The Marvelous Monroe Girls
Shirley Jump
January 11, 2022

In Harbor Cove, Massachusetts we find the Monroe sisters living near their Grandmother Eleanor, finished with college and trying to settle into careers. Only Margaret has found and married Michael. She is the eldest. She runs an artists jewelry shop in town. She spends too much time working on websites, accounting and trying to keep her store open. Gabby is the middle sister, still struggling over guilt stresses when her mother, Peggy passed in a car accident when the girls were young. She has opened a Vintage Clothing Store on the square. Emma is the youngest and the go-getter. She is a wedding planner for a local hotel. Aside from work , she is active in yoga and anything else that attracts her attention.
After their mother’s death, their father, Davis became unglued. Eleanor brought the girls to her house. He tried hard to pull his life together but worked too hard and could not bring himself to come back to the house without Peggy.
Gabby’s best friend Jake, who lived down the street ,was her faithful friend since first grade. He is a lawyer but working in his father’s firm was just not what he wanted to do. He loved photography and graphic design. He went to work for the local paper developing ads. The pay was much lower but he was happy at what he accomplished.
This unique, wonderfully written book from Shirley Jump gives us a profile of this family’s life including the best and the toughest parts of growing up. It is very pleasant to read however she doesn't skimp on the trials of her characters. The Marvelous Monroe Sisters will be published on January 11, 2022 by the Hachette Book Group. I appreciate their allowing me to read and review this delightful book. I encourage readers looking for a terrific family narrative. Enjoy this one!

I adored this one! The Marvelous Monroe Girls by Shirley Jump is a sweet contemporary romance that is as much about the romance as it is about family. Raised by their grandmother, the Monroe sisters – Margaret, Gabby, and Emma – were once a close knit unit. Now they’ve grown apart, concerned with their own adult problems and spending less and less time together. When Gabby notices that their grandmother is a little depressed, she takes it as a sign to get the sisters together and fix the problem. During an attic clean out, Gabby and her sisters discover a folder full of “Dear Abigail” letters and newspaper clippings which lead the girls to discover a whole new side to their grandmother.

This one centers mostly on Gabby, the middle sister. She has spent most of her life living up to a promise she made to her mother’s grave to keep her sisters together and happy. She’s devoted her life to making sure that everyone else is happy, never really focusing on her own happiness. With the discovery about her grandmother, Gabby hatches a plan with her younger sister Emma and best friend Jake to make her happy again. I like Gabby. She has all these good intentions that blow up in her face. Yet she finds a way to make them still work and also grows from them.

Jake is a sweet heart. I love that the author chose to include his point of view for some of the chapters. It is clear from his first introduction that he is madly in love with Gabby. They grew up together, have always been friends, and he is comfortable in that relationship. Seeing Gabby’s grandmother depressed and just not herself however wakes something up in Jake. Does he want to live his life in comfort or does he want to take a risk and live the life he dreams of having? You can guess which he chooses, and y’all I couldn’t be happier with that choice.

In addition to the potential romance, Gabby faces family issues head on. Her elder sister has grown distant and closed off. Emma is flighty and runs from relationships at every opportunity. Then there is their father who was absent after they lost their mother. His absence has left a whole in the Monroe family that could never be filled. Losing their mother so young has affected all the sisters in different ways. Gabby has internalized it and feels responsible for her death. This weighs heavy on her even nearly twenty years later. Add to the fact that their father who she was closest to has moved on with his life, Gabby is angry and mistrusting. It doesn’t help that Jake’s cousin broke her heart a year earlier either.

Overall I really enjoyed The Marvelous Monroe Girls. I found myself cheering them on. I loved the family element in this story. I liked seeing the sisters’ relationship and their relationship with their grandmother. She is the glue of this family element. And then there is Jake. The romance is main plot, and I just fell immediately. Best friends to lovers is my trope, and Jump pulls it off masterfully here. If you are looking for a sweet spring romance, I highly recommend it.

A very sweet, Hallmark movie in the making type of book. I finished in one sitting! I could not put it down. Sappy and sweet enough. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Thank you to Forever for providing me with a copy in advance in exchange for my review.

The Marvelous Monroe Girls is the first in a series following a different Monroe sister. This book follows Gabriella Monroe. She owns a vintage dress store in her small Massachusetts town that's in financial hardships. While she's in her grandmother's attic to locate her mother's wedding dress she comes across some newspaper clippings to Dear Amelia and believes her grandmother is the local advice columnist. With the help of her best friend, Jake, she sets out to see if her grandmother is Amelia and hopes to turn around the shop to make it the shop of her dreams.

This novel is part fiction and part romance. It definitely sets up future books with Margaret and Emma, the other Monroe sisters. You also get a snippet of their grandmother's life too which I imagine will play out in future novels as well. I wanted a bit more drama in the story, but that's just my own personal taste. This novel is something that can be easily read in a day. I don't think the story or characters will stick with me long; however, and I don't know if I'll be picking up any future books. It was fine to pass the time but will just be forgettable.

Sisters, small town in trouble, boy next door drama…all the makings of a sweet, fun novel or a movie on *that* channel. Characters are well developed, and the plot is good. I did find it a bit of a slow roll, but good never the less.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

This is the BEST novel to end my year reading. I was up way later than I ever would have thought

I loved that Shirley Jump creates these beautifully flawed characters, from Gabby's familial history to Jake’s rocky relationship with his father, along with Gabby’s sisters, her father, and many other supporting characters. We can so easily see ourselves, or a snippety of our lives within the lives of these characters.

Gabby works hard to be the glue that holds her adorable, perfectly imperfect family together, and after discovering some secret letters in her grandmother’s attic while in search of her mother’s wedding dress, she hatches a plan with her sisters to cheer up her grandmother.

Along the way her best friend since 1st grade, Jake, is clearly holding a deep love for Gabby- one that has never been expressed, and even though all the signs are there, so much pain has muddied the waters along the way.

What ensues is a beautiful story of not giving up on those you love, learning to let go of the past and love who you are in the present.

Trigger Warnings: parental/loved one loss, relationship failures. Message me if you want more details and be kind to yourself.

If you like childhood best friends to more, taking risks to live the life you want, family secrets, and learning from deep loss, then you will love this novel!

The Marvelous Monroe Girls releases January 11, and you have to message me as soon as you finish reading it, so we can talk!

Three sisters
Grandmother that needs help
Family drama
Slow burn romance
Thorough in some humorous and heartwarming moments and you get a heartfelt story.
Though the story started slow, It did pick up and the ending was pretty good.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I loved the sister dynamics in this book! They were authentic and the character development was awesome. The grandma was the standout for me in this one, as she reminded me so much of my grandma. The romances were adorable. This was feel good and full of fun shenanigans! 3.5 ⭐️

I read 28% of this, and I gave up. It just felt too boring and too predictable. I hate to DNF books that I'm reviewing, but this just wasn't for me. I hope you enjoy more than I did.

I liked the family connection and the sister relationship (and the grandma!) in this book. Small town family stories are always a win. But there were times when I felt like most of the characters were being difficult out of stubbornness. So much of this story would have been fixed by a conversation that no one was willing to have. I loved the Jake and Gabby story and wanted more of the background of his childhood and their friendship. there was so much potential here for a story that made us FEEL things, but it just felt a little surface.

Three sisters navigating their way in the small town they've grown up. A life where there mother has tragically passed, their father's coping didn't include them and a grandma who filled-in the blanks from youth into adulthood.

The youngest sister, Gabriella, made a promise on her mother's grave to always keep her family together. But along way she's sacrificed her personal life especially with the boy next door. Jake has always loved Bella-Ella but squashed his feelings down to keep her as his best friend. Slowly, they begin to draw on those long harbored feelings but Bella-Ella prioritize this in her chaotic life of managing the family.

I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, as the story is only superficial with many of the storylines unanswered. It is a quick read better suited for summer rather than winter. Sweet story of family, love and overcoming heartbreak.

Thank you Forever Publishing for the advance reader copy.

This one pulled on my heartstrings. It's a perfect small-town romance that had all the right pieces. Gabby is a fun heroine. She has a hopeful nature and seems willing to take some risks, at least to a small degree. I really liked seeing her take some more chances and open her heart and mind to the changes. Jake is the perfect hero. I had a big crush on him from the beginning of the story. The story moved at a good pace. There was a great mix of humor and heart. It had all the emotions. I really hope that there are more stories about the other sisters. I'm curious to learn their stories. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

A feel good story about family and finding love. Focusing on one young woman who is at a turning point in her life, she reconnects with her family and rediscovers her romantic feelings for an old love.

The Marvelous Monroe Girls is a story about family, friendship, and love. Gabby, Emma, and Margaret lost their mom at a young age and their grandma Eleanor raised them. Although the girls were close when they were young, now Gabby thinks they’re growing apart and she feels the need to pull them all back together so she can keep the promise she made to their mother.

Honestly, at first I thought the first 2 chapters were kind of slow. They didn’t really grab my attention with the back story and Gabby’s efforts to bring their sisters back together. But then there was Jake, the handsome neighbor who also happens to be Gabby’s best friend, and the story picked up the pace.

Boy, am I glad I kept reading! Jake is the most honest man friend anyone could have and I cheered for him all along as he talked himself into why he needed to let his feelings for Gabby be known. Now, Gabby, on the other hand, was a pain. She was unsecured, always minding everyone else’s business but her own. Then her reasoning for not wanting to cross the line and give herself a chance at a relationship with Jake was just dumb. She was so busy trying to fix everyone else’s life that she thought hers was perfect just the way it was. Worst of all, she wouldn’t listen. People tried to communicate with her, but she was so set in what she thought she heard and saw, that she wouldn’t stop seeing red when things were actually blue. IMHO she was annoying.

Jake saved the story for me. He threw caution to the wind and went for what made him happy. I just loved him!

Overall, it turned out to be a great story but only because of Jake and Eleanor.

Thank you Forever for the ARC to read and review.

This is another family drama about three sisters. Entirely adequate, but left me frustrated with long passages of repetition. Gabby is the middle child trying to hold everyone together. She blames herself for the family tragedy. The boy next door is in love with her and she refuses him over and over. Rather aggravating. He’s got family issues, feels bullied by his father, Nothing very original about these issues.

If you like family dramas, this book will be for you.

The middle of three sisters, Gabby hopes to make her grandmother smile again. She and her sisters find some of their grandmother's secrets when going through the attic. Jake, the neighbor Gabby grew up with, agrees to join her schemes.

I really loved the town and the Monroe family right from the start. Matchmaking and meddling abound, with everyone interfering with everyone else. The book is deeply emotional and gets into some tough family drama. This was an incredibly readable book that drew me in.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

TW: death of a parent

I found The Marvelous Monroe Girls to be entertaining, easy to read and with likeable characters. While the book includes all three Monroe sisters and their Grandmother, the book focuses primarily on Gabby which leads me to believe this is the first book in a series.  The book is set in the charming town of Harbor Cove.

The sisters lost their mother in a tragic accident as young girls and were thereafter raised by their Grandmother.  Their father was deep in grief and moved on to another relationship and family shortly after this tragedy.  Gabby blames herself for her mother’s accident and has made a promise to her mother to watch over the rest of the family.  Everything Gabby does involving her family centres around this promise.

This is a story of family love and romantic relationships.  Gabby is finding it more and more challenging to resist her “more than friends”  feelings for Jake.  With her mother’s tragic death in mind, she does not believe in a happy ever after.  She’s afraid to risk the lifelong friendship she’s had with Jake in the event of it becoming a romantic relationship going wrong.

Margaret is Gabby’s married older sister.  She has not been attending the weekly family dinners for quite some time.  The family is concerned that there is something wrong but Margaret isn’t open to talking about it. Emma is the youngest of the sisters, loves to travel and has no interest in romance.  She also seems to be the focus of the next book in the series.

What I Liked:

The friends to lovers trope involving Gabby and Jake
The small-town vibe of Harbor Cove
The role that the Grandmother has played in the girl’s lives.

The Marvelous Monroe Girls introduces you to the three Monroe sisters and their grandmother (who raised them when their mother died) and takes you through a stressful time in their lives: sensing that their grandmother is depressed, and finding out that she's been the woman behind their local paper's popular advice column. The sisters, particularly Gabby, want to show their grandmother that her advice works to cheer her up, so they do some scheming, which is sort of good, sort of bad. At the same time, Gabby and Jake, her long-time bff, are realizing they have the hots for each other, but Gabby has baggage to sift through before she can make a commitment.

This is a Hallmark movie of a book. Like, it's sweet, it's small-town, the main characters have the odds against them (sort of), families have to reconnect, and by the end, you have a feel-good novel. That said, it's also a bit predictable and trite. Does that stop it from being an enjoyable read? Nah. It's a sweet, easy read, and I'd recommend it as a beach read!

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever Publishing for the e-ARC.

The three Monroe sisters have grown up and grown apart, and Gabby wants to change that. After the three girls mother passed away, they moved in with their grandmother. Gabby stopped talking to her Dad, and as they grew up, they realize losing their mother at such a young age, affected them, and things hadn't been dealt with.
The girls get together and go up to the attic at their grandmother's house, and go through the boxes, that are up there. They discover things, and that seems to set in motion discoveries, that can help them heal, discover things about themselves they hadn't realized before, and facing what happened might bring them to a happy and healthy life, but will they have the courage to do it.
I received an ARC from Forever through NetGalley.

The Marvelous Monroe Girls follows Gabby Monroe, one of the three Monroe sisters who is doing everything in her power to keep her family close, and Jake, her best friend who has been in love with her since they were kids. I love friends to lovers and I love it was Jake who was the one to fall first in this since I feel like it’s typically the girl that falls first. I loved Jake—he was so sincere and kind. There was a lot of depth to him, and I loved seeing him strive for his dream even though his dad kept trying to pull him back into the family law firm. He was so genuine and level-headed and his care for Gabby and her family was just so sweet! I loved their banter and support for one another. While it isn’t a steamy read, these two had great chemistry. But more than a lot story, it’s a story about Gabby and her family. Her sisters Emma and Margaret were so interesting and different—I wish there had been more moments to emphasize the growth in their sisterly relationship. I thought Emma was so fun, I loved her spontaneous energy, and I just wanted to give Margaret a hug with everything she was doing through. I did get a lot of Gilmore Girls vibe with this! And their grandmother Eleanor is such a firecracker! She is so smart and wise and loving. It is an emotional and heartwarming story of love and sisterhood and family, and it’s just such a sweet book!