This book sent me a roller coaster of emotions! I loved the ending and it was really pulling on my heart strings, I did find it a little slow to get into to but oh boy when you get in to it, you are in for a ride!!

Major spoilers in this review! So read at your own risk.

This book was pretty heavy since it involved the loss of the FMC husband and child, so that made me want to sympathize with the FMC, who also lost her dad at a young age and her mother turned to alcohol (TW: death of husband, death of child, death of parent, Parent with alcoholism) and i feel like i could cut Lili with a lot of slack for all the trauma she has endured. But i just couldn’t like her a main character. She was overly critical and harsh to Blake and him as a single parent.

Blake is TOO much of a hero. In an accident, I don’t think they would let someone injured assist? Seemed like a liability. I also think he should have been more conscious as a single parent that he is ALL Maddie had left!! You CANNOT leave Maddie Blake! I will fight you. So I didn’t really like Blake as a main character either.

The best character in this whole book i Maddie, and i would die for pirate captain. Long live Captain Maddie!!

What Happens in Idaho is a return to home story that deals a lot with grief and trauma. It is a sweet closed door romance with likeable main characters. I really loved Blake and Maddie’s relationship.

I will say the ending is where I felt it really dragged. Why did we have to spend so much time with Blake at the site. Just too much and that event just seemed a little forced for the story.

This was a rather quick read and overall enjoyable story. Thank you to Net Galley , Bonnie Jo Pierson and Rising Action Publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’d like to applaud the author, it’s a solid debut book with rather impressive writing style. Bonnie Jo Pierson does have way with words, she has the ease and skill that makes it pleasant to read. I did enjoy reading this book, which was a nice story of romance, grief and parenthood.
What I enjoyed about “What Happens in Idaho”:
- realistic grief portrayal, it was emotionally charged and and absolutely heartbreaking;
- realistic depiction of a neuroatypical person (as it’s a spectrum, different people have different experiences and stories);
- realistic and relatable retribution story of FMC’s mother.
The book is not a simple romance novel, it gives us a bit more depth and insight, more emotions and storytelling. It’s also rather “clean”.
I did have problem with some parts of it being simply boring and too long. They kind of evened each other out, which is a shame because it made the whole book rather average, when it could be very good.
Overall I find it a quite enjoyable, 3/5.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co. for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
What Happens in Idaho releases July 16, 2024

Liliana finds herself back in her hometown for the first time since the loss of her husband and child, and becoming a doctor.
This is a love after loss story and contains difficult themes that touch on grief, trauma, car accidents, and rough childhood upbringings tied to parental neglect/abandonment, alcoholism, and the foster system.

The writing was strong to start, but then the plot started to taper out and become a bit stagnant.

I had a hard time rooting for the main characters romantically based on the fact that Blake omitted the truth from Lili the entire time when he knew he played such a large hand in something that was so monumental and traumatic to her; you can’t build a meaningful relationship off of that.

Blake was made to be a jack of all trades character to offset his guilty conscious and show that he was a good guy, but it came off as too much in my opinion. I mean, why bother adding the fact that he volunteers as both an EMT and firefighter in addition to being a mechanic, owning his own business, being a single dad to an autistic child, and always doing free upkeep on Renee’s house, if we don’t even see him doing his side jobs (EMT/firefighter) in <u>Idaho</u>?

The whole reason why Lili came back to Idaho in the first place was because her mother said she had something for her, yet we barely see them converse throughout the entire book. There was a huge lack of closure with the plotline of the life insurance policy and character development between the two.

The last little bit of the story played a big part in the decline of my overall rating.
Having Blake’s autistic, 6 year old kid hiding in the back seat of his car for over 12 hours while he was speeding was a really senseless thing to include.
The car accident from 8 years ago made sense as a main plot thread, and the second one would have been sufficient enough. But to throw in a third felt like delivering a joke to a room with no one laughing. To put that burden on Liliana on top of everything else she had to go through with Blake and her mother felt like a huge slap in the face, especially given the fact that it was basically an exact replica of what happened to her late husband and child — I would have not recovered from that emotionally if I were in her shoes.

Normally romances with heavy hitting themes are my bread and butter, but something about the outcome of this one just didn’t sit right with me.
I walked away feeling like the entire small town was laughing in Lili’s face by how much they disregarded her loss and how they essentially replaced her husband and child with Blake and Maddie; even going as far as calling Renee Maddie’s grandmother when Renee never even treated her own biological offspring as her own.
Again, the past parental neglect and alcoholism didn’t feel like fully resolved threads.

This book sounded so good to me but for some reason I could not connect with the characters. I felt like the book seemed rushed and it focused on parts that were not important to the storyline. The car accident really ruined the book for me. I also just had a really hard time understanding Lili and her choices. Although this book wasn’t for me, I could see others enjoying this.

It was good, but could have been much better. I felt more empathy towards the characters than anything. I could barely feel the romance, I wish there were less drama. A lot of things, unfortunately, felt like easy writing, like for example Blake and Maddie’s accident, just a repeat of what Lily had experienced but with a better ending.

Thanks for the arc

What Happens in Idaho by Bonnie Jo Pierson is a heartwarming and emotionally charged romance novel that will make readers fall in love with the characters and the story. The book tells the story of Dr. Liliana Chase, a successful trauma surgeon who is still grieving the loss of her husband and baby girl. When Liliana reluctantly returns to Clear Springs, Idaho, she finds herself stranded in a potato field after avoiding a cow with a death wish and is rescued by Blake Richardson, a mechanic and single dad.

As Liliana waits for her car to be repaired, she finds herself drawn to Blake's fun-loving and genuine personality, despite the secret he is hiding that could destroy their budding relationship. What follows is a heartwarming and emotional journey as Liliana and Blake confront their fears of loss and abandonment and learn to trust and love again.

Pierson does an excellent job of creating complex and relatable characters that readers will root for from the very beginning. The chemistry between Liliana and Blake is palpable, and their journey towards happiness is both heartwarming and emotional. The small-town setting of Clear Springs, Idaho, adds to the charm of the story and makes readers feel like they are a part of the town and its residents.

Overall, What Happens in Idaho is a must-read for fans of romance novels. It has everything you could want in a book - a heartwarming story, relatable characters, and a charming setting - and leaves readers feeling uplifted and hopeful. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a heartwarming and emotionally charged read.

What Happens in Idaho? Apparently, good premises and bad execution.

Let's talk about the good things:
1) A strong portrayal of grief, especially the loss of a child and how that can impact the way a person sees other children
2) A unique setting with good small-town vibes. First time reading something set in Idaho!
3) Some good swoony moments. This was closed-door, but I really liked that. I feel like open-door would've cheapened the relationship.

But....let's talk about what dropped this book HARD in the ratings.
1) Is there such a thing as too much trauma in one book? The random blips about childhood cancer, alcoholism, and poverty felt like ways to sort of check off a trauma box. While grief was treated with care, these were not.
2) Renee as a character. There was no remorse for the way she treated her child? Yet she treated Maddie and Blake perfectly? I don't know much about programs for alcoholism, but I thought making amends for past actions was a giant part of it. It also goes with point one, but it felt like the entire subplot did a disservice to Lili.
3) The entire climax. I'm sorry, the random ass tornado that led to a giant pile-up on Highway 40 (sorry, I'm a Saint Louisan, there's no way I am calling it I-64) caused the little girl to go into a coma, the MMC to have to save babies from burning cars and doing things the emergency responders couldn't do, and everything ended up okay? It was just WAY too much. Like, maybe a simple car accident could have done the trick, you didn't need to make it an episode of 9-1-1 Lone Star.
4) The relationship development didn't feel organic at ALL. It felt like they were in love out of nowhere; I wanted more domestic moments and a slow build (especially with Maddie being Autistic), but it was told and not shown.
5) Lots and lots of typos. I hope these get fixed. It was really distracting.
6) Characters out of nowhere. All of the sudden we are supposed to believe Angie is her bestie? When they haven't talked in years? And no one made an attempt to contact this woman in the twenty first century after she lost her husband and child? There were too many named side characters who felt out of place and distracting. It made it hard to keep track of the core of the story.

Look, this is a debut, so I'm feeling generous. I'll give it three stars because there was a lot of potential. I want more stories set in locations that aren't New York or LA or coastal towns. But I was pretty disappointed in this book.

This was the first book I have read from Bonnie Jo Pierson and it will not be the last. I couldn’t set this book down it was sooo good.

I love small town romance and this book was amazing. I can relate to Lili a lot and admire her strength.

If you're looking for a sweet, wholesome romance then What Happens in Idaho by Bonnie Jo Pierson is a great pick for you. Liliana Chase is resident doctor in St. Louis. She ran away from her previous life in Idaho because there were too many bad memories after the death of her husband and baby girl.

However, 8 years later Lili finally finds her way back to Idaho when her mom, Ranee, tells her she found something her late father would want her to have.

Unfortunately, before Lili's even made it home she finds herself knee deep in mud and no way out ... until handsome, single dad and mechanic, Blake Richardson pulls up to give her a hand.

This is a sweet, closed door romance. The characters have challenges-- both now and dealing with the past--and we are able to see them grow and overcome them throughout the book.

I mostly enjoyed reading What Happens In Idaho by Bonnie Jo Pierson. There were some parts of the story that dragged a bit, especially at the beginning, and parts I wish wouldn't have been so rushed through--a bit more relationship development once their feelings were recognized--but the story has some great characters, plus a big focus on forgiveness, and imperfect people just trying to right wrongs, and some very sweet romance. I always enjoy a little character depth and this story delivered that in spades.

Thanks netgalley and Bonnie Jo Pierson for the opportunity to read your story!

3.75 stars, rounded up.

TW with (minor spoilers): lots of mentions of Death Of Spouse and death of child (in the past) minor mentions of alcoholism (parent), mentions of verbal abuse, use of minor swear words

I feel like this book had all the right pieces I would want in a romance but they didn’t work for me. I feel like it was rushed in some areas and dragged out in others. I wasn’t connecting with our main character at all, either. I think this book would be great for the right reader, but it just wasn’t me. I would definitely be interested to try a different book by this author.

What Happens in Idaho by Bonnie Jo Pierson is a wholesome romance. Liliana Chase is a successful trauma surgeon who is still recovering from the death of her husband and baby girl. She comes to Idaho to visit her mom who she has not seen in 7 years. Blake Richardson is a mechanic and single dad. He saves Lili and her car from a potato field. They both have sworn off dating, but Blake is rather convincing. Both hold secrets that make their relationship challenging.

This is a sweet romance. The characters had depth, walked through hard things, and we were able to see them transform throughout the book. The charming small town of Clear Springs, Idaho had a wonderful cast of characters. What Happens in Idaho has many poignant and hard scenes, but also many that made me laugh out loud. It was a true mix of life. I appreciated the redemptive arc.

I enjoyed reading What Happens In Idaho by Bonnie Jo Pierson with its thoughtful world view. The story has good characters, themes of redemption and forgiveness, and some very sweet romance. I greatly recommend.

I was given a copy and not required to write a positive review.

What a fun book! As an Idaho native, I immediately felt at home in the charming small-town setting of this book.

Bonnie Jo Pierson truly delivers the whole package in this romance tale. It's brimming with delightful moments that had me laughing out loud, yet it doesn't shy away from the raw realities of life's struggles. Pierson masterfully intertwines the highs and lows, seamlessly connecting moments of joy with heartrending emotional depth.

While I'll confess to shedding a few tears a time or two, the emotional impact was balanced, never leaving me feeling overwhelmed. Each character is expertly crafted, flawed yet utterly relatable, showcasing both their imperfections and their inherent goodness.

From the mishaps of getting stuck in a muddy field to the heart-pounding tension of a dangerous accident, this book is a feel-good ride from start to finish that you absolutely won't want to miss.

It was a somewhat easy read, it took me a while to connect with the main characters, but once I got in the groove i enjoyed it!

This was good, but it could have been so much better and I feel like it fell short in a lot of ways. I didn't feel the connection with the characters at all, and I felt like it was by force making me try to care about these characters. This is because they had so much trauma and bad things happen to them, that you end having empathy for them but I didn't really feel the romance because of that. This felt like the author just threw in every bad thing and every conceivable trauma she possibly could to cause drama but it just became too much. I think this had a lot of potential, but missed the mark and I did not enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bonnie Jo Pierson, and Rising Action Publishing Co. for the eARC of this book.

Unfortunately, I really didn't love this one as much as I had hoped. I struggled to connect with the main characters and felt like there was a case of history repeating itself just so create more drama within the story.

I wanted to love this book but unfortunately it never clicked for me.

There are things I liked! I thought Liliana and Blake’s relationship progression was very sweet. I liked the complicated relationship between Liliana and Renee; nothing felt rushed or overly chummy given their past. I also thought that Maddie was a well written child who was super sweet.

The things that didn’t work for me mostly boil down to the over complication of the plot. It felt like an episode of One Tree Hill where they try to fit in as many tragic and dramatic things as possible. Trauma soup!

This was an easy read and I was never bored - I just wish I connected with the characters more rather than feeling forced into having empathy for them by being told how many awful things have happened to and around them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action for the eARC!

This was a cute romance. I loved the banter and the setting was perfectly done. I would highly recommend this book!