I really enjoyed the book.. The characters Georgia, Lauren and Hannah were very good. Georgia and her daughter Hannah both have autism which throws an interesting slant on the plot. Georgia and Lauren meeting at a grief support group and develop feelings for one another. The plot revolves around Lauren's need for acceptance from her dead father and Georgia moving on from her dead husband. The plot is good and moves along.The only this lacking for me is closure at the end. An epilogue would help tie the story together as the ending leaves many questions for me. I recommend this book for romance readers. I received this book as an ARC but my thoughts and opinions are my own.

When Lauren and Georgia first met at a work related presentation, they did not get along. When they met the second time at a bereavement meeting, their personalities continued to clash and they became even more defensive. But the next time they met at this meeting, the tension slowly eased thanks in part to Georgia’s seven year old daughter. She connected with Lauren’s picture of her cat, Alan Turing. As Hannah pointed out to Lauren, he was autistic just like her and her mother.

I like when authors give their characters a little more to work with besides the romance angle. In this story, not only were Georgia and Hannah autistic, they were also grieving the lost of Hannah’s dad and Georgia’s best friend and parenting partner,Kyle,who was aromantic. Lauren was grieving the loss of her father who she had a rather difficult relationship with. Lauren also had job problems and was undecided about her future.

I loved how both women connected over their loss but in different ways and meaning. Kyle always helped to calm Georgia and Hannah when they became overwhelmed by certain situations. He understood them like no one else ever did. Lauren struggled with approval that she never received from her father. Yet as the story developed, both women slowly met those loss needs for each other. With this supportive connection, they took their relationship to the next level.

The characters were very likable, especially Hannah with her no nonsense way of stating things. For example, when Hannah’s new friend asked her why she didn’t have the same last name as her mother’s, Hannah in her own matter of fact way stated that her mom was bisexual and her father died. I also enjoyed the interactions between Lauren and her sister, who was dyslexic, and Hannah and Kyle’s sister. I liked how the sisters made each woman face their truth.

The story beautifully came together and flowed nicely until that angst moment and its resolution. The characters’ reaction and lack of communication didn’t seem to connect with how well they treated each other all along. It was as if they reverted back in time and all the progress they made was erased. The ending also felt rushed and really needed a few more pages to bring it once again in line with the rest of the story. Other than this very dramatic moment, which happened near the end, it was a very entertaining and heartwarming story.


This was the author’s debut book and it was exceedingly good. I look forward to other books by this author.

3.75 stars. A solid debut with excellent character development. The main characters are both at a difficult point in their lives where they are forced to make changes that will affect their future. This is a sweet romance of the non-fluffy kind, which kept me completely engaged throughout the book, I would have liked some more text at the end though.

Lauren and Georgia meet during work under pretty bad circumstances and Georgia immediately dislikes Lauren because of it. However, they meet again at a grief recovery support group and they form a connection through Hannah, Georgia’s daughter.
Georgia lost her co-parent and best friend Kyle and now has to take care of Hannah by herself, which is not easy as they both are autistic. Kyle was the one they could depend upon when things got too much for them to handle. Besides struggling with the loss of Kyle, Georgia now also has to deal with his meddling family. Lauren lost her dad, who she tried her whole life to get approval from, but never got. As her whole life was devoted to impressing her father she’s missing direction in her life now he’s gone. Both are dealing with loss and grief, and with questions about their future, but they deal with it in totally different ways, which shows the attention to the different characters.

The characters and their connections steal the spotlight. Acker included two autistic characters and she not only payed attention to them displaying different types of autism, but she also showed how ignorant people still can be towards this disorder. I’m by no means an expert on autism, but it felt authentic. I do have to note that several of the other characters, and especially Lauren, also often appeared to miss some general social cues. In fact, I wondered a couple of times if Lauren was on the spectrum as well.
Lauren is really sweet and communicative with Georgia, which is striking as she’s not the easiest person to deal with, or the most communicative, but she is perfectly in touch with Georgia’s state of mind. Lauren even develops a connection with Hannah despite Lauren not liking kids and Hannah not easily bonding with people. It turns out that a cute cat and an Axolotl can perform miracles :)

The book is written in the third person with POVs of Lauren and Georgia. It’s pretty low angst, the text flows nicely and the pace is on the slow side, but it fits the book so it didn’t bother me. I have one remark about the ending though. There is a conflict, which is (too) late in the book and I didn’t understand the behavior of the characters, at once they stopped communicating. It felt forced and when the conflict was solved the book almost immediately ended, leaving me somewhat unsatisfied. I really could have used at least an epilogue to see how they were doing together and how their lives turned out.

In summary, a very good debut book with well-developed characters and an interesting storyline. I look forward to reading more by Acker in the future.

Bella Books have this amazing thing going on where they are always able to find new authors that come out with a strong debut, Kay Acker's Leaving's Not the Only Way to Go is no exception to this.

When I read the blurb I was expecting the main characters to not have suffered their loss yet, but for it to happen in the book. So I was a little confused when I started reading the book and both Georgia and Lauren already lost their loved ones. Lauren en Georgia cross paths in a professional environment, Georgia thinks Lauren is nothing but hot air, much like Lauren's boss. When they end up in the same grief counseling group she discovers that Lauren is also a bit of a closed-off grump. The next work meeting isn't any better and leaves Georgia fuming, Lauren didn't seem to be interested in their issues with the program at all. As it turns out Lauren was paying very close attention... At the next counseling group meeting, Georgia is standing with her daughter, Hannah, she spots Lauren and strikes up a conversation because she liked her the first time they met the week before. Hannah tells Lauren both she and her mom are autistic. From here forward a friendship is built and Lauren is super attentive and overall a very nice person. With Georgia and Hannah being autistic Lauren seems to really be able to tune into their needs. Both women still struggle with their grief and their interest in each other for maybe more than friendship, but not taking any risks won't get you any rewards...

I really like how Georgia and Hannah are both different in how they deal with their autism and everyday life. It's clear they are on different parts of the spectrum and it is good to read about this without it being a lecture. Lauren is a patient and understanding character and exactly what the other two need. I like how Lauren doesn't like any kids, but can't help but like Hannah. Throughout the book, I wondered if Lauren might also fall somewhere on the autism spectrum, the way she is written and behaves at times makes me think she is. The story is a sweet romance and there was some good communication going on until there wasn't. This is a shame, you could see the big drama event coming, even before the communication breaks down. And as per usual in WLW romances it happens too late, Around the 83% mark the big drama takes place and of course, it's a breakup and the reconciliation is dramatic and sweet, but it doesn't fit with the rest of the story really. I really enjoyed reading this up until the 70% or so mark, when the communication is gone and it all slowly falls apart. I know why authors have the big drama in their books, it's sort of a must I guess, but for this one, I think it would have been better without it, more realistic.
Overall, I'd consider this a very strong debut and I wouldn't hesitate to read another book by this author.

Georgia designs homes for a living although she doesn’t feels at home herself. She is autistic who struggles with the world understanding her. When she loses her friend she in task in raising her seven year old daughter Hannah who is also autistic.

Lauren is a computer programmer who meets Georgia when the new software doesn’t work and they clash. Lauren is mourning her father after taking care of him now that’s he gone she wants to go back to her life but she realize without him she lost despite the fact he pushes her to be great and she feels she fails him because he was never satisfied with her choices.

Georgia and Lauren start a friendship through Hannah because of the kindness she shows her. As they both grow closer they realize sometimes you need to open up to help each other through the tough times.

This was good read. The author did a great job portraying how autistic spectrum is and how it’s affects the person who has it.




I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

The perspectives of the main characters in this romance is very interesting. Georgia Solomon designs homes. She is also bisexual and high functioning in the autistic spectrum. She is raising her daughter Hannah on her own after the death of her co-parent. Hannah is seven and also autistic. Georgia clashes with Lauren Ashburn, a computer programmer, when the new designing software for her company fails to work. Lauren is one of the programmers trying to fix the issues. They meet later at a bereavement therapy group. Lauren is trying to get over the death of her father who always pushed her to be more and was never satisfied with her results.

Hannah's response to a kindness from Lauren starts the women on a path to friendship and a relationship. Georgia is trying her best to raise and protect her daughter but it is hard when not everyone understands that they can't pick up on social cues, tolerate change or enjoy certain foods like everyone else. Lauren has a hard time with people herself. Together they support each other with issues including families and work.

The author does a very good job at realistically portraying autism. Lauren and Georgia are great at trying to listen to and read each other. Many things need to be explicitly stated because miscommunication can easily happen. Hannah and the supporting characters add to the story but also to some conflicts. The book also has one of the funniest lines about bisexuals and hiking I've ever read. I will look forward to more books from the author. Thank you to NetGalley and Bella Books for an ARC ebook in exchange for a honest review.