♥ If Tweet Cute was cheese-covered and You Have a Match was soaked in summer camp, then When You Get the Chance is DIPPED IN GLITTER and I love it so much.

♥ This is another short little sort of review because I was supposed to write my review weeks ago and like usual I DIDN’T because I am starting 2022 off by continuing on exactly as I have always done with zero improvements.

♥ But THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU IF:

You love musicals/theater and want to see the world backstage
You love enemies to lovers
You’ve enjoyed Emma Lord in the past
The concept of Mama Mia with a “find my mom instead” twist intrigues you
You were ever part of musical theater, whether on stage or crew or production, even just in high school, because there is something about about it that never leaves you and you can never forget what it feels like backstage and you bond with everyone, be that being at school until 11 pm every school night for rehearsal or early Saturday morning to build scaffolding. (Why yes I was on stage crew and I did have a headset and I did find that wildly exciting why do you ask?)
You can’t get enough of a good epilogue because Emma Lord does nothing better than give us one every time that involves every single character.
So READ UP, YA’LL! Millie is a heroine to root for and Oliver is a beautiful little cinnamon roll in a sticky bun wrapping. You can’t see it at first but once you get to the inside of him, hoooooo boy.

“Every conversation with someone who has more power than you is an audition if you squint.”

“The apartment is so quiet the next morning I feel like I’m haunting it.”

This book wasn't for me -- but I think it's my age that made this a bit of a loss.
However, the writing is fantastic, the characters are fun, the topics covered are going to be loved by many. Emma Lord is a favorite and I will continue to read her work. Again, this book is going to be a hit with some, it was just a miss for me.

DNF @ 10%

This is not a reflection of the author, the writing or anything other than my personal taste. Millie is an over the top character, and she is just too much for me to handle. I would recommend When You Get the Chance to others, as well as Emma Lords other books.

Thank you for the opportunity to review.

This book was like a warm hug for my ABBA-loving heart. I don't read a ton of YA, but Emma Lord has my number. for sure. I read and loved Tweet Cute and You Have a Match and now we're three for three! Millie wants two things - the theater stage and to find her Mom. In a gender swapped Mamma Mia storyline, she finds her Dad's journal and three potential moms to track down. Tie in a summer theater internship with her arch nemesis and we have as much drama as in an ABBA song.

Such a fun, cute, easy read. It had some twists and turns, a great NYC setting, a bit of mystery, a bit of romance and a whole lot of plot to tie together. I loved the Dad and daughter relationship, as well as a romance storyline for Dad too. Just an all-around happy book. Whatever Emma Lord comes up with next, I'll be there with my Dancing Queen shoes on.

OH MY GOODNESS! This is such an adorable and heartwarming read. We follow Millie, who dreams of being a Broadway star and of finding her mother. She lives with her Dad, and has grown up loving musical theater and basically orchestrating her whole life in the pursuit of her goals. When she is presented with an opportunity to attend a pre-college program for theater, she is distraught that her father isn't on board. She finds a journal that gives her three options for the identity of her mother, something her father has never shared any information about. She sets off on an adventure to find her mother and prove that she would be on board with her plan to move across the country for the program. Mille has a theater frenemy, Oliver, who is a backstage/manager type and basically the opposite of her performer persona. He keeps popping up in her travels and provides a wonderful twisty slow burn that made me laugh each time they engaged in banter.

I loved reading about Millie's search for her mother which is essentially her search for herself. Her inner monologue was charming and amusing and her circle of friends was the perfect sounding board for her adventures. In this book, we explore such a tricky age, where who we are is defined by what we do and the circles we exist in, and Millie is reaching out in the universe hoping to make some sense of things. She is endearing and kind, and remains honest. The depth and introspection in this book impressed me, and I would recommend it to others!

It's difficult to know how to review a book that is so exuberantly delightful.

This is a theater story, borderline YA in that the main POVs are high schoolers looking ahead to college, but a lot of the story concerns the older generation, including parents, as Millie, our main character throws herself into a two-week internship, partly to spike the guns of Oliver, her enemy, and partly in order to solve the mystery of the mother who abandoned her. Emma Lord does an amazing job reproducing the high-energy (and high-maintenance) life of theater people.

Tthe one criticism I could make of this book is that what caused Millie's and Oliver's feud could have been cleared up in thirty seconds of talk. But by the time that happens the story is so involving I didn't care that the feud felt a bit contrived. All the other emotional interactions were so intense, and the arc of Millie's and Oliver's relationship so satisfying, that it just didn't matter.

The plays, the creativity in every direction, the crazy pace of life, the dedication, the hard choices when one has the chance to do what one loves, and how it can eat up your life, all are beautifully reproduced, along with moments of laugh out loud humor as well as winces and sympathy, and above all affection and tenderness.

Such a lovely book. I hope all the theater kids out there, and those who were once theater kids, will find it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read and review.

I loved loved loved this book! Mamma Mia but with Millie trying to figure out which woman is her mother. The characters are so fun and loving. I adore all of them; which is amazing. Millie is confident and realistic and anxious and talented. I love all of it! Emma Lord has quickly become a favourite author for me!

Millie Price has it all figured out. As she finishes her junior year of high school, she’s already planned ahead for next year, and that plan is a prestigious precollege program where she can finish her senior year of high school while starting college and getting to study musical theater to boot. That will put her one year ahead of her contemporaries, and she can take Broadway by storm one year sooner. Because she knows that she will. It’s just a matter of time.

But then her dad finds out about her plan. He’s not so excited about her idea of moving to California for school, even if just getting accepted to the program is an impressive achievement.

Millie doesn’t know her mother. She had left Millie with her father wen she was an infant, and it’s been the two of them and her aunt Heather ever since. But Millie knows some things about her mother, like that she is in show business. Millie thinks that maybe if she can find her mother, then Millie can get her on her side and convince her father to let her go to program in California. Her best friend Teddy finds a blog site with her father’s college blog on it, and they get some ideas of who her mother could be. More internet searching leads Millie to three women, and she sets out to find them and meet them.

First is Steph, who works for a star-making talent manager, Georgia Check. When Millie goes to the office to try to talk to her, under the guise of a high schooler wanting to write for her school paper, she bumps into Oliver in the waiting room. For the past 3 years, Oliver has been her archnemesis. While she’s been a force in the theater department of her high school, Oliver has been too, just behind the scenes. Generally, when Millie would come up with what she thought was a great idea, Oliver would counter with his stage-manager scowl.

Before Millie can even say something to the receptionist Steph, Oliver assumes that she’s there for the summer internship he’s applying for and is not very happy about that. Millie pivots from her interview idea to this internship, fueled by that stage manger scowl she knows so well, and she readies herself to interview for a summer internship, especially since it’s paid. The manager admires Oliver’s resume and Millie’s energy and gives them both a chance at the internship. They’ll have two weeks to complete tasks, and then Georgia will decide who gets the job for the rest of the summer. Since it gives Millie a chance to get to know Steph better, and to make Oliver’s life more difficult, she’s in.

Meanwhile, her friend has found the other two women that may be Millie’s mom. One, Beth, has a monthly get-together for other theater nerds, so Teddy signs them both up for the next one, a Newsies night. And the third woman, Farrah, has a Broadway Boot Camp dance class, and as Millie needs to work on her dancing, she signs up.

Over the next couple of weeks, Millie spends her days running errands through her Broadway community, from picking up a star’s dog from daycare to delivering a giant sheet cake, and she spends her nights meeting potential candidates for her mother, learning to dance, and making friends with Beth’s daughter and fellow theater nerd Chloe. But Millie also finds that suddenly diving in to a search for her long-lost mother may be bringing up more emotions than she was expecting, and she starts hurting those who are already family in search of someone who gave her up. Will her summer of Millie Mia help her find answers, or will it just ruin everything else in her life?

When You Get the Chance is a love letter to all the kids who fell in love with the theater back in school and drove their parents crazy with soundtrack albums on a constant loop. Author Emma Lord writes from her own time in the drama club, and her love of New York and its theater community is clear on every page. These characters sing, literally but also with an energy and grace that keep you rooting for them, and the story is filled with action and emotion. Lord’s books (Tweet Cute, You Have a Match) are dense with storylines that keep every page turning, without a moment of boredom to slip in.

I really enjoyed When You Get the Chance. It’s a great story, layered with friends and family, surprises and sweetness. There are a lot of theater references, especially Mamma Mia, so be prepared. But if that sounds like heaven to you, then take a dive into this fun book and be prepared for the laughs, the tears, and the desire to give Lord a standing ovation when it’s over. Packed with pure emotion and personal vulnerabilities, When You Get the Chance is a tour-de-force that will put a smile on the face of theater kids and rom com lovers alike.

Egalleys for When You Get the Chance were provided by Wednesday Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

4.5/ 5 stars

When You Get the Chance is a Young Adult contemporary fiction that takes place in New York City. I would classify it as a YA rom-com/ Mamma Mia retelling.

The narrator is 16 year old Millie Price (1st person POV). She loves musical theatre and dreams of becoming a Broadway star.

I really adored everything about this story. This book focuses a lot on family. Millie lives with her dad and aunt. Her mom left her when she was a baby. This was such a key part of the story. And this takes Millie on a fun filled summer.

I loved Millie's relationship with her best friend/across the hall neighbor Teddy. I loved everything to do with her summer internship and her nemesis Oliver. And I loved the musical theatre aspect of the story so much. Millie is a star. Also the Mamma Mia aspect just made me so happy.

There is some romance. There is also a mystery. But the focus is Millie's hilarious and fun journey. This book was absolutely delightful. And what a great epilogue. I highly recommend this book!

What a delightful YA book this is. If you are a musical theater junkie this book is for you. Also, the main characters name is Millie and all I could think of while reading this was Thoroughly Modern Millie! Anyway, Millie is a talented actress who is dealing with a lot.
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She is searching for the mother that gave her up, #MammaMia style, trying to talk her dad into letting her go to a pre-college program cross country, and a possible enemies to love situation, all with her best friend Teddy by her side.
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Kicking off her search for her mother, Mille found her dad’s angsty livejournal, complete with a mix tape with songs like #yellow and #idontwanttomissathing . She sees a window into her dads life and tries to figure out who her mom is. While honestly I had a difficult time with a mom abandoning her child, it still was a fun story.
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For a perfectionist like Millie it’s a great reminder to, “Let your world get a little messy. “
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This book is out today!
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Thank you @Wednesdaybooks and @NetGalley for an advanced copy! This book is out today!

Millie Price dreams of being a Broadway star. As she thinks about her future plans, Millie begins to wonder about the mother who deserted her as a baby. After stumbling across her father’s 2003 “LiveJournal”, she reads about his references to three different women, and hopes by finding these three women, she can determine who her mother is.

This YA novel inspired by Mamma Mia flips the genders as Millie explores three potential mothers as opposed to fathers. I absolutely loved seeing Millie’s different relationships with her family and friends grow and evolve throughout the novel. I am a huge fan of musical theatre and Broadway, so this was such an enjoyable read! The story was light-hearted while also filled with laughs and emotional moments, and a cast of likable characters. I would highly recommend this book to any fellow theatre fans, or those looking for a fun-filled, feel-good book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Emma Lord for my gifted ARC!

Emma Lord is such a bright spot in Young Adult literature. I have enjoyed all three of her books immensely and she has become an auto-buy author. She has a great talent for balancing the light with the angst by exploring extreme topics with a sweetness that just warms your heart. When You Get the Chance is no different.

Millie could have easily been a very annoying and obnoxious characters—a self proclaimed diva who knows what she wants to do with her life and will do anything she can to do it. She is very self aware; she knows she is a lot to handle but remains being unapologetically herself, "Millie Moods" and all. I found her fun and charming, excited to go along on this gender swap Mamma Mia ride through New York City. Oliver is the perfect counterpart both in competition and love—introverted, Type A dork. I love a great male/female best friendship that has zero romance and Millie's best friend Teddy is such a great companion for our wild and obsessive girl.

I wish we saw more of Millie's relationship with her shy and earnest father. I know that the point is through Millie's search for her birth mother, she has this incredible father—and kick-ass aunt—who would do anything for her. I just wanted to see more of that strong bond. It's a shame that he wasn't present for a good portion of the book.

I gotta say, for someone who had a LiveJournal back in the day, this made me feel real old.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

When You Get the Chance is a fun romp! This book will please theater and Mama Mia fans!

Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream of becoming a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super introverted dad, who raised Millie alone since she was a baby. Not her drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not her “Millie Moods,” the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm. Millie needs an ally. And when an accidentally left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do—find her mom.

But how can you find a new part of your life and expect it to fit into your old one without leaving any marks? And why is it that when you go looking for the past, it somehow keeps bringing you back to what you’ve had all along?

Millie Price, 16, is a singer obsessed with the dream of making it on Broadway. Until then, she loves to bicker with her archnemesis, Oliver Yang, the student stage manager at their performing-arts high school. Raised by her under-40, introverted dad and gay aunt, Millie never thought much about who her mother is until she accidentally discovers her dad’s old LiveJournal. Inspired by Mama Mia! and guided by her dad’s angst-filled entries about past relationships, Millie sets out to discover whichof three women left her on her dad’s doorstep as a baby. Well-placed assumptions, strange bedfellows, and a lot of milkshakes make this a fully joyful story of a talented girl, who also acts as the novel’s vivacious narrator. Her relationship with Oliver begins contentiously then evolves to a mutual attraction that progresses nicely on earned trust and respect. Readers who love the theater—musical or not —and anyone craving a happily ever after will want Millie to take a series of curtain calls.

My review appeared in the December 15, 2021 issue of Booklist Magazine/American Library Association and on my web site, WhenLooseEndsMeets.com

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance. This was a solid 3.5 star-rating but I’m rounding up.
When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord, tells the story of Millie Price who dreams of being a Broadway sensation. To make this dream come true Mille gets accepted into an elite pre-college performing arts school. Only one problem is Mille’s dad says no. Millie is so crushed by her dad’s refusal to allow her to attend this school. Millie has been raised by her dad and his siter all her life after Millie’s mom abandoned her as a baby. Millie knew that sense her dad doesn’t agree to let her go there may be one person that would defiantly agree with allowing her to go to the school. With the help of her best friend/brother Teddy decide to find her Millie’s mother. Teddy stumbles upon an old LiveJournal account by Millie’s dad. With the information from the journal Millie hopes to locate her mother.
Millie is so unapologetically herself with her big and brash personality. Millie is a mostly well-rounded main character that acts like a typical teenager. A lot of thought was put into this character. Although she has her flaws like being overly dramatic and self-centered, she is self-aware about these flaws and doesn’t apologize for them.
I do like the friendship between Millie and Teddy. There aren’t many laugh out loud moments but Millie and Teddy’s brother and sister relationship helps make up for it along with Mille and Henry’s banter. The Mamma Mia! theme made the story enjoyable. I must complain that it was a touch predictable. I figured out who the mother was before Millie did but kept reading to make sure I was correct. The ending was adorable and I can defiantly see this book becoming a movie.

I am the least theatre-centric person you'll meet, but for Emma Lord I'll tattoo entire Broadway songs on my forehead.

Alright, my last book read in 2021 is the first I shall shout about in 2022! Millie Price has never known who her mother is, and since being raised by only her dweeby dad and her awesome aunt, she was okay with that. Until she and her best friend accidentally discover her dad's early 2000's LiveJournal. Suddenly Millie has not one but three potential mothers, and she's determined to figure out who it is. Farrah, the dance teacher; Beth, the Broadway superfan; or Steph, the talent agency assistant. This summer, Millie is doing what it takes to meet these women and figure out which is the other half that made her. And if that woman can help convince Millie's dad that letting her go to pre-college on the west coast is a great idea—all the better.

I may not know Broadway, but boy do I know Mamma Mia! I went absolutely feral when I learned what the premise of Lord's new book was about and was about ready to give up a kidney to read it. Honestly, I think it was executed masterfully. The three potential mothers, the way their lives had progressed since being with Millie's father, and how they all intertwined across New York City was so well done and entertaining. Not to mention it constantly kept me guessing about who it could be. The thing is, when you are looking for a birth mother rather than a father, it's a heck of a lot easier to get an answer in the end. I'm kind of pleased that I sort of guessed correctly? Like, I'm really satisfied with how everything comes together and it's such a warm and fuzzy conclusion.

Millie is another great character from this author. She is as spunky and enthusiastic as Lord's other main characters, and I really love that about her. After an unfortunate viral moment when she was younger, Millie has constantly reinvented herself. Every so often, she has a new look, a new style, but underneath she's still the same passionate teenager with big, big dreams. She wants to be a Broadway star one day, and she definitely has the chops to do it. I really loved learning about how she spreads that love of theatre to those around her, especially with how she worked to change her school's drama department to make it more inclusive and worthwhile for everyone. I also really enjoyed exploring the depth's of Millie and her identity. Not to mention she's funny. Lord's characters always have the best senses of humour, and it's part of what makes her books so enjoyable.

Overall, this book was such a hoot! The writing is so much fun and engaging in a way I find most in this genre can't quite get right. I love father-daughter relationships, and the one between Millie and Coop is so heart-warming. Every character is incredibly endearing in their own way, and the romance was so cute! I loved the dynamic between Millie and Oliver, and their individual arcs were fabulous.

In a very difficult genre for me, Emma Lord remains THE YA contemporary author. Every single book I've read from her is a home run and I cannot wait for what comes next!

This is an enemies to lovers romcom following a teenager set on a fabulous acting career when she gets sidetracked into finding her birth mother. Think of it as a reverse Mama Mia where there are three potential moms instead of dads. I hate to admit that I was not a huge fan of Mami Mia when I saw it on Broadway and the movies did not help. With that said I do love musical theater and I love everything about this book. There was so much of New York City on display, there was so much authenticity and joy in the hijinks that Millie pulled that I could not put this book down. Although I picked this book up because it was listed as a Romance, I got so much more. The story was filled with these little side stories around Millie that spoke to family, friendships, finding joy, making joy, and a lot of self acceptance.

Highly recommend if you love:

* Musical Theater / Broadway
* NYC
* romcoms
* enemies to lovers
* banter
* big ensemble casts

Millie dreams of being a Broadway star, and when her dad doesn’t agree to send her to a pre-college program, she needs an ally. After stumbling across her dad’s LiveJournal from 2003, she gets some clues about who her mom is. She narrows it down to 3 women, thanks to some Facebook sleuthing, and creates and plan to meet and get to know them, with hopes that she’ll find out who her mom is.

This Mamma Mia inspired book was SO MUCH FUN. If you’re looking for a fun YA coming of age read with a funny best friend, a rivals to lovers relationship, NYC adventures, with your typical high school shenanigans and family drama, all peppered with alllll the Broadway references, this is the book for you. I love Emma Lord’s previous books, but this one os by far my favorite of her work! This book made me so happy so go read it now.

I was very thankful to have received both ebook and audiobook copies because I didn’t want to put this down, and switching between the two formals made it possible to read it all through without really having to stop. Both formats were incredible - but I want to give a shoutout to the narrator of the audiobook who beautiful captured Millie’s larger than life personality and all of the teenage feelings.

Thanks to Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copies!

*Many thanks to Wednesday Books for the gifted copy for my honest review*

My heart has never felt so full after finishing a book. I loved this book so much, Millie is now one of my favorite book characters of all time. I laughed with her, cried with her, and could relate so much to her outgoing personality. This was such a wholesome, loving book about family, finding yourself, and friendship. I absolutely loved all of the romance also, I was almost swooning. My cheeks almost hurt from how much I was smiling while reading this book. You definitely can’t go wrong with a gender reversed Mamma Mia story.

Millie Price is an aspiring future Broadway star living with her dorky Dad and her awesome, club-owning aunt Heather. She just received her acceptance to the precollege of her dreams which means moving to the opposite side of the country and leaving her friends and family behind. When she can’t get consent from her dad, she decides to try and find the mother she’s never met in hopes of getting her on her side. Her techie best friend Teddy helps her out and finds her dad’s old journal online, identifying three women that could potentially be her mother. While working with her arch nemesis Oliver, Millie starts digging into the three women’s past and getting to know them better in hopes of identifying which of the three is her true mom. Along the way, Millie starts to learn more about her true self while gaining new friendships and relationships along the way.

This was an adorably sweet book that I couldn’t get enough of. I loved the ending of this book but I wish it was longer, I want more from Millie, Teddy, Oliver, Chloe, and the rest of Millie’s family and newfound family.

This was a really cute YA. I found myself rooting for Millie throughout her journey. I was shocked by the ending, which doesn’t happen often so it was a nice bonus. I really enjoyed both the book and audiobook, the narration was excellent!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free advanced copy of this ebook and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.