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thisismenow's review against another edition
5.0
Already Home was a fantastic read. The book is filled with a vivid cast of characters. They felt like people I knew or had heard about from a friend.
While the book is not the romance most might expect from Susan Mallery, Already Home explores friendship, the family dynamic and starting anew while tackling some tough subjects in an interesting and heartfelt manner.
By the time I'd finished reading, I felt as though I'd been through the emotional ringer and came out stronger (and a little hungry) on the other side.
While the book is not the romance most might expect from Susan Mallery, Already Home explores friendship, the family dynamic and starting anew while tackling some tough subjects in an interesting and heartfelt manner.
By the time I'd finished reading, I felt as though I'd been through the emotional ringer and came out stronger (and a little hungry) on the other side.
shannon_cocktailsandbooks's review against another edition
5.0
After nearly a decade as a sous-chef in a trendy eatery, Jenna is desperate for a change. She's supported her ex-husband's dreams for so long that she can't even remember her own. Until she sees a for-lease sign near her parents' home and envisions her very own cooking store.
Her crash course in business is aided by a streetwise store manager and Jenna's adoptive mother. But just as she's gaining a foothold in her new life, in walk her birth parents—aging hippies on a quest to reconnect with their firstborn.
Now Jenna must figure out how to reconcile the free-spirited Serenity and Tom with her traditional parents, deal with her feelings for a new love interest and decide what to do about her ex's latest outrageous request. In the end, Jenna will find that there is no perfect family, only the people we love….
I think I’m ready to write this review now. The tears have been mopped up, the nose blown and the Kleenex thrown away!
What I can I say about this book, other than I adored it. If you’ve read any of Susan Mallery’s other books, you know she builds wonderful characters (some that are wonderfully good and others you’d like to see something really bad happen to) that suck you right into the story and don’t let you go until the last page.
Jenna, a sous chef by trade, was married to Aaron, a head chef who had a knack for making Jenna think she was significantly less than she was. An acknowledged affair later and three months later we find Jenna back in her hometown of Georgetown, Texas on the verge of opening a kitchen gadget store. She’s nervous and scared that she’s about to do something really stupid...after all this was a total impulse decision.
From this one impulsive decision we watch Jenna deal with her lack of confidence, in herself and in her cooking by learning to trust herself and those around her.
Once she finally start to feel like she can deal, she’s dealt a huge surprise. The birth parents she’s never really wanted to find suddenly blow into town wanting to “connect” with Jenna.
Serenity and Tom are hippies that were forced by their parents to give up their eldest daughter when they were teens. No one thought they would last, but here they are 32 years later still together and wanting to bring in the missing piece to their family.
Serenity is pushy, a bit self-centered and out there, but she seems to inherently know her daughter. She’s able to steer her in a direction that Jenna wouldn’t have gone (yeah Ellington) and yet have it be right.
The secondary characters in the story are great. From Jenna’s adoptive parents, her brother (who doesn’t love Dragon), Violet and Ellington, they round this story out perfectly.
Pick this one up. You’ll love it! Just make sure you have some kleenex handy.
5 Cocktails
Her crash course in business is aided by a streetwise store manager and Jenna's adoptive mother. But just as she's gaining a foothold in her new life, in walk her birth parents—aging hippies on a quest to reconnect with their firstborn.
Now Jenna must figure out how to reconcile the free-spirited Serenity and Tom with her traditional parents, deal with her feelings for a new love interest and decide what to do about her ex's latest outrageous request. In the end, Jenna will find that there is no perfect family, only the people we love….
I think I’m ready to write this review now. The tears have been mopped up, the nose blown and the Kleenex thrown away!
What I can I say about this book, other than I adored it. If you’ve read any of Susan Mallery’s other books, you know she builds wonderful characters (some that are wonderfully good and others you’d like to see something really bad happen to) that suck you right into the story and don’t let you go until the last page.
Jenna, a sous chef by trade, was married to Aaron, a head chef who had a knack for making Jenna think she was significantly less than she was. An acknowledged affair later and three months later we find Jenna back in her hometown of Georgetown, Texas on the verge of opening a kitchen gadget store. She’s nervous and scared that she’s about to do something really stupid...after all this was a total impulse decision.
From this one impulsive decision we watch Jenna deal with her lack of confidence, in herself and in her cooking by learning to trust herself and those around her.
Once she finally start to feel like she can deal, she’s dealt a huge surprise. The birth parents she’s never really wanted to find suddenly blow into town wanting to “connect” with Jenna.
Serenity and Tom are hippies that were forced by their parents to give up their eldest daughter when they were teens. No one thought they would last, but here they are 32 years later still together and wanting to bring in the missing piece to their family.
Serenity is pushy, a bit self-centered and out there, but she seems to inherently know her daughter. She’s able to steer her in a direction that Jenna wouldn’t have gone (yeah Ellington) and yet have it be right.
The secondary characters in the story are great. From Jenna’s adoptive parents, her brother (who doesn’t love Dragon), Violet and Ellington, they round this story out perfectly.
Pick this one up. You’ll love it! Just make sure you have some kleenex handy.
5 Cocktails
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.