In Such a Bad Influence by Grace Demyan, Felicity Lavigne forms an unlikely bond with Alex Norse, a homeless teen who answers her daily voicemails to her deceased mother’s old phone number. As their friendship grows and a small act of revenge snowballs into something much bigger, the two must face their tangled pasts and decide what kind of future they want to build together.

This book was just adorable and gave me all the sweet, small town, quirky charm I usually find in a Fannie Flagg novel. But Grace Demyan adds a layer of raw, messy realness that made it feel even more grounded and human. The characters aren’t polished or perfect; their flaws are right on the surface, and that made them incredibly relatable. What really stood out to me was how the story spotlighted an issue we don’t talk about enough: what happens to teens who age out of the foster care system. These are kids who still need support, love, and guidance, and I appreciated how the book weaved that truth into the plot with both tenderness and honesty. The characters were well developed, likable in their complexity, and felt like people you might actually know. Overall, this was an endearing and heartwarming story with just the right mix of charm, chaos, and compassion. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is a strong debut novel for Grace! I received this as my very first ARC, and it did not disappoint. It was such a feel good story! I loved the small town feel, and would’ve loved to own the quaint blueberry farm. This story hit home for me in a lot of ways, as it has a deeper message of overcoming love and loss, and truly finding happiness. So happy to give this a 5 star rating!

Wow what a debut! I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect diving into Such a Bad Influence - the description and cover both seemed cute and up my alley. Thank you to Grace Demyan, the author, and Net Galley for the eARC. Reviews are always honest and my own.

What to Expect:
Mental health
Themes of grief and loss
Resiliency
FMCs redemption and revenge
Friends (ish) to lovers (or maybe a soft enemies to lovers)
Some small town drama and bullying

I loved Felicity’s transformation from fairly meek main character to a more headstrong, confident version of herself, whereas I loved seeing Alex soften even just tiny bits over time.

I’m a sucker for a competition in the story and the town’s man of the year competition was ridiculous (in a quirky, small town way).

I wish there was more. A lot of the story had chapters that faded. It was linear but there were gaps that I was curious about. While the book has depth I wanted to go even deeper into both Felicity and Alex, at times it felt very surface level BUT this is a lighter book.

Spice is like 🌶️/5. Fade to black scenes where kissing starts and then it’s basically the next day.

Would totally recommend or even read again. This was a fairly light book and an easy read with likable (though stubborn) characters.

In Such A Bad Influence, we follow Felicity who has recently lost her mum and can’t fathom living a life without her, and Alex a feisty former foster child who is just trying to get by. What do these two have in common? Not much, but a beautiful story is formed from the pair of them. You can’t help but root for both of these complex, layered characters.

I was immediately captivated from the first sentence, and stayed hooked the whole way through. Demyan’s fast paced, heartfelt writing never failed to have me aching to turn to the next page.

This novel was so much more than a romance (although the romance subplot was enjoyable). This was funny at times and poignant. Demyan paid lots of attention to detail on how trauma and anxiety can affect a persons actions, and wrote about it in a very well thought out and tactful way.

Read this to find out how Alex, who dumps in ingredients to her hearts desire; and Felicity, who measures everything perfectly before adding it, grow to have a relationship.

Thank you to the author, publishers and Netgalley for this amazing ARC!

This book was an absolute delight to read—warm, witty, and brimming with heart. Set in a gossipy small Ohio town where grudges last generations and everyone knows your business, Such a Bad Influence captures the joy and frustration of trying to live and grow in a place that’s always watching. Felicity, still grieving the loss of her mom, is doing everything she can to keep the family blueberry farm afloat—while also navigating a long-standing feud over her land. Enter Alex, a prickly teen in need of structure and support, and the two form a messy, endearing bond built on revenge plots, crop maintenance, and quiet emotional breakthroughs. (Side note: I kept picturing Alex as Aubrey Plaza in her Parks & Rec era, and it fit so well.)

I absolutely fell in love with Felicity and how quickly she dove headfirst into helping Alex, despite the chaos. The small-town quirks were spot on—complete with nosy neighbors clinging to power, hometown politics, and an unshakable obsession with Ohio and The Ohio State University (a detail that felt extra special coming from someone raised in an OSU-loving household). The Ohio backdrop? Chef’s kiss.

And then there’s Wade—the rugged, emotionally constipated neighbor—and his dog Juno, who together bring a slow-burn romance and wholesome grump-sunshine energy to the story. Their chemistry with Felicity is swoon-worthy, but what really shines is the theme of found family. From the Blueberry Bandits to prank wars and sweet, unexpected moments of self-discovery, every character’s journey feels honest, heartfelt, and fully earned.

I binge-read this on a night shift and laughed out loud more times than I could count. I teared up. I rooted for these characters with everything in me. Grace Demyan has crafted something incredibly special here—a story full of humor, heartache, and healing. I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next.

Stop the presses. I put aside my typical mystery and thriller reads and read Such A Bad Influence. Why? Well, because in the description, the main character Felicity, lives on her deceased mother’s blueberry farm. I have blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, and ground cherry plants in my garden, and since I have been thinking about adding blueberry bushes next year, this book just called my name.
Felicity may be drowning in grief from losing her mother, and she may also be drowning in blueberries, but those don’t provide enough cash to keep her mother’s farm going. She meets Alex when the girl takes over her mother’s old cell phone number. Felicity thinks she may be able to help Alex but also has a plan where Alex can hopefully help her stop some thieves from stealing her blueberries.
Alex and Felicity soon form a bond, and it was a heartwarming story. The pain of being hurt and alone but ultimately opening up to the joy of a found family. I flew through this book. It really made me smile.

Such a Bad Influence by Grace Demyan is easily a five star read! This story follows Felicity, a 28 year old who lost her mom to cancer three years ago. She has dedicated her life to protecting her mom’s memory, and keeping their family blueberry farm alive. Struck with grief, Felicitiy’s only friends are her mom’s voicemail, her hot but womanizing neighbor Wade and his energetic pup Juno. One night, Felicity gets a call from a number she knows all too well. This is where she meets Alex, and the rest of her world is turned upside down. An 18 year old who aged out of foster care, Alex moves in with Felicity, and everything went downhill from there. From getting arrested, forming a revenge for hire business, and burning bridges with the townspeople, these two ladies have just entered upon an adventure they both desperately needed.
This book gives me Wisteria Lane and Stars Hallow vibes and I LOVE IT. The story is written so beautifully, and covers many topic areas and tropes; found family, revenge for hire, cancer, grief, enemies to lovers, second chances, Founders Day Festivals, blueberry farms, and Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry. This book was so hard to put down, and now that I’m finished reading it, I’m craving more. I am so excited for it to be published, I need this on my bookshelf immediately! I am obsessed

Thank you so much to the author for reaching to me to read this book. I am so honored to have been chosen to give an honest review.

Some moments felt wildly over-the-top (in the best way), and others left me re-reading to catch the quiet gut punch. If you like your fiction messy, witty, and a little morally gray, this one’s for you.

📖 Would I recommend?
Yes—especially if you're into darkly funny stories with a twist of female rage and unexpected tenderness. It’s the perfect one-sitting binge read for fans of Eleanor Oliphant, My Sister, the Serial Killer, or You.

This was such an easy read! Very entertaining and holds the reader's attention. The characters were easy to fall in love with and root for.

Grace Demyan’s “Such a Bad Influence” is a strong debut novel. Set in Ohio, Felicity Lavigne is in her late 20s. She inherited the family’s blueberry farm after her mom passed away a few years ago. Still grieving for her mom, she routinely calls her mom’s old cell phone number and leaves messages. The phone number now belongs to Alex Norse, a homeless teenager who recently aged out of the foster care system.

Alex deliberately gets herself in trouble and calls Felicity from jail for help. Felicity pays her bail and offers to let Alex stay in her house on one condition. Alex needs to help Felicity scare off a group of kids who have been regularly vandalizing her blueberry fields.

Alex’s idea works and others in the town soon show up to the farm looking for help. Felicity is surprised, but warms to the idea of starting a revenge business. Felicity and her mom had long been town outcasts because the farm land had been stolen decades ago by the Lavigne family. Alex is full of ideas and Felicity is the one who sets the boundaries and reins in Alex’s plans.

Along the way, Alex and Felicity become friends and form a found family. Also involved in the women’s activities are Felicity’s next door neighbor, Wade. He hurt Felicity when they were in high school, but he’s been making amends for years in his own way. Wade’s dog, Juno, also loves Felicity and Alex.

I loved the banter between the characters in this book. The plot seemed a bit uneven at times, but that’s to be expected from a debut novel.

Overall, I recommend this book. I look forward to reading what Grace comes up with next. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

Such a bad influence by Grace Demyan
(ARC Review- expected 21 October 2025)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

This is a story of two halves- it’s follows the unlikely friendship of two women who help each other and form scrappy revenge plans on the people that wrong them whilst also being a second chance romance between one of the women and her high school crush turned nemesis turned neighbour.

This book surprised me. I was so completely invested in the friendship between the two women that the love story with Wade came as a delightful sprinkle on the top.


-Felicity is a grieving lonely woman in her late 20’s who has always felt like an odd ball in her small town

-Alex is a lost kid at 18 who is desperately in need of a safe harbour after aging out of foster care

-Wade is a delightful bar owner/former high school jock who becomes a great love interest and the relationship between him and Felicity is natural and sweet and spicy when it needs to be.

I’ll be honest I genuinely could have thrown something at some of the townsfolk which only goes to show how good the writing is as I was frustrated alongside Felicity at the way they treated her.

Overall this was a lovely and unusual story of two women who help heal each other whilst dealing with debilitating loneliness and bad luck. The love story between Felicity and Wade doesn’t overpower the healing story of Felicity and Alex and instead enriches it all the more as he becomes such a good support system for them both.

The main thing I took from this book-
Sometimes you just need someone in your corner telling you not to run from the hard things.

Well worth a read, you won’t regret it!

Thank you to the author and to NetGalley for this ARC copy, my opinions are my own.

I started “Such a Bad Influence” with little to no expectations. I was feeling super lucky because author reached out to me offering an eARC. I’m all about supporting new authors, so I quickly downloaded it to my Kindle and got started.

This was SO good. I binge-read this entire book during my night shift and went through ALL of the emotions. At times, I couldn’t stop laughing because of the dynamics between our main female characters, Felicity and Alex. I was brought to tears by the swoon-worthy romance between Wade and Felicity. Plus, there’s an awesome dog! The character growth through the story is incredible and you find yourself quickly rooting for all of your favorite characters (and plotting the demise of the ones you hate).

A small peek into the plot: Felicity is grieving the loss of her amazing mother. She inherited a struggling blueberry farm that has been in her family for generations. The biggest problem… the land has long been claimed to have been stolen by a wealthier family in town. Felicity has closed herself off from the community except for selling her blueberries. To blow off steam, and vent about a rash of blueberry thefts, Felicity calls her mother’s cellphone: always leaving a message. Until one day, someone calls back. Alex, a troubled teen girl, reaches out to Felicity for help. That help turns into a hilarious adventure to save the blueberry farm and maybe Felicity and Alex, too. The two start offering revenge for hire, a campaign for “man of the year,” and overcome extremely difficult personal challenges. I won’t ruin the ending, but it’s beautiful!

This title is expected on October 21, 1025. If you love hilarious pranks, found family, a longtime coming romance, and small town living, I highly recommend snagging this one.

Such a Bad Influence follows our main character Felicity. A woman in her late 20's clinging desperately to her late mother's failing blueberry farm and refusing to cope with the grief of her loss despite the three years since her mother's death.
Felicity, with no friends or family to lean on, continues to leave voicemails to her mother detailing every happening and emotion in her life.
Alex, a homeless age out of the foster care system, listens to every one of those voicemails since she got a new phone number.

Bad Influence deals with grief, the social pitfalls of living in a (presumably) whitewashed small town in the Midwest, and the struggles of being a small business owner. It's heartfelt and vulnerable with the sweetest dog as a blueberry on top.

Given this is a debut novel there are a few writing concerns. Places where the technique is not perfected, there's room for more development or less telling; but despite these flaws it is still a heartwarming feel good book.

Such a Bad Influence by Grace Demyan

When Grace Demyan reached out I looked up a blurb of her debut novel and decided to go for it. I am so glad she reached out! When I say I couldn't put down the book, I mean I read from 9am-2am to finish. This book is 7/5 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Simply amazing!
This book follows Felicity, a woman in her late twenties who owns a blueberry farm in a small town. The town is so small that rumors and grudges spread incredibly fast. Felicity is struggling with depression after loosing her mother a few years ago and has love/hate relationship with her neighbour Wade. When she has a good or bad day she calls her mom's old cellphone number even years later and the new owner hasn't blocked her. One day Felicity gets a call from her mom's number and this is where the book introduces Alex, who is calling from prison. Felicity thinks that Alex is sent to her from her mom and even though she's in debt she goes to help Alex. Together the two of them have so much fun with a revenge business and grow to trust and love each other like family.

I hope that a good summary 😂 it took me 30 minutes to explain only 50% of the story to my husband because I didn't want to leave out details because every detail is so good!

This debut was absolutely fantastic it made me feel all sorts of emotions from laughing with them after revenge plots, crying with them when they have a bad day, and finally the feeling of catharsis when the story wrapped up so perfectly. You will not be disappointed when this book comes out in October, it was such a cozy cute read.

Join with Felicity and Alex as they learn to trust one another, to not be afraid of the future, and learn how to cope with grief. I had lots of favorite quotes but this one I had to share.

"I scrolled through my Kindle for a romance novel, needing a distraction from my worries."
Me too Felicity 😂 this story really hit home, Felicity was incredibly personally relatable. Like her I also lost my own mother to cancer and grew up in a very small town. The message of "Don't Run" in this book and her personal struggles hit home and hit it hard with me.
I want to say a huge thank you to Grace Demyan, for letting me read this e-ARC with Netgalley. Thank you so much! I look forward to following whatever other stories you create!

P.S there's a super cute doggo

I would recommend this book to a friend for an easy, beach read. The story line was easy to follow and I enjoyed getting to know the characters. I was happy to see the two main characters were able to work through their differences and end up together. I think many readers will be able to relate to the high school bullying story line. Leaves you feeling like there is still good people in the world.

This was a fun read definitely not something I normally look for but I had a great time reading it! The story didn’t feel like it had a flow the way I expected it to. But that aside I loved the ride it put me on

First of all, I would like to express great gratitude to Grace for inviting me to my first ARC read. It means a lot to me ❤️

For the review, I would like to share how comforting this book is. I also realised that I was emotionally attached to the characters at some point, because there was a day when I unfortunately couldn’t read and I felt myself missing them.

The character development in the book was so wonderfully portrayed. It didn’t feel rushed and the pace was genuinely so soft yet so perfect.
I was so invested in what will happen next and the romantic details in this book made me feel butterflies! 🦋

The plot, the story, everything was beautifully written! I totally recommend this book to someone who needs a little hope and love in their lives because this book will make your heart feel so generously full🤍

Thank you Grace for this beautiful book! 🫐

This charming debut blends small-town romance, family drama, and a heartwarming tale of unexpected connection. After inheriting her late mother’s blueberry farm in rural Ohio, Felicity finds herself overwhelmed by grief, entitled neighbors who believe the land should be theirs, and by the quiet isolation that follows loss. When her mother’s old phone number is reassigned to Alex, a local teen with her own struggles, an unlikely friendship begins to grow between the two.

Growing up in a small town myself, I really connected with the atmosphere. Living in a place where everyone knows who you are and is all in your business it’s hard to separate your personal life from your reputation or familial reputation. The story captures those dynamics so well, while also weaving in themes of grief, found family, and community.

Juno was definitely the star of the show, and the neighbors-to-lovers romance adds just the right touch. This book is a fun, heartfelt, and easy read! It’s perfect for a holiday or weekend escape. I thoroughly enjoyed the ups and downs, and I’m so glad I requested this one on NetGalley!

Midwestern blueberry farmer Felicity attempts to grow a backbone against small town bullies but is stuck in the past. After an unlikely encounter, she inadvertently gets teenaged-criminal Alex to do her bidding. Their partnership brings out their inner anarchist as they wild out across the once quiet town.

Felicity could have saved years of financial hardship and depression by hiring a therapist, but she finally grows into a better version of herself. Wade’s only redeeming qualities are his margs and abdominal muscles, but we are all here for it. Alex is Alex and if you have been a teenager, you know what I mean, she is perfect the way she is. All of characters must grow confidence and learn valuable lessons about life.

The plot twists really took me by surprise. We all make mistakes that we end up regretting, but it’s what we do once we tell the truth that shapes us into better people.

This book felt like it was perfectly broken up into Netflix-like episodes that kept me hooked. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make a series from this. I usually read books with trigger warnings because of my mental health issues but this was a breath of fresh air. Since this made me laugh and cry, I will be recommending this lighthearted book for years to come.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing and for providing me with a digital copy for review.

In this heartfelt and funny debut novel, recent grad and grieving daughter, Felicity, crosses paths with a broody and closed-off teen, Alex, either through fate or coincidence. The duo quickly realizes how much they need each other to grow and become the healed, sassy women they are meant to be. The small-town gossip, the handsome, former high-school quarterback who lives next door, and the peculiar town tradition of their mayoral election make this story a fun and light-hearted backdrop to Felicity's grief after losing her mother and the seriousness of the theft charges that Alex is facing.

This book was an absolute delight to read. I fell in love with Felicity and how quickly she jumped all in to help Alex. (On a side note, I kept picturing Alex as Aubrey Plaza in her Parks & Recreation days.) The quirky small-town vibes were so spot on. There are always people in small towns who have nothing else going on beyond gossip and maintaining their place at the top. The Ohio backdrop was just *chef's kiss* and not just because I grew up in a house with a deep-seated love of Ohio and The Ohio State University.

There's so much more I can love on, the Blueberry Bandits, Wade, Juno, pranking the town, found family, and self-discovery. This story was truly great, and I'm eager to read more of Grace's work.

Thank you to Grace and the team at NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.