I loved reading this book, definitely recommend it to everyone. Thank you for letting me read this early

This is a new book by a favorite author of mine. I would call it contemporary urban romance, if that’s a thing. It has a warm plot tone of Jewish culture which I find rare in the genre. It has funny, flawed and seeking characters. There is a deep theme of forgiveness and moving forward. I found it very refreshing and well written. I was so happy to have read it and find myself hoping that Finz has just started her next series. Highly recommended.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest

No marriage is perfect, Rachel thought from the start, that her marriage and her love story with Josh was more than perfect. Unfortunately the love story ended much to soon and Rachel is consumed by grief and loss. Rachel finds herself in dark despair unable to find a way out. Rachel is surrounded by a loving family and friends who won’t let her wallow in her own misery for too long. The family is as annoying as loving and they take it in turns to care for Rachel each in their own quirky ways.

Rachel makes a drastic decision to move back into her old family home with her young recently widowed step mother who herself is very unpopular with the rest of the family. . This move sets Rachel on a journey of self discovery and leads to new beginnings including a renewed friendship with her teenage boyfriend Cambell who broke her teenage heart.
Read this book to find out what happens next 5 stars

This is one of my top three favorite books of 2022! The writing is so perfect. It just flows so beautifully. I love Rachel. I love this story. If I could just have stories like this for the rest of my life I would be so happy! I can’t say enough about how much I love her writing style. I’ve started so many books lately that are clunky and dry and a chore. This one is PERFECT!!! I will watch this author and what she brings in the future.

Rachel is a widow; the story begins at the funeral and unspools through backward glances and current commentary. Adding to her trauma, only the previous year, her beloved father died, leaving his “child bride” Brooke, whom Rachel, her mother, and siblings have not treated particularly well. Despite, or perhaps because of, the obvious parallels in their situation, Rachel decides that in order to begin to climb out of her grief spiral, she will move into her childhood home – which Brooke now owns. The development of their relationship is richer and more interesting even than what we see of Rachel’s interaction with Campbell, the man she once thought she’d spend forever with. Her siblings and best friend Josie provide interesting perspectives, action, and occasionally hysterical commentary. I’m still not quite certain what to make of Shana, Rachel’s mother, except to say that while in some regards she really is “Mommy Dearest”, it becomes clear that she truly loves her children in her own way, and has a very large and wise heart.

I “met” Stacy through her Nugget books, which are absolutely terrific. I’ve enjoyed most of what she’s written since, but it’s clear that all of her back catalog was simply preparing her to tell this story. This is more women’s fiction than romance, but mostly it’s a story about love. Love of family and tradition, self and other, love of the past and what it takes to begin loving the future when life gets really shaken up. There are so many revelations, but it comes to this: life never moves in a straight line, and we rarely end up where we expect to, but the vagaries and devastation need to be embraced as much as the joy and triumphs.

Ultimately this book travels a path from devastation to hope, and the character growth and complexity of their stories is brilliant. I honestly can’t think of a thing I would change. The end is convincingly happy, without a definitive answer to every question – very much like real life. I feel certain, however, that Rachel will be secure in celebrating the happiness she finds, and will hope that life treats her a bit more gently in the future. I received an advance copy in return for my honest review. Brava!

My only complaint about this book is it’s too short as I became so invested in each characters life I hated to leave them. I think the author should continue with this story because what happens next to Adam, to Jess and Hannah, to Brooke, and to Rachel’s mom. Each character was so richly created I want a separate book about each of them.. This book pulled on my heartstrings but not in a maudlin way. It takes the concept of grief and unwraps its many sides. It’s about new beginnings and forgiveness, and love of family, even one as crazy as the Golds.
A wonderful story that I hope is only beginning.

This is how it started really grabbed me and shook the life out of me. All the feels with this one. Happiness, sadness, anger, worry, joy, uncertainty, etc.—- The author is good- real good and she has a way with words that made me not want to put this one down.
Beginning, we meet Rachel who is married to Josh. Sadly and suddenly, Josh dies (not a spoiler- this happens in the beginning and is the basis of the story) and Rachel decides to move back home to her childhood house. Except her father left her mother while she was in college and married his nurse- and her father passes away and leaves the home to his new young wife, Brooke. Everyone hates Brooke, obviously, she was the younger more attractive wife who stole her father from her mother- but Rachel needs a fresh start so she must ask Brooke to look past their harsh relationship and allow her to move in
From here we meet several family members, friends and exes. The story takes on such a deep but simple storyline.
I can’t help but compare this story to a TJR book. The writing is similar and I think that’s why I enjoyed it so much.
I absolutely loved this book! This is not my normal genre but it had a cool vibe that said “I’m
serious” without being Young Adult. I was grieving with Rachel I felt like. The author knew how to make you feel like you were right there with her! That takes talent! Absolutely recommend This is how it started!
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC book in exchange for an honest review.

Release date: 2/7

A young widow’s journey through grief, rediscovering herself and painful secrets forever hidden, “This Is How It Started”, by Stacy Finz (Kensington Books, Lyrical Press), is also a sweet love story about surprising second chances.
I liked the depiction of the grieving process, neither too slow nor too fast.
Revealing an unknown, passionate relationship in Josh’s past was really intriguing and added other dimensions to Rachel’s pain, accentuating the anguish and desperation.
This is a lot about family, friends and new relationships and I liked the development Rachel and other characters went through.
I also liked that not everything is what it seems in this story regarding some characters, and how Rachel slowly realizes and accepts that.
Rachel sometimes felt like being a bit rigid person. Campbell is the perfect, swoony hero, a solid presence and friend.
I wish we had more of him and of the romance; he remained a bit opaque. But the romance (or the promise of it) Rachel/Campbell is natural, always there, like they never broke up.
I liked the secondary characters, how each have their own personality and background. Even Josh and David felt like real people.
The San Francisco setting was interesting, too, as was the Jewish background.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
This is How It Started releases February 7, 2023

3.5/5

This story focuses on family dynamics and working through the loss of loved ones and the grief that comes with it.
Through Rachel’s pov, we experience her life as a young new widow, while also getting insight of her past relationship and how it shaped her into the person she is today. Alongside her intimate connections, there’s also the familial dynamic that comes with multiple siblings, divorced parents, the loss of her father, and turning a new leaf with her step-mother who frankly, was judged too quickly as being a ‘gold digging trophy wife’.

This was written really well! I enjoyed the self-discoveries made and the new business ventures that were explored. This was missing that certain spark feeling I was hoping to find while reading to push me to a solid 4 star rating, but I think this would translate extremely well to screen.

The endgame while ultimately nice, was also hard for me to wrap my head around. I personally would not have been able to stay friends like that with someone for so many years who played such a huge role after everything that happened, and essentially being a catalyst to a fatal event. It felt weird and a little unfair to third-parties like Jess.

Read if you like:
- San Francisco setting
- Jewish rep
- large and slightly complex family dynamic
- real estate
- second chances

CW: mentions of past miscarriage + fatal car accident.

ARC REVIEW
This is How it Started by Stacy Finz
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

CoHo fans, step right up for your next heartbreaking obsession! Read it!! Trust me!!

💔❤️‍🩹 Newly widowed Rachel must deal with moving back to her childhood home with her “trophy wife” step mother, moving past her husband Josh’s death while finding out some of his buried secrets, and getting closer to first love Campbell who is engaged to be married.

This was a heart wrenching look at the meaning of love, loss, family, and friendship. Here’s what I LOVED:

❤️‍🩹 The realness. Even though I’ve never experienced loss like hers, I felt like Rachel’s journey was extremely realistic. She approaches coming to terms with Josh’s death slowly and organically. It will pull on your heartstrings. I also just adored her. She was so down to earth.

❤️‍🩹 The family. This book isn’t just about Rachel, it’s also about her family. Her mother, brother, and sister all had me laughing and crying as I read, but her stepmother Brooke really stood out for me. I loved the relationship her and Rachel formed after they moved in together.

❤️‍🩹 Second chance love, wrong time, healing after loss, missing out…I could go on. This book had it all. It really felt like a Hoover book with the amount of angst and bad timing. I could not put this down. Don’t miss out!!

All in all, a great book about recovering from loss and finding yourself and love again!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC book in exchange for an honest review.

Release date: 2/7

A very pleasant and enjoyable read full of charismatic characters. The book tells us about grief and the different ways to overcome it and start a new stage in life, about hope, about family in its different forms, all in a simple and entertaining way.

I could not put this book down and read it in one sitting. Finding out Rachel’s story tug at my heartstrings throughout this book. I don’t want to say too much and give away what happens but this story is about a family who loses a lot, but finds a way to help each other and even embrace others they thought didn’t belong. You will not want to miss this book!

There’s so much to this story. Love. Loss. Hope. Despair. The discovery that maybe spouses aren’t truthful at best or faithful at much worse. The realization that parents aren’t perfect and that dream, love, and desires change. And the fact that maybe moving forward means revisiting the past.

Rachel’s husband is gone. And that’s where we start. We spend some time learning about their meeting, courtship, love, and life together, but that’s not the whole story. Or even most of it, really. It’s more like the beginning of Rachel getting to know herself and those around her for real. An ex who once held all of her secrets and her heart, a surprise about her dead husband that may not be nefarious but still stings all the same, the truth of who her parents were to each other and why they fell apart, and best of all the realization that maybe her sister could do a lot better than the jerk she’s married to spur Rachel onward in her reluctant process of figuring out who she is now and what she wants in life. Her stepmother is far from the person she thought, her mother is growing and learning, her brother is a stalwart support, and Rachel finds herself along the way. This is so much more than chick lit, or romance, or even grief. This is a story of life and the odd ways it ebbs and flows to take the next turn or step to grow into something more. And while Rachel made my heart hurt, as did Brooke, I found myself unable to put this one down because it just felt real. And natural. And…well, like life happens. So enjoy the ride and hope for something good to accompany the end of this one. You won’t be disappointed.

Synopsis: After Rachel loses her husband, she's left to pick up the pieces of her life. This includes reevaluating relationships with people in her life, her career, and even her husband.

Review: I loved this book. Loved it. I could not put it down. Finz handled the fallout of losing a spouse expertly, empathetically, and honestly. Rachel's pain, confusion, and loyalty to her husband and her marriage gripped me. The journey the characters take in this book are equal-parts heartbreaking and heartwarming. I will definitely be recommending this to all my friends, and it is the newest member of my "must read" list.