Charming Falls Apart

This is the first time I have read this author and I really loved this book. Allison is the main character. As it begins, she has been let go from her job and when she got home, her fiancee' Neil called of the wedding as he fell for some one else , which happen to be her maid of honor and then later she found out is was a bridesmaid that was in on losing her job. What a way to start a day. The book goes on to share her feelings with her other bridesmaid Jordon, who stuck by her even so much as Allison bought her wedding gown and Jordon bought her dress. and reads a lot of self help books. Read the things she goes through to turn her life around. This is a VERY GOOD READ. I highly recommend this book.

I thought this was a great story about what happens when your life falls apart and you’re struggling to get back on track. Allison’s life has just gone terribly wrong, I mean not only did she get fired but her fiancé breaks their engagement and tells her he’s in love with her maid of honor. Allison was such a likable character and her story was a fun one to read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her journey and I mean Eric was a complete sweetheart. Jordan? She’s an angel! I loved the relationships and support given to Allison through this difficult journey and her strength in picking up the pieces and starting over. This was a funny a cute book to read!

This is a fantastic read! I've yet to read a book by this author, but I'm going to look into her more. I found myself readily identified with the main character, Allison. Allison is a 35 year old who is engaged with a fiancé, Neil, a job in PR and and over-involved mother. The story begins with her being let go from her job, and as she comes home to cry and rage about it to her fiancé, he stops her right in her tracks to say he's calling off the wedding because he's falling in love with her maid of honor. What a day, huh?

She later finds out that one of her other bridesmaids, Kate, maybe the person involved in her losing her job. Poor Allison feels very hurt and betrayed. On top of everything, she has her mother wanting her to get back together with her fiancé, because she wants grandchildren and doesn't want Allison to get too old to have children. Upon hearing the reason for why the wedding had been canceled, her mother talks to her about freezing her eggs. Again, the reason being, grandma wants grandbabies. Poor Allison! Fortunately for Allison, her other remaining bridesmaid, a friend from college, Jordan, who just happens to be an attorney, is a great shoulder to cry on and offers excellent advice including looking into self-help. Allison spends time at Barnes & Noble finding books to help sort herself out. In the meantime, she spends time at the local small business coffee shop. Where she gets to know the owner and staff very well. Tiny sparks fly been her and the handsome owner, but Allison is true to herself and really tries to figure out what's going on in her life and how to get back on track. I find her actions commendable and I think we've all gone through some of her dilemmas at some point in our lives. Near the end of the book, her friend Jordan looks into taking classes to become a therapist. I would love to see a book about her and what she goes through to attain her goal. Hint, hint 😉

This is truly an excellent excellent book. I highly recommend it.

I would like to thank Angela Terry, Girl Friday Productions/SparkPress and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Charming Falls Apart is a sweet story about a woman who overcomes obstacles in her life. Jilted by her fiance and fired in the same day could wreck anyone's self confidence, but not Allison. I am rating this one 3 stars because it took almost half the book for the character to start taking action, which made for a tedious read at the beginning. It's well written and light - a vacation or weekend read.

On the eve of her 35th birthday, Allison gets fired from her job and finds out her fiancee has been cheating on her with her maid of honor. Allison begins a journey of self-reflection and self-discovery. As a librarian, I only wish she would have gone to the library to get all those self-help books lol. :-)
Sounds heavy but a light read.

"Charming Falls Apart" by Angela Terry is a wonderful story about learning what to do after losing job and from a cheating fiance. Allison goes through a lot of heartbreak, but does some self-discovery that helps her get through these obstacles. As a reader, it made me realize that others have been through similar obstacles that I have been through. I would love a follow up book, where you hear more about Allison and maybe tells her friend, Jordan's story.

I was rooting for Allison from the first page as she was such a relatable character who bounced back from losing a job, jilted by a fiancé for her maid of honor to finding love and happiness. Such a feel good book that I Recommend so much.

This was a good read. The author gave us her own spin in the eat, pray ,love story and it was entertaining. I enjoyed the characters, Alison had pluck and Jordan was a good best friend character. I especially enjoyed the friendship turned romance with Eric and Allison. Nice read!
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Allie and her changed life really resonated with me for several reasons. I too have changed myself into a model of whom I thought my boyfriend wanted and lost myself and my happiness as a result. I have had things go drastically wrong similar to the day Allie had but ultimately realized when I stopped forcing things to happen in a way I thought they should be was when everything started to go right. When Allie listened to her own heart rather than seeking advice from others she found herself and loved herself again. She was the creator of her own life. Super inspiring!

Angela Terry's Charming Falls Apart is brilliant. The romance of it is wonderful and imaginative and totally worth reading.

She tells the story with a good balance of feminism and self love. Her characters are fun and the dialogue is witty, exactly what you'd like to see in a 21st century woman.

I loved this book

Loved it!! Amazing book you will love from front to back. You will not want to put this one down. I read it in one afternoon.

I was pleasantly surprised Charming Falls Apart. It sucked me in from the get go and I finished it within a day. Angela Terry's writing is easy to follow and the plot, while not super unique, is definitely entertaining.

Allison has a prominent PR job and a stable relationship with her fiancé Neil, that is until she is fired and in the same day gets dumped by Neil. He doesn't want to marry her because he is in love with Stacey, who happens to be Allison's maid of honor. What a nightmare! I seriously wouldn't wish this scenario on my worst enemy.

With her life crumbling apart, Allison has to maneuver between being single, jobhunting and cancelling a wedding, all while trying to stay sane. Thankfully she has her best friend Jordan (who should've been the MOH in my opinion) and her new friend Eric, who owns a local coffee shop.

I was livid for Allison when Neil broke off the engagement. These two have dated for five years and he just walks out and leaves her for the Maid of Honor?! Who does that?? The way Allison handled her life dramatically changing is admirable and I love that she is such a strong character. She realizes she is better off without her cheating fiancé and lying friend. Instead of throwing herself into a rebound relationship or planning revenge on Neil she works on herself, asking herself the questions that everyone going through a breakup should ask themselves. Was I really happy? Did I change who I was for my partner? Why did we really break up?

Eric and Allison's story is slow burning and I wish it was moving a little faster, but I suppose it's more realistic this way. Jordan is an amazing friend to Allison, and I would definitely read a sequel with her story!

I received a free advanced copy from the author/ publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Cute story. Great beach read. It was pretty predictable, but i still enjoyed it! I loved that it was set in Chicago too

This was a very sweet, funny book with a main character who was instantly likable and relatable. It felt like the perfect lighthearted read during quarantine!

The title is so perfect- this book is charming!! Allison lost her job and her fiancé in the same day and she feels like her life has fallen to crap. She turns to her best friend, Jordan (who is amazing!), some self help books and her local coffeeshop owner, Eric, to help pick up the pieces of her life and put them back together. I could absolutely relate to the main character and I appreciated her journey to self-realization and learning to get her mojo back. The ending was a bit rushed, but I enjoyed reading the whole book. Time to head to my local coffee shop after a long run to see if I can meet my own Eric! Also, I would LOVE a sequel to learn more about Jordan's story!

Allison James is sweet and charming...to the point that her fiancé and maid of honor take her for granted and have an affair. Poor Allison comes home, fired, after 12 yrs at her job, on her 35th birthday, to find them in the act.
Allison begins going the local coffeehouse each morning. She meets the owner, hunky Eric, and begins to hit it off with him.
After several failed attempts at finding a job, Allison begins to look for salvation in the self-help aisle at the bookstore, a trip to Costa Rica and finds she may have found her ever after closer than she thought...

What would you do if you were fired from your job of twelve years and came home to get dumped by your Fiance a month before your wedding? This is the opening of Charming Falls Apart by Angela Terry. Over the course of this book Terry shows how Allison reacts. I enjoyed this book! At first it stressed me out for her a bit. It was a lot of change and a hard position to imagine myself in, but that made it feel more real. This book reminds me a bit of Husband Material by Emily Belden. Allison was an easy character to like and loved her asides to herself, kind of like the cartoon Lizzie in Lizzie McGuire. Jordan was a great friend and the character development was really good here. I would have enjoyed an epilogue, but I can see why Terry wrote the ending the way she did.

Found this to be a refreshing and reflection-inspiring read. It has depth and humor making it easy to read quickly or take your time as you go. I enjoyed the first-person narrative (normally not a fan of it as I prefer the omniscient or multi-narrator perspective) and the believable and very real plot twists. While I was caught off guard with the quick pace of time (sometimes the time in the story advances from one paragraph to another), I feel that it works to drive the story forward and helps you connect with the characters and the plot... surprisingly pleasing.

As a big fan of book-loving characters, I enjoyed the "self-help" list of books the main character devours throughout the novel as well as her love of the in-person-bookstore-purchase instead of the one-click-online-purchase...totally relatable. Overall a great read, different from your typical "romance novel"...I would classify this novel in the "girl-power" and "self-drive" categories. Definitely gets you thinking and reflecting, while enjoying the story as it unfolds.

Thank you to NetGalley and SparkPress for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The cover of Charming Falls Apart initially stopped me in my browsing and after reading the description, I knew this was the type of book I would enjoy. I loved this story, an excellent debut book by Angela Terry!

Allison James’ life falls apart in a span of a few hours, she loses her job and when she gets home, her fiancé tells her he is leaving her for her maid of honor. As Allison starts to put her life back together she has to figure out if the life she thought she wanted is really what makes her happy.

I really enjoyed going on the soul searching journey with Allison. I felt the anger of what she was going through with the rudeness of her ex-fiancé. You can’t help but root for her. I loved the character of Jordan, everyone needs a best friend like her in their life! And Eric, he was such a great guy, I was hoping him and Allison would find a way to be together.

Add Charming Falls Apart to your to be read list, you don’t want to miss this charming story! Thank you to NetGalley, Girl Friday Productions and Spark Press for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun read! I like books like this, where I pretty much knew where it was going from the beginning, but I still was anxious to see what happened! I found the main character, Allie, to be relatable and her issues to be ones we all face. Even though it was mostly predictable, I found that I couldn't put it down and read it in a single setting! Definitely worth a read!

I absolutely devoured this book and loved every second of it!

Although not in the same situation as Alison I found her character so relatable and her journey of self discovery so intriguing and endearing even if it was somewhat forced upon her.

I loved all the characters even the mean ones. I found it to be such a realistic and accurate depiction of adult life in so many ways.

I enjoyed the different female friendships (mother/daughter included) to the relationships she had with men. I just felt it all to be natural and authentic which i think alot of that boils down to the great writing.

I loved the little twists and how the end tied things up nicely. 100% a great read and I will probably buy it and reread and I will most definitely be recommending this book!

Thank you NetGalley, Girl Friday Productions, Sparkpress and Angela Terry for
gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
First let’s talk about this cover! I’m going to take a wild guess that the title and cover hooked you in immediately. I know that’s how I ended up reading this book! The actual synopsis was just an added bonus.
It seems this summer I’ve been drawn to books about women’s lives falling apart, and the growth that comes after. I, myself, am going through that growth period so I felt connected to Allison in that aspect. I was rooting her from the very beginning. I find stories with realistic heroines to be the ones I enjoy the most. Allison is flawed. But she is funny and caring and reminds the reader that it’s never the wrong time to start all over fresh.
I didn’t think the romance was very strong in this one. I personally didn’t feel a strong chemistry between Allison and Eric, but I don’t think that was the main focus of this one so that's fine!

The setting makes this book more enjoyable. I love the feel of Chicago and the risk taking that the main character takes. A great light, summer read that is empowering.

A sweet little novel with oomf. After Allison’s world comes crashing down around her, she begins to reevaluate her life. Through several self help books, and a true friend, Allison begins to understand how choices can pan out, and how life does not go as planned (no matter how carefully it’s been mapped out).

A cute and quick read! Perfect for ending a slump or needed a book cleanse!

When Allison's life falls apart at the seams, she begins to self reflect on who she really is. After decades of morphing herself into whatever woman her current boyfriend wanted, she is left wondering what her own likes and preferences are. With one good friend and the self help isle at the local bookstore, Allison begins a journey looking inward for love and appreciation instead of seeking another person to fill the void.
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I really enjoyed this book. It gave me exactly what I was looking for in a romance, one where you have to unravel yourself to find the one who matches you most. Allison's character is written with emotional depth and void of any self pity or whining. I also enjoyed that she did not go down a "my life is over" spiral. I mean sure she was depressed for awhile, as anyone would be. But it's a healthy level of sadness that propels her instead of crippling her. Highly recommend.

This is the perfect breakup/starting over book! I loved the self-help and self-care that Allison chose and it's something that I don't see very often in a book. However, the ending really fell short for me; there was the hint at romance throughout the book (I mean her fiance broke it off with her..) obviously I was still trying to find where she was able to start over in that regard and the author gave us a tiny hint at that at the end. I would have loved an epilogue or a little bit longer of a book just to give us a little of the romance that was hinted at.

CHarming Falls Apart is a terrific read. Alison receives a double whammy all in one day: she is canned from her job and her fiancé dumps her for her maid of honor. She'all receive more bad news before she begins to turn her life around. She reads self help books, cancels the wedding, and reinvents her career, while hanging out at the local coffee shop. I thought she was way too passive with the dirtbag fiancé, and 'friend' Katie. The character I liked the most was Jordan. She was the only person who was there for Alison the entire time. Personally, I thought she stole the limelight from Alison's character. I wanted to read more about Jordan and less about Allison.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I thought it was going to be purely a romance book, but the story held so much more depth than just the main character falling in love.

The first half of the book describes the pain that Allison experiences after losing her job and her fiance on the same day (yikes)! The romance snuck up on me, and didn't play a role until Allison did quite a bit of soul searching on her own. I was thankful for that––it showed that Allison didn't rely on a man to pull her out of her funk, but instead she found healing on her own. Plus, she continued to stand up for herself and not take any sh*t, even though her life was turned upside down in some really difficult ways. Her friend Jordan was so fiercely loyal and encouraging. Eric, the love interest, was very like-able, and I loved watching their friendship grow. I really enjoyed this book. Angela did a great job of writing characters that I could relate to and imagine while I was reading.

This book covered quite a bit: heartache, complicated family relations, female friendships, personal growth, and healthy relationships.

Rating: 4.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book!

Charming Falls Apart by Angela Terry
SparkPress

I was so happy to have the chance to review this ARC novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Allison, the book’s main character, has the picture perfect high achieving life. When everything comes crashing down on her at once, she is left questioning her life choices. Allison begins a journey of self-reflection which is central to the story’s arc. She relies heavily on a wise friend and becomes well-acquainted with the Barnes and Noble self-help aisle. A budding friendship with a cafe owner becomes a source of anticipatory tension and unexpected wisdom. He is also quite obsessed with Cross Fit, the results of which conjure pleasant images.

This novel was a fun one to read. The pacing was good and the characters were generally relatable. Plot twists, although somewhat predictable and convenient, kept the story moving along nicely. I can’t honestly say that I think this is the best title for this book. Perhaps Allison can use her sharp PR skills to come up with another! Regardless, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a light, fun summer read. You won’t be disappointed.

Oh my god, poor Allison! The book starts out with her having the worst if luck; being fired, and then dumped by her cheating fiance. I really liked how Allison didn't have the smoothest path to recovering from her horrible day; she gave herself breaks when she needed them, and let herself wallow. Finished it in a little over 24 hours, very cute read.

Allison has a rough time of it. She has been the top PR rep at her firm for 12 years, but gets fired. While she is reeling from being cut, she goes home to her fiancé. Expecting support and comfort from him, he turns the tide and tells her he is breaking up with her because he is not in love with her. Wow! As Allison goes on a self exploration path, she finds solids and support in the least likely place-her local coffee shop. In a similar plot line of Eat, Pray, Love, Allison is on a journey to find herself, people she can train, and try happiness.

I love when a book starts right in on the action of the novel. Charming Falls Apart bring us right into Allison's worst day in progress. Allison is fired from her PR job, her fiancé is leaving her, it is her birthday, friendship betrayals, work betrayals and a mom that cares too much.

What is unique is that this story is written almost like journal entries, which tie very nicely into the themes of the book. We get to see her re-evaluating her life and work. I love the support from her best friend, Jordan. Jordan is a great secondary character in the novel and we see some changes going on with her as well, Allison also becomes a regular at the self help aisle in Barnes & Noble and at a new coffee place. The coffee shop has a handsome owner, Eric and delightful flirtation happens when they instantly connect.

With the journal entry style we really get to see Allison grow throughout the story. We are there for her busy days and also quite a few downer days of watching Bravo and HGTV. I can relate!

For readers who may be triggered or sensitive to alcohol: there was a lot of social drinking in this story.

Charming Falls Apart was a pleasant surprise! A quick, fun read with characters I was rooting for.

Netgalley provided me with this book for an honest review.

I related to Allison from the jump. As a fellow Type A rule follower who often identifies by my job I appreciated her mindset and reactions even if I found her too rigid at times — especially when it came to food so I appreciated when she began to lighten up.

This book was cute — it gave me Evvie Drake Starts Over meets By The Book Pod vibes.

I’d love to read about Jordan, the real hero of this book!

Note: I found the flippant use of agoraphobia to be insensitive and unnecessary. It’s a mental illness not an adjective to describe staying home and moping for a few days.

Review will be posted to my bookstagram within a few days.

I love a good light read for the summer and I gotta say Charming Falls Apart was a welcomed distraction from this less the amazing summer.

Assuming read the summary, you don't need my help telling you what it's about so I won't spare you the details. What I will say is that it's refreshing to get into a story about woman dealing with a breakdown in her life, and doing the work to fix herself. No man to come in and save her (but yes, there is a man present in her journey to saving herself). Yup, I gotta say I liked it a lot.

Not sure if the title really did it for me. A weird criticism I know, but that's how I feel. And for some reason, this book felt a little bit too long. Or perhaps there was unnecessary filler that made me tempted to skim. But it was a read I needed in these crazy times, so I accept the flaws for what was an otherwise nice story.

This story is a sweet easy read. It was well written . Her fiancé leaves her for he maid of honor and she needs to navigate this new reality. Will she find love again? You will have to read to find out. If you are into cute romance novels , then this one is for you. Thanks #netgalley and #AngelaTerry for allowing me to read an advanced copy for an honest review. Book comes out August 4th. #charmingfallsapart

Alison has just turned 35 and her life is falling apart. She’s been fired from her job and her fiancé tells her just weeks before the wedding that he’s been having an affair with her maid of honor. Alison feels lost and confused. Through many self help books, some spiritual retreats, and the owner of a new coffee shop Alison starts to realize the life she thought was perfect was merely boxes checked off on her list. Alison has to rediscover herself and learn how to be happy on her own first first time in years.

This was a really cute book. I wish the self discovery came before 90% of the book was over though. I would have liked more on her life after discovering what she wanted to do with her life and deciding she was ready for dating. Overall I still enjoyed it and felt very empathetic towards Alison as a character. I couldn’t imagine going through what she did and she handled it with such grace. I enjoyed her relationship with her best friend, Jordan, as well and how she constantly was there when Alison needed it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Angela Terry for those e-ARC. Charming Falls Apart is out on August 4, 2020.

I enjoyed this book! It was a great “easy read type of book for the summer. I appreciated the character and what she had to discover about herself to pull herself back up. There were times when I found myself skimming a bit, but overall this was a good read!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am torn on this book- it became quite repetitive for the middle third. Allie gets upset or set back by something, goes to the bookstore, buys a different self-help book, and has another "epiphany". Repeat, repeat, repeat. However, the first and last thirds of the book are interesting and engaging, and make you want to keep reading! Allie can be a frustrating character, because she will listen to pretty much anything or anyone. That made me want to read it even more though, to find out what would happen to her.

'Unemployed, dumped, and, ultimately, bad at life'

This quote describes the protagonist really well, or at least her starting point when this book starts. It seems like everything in her life has gone wrong and the seemingly perfect life she had built for herself was not as perfect as she thought. She loses her job of 12 years and her future husband all in one day. Anyone in her position would, rightly so, be crushed by the weight of it all.

This story is incredibly uplifting: through ups and down Allison tries to get her life back together, which I personally found very inspiring. We all go through difficult times in life and the best thing I learned from this book is to never just admit defeat. Yes, you can have a moment or two of self pity and indulging into comfort food in your pjs for days, but at some point you have to pick yourself up and try to put the pieces back together.

Through the help of an amazing life-long friend and a new cute barista/entrepreneur, through meditation retreats and a few self-help books, Allison finds a way back to herself, discovers that maybe she wasn't so happy about her job and realize a lot of things about the people she had surrounded herself with and the kind of person she had become.

The only reason why I didn't give this book five stars is that I would have wanted a bit more of Eric, but beside that, this book was perfect.

This is a lovely, charming book. It's not a roller coaster of a plot, but it is steady and remarkably insightful. I appreciated the growth that the character experiences over the course of the novel. Without all of the crazy weirdness that usually accompanies characterization in these types of books (under the guise of making the main character quirky) there's just - a lot of growth. I really appreciated reading this book. Not necessarily as a silly time waster, but as something deeply reflective and insightful.

Allisons life falls apart when she loses her job and then gets left by her fiance on the same day. The book is her story of how she deals with this - self help books are a strong feature!
A great read - looking forward to reading more from this author.

Charming Falls Apart is an enjoyable, fairly light read. It’s the story of a woman whose life, at 35, falls apart. Everything falls apart on the same day, The story details what she does to try to pull herself together again and what she learns about herself in the process. The characters are pleasant, and not too deeply drawn. This is a good read for a holiday, or a beach read. On the whole an enjoyable novel.
Thanks to Girl Friday Productions and NetGalley for an arc of this novel for review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

And honestly? This book was not a clear cut four stars for me. Sometimes I really enjoyed it and sometimes it was a struggle. The book starts out with Allison losing her job and coming home to inform her fiance about it. When she gets home, however, instead of the "it's going to be okay, honey" pep talk she kind of thought she would get, he informs her that he doesn't want to get married anymore because he has fallen out of love with her. Not only that, but he has been messing around with one of her best friends and has fallen IN love with her. This has never personally happened to me but I have dated a tool like that so I was easily able to picture it and feel empathy for her. She has lost one best friend and another is suddenly not returning her calls but she has one best friend who has always been there for her and suggests some self help. She can't go to her mother about how she is feeling because she has lost her mind and is wanting Allison to do whatever she has to so that she can get some grand babies. So every day she winds up at the coffee shop where she slowly starts to become friends with the owner. From there, things just naturally lead to new things happening in her life. What I DID love about the story was all of the growth that happened. I can handle cliche reads but what I want to know is did they come back from it? Who helped them? What did they learn about life and themselves along the way? And Allison did take the time to learn who she is basically...and once you do that, the things you lost are not quite as important because you are no longer that person. I would definitely recommend this book. :)