I hate it when a book just doesnt work out but unfortunately this one was just a no for me.

tropes you can expect: single mom, small town, looking for a fresh start, goofy side characters, complex family dynamic

like i said, unfortunately this one just didn't hit the spot. i just truly could not care about the characters. and i hate to say it but a big factor of me not loving this was it feeling more like women's fiction vs just a straight up romance.

Laura has a unique voice that's funny as hell. Her characters are loveable and infuriating. Their relationships are real (and real messy). Liked it, but not great

Thanks to Net Galley and Union Square and Co for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair is a novel about a young mom healing from her past so she can be present for herself and her son. After a propodal dinner turns into a break-up dinner, Hannah, and her infant son, return home to live with her mom and step-dad.
This novel had a lot of potential, there was a third act issue that was a little contrived, but mostly was enjoyable. Watching Hannah decide what choices and meaning she was making for her life was relatable. There was a real sense of place in this book and a sense of community. Would recommend and give 3.5 stars if I could.

This is a cute, cozy small-town romance about a new mom finding love and discovering herself in the mountains after her city life is upended. We see the main character go through a complete glow-up and finally take control (and learn to let go) of every area of her life. While that description can easily lean toward the cliche, the book was unique and cleverly written with a loveable cast of characters that helped it stand out from a traditional rom-com.

There is a lot of plot and a LOT happens compared to your average contemporary romance, but for the most part it worked! Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Some of my thoughts: The narration found its footing after the first few scenes, which were intense and overdramatic with a stream-of-consciousness writing style, but after that, the rest of the book was much more enjoyable to read. My biggest criticism is that, while at times I loved the wide case of characters, they occasionally felt like caricatures of themselves. It was as if the book couldn't decide whether it wanted to upend the reader's pre-conceived notions of a southern appalachian town or dive head-first into those stereotypes and poke fun at them.

Most of the plot was unique and thoughtful as we followed Hannah's journey through her new life, and the book felt realistic (while still keeping me on my toes), with one glaring exception – the difficult AirBnB guests and the final scene with them. At one point Hannah and her mother and friends were having poignant conversations about lost childhood and the meaning of family, and at the next we were thrown into a Scooby Doo-esque chase scene that made the book almost feel like a parody. It was out of place and I think the book would have been better without that storyline (or with a more realistic and less cheesy version of it).

This is a great book for fans of Emily Henry or Hallmark Christmas movies, or anyone who wants to read about small-town romances, hot neighbor tropes, stories about life as a new mom, found families, or books about reinventing yourself and starting over in your 30s.

I really enjoyed this read. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a day. Hannah is a new mom who believes her boyfriend, and father of her son Bowie is going to propose. Instead, he dumps her. She takes her son and goes back home to the mountains of Blue Ridge Georgia to stay with her parents. She decides to fix up her mom‘s cabin to save her mom from growing broke and hires River, a carpenter to help.

I love the goofy characters and the comedy. The support system for Hannah was amazing, and I loved that after working on her self, she finally found her happily ever after. I recommend this fun, fast read..

📣 a steamy women’s fiction/romance featuring a single mom & a big time-life glow up

📖 what’s one of your Tuesday numbers? Mine: 1-person awake in the house (me!!), 1-trip to the recycling center that I really need to make later (so much cardboard!), 59-how warm it’s supposed to be here today (Fahrenheit).

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair by Laura Piper Lee started off a bit wobbly for me—the voice is too much IMO at first—but by the end l was cheering for this heartfelt book that’s a bit women’s fiction, a bit romance, with some quality steam & a definite HEA.

At the beginning of the book Hannah is a mom to baby Bowie & in a long-term relationship with his dad, who routinely calls her a “mess” (supposedly affectionately). But they soon break up & she takes Bowie to her mom & step-dad’s mountain cabin, despite her reservations about taking on the stress they inevitably cause her.

Newly fired & single, Hannah Tate has plenty of motivation to decide what she wants to do with her life. Helping her renovate her mom’s horror AirB&B is River, a relaxed, kind, & very attractive contractor who prefers to live outside of society’s dictates.

This book delves into some big topics—inadequate parenting, technology reliance, not respecting FMLA in the workplace, & more are covered in this book—& on the whole it’s skillfully done.

I ended up leaning into the quirky, adorable, & imperfect characters, the theme of renewal & finding joy, & the love & acceptance that permeates the book.

There are things in this one that I wouldn’t enjoy as much written by another author in a different style, but I think Laura Piper Lee writes it successfully & with obvious heart & good intentions.

If you can get past the beginning chapters, which come across a bit too aggressively IMO, I think you’ll find a shining story about a woman who drops the shitty things in her life & chooses happiness.

4.25 ⭐️. Out 02/13.

Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.

[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of a brick wall painted yellow, pink, purple, green, & burgundy.]

Hannah is a stressed out mom to infant Bowie, and despite the mental haze born of too many overnight feedings and diaper changes, and too little time for her own hygiene, she’s excited about the prospect of family life with her live-in boyfriend, Killian. After being unexpectedly and unceremoniously fired by her abusive boss, and then dumped by Killian on their three year anniversary, Hannah has one viable option: a temporary move to the small resort town of Blue Ridge, Georgia to help her parents renovate their cabin rental property. She quickly discovers, however, that the most important repairs she needs to make are within herself.

This rom-com/women’s fiction book spills over with humor, optimism, and warmth. The relationships that Hannah has with her family and friends aren’t perfect, but they are brimming with genuine love and affection. Female readers with children will laugh-cry right along with Hannah as she navigates the highs and lows of new motherhood. I loved the way that Hannah’s circle stepped up to support her without judgment when times got rough. Hannah has been a victim of emotional and psychological neglect and abuse throughout her life, and this was handled with appropriate concern and reflection within the narrative. I loved the LGBTQ+ representation. There’s a legit Country Bear Jamboree reference which I loved because nostalgia!

Like many other reviewers, I agree that the weakest plotline in the book is the relationship between Hannah and River. It was hard not to view River as Hannah’s rebound given their insta-love-lust story, and the fact that she is learning to navigate her evolving relationship with Killian throughout the book. The cringy third-act breakup with River caused by miscommunication made it even harder to root for them.

I also think the book is too long. There are too many characters (e.g. Small Business 101 classmates, the Queer Mountaineers) and mini subplots that could have been edited out without having any effect on the overarching narratives, such as Kira and Mattie’s second-baby woes and River’s estrangement from his mother. I didn’t like that Killian is transformed overnight from an emotionally abusive, selfish jerk to a fully realized mature father who realizes the error of his ways and is now determined to make things right for Hannah and Bowie no matter what. There shouldn’t have been so much page time devoted to Hannah’s relationship with Killian, given that the romance we are supposed to be invested in is with River.

There are also several scenes in the book that are so over the top that they’re at the level of slapstick. Similarly, many of the characters themselves are exaggerated stereotypes, e,g. Darryl “Big Daddy” the backwoods Southern mountain man; Trish “G-Ma” the dysfunctional and multiple divorcee Southern mom; the yoga at sunrise, living in an actual treehouse, refuses to own a phone, free spirit River; the bleached blonde, gum smacking, pencil thin on 4” heels Southern gal Madison; and River’s thin-lipped, self-righteous bigoted Southern mother who huffs and puffs on the page.

And the title of the book is awful, quite frankly.

This was a hard review for me to write, because I was genuinely entertained and enjoyed a large part of the book, especially given that this is the author's debut novel. The author’s voice is unapologetic, fun, fast and bright, despite the issues in execution. I’m rating this one a 3-3.5 stars. It was a harmless and fun read, but one that I won't revisit. Additionally, I think that this book skews to a pretty narrow female Millennial demographic, as mothers of young children are the ones who will really be able to relate to Hannah’s story.

Tropes: rom-com, single mom, small town, hurt/comfort, neighbor next door, insta-love

Thank you Netgalley and Union Square & Co. for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.

What an amazing book! I absolutely loved everything about this one from the writing style, the characters, to the story. This was such a cute romance and I loved how relatable everything was. If you love romance stories with small town vibes this one is for you.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. The writing style was not enjoyable for me and there were too many things that gave me the ick. I think the book does a good job shining light on motherhood, however I just couldn’t get past some other things.

Thank you for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

As much as I wanted to love this one, for some reason, it didn't agree with me. I felt as though it lagged a bit in the middle and the conflict was overall frustrating. I wanted to keep giving Hannah the benefit of the doubt and hoped she would have some character growth. But most of the time she was annoying and irksome, especially in the way she judged River. Bowie was a darling baby though! Loved every single scene baby Bowie was in!

Hannah is moving in with her parents after her boyfriend and father of her baby asks her to separate. Now she is a single mom and needs to find the way to get back on her feets. She decided to renovate her parent's cabin with the help of their sexy and muscled next door neighbor, and probably love will find her again.

I enjoyed the book. It was easy to understand Hannah's frustrations because it's not easy to be single mom. She was not only struggling with her baby, she lost her job (thanks god she won some money after) and she was also worry about her parent's money situation.

I did like the plot, but he writing was just not for me.

While I did enjoy the major plot points of this story, for me, it was a pain to get through. I felt like the narration was an odd stream-of-consciousness in a way that was not appealing to me, therefore making the reading experience a tad frustrating. I felt like our character Hannah's thoughts and perceptions of the world and herself were more gimmicky and surface level that pandered to the reader. This made it feel like her feelings and thoughts weren't genuine to her and rather were made to make us as a reader like her more and make her feel more approachable. If the writing itself didn't make me feel this way, then I think my overall enjoyment of the novel would have been much higher! I do believe not vibing with Lee's writing is a personal thing and that many people will enjoy this story.

Thank you, Union Square & Co., Laura Piper Lee, and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hannah finds herself in trouble after her life plans suddenly collapse when her partner asks her to separate. Now a newly single new mother, she is searching for stability while trying to repair the pieces of her life that are adrift. I must say that this story did not end up hooking me, there was something that did not end up making me connect with the characters, it is still an entertaining story tho

I was a single mom, so I find myself drawn to stories of other single moms. I appreciated Hannah's personal journey as she tried to adjust to life as a mom who was figuring out her next steps. I loved that she was reviving her artistic dream. Lee put together a fun "family" to support her and Bowie, but at 40%, I just had to accept that I am far from the target audience here, but there is no doubt in my mind that there are a multitude of readers who will love Hannah's story. If you pick it up, be prepared for this to be more Hannah focused with a side of romance. Properly setting expectations will go a long way.

Hannah Tate Beyond Repair is a contemporary romance mixed with women’s fiction. It’s about finding yourself, being happy and falling in love again 💖 The writing was fun and it shines a light on motherhood.

<b><u>Tropes & What to Expect</b></u>
🔶small town
🔶contemporary romance
🔶self discovery
🔶single mom
🔶hello next door neighbor

<i>Brief Summary: Hannah Tate finds a ring hidden in her closet and she’s ecstatic because she thinks her boyfriend/her son’s father is about to propose. When he invites her to dinner she believes it’s about to happens but she ends up getting broken up with instead. heartbroken, Hannah takes Bowie and moves in with her mama and stepdaddy in the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia. Hannah decides to help them with renovations and getting their property ready to be rented. She hires the hot carpenter living in the treehouse next door to fix up the place. Not only does River respect Hannah's business acumen, he looks at her like she's a woman, not a hot mess.</i>

“𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝐼 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝓈𝑜 𝒻𝒶𝓇 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓂𝓎 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈, 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈. 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐻𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒶𝒽 𝑔𝑜𝓉 𝒹𝒾𝓋𝑜𝓇𝒸𝑒𝒹, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝒸𝓀𝓈 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝒹𝓇𝓎𝑒𝓇. 𝐼'𝓂 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝒾𝑔𝓊𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝐻𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒶𝒽 𝒾𝓈, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝓁𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝓇𝓊𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝒹 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒹𝒶𝓎. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝐵𝑜𝓌𝒾𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓃𝑜 𝒾𝒹𝑒𝒶 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑜 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒.”

Hannah is a new mommy and she’s struggling with her new life. I loved her personality in the beginning she’s quirky, funny, and is a great friend. She’s a HOT MESS like many of us but at times it was overly done. She started seeming over the top and it didn’t feel authentic at times.

<b>And this is why we love fiction ladies and gentleman because our wildest fantasies we never even dreamed of can come true..</b>

The hot, blond muscled hippie neighbor lives in a TREEHOUSE..and not just any treehouse this is some HGTV type of fucking treehouse 🤭 He’s kind, sweet and super laidback. Did I mention he also does yoga? And has a man bun?

<b><u>Things I Did Not Like</b></u>
🔶the romance…this would have been better as women’s fiction
🔶how she called her mom and dad G-Ma and Big Daddy 🥴 it was cringey

<b><u>Spice Rating</b></u>
1.5/5 🌶️
This surprised me but it was actually a lil spicy

<b>Overall thoughts:</b>The writing was hilarious 😆 and I found myself laughing out loud. MMC was giving knockoff Tarzan vives but he was super sweet. Eeehhhh idk If I would recommend to someone but I wouldn’t not recommend 🤭

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC of Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
🌶️ enjoy spicy reads
🤱🏼 are a new mom
🏡 have ever had to move back in with your parents
🪣 like to renovate houses

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Hannah Tate can hardly believe her sleep-deprived eyes when she finds an engagement ring hidden in the closet. Killian, her super responsible, incredibly attractive boyfriend—and the father of her new baby, Bowie—is finally going to propose. But a romantic night out goes horribly wrong when Killian reveals he’s dumping Hannah, not proposing.

Furious and heartbroken, Hannah takes Bowie and moves in with her mama and stepdaddy in the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia. Hannah realizes that her parents’ cabin has vacation property gold written all over it—and could save her mama from going broke. Again.

Only problem? The cabin’s décor is . . . mildly terrifying and it’s in desperate need of renovation. Hannah hires the hot carpenter living in the treehouse next door to fix up the place. Not only does River respect Hannah’s business acumen, he looks at her like she’s a woman, not a hot mess. And Hannah can’t deny that River awakens something new inside her.

Can Hannah embrace a future that looks different from the picture-perfect family she once dreamed of . . . and maybe start living life on her own terms?

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was a really fun read for me, mainly because I am a mom and so I could heavily relate to the main character and her having to be a mom and do it all. While a few things were definitely different, I really could understand her frustrations with basically being a single mom, raising her child on her own, so I was damn proud of her for ditching him and finding a new path that better suited her and her needs. There are definitely some spicy scenes in here which added to the fun, and the author has a ton of great one liners that had me cracking up! Overall, a fun but enlightening romcom!

Dangit!

I had reallllly hoped to love this and was super excited to read it (and the cover! heart eyes!), but it ended up really not working for me in a lot of ways.

Firstly, the summary does not give the entirety of this book an accurate, or at least, complete description of the book itself. From the synopsis (and the cover), I assumed the reno of the run-down property was going to comprise a majority, or at least a larger, portion of the book. It makes it seem like Hannah is going through a transformation along WITH the house. But the reno actually takes up a tiny amount of space in the overall story. And I think the brief length of that really took away the book's direction. What remained was a relationship that built TOO fast, story elements that couldn't be developed properly, and cringeworthy, aimless shenanigans that did not add to the plot or endear me to the author. Progressing through the story, it became increasingly more of a slog to get through, with "growth" and romance elements that I did not buy or enjoy. I think it started with a lot of potential, but the story itself felt severely mishandled. Like, River tackling train Santas at the end? So odd. "Can I get them digits?" YIKES. The disconnect between the synopsis and what *actually* happens felt really jarring and unsatisfying to me as a reader.

Similarly, the writing felt a bit immature and unpracticed. It felt like Hannah herself was appealing to us, which I think was meant to be cheeky and fun, but it took me out of the story as a writing style. Also, I'm not going to negate anyone else's experience with motherhood, even fictionally, but I just didn't really feel like it was developed or executed well enough. It almost felt like Hannah having Bowie was a character trait, a description, rather than part of her actual identity or integral to the plot, if that makes sense? It also felt the author was trying to slip in parts of her own belief systems (which hey, I agree with them!), but it was more afterthought inclusion than actually natural and central to any character's identity.

Overall, I think this book was just poorly executed and underdeveloped, and I'm majorly disappointed!

And just saying, I would never get with a man who didn't text. That's just me though. I NEED more accurate and developed romance, pls!!

Thank you to Union Square & Co. and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. HANNAH TATE, BEYOND REPAIR is out February 13, 2024.

Hannah Tate is the woman in so many of us. A new mom dealing with her insecurities and relationship woes. I literally felt the whole first 2 chapters in my soul: I’ve been that sleep deprived mother whose partner did the bare minimum. I’ve also been the newly single, single mom who is scared to love again.
Bravo Laura Piper Lee for a book that made my cringe and yet laugh so many times. While still pulling at my heartstrings.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This one's so sweet and cute and i enjoyed it very much! Even though I'm not a mother, i could relate to Hannah a few times!!! River has my heart to be honest!
I loved the fall vibes and the small town in North Georgia mountains setting!
This book has it all, single mother, a hot carpenter, a well developed but yet complex family dynamic, a beautiful and relatable friend group and a touch of spice!
I laughed so much while reading this, but i also got emotional!

I will definitely be reading more from Laura!

Thank You Netgalley and Union Square & co for this ARC!

“Hannah Tate Beyond Repair” is a heartwarming romance that beautifully intertwines family, second chances, and the unexpected quirks of life. The story follows a single mom who, alongside her mom and stepdad, embarks on a journey to revamp a cabin rental. Amidst this venture, she crosses paths with a neighbor living an unconventional life in a treehouse, shunning modern technology. Their worlds collide, leading to an unlikely yet charming connection. The slow-burning romance blooms against the backdrop of the North Georgia mountains, renovations and the clash of traditional and tech-free lifestyles, creating a delightful and refreshing tale of love and personal growth. With endearing characters and a unique setting, this story captures the essence of finding love in the most unexpected places.