Writing: 4/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4/5

Three grief-stricken sisters (Beck, Claire, and Sophie) wondering how to go forward without their mother, one recently released felon trying to move forward after the drastic side-swipe of events leading to his conviction, and one old house (which said dead mother insisted posthumously be sold) on a gorgeous and remote island off the coast of Maine. These are the components of Fowler’s “messy-families dramedy.” Beck — a freelance journalist with a quietly crumbling marriage; Claire — a pediatric cardiologist whose marriage crashed when her secret unrequited love was inadvertently revealed; Sophie — living an instagram life hobnobbing with wealthy art investors while housesitting because she can’t afford rent; and CJ — poster child of the poor little rich boy who wants nothing more than a peaceful place to paint after a harrowing three years in the pen.

Very good writing full of tart observations on life from a variety of perspectives. Good character insight. I found it interesting that I actually liked CJ more than I liked any of the sisters — probably because he was a little less self centered than the others having already gone through his lesson learning phase (prison will do that to you I hear) while they spend much of the book going through theirs. Some great background stories featuring Manhattan, LA, Dubai, and the wealthy world of art collectors. Also, an adorable little boy who kind of stole the show from my perspective.

Very enjoyable read.

Some good quotes:

“I needed to be humbled — I see that now. It’s the antidote for self-pity, which I admit to indulging more than a few times during the Great Undoing, when I allowed myself to think about how well everything was going for everyone else.”

“I never meant to get so caught up in all the artifice. I never thought the lifestyle would come to own me. It was a kind of addiction, I can totally see that now. … No more fueling myself with the facade of adulation from strangers who think I’m more than I am.”

“What unreasonable, illogical bastards feelings were.”

“Besides, a wealthy, liberal man with high intelligence and a sense of ethics like Sophie wanted was probably not going to look at her and see spouse material. Leaving aside her fine-tuned physical appearance, what did she have to offer? Being nimble, being wily, being conniving when that’s what was necessary to do the task at hand — this was not a compelling attribute list for a future Mrs. Liberal Billionaire.”

“Maybe because Mom was the glue. You know? Dad was … he made us like dandelion seeds, scattering us all over the city so that we could see and do everything. But then Mom held us all together, and now we’re adrift because neither of them are here.”

“CJ could not speak for every man, but in his view softer parts were just fine! Softer parts were natural! If God had meant for women to look like praying mantises, he’d have made their ability to bite men’s heads off literal.”

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for providing this me this arc.

This is a wonderful story and female relationships, mothers and daughters, and sisterhood. I really enjoyed it and flew through the pages quickly.

I usually look for character development when I read, and I found it in all four major characters in this book. Each starts from a place of uncertainty and unhappiness and is skillfully led by the author through their often-thwarted attempts to find fulfillment.

Three are adult sisters whose mother, who recently passed away from cancer, wants them to come together to prepare the family home in Maine for sale and share the proceeds. One of the sisters, a journalist, desperately wants a career as a novelist and has a marriage that has lost all sexual intimacy. The second sister, a pediatric oncologist, has recently ended her marriage and longs secretly for an inappropriate man. The third leads a life of travel and celebrities but can't seem to lock down a career that keeps her from financial dire straits and satisfies her appreciation of art. And a man who was imprisoned for attempted murder and has a history with one of the sisters is trying to buy their mother's house.

I particularly enjoyed the illuminating final chapters of the book, including an epilogue that lets the reader know what each character is doing toward achieving their life goals.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read and honestly review this book.

It took me a bit to get into this family drama. After the matriarch of the Geller family dies, her three daughters must sell the family's Maine cottage.

This was an entertaining, quick read, and was well written, but kind of left me wanting more. The beginning of the book made it sound like major secrets were being kept, and when they came out, they just didn't feel that dramatic to me. Marti's secret(s) in particular seemed so unimportant they made me wonder why she was keeping them all along. And some missing plot points - was Marti actually Jewish? Was that part of the secret? And the storyline between Claire and Paul was wrapped up too neatly. I thought it was building up to some major confrontation between CJ and the sisters which never happened. And Sophie's story may have been personally wrapped up, but I wanted to find out more what happened with her boss and the gallery. There was also way too much of a reliance on coincidences, which I can see happening with a small town in Maine, but definitely not what happens at the end of the book. So while I think the book was a nice read, I couldn't get these things out of my head.

I really enjoyed this book after I got into it. It took me a while in the beginning because there were so many characters and I felt like I couldn't keep everyone straight. After I got more involved in the story, I enjoyed the characters, the different storylines, and the setting. I feel like planning a trip to Maine after reading it!
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an arc of this book.

More than deserving of my 5-star rating, this delightful confection of a book concerns itself with Fate. Whether you call it Kismet (from the Islamic) or Bashert (from the Yiddish), this book is about fate and how strangely and unexpectedly it can find you.

Marti, mother t0 three daughters, dies of lung cancer early in the book and leaves, with her will, a video that tells the three Geller sisters that her whole life was a lie. Rather than being from Kentucky and an orphan, Marti confesses that she was a child of a poor farm family in Mt. Desert Island, Maine. The cottage there is to be sold with the proceeds divided among the three sisters.

Beck, a journalist and the eldest, is married to Paul, an editor in a dull, unsatisfying long marriage. Claire, middle sister is a successful pediatric cardiac surgeon, newly divorced from Chad. In a tipsy confession, Claire had told Chad she had always loved her brother-in-law, Paul.

The youngest, prettiest sister, Sophie, is a gallerist and Instagram media influencer. She travels in posh circles, rubbing shoulders with celebrities like George and Amal Clooney, Liev Schreiber, and famous models, rock stars and celebrities. He life is a page six story, except that she is almost broke.

C.J., an ex-con who has just been released from prison for attempted murder of his rich but verbally abusive father, comes to. Mt. Desert Island to find a scenic place in which to paint. Arlo, whom he meets there, is an orphaned 8-year-old being cared for by his elderly grandmother.

How their lives combine, recombine and change is what makes this book so charming and engrossing. Unlike most Women's Fiction (a term I dislike) this novel is filled with humor, great characters and purely wonderful writing.

With winter rapidly approaching, this is the perfect book with which to curl up. while, covered with a cashmere throw and drinking hot chocolate. Every character and page comes to life in full color. The fun of reading it makes it worth every star.

Thanks to the publisher and author for an early copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

As the book opens, Marti Geller is dying and is finalizing her will with very specific instructions for the division of her property. While her three adult daughters are not estranged, they are very different individuals and each very much into her own life. They are required to come together in agreement to carry out their mother’s final wishes. I did not find many redeeming qualities in the characters in the first half of the book, yet by the end I found their actions endearing. A newly released ex con working in the area and his very loving relationship with an orphaned adolescent boy provides a nice sub plot, and the Maine coast makes for a pleasant setting. I enjoy novels that have strong sibling relationships, and as the novel ends, there is no question that these sisters have each other’s backs. It ties up a little too neatly, but then why should I complain about a happy ending? While I didn’t find this as enjoyable as the author’s earlier novels, it did make for an interesting read.
#ItAllComesDownToThis. #NetGalley

I’m a sucker for appropriate endings! I say it that way to keep from spoiling it for other readers. This book is about three sisters whose Mother has just died. At times I thought the book was a little boring and focused on things that were not pertinent to the story. Then there would be a few chapters that were well written and interesting. The sisters are Beck, Claire and Sophie. They are very different and live very different lives. But then, they are sisters that were raised by both of their parents and so they really are somewhat alike. It’s an interesting story and I would probably read another from this author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

I want to thank St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review It All Comes Down to This by Therese Anne Fowler.
Marti has three very different adult daughters. Marti, who is terminally ill, has carefully crafted what happens when she dies.
A lot of this story revolves around “camp”, the family summer home in Mount Desert Inn, Maine. Secrets abound, even from the grave, and beyond.
Does Beck confront Paul? Is he gay?
Will Claire and Paul ever confess their feelings for one another?
How does Sophie extricate herself?
This novel , is a woman’s book. There are good character studies and descriptions.
It All Comes Down to This is scheduled for publication June 7, 2022.

An interesting story about family dynamics and conflict. I think the story is reflective of true life in many ways and accurate about what families can be like.

Fowler gives Elin Hilderbrand a run for her money in IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS. Fowler takes a well-known trope in women's fiction - daughters called together to a cottage on a lake to fulfill the mother's dying wish. But each of these women and deep, richly created characters and I really came to care about them as I read. there's Beck, devoted wife and mother, now an empty-nester struggling to figure out if she can truly be the novelist she always hoped to be. And Claire, a doctor in a chilly midwestern town whose husband recently filed for divorce, which she doesn't mind so much, but her young son does. And there's Sophie, who has strived for years for recognition - her high-flying lifestyle really just a front. As the three women explore who they are without the mother who bound them together, secrets are revealed, relationships tested, but each emerges as the person she was truly meant to be. Sentimental, but not sappy, IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS is a wonderful, comforting read.

This is an excellent book about family relationships. It is powerfully written, heartbreaking at times, and very compelling. The story centers around three sisters who inherit the family cabin after their mother’s death and must decide what to do with it. Life is messy, relationships are messy, and families are messy, and Fowler does an excellent job of depicting all of this is one lovely book. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Really enjoyed this book! The story and characters really pulled me in. The three sisters were all very different and had their own problems and ideas.

When their mother dies, they learn she had kept some secrets from them and they were to sell a lakehouse in Maine and divide the proceeds. Each sister has a different idea about this and for many different reasons. Beck is a journalist, headstrong and confidant, married to Paul which has become mostly platonic. Claire is a divorced pediatric cardiologist with one son, she longs for a man she cannot have. Sophie works at an art gallery and is trying to be an influencer but she’s quickly running out of money and options. You are also taken back in time and find out their mother’s story too.

The ending was satisfying which, for me, is always a plus. Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this book.

It All Comes Down to This by Therese Anne Fowler is the story of a mother, planning the end of her life and her three daughters who lead very different lives, but come together after their mother's death to deal with what she has left them to do. When Marti passes, she leaves her daughters a vacation home in Maine, which only one of them wants to keep. Beck feels that it will inspire her creativity and allow her to write her first novel, but her sisters want to sell so they can have the money, especially her younger sister who is deeply in debt. The novel brings their disparate (and desperate) situations to the forefront and uncovers secrets that have been hiding for years.

I felt the novel was a little slow in some places and very unrealistic in others, although it did keep me entertained enough to keep reading to the end. It did leave many unanswered questions, maybe there's going to be a sequel to answer them? Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Initially, I was sure I wouldn't enjoy this book. However. I was completely misinformed and incorrect.

This is a book about family. And accepting those in your family and acknowledging that being part of a family is messy and difficult but sometimes, oh so worthwhile.

All three sisters at the center of this family drama have their own secrets and troubles, that by the end of the book are resolved nicely and satisfactorily. I also enjoyed learning about C.J. and how his own story overlapped with the sisters, but also had a different message about family, and how sometimes it's not the ones we are born into but the ones we make that end up staying with us.

Families are messy and maybe this family was a bit more messy than average, but I still enjoyed being along for the ride and certainly recommend others take the journey with them too.

Thank you to NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel.

Three sisters inherit their family cabin in Maine after their mother passes away. Her will indicates that her adult daughters should sell the property and split the profits. Beck would like to keep it but can't afford to buy out her sisters, Claire and Sophie. Family dynamics, personalities and life experiences make for interesting plot twists. The author's research and skillful descriptions make It All Comes Down to This a pleasure to read.

This book could have been written about a lot of families that I know. Life is just messy. There is divorce, love triangles, children splitting the week between parents, overspending, people in debt......the list goes on. This is not just a novel about one particular issue. There is so much going on, starting with a mother who would rather die alone than with family at her side. From that point, the sisters need to reunite in order to sell off the family vacation home- and that is when everything comes out. While I did not care for the sisters, I enjoyed this book although it did drag on in parts. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It All Comes Down to This by T.A. Fowler, published by St. Martin's Press, paints the story of a family. Three sisters, strong minded Sophie, Claire and Beck Geller. The sisters are back home for their flailing mother. They're different from each other, bt also have much in common.
A touching warm hearted novel of family and sisterhood, a story of heartbreak and healing, 4,5 stars.

This story starts out with the matriarch of the Geller family finalizing all her final plans as she prepares for her demise.
Upon notification that their Mother has died, though aware of her illness, yet never prepared, the three daughters return home.
The journey and dysfunction is apparent between each women as they try to navigate through what they really want from life and the assets their mother has left for them to sell. Will they all agree?
What is realistic?

This is an interesting novel and though I enjoyed it at times, I truly was not in awe of it.
It has family, friendship, romance and heartache!