I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I can see lots of reviewers already giving this book 5 stars. I understand why. The writing is wonderful. It's insightful, real, and very therapeutic to read. Farida and Jude are amazing friends and I hope everyone in their 30s has friends like these. The relationship Cleo has with Doug is so realistic, I can see most divorced couples experiencing the issues they have. The scenes with the children are cute, but they seemed to occur less once Cleo started dating.
I have to be honest, I really dislike love triangles. I know this isn't one technically, but I felt that the ending was a little too neat. Cleo gets everything she's ever wanted, like that? Probably the only unreal moment in the story. Unless I'm being too harsh...

Ok you all know I am a total Claire Christian fangirl , so it is going to come as no surprise that I loved West Side Honey! Claire could write a chocolate crackle recipe and I would read it and give it five stars, but it is with good reason. I just love her way of looking at the world and I love her writing.

West Side Honey is the story of Cleo - a divorcee with 2 children, entering into a shared-custody arrangement with her ex Doug. She has also moved in with her ridiculously wonderful friend Jude, and Jude's son. There is more to it, but I'll let you all read it and I won't ruin any surprises. There are quite a few along the way. 🙊

What I LOVED the most about this is the friendship of Cleo and Jude - I mean, is there anything better than loyal, honest, committed friends? The two are wonderful together - so funny and also so sweet. Farida (who works at the flower store with Cleo) is also incredible. Claire writes friendship perfectly.

I also loved the honesty and feelings around Motherhood and sharing custody. You can tell Claire did her research because she nails this. The absolute mixed bag of feelings that shared-caring is - being so relieved to have a week to yourself whilst still missing and worrying about your children with every fibre of your being and longing for them to be back... its a bittersweet combination that is described painfully well in this story. 💔

And of course the love interests... I mean we all know Claire can write a pretty sexy leading character (male or female) *ahem The Viking​*, and this is no different. I do think the ending will spark some debate across Booksta and I cannot wait to see what everyone thinks!

I have heard the acknowledgement section is pretty darn awesome - but I need to get my hands on a finished copy because it is not in my ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. I really love reviewing Australian releases! (It makes me so proud to see what us Aussies are doing in this genre)

As a single mum in her 30s whose husband recently left her, this book hit me… hard. While it’s badged as romance, I ended up being in this for the therapy (which was quite excellent - thanks for that Claire Christian!)

Things I loved:
- Oh my gosh the friendships with Farida and Jude were sensational. I’ll call it now - Jude and Cleo were the real romance of this novel. I have a friendship like this and reading it on the page made me realise that *that* is true love.
- The very real portrayal of mum guilt. So relatable.
- Any time Cleo met with Dr Bogan (IYKYK).

*spoilers ahead*

Things that I struggled with (this heading feels too tough, but see elaborations below):
- Because I didn’t know that this book was going to end with two loves, I was HUGELY stressed about which one of the incredible leads Cleo would end up with. As an avid romance reader (incl. poly romances) I didn’t know what was going to happen and it seriously gave me sweats. Love triangles with wonderful people HURT! It’s completely badass and fantastic with the way it ended, but maybe the blurb needs to hint even more at the outcome? Anyway. I was stressed to the max for several chapters!
- I would have loved more sense of place - amp up the setting.
- I think I’m more jealous than anything, but Cleo finding Maverick, Archer and Gabe in such a short timeframe… who has that much success with dating so fast?! I don’t know if this lines up with reality - Cleo’s pretty lucky, hah!

In short: this was very empowering, and I think there is an audience of readers (cough me cough) who need to have the messages of self care and discovery in this book reinforced.

Finally. I noticed in the acknowledgments that the author thanked a librarian and mentioned that maybe this book would improve their dating life. I could go for a cute librarian, just saying.

Cleo lives with her best friend Jude in the mummune with Cleo’s two kids Frankie and Andy and Jude’s son Perry. The mummune started after Cleo’s husband Doug ended their relationship. As well as being a single mother, Cleo is also a business owner of her floristry store West Side Honey. After a time of being own her own, and from the circumstances that lead her to initially meet hottie Archer, Cleo’s best friends Jude and Farida support Cleo to find her own pleasure. This starts with them helping Cleo to start dating different people and push her into finding her own joy in dance.

This book is EVERYTHING! Claire Christian you have done it again!!! This book just made me revele in my own joy and so reminded me of when I left my last relationship to find myself revelling in my own joy and self love and love of the relationships I had and placing real standards for myself! Standards that let me go on mainly only fabulous dates with men who embraced and celebrated my fabulousness until I finally met my one true love far too quickly as I like to constantly remind him! 😉 but one that makes me have room to still be me and love me and focus on my own life pleasures (as he damn well should do as I try and do for him too)! So if you’re seeking that joy - get onto this book immediately when it’s out April 4th 2023 because it is just simply deliciousness!

Thank you to NetGalley and Text Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!