Ann Wertz GarvinBesprekingen

Thanks to Amazon Prime and Lake Union Publishing for a digital copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

Loved this! It was funny, clever, honest, and realistic even though it took place primarily on the Universal Studios movie lot. I liked the juxtaposition of the make-believe of Hollywood movies and the real life experiences the characters were dealing with – tax fraud, bankruptcy, single parenting, grief/loss, self-esteem, abandonment, and betrayal.

In some ways this was an adult coming-of-age story of main character Poppy Lively, who learns her accountant has stolen every single dollar, and the IRS is expecting her to pay back all she owes. Living in Wisconsin, Poppy is offered a job out of the blue by her long-ago boyfriend. She drives her old van to California to work in the wardrobe department on a Hollywood movie set, a job she’s not qualified for but desperate to take in order to be able to pay her daughter’s college tuition.

While the topics are serious, the writing is clever and witty, with humor on every page. Themes of friendship, feminism, and trust are woven into this enjoyable novel that I’ll be telling everyone to read.

I really wanted to like this, but I just got incredibly bored.

Very light PG read but I really liked it. Go Poppy!

Easy fun read.

I really liked Poppy Lively and empathized with her feelings - overwhelmed by financial burdens and trying to keep things together (and secret) for her daughter. Although the setup is a bit farcical, watching Poppy land on her feet in a totally unfamiliar place (both in terms of location and culture) and how she wins people to her side was super amusing and touching. Definitely a feel good novel.

Ann Garvin has brought her readers a new book about a woman working hard to get her life back to normal. It's a great story with an older female main character, a bunch of great supporting characters and brings smiles to your face as you cheer on the main character as she faces all kinds of adversity to get her life back on track.

Poppy Lively is in trouble. Her business is failing and her accountant has run off with all of her savings. The IRS is calling her constantly and since she has no money to pay her taxes, she's in danger of losing her house. Her only child is in New York city working as a nanny until she starts nursing school in the fall. One of Poppy's main worries is that she won't have money to pay for her daughter's college so she keeps her current financial fiasco a secret from her daughter. The only person who knows about it is her best friend Chelsea who is always full of advice. When she takes her daughter to the airport for her flight to NYC, she runs into an old boyfriend. She hasn't seen him in years and he's now a hot-shot producer in Hollywood. She lets him know that she's job hunting and he offers her a job in costumes on his current movie being filmed. She knows very little about movies and has no idea what the job entails but really how hard can it be? Plus the salary is really good and will help her get out of debt before her daughter comes home. She finds out as soon as she starts the job that there's a lot to learn and few people willing to help her. Most of the workers in this area pretty much ignored Poppy when they weren't making fun of her. When she stumbles on some corruption, no one pays much attention to her so she's able to investigate more deeply. She has to decide whether to take her findings to the moviemakers or keep her mouth shut and expose the corruption and lose her job. Is she willing to take the risk??

I absolutely loved Poppy. She was a good honest person who was in over her head but instead of giving up, she fought for her place and kept her eye on the goal of getting out of debt. She had very little in common with the California people who worked on the movie lot. They often made fun of her Midwestern accent and her way of doing things but instead of changing to make them happy, she kept working as hard as she could in her own way. She handled things with humor and common sense a rarity among the movie people and she is a character that I won't soon forget.

Thank you to the author for this book.

This book was bittersweet in my opinion. You mix the good with the bad and there you have it.

Lucy was a doctor who lost her husband and baby in a a car accident and became unfortunately a kleptomaniac stealing hospital supplies and lost her job. Good came out of it when she had to go to AA where she met all kinds of people with all kinds of problems like herself. She adopted a dog, made new friends and other surprises came along the way.

Decent but nothing to write home about.

Is all the feels still a thing? This novel of friendship, too long held misunderstanding and cancer has it all. When Katie's remission is in unsure territory, she enlists her best friends Holly and Samantha to retrieve her dog Peanut from her ex. Trouble is, he is in California and Peanut is a Great Pyrenees that will have to be driven back to Wisconsin. A road trip involving two estranged college friends, a VW camper and D list celebrity ensues. This was a much more emotional packed book than I thought it would be and the characters were so well written, it was as if you were a part of the group. Don't nitpick too much about a couple little things and enjoy the trip.½

This book was terrific. The writing was clean and smooth and flowed along. As a writer, I couldn't stop trying to figure out how Garvin *did it*. There were no lags in the story, all the characters were well fleshed out and it was funny despite the painful emotional struggles of the protagonist. I loved the dynamics between Tig and her sister, the sisters and their mother and even Tig and her potential love partners. Well paced, well written and well done. I look forward to reading more of Garvin's work.

Enjoyed this book of friendship, second chances, and fighting Cancer. Believe it or not this a buddy road trip to retrieve a dog for a dying friend. The reader will laugh and cry while reading this book

funny, somewhat insightful

I loved this novel. The story of friends and how they went from being the closest of close to estranged to reconciled is beautiful - and funny! When Katie (out of cancer remission) sends Holly and Sam on the road to reclaim her dog, all the typical "road trip" vibes are pulled out. There's the hanger-on Sylvia who acts as buffer and pushes both women to face the pain that has never been resolved. And there are shamans and animals and love interests. Great book.

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I got through Kindle First Reads.

Story (3/5): The story starts out pretty slow. You basically have three friends, two that are on the outs and one (whose cancer has come back) who has traditionally kind of held the friendship together. The first 20% of the book is these three sniping at each other in a hospital room. Things pick up a bit when the two that are on the outs (Holly and Sam) head off on a road trip together. It’s basically one of those “road trips help friends work out issues” kind of stories. The resolution and revelations are a bit bland as well.

Characters (3/5): I really disliked our main characters in general. The fact that they let so much mis-communication drive such big dynamics in their relationships came off as really immature. I found it really hard to believe I was reading about adults here. Sam is so averse to any type of confrontation that I struggled to relate to her in any way. Holly is so aggressive about everything she was on the opposite end of the spectrum. They are very overly characterized. Some of the side characters were much more intriguing. Summer, who joins them on a whim, was a hoot and I loved her. The Shaman was wonderful as well. I even liked some of Sam’s potential love interests way more than any of the women this book focuses on.

Setting (3/5): The setting is kind of generic modern day American. I really did enjoy the time on the animal rescue farm, that was very well done and intriguing. The rest of it is just kind of a blur of American countryside and, while it does portray the feeling you get on a roadtrip nicely, it just doesn’t impact the story that much.

Writing Style (4/5): After you get through the first 20% or so of the book, this was engaging and well written. The questions of whether or not they will get Katie’s dog, what Holly is so pissed at Sam about, and what will happen to Katie really drive the story forward. It’s an easy and quick read that is entertaining. Unfortunately, I felt like the big reveal and the wrap-up was a let down. It was just really predictable and the way things wrapped up was unsatisfying, it felt rushed.

My Summary (3.5/5): Overall this was okay, it is a quick read and most of the book is easy to stay engaged with. It started a bit slow, I didn’t like the characters, and I thought the way things wrapped up was unsatisfying. This is a book I didn’t mind reading, but will quickly forget. I don’t plan on seeking out any more books by Garvin in the future.½

This was my April 2021 Amazon First Reads Pick. I find my First Reads hit or miss. This one definitely lands on the hit side.

Three college friends, two of whom have become estranged, come together when one comes out of remission. The two estranged friends end up on a trip to rescue the sick friend's beloved dog--who'd been awarded to the ex-husband in the divorce but then taken to a pound by the ex's current girl.

There don't seem to be any happy heterosexual marriages in this book. Samantha is a single mom. Katie is divorced. Katie's parents (who are mentioned but not seen) are married but I'm not sure how happily given what she and her friends say about them. The one happy relationship seems to be Holly and Rosie.

I liked the long-time friendship aspect. I also liked the friendship that developed between Peanut and Moose (dogs).

WARNING SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW: READ REST OF REVIEW AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION

I did think Katie planned to try to get Holly and Sam to renew their friendship long before it was revealed in the book--but at least the author acknowledged it. I didn't suspect that Rosie knew though.

I didn't understand why if someone had called the California place about getting the dog, why the California location didn't hold the dog (even if only for a few days) to see if someone arrived to claim him or tell the person that called that the dog was in Utah or going to Utah (if he was already on the way or it was already planned).

What a road trip! Two women who used to be best friends and a free spirited woman that they meet in California -- all headed from Wisconsin to California to rescue a dog. And YES - there are lots of problems on this road trip - both emotional issues and problems that made me laugh out loud. This new book by Ann Garvin will make you laugh and make you realize the importance of female friendship. It has characters that we all know in our personal lives and that make us root for the success of their rescue. I'd love to be on a road trip with these ladies - but probably not in a Prius with two dogs!

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

This book was delightfully cute and funny. You wouldn't think that a story about caring for a parent with alzheimer's, along with major relationship and career issues, would be uplifting, but this book is. Even though it broaches some heavy subjects, Garvin handles them in such a light and breezy way that you never lose the smile that this book gives you. There's also plenty of deep wisdom and good advice woven throughout the pages, but it never comes off preachy.

This book gave me the impression that the author would be that grounded, wise friend who always knows the exact right thing to do. Very easy reading, and a pleasant break from reality. Definitely adding this author's other books to my list! 5 stars!

A fun, easy read that will be SO easy to identify with. A great tale of what happens when the people we think simply can't live without all the care, attention and time we give them suddenly become wiser than us---because we step back and let them. A great twist when the doctor learns from her patients and family members about what's really important, what expectations make sense and, above all, that all those plates we keep twirling in the air are really in own heads.

A light, witty lesson for life. Enjoy.

Reading a book by Ann Garvin is like having a long, long lunch with a funny, big-hearted friend who knows a lot of amusing, crippled people. It’s time well-spent, and life feels warmer and larger and more worthwhile when you finally get up from the table. In I Like You Just Fine When You’re Not Around, the heroine, Tig, repeatedly trips over her own misguided good intentions, face-palming at regular intervals as she struggles through the mess of her life: her equivocal boyfriend, her self-absorbed sister, her Alzheimer’s afflicted mother, and her career as the counselor who supposedly knows how life works. Garvin skips along the knife edge of tragicomedy like nobody’s business; it’s not an easy feat. Her affection for her all-too-real characters is unbounded, and contagious. This story made me laugh out aloud, but what I will remember most is how it made me care.

I really enjoyed this book, which I'd picked up simply because I found the title amusing. I found there were a lot of truths in it, as well as an engaging story and lead character. Life is not always pretty, but it is definitely interesting.

2016-read, funny, great-title, made-me-think, read, thank-you-charleston-county-library, will-look-for-more-by-this-author

I Like You Just Fine When You're Not Around by Ann Garvin is a highly recommended family drama.

Tig Monahan is a classic caregiver, people pleaser, and part of the sandwich generation. She's trying to make sure her mother, Hallie, who has Alzheimer's, has the best care possible and is settling into Hope House, an assisted living facility without any help from her sister Wendy. She is a therapist who is reaching the end of her patience. She is a partner in a relationship where her boyfriend, Peter, wants/expects her to leave everything and go to Hawaii on sabbatical with him. Clearly, Tig has some issues.

Predictably, since no one can do it all, Tig reaches her breaking point. At her last day of work, a therapy practice she gave notice to leave so she could go with Peter to Hawaii, she snaps at a patient during couple's therapy and lets him know exactly what she thinks. Then, with her mother not settling in and Wendy nowhere in sight and not taking her calls, she decides she simply can't leave with Peter right away. Peter leaves Tig with a load of guilt. Then Wendy shows up, with no notice, 9 months pregnant. And that's just the tip of the iceberg of issues. No wonder Tig is stressed out. Now she's jobless with a very pregnant sister staying with her and a mother who never recognizes her. Could things get worse? Can Tig really take care of everything for everyone all the time?

Garvin does an excellent job keeping all the stressors of Tig's life realistic, while at the same time adding some humor and wit along with the realistic drama. Families can be messy. Aging parents that must be assisted by their children, who are already overly busy and stressed out, is a common occurrence. Garvin takes this fact and runs with it, while carefully developing the plot. Tig's character is well developed. Her struggles with handling everything are detailed and very realistic.

The quality of the writing sets this apart from other family dramas. Garvin keeps the plot moving as more things happen to Tig that force her to confront some personal revelations. There is one thread in the plot that happens a bit too smoothly, so you will have to suspend disbelief there. No spoilers - it will either bother you or it won't. I found it easy to overlook, but I did note its convenient placement in the plot. This would be a great choice for summer escapism reading.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher for review purposes.

http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/2016/06/i-like-you-just-fine-when-youre-not....

The title of this new book by Ann Garvin, is the first indication that this is going to be a book worth reading and I can tell you right now that is absolutely correct! I loved this book. The characters are so wonderful and real - they make mistakes and agonize over their decisions and power on with their lives. Because you get so involved with the characters, this is a difficult book to put down once you've started it because you want to see what happens with everyone and if their issues will be resolved.

Tig Monahan's life is a mess. She is taking care of her Mom who has Alzheimers and has just moved into a nursing home, her boyfriend has just broken up with her and she has lost her job as a psychologist after telling a patient what she really thinks of him. To top it off, her sister who she hasn't heard from in two years and who has been no help with their mother, shows up at her door and is 9 months pregnant. Tig tries to do what she has always done - she takes care of everyone else and forgets to take care of herself. Tig tries to learn to take care of her own needs and even though its a real struggle at time, there are also times that the reader can laugh out loud.

I especially enjoyed this novel because I identify with it - I am part of the generation that is caught between taking care of aging parents, family members and children and who often forget that they need taken care of too. Tig is a fantastic real character and someone who I won't soon forget.

I can't even pretend that I understand Maggie's brain functions in this book. I am not a mother (well besides my furry babies) and I have never been pregnant so I have no idea about the so called "baby brain" but I have seen some of my pregnant friends try to rationalize completely irrational things, so I can understand this book from that perspective. I think mothers or pregnant women would find this book excellent and validating.

I enjoyed reading this book as a whole though. Ms. Garvin has a writing style that sweeps you along the pages quickly and efficiently. I found I had finished the book long before I wanted it to end. I enjoyed Maggie's character and I enjoyed the light and fun way that Ms. Garvin wrote her story. I think that Maggie is a character that can appeal to many women, not just the pregnant ones or the mothers, she carried many characteristics of a strong women and I can totally get behind that. I look forward to more of Ms. Garvin's work.

The best book ever! Funny, sad, serious, and everything in between. Lucy's husband and unborn child die in a car accident, and to say she is having a hard time dealing with it is an understatement. I love that she messes up (badly), but still tries to get better. LOVE that she finds friendship and hope by befriending a dog, going to the dog park, and volunteering at the Humane Society! Read this book--you'll love it too!

What a fabulous book! Lucy is my favorite character of 2014: whip-smart, quirky without being weird, sympathetic and oh-so troubled. In fact, the entire cast is memorable (I have been missing them since I finished) and the story moves faster than a terrier after a rabbit. Garvin's voice is original and her talent considerable.

Don't miss this one.