I have to be honest, I struggled with this one. I struggled keeping the characters separate and I really didn’t like the jumping back and forth between POVs and the timelines (lots of flashbacks). This might just be a me issue, but I didn’t expect this book to cover so many heavy topics and I didn't really feel this was "A warm, funny, and unforgettable novel about the joys and fears of moving on".
Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me.

The story was a little confusing and all over the place. I think the story could have been executed a little differently and would have made it easier to follow along with the characters. But this one just fell short for me. Thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this.

I really liked this book, it was different than anything else I've read which was a breath of fresh air. I will be recommending this to my friends, and auto buy this author!

This was an enjoyable read about two middle aged fathers who have divorced their wives and have married and plan to live a quiet life in Maine. Their combined three children end up coming to live with them for the summer in their too small home. Each of the kids comes with some sort of chaos in their life and a nephew also makes his way into their crowded house and lives. To complicate matters further Matt’s senior citizen parents have come to live relatively close so Matt and Thomas can help with his father’s care. As each person figures out their own life they all also stitch together a life together. At times poignant, heartwarming, sad, and also humorous it was interesting to
see these characters learn to love and appreciate each other. The house rules posted throughout the book were definitely entertaining!!

I found this a very light, easy read, and it was heartfelt and comforting.

From the first few chapters, I felt emotionally connected to the characters. I felt as though the author wanted the reader to know the characters, and relate to them. I think I could relate to all of the characters in one way or another, and they all had little things about them that made me smile. I also liked the "Cottage Rules" between chapters, I found them entertaining and it made me feel involved, to know what life was like, living with these characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

great premise but there was way too much going on. i also couldnt connect to any of the characters though

thanks netgalley and publisher. all thoughts and opinions are my own

This is a book about Matt and Thomas, a married couple, and their respective teen children, Matt’s sister and son and parents. This all takes place in Maine one summer as so many things begin to change.
I think that this book can be any family in the midst of change.
Very heartfelt.
Thanks to @netgalley for the advance copy!

I loved this book, it was moving and thought provoking. I think it would be good for older children to read. Really really good.

Too much of everything going on in the storyline coupled with less than stellar writing made for one confusing tale.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this novel and offer my unbiased review. I saw this come up on one of my favorite author Steven Rowley’s Instagram Page, requested it from NetGalley and was lucky enough to read this fright around publication date.

A novel set in Maine about fractured families? Yes I am onboard with this one.

It was a little confusing as I began the saga of Matt and Thomas, 2 middle aged married gay men with 3 children between them from previous marriages. I actually would have to look back and figure out who was who and whose child was whose.Then add in extended family, past wives, and ex early love interests and things became even a little more confusing.

However, the structure of the novel kept me engaged and I loved the accurate descriptions of Maine, an unnamed town in Massachusetts and Boston.

My favorite part was the developing relationships between the children and cousins of Matt and Thomas.

Not sure if quoting correctly but the message of “ Life as it should be” and “we make room for more” resonated with me.

First of all I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and publisher for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

I want to begin by stating that I genuinely enjoyed this and want to give every encouragement to this debut novelist. There’s some gorgeous writing here (I was completely hooked by the first page), and I really appreciated all of the book’s many characters, and it tackles a lot of very important issues.

But therein lies my main critique of the book. There are simply too many characters in what is a fairly short novel, so that it felt over-stuffed to me. There was more than enough depth in the characters and emotional baggage to unpack for this to be two books: the first focusing on Thomas and Matt and the kids, and a sequel focusing on Annie and Brian family and the aging parents. As it was, it felt like a lot of important things were given short shrift. And because so much of what he was talking about is really important — the longterm damage of reparative therapy on healthy adult functioning, the resentment of children towards their fathers who left, dealing responsibly with aging and ill parents, substance use, eating disorders, and more — I was left a little disappointed what the author was able to do with them. Inasmuch as he was able to give space to the different issues, I think he handled them very well, but so much could have been explored even more.

So overall, I would like to applaud Mr. Dameron and thank him for this book, even as I do wish he could have given these wonderful characters and their complex lives a bit more room to breathe.

A favorable review will be posted on my dedicated Instagram account, @mattsbookaday.

I was excited by the premise - have not come across many LGBTQ books with older characters. Unfortunately I didn't get much insight into what it's like to be an older male coming out later in life. I also didn't connect with anyone, and the constant POV switching did not help - a tighter focus would have helped.