Major family DRAMA. The characters were great with realistic, complicated lives and relationships. I found myself relating to some of the problems this family was encountering. The book was a quick and fairly easy read. Thanks NetGalley for the audio eArc.

Really enjoyed the dynamics of the niece and uncle. Kept my attention and the audio book was very well done!

I liked this, but I don't think it will really stick with me. The characters felt authentic, messy real life situations, but just not my favorite.

I have read more family dramas lately, and I picked this one up mostly based on the wonderful title (but also that cover, amiright?) and it did not disappoint. In this dysfunctional family we have Tom, his sister Dorothy, and his niece Cecily. Tom adores his niece who is going through some trouble at the college where she teaches, and neither are close with his sister Dorothy, who gives him a call to help her tell Cecily who her father really is. He always finds himself in the middle, and he always helps even though he knows this is the case. I loved spending time with this family and all their flaws, there was plenty of humor in here which I appreciated and I loved how it all wrapped up. The audio was an absolute delight and this was a great read in between a few thrillers.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC to review.

you Only Call When You're in Trouble- Great story, messy family drama. I liked the different characters and it was enjoyable.

This story revolves around a brother and a sister. Dorothy is a single mom to daughter Cecily and Tom dotes on her, to the detriment of his own relationship with his partner, Adam. When Cecily is investigated for inappropriate behavior with a student at the college where she teaches, it's Tom to the rescue, or not. It's the story of self discovery and how these people, their friends and lovers, deal with life when they get knocked down. When your only choice is to get back up and put on your big girl pants, will you do it? The audiobook version is well-narrated and enjoyable. I did enjoy this story once I got involved with the characters, just not as much as I enjoyed 'My Ex-Life.' Pub Date Jan 2024.

Here’s a dynamic that I can’t say I’ve ever read about before—niece/uncle! What a breath of fresh air this one was. Cecily and her uncle, Tom have a very special relationship. Not knowing the identity of her father, Cecily always viewed Tom as the father figure in her life. With a not-so reliable mother, Tom was always the one she called when she was in trouble. He would always answer, and help dig her out of a hole. This novel is full of drama, drama, drama and extremely character-driven. The reader receives the inside scoop on both Tom and Cecily’s personal lives. Everything from their romantic relationships, career issues, and grievances regarding Dorothy, their mom/sister. If you love reading about complex family dynamics, then this is definitely the book for you. You Only Call When You’re in Trouble is out now! I give it 4/5 stars!

TW: Language, drinking, toxic family relationships, cheating, alcoholism, toxic parent relationships, sexual assault, depression, anxiety

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
After a lifetime of taking care of his impossible but irresistible sister and his cherished niece, Tom is ready to put himself first. An architect specializing in tiny houses, he finally has an opportunity to build his masterpiece—“his last shot at leaving a footprint on the dying planet.” Assuming, that is, he can stick to his resolution to keep the demands of his needy family at bay.

Naturally, that’s when his phone rings. His niece, Cecily—the real love of Tom’s life, as his boyfriend reminded him when moving out—is embroiled in a Title IX investigation at the college where she teaches that threatens her career and relationship. And after decades of lying, his sister wants him to help her tell Cecily the real identity of her father.

Tom does what he’s always done—answers the call. Thus begins a journey that will change everyone’s life and demonstrate the beauty or dysfunction (or both?) of the ties that bind families together and sometimes strangle them.
Release Date: January 9th, 2024
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 336
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. The cover is a stunner
2. Storyline sounded good

What I Didn't Like:
1. I was bored
2. All the characters are unlikeable and whiny

Overall Thoughts:
I really wanted to know the story behind Cecily and her suspension from school for sexual assault. I feel like the just gave it up to early and let us know what had happened. Honestly I feel like they should have kept it going a little bit longer to keep the mystery happening. Unfortunately that's the only mystery in this whole entire book it feels like and once that's given up you're just kind of dragged along with this story.

I just didn't find Tom to be very caring or interesting. He goes on and on about how much he cares about his boyfriend (ex) but then all he talks about is what is he's wearing or do you want to get back together because I'm horny. I just didn't find Tom a very caring human so I find it hard to believe he even cared about Cecily or anyone else.

Final Thoughts:
Dnf at page 100. Book was interesting when I first started it but as I progressively moved on it just got lesser and lesser interesting. It felt like the story never progressed and we were just stuck in this like limbo of characters doing the same thing over and over again.

Normally I would push through a book because I had the audiobook from the publisher but I just don't care where this book goes. I think perhaps if the characters were more interesting or the story was less boring and I could really be more invested

A funny and relatable story! Incredibly written and well narrated as well! The overall plot was easy to follow and enjoyable.

"You Only Call When You're in Trouble" by Stephen McCauley is a Blend of Family and Literary Fiction!

In alternating chapters, we hear from the three main characters who are related, co-dependent, and sucking the life out of each other...

Tom is a gay sixty-something architect and father figure to his niece Cecily. He's experiencing a bad break-up with his long-time boyfriend, Alan, and struggling with several challenges at work.

Cecily is a professor in the thick of a Title IX investigation at the university she's currently suspended from. The stress of the accusation is playing havoc with her career path and her relationship with her boyfriend, Santosh.

Dorothy is Cecily's egotistic single mother and Tom's high-maintenance sister. She's using her life savings to open a retreat center in Woodstock, N.Y. with her business partner, and wellness expert, Fiona Snow.

And now, after thirty-four years, Dorothy decides she wants to tell Cecily who her father is...

"You Only Call When You're in Trouble" is my first glimpse at McCauley's writing style and storytelling. I found it to be a read filled with the flawed characters he's well-known for and a story that's humorous, engaging, and entertaining.

The humor is the kind you hear in your head about situations and individuals but wouldn't dare to speak them aloud. It's this continuous narrative of honest thoughts and opinions streaming through the story that kept me glued and continuously giggling. As I listened and giggled, with AirPods in my ears, my hubby looked at me like I was nuts.

This was an immersion reading experience through the gifted Digital Reading Copy and Advanced Listening Copy. The audiobook narrated by André Santana is my preference, but either format will deliver a great experience.

"You Only Call When You're in Trouble" is full of family and relationship drama from beginning to end. It holds serious, life-changing topics delivered in a witty, honest, and fun-loving narrative. By the end, I found these characters to be slightly more tolerable in an oddly endearing way and I recommend this book to readers who might feel the same!

4.25⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Henry Holt and Co., Macmillan Audio, and Stephen McCauley for a DRC and an ALC of this book through NetGalley. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

A family saga that starts off strong but loses steam. I did not finish this one. Liked other work of this author better.

This was my first book by this author and wouldn’t have been one I would have picked up or purchased myself. However, I won it through a Goodreads giveaway and was excited to read it. While I never hit a part of wanting to DNF it, I also never hit a part of really loving it. Most of the characters annoyed me until the last 30 or so pages and much of the family and work drama felt drawn out, while the ending felt abrupt with no real sense of closure.

I enjoyed the audio version of You Only Call When You’re in Trouble.
This story about a dysfunctional family is interesting, but I didn’t get swept away by the characters or their relationships. I also felt like there were some unanswered issues once I got to the end of the book.
Cecily is dealing with an inappropriate student teacher relationship accusation, and her mother, Dorothy, has some life changing news to share with her.
They have always been able to lean on Dorothy’s brother Tom, but will he continue to drop everything, as always, when they need him?
I liked this story a lot. Just wish I connected with the characters more.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

I decided to dnf this book at 66%. This story is okay and I believe it will land well for for some readers. The family ties here are unconventional and that will attract readers. There is a mix of likable and unlikable characters. I just didn't find myself caring enough about any of these characters or what happened to them in order to keep going.

I do not rate books I did not finish. Nor will I post this review to my social media. I will give it 3 stars here as it will not key me submit this without a rating.

You Only Call When You're in Trouble by Stephen McCauley peeled back the layers of a family in a perpetual state of chaos.

Cecily was raised by her single mother, Dorothy, and uncle, Tom. Dorothy is a free spirited wild child that never left the Hippie era behind and Tom is an environmentally conscious architect that specializes in tiny homes. Despite his success, providing for Cecily has cost him nearly everything. When Dorothy decides to open up a wellness retreat with has-been self-help author Fiona, a secret comes out that changes the dynamic of the family.

Cecily tries hard to be everything her mother is not, but when she makes a questionable choice in her career, she finds out that she is more like her mother than she realized. While Tom must make peace with where he is in life and his relationship with Dorothy.

There is not a single character in You Only Call When You're in Trouble that isn't deeply flawed, which provides a level of realism that is equally relatable and unsettling. The author chose to tie up some lose ends with the ending while leaving, perhaps, one of the biggest questions unanswered. While I do feel it fit where the book went, it irked me just a bit to not know how the investigation finished.

Thank you Henry Holt Books & Macmillian Audio for the gifted ALC.

I really enjoyed this book and all the family dynamics and compelling characters.

Cecily was raised by her single mother with the help of her uncle. Her mother has decided it is finally time to reveal the identity of Cecily's father -- while also planning and holding a big gala. Cecily is being investigated by the college she teaches for improper conduct with a student. While both Cecily and her uncle Tom travel to her mother's for the gala, tensions are high and truths are revealed.

I loved each of the flawed characters in this book, but especially Cecily and Tom. Their relationship and dynamic was so sweet, and felt very realistic.

I am surprised I haven't heard more hype for this novel -- I thought it was just as good as a lot of the very popular literary fiction. The writing is lovely and the plot was engaging and kept me wanting to know what would happen next.

I listened to this one and the narrator was excellent. I definitely recommend this one! Looking forward to checking out more by Stephen McCauley in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book. I absolutely love this cover and thought the description sounded up my alley (old guncles?! dysfunctional family?!?) but could not get into it unfortunately. I could not really connect with Tom or Cecily within the first 25% of the book and was unable to finish.

I love a good family drama, and YOU ONLY CALL WHEN YOU'RE IN TROUBLE was a lot of fun. The book primarily focuses on Tom, reliable, steadfast tiny house architect; Cecily, his cherished neice and a professor that is tangled up in a messy Title XI investigation; and Dorothy, the flightly mother of Dorothy that is determined to be more forthcoming about a family secret to her daughter.

Each character has their share of complications that they're sorting through, and I enjoyed the way they interacted with each other. I wish there was a little more "oomph" to the story that I felt was lacking, but all in all, I looked forward to picking up the book each time I had to put it down.

I also found the narrator to do a great job. He effortlessly moved the story along, and unlike some narrators that don't seem to fit the characters they're voicing, I fully believed the way he discussed each of the central protagonists.

Fun, funny, tender, and smart, this book grabbed me immediately. I cared deeply about the characters and genuinely wanted to know what happened to them. It's a family story that's anything but simple, and a lot of fun. Perfect for anyone looking for a read that will give them some perspective while having a really great time.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐲
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫é 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)

Thank you #partner @Henryholtbooks and @macmillan.audio for my #gifted copies of You Only Call When You’re In Trouble!

You Only Call When You’re In Trouble by Stephen McCauley was such a beautiful and witty novel about family and I just devoured it! I went into this one blind and had no clue what to expect. All I knew was that I loved the cover of this book and just decided to dive in. I could not have been more in love with the premise of this novel and it’s definitely one I highly recommend!

Tom has spent his entire life caring for sister, Dorothy, and his niece, Cecily. After committing to put himself first for the first time ever, Cecily calls and of course needs his help. With her career under investigation, and her relationship with her boyfriend about to break, she needs her uncle more than ever. She wants to visit her uncle and take a break from her current life. With Cecily visiting, Dorothy decides now is a good time to finally tell her the identify of her biological father. From there, more family dysfunction unravels.

This was seriously such a funny but heartwarming book. I loved Tom and his commitment to his family. The character development was flawless! I also loved how this book focused on the choices we make and the impact they have on ourselves and others.

I alternated between the physical book and the audiobook, narrated by André Santana. I felt so connected to the narrator and found him to be so dynamic. I found myself getting lost in listening and highly recommend either format!

Posted on Goodreads on December 30, 2023: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- January 9, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on January 9, 2024
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