Review: Get a Life, Chloe Brown

Review: Get a Life, Chloe BrownGet a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters, #1) by Talia Hibbert
Series: The Brown Sisters #1
Published by Avon on November 5, 2019
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 387
Goodreads
five-stars

FINAL DECISION: I loved this book. I was prepared to find it as dull as many of the cartoon-covered books that pass for romance these days but are really just women’s fiction. This book was amazing. Chloe and Red spend almost the entire book talking to one another, getting to know each other, and working through their various problems. The book is sweet and sexy and funny and so mature and adult. I have not read Talia Hibbert before and I was clearly missing something.

THE STORY: Chloe Brown takes decides to “get a life” by taking on a number of initiatives, including moving out of her family’s mansion, enjoying a drunken night out, riding a motorcycle, going camping, having meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex, traveling the world with nothing but hand luggage, and… doing something bad. Chloe takes on her goal of doing something bad by spying on her building’s superintendent Red Morgan, who paints at night half-undressed. Red, at first, thinks that Chloe is stuck up, but as he gets to know her, Red is attracted to this woman who is brave in ways that he didn’t expect. When Chloe asks him to help her complete her “get a life” list, Red cannot resist her.

OPINION: This book is simply charming, and yet it is not fluffy but rather has a substantial adult storyline. This is the story of two people who have been hurt by others having to learn to communicate with one another. While there are some rom-com funny moments, the book feels really real. In how Chloe and Red fight and hurt one another at times, it at times felt too real but so incredibly lovely in how things work out.

Both Chloe and Red are such good people. Such a book could be dull, but this book goes so deep into the relationship between these two that I as a reader was totally invested in how these two would find a happy ending together.

Chloe has fibromyalgia, lives with constant pain, and has learned to be in control as she goes through the world. Unrestrained action can lead Chloe to When Red meets her, he takes her control for being “stuck up” and thinking she is better than others. Red, himself, has been hurt by such a woman, and so he has his own guard up to protect himself. Chloe has been abandoned by others because of her disease, and so she worries about opening herself up to anyone — friend or lover.

I loved that these two have wounds that the other person both reopens and also heals. The book is about relationships and community. There is a light gloss of Chloe’s “get a life” list that she is trying to complete, but the story and her list are really about trying to create relationships, love, and community with others.

This book surprised me, and I read it so quickly because I wanted to know how these two wonderful people would work out the problems in their lives. By the end, everything is not perfect in the world, and yet a rock-solid relationship between Chloe and Red is obvious.

WORTH MENTIONING: This is a plot light book. It is really about Chloe and Red’s relationship — and a cat.

CONNECTED BOOKS: GET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN is the first book in the Brown Sisters series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

five-stars