski is stuck. Her dreams of academia and art have stalled under the weight of student debt and dead-end jobs. She’s back at home (okay, technically her mom’s condo), her love life is more chaotic than romantic, and her confidence is on life support. Enter Nick: the grounded, quietly attractive single dad next door whose world revolves around his daughter and the steady rhythm of responsibility. He’s everything Sam is not—and exactly what she doesn’t know she needs.

What unfolds is a story that glows with slow-burn intimacy and quiet revelations. The romance builds not with sweeping grand gestures, but with careful, thoughtful moments that feel real—sharing space, awkward first impressions, unexpected laughter, a minivan kiss that steams up more than just the windows. Their connection isn’t easy or instant—it’s earned. And it’s all the more satisfying because of that.

But what I loved most is how this book isn’t just about falling in love with someone else—it’s about figuring out how to love yourself when you feel like you’ve failed your own blueprint for life. Sam’s growth is deeply relatable: frustrating at times, hilarious in others, and ultimately full of heart. And Nick? He’s the dream—not because he’s perfect, but because he shows up, listens, and makes space for someone figuring it all out.

There’s a raw charm to Goldbeck’s storytelling, with witty dialogue, unexpected vulnerability, and just the right amount of steam. The dynamic between Sam and Nick never feels forced—it’s chemistry built on empathy, banter, and mutual healing. And while not every subplot lands perfectly, the emotional payoff is undeniable.

This is a second chance story—not just at love, but at life, purpose, and the belief that it's okay for dreams to shift as we do.

A very huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House | Dial Press Trade Paperback for sharing this heartwarming, extra sweet second chance romance’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts. I absolutely adored it, and I’ll be thinking about Sam and Nick long after the final page.

Samantha’s in a rut- she’s 26 year old, living in her mom’s house, with no career prospects in sight.

5 years ago, she was heading to Italy to do original research on an obscure Italian artist. But then Covid happened, closing down the whole world and derailing her life goals. Now she’s stuck in Ohio, wasting her days, and working as a server in a tiki bar by night.

When Nick, a divorced dad with a young daughter moves next door, they click. But despite their undeniable feelings for each other, their unconventional relationship poses too many challenges. Samantha has to decide whether she’s ready to be a stepmom and if she’s willing to stay in Ohio rather than follow her dreams of becoming a big city art historian.

As the title implies, this book explores father- daughter relationships but also delves deeply into a multitude of relationships including mother-daughter, friends with benefits, and the role of step-parents roles within families.

This slowburn age-gap romance is full of nuanced characters and is rooted in realistic everyday issues that will appeal to readers who are looking for emotional and relatable storylines about career ambitions, finding love, and growing up.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: ❤️Romance
Recommend:✅

“Daddy Issues” is romance perfection and I truly found myself giggling and kicking my feet at multiple points. And, it was HOT. Sam and Nick (and Kira) are fully formed and both absolutely hilarious. This one is an absolute knockout.

Sam is a 20-something is finds herself living in her office five years after the pandemic sent her there when her PhD program is cancelled. She soon meets and falls for her mom’s new neighbor, Nick, a 40 year old single dad to a spunky little girl, Kira. Sam and Nick’s chemistry is off the charts and even more importantly, their love story was very realistic and actually relatable. The third act breakup that is obviously in most romances actually feels so true to life and is probably one of the best breakups written into a romance I’ve read.

Between “Daddy Issues” and “You, Again”, Kate Goldbeck is a must buy romance writer for me now. And, this one took place in Columbus, Ohio, where I live so it was extras special to me!

You’ll love this book if you love:
✅Hot Dads
✅Lost 20-somethings
✅Columbus, Ohio

Sam, a girl in her 20’s ,living at her mom’s apartment is struggling with being an adult. She works a job as a bartender ,but has a passion for comic book drawing. She meets a single dad who she has a connection with. Seeing her get her life together, fall in love and navigating dating someone with a child. I loved this book. If you love reading about stories about personal growth, finding love, and embracing new family dynamics then this is the book for you

Definitely recommend. Thank you NetGalley!!

I'm not a fan of the single dad trope (or romance novels with kids at all) and You, Again was a four-star disappointment but somehow everything in this came together to be what might become my favorite romance of the year. Delicious.

I thought the premise was cute, but I found the main character to be very whiny and had a hard time connecting to her in order to root for the romance of the story. As graphic novels were such a big part of this book. It would’ve been nice to include some visuals.

LOVED it. a very refreshing ready with a unique voice. i couldn’t put it down. A BANGER! so so great.

I think it would be a challenge for any author to follow up on the success of "You, Again", and there are lots of little things to like here that show Goldbeck is still a force to be reckoned with in contemporary romance. Her commitment to dealing with "difficult" characters is front-and-center, as is her interest in finding realistic ways for characters to overcome trauma and break patterns together. The conceit of the main character frequently "thinking" in comic books worked for me without feeling hokey, and I appreciated the book's wrestling with parenthood, adulthood, and self-fulfillment, especially the various ways in which those ideas can intersect or conflict.

However, the pacing of the book was off for me — it felt like both plot and emotional developments were happening too quickly, without enough time or detail lavished on any particular aspect of the main character's experience. I think if the book had been considerably tightened up, it could have been an extremely compelling novella, and if it had been allowed to hit its stride, it could have been a satisfyingly nuanced journey in the vein of "You, Again." Its current length/pacing greatly diminishes its strengths, which is a shame, given the ambition of Goldbeck's scope here. I would consider this a good recommendation for fans of Rachel Lynn Solomon's "Weather Girl", which wrestles with similar core concepts, but whose pacing is more even.

I loved this one! Kate's writing is immaculate but you can't beat a single dad/age gap romance. This is an auto-read when it comes out.

I’m not typically a romance reader, but I genuinely enjoyed reading this one. I thought it had creative elements that I don’t see often. I felt like the characters were fleshed out and believable.

This book is objectively well crafted but Sam was not likable enough (or maybe just too realistically written as a down on her luck sad person??) to be driving the story. I did not enjoy her as the narrator. I also know nothing about comics so those aspects of the book went over my head.

I do think the author’s writing style is extremely distinct and strong. I can see myself loving one of her books one day. But without characters you care about, it is hard to stick with a book.

Solid 3.75 stars that I rounded up to 4.

No spoilers. I feel this book could’ve been a solid five, but due to pacing issues and some of the conflict surrounding the MCs it just didn’t quite reach that far.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. The book did a good job of setting up several conflicts and giving our FMC an opportunity to really get out of her depression and jump start her life. She feels stuck in her mom’s office, with no real space to call her own. I feel that. The FMC has daddy issues given the name of the book and that is a single dad romance lol.

To me, this book walks the line of Women’s fiction and romance. It definitely qualifies as romance, but the overall issues and focus on the FMCs growth makes me liken it to women’s fiction more.

It reminds me of Definitely Better Now by Ava Robinson. The main things that threw me off were the pacing. I thought her mom’s wedding was months away and then all of sudden it happens? And a few other factors that just paced weird.

There was almost just a tad to much conflict coming from so many sides that when everything wrapped up, it just seemed really fast and the FMCs growth felt forced.

It just didn’t flow naturally to me, but that is my opinion. I liked the characters, and overall story.

𝐃𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐤

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 rounding up!

Thank you NetGalley & Random House for this ARC. 💥✍🏼🦸🏻‍♂️

This was my first Kate Goldbeck read, and she did a wonderful job portraying an artist trying to make it in an over saturated industry. I also want to mention how beautiful the cover is to this book. It matches the story perfectly. ✨

One thing I loved was Sams love for the arts, and comics were so unique and interesting. I actually learned so much from reading this. I will say it was hard for me to relate to Sam at times because I had my children very young (never married) and I have a type A personality. I’m not as strung out on research/statistics like Romily but do I like me some structure.

With that being said I could relate to her in regard to her parents. I had a father just like hers who dipped when I was in HS. I felt the same need to be perfect to garner a sliver of affection and it really does mess with your mental health. And a mother who just knew no boundaries. It’s a hard line to walk with parents like these so I understand her struggles trying to find her footing in the world.

As for the romance, I really enjoyed this. The single dad, age gap just hit the spot for me. Nick was almost too perfect, a hot older man that nerds out, AND is a GM at chilis? Seriously, too damn good. Not to mention how well they communicated with each other. Normally we get the miscommunication trope, so I’m so glad we didn’t in this book. I’ve never thought about what it would be like as a single parent, and Kate put alot of things I’ve never thought about in perspective.

Overall, a great read following a young woman trying to find her own path after the pandemic put a halt to so many things.

If you’re wondering what happened to those pandemic graduates who immediately had to move back in with their parents and couldn’t find meaningful jobs, look no further than Sam. She refuses to admit that she’s living in her mom’s spare room, even though it’s been five years at this point. She’s going to graduate school, as soon as she stops getting rejections. Meanwhile, she’s slinging drinks at a tiki bar in a coconut bra and in a messy situationship with her coworker.

Enter Nick, new neighbor and divorced single dad. He’s older, he’s got his life together, and Sam’s mom keeps trying to set him up with everyone but Sam. And yet he seems only to be interested in the woman he can hear through their thin shared walls.

This is an accurate representation of what it’s like to be a college grad in your 20s and unsure of your next step. The romance felt warm-not-hot, but also like it was exactly what both characters needed. The comfort of a warm bath and someone to share a blanket on the couch, and not the push/pull drama of someone who won’t admit you’re dating.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to Dial and NetGalley for this eARC!

It took me a little minute to adjust to the writing at the beginning of this one, but I liked it! Sam and Nick are incredibly well-drawn, and their feelings about life sometimes hit a liiiiitle close to home (this is set in our post-lockdown Covid era). ANYWAY, it's a good book! People are trying to self-actualize! There are comics!

Sorry, age gap romance where the FMC is relatable because she's messy and makes you full body cringe sometimes? Yes, don't mind if I do!

I ate this up. The parent/adult child relationship was one piece that deeply stood out to me, and I really did love Sam, even if I didn't always like her. Some reviewers are saying they didn't see the sparks between Sam and Nick, but I disagree. I think there was a lot of tension there from the very beginning, and in the context of him having a child to think of, some of the slower moments made sense to me. Genuinely enjoyed this one deeply and will be recommending!

Following the pandemic, Sam finds herself in a kind of failure to launch position. She has an exact idea of the path forward and it isn’t really working out (academia is notoooriously a cool and easy field to get into, especially in the arts.)

i have seen a few reviews state that they wanted more romance and like sure, i get it. But it isn’t Nick’s story, it’s Sam’s. The romance does take a backseat at some points but it has a function, and that’s for Sam to figure things out, in relation to both her career and her romantic life. I think that Sam will feel relatable to anyone who has ever felt a little lost. this is not a "light fluffy romance" romance is a whole spectrum people!!! , but neither was You, Again so i feel like this author has set her tone in novels pretty well.

While this is a “single dad romance”, Sam also has a complicated relationship with her Dad so there’s a lot of layers and discussions around parents, parenting, dating a parent, do i ever want to be one?? I also LOVED the incorporation of comics and comic drawing / writing into this book.

I just love the way that Goldbeck writes. It’s so relatable and real, and the way that she writes dialogue?? I’m obsessed. With two Pride&Prejudice references AND two old man yells at cloud meme references?? A woman after my own heart.

Thank you to Dial Press & Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

PS: i will post a review on my bookstagram @yeahimreading closer to pub date, probably first week of November :)

thoroughly enjoyed this single-dad romance and will be purchasing the physical copy when it comes out. thank you so much NetGalley and Dial Press for this ARC🫶🤌✨

Kate Goldbeck poured her heart into this one, you can tell. Not everyone will love the down on her luck, stuck in her own head heroine, but I found her to be realistic and refreshing. We deserve messy heroines making mistakes. The romance itself was warm, realistic, and fraught with issues many readers will relate to.