Annie Kyle is a 40 year old concierge doctor. She's single, but because her best friend lives in her basement, she doesn't really feel the sting of loneliness that goes with being single. That is until her best friend gets engaged. After a night out where for once she has more than one drink and an interaction with hot younger bartender Dax, she sends out a text to every single male in her phone letting them know she's looking to get married. She wakes up to two interested responses.

Annie being a high paid career driven woman in my opinion was great. By all means please let's make it totally the norm that some women just love their jobs and do well at them. But the way Annie was written didnt even seem like a real person. I couldn't connect with her at all because she seemed so one dimensional. And the fact that Dax was 27 to her 40 was harped on so hard I started to feel like the author wanted us to see Annie as an old lady on a walker and Dax fresh from his high school graduation. While they did eventually end up together, even their interactions seemed stiff and odd. And fast. One page they were meeting and a few forward he was leaving because it wasn't working. Mind you one conversation led to this. One very short conversation at that. This is a great story that just fell flat. The two men who Annie entertained for marriage were part of the story but more so just secondary characters without much depth themselves.

This wasn't a bad book, it just had so much potential that it seemed to just not meet unfortunately. Three stars.

⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Julie Hammerle, and Entangled Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

👩‍⚕How to disspell the lonely?

4.5🌟 stars
I really enjoyed this story which had both its lighthearted and serious moments. A forty year-old, career-driven, single female professional who finds her social circle changing and leaving her behind; I can identify with that. What she does about it totally unintentionally (but is it really?) is a really good tale, told well.

Each man in her life is quite different and suited to a sampling of what Dr. Annie thinks she's looking for. Author Julie Hammerle gives enough of a glimpse into both lead and secondary characters and their challenges, including a lovable dog named Joanne. There are matchmaking and nay saying types who get involved as Annie struggles to find what she really wants from life in the way of career, friendship, romance and personal growth. Altogether a quickly-read novel with a few sad losses but that ends well with lot of content characters and one or two unexpected twists.

Thanks to Entangled Amara and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

This was a pretty fun read, with about an equal amount of strong points and things I didn't care for. I appreciate the 30-40 age range of characters, but the main character would NOT let the fact go that she was almost 40 and kept dwelling on that as a point of why she couldn't date a younger guy. I like that there was a bit of a diverse cast, with one of the main friends being Latinx and queer, but a warning to those sensitive to JK Rowling references: there are a handful. I enjoyed the many romantic prospects, but of course wanted more with the man she ended up with (of course, we all do!). Friendship is a big theme in this book, which is great, but I wish that there wasn't so much miscommunication and secrecy all the way up to the end. Some great issues tackled: infertility, care of elderly and sick parent, feminism and careers.

Overall, It’s Raining Men by Julie Hammerle is a fun read, with a pretty satisfying ending. Give it a try!

Thanks to Entangled: Amara for the gifted copy of this book!

ITS RAINING MEN - JULIE HAMMERLE
PUBLISHED BY - ENTANGLED PUBLISHING
PLOT - Annie is almost 40 is a successful concierge doctor finds out thay her roomate and bestie is getting married. So Annie in a shocked drunken state send a mass text to men in her life only to find out that 2 of them Have replied Yes to her shocking proposal.
Guy 2 is her high school crush and next door neighbour. Guy 2 is a flashy news reporter. Also adding to the mix is Fax, the local bartender who was present when the disaster happened. He convinces Annie to marry only for the right reasons. But before finding her true love she must first find herself!!
MY THOUGHTS -
I liked the plot and it's quite relatable too. There are some really funny moments to!
It was a quick read and there is a good flow on the writing though we do know whom she will end up with and her waiting for Annie to figure it out for herself.
I just felt that Daxs character could have been better sketched with little more chemistry between the two kinda felt to convenient!
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange of my honest opinion.
3.5⭐ for this one!

It’s Raining Men is a unique romance about Annie, a 39 year old successful concierge doctor who feels alone once finding out her remaining single friend has gotten engaged.

After getting drunk and deciding she wants to settle down and no longer “play games”, Annie sends out a text to 39 men to find out if any of them would like to get married. After two of the men respond saying yes, Annie finds herself considering what her life would be like if she chose to settle down with either of them.

There is Darius, a famous news reporter, who offers a world of excitement, luxury, and understanding regarding a demanding career. Then there is Rob, Annie’s old next door neighbor whom she has known since childhood, someone who offers stability and comfort.

Annie also meets 27 year old bartender Dax, who needs a place to live with his (adorable) dog Joanne. They wind up moving in the room Annie’s newly engaged friend vacated, & suddenly Dax becomes a wild card.

There were many sweet, endearing moments, along with funny and relatable scenes regarding friendships and dating. I really enjoyed the emphasis of Annie needing to focus on herself, to find what truly matters to her, and being happy for herself and not others.

You feel as though you know who Annie should be with throughout the story, but it is still enjoyable to read as everything plays out and go along with the characters as they learn things for themselves.

I loved the scenes with Joanne, I felt they were so heartwarming and really brought the characters closer on a deeper level.

It’s Raining Men was fun and interesting, I was invested in the characters and the story, I look forward to reading more of the author’s work!

A real life rom com with a sappy happy ending. Annie is nearing 40 and thinks her life is spiraling out of control. Dax is 27 and still trying to fulfill his dreams. This story is delightfully unusual from the normal romance tropes. This makes it especially fun as Annie juggles the men even though they are all in the know. Throw in some crazy friends drama and everything takes on deeper meaning. I love the way the author handles all these relationships and ties them all neatly together at the end of the story.

I was provided a free copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This was a fun read for the summer, but it was nothing special. Just a run-of-the-mill romance with some comedy thrown in. I may not be in the demographic for this book since I am not a woman in my late-30s, so keep that in mind.

a very fun and quirky romance, perfect for the slight reading slump i’ve been in! i loved annie’s character so much and found that i connected with her very well. moreover, dax was the perfect romantic lead for this piece of work.

Annie is a concierge doctor. (Yeah I had to look that up.) Annie's unlucky in love, til she does a TV interview. Now Annie has more men than she needs. This story is cute and well worth the read. The characters are likeable and the MC is relatable. This is a fast, fun, & easy read. The chapters are short, making it more enjoyable. I'll definitely be looking at this author's other books. I think romance lovers will fine this story adorable. I recommend this book to all this looking for a fun read.

This was a delightful rom-com with unique characters.

Annie who is a doctor and almost forty is taking one more look at her life and how lonely she is — especially when her roommate is engaged and is moving out.

The plot is straightforward and kept me laughing till the end. My favorite character was Joanne — who doesn't love dogs.

I received an arc of this book, and this is my honest opinion.

This has got to be the funniest book I've read this year. 'It's Raining Men' was a quick read. Between the banter and the love, I couldn't put it down. Definitely a five star read.

While it was a fairly cute read, I found the writing to be below my interests. The main character was interesting enough but there wasn’t anything really special about her. Overall, it was a fun read!

It's Raining Men was a very middle of the pack style romcom, that was more miss than hit for me.

I was super excited to be able to read this early thanks to Netgalley, but my excitement soon faded to disappointment once I got into the book. I really wanted to love this and tried my best, especially since the premise sounded promising and like something I would enjoy. Unfortunately, this just didn't work out for me, womp womp.

Overall I thought the plot was alright but a little underwhelming, and I rode the struggle bus and hard when it came to connecting with Annie and the rest of the characters... The only saving grace is the short chapters really help the drag of this book, and the dialogue wasn't too bad.

This book centres around Annie Kyle, a 40-year-old doctor who is very successful but lonely. I really liked how career-driven she is & it definitely is a quality I admire. Her work is a huge part of her & how she is, which is something that's very realistic & I enjoyed it. She was also very self-aware which was a great bonus. While Annie wasn't flat or one-dimensional, she wasn't very interesting either. She felt real but also very bland, not necessarily someone I was particularly invested in.

Annie was an enigma to me, honestly. She is written to be relatable & I feel like she's supposed to be but at the end of the day, she still seems very awkward & unrealistic. This sounds contradictory to what I said before about her feeling real & that's exactly how this book felt. Annie was a little too contradictory at times, with her actions & intentions not lining up. Sometimes I can relate to her & sometimes, I can't understand her. Her character arc was choppy & the 'coming-of-age' aspect had a lot of room for improvement.

I honestly feel quite apathetic in terms of the reading experience. I didn't hate it but there was no sparkle or charm that I normally look for in a rom-com. The love square(yes, square, not triangle) was very unappealing. I can't think of why a successful doctor like her who knows a lot about self-love would ever settle for men like them. It would've been so much better if I'd felt at least a little torn about the decision but the men were such big NOs. There was really no dilemma between the men at all so it wasn't as angsty as it could've been.

I, truth to God, almost got whiplash reading the development of Annie & Dax's relationship. It was like I was continuously being thrown in the face with new things that were happening between them that I literally was not aware was happening. Their entire relationship was unbelievably messy & out of the blue. It was pleasantly-paced at first, but got confusing really quickly.

There are some redeeming qualities, of course. The dialogue was good! It was certainly funny & it did read like a rom-com & while Annie's actions were a little contradictory at times her voice was fairly consistent so I appreciated that. The short chapters also really helped minimise the drag.

Wanted to love it, but just didn't. I just could not connect to the characters and with the book. It felt more like a chore to read it, that a hobby... 2.5 stars.y

Annie is truly a girl boss!!! I love how hard she’s worked for the life she has. Each man brought something different to the table: feeling comfortable, experiencing VIP world, and leading with her feelings instead of her head. I absolutely loved how much the characters changed throughout the book, not just the main. In the end love and happiness is what’s most important, everything else will fall into place.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advance copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I suffered through this one. The premise sounded great, like something I would enjoy. However, I lost count in the first half of the book of how many times the narrator was shaming people in their twenties. I’m in my thirties, and sure, I see some silly behaviors out there, but the things being said came across as pure condescension and it made it very hard for me to overlook to enjoy the rest of the book.

I really wanted to like this book, especially since I've been loving contemporaries recently, but unfortunately, I was underwhelmed. Nothing about this book really stood out to me, negative or positive, and I found myself struggling to keep reading. It's Raining Men follows the story of Annie Kyle who is a successful, but lonely doctor. She ends up drunk texting some guys, and suddenly, she has a love triangle that's turning into a square..? Both of the options, Darius and Rob, were bland and unremarkable. There wasn't any chemistry between them and Annie, despite being eager to marry her. I did really like the bartender Dax and his dog, Joanne, but even then, they aren't really memorable. Contemporaries tend to have unrealistic and ideal circumstances, but this book was pushing it. I still really enjoyed reading some of the dialogue and overall it was an easy book to get into. Annie is a very likable character and I loved seeing her job as a concierge doctor!

A massive thank you to Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was gonna make a little different beginning to this review until I took some time and, yeah...PR departments need to either be brave enough to back their Authors and their books, or someone has to re-design the genre markings so that we have OTHER WORDS to call very specific books.

I had some idea in my brain this SCREAMED Women's Fiction to me, then had thought NetGalley had marked it as such. Goodreads put it under TOP BILLING for Romance and then of course 3rd was for WOMEN'S FICTION.

Look, I'm no dummy. I have been in this Romance Reader game for a massive majority of my life [35+yrs]. When a Summary tells me a woman protagonist, who will be our heroine, has 3 men vying for her love interests? 2 for sure, and then one off to the side as a maybe? This is not mainly a Romance. And man, come on...a mature woman in her 40s, hitting a mid-life crisis where most of her best friends are all getting loved and paired up, having babies and moving on? This is a story about a woman's journey.

I am in no way upset at the book, story, characters or Author, but it's not nice to sugar-coat and hide the unexpected to those inexperienced. Especially the way Romance genre has been lauded about and can take off, skyrocketing to Best Seller lists. Most readers want to get their groove on and some folks will crap on this book for leading them astray. And it really comes down to MARKETING-PR and MARKETING-PR...stop calling Chick Lit/Women's Lit/Fiction Romance... at this point, I am so exhausted from screaming this as loud as possible. Because you have no idea how this ruins a great book and an Author's reputation when you make false promises you can never live up to.

It's like for some readers they start to hate-read a book and hate-on the characters because they feel betrayed and I fully understand. It is a huge let down to walk in with high expectations and to learn you were duped.

But, listen, 35yrs of reading has given me gumption of my own and an ability to be set in my own opinions [because I have read it ALL, it feels like] to never assume I am being told the whole truth. Always have no expectations or low expectations, then NO ONE will let you down. And everything will come out smelling like roses.

..what is that saying, " Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining... " Because, yeah... don't tell an expert Romance reader she is reading ROMANCE when ALL THE SIGNS point toward near non-romance.

Luckily, the reason I picked this book was for the summary's pile-on of men for a 40yr old woman. I was curious to see what her journey would teach her.

I found myself...reading a book, a story, about a character I was pleasantly surprised to read more and more of. Was she golden for me the whole way through? Of course not...that is what's so wonderful and fascinating about Women's Fiction...the chance to take a lead character's hand and go on a walk of self-discovery.

Look, there is a trio of girlfriends here where one just...it almost derails the center romances...overtakes the woman's personal journey, because Annie thought ONE WAY about a one-on-one relationship with one of her best friends, Kelly.

Except...here is where this story blew my ever-lovin' mind. It became personal for me because I have gone through a similar self-exploration.

Teens, 20-somethings and even some 30-yr olds won't ever know this until they pass over a hump at 40. Yeah, for many, this is a point in time where if you remain a "single", then this is who you might be for 5, 10, 15 more years. For some, suddenly it becomes a rite of passage, like you restart your libido again and you find a man or woman, and now you start viewing a future with this person.

If anyone has had a lifelong best friend and when you reached certain milestones in youth together, then you made profound declarations..."Oh, this is awesome! In ??yrs when we're in our 30s/40s/50s we'll still be together and retired, drinking margaritas and hitting on younger men..."...whatever the promise was... SOMEONE ends up not keeping it.

Or worse, neither of you vocalized the sacred promise and only ASSUMED you both would be single forever and life would simply mosey onward.

This is basically a story about THAT MOMENT. Between two women best friends. Where ONE... Annie, our heroine, had thought her friend Kelly would live in her home's basement [an apartment] FOREVER. And they would be old cronies together. Instead, a family tragedy drags Kelly back home to stay with her parents and then...eh, she finds a late-in-life LOVE, with a 40+yr old man.

Now Annie has to re-calibrate. Everything. Her plans gone kaput--she is not a planner but she conjures ideas and ways to conquer them in her head. So Annie has always thought it would be HER & KELLY. But for Kelly? Not so much.

I have never resonated with a main character so much which is probably why this book settled perfectly in my frame of mind and all my own mid-life crisis moments...because, this stuff happens. Real life is a bummer, and its often tragic and ever-changing. We have to constantly be prepared to change with it. Be able to lose important people who we once thought would be there forever. Even if they are family or feel like family.

We are also allowed to be angry and upset. Especially if what Kelly did to Annie is done to any of us. Annie was, and I think always will be, too forgiving. Not so much passive aggressive, but she allowed Kelly to get away with, uhm, so much more than just turning BRIDEZILLA for her wedding...but UGLY YELLING and making wild assumptions about Annie's career. And also questioning Annie's character and friendship because of always being on-call for her job.

Kelly KNOWS this but suddenly when Kelly was having a crisis and then during that crisis fell in love, she began to keep things secret from Annie. I can only assume her guilt was making her become angry...but it was displaced, scapegoated when she finally faced Annie with her fiance, Mark, the man she'd been falling in love with for 3-months.

Annie is a concierge doctor. She does not work outside of an office, per se. She has "patients", her clients, but she works for VIP people who can afford to pay her by-the-hour. And it sounds like what it is...when a pricey, fancy hotel will have a concierge doctor on-call. This is pretty much what Annie is, except she is FOREVER on-call for patients on the outside.

And Annie is a nurturer so she cares about her patients a lot more than having a social life. And this was apparently the trigger that sends Kelly off on a really nasty rampage, off and on.

Kelly comes back home, makes Annie assume things are back to normal... all the while Kelly is keeping secrets. 1) that she could be moving out, moving away, back home 2) that she fell in love while caregiving her parents, her mom, mainly and then 3) that she is now engaged because this man has been in Kelly's life for 3months...

Great that Kelly asked Annie to be in her wedding, but, yeah... Kelly continued to cop major attitude with Annie...always seeming to belittle and crush Annie's spirit...for what? I don't know. It took up major portions of the book/story and plagued Annie's mind when she wasn't with the men of this book.

And yes, there are 3 men vying for Annie. Two she will drunkenly propose to...and then one, Dax, a 27yr old bartender, who reluctantly becomes her replacement Pub Trivia team mate. Especially once she gives him Kelly's old apartment in her basement.

The other two men, Rob...an old high school classmate who is one year older than Annie. Their mothers are Best Friends. They also either live next door or live in the same neighborhood. Also, Rob's mom is recovering from cancer but not fully in remission. So there is an added extra pressure to marry Rob, but just from their mothers.

Then there is Darius, who is...hmm, I want to say around Annie's age or maybe a year or two younger. He should be no less than 35. He is a local news personality who does a kind of MAN ON THE STREET piece, but he really wants to BE a media personality, especially on RADIO, for Chicago.

Uhm, one of Annie's longtime patients is the anchor where Darius works; she also mentored him when he joined the news channel. Darius was kind of strong-armed to do a "piece" on Annie for TV...and from there Darius became interested in her.

When Kelly shows up, randomly, out of the blue, with her fiance, Mark...Annie just does not know what to do, where to go or who she is anymore...because Kelly has been living another life she never allowed her to be a part of. Then just one day brings a strange man to Pub Trivia...and shows off her engagement ring. Annie learns their other friend knew about everything a lot longer. And then, of course...Annie's future starts to unravel...

And, yeah...this is a harsh betrayal of someone you assumed was your best friend and that you two would be single until the end of time.

And there are moments here where I wished Annie had taken some sage advice...some friendships aren't meant to last for good--shockingly, this came from the 3rd friend in the trio of girlfriends, Yessa/Yessi[?]. There will be people that we know for a short enough time and then they have served a purpose and so much changes between you two that...maybe it is time to move and let it go. Except Annie doesn't, but I wished she had, to some extent.

Stay until she could be in Kelly's wedding. See her off on the honeymoon with Mark...and then slowly ease back and make KELLY come to her. Because apparently Annie had made too many wrong assumptions and Kelly didn't see HER like that anymore.

Hurt and brokenhearted, TWO of her friends are in BLISS and LOVE, while she is still single, so Annie drunkenly sends a proposal text to ALL the men in her Contact list...but eh, a handful respond.

Annie actually is the one who chooses that it will only be ROB and DARIUS. She will go on dates with them to "get to know" them...but yeah...here is where Annie wasn't such a great heroine in her own story. She was too much of a pushover, wanting to please EVERYBODY and not put a foot down for herself.

Mainly because...there was something about the way Dax was being written. Something about the way Annie reacted to Dax. And also, the way Dax reacted to Annie. There's interesting details, minor moments in random scenes...once where Dax breaks a wine bottle on his leg...Annie rushes to "doctor" him...and then in Annie's big screw-up...Dax takes a drunken Annie home, and stays at her place in order to make sure she was okay.

These were minuscule enough details that many would overlook, but as a writer they stayed in my mind as smaller pieces of a much bigger puzzle that would fit together eventually. Dax and Annie singularly proved to me... they care and have compassion, despite being different ages... Annie [39] Dax [27]. And when the Author adds a precious dog to take care...?? yeah, even more of a "sign".

Yeah, there is awkwardness and some modicum of two really fascinating characters of the opposite sex who could not be more different, but keep bumping into one another...there's a tug between them...but they never act on that pull. Then because Dax and Annie almost see each other, on a routine...especially when he moves in, with his dog, Joanne...yeah, they begin to warm up together because...

...after all Annie's complaining...she will soon turn 40, in August, and she knew Dax was 20-something...she kept shooting him down. But there was always something special and attractive about Dax Annie could not stop being drawn to. Because they would sometimes talk and open-up about certain things she never let other people know about her life, her privacy.

I kind of knew right from the jump, Dax would be whom Annie would end up with. Mainly because...hehehe, I actually thought Rob could be gay. He was simply too, too close to his special group of male friends and then he focused on ONE. He brought Annie to a Bar-B-Que and ended up ghosting her...this was their 2nd date. He was also in this "thing" with Annie for the wrong reasons... more to make his terminally ill Mom happy, by marrying HER best friend's daughter???

Darius? Ugh...just no. All Flash & Show but no substance. Something about him screamed RED FLAGs. I hated that Annie enjoyed how "connected" Darius was to a lot of things in and out of Chicago. He could get VIP status anywhere [into clubs and restaurants w/o waiting in line], but yeah...Darius wants success and a beautiful Perma-date/Plus One [almost a Trophy Wife]. But secretly, with his last relationship, he had fallen in love with another Chicago celebrity whom he had to let go of...and, this did not bode well for Annie.

Once Annie makes the decision to break things off with Rob and Darius, because she wants to be with Dax...once again, Annie becomes an idiot...and, yeah, Dax was right to react the way he did.

Annie has this ability to be TOO NICE and never tell people N-O...so, she basically has TWO ENGAGEMENT RINGS in her purse... which Dax finds...and things start to fall apart.

And here again is a space where you know this is not a Romance but a Woman's Fiction story when Annie lets Dax go--6months to a full year for his band to go on a European Tour. It was very close to the end, nearly 3rd-4th chapter from the eventual end. And suddenly Kelly comes in to make random apologies...and now wants to help Annie get Dax back.

Darius ended up with his HEA. Rob got his own HEA with Dax's sister, Lily. And there Annie sat... wondering if Dax would return back to her...it almost felt like he stayed away and did not come back to Chicago, but, eh...

Annie did get her HEA with Dax... some are calling it an HFN. That's fine--we all have our opinions. I can understand why a reader would say it this way because Annie and Dax have promised in their relationship to not make definite plans, etched in stone--to play it by ear... to take each day as it comes...together.

But for some weird reason I see it written... I hear them say it...but I kind of get that both are with one another FOR GOOD. Other readers will assume what they will.

With my reading experience the way this story unfolds and how I can read between the lines actually said... eh, this is a HEA of permanence...but that's just me.

**I received this e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I have to admit, I struggled to write a review for this book. On the one hand it was a fun and quick read. I enjoyed the premise, with the almost bachelorette like feeling, back and forth between which man she would ultimately end up with.

But I think what I liked about it also made way for the problems. While it was overall entertaining, it was also a bit one dimensional. The scenes with the other two men sort of fell flat, which in all honesty may have been the point. We probably weren't supposed to fall in love with them as much... but it certainly would have made the will-they-won't-they more interesting if readers were a bit more invested in the characters.

I really wasn't a fan of the friend dynamic in this book either. It was the catalyst for the main plot, I get that. So it was necessary for some of it to happen. But again, it didn't feel natural at all, it just felt forced and underdeveloped.

Overall, this was a fun read and I would recommend it to readers looking for a quick and light romcom with some elements of the marriage of convenience trope.