This one was all about family, love, and finding out what you really want in life. At least that is what it was all about for Lee. She makes a lot of mistakes and isn’t always confident in her choices, but her heart is always in the right place as she navigates through life. She makes connections, finds friends, experiences loss, and truly learns to trust her own heart.

There were aspects that I had a hard time with, like Lee’s relationship with her sister. Or more the sister’s treatment of Lee. And Maura’s character, Lee’s niece, is either too young for her age or too old for her age depending on the circumstance. I was frustrated by several characters and their passivity surrounding life’s circumstances.

The author didn’t delve too deeply into any of the other characters. She touches on depth for a few characters- Jerry, Darryl, Paul, but never commits, so we always just see surface images. Maybe this is because we are supposed to be seeing everything through Lee’s eyes, but I feel that Lee would have seen deeper, especially in her own family.

I did enjoy the story, and I really liked the ending and the ultimate choice that Lee made. It’s a solid read that I would definitely recommend to others.

When this novel starts, the main character is 39 and still getting her life together - living in her sister's basement helping take care of her sister's family, working as a home health aide, and finishing an online nursing degree. But when her gynecologist tells her she's starting peri-menopause, she starts to consider whether she wants to have a baby on her own. Along with family and work drama, pretty much the rest of the book is her contemplating the question - I felt like the book ended at what should have been more of a quicker reached midpoint. But that being said, that means I wanted to continue to following the story, and I did enjoy reading the book, even though some of it was a little shy of believable. 3.5 stars.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Wonderful, wise and tender read. A real winner.
The sensitive topic of this book - a single woman of 39 deciding that she wants a baby, but she has no man in her life - might be tackled in numerous ways, the frivolous ones amongst them. But rest assured, this book is neither shallow not frivolous - and also neither pompous nor a heavy read. It has the right mixture of lightness and seriousness. I can not help but just to fall in love with Leona and her enormous heart, her low self esteem (not valid at all in my opinion), her naivete, honesty and quirks - the girl simply does not know what an asset she really is! Sure, she needs some support and growing up to do - but with her heart she can attract a couple of wise good men and women to help her to decipher what she really wants and why. I need some of these people in my life.
It does not hurt that the "Daddy" prospects are a quite a bunch of interesting men, almost archetypal in their unique charms - older amputee Jerry with his Mr Knightley-ish charms, his uptight son Paul (with some possible Darciness in him?), sexy and vulnerable younger guy Garrett and mysterious and wise Daddy-Long...ehm, Darryl.

All in all, thos book wins in the connectability and warmth department - it simply has a lot of heart! And I enjoyed every page.

the Good Parts by Loretta Nyhan

Kindle Edition 338 pages



Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

A coming-of-age story about a 39 year old woman. Leona stalled out on life a few years ago and with the news from her doctor that her eggs are dying she has to make a decision, rather quickly, if she's going to have a baby or not. It's kind of now or never. Carly, Leona's sister, is against it but most everyone else seems to think it's not a bad idea to think about. There's so many ways to go about it, which is the best way for Leona? What if she could take all the good parts of several different men she knows and create the perfect-for-her kid? But that's not how it works. What's a 39 year old, still in school, living in her sister's basement, woman supposed to do?

Nyhan has crafted a story about a transitional season in a woman's life. A woman who hasn't done much for herself but does so much for others, now it's her time and only she can make the decision she is faced with. This is a story that I think every person - male or female - can relate to. We all go through transitions in our lives and we all struggle to break free of what we have been to become who we are.

This book handled what can be a sensitive subject with humor and tenderness. I loved Lee and her family & friends. I highly recommend this book!

Unfortunately I couldn’t connect with this one and didn’t finish it so I can’t honestly review it. This one just isn’t for me but I truly appreciate the opportunity and I thank you kindly!

3.5 stars

Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. What an enjoyable book full of humor, family love, dysfunctional relationships and characters that are quirky yet extremely relatable. Leona is single and 39 living in her sister's basement trying to figure out what she wants from her life. After a doctor tells her that if she wants a baby, she should have one now, her life is thrown into chaos as she tries to decide if a baby is really what she wants. She is broke, back in school with a part time job and no realistic prospect to father the baby. As she goes about making this decision, she discovers more and more about herself, the people who are in her life and what they mean to her.

On my growing list of books to be read, this one kept getting pushed down the list, but I finally decided to take the plunge! I'm so glad I did. This little book was a delightful and refreshing read. It's so well-written, consistent and intelligent. There are definitely moments when the reader thinks, really??, but they add to the story instead of taking away from it. I will look forward to reading more from Loretta Nyhan.

Such a realistic and touching story! It shows how imperfectly perfect life can be, and I feel like we all need that reminder sometimes. I rated this book 3.5/5 stars.

A good book, sometimes found it a bit slow. I'm glad that the main character found her happy ending.

Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing (I can always count on their titles for good ones.) This was an e-arc in exchange for my honest review. I'd been doing some heavy reading, and this was funny and kept me reading. Leona is almost 40 and living in her sister's basement. She decides, knowing her clock is running by, that it's time to have a baby....it's a really good book.

I don't often give below a 3-star rating, but I just couldn't go any higher with this title. I loved the cover of this book and the description was intriguing, but it was so unrealistic I had a hard time getting through it. I liked Leona, the main character, and basically continued the book because I wanted to know if and who would father her baby. Beyond that, I just didn't care. The side characters and plot line were not believable and nor enjoyable. I'm not really sure what else to say, I just simply did not enjoy the book and hate to say it but I would not recommend reading it.

* I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *