Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1) by Talia Hibbert
Contemporary Romance published by Avon on November 5, 2019
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?
- Enjoy a drunken night out.
- Ride a motorcycle.
- Go camping.
- Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
- Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
- And… do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.
Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…
It’s a rare book that I can feel myself smiling while I’m reading it and this was one—in public no less! I also cried but that may not be the selling point some are looking for (more on that later). Anyway, this was an awesome read. I love Chloe and her family and Red and am excited for the next book about Chloe’s sister, Dani. And you should stop reading my review and read this book now!
Chloe moves into the apartment building where Red is the superintendent and they seem to rub each other the wrong way (or do they?). Both have had some recent life experiences they’re dealing with maybe not in the best ways but not in really destructive ways. One interaction changes the tone of their relationship and they start to open up to each other. There’s a DELIGHTFUL, big smile on my face interaction through email that’s just fabulous—seriously chef’s kiss adorable!
They have a couple missteps in their blossoming relationship that were very real to me and the big, dark moment really choked me up (the crying I mentioned in the first paragraph—not in public though thank goodness!). As two people who’ve been hurt by their prior relationships and are still changing and learning about their new selves, it makes sense to me they would bring that to this new relationship—distrust, discovering new triggers they didn’t have before, stuff they have to work on individually to bring their best to this relationship. I like how they knew they could be ok without the other person in their life but could be so much better together. Ugh, so great!
Chloe’s family is eccentric and I cannot wait for more in Dani’s book. Her grandmother, Gigi, her Aunt Mary, her sisters are all strong personalities that I want to spend more time reading about. Red is close to his mother and I think is a little bit atypical depiction of artists in fiction. He is a people pleaser, goes with the flow, not temperamental, and surprises Chloe by accepting her illness, reading her emotions and noticing whether she’s in pain.
If you’re not reading Talia Hibbert yet, lucky you to have this book and her backlist to enjoy! A Girl Like Her is another read this year that made me smile while I was reading it. I was at the beauty salon getting my hair colored and could.not.stop reading it. Another customer asked me what I was reading since it must be so good I was holding my e-reader above my head in the sink waiting for my hair color to set! Get a Life, Chloe Brown is just as good and just as attention grabbing! Once I got into it, I didn’t want to stop reading it. It’s a quick read, well-paced, great characters, and a lovely romance. There are also a few email, text, and letter/list exchanges for fans of epistolary romance. Bonus points for Chloe’s love of pens and notebooks. I may relate a little too much to the descriptions of piles of notebooks and drawers of pens in Chloe’s apartment. And the cover is the best—don’t forget to check it out!
Grade: A-
You can buy a copy here.
this sounds great!