I'm going to start with the things I've struggled with when reading this book (even though I throughly enjoyed it, hence the 4 stars): I generally find it a bit strange when men write from a woman's point of view and I do believe that very few do it correctly. I think that at points in this book I could see a male perspective in Page's views, but overall it didn't impact my reading experience negatively. (What kind of grown woman who shares an apartment with her brother wears his dress shirts? And why does the main character kind of condone another character stalking his ex for a while?).

The other thing I struggled with is the lack of time references, at points it felt like the story was going really fast and I think that's because the absence of time references made me think that everything was happening over the span of days instead of probably weeks or months. For this reason some elements of the story (i.e. Nadine's "new" breasts and her possible pregnancy) felt a bit strange and elements the story could do without.

The only other thing I struggled with was referring to certain books as "trashy", I know that it's the character saying it and it doesn't necessarily represent the author's beliefs, but I'm not really a fan of shaming books or readers.

Now onto the things I enjoyed about this book: everything else! I loved how funny and witty the main character is, I loved the array of unique secondary characters we get to meet, I loved the story arc and the moral of the story of never giving up and that even when our life seem full of only negative things we can always start over, no matter out age. Even though there's a whole 10 years difference between me and the main character, I did feel a connection to her struggles of finding her place in the world and dealing with societal expectations of where we should be at certain points in our life.

This book started off with a whole lot of promise, and lost momentum somewhere in the middle. While some characters and their interactions with Page are unbelievable, I really appreciated the relationship she had with her brother. Some of the plot doesn't make sense, and leaves me asking questions. But for a quick, beach read. I would say it was pretty good.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Stewart Lewis, and Lake Union publishing for making this ARC available.

This story is about Page, who after having her life thrown upside down by a blindside breakup and a sudden firing, moves to DC to live with her brother. She starts visiting a local dog park and meets a cast of characters who help her turn her life around.

This book was a super easy read and loads of fun! I laughed out loud quite a few times. This book isn’t life altering or earth shattering but it was a nice story with a happy ending and some unique plot points.

When I say there is a cast of characters, I mean like a broadway cast for Cats - there are just so many people running around and they all have ridiculous names. I’m glad this was an e-book so I could use the search function to remind myself who people were. This book is under 300 pages and I think it definitely could’ve been longer to flush out some of the extra characters and storylines.

The main themes in this book are to try to see the bright side of situations and to try to see the best in people. I love this message and I enjoyed seeing how Page’s character progressed over the course of the book.

If you are looking for a light read that features a lot of dogs, this is the book for you! I am giving it 3.5 stars.

I really enjoyed reading, Happily Whatever After by Stewart Lewis. This was such a sweet story of following your dreams and putting yourself out there for those dreams to come true. Page was such a likeable character and I loved reading her journey coming into her own.

The romance with BR was sweet, the build up was killing me! I kept wondering if they actually would end up together. I really enjoyed all of the relationships Page formed with the friends she met at the dog park too. Each character was special and helped Page in a certain way.

Page and her brother, Brady has such a great bond. I really felt how much they treasured one another.

Overall, 4 stars!

Page is an interesting character but her comeback is unrealistically obstacle free.

Many thanks to the author, the publishers, and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Happily Whatever After is a charming, emotional story about Page, a woman in her thirties who has to start life over again in DC with no job prospects and living in her brother’s guest room. When she finds herself at the dog park as a daily routine in her life, she begins to open up her heart to an eclectic group of friends who support and love her unconditionally as she learns that sometimes second chances are the opportunities you create for yourself. 3.5 stars rounded up!

Advanced readers copy provided courtesy of @netgalley and #lakeunionpublishing in exchange for an honest review.

This was an okay read for me. I couldn't really connect to Page but I found her journey to be an interesting one. The story is alright and the pacing is fine I just found myself zoning out more than usual. The friendships were interesting and the dog park adventures were fun. Overall an okay romantic read.

Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Stewart Lewis for lending me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Page has nothing to complain about. She’s in her thirties and thriving, working at a New York city art gallery and a long term boyfriend. Page finds herself running away to her brother’s on D.C when she loses her job and her relationship on the same day. She’s hoping to find a soft place to land while she gets her life together. Instead she finds herself friends with the local dog park regulars. Page begins to dream of a new life for herself, one that involves starting her own business, buying a house and maybe spending some alone time with the owner of the vineyard.
I personally wasn’t a big fan of Page’s. She felt pretty shallow and judgemental and I just didn’t find myself relating to her very much. I DNF at 50%. On to the next!

This is not exactly my favorite genre, I almost gave up after the first few chapters but I continued it and I've liked it.

Page's life is going down, she broke up with her boyfriend, lost her jop and she moved in with her brother Brady to DC and started a new life. New acquaintances will take place in a dog park.

Stewart Lewis tells about how starting over in your mid thirties: start a new life, trying to pass every obstacle. Although I didn’t fully empathize with Page, I really liked the secondary characters.

I like the writing style, it is very smooth, the pages fly away in a second.

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

This started strong, then fell flat a little - DNF, sorry.

Stewart Lewis’s Happily Whatever After drew me in by that first line when our narrator walks into a dog park without a dog of her own.

Dry humour, with a judgmental narrator who is being dealt a harsh hand and trying to find a footing in the world.—Getting inspired by her brother and having chanced and lucked out relationships and also dealing with her sibling’s sickness helps her find her place and also a suitor for herself.

Chances are this will be a hit or miss with readers. The beginning had me all interested in the book and I was enjoying the narrator’s humour but then I kinda got bored by the end of it. But I liked how it dealt with emotional ups and downs. And also her being judgmental. She gets called out on it many a times and then comes to terms with that bad habit of hers. Also, I felt this book was too long even though it was just two hundred and eighty eight pages. Ha! It could have ended earlier and I didn’t really feel her connection with the romantic interest even though it kinda makes sense as they were meeting for a very long time. Made me chuckle quite a bit with those one liners but still didn’t fully win me over.

Read this with a nonjudgmental eye so that you do get what the narrator is going through.

Coming out in July of this year. Special thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for this review copy.

This story started off with so much promise and then it was just bland, sorry.

Page has lost everything in New York so goes and stays with her brother in DC
Who goes and hangs out ar a dog park with no dog, page!!

It was all a very bit weird for me, I wasn't connected to the plot at all. I finished it but took me four weeks.

This is an enjoyable read with very positive undertones. The main character is Page, who is down on her luck, loves dogs and has to reinvent herself, starting out at a dog park in DC. As Page navigates her way through her new life, she connects with cast of characters who are believable and interesting. There is enough real life to make the story plausible. The writing style is very clever, with an excellent flashback technique. At first I thought this might be too saccharin for my taste, but there were some endearing moments among the characters. As with life in general, this book reminded me that the journey can be more interesting than the destination.

I adored this book! I loved the development as Page shifts through her experience of everything falling apart, to slowly finding motivation to reach her dream! She meets a myriad of people at the dog park, all playing some part in her finding unexpected friends and helping her along the way!

Be sure to see this book through! To be honest, I almost gave up after the first few chapters. I am so glad I continued on though! With each turn of the page I found myself rooting more and more for the book’s heroine, Page. After being dumped and fired all in the same week, she heads to D.C. to live with her brother and attempt to start anew.
Page was a very relatable character and it was great to see her development and growth throughout the book. Also, dog lovers will be charmed by the dog park featured prominently throughout the book!
Thank you @netgalley for this ARC.

To start, I really wanted to like this book based on the title and description, so badly, however it just fell flat. It's really all about the main character's story in relation to how she sees and interacts with others, especially those she meets in the dog park. It's almost as if she's observing everyone else's life rather than really living her own. It does read very quickly. But then, hey good for her on going after her dreams but it takes forever to spur her to action and do something. It felt like forever waiting for something to happen. She doesn't have much character growth and development which is disappointing because I had such high hopes for this one. She becomes so obsessed with this BR guy, whom she doesn't even know his name, and is clearly falling for him but won't do anything. It was frustrating, like I want my protagonists to be more than just passive. Every other character is far more developed and interesting than her and that's who should have led the book. It starts off promising but then she gets very annoying and doesn't follow through on anything, and honestly, I checked it. Then, everything was wrapped up in a tidy little bow and she got everything she wanted, blah blah blah, bored.

Happily Whatever After is a romantic fiction about Page who moves in with her brother after getting dumped by her boyfriend and fired from her job in a NYC art gallery. She finds herself going to a local dog park to people watch, make friends, and restart her love life.

This book fell a little flat for me. It took several attempts of reading for me to really get in to the book. I just wasn't connecting with the main character. About halfway through the book instead of reading, I was just skimming. I know that there are others who lived this book, it just wasn't for me.

Happily Whatever After is such a cute read! I could see this book being made into an adorable rom-com movie. Great escape read!

I received a copy of this ARC ebook from Netgalley for an honest review.
Overall, I liked this one. Page’s life falls apart, she moves to DC with her brother and thinks start to fall into place for her. I think as thirty-something’s, we all have an idea of what life SHOULD be like and it’s not necessarily how it is. Page made some new and supportive friends by going to the dog park dog-less, my personal favorite is Preston!
So yeah, this is a romance but it’s also just a book about how sometimes life goes to crap but then gets so so much better!

📚 BOOK REVIEW TIME 📚⠀
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💃 I WANT ONE MOMENT IN TIME⠀
WHEN I'M MORE THAN I THOUGHT I COULD BE⠀
WHEN ALL OF MY DREAMS ARE A HEARTBEAT AWAY⠀
AND THE ANSWERS ARE ALL UP TO ME 💃⠀
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Whitney is the ultimate diva who went way too early 💔 I love all her songs. And this song really makes me think of Page, the main character from this book.⠀
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You know that time in your life when it all goes to shit - your partner breaks up with you, you lose your job, have to move away and live with your brother? ⠀
We've all been through something like that haven't we 🙋‍♀️ where you just feel down on your luck!!⠀
Well this is what happens to our main girl Page.
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I loved Page, her quirky not say out loud (most of the time) thoughts, the way she loved to help people while not realising it she was also helping her heal herself. ⠀
She is a lover of dogs, just like me, I would love to be a dog walker on the side 🐕.⠀
The characters that come through this book with their personalities had me going on an emotional rollercoaster 🙈 ⠀
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If you love dogs, female-centred fiction, a second chance at doing love right and rooting for someone's best life, then this is the book for you 👌⠀
Oh and if you pretend that when you watch animal documentaries that you are doing their voices, thinking that's what they would be saying (I do this all the time, so did my mum 💜) then this is doubley for you!! ⠀
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This is a 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 for me as I think I wanted a bit more romance (I'm a sucker for all that lovey dovey stuff 😂) but then there was a love of friendships so maybe that's what this was all about. Overall I enjoyed it and would recommend for an easy read.⠀
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*Thanks to @netgalley and #lakeunionpublishing for this advanced readers copy in return for an honest review 😍