Don't Mind Me, I Came with the House

Nikki Stone heads to the doctor when her 47-year-old body starts behaving rather badly. She's been through some troubles in recent years, having divorced the father of her three kids after he cheats and fathers another child. But life has been getting better. She caught the eye of golf pro Blake and their relationship has been bubbling along nicely. They might even be in love although the m-word hasn't been mentioned directly as yet. It's a bit of a shock, though, when her doctor informs her she is definitely not dying and she most definitely is pregnant.

Nikki has a bad history of thinking of herself as second-rate and this story follows her as she transforms herself into someone who values herself. Along the way, she ends up in a series of madcap situations, some of which are due to her own lack of confidence in herself and some due to the actions of others.

This started out full of great humour along with some of the pathos of dealing with life's challenges. I really enjoyed following Nikki as she navigated a shock pregnancy and the limelight of being the significant other of a professional athlete. But then the story got a bit broody and not a whole lot was very funny, which wouldn't be a problem except that the book is built up on humour. What results is what seems like two different part-books that have been combined into one.

While I did mostly enjoy this, I'd have liked it to be more consistent throughout the story so that it's nicely balanced. Overall, I give this 2.5 stars.

A very cute and quick read. However, I felt that most of the secondary characters were one one dimensional and lacked personality traits that weren't bitchy, nice, or just there. I do acknowledge that every first person narrative is fundamentally unreliable but I would have liked to see them be a bit more rounded.

4.5★s
Don’t Mind Me, I Came With The House is the fifth novel by American author, CJ (Cyndie) Dahner, and is the sequel to Friends Who Move Couches. A year into her divorce, forty-seven-year-old Nikki Stone is feeling invisible: her children take her for granted, and while she’s a good accountant, it’s not exactly exciting. The highlight of her like is her boyfriend, gorgeous and successful golf pro Blake Anderson. She’s not quite sure why he wants to be with her, but longs for a marriage proposal.

When certain symptoms send her to her physician, she’s half-expecting a cancer diagnosis, so when she is told she’s pregnant, she’s completely stunned. Her immediate thought is that she doesn’t want to trap Blake into marrying her for the sake of the baby: she wants to be wed for love, not obligation. She embarks on a project to prove her worthiness as Blake’s long-term partner. Things don’t quite go as planned, though…

It’s clear from the start that Nikki is a bit of a disaster area and anything in close proximity may suffer, including wedding rings, golf carts, golf ball washers, and luxury cars with bicycles strapped on their roofs. When she tells her friends “I need to keep my better side front and center” the retort is “Better? You only have two sides, mis and hap.”

Nikki’s children initially come across as very bratty, very entitled, perhaps a product of their father’s influence, but Nikki must bear some responsibility for the way she continues to allow them to treat her. Nikki herself is a likeable, if occasionally frustrating, character: her kindness and good intentions will immediately appeal, but her lack of self-worth is exasperating. Luckily, Nikki’s friends are gold: supportive, encouraging, loyal and funny.
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While this one can easily stand alone, reading Friends Who Move Couches will provide a good background and plenty of humour. There are plenty of hurdles and hiccoughs to keep the reader amused before the inevitable happy ending, With very much a sit-com feel, this would make an excellent tele-movie or short TV series: there are plenty of laugh-out-loud, almost slap-stick moments that would translate well to screen. A very entertaining feel-good read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Backlit PR

Quite the story, this book The Arctic Curry Club by Dani Redd. I loved the main characters for being down to earth, also the ones that were slightly more at the background such as Adam and his partner. And then there was the little gem of the symbolic rose, bud and thorn.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.