Matty fell inlove with Keelie thirteen years ago until Matty’s addiction to oxycodone broke them up. The story follows Matty as he battle his addiction while attempting sobriety with the help of his brother. Later on, he gets invited to his best friend’s wedding where he meets Keelie two years after their break up. Matty arrives at a crossroad: does he crave his life and the people in it or the pill.

The author did very good protraying the ups and downs of drug addiction. The first few chapters showed the messy side and also what those who suffer from addiction feels was perfectly depicted. I cannot fully resonate with the story personally but it definitely tugged my heart strings.

I love that the main character is a guy and how he was written. I’m so used to seeing men in books as strong but with Matty all his struggles, emotions, and negative experiences were laid out and that’s what makes him interesting. Keelie is such a wholesome character. Her patience with Matty despite everything is commendable. Chris, Michelle, and all their friends really made me think that if you are struggling (with anything), it really helps being surrounded with people who genuinely supports you.

The plot was original and it’s unlike any book I’ve read before and that I think what makes this captivating. It was honest, raw, sad, and happy. It’s realistic and an eye-opener. It’s bittersweet and the story was such a breath of fresh air. The author did wonderful for this debut!

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Don’t Overthink This comes out April 19th!

4.25 🌟

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Foxglove publishers for an ARC! It is important to remember that this is NOT a love story, although it is a part of the plot. This is story about what addiction is for a person, about redemption, love, and second chances. I found the characters were really well written and the story very interesting, which is sometimes very rare in a debut novel!

To preface: I read this in one straight shot, from 11 pm to 3 am, despite knowing I have to get up for work at 8 in the morning. I think that says more than enough about how much I enjoyed Don't Overthink This.

As someone currently pursuing an M.A. in psychology, I went into this book hoping to see a realistic portrayal of addiction and that’s exactly what I found. Piazza doesn’t glamorize it—it’s shown to be something raw and ugly that ruins lives. And that is exactly what happens to the main character, Matty. Seeing his battle with addiction from inside of his head was eye-opening. It shows you how the disease affects your brain and makes you blind to what is right in front of you: how wonderful your life is and how many people love you. The portrayal of other mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, was also executed well.

A part of the story I really love is the flashbacks intertwine with the present. It simultaneously broke my heart and made me root for Matty’s sobriety more than I already was. I wanted him and Keelie to get back together, not just for his sake but for hers. I love that Piazza makes sure to also highlight how hard it is to love an addict and what that side of things looks like.

Seeing Matty fight his addiction and regain control over his life made me so happy. I almost cried tears of joy at the scene where he flushes his last pill down the toilet. Every time he recognized his destructive behaviors and was able to change them, the little cheerleaders in my head went wild. And then seeing him patch up his relationships, not just with Keelie, but with everyone else in his life... It was so heartwarming.

So yes, this book is a second chance romance. But it is also so, so much more than that.

P.S. I also have to say that I feel like I learned a lot from Adam, the therapist friend of Chris’ that Matty goes to see. I hope I can make my clients feel that comfortable someday. Also, my Italian heart was really happy to see all the Italian included in the story!

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC!

*My rating is 2.5 stars rounded up to 3*
This review will also be posted to my Goodreads.

This book follows our MC Matty in the present day as he's battling an Oxydrone addiction.
In the first half of the book it alternates between present day and at various points in his past, revolving around his ex- girlfriend of almost a decade; Keelie. In the second half, all chapters are set in present day which is revolving around a mutual friends wedding weekend.

I'll start off with the positives for me:
I found the daily trumoil of an addicts mind to be interesting, a "peek behind the curtain" type of interest if you will.
The book definitely is stronger in the second half and I'm not Normally a reader who enjoys 'spice' but it was needed in this book and I'm glad the writer did include a little bit!

Now to what didn't work for me:
Overall this book feels unrefined, repetitive and slightly disjointed.
The first half of the book being broken up into present day and flashbacks didn't work for me. Most of the flashbacks I did not care for; I found myself wanting to get back to the present day timeline and skimming or even taking breaks from the book. The flashback chapters didn't feel like they boaded well with the flow of the story and some of them I felt were unnecessary and I found myself not caring.
Most of the characters don't feel well fleshed out and frankly most of them are unlikable.
Lex? Honestly, what was her purpose? Someone who flirts with our MC for banter? What?? I hated her.

The writer also uses A LOT of repeated phrases, which she seems to rely on such as "foreheads touching", "crinkle of her nose", and "grounded/grounding myself". This makes each chapter feel repetitive and difficult to get through.

Our MC Matty and the love interest Keelie also have a bunch of different nicknames, this teamed with the fact that there is a lot of Italian language in this book makes it feel jumbled and messy. I understand that the writer is Italian and wanted to include her native tounge within her work but having a sentence in Italian then for it to be repeated in English lost its touch as it was completely overdone, this again made the story feel repetitive.

Overall, I think the premise of this story was interesting but the writing and plot fell flat. If it was a raw, gritty, unapologetic look at addiction or focused heavily on the romance(or even steamy/spice) it could have pulled it off, but it was a little bit of each and not enough of either.

This was such a good story. Having someone in your life that struggles with addiction comes with its own challenges and I could not imagine having to be the person with the substance abuse issues.
This story portrays Matteo and his story with his addiction to pills. The first portion of the story is him basically doing his own form of rehab after getting kicked out of his parents house and having to move in with his brother and his wife and kids.
The second portion focuses on him at a wedding with his ex and realizing he wants her back.

I spent half of the book rooting for Matty and half of it hoping he wouldn’t mess up things with Keelie.
Keelie and Matteo had been together for a while when Matteo’s addiction got the better of him and they called off the relationship. 13 years later they are at a mutual friends wedding together and Matteo has decided to try and win back the love of his life.

The story is good and real. Really enjoyed

This book was a breath of fresh air. I loved the characters, and I loved the storyline both. It was a tad slow in the beginning but after the 40 page mark, I was completely hooked!

Don't Overthink This? Well I thought about this A LOT.

This book really surprised me. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. I give Kelly Piazza's book a 4-4.5/5 stars!

I thought this story would be more about Matty and Keelie's love story, but it turned out to be more about Matty's journey and finding his way back to Keelie. Matty's story really grabbed my attention and I was hooked from the moment I started reading to even now when I finished the book at 3 in the morning. I have not grown up around addiction in the way that it is presented in the book, so I cannot fully resonate with the story on a personal level, but man...this really tugged at my heart strings.

Let's talk about the characters, but mostly Matty. Matty was so interesting. What really caught my eye when I started reading was that the main character is a man and not a woman. I haven't read many stories with a male MC written by a woman. That was also one of the reasons why I enjoyed this book so much. In so many books where there is no MC, men are traditionally depicted as strong and "emotionless" with a fleeting moment of emotionality inserted in their story to add depth. This MC on the other had is male and his emotionality and negative experiences are what make the story. Matty's journey and struggle with addiction as it plays out in the book is heartbreaking, raw, and fulfilling. Seeing (or reading) Matty say no to pills or a drink made me so proud of a man that is a) fictional, and b) I have only "known" Matty for a few days. His relationship with his nieces made my heart flutter and Chris and Michelle were so amazing. I felt for him when Sam said that they lost him even before him and Keelie broke up. That must have been awful for him to experience sober, because Matty would generally drown out any negative emotion with pills back then.

Keelie's character was only fully introduced in Part II. I was pleasantly surprised at how calm and nice Keelie was despite Many having drained her savings and ruined much of their life together. But she still loved him despite all of that. Despite all of his faults and how he ruined her life and their life together, she still loved him. I want a love like that and I think I have it. Keelie was patient with Matty and he was ready to let her go if that's what she wanted. What really threw me for a loop was when Matty and Keelie [almost] hooked up on the roof at the wedding reception. I didn't take Keelie for a hook up kinda gal, but in the flashbacks she was also pretty laid back and fun. Keelie gave off a pure, wholesome vibe, so when that scene popped up I was like...woah.

Let's talk about the plot. I really enjoyed this plot. It was original as far as I know from the books I've read. It was captivating. It was magical. it took all of us on a journey that I'm sure we're glad to have been apart of. Addiction and especially opiate addiction is a really tough subject to talk about and bring lasting attention to, but I think Piazza has cemented a really important conversation into time with the creation of this book. From relying on pills to refusing to take them, Matty has really shown a lot of development and has given us all a great story to recommend.

Let's talk about the writing. Describing Matty's personality through the writing and not explicitly describing his personality was really clever. The italics let us look into his mind for periods of time and gave us all an idea of what kind of person Matty is. Matty is anxious, an over-thinker (hence the title), and relies on how people see him and equates that with his worth. I really enjoyed how Piazza felt with mental illness in this book too, There was no sugarcoating, there was just describing how it felt and affected the people around it. Rich's bipolar disorder was really heartbreaking. Even before it was specifically mentioned that he was bipolar, I could immediately tell. And the fact that Matty and the other kids couldn't tell at that age really struck a cord with me. It took Chris having to tell Matty that Rich could be dangerous when he was manic and Rich k*lling himself for the reality of Rich's illness to sink in for Matty and Keelie.

I found the flashbacks to be a little bit confusing. Going from 3 years ago, to 7 years ago, to 6, then 15, to 4, and so on was somewhat difficult for me. Because the flashbacks were not really linear, it was hard for me to keep up. There were a few different stories going on at the same time. At the beginning of the book, there were a few questions that were posed: What happened to Matty and Keelie? What happened to Rich? Is Matty going to recover? All of those were eventually answered, but the first two questioned specifically dealt with the flashbacks. The order of the flashbacks don't make or break the book, but it did kind of add an extra element of "huh?"

Eventually toward the beginning of Part II, I came to this realization that Keelie was another one of Matty's addictions. Similarly to how he was addicted to oxy, Matty was addicted to Keelie. Her skin, her scent, her being. When they slept with each other, he would equate the taste of her lips and skin to the phantom taste of oxy. I don't know if I felt good or bad about that, but I did feel better that he wasn't satiating his craving with pills, her was satiating his craving with Keelie. Sometimes there are just some people in our lives that we never forget, whether it's their scent or their image, we find ourselves craving them. keel was that for Matty.

Overall, well done Kelly Piazza!

The author was able to portray the ups and downs of addiction. I didn't love this mainly because of the hard to take in. Kelly did a great job of telling us what addicts go through and how it can hurt and affect other members of the family

The chapter count was big but the message was received.

A great deep dive into the subject matter

Read this if you like: Recovering addict stories, second chances, raw stories, mental health representation

Matty Arvali fell in love with Keelie Santiago thirteen years ago. The two of them were inseparable, until Matty’s oxycodone addiction broke them up. Keelie was forced to sever ties with him to save herself from his destruction.

Now, after two years filled with regret, Matty craves the life he used to have more than he craves the pills that destroyed it. When his best friend’s wedding presents a second chance to regain Keelie’s trust, Matty tries to stay out of his head and away from pills long enough to win her back.

This is not like anything else I have read. It was raw, real, sad, and happy. This is definitely a realistic view of falling in love with an addict. It's also an accurate view of addiction through the eyes of the addict themselves. This book is in the POV of Matty. I can't believe this is a debut. It's so well written. *Check triggers* Highly recommend this!

Thank you to the author Kelly Piazza, and Foxglove Publishing for the ARC! ❤

📚 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲: Second Chance, drug addiction

📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Matty is lost in his addiction until family forces him to get clean. While he battles with sobriety, he works on getting back the love of his life, Keelie.

🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: This is a tough book to review for me. But let me start by saying that - this is a good book. It's emotional, it builds well, it comes dangerously close to a happy ending. It is some seriously deep subject matter, but oh-so-realistic when it comes to portraying the opioid drug crisis.

As a reader, I feel like it was missing a few things. I'd like to know how it happened that Matty got into drugs. I'd have wanted more info on how they found Keelie's dad, and the aftermath. The mismatched timelines in part 1 were also a bit hard to manage.

As a romance, I think it falls a bit short. But it's really a great story about how drug addiction changes someone's life, and how it affects the people around you. Definitely a great debut book!

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 2.5/5 🌶🌶

I’m going to be honest, i ended up DNFing this book. The writing is great and it wasn’t about that, I am just in the wrong headspace to read this book and it is VERY triggering. When I requested the ARC of this book I was in a much better place mentally and though I could handle it but as I started to read it I realized I could not. Please make sure to check any trigger warnings for this book as within the first few pages there are some pretty graphic depictions of depression. I do plan to read this book fully in the future but once I get to a much healthier mental state.

A fantastic debut read. I wouldn’t classify this necessarily as a Romance, but more as a love story. When Matty gets hooked on opioids Keely walks out in him forever, which puts him into a downward spiral. When Matty hits rock bottom for the last time he gets one last chance to get clean by living with his brother, Chris.

The book is told in dual timelines alternating between past and present. It was well written with a real sense of what Matty was feeling and the sense of loss and what addiction can do to a person.

Huge thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of “Don’t Overthink This”! First of all, any book that takes place in my St. Louis hometown is sure to be a winner for me. This story was such a raw description of what an opioid addiction looks like and the implications it can have on the lives of an addict and their family and friends. The road to recovery may be tough, but there are things worth fighting for. Reading Matty’s story from his perspective was so eye-opening, this book is 100% worth a read.

*Possible Spoilers*

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book at the end. At first, Matty's thoughts and behaviors were incredibly grating, but I realized quickly that was the point. As an addict, he was irrational, irritable, single-minded, and self-destructive. He was not a sympathetic character to start, but through clever writing and relationships, I started rooting for him without even knowing it. By the turning point between the two parts, I was full-on cheering for his recovery.

Piazza did a great job creating believable, heart-wrenching, truly human characters. She wrote about difficult topics with empathy but also reality. I never felt as though the characters were stereotypes of their afflictions. And even after all they had been through, I still really understood what drew Matty and Keely together.

I was a little distracted by the Italian and subsequent translations, even as someone who speaks Italian. I wished that there had either been some more discussion of Matty's parents' story or why his heritage and language were so central. Overall such an engrossing love story, and one that I felt was very fresh.

4.25 bright stars for a very good read!!

I was a bit concerned when I requested for this book - with all the content warnings and not being my usual go to reads... but am glad I read this..

The story is told in Matty's PoV and goes back and forth between past and present - I liked it for that. It triggered my curiosity and had me rooting for him throughout the read...

It was well written - few things were told as a matter of fact rather than squeezing the heart out and making me cry - but it still had the omg/ ohhhh effect.

Am glad for Keelie and Matty. Hope they have a great life ahead (yeah they feel so real in my head 🙃)...

’d like to thank NetGalley and Foxglove Publishing for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
When requesting this book, I went into it thinking it was going to be heavily ‘second-chance romance’ and I got so much more. This novel speaks on a deep level the hardships of addiction for both the addict and loved ones. If you aren’t prepared for this deep level of emotion and vulnerability, this won’t be enjoyable for you. Luckily, I was able to ditch the impression of relying on the words “second chance’ and focus on the beauty of what Piazza has written.
Matty is so incredibly lovable as a main character and I enjoyed walking along with him in the beginnings of a forced recovery, coming to terms with the damage and hurt his addiction has caused, and the back and forth battle within his mind on temptation.
Piazza has written a cast of characters that make you yearn for friends that are similar. The absolute support and love that pour over Matty through this journey of sobriety is both honest and admirable. While I know the main focus was on Matty and his journey of sobriety, I craved more detail into the depths of his rock-bottom. Part of recovery was forced but based on description, the reader knows something major did happen- especially when it comes to Matty getting kicked out by Sam and Keelie.
Piazza ends this novel in a heartfelt way that makes you cherish the journey that you’ve gone through with Matty and his network of support. The character development, hints of romance, self-awareness and forgiveness- all drive home the art of the novel.

I will be completely and openly honest, I did not know how I was going to feel about this book and initially the first couple of pages I felt like I wasn’t going to like it. But, this book sucked me in. This is completely different than the recent books I have been reading, and this story is so beautiful and powerful. I found myself tearing up at a few moments. Matty is an opioid addict who has lost everything and everyone due to his opioid abuse. The love of his life Keelie- had enough of him and kicked him out and he was forced to live with his parents until they too had enough of him. His last resort was his brother- Chris who was willing to give him one last chance. Matty goes through the struggle of withdrawals, coming to terms with his addiction and mental health issues, and faces reality once and for all- this time sober. This is a beautiful story about overcoming addiction, seeking mental help, and rekindling relationships. I was so engulfed in this story that every spare moment I had I was reading this book- finished it in less than a full day. I absolutely would recommend this to all my friends to read this!

Goodreads Review
Thank you netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review :)

*TW: oxy addiction, mention of past suicide death that aren’t main characters
It’s not everyday where you will find a contemporary book that has a male character showcasing vulnerability in any aspect and it’s even rarer to see their struggles through their own eyes. In this book Kiana Piazza has perfectly tackled both!

We get to see Matteo's vulnerability through his own perspective –not through the love interest’s pov, which is a first!

Piazza depicts addiction and anxiety in an accurate way; while the book has humor and romance woven through it, we still get to experience the severity and reality of Matteo’s struggles. And if you’re worried if this book romanticizes mental illness, I can assure you that it doesn’t….at all. That being said, this book was an enjoyable read. It wasn’t too heavy to the point that I was sobbing heavily while reading….if anything I was laughing, swooning thanks to Matteo’s charming personality and italian and walking away with an updated view & awareness of addiction.

The side characters weren’t just comical relief. You are introduced to MANY people that are a part of the main character’s life and you get to see how they impact him through his journey.

The story is told through first person subjective and you get to hear Matteo’s inner dialogue which really adds to the story, especially through the more harder parts when his own mind betrays him during his triggers (through spirals and digressions). The story is told non-chronologically but mainly going forward chronologically if that makes sense. We get some chapters where we are going into the past, we get to see how Matteo and Keelie’s relationship started but some interesting things about Keelie’s family life and how it affected Matteo. Once again it is still told from Matteo’s experience.

If you’re looking for a feel good story with a second chance romance that still addresses some serious topics, this book is for you!

Review posted: 4/6/22 Posted: Goodreads

Representation: bipolar disorder, depression, panic attacks, anxiety, the use of prescribed medication as a helpful tool alongside consistent therapy, mental health/illness, Italian language,

This book was incredible, to put it simply. It was raw and real and absolutely gut wrenching. I think Kelly Piazza told this story so well when this topic isn't always handled in the best light in fictional writing. This story is a second chance romance that heavily focuses on the MC addiction to opioids. This story showed all of the internal struggles that someone suffering through addiction may go through, how it affects their family, friends and other loved ones as well as every other part of their life. I loved the characters in this, the two different families we got to see. I loved getting an inside look to the relationship between Matty and Keelie, and I loved the ending we got although I was bracing myself for something completely different. This story pulled me in and I couldn't put it down until I was finished, I absolutely recommend to anyone.

Thank you #Netgalley for an early read of #Don'tOverthinkThis in exchange for an honest review

It took me a long time to get into Don't Overthink This, and I think it's because of the heavy, strong start. The book starts with Matty's suicidal thoughts and it just wasn't something I wanted to read right away. Eventually, I forced myself to keep going (which, now that I think about it, is exactly what Matty does the entire book) and I found a realistic depiction of addiction. Matty's addicted to oxycodone from a young age, ever since he found the body of his bestfriend's dad when he was a kid. It would scar anyone, but we learn later on that the dad, Rich, had always been this looming presence in Matty's life. He had "good" and "bad" days, which he later learned were the result of a bipolar disorder. The "good" days were the manic days, the "bad" ones the depressed days.
I found the depiction of a mental illness from the eyes of a child really interesting. How hard it is to see what's right in front of you. How, as a child, we just learn to go with the flow and not think too much about it. And Matty's struggle was so real, so strong, that I felt for him in the entire book. Even with a family as great as his, even with a strong support system, he couldn't overcome his addiction until it was almost too strong. Despite this, I thought it was weird how Matty was led to take antidepressants, but it was never clear if he had any mental illness (besides anxiety, of course) himself. I'm no profession, but I think it would suit his character and his mannerism. I don't know.
The characters were all very well written. I could feel their connection, even as adults, through the pages. I loved that. In the second part of the book, we don't get any flashbacks, but we see their friendships growing as it happens. It's hard for Matty to go back to the person he was before his addiction takes over, but I found it lovely how he went from not seeing anything to go back to from realizing it had been his addiction hiding his purpose all alone.

What makes this a four-star read for me is the pace. I just don't like when an entire book happens in three days. The first part of the book read better for me, with Matty overcoming baby steps slowly. In the second part, I felt like the author was trying to rush Keelie and Matty getting back together. Keelie says she needs to think about getting back together, but we never see that. We never see Matty actually struggling to prove himself to her. I found it disappointing, as I think Keelie and her family deserved better. We just jumped from him feeling nervous she wouldn't call back to a year later. I didn't like how their relationship was taken as granted just because they were best friends. Matty suffered and caused everyone pain and even though I felt for him and could see his thoughts, I just don't think he should have jumped that way. It was all backwards, to me.

I would recommend this book to anyone, really. I think it's a great way to understand addiction. But, if you're easily triggered, don't read it. It's not for you. It will make you feel worse.