"One divorce, one social media disaster, one random baby, and three unlikely friendships: Welcome to The Sweet Spot"

After getting dumped by her husband of thirty years, Melinda goes on a revenge spree. She seeks revenge from Felicity, the other woman and Lauren, the person responsible -in Melinda eyes- for her divorce. Melinda's misplaced anger ends up tangling the lives of Olivia, someone who works at Felicity's store; Olivia's dad Dan; Lauren's whole family and Melinda's very own.

Melinda's revenge plots were juvenile for a woman her age and she was a tough character to root for but she somewhat redeemed herself at the end. I loved Lauren's family. These hodgepodge of quirky characters from Lauren's husband Leo to her three children, her mom Evelyn and Leo's father Philip to the puppy. They were all so endearing. Their chaos filled household is a fun one.

There is a little romance storyline. Lots of funny moments. But as a whole this book is about unlikely friendships. While I liked the progression of the friendships between Melinda, Lauren and Olivia, I loved Evelyn and Philips's friendship even more.

The tone of the book is light, characters are quite quirky and mostly loveable -not you Russell and Felicity, you selfish pricks. Baby Horatio deserves better :)

I really enjoyed this book. This one reads like a Brit up-lit story but it sets in Greenwich Village, NYC.

**3.5 stars**
I had a little trouble getting into this book - it had a bit of a slow start.
However, once it gets going, it's a cute and quirky story about a handful of women who become unlikely friends.
Lauren works for Felicity, who ends up having an affair with Melinda's husband - Melinda blames Lauren and Felicity so tries to ruin their lives and ends up getting Olivia fired in her aftermath of crazy.
But when Felicity and Russell leave their new baby behind, the women are forced to deal with their interwoven lives and come together.
It's a cute read for sure! Melinda may seem like a raging lunatic at times but let's not pretend that we haven't all wanted to do the same when we've been dumped. 😂
Most of the characters were truly likable. They each had their own personalities and brought a new layer to the story. And there are SO MANY players in this book.
I loved how everyone was entwined with each other and everything that happened really brought people together.

A heartwarming novel with dashes of fun and hatred and anger. ❤️

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

The Sweet Spot tells the story of 3 women in NYC who come together to help take care a baby in need when he lands on their doorstep. There are a lot of characters in this book so make sure to pay attention!

Lauren’s family has recently moved into a new home in Greenwich Village and below their home is a dive bar called the Sweet Spot. This bar becomes a meeting place throughout the book. Lauren is a designer of home goods and sells her products to Felicity, who is pregnant and is encouraged by Lauren to do whatever it takes to get her baby daddy to stay with Felicity. This inadvertently breaks up Melinda’s marriage and she happens to work at Lauren’s kids school. Olivia is another women who is fired from Felicity’s store after her tantrum goes viral and she is commiserating at her father’s bar, you guessed it, the Sweet Spot. She hears Lauren is in need of a nanny and figures she needs a job!

It’s a little complicated, but it works as the story gets going. After Felicity has her baby, and leaves baby Horatio with Melinda’s ex husband (and the baby’s father) the 3 other women all volunteer to help take car of him. It took probably half the book to get really going, but I enjoyed it once I saw where it was headed. I really loved the location in the village and the zaniness of Lauren’s house and family. If you enjoy character driven novels with a big cast of characters, I think you would really enjoy this one.

We were pleased to share this title at our live Spring Book Preview event for the Modern Mrs Darcy and What Should I Read Next communities on January 10, 2023, when 1200 readers attended live and twice that many watched the replay in the following week. The PDF from that event is attached. Long story short: Poeppel excels at writing big-hearted multigenerational family fiction. Her latest focuses on an endearingly eccentric family that lives in a Greenwich Village brownstone and the titular neighborhood bar that operates in the basement. If you enjoyed Musical Chairs, this is very much in the same vein: delightfully chaotic with an absolutely soaring ending.

Funny, madcap and heartwarming! I loved this novel - the characters were quirky and loveable (well, most of them!), their escapades so amusing and their ups and downs as they create their own “found” family so entertaining and sweet. I laughed so much and was enchanted. Such a feel-good read!!!

Thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Three very separate women are brought together when Felicity, a woman they all are loosely associated with, leaves her baby on one of their doorsteps. I always know that Poeppel’s work is going to be full of very memorable characters, and this one certainly delivered in that aspect. This is very much a character study (especially in the first half), but by about 60% in, the action ramps up fr some very madcap adventures. I thought the heart and emotion in this book really shone through, and I loved the way Poeppel wrote about New York, and especially Greenwich Village.

Ultimately a story of choosing your family but it is definitely a love letter to female friendships. Not all female friendships start off on a good night but if you can get past your first impression or experience you might find someone you can relate to.

I loved how Greenwich Village was it’s own character in this novel as well. It’s obviously a tribute to that neighborhood as well.

Having read all of the author's previous novels, I can say this one definitely does not disappoint. They are consistently written with heart and humor, as well as interesting characters and complicated relationships. A small slice of real life and fun to read!

When Lauren's father-in-law offers her, her husband, and their three children use of his brownstone in Greenwich Village while he is away for a job, Lauren can't believe her luck. As she learns about her new home -- including the bar, the Sweet Spot, that is in the basement, and her children's new school -- she soon finds herself at the center of a strange set of events that brings her, the receptionist at her children's school, and the daughter of the bar owner together in ways that are not always pleasant. Things take an even stranger turn where this unlikely group finds themselves taking care of the baby of the receptionist's ex-husband and the woman he left her for. But despite the unlikely nature of the events that brought them together, the three women finds themselves growing closer and learning more about themselves than any expected at their respective stages of life.

This was a charming story, full of interesting and engaging characters and a fun and original story. I'm a fan of this author, and her latest is another terrific book that balances terrific characters with explorations of timely themes.

Highly recommended!

Taking place in the heart of Greenwich Village, the story follows Lauren, Melinda, and Olivia - very different women of all ages as they are brought together by a baby - that does not belong to any of them. The Sweet Spot is a novel about how our paths can sometimes lead us down unexpected roads and the people you meet along the way!

This is a fun found family novel with a quirky cast of characters. There are a good number of plot lines as we start to see how everyone is connected, but it’s easy to keep everything straight as they all come together. I laughed out loud multiple times as the writing is engaging, heartwarming and funny.

If you are looking forward a fun book filled with family drama, pick this one up!

What a quirky, funny feel good story about the power of life and love. A story that triumphs through parenting and friendship. You will laugh and cry with the mishmash adventures of Lauren, Melinda and Ginnie who meet in Greenwich Village after a baby suddenly appears on their doorstep.
The story is very well done and the writing is superb. Thank you, Simon and Schuster, and Netgallery for my ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the E- ARC. This book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book was a hot mess and I was here for it this whole story played out like a movie in my head it was just so easy and funny. Im not gonna lie I did dislike some characters like Melinda but she redeemed herself. This book showed that it does take a village to get thru Life.

I am really unsure of this book. I struggled to get into the story. This does sometimes happen when I am reading on Kindle so maybe the physical book will be better.

The mixed POVs really threw me and there was times when I reading and it was hard to follow. I didn't love the revenge and pettiness in it.

I absolutely adored this book. The mixed POVs was anmazing. All the relationships and how they developed had me hooked. I fell in love with each charecter… except 2. But without them this story would have been a lot different so I guess they were very crucial to have haha
I fell in love with Leo. That whole family. I will endlessly recommend this book to everyone.

I regret to say that I did not enjoy this book. In the beginning, I had a hard time keeping all of the characters straight, and the story was disjointed and chaotic, jumping all over the place. I felt like it was mean-spirited as well, and all of those things added up to the fact that it was not an enjoyable read. I’m sure it will find an audience, but this was not my cup of tea.

The Sweet Spot

Unfortunately this one was a DNF for me. I was really intrigued at first by the setting and unlikeable messy characters. Multiple perspectives where all storylines connect. However this one was painfully slow and didn’t feel like it was going anywhere. For lack of better explanation it felt plotless. I appreciate the ARC and would still try another book by this author.

There was so much I *should* have loved about this book: the NYC setting, found family themes, unlikely friendships. These typically work for me in books. However, they didn't win me over in this book. While the NYC setting was excellent, I found the characters hard to connect with. There was a lot of plot, but it didn't have enough character development for me to understand why the characters were making the (sometimes ridiculous) decisions they were making. Maybe I am too literal of a reader for this one, maybe it was too cutesy... don't let my review of this book turn you off from reading it, though. I know plenty of people loved it, and I am really saddened that it wasn't a winner for me.

I have read several of Amy Poeppel's books, and I always enjoy their whimsical and quirky nature. This was one of my favorites I've read of hers- I love the NYC setting and the charming cast of characters. I thought they had wonderful character development and I loved seeing their journeys from beginning to end, particularly Evelyn and Melinda. This is a lovely and at times unfortunate story about friendship, forgiveness, and just general mayhem. If you like the sort of overlapping storylines of Love Actually or if you love a quirky ensemble story, this is for you!

Melinda, Evelyn, Olivia, and Lauren's lives overlap and at times they are nemeses, friends, and everywhere in between. When someone they all know has a baby and, in a sense, abandons him, the 4 women come together to care for the child and discover things about themselves and each other along the way.

Short Synopsis:
Lauren, Melinda and Olivia and very different women of all ages. But their lives are brought together by a baby - that’s not any of theirs.

My Thoughts:
I struggled with this one. In the first half the characters were put up against each other, and it was heavy on revenge and ugliness. The second half did improve with the character growth and found family aspects. It did end up being charming and there’s was small subtle humor and lots of interwoven connections I enjoyed.

I don't think anybody does ensemble comedy in literature quite like Amy Poeppel and I want to READ IT ALL. Poeppel writes character-based comedy with an appearance of lightness and effortlessness, which of course means it is probably not effortless to write at all... but is an easy joy to read.

In THE SWEET SPOT, we've got three families in Greenwich Village whose lives and problems all collide with each other over the course of a few months. It all stems from one peripheral character, Felicity, whose decisions set off a whirlwind for Lauren, Melinda, Olivia, and their loved ones.

Things I loved about the book:
*The humor. I laughed out loud multiple times.
*The intergenerational community the primary women characters build with one another. We've got a 20-something, a late 30s/early 40s mom, a 50-something new divorcee, and a 70-year-old grandmother all coming together and making their own little village and I adored it.
*The way Lauren and her mom's relationship grew and developed.
*The kids! So authentic, so funny, and just the right note.
*Dan. Full stop. He was swoony. 😍
*The gerbils. 😂

In case you weren't sure how much I loved this book, I was granted an advanced reader's copy from NetGalley (thank you NetGalley and Atria!) and then I STILL pre-ordered my own hardcopy.

Next up, working towards being an Amy Poeppel completist. Two down, two to go, and hopefully many more to come in the future.

A review at instagram.com/fromsarahsbooknook to come on the pub date.