Christa Comes Out of Her Shell was such a great surprise. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did!

The story is unique and Christa was a really interesting character to follow. Her life has never been just hers as she was born to parents who were famous - especially her father who was presumed dead after his plane was found crashed in the Alaskan wilderness. I was curious how she would deal with being thrust back into the spotlight and how her relationships with her family and potential love interest, Nate, would change and grow.

I really enjoyed this read and want to check out more of Abbi Waxman's books.

2.5 stars rounded up for old times sake.

Since reading the delightful The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, I have read and deeply enjoyed most of the author’s previous novels, however this one just didn’t work for me and I think it’s her not me.

It’s a very solid set up: 25 years ago, TV naturalist Jasper Liddle disappeared, presumed dead, after his plane crashed in Alaska, leaving behind his wife and three daughters. Now he has reappeared and his story keeps changing.

Our protagonist is Christa, the youngest child who was just a toddler when Jasper left. She is now a marine scientist working on a sea snail project on the fictional Indian Ocean island of Violetta*, but is summoned back to LA to meet her father. On her arrival, she’s met by Nate, the son of her father’s old friend and business colleague and the romance is off to the races.

In my review of Nina Hill, I noted that the romance was the least interesting part of the story, and this is pretty much true of the author’s other novels. So maybe that’s my problem, that the romance is very much front and center here and I just wasn’t that interested in it - particularly the multi page sex scenes which are also a new addition and which, call me an old prude if you want, I just don’t care for in my romcoms. Maybe the author has been inspired by the success of Ali Hazelwood?

Putting the yawny romance to one side, the family drama is gratifying as Christa and her sisters work through their years of mutual resentment and their wonderful mother brings a welcome abrasion to the party. Add in Marcel the miniature dachshund and the often slyly witty illustrations at the start of each chapter and there’s plenty to like. In this novel though, it felt like these were the sides and, delicious as they are, they don’t make up for a rather lumpy and unappealing main course.

Maybe this just caught me on an off day and I’ll revisit it and enjoy it more, or maybe I’ll just mark it down as disappointing and reread some of the former glories.

Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

*A footnote, in the spirit of the novel, on Violetta. It made me cringe a little that this fictional uncolonized island had someone called Agnes Bottlebrush as an important historical figure and that the native people all had apparently Anglo names. Too cutesy and inappropriate by half.

After growing up in the spotlight, Christa has chosen a quiet life as an adult studying sea snails in the Indian Ocean. Her world is turned upside-down when her father, a renowned naturalist and TV personality, appears to be alive and well 25 years after he was presumed dead in a plane crash. When Christa returns home to LA to see her long-lost father, she is thrust back into the public eye and grapples with her complicated relationships with her mother, sisters, and her messy past. To top it all off, she finds herself falling for their family friend, Nate.

As a nature lover who grew up watching The Crocodile Hunter, this book checked off all my boxes! There is a Steve Irwin-inspired character, family drama, animal facts in each chapter, heartwarming romance, and laugh-out-loud humor. I found Christa’s character fascinating and loved following her growth over the course of the story. Through the relationships with her mom and sisters, Waxman highlights the importance of therapy and communication to repair broken family dynamics. This was a really fun read with a unique plot and flawed, relatable characters. Highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and reviewing this an ARC copy of this book. Loved the chemistry between Nate and Christa, loved reading about Christa reunited with her family and showed how truly they cared for each other and stuck together in good times and bad times. Didn’t care for Jasper or Davis who only saw $$$ to make themselves look good. Overall I highly recommend this book to all book fanatics who are close with their mothers, daughters,sisters, etc and also recommend it to romance lovers as well.

I'm a wee bit late on this shout out, but finally was able to dig into the new @abbiwaxman novel, #christacomesoutofhershell and it was worth the wait. Smart, snappy writing grabs me every time. #sciencegirlsrock #abbiwaxman #penguinrandomhouse #berkley

This may be a lifestyle I never heard of before. Christa spends her life hiding out, quite literally, studying sea snails in the Indian Ocean. Her life gets thrown thru a loop when her dad who supposedly died in a plane crash reappears and she is taken out of her quiet life and thrown in the spotlight. this was a quirky, unique story!
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I Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a delightful surprise of a book. The characters were fresh and dynamic, the relationships felt three dimensional, the plot was so weird?
So Christa is a scientist, she is currently living on this tiny island studying snails. Until she gets a call saying her father, who went missing 25 years ago and was presumed dead - is back. Thus unraveling a family reunion nobody could have predicted. Unlocking things from her past she would really rather not deal with, people she had hoped she successfully ran away from, and a mysterious father figure that feels too good to be true?
Overall delightful! Surprisingly I could've done without the romantic subplot. Their connection was great but ultimately I would've like if this was more focused on the family and Christa dealing with her past fame / resubmission into the spotlight.

I just finished Christa Came out of her shell by Abbi Waxman and here are my musings.

Christa Barnet likes her solitary life. She has her research, she has her sea snails, she has her peace. Her peace gets blown apart when her father, a man who was declared dead 25 years ago after his plane crashed, suddenly makes a reappearance. That’s news enough but her father also happens to be a famous naturalist and the toy company still has his name… This is hot, hot news. The reason he comes back? The lady who finds him in the wreckage, the one he left his family for, dies. Wanting to make amends to his ex wife and their 3 daughters, Jasper makes the flawed mistakes of appearing on Oprah before seeing his family in person.

Not wanting to deal with the fallout of it all, Christa begrudgingly returns home and the highlight being she gets to see her childhood friend and the sparks are flying. The more the media digs into her story, the more cracks develop not just in his story but in the darkness from the past that Christa has buried. Christa wants nothing more than to hide back inside her shell but she is forced to face the realities of the life she has been avoiding.

The book had a rocky start for me. It felt unsure at first. Like it was trying to find its footing but I wonder if that's what the author was trying to do because Christa starts out so unsure. The writing style was different from what I usually read. Lots of descriptive language which was nice but detracted from what I really wanted to get to the crux of. I wanted more about the dad and the mystery of his missing 25 years. There was a solid story there and it felt a bit rushed. I did enjoy the relationship between Christa and Nate but sometimes it was a little cheesy and it didn’t suit the overall tone of the book.

I am a big fan of family dramas and this one had it in spades. The dynamic between the sisters and the mom…. So good! Watching Christa develop in the face of everything that was happening was really quite beautiful and that should have been the focus that would have made this book a 5 star read. It was a real shame that the book didn’t quite find the perfect balance but I was entertained and I might have gone down a sea snail rabbit hole.

4 stars. If you love chick lit with a little substance, this book will hit all the marks for you.

Thank you @berkleypublishing and @netgalley for my gifted copy

A quick and easy read. It did take me a little bit to get into the story but about midway I was really enjoying myself. Abby Waxman has a fun and quirky setting writing style that was refreshing to read. I would have liked to have seen a bit more build up to the romance part of the story. But overall a good book to get lost in.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.

Thank you so much to the publisher for my gifted copy of this ebook. All thoughts are my own.

I love a quirky character and unique story so I was definitely drawn in by the first chapter. However, as the story progressed I just couldn't stay focused on the story and wasn't invested in the characters. Sadly i didn't finish the book.

Despite this, I do think this author is popular enough with readers that it will be popular. Her stories are well thought out and creative and unique. This one just wasn't for me.

**Many thanks to Berkley and Abbi Waxman for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley!**

If you're looking for a fresh, fun spring cocktail recipe, take one part Jack Hanna, one part Where'd You Go Bernadette, and one part Jacque(line) Cousteau...and you'll end up with a "Christa" that will knock your socks off!

Christa Liddle has spent the last few years trying to put fame behind her...and for good reason. Growing up as the daughter of Jasper Liddle, a sort of Jack Hanna/Bear Grylls hybrid, she and her sisters were constantly thrust into the spotlight...and as youngest daughter, she was giving the hideous nickname by one too many a talk show host: "the littlest Liddle." Her father's rise to fame catapulted the entire family into the spotlight, and even was the impetus for a Beanie Baby-esque line of toys ("Liddle's Liddles") inspired by the Liddle empire. The creator of these toys just so happened to have a gorgeous teen son...who coincidentally was Christa's unattainable crush, and sometimes she can't help but wonder what would have happened IF she'd had the courage to step outside her comfort zone...but that's all in the past now, right?

So imagine Christa's surprise when her reclusive, snail studying ways that have kept her holed up on a private island (just the way she likes it!) are interrupted by unthinkable news: her long lost father (oh yeah, did I forget to mention he DISAPPEARED without a trace years ago?) has resurfaced...seemingly out of thin air! Christa is baffled, hurt, and curious...but she drops everything and returns to L.A. to reunite with her family and get to the bottom of this unexpected, life changing reappearance. But Jasper isn't the only unsolved mystery in Christa's life...and when she runs into Nate once again, the white-hot sparks she felt so many years ago come rushing back, full force. With a life now put on hold as she (and the nation) wait with bated breath to find out EXACTLY what Jasper's been up to....certain OTHER secrets Christa has been keeping also threaten to disturb her newfound peace...and also ANY potential for the friendship with Nate to blossom into something more.

But will Christa return to the island alone and as confused as she left it? Or is this reunion set to lead to consequences NOBODY saw coming...and an opportunity for Christa to use her (normally internal) voice to make the sort of statement she's been waiting an ENTIRE LIFETIME to make?

Ever since I absolutely fell in love with Nina in Waxman's The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, I made the quick decision that she was an auto-read author for me. There's nothing a bookish, somewhat quirky, introvert loves more than finding a kindred spirit (in between the pages, no less!) and between Waxman's warm and witty humor, the fabulous cast of characters, and the feel of her 'cozy prose', I have been eagerly anticipating getting through her backlist (and equally excited about each new release that pops up along the way!)

So it was somewhat of a departure picking up this book and realizing that my initial interpretation of the title and cover (which had something to do with mermaids; still have no idea where I got THAT idea from!) was a bit off...and this was a tale of tortured family dynamics and the push-pull between past and future, with some heavy discussion of SA and ALSO the romantic subplot, just to round out the trio of plotlines. A VERY different read than the 'straightforward' cozy prose of Nina...but one that always felt grounded, nonetheless.

It took a while for me to adjust to the style of this one, for starters...Christa loves footnotes, and there are plenty sprinkled throughout the book. They are always fun AND humorous rather than scientific, but there's something about flipping back and forth on a Kindle that really disrupts the flow of the read for me, and don't get me started on trying to get back to EXACTLY where you left off by clicking the tiny little links...but if you DO make it to the quips, each one is worth it. Christa is a charming narrator, once you get to know her...but just like in her 'real life,' it takes a minute for her to fully open up as she gets you the reader up to speed on the Jasper saga, so patience is key. Waxman also starts each chapter with ADORABLE illustrations of different creatures and their 'scientific names' (although this diverts into fun territory at times...one chapter's header is "Coca Cola Bottle" - Potum Cokum and "Ferris Wheel" - Rota Ferrissia) so that was another element that I think would be more enjoyable in print rather than digital form. There are also little news article titles from different outlets along the way to give you the media's take on the Jasper Liddle saga as it moves along too which was a fun touch. At times there's also a feel of breaking the fourth wall, as Christa acknowledges that she is narrating her life in a very meta-ish fashion...but as per usual, it's all in her charm and all of these elements became truly endearing after a while...and I think by the end I would have missed them if they'd stopped!

Despite its sort of 'stiff' beginning, once you get through Christa's backstory, the book 'dives' into some deeper territory, as it becomes more of a bildungsroman story and also an exploration of Christa's dysFUNctional family and the consequences of Jasper's narcissistic behavior. I appreciated that Waxman was able to cover so much ground, from how Christa's mom moved on (or did she?) from Jasper after his disappearance, the Black Sheep syndrome Christa experienced in her younger years in comparison to her sisters, and also the way her romantic relationship was not at the foreground of the book, but sort of played on the side in a 'will they won't they' fashion, allowing Waxman to really dive into the dynamics of their FRIENDSHIP, which was needed in a story that already had so much drama going on. As with so many bildungsroman stories, the specific outcome is dependent not only on how MUCH the MC grows, but in what direction...and also leaves YOU to determine where you think the road will finally lead.

Christa's coming out of her shell isn't just a perfect metaphor for her snail friends, but is a gentle nod to her own journey to find her voice and more importantly, to find out how to USE it while remaining true to herself. This book is not fluffy necessarily, nor does it suggest that a man can solve your problems...and I continue to LOVE that about Waxman's writing. Much like Emily Henry (probably my overall favorite romance author) Waxman deftly weaves in family struggles, romance, and self exploration that feels like the book I NEEDED when I was a 20 something...but this story still resonates beautifully now, and was a gentle reminder that when Waxman truly plays to her strengths, the result is touching and thoughtful, while still being both funny AND fun.

And although this book seems to have served to remind me that maybe I need to read more books with mermaids in them (although I think I'll be skipping Hans Christian Anderson's classic, if you know what I mean!) I DO have one suggestion for a final illustration to close out this book:

Satisfied Reader - Satiata Lectorus

4 stars

I love Abbi Waxman’s writing! It’s sharp and witty and just a good time.
Christa is an introverted nerd and socially awkward and highly intelligent and very quirky and I loved that about her. She also grew up in the spotlight as part of the famous Liddle family, with her dad being a media darling, and has been happily living her life as a scientist who studies snails while dealing with the celebrity that comes with her family and the father that went missing when she was just a little girl and is presumed to be dead after all these years. Christa doesn’t handle his death or the unwanted attention surrounding it well and when she’s old enough she runs to work on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean. But then one day, her dad turns up alive and Christa’s whole world turns upside down. Christa returns home for the first time in several years to find that her sisters have changed and the guy she has had a crush on all her life seems to have a crush on her now too.
This is pure chick lit romcom heaven and still managed to tackle family drama and loaded lots of science in and managed to be loads of fun. While I loved the Bookish Life of Nina Hill even more than this one, I can’t wait to see what Abbi writes next!
Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

This was my second book by this author, and I'm sad I didn't love it,whereas I absolutely loved her other one. I failed to connect with the characters and never felt the pull when I was away from reading.

I did like the mystery surrounding Christa's dad, but i felt it, along with everything else, was wrapped up a bit too tidy.

4.5 stars = I loved it! Would re-read.

I have been a Waxman fan since NINA HILL, and she did NOT disappoint here. Christa and her sisters and mother are outstanding characters. Each one is doing her work and pulling no punches in the emotional upheaval of the current situation. The romance is good, but it was this family that kept me turning pages. Christa's voice is excellent - she's sharp and funny and snarky. Everything I love in a protagonist. Tons to love here - don't miss it! (Language, sex)

This was as much a story about family and healing old wounds as it was about love. I adore Waxman's quirky characters and Christa with her love of science, her dedication to snail research and her battle to overcome tumultuous teenage years definitely won me over.

The story itself was pretty out there - Christa's long presumed deceased father returns home after 25 years and thrusts them all back into the limelight, turning everyone's lives upside down. Then, add in an old crush with an undeniable current attraction.

I enjoyed this. At first, I was prepping for Steve Irwin/Bindi vibes because of the father/daughter animal show angle but this proved to be much more than that.

There was a lot of growth and self-discovery which is what l've really come to love about Waxman's characters. Plus, there was romance! Nathan was swoon-worthy and I am always here for a good HEA. This was a bit steamier than Waxman's previous books - the door was wide open. You already know I had no problem with that. Let the sparks fly and the steam sizzle!

If you enjoy books with quirky characters, out there premises, lots of family drama, romance and some steam you won't want to miss this one.

In Christa Comes Out Of Her Shell by @abbiwaxman , Christa is the daughter of a famous naturalist (I pictured Steve Irwin!) who was thought to have been killed in a plane crash when she was a kid. Her life as a sea snail researcher gets thrown into chaos when said father suddenly reappears, not dead at all. This book was absolutely hilarious. It had everything, romance, humor, emotional family relationships, stories of forgiveness, self-reflection and resilience. And all the quirkiness of a dysfunctional family that had me cackling while I was reading it. There were some twists I didn’t see coming that were clever in how they played out. The characters were multi-dimensional with layers that were slowly peeled away, revealing strong and intelligent women (and a little nerdy which I loved).
And the writing was just so perfect with the sarcastic quips dropped at the perfect spots, like little mic drops. What an absolute pleasure to read.

Christa is a researcher of sea snails on a remote Pacific island. . This suits her perfectly, she’s a private person because as a child, her famous father (think Steve Irwin) disappeared and she ended up on his TV show with her mother.

Now, suddenly after many years, her father has reappeared from Alaska where his plane went down. Christa doesn’t remember him at all but the media is desperate to talk to her, her mom and her two older sisters. The family wants to know where he’s been all these years and why didn’t he contact them?

Christa also meets a childhood friend who’s all grown up and gorgeous. Their chemistry lights up the page, but as they get closer and closer Christa gets further and further away from her precious snails.

This book is charming and funny, 4 stars.

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill is one of my favorites so I was really excited to dive into Christa Comes Out of Her Shell!

Christa had me hooked from the start, and I love that we got to see her at the job she loves so much at the start of the book! I thought all the characters were well developed and well balanced. I really loved how baffled Christa was by her emotionally mature sisters and how they didn’t match up to the mean girls in her memory!

The thing I loved most about this story was that the romance was natural and almost easy. They had an instant reconnection and the romance developed with minimal drama, which allowed the family storyline to lean into the drama without the book feeling over the top!

I really enjoyed this book! It had Abbi’s great sense of humor and sharp writing style. I highly recommend it to romance fans!

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

Abbi Waxman is a go-to author for me. This book did not resonate as much as some of her previous books however.

A famous father that disappeared 25 years ago suddenly reappears and Christa is called back from her research work on a secluded island. The characters are fun and quirky and the STEM storyline was a bonus.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for the advanced digital copy of the book.

After traumatizing childhood in limelight, Christa, a marine zoologist now, hides away on a remote island studying snails…sea snails, in case you are wondering and not garden variety we are kind of familiar with. She is yanked away to the Hollywood limelight when her dead fatherless reappears. She meets with her sisters, childhood crush she didn’t see for a decade.