From the start of this novel, it was clear that this novel was a story of finding oneself during loss and struggle. Whilst there were funny elements to this story through its dialogue, it was almost a self-help guide to life, love, and occupations.

The protagonist, Allison, finds herself lost before her 35th birthday when she loses her job and fiancée on the same day. Although I am not 35 and haven’t lost both my job and fiancée, the way in which she handled the situation felt very authentic and I related to her thoughts and feelings about the situation and her life in general. It also provided a lot of advice that I felt enhanced the novel and its plot. Furthermore, the way in which the characters were written was very fleshed out and they were ultimately flawed, which added more realism to the story. The love interest was also written exceptionally well and came together naturally as it does in life.

What let this story down though for me was the plot. There was nothing bad about it but there were little ups and downs and it felt as if the entire story was on one continuous path where there wasn’t a lot happening. I was expecting a lot more turbulence on her path to self-discovery and from her trip to Costa Rica, which I thought was going to be the majority of the story and ended up just being around 10% of the novel. Overall, it was a quick and addicting read that felt authentic and gave good advice, but it needed more ups and downs in order to be more engaging and fully captivate me.

I love a good light read for the summer and I gotta say Charming Falls Apart was a welcomed distraction from this less the amazing summer.

Assuming read the summary, you don't need my help telling you what it's about so I won't spare you the details. What I will say is that it's refreshing to get into a story about woman dealing with a breakdown in her life, and doing the work to fix herself. No man to come in and save her (but yes, there is a man present in her journey to saving herself). Yup, I gotta say I liked it a lot.

Not sure if the title really did it for me. A weird criticism I know, but that's how I feel. And for some reason, this book felt a little bit too long. Or perhaps there was unnecessary filler that made me tempted to skim. But it was a read I needed in these crazy times, so I accept the flaws for what was an otherwise nice story.

This wasn't a romance that really hit home for me. I couldn't connect with Allison and Eric's chemistry.
Plot was not very unique to me, and I found myself rolling my eyes. I didn't become somewhat invested in the story until around 25% in.
Also, the formatting of this book made it a bit difficult to read via kindle.
I don't regret reading this - I don't like everything I read. But it was by far my favorite romance novel.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I thought it was going to be purely a romance book, but the story held so much more depth than just the main character falling in love.

The first half of the book describes the pain that Allison experiences after losing her job and her fiance on the same day (yikes)! The romance snuck up on me, and didn't play a role until Allison did quite a bit of soul searching on her own. I was thankful for that––it showed that Allison didn't rely on a man to pull her out of her funk, but instead she found healing on her own. Plus, she continued to stand up for herself and not take any sh*t, even though her life was turned upside down in some really difficult ways. Her friend Jordan was so fiercely loyal and encouraging. Eric, the love interest, was very like-able, and I loved watching their friendship grow. I really enjoyed this book. Angela did a great job of writing characters that I could relate to and imagine while I was reading.

This book covered quite a bit: heartache, complicated family relations, female friendships, personal growth, and healthy relationships.

Rating: 4.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book!

Charming Falls Apart by Angela Terry
SparkPress

I was so happy to have the chance to review this ARC novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Allison, the book’s main character, has the picture perfect high achieving life. When everything comes crashing down on her at once, she is left questioning her life choices. Allison begins a journey of self-reflection which is central to the story’s arc. She relies heavily on a wise friend and becomes well-acquainted with the Barnes and Noble self-help aisle. A budding friendship with a cafe owner becomes a source of anticipatory tension and unexpected wisdom. He is also quite obsessed with Cross Fit, the results of which conjure pleasant images.

This novel was a fun one to read. The pacing was good and the characters were generally relatable. Plot twists, although somewhat predictable and convenient, kept the story moving along nicely. I can’t honestly say that I think this is the best title for this book. Perhaps Allison can use her sharp PR skills to come up with another! Regardless, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a light, fun summer read. You won’t be disappointed.

Oh my god, poor Allison! The book starts out with her having the worst if luck; being fired, and then dumped by her cheating fiance. I really liked how Allison didn't have the smoothest path to recovering from her horrible day; she gave herself breaks when she needed them, and let herself wallow. Finished it in a little over 24 hours, very cute read.

Allison has a rough time of it. She has been the top PR rep at her firm for 12 years, but gets fired. While she is reeling from being cut, she goes home to her fiancé. Expecting support and comfort from him, he turns the tide and tells her he is breaking up with her because he is not in love with her. Wow! As Allison goes on a self exploration path, she finds solids and support in the least likely place-her local coffee shop. In a similar plot line of Eat, Pray, Love, Allison is on a journey to find herself, people she can train, and try happiness.

This is the perfect breakup/starting over book! I loved the self-help and self-care that Allison chose and it's something that I don't see very often in a book. However, the ending really fell short for me; there was the hint at romance throughout the book (I mean her fiance broke it off with her..) obviously I was still trying to find where she was able to start over in that regard and the author gave us a tiny hint at that at the end. I would have loved an epilogue or a little bit longer of a book just to give us a little of the romance that was hinted at.

CHarming Falls Apart is a terrific read. Alison receives a double whammy all in one day: she is canned from her job and her fiancé dumps her for her maid of honor. She'all receive more bad news before she begins to turn her life around. She reads self help books, cancels the wedding, and reinvents her career, while hanging out at the local coffee shop. I thought she was way too passive with the dirtbag fiancé, and 'friend' Katie. The character I liked the most was Jordan. She was the only person who was there for Alison the entire time. Personally, I thought she stole the limelight from Alison's character. I wanted to read more about Jordan and less about Allison.

I didn't hate this book but unfortunately, I didn't love it either.
I read it about 3 days ago and when I came to do my review, I was surprised to remember absolutely nothing about this story and had to che k the blurb to jog my memory.
I knew that I enjoyed this book but it was just completely forgettable, not the sort of book that stays with you. It's ideal for a holiday read or a lazy weekend and the author writes her characters well and there is a GREAT best friend in there!

I enjoyed this book but it's not my forever book! Although, that doesn't mean that I don't recommend this and I'm definitely willing to give this author a go again :)

3 stars

When Allison's life falls apart at the seams, she begins to self reflect on who she really is. After decades of morphing herself into whatever woman her current boyfriend wanted, she is left wondering what her own likes and preferences are. With one good friend and the self help isle at the local bookstore, Allison begins a journey looking inward for love and appreciation instead of seeking another person to fill the void.
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I really enjoyed this book. It gave me exactly what I was looking for in a romance, one where you have to unravel yourself to find the one who matches you most. Allison's character is written with emotional depth and void of any self pity or whining. I also enjoyed that she did not go down a "my life is over" spiral. I mean sure she was depressed for awhile, as anyone would be. But it's a healthy level of sadness that propels her instead of crippling her. Highly recommend.

The setting makes this book more enjoyable. I love the feel of Chicago and the risk taking that the main character takes. A great light, summer read that is empowering.

A sweet little novel with oomf. After Allison’s world comes crashing down around her, she begins to reevaluate her life. Through several self help books, and a true friend, Allison begins to understand how choices can pan out, and how life does not go as planned (no matter how carefully it’s been mapped out).

A cute and quick read! Perfect for ending a slump or needed a book cleanse!

What a fun read! I like books like this, where I pretty much knew where it was going from the beginning, but I still was anxious to see what happened! I found the main character, Allie, to be relatable and her issues to be ones we all face. Even though it was mostly predictable, I found that I couldn't put it down and read it in a single setting! Definitely worth a read!

Okay y’all — I’ve just gotten back in the NetGalley game, but this one was not for me.

Charming Falls Apart by Angela Terry has an incredible premise. Our protagonist, Allison, goes from having just about everything she thinks she needs to losing all of that (except for one great friend and a new local coffee shop) in 24 hours. So what’s a girl to do? How do you move forward when your whole life suddenly collapses?

It sounds totally intriguing, right? I was expecting lots of girl power, a bit of romance and a well-worn realization that she’s enough, in-and-of herself. And yet, the book was incredibly... boring. Allison was somehow both relatable and generic, the romance plot was so light that at the end, it felt rushed and out of nowhere, and I kept cringing at the way Allison was trying to find help and redemption through self-help books and off-the-beaten-path “Eat Pray Love” type retreats. The only parts I truly loved were anytime Allison’s best friend Jordan, a go-getter out-spoken woman who does her best to help Allison whenever she needs, showed up.

I am 100% aware that I may not be the audience for this book, as someone who has a suspicion of many self-help and self-care ploys as merely pyramid schemes, and I’ve certainly never experienced anything Allison encounters. So, this is to say, that while this book was not for me, it very well might be for someone. After all, the writing was decent and the characters could be quite endearing to the right reader, and I finished it, so it clearly wasn’t terrible, as I have no shame DNF’ing books I really don’t like. It just seemed to lack some depth and movement that I really hoped it would have.

I absolutely devoured this book and loved every second of it!

Although not in the same situation as Alison I found her character so relatable and her journey of self discovery so intriguing and endearing even if it was somewhat forced upon her.

I loved all the characters even the mean ones. I found it to be such a realistic and accurate depiction of adult life in so many ways.

I enjoyed the different female friendships (mother/daughter included) to the relationships she had with men. I just felt it all to be natural and authentic which i think alot of that boils down to the great writing.

I loved the little twists and how the end tied things up nicely. 100% a great read and I will probably buy it and reread and I will most definitely be recommending this book!

Thank you NetGalley, Girl Friday Productions, Sparkpress and Angela Terry for
gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
First let’s talk about this cover! I’m going to take a wild guess that the title and cover hooked you in immediately. I know that’s how I ended up reading this book! The actual synopsis was just an added bonus.
It seems this summer I’ve been drawn to books about women’s lives falling apart, and the growth that comes after. I, myself, am going through that growth period so I felt connected to Allison in that aspect. I was rooting her from the very beginning. I find stories with realistic heroines to be the ones I enjoy the most. Allison is flawed. But she is funny and caring and reminds the reader that it’s never the wrong time to start all over fresh.
I didn’t think the romance was very strong in this one. I personally didn’t feel a strong chemistry between Allison and Eric, but I don’t think that was the main focus of this one so that's fine!

What would you do if you were fired from your job of twelve years and came home to get dumped by your Fiance a month before your wedding? This is the opening of Charming Falls Apart by Angela Terry. Over the course of this book Terry shows how Allison reacts. I enjoyed this book! At first it stressed me out for her a bit. It was a lot of change and a hard position to imagine myself in, but that made it feel more real. This book reminds me a bit of Husband Material by Emily Belden. Allison was an easy character to like and loved her asides to herself, kind of like the cartoon Lizzie in Lizzie McGuire. Jordan was a great friend and the character development was really good here. I would have enjoyed an epilogue, but I can see why Terry wrote the ending the way she did.

The cover of Charming Falls Apart initially stopped me in my browsing and after reading the description, I knew this was the type of book I would enjoy. I loved this story, an excellent debut book by Angela Terry!

Allison James’ life falls apart in a span of a few hours, she loses her job and when she gets home, her fiancé tells her he is leaving her for her maid of honor. As Allison starts to put her life back together she has to figure out if the life she thought she wanted is really what makes her happy.

I really enjoyed going on the soul searching journey with Allison. I felt the anger of what she was going through with the rudeness of her ex-fiancé. You can’t help but root for her. I loved the character of Jordan, everyone needs a best friend like her in their life! And Eric, he was such a great guy, I was hoping him and Allison would find a way to be together.

Add Charming Falls Apart to your to be read list, you don’t want to miss this charming story! Thank you to NetGalley, Girl Friday Productions and Spark Press for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm sad to say but I wasn't a fan of this book at all. The MC came off so freaking whiny and it took pretty much half the book for anything to happen. For me, that's a bit too much. 20% maybe.50%? Not so much.

On top of that, the characters seemed very wooden and unlike real actual people. Even their conversations were super awkward.

I'm sure lots of people will enjoy this but it wasn't my cup O coffee.


I would like to thank NetGalley for this ARC.