leasummer's review
5.0
I loved this book. The characters in this story lead real lives, everything that happened to them happens to normal people. Jenna's life is in a downward slump after a divorce and she heads home to Texas and on impulse opens a cooking store (she's been a chef). In comes Violet, who has a very sad and tragic past but is rising up and turning her life into a happy one. They become friends as they make the store a success. Jenna's mom and dad are there and very supportive, really awesome parents. Then *surprise* her birth parents show up and things get a little crazy.
The characters are lovable and a little nutty - just like normal people are. I found myself really pulling for them all. It's a very emotional story for everyone involved.
The characters are lovable and a little nutty - just like normal people are. I found myself really pulling for them all. It's a very emotional story for everyone involved.
thegeekyblogger's review against another edition
4.0
Received for review from Publisher
Actual Rating: 4.5
What I Loved: This was a story of two completely different women: Jenna and Violet. They both had things from their past that they needed to overcome. Jenna, who is the center of the story, has birth parents, a divorce, the dating pool, opening a store, and learning how to live with the fact that she isn't where she thought she would be at 32. Violet has a dark past, intuition issues, trust issues, and accepting that the person she is today as someone that people love and respect. As Jenna and Violet's friendship grows you watch them work through each of these issues and it makes such a wonderful read. I really did not expect to love this story but it was so wonderfully crafted that I couldn't help but love these characters.
What I Liked: Each character in this book had an important role to play. Beth and Serenity were very strong women each with their own issues about the adoption. Serenity, for reasons revealed later, wanted to breeze in and reconnect with the daughter she had given up at birth. Beth, wanted her adopted daughter to connect with her birth family but also went through the "what if I lose her" feelings. I felt both of these characters were very genuine in their reactions and feelings. You loved them both and felt for Jenna as she tried to maneuver that situation. Dragon and Cliff were two similar men with completely different personalities that I think Violet had to see in order to see past her own issues with trust, intimacy, and self-worth. That story played out differently than I thought it would but it was very good.
Complaints: This is just a personal POV and did not take away from the rating. I thought the ending was to abrupt. I like HEA's and while there was a hint that everything was going to work out for Jenna and Violet, I would have liked to see it. I think this has to do more with the fact that I was invested more into Violet's story than I was into Jenna's story.
Why I gave it a 4: This story was well-written, well-told, and caught me completely off guard with how much I liked it. I finished it in two days where normally books like this take me at least a week to finish.
Who I would recommend this too: This is tough! This isn't a romance, though it has romantic elements. This isn't a friendship book, though at its center it has a strong friendship being formed between Jenna and Violet. This might be a family relationships book, though it isn't just about that. I would say if you like a story that will make you laugh, cry, get a little angry, and leave you feeling hopeful then this is the book for you!
Author Website: http://www.susanmallery.com/
Actual Rating: 4.5
What I Loved: This was a story of two completely different women: Jenna and Violet. They both had things from their past that they needed to overcome. Jenna, who is the center of the story, has birth parents, a divorce, the dating pool, opening a store, and learning how to live with the fact that she isn't where she thought she would be at 32. Violet has a dark past, intuition issues, trust issues, and accepting that the person she is today as someone that people love and respect. As Jenna and Violet's friendship grows you watch them work through each of these issues and it makes such a wonderful read. I really did not expect to love this story but it was so wonderfully crafted that I couldn't help but love these characters.
What I Liked: Each character in this book had an important role to play. Beth and Serenity were very strong women each with their own issues about the adoption. Serenity, for reasons revealed later, wanted to breeze in and reconnect with the daughter she had given up at birth. Beth, wanted her adopted daughter to connect with her birth family but also went through the "what if I lose her" feelings. I felt both of these characters were very genuine in their reactions and feelings. You loved them both and felt for Jenna as she tried to maneuver that situation. Dragon and Cliff were two similar men with completely different personalities that I think Violet had to see in order to see past her own issues with trust, intimacy, and self-worth. That story played out differently than I thought it would but it was very good.
Complaints: This is just a personal POV and did not take away from the rating. I thought the ending was to abrupt. I like HEA's and while there was a hint that everything was going to work out for Jenna and Violet, I would have liked to see it. I think this has to do more with the fact that I was invested more into Violet's story than I was into Jenna's story.
Why I gave it a 4: This story was well-written, well-told, and caught me completely off guard with how much I liked it. I finished it in two days where normally books like this take me at least a week to finish.
Who I would recommend this too: This is tough! This isn't a romance, though it has romantic elements. This isn't a friendship book, though at its center it has a strong friendship being formed between Jenna and Violet. This might be a family relationships book, though it isn't just about that. I would say if you like a story that will make you laugh, cry, get a little angry, and leave you feeling hopeful then this is the book for you!
Author Website: http://www.susanmallery.com/
madamelibrarian's review against another edition
Loved this one. While it is a romance, more attention was given to character development and storyline. A book that genuinely makes me laugh and cry is a keeper!
kairosdreaming's review against another edition
5.0
Chick-lit? Yes. Sappy and sometimes implausible story-line? Check. Utterly engrossing, charming, and hard to put down? You betcha! There's nothing wrong with diving into a good romance and this one hit the spot for me. In fact, so much so that I read it in one sitting and regretted it as I tried to work the next morning.
After a failed marriage, Jenna moves back to her hometown to open a kitchen supply store. She's closer to her adopted parents and has more of a safety net, but she still has a lot of confidence issues to work on. Luckily, new friends and acquaintances; along with a few VERY surprising ones make sure that life stays interesting for her.
Jenna was a great character. Sometimes I get annoyed with the female leads when they do implausible things or make decisions just to drive the plot. That didn't really happen with Jenna (maybe with her friend Violet, debatable). She went through her struggles, made some solid decisions, and seemed overall reasonable. I also enjoyed her mother Beth; she was a likable character and very heart-warming. And the rest were special in their own way.
I won't say it was a super quick read (reference that staying up too late before), but it was a good sit down and escape for awhile read. The pace was not too fast, not too slow, and it led you through events in a logical manner. And the romance, while a bit more descriptive on some of the less than romantic scenes made it somewhat appealing, it wasn't enough to distract from the story.
Great read!
Review by M. Reynard 2021
After a failed marriage, Jenna moves back to her hometown to open a kitchen supply store. She's closer to her adopted parents and has more of a safety net, but she still has a lot of confidence issues to work on. Luckily, new friends and acquaintances; along with a few VERY surprising ones make sure that life stays interesting for her.
Jenna was a great character. Sometimes I get annoyed with the female leads when they do implausible things or make decisions just to drive the plot. That didn't really happen with Jenna (maybe with her friend Violet, debatable). She went through her struggles, made some solid decisions, and seemed overall reasonable. I also enjoyed her mother Beth; she was a likable character and very heart-warming. And the rest were special in their own way.
I won't say it was a super quick read (reference that staying up too late before), but it was a good sit down and escape for awhile read. The pace was not too fast, not too slow, and it led you through events in a logical manner. And the romance, while a bit more descriptive on some of the less than romantic scenes made it somewhat appealing, it wasn't enough to distract from the story.
Great read!
Review by M. Reynard 2021
literary_madness's review against another edition
3.0
Wasn't overly thrilled. Predictable.
A favourite quote was "less shiny" which I interpreted as when someone or something takes all of your sparkle leaving you feel "less shiny".
A favourite quote was "less shiny" which I interpreted as when someone or something takes all of your sparkle leaving you feel "less shiny".
brandiwyne4018's review against another edition
4.0
*sniff sniff* . Not a romance but great women's fiction. This book is about knowing who you are and being able to accept that there might be more to learn about yourself. I started this book at 6 am and could not put it down.
Lovely book with with real emotions from characters who you might be people you know. Great read.
Lovely book with with real emotions from characters who you might be people you know. Great read.
leahkarge's review against another edition
5.0
I want to start out saying that this book is Women's Fiction, not Romance, which is generally what Susan Mallery writes and what I read. I don't read a lot of Women's Fiction so this was a new experience for me. However, I just had to read this because I've read almost everything Mallery has written and I knew it had to be wonderful.
That being said, it did take me a little while to get into the book. Because it was not what I was used to, it took me a while to adapt to Already Home. However, once I did get into, I really liked it. It's definitely a different style but the book dealt with a lot of great issues, most of which revolved around the issue of finding yourself and discovering where you belong in life. There were such issues as divorce, the potential for job failure, the appearance of birth parents that had never before been in your life, romantic relationships, domestic abuse, prostitution, friendship, illness, death, and most importantly, love.
I loved all the characters as I have in almost all of Mallery's books. I thought that they were very well developed, and I could see that Mallery put a lot of hard work into giving all the characters personalities that were real and relatable. As a result of that, I found myself able to get involved in the story and feel like I had a right to get involved in their lives. That, to me, is one of the signs of a great book.
The only thing I was a little disappointed with was that there wasn't as much development of Violet and Dragon's relationship as I would have liked because it came about right at the very end of the novel. And, while I really enjoyed the romantic relationship between Jenna and Ellington, I just wish that the interaction and relationship between Isaiah and Jenna, and even Isaiah and Ellington, could have been in the book a little bit more so that I could get a better feel for the relationships there.
However, like I said, I really, thoroughly enjoyed this book once I was able to get used to the different style of writing. Susan Mallery is one of my auto-buy authors and I'm so glad that I was able to get this book as an ARC from NetGalley.
4.5 stars
That being said, it did take me a little while to get into the book. Because it was not what I was used to, it took me a while to adapt to Already Home. However, once I did get into, I really liked it. It's definitely a different style but the book dealt with a lot of great issues, most of which revolved around the issue of finding yourself and discovering where you belong in life. There were such issues as divorce, the potential for job failure, the appearance of birth parents that had never before been in your life, romantic relationships, domestic abuse, prostitution, friendship, illness, death, and most importantly, love.
I loved all the characters as I have in almost all of Mallery's books. I thought that they were very well developed, and I could see that Mallery put a lot of hard work into giving all the characters personalities that were real and relatable. As a result of that, I found myself able to get involved in the story and feel like I had a right to get involved in their lives. That, to me, is one of the signs of a great book.
The only thing I was a little disappointed with was that there wasn't as much development of Violet and Dragon's relationship as I would have liked because it came about right at the very end of the novel. And, while I really enjoyed the romantic relationship between Jenna and Ellington, I just wish that the interaction and relationship between Isaiah and Jenna, and even Isaiah and Ellington, could have been in the book a little bit more so that I could get a better feel for the relationships there.
However, like I said, I really, thoroughly enjoyed this book once I was able to get used to the different style of writing. Susan Mallery is one of my auto-buy authors and I'm so glad that I was able to get this book as an ARC from NetGalley.
4.5 stars
stepgg's review against another edition
4.0
First novel I have read by this author. I enjoyed it quite a bit. She reminds me of Susan Wiggs and Luanne Rice who are two of my favourite authors.
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
4.0
Jenna has wasted years of her life married to a narcissistic husband who makes her feel less than. So, when he asks for a divorce because he's fallen in love with someone else, she leaves California and heads back home to Texas. Jenna is a sous chef, but back home, on a whim, she buys a storefront and plans to open a kitchen store. After a rocky start, she closes and regroups, with the help of a smart employee, and everything goes great. Then, in walks her birth parents. Jenna knew that she was adopted but never had any desire to find them. But suddenly they're back and they want a relationship.
This one got a bit heavier there for a bit with Violet and that wasn't something I really expected from a Susan Mallery book. I'm not sure it felt like it fit in well with this book. I didn't much care for Jenna's love interest here. And Violet's should have been ditched after that double date. But overall, this was a good one and I enjoyed it. Though the birth mom was annoying.
This one got a bit heavier there for a bit with Violet and that wasn't something I really expected from a Susan Mallery book. I'm not sure it felt like it fit in well with this book. I didn't much care for Jenna's love interest here. And Violet's should have been ditched after that double date. But overall, this was a good one and I enjoyed it. Though the birth mom was annoying.