Emma is a young woman in her mid twenties who we meet as she's reaching a year of sobriety. Through the course of the story, we learn about Emma's struggles over the years and how they relate to her parents, particularly her Dad. While Emma appreciated the program she did, after her one year sober she finds that maybe continuing that path isn't what's best for her. We see Emma stay strong in her sobriety but question other aspects of the program. Her sponsor Lola seemed a bit much to me. Emma develops a relationship with a coworker but then pushes him away because she's afraid of him seeing all of her brokenness. This was a really good story, tear jerker, too. 4 1/2 stars.

While I love reading books about people and events that I’m previously unfamiliar with, it’s a comfort to read a story that really speaks to your experiences and your soul. I have been sober from alcohol for three years, and it’s rare that I find a story about a woman going sober in her twenties. I’ve also experienced grief and loss, so I feel like this book hit me right where it should have. It was well-crafted, and I cared very much for the main character. I rooted for her growth, as well as her love story. It was beautifully written, and I particularly liked how the subject of AA meetings was portrayed and handled. Overall, great book, and one I will recommend to other sober people looking for hope.

This felt like the kind of romance I haven't read before, and I liked that. Emma's spent the last year in recovery from alcohol, and when she meets Ben she realizes how much work she's done and also how much work she has left to do. Their relationship is complicated by her own personal hurdles regarding sobriety and unexpected family challenges. Emma is lovable in spite of and because of her flaws. I really enjoyed the insight / exploration of sobriety and AA, and that felt like something that made this book stand out among others in the genre.

Rating - 4/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Date Read - March 17, 2024
Publication Date - December 17, 2024

*I received an E-ARC of this book for free in exchange for an honest review* - Thank you @avarson, @htpbooks and @netgalley!

Even though the description of this book may lead you to think otherwise, Definitely Better Now is a literary fiction book that has some romance but romance is not the main plot. This is the type of book that makes you think about who you are and who you want to be. I could not relate to some of Emma’s specific experiences, but I could relate to so many of her struggles, like starting over, managing friendships, navigating difficult family relationships and making big life changes. If you do not like books that mention religion or spirituality, this might not be the book for you. Overall, I really enjoyed how real Emma’s character feels and how Ava does not sugarcoat the difficult issues that so many of us can relate to.

If you are looking for a book that will get you thinking about your life with some romance and humor thrown into the mix, you should try Definitely Better Now!

Get excited to read Definitely Better Now, available December 17! 🎉

*Please check trigger warnings*

Definitely better now was one of my most anticipated 2024 debuts and I really enjoyed this honest, relatable and funny workplace romance set in Brooklyn that features Emma, a recovering alcoholic who is celebrating one year of being sober and trying to figure out how to come out to her co-workers and try her luck at dating again.

I thought Emma was such a memorable and easy heroine to root for. She is trying her best, even when things don't go to plan and she gets appointed to the holiday party planning committee at her work while also having to deal with unwanted advances from her supervisor, a new relationship with her coworker, Ben and growing tensions with her AA sponsor.

Emma also has a complicated relationship with her dying alcoholic father and has to process her feelings with his impending death. Good on audio read by one of my favorite narrators, Karissa Vacker and highly recommended for fans of books like Rufi Thorpe's Margo's got money troubles. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital, audio and physical ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

Definitely Better Now follows Emma, a 26 year old recovering alcoholic living in NY who is celebrating her one year of sobriety. Emma takes the reader through the complex dynamics of her divorced parents and their individual relationships, dating as a sober person, juggling a full time job, her past mistakes and how she is trying to better herself by going through AA and what that process looks like. Additionally, the scariest thing of all, forced corporate fun (having to plan a holiday party for your coworkers)

I thought Ava Robinson did an excellent job of explaining AA through Emma's eyes where it was informative to the reader without coming across as a report done for class.

This book really had it all, laughter, tears, second hand embarrassment, and I found Emma to be highly likeable despite her past fuck-ups and present day blunders. I really enjoyed seeing her relationship form with Ben and her coworkers that became her new friends.

This story was so different and touching! I loved the main character, Emma, and there were very humorous parts and very heartwarming parts. Really loved the writing and Emma’s growth. I will be recommending.

Emma is just finishing her first year of sobriety and is looking forward to continuing on with her life. However, she quickly realizes her life isn't any different now that a year has passed. She's still figuring it all out.

This was an incredibly heavy book, and not for the weak. Watching Emma take on the reigns of our live after hitting one year of sobriety was a kick. Emma realized that becoming sober was not a one solve solves all as she navigated the different relationships in her life.

I wanted to love this book because I'm six years sober and I relate to Emma in a few ways. However I didn't get sober as young as her and I didn't use AA so there are a lot of ways that I didn't connect with her. I liked the concept of the book, exploring what life looks like after one year of sobriety once you start dating again. But it wasn't as funny as the blurb promised and it was kinda dull in the middle. I read a digital ARC which had a lot of formatting and editing errrors that distracted me. Hopefully those will be fixed in the final product and you wouldn't experience that.

I can't say I'd recommend this one.

I feel like my opinion on this book is marred by the fact that I read a similar book earlier this year that turned out to be one of my favorites. This one just didn’t have it. I felt very frustrated by Emma and Ben’s situation, and while I realize she was navigating her first love interest in sobriety, there was so much miscommunication. I just like Emma as much as I needed to in order to fully enjoy this. I normally enjoy slice of life type books, but unfortunately this one missed the mark for me. I’d still recommend it to others though!

There was a lot going on in this one and I think that's what kept me from truly enjoying it.
Appreciate the depiction of sobriety and the journey to maintain it especially from someone in their 20s. However, the romance bit was sometimes interesting and sometimes forgotten.

Overall, interesting read that I think a lot of people will enjoy and appreciation.

Ahhh, I really enjoyed this!! I didn't realize I would learn so much about AA! I loved seeing the relationship between Ben and Emma evolve and Emma learn so much about herself after her first year of sobriety. An important message throughout this book is not to let small things come between you and your family and to know when it's time to move on from things in life that no longer serve you. This is a wonderful story that will stay with me!

Emma Finley is 26 years old and one year sober, thinking that she finally has it all together. She's disconnected from her complex relationship with her alcoholic absent father and his new-age hippie-esque wife, has a new persona at her desk job where she keeps a low profile, and follows the instructions of her very opinionated sponsor. But Emma soon realizes that sobriety doesn't solve everything, and that life is messy wether your drunk or sober.

This book is part workplace romance, part character driven fiction. While I loved reading from the perspective of someone in their 20s and sober, which is a demographic largely undressed in modern fiction. Most of the times when AA or alcoholics are mentioned its as a backstory to a main character that drives their mistrust in men! I loved hearing about Emma's AA journey and motivation to stay sober. The book deals with intense topics of death, grief, and regret in a raw and vulnerable way.


There were a few things that kept this book from being a solid 3 or 4 star for me. Firstly, I didn't love how Emma's sponsor and AA group was depicted. I can't speak from experience as someone who isn't an addict or knowledgable about the 12 steps, but it was portrayed in a very negative light. Secondly, I think the romance element of the book could have used some fine tuning. At times the relationship between Ben and Emma was front and center, at times it was totally on the back burner. They lacked chemistry and I think the author tried to fit too many elements into their storyline as well as using a lot of miscommunication tropes that felt unauthentic. Lastly the pacing was very off to me, the first half of the book really dragged and all the action/plot occurs in the last 30% of the book and felt rushed.

Not going to lie, this book was a tough one for me to get through. It was well written, and exceptionally done, but the topic was hard for me. My mom was an alcoholic, so while it isn’t necessarily triggering for me to read books about alcoholism, it is a little tough as was the case here. I think that the author did a good job portraying what it is like for someone with alcoholism. It’s a tough disease as is any addiction, and Emma did so good navigating life. She was such a real character; she felt like she was my friend and I knew her personally. This takes exceptional writing to pull off, and the author did. The writing really moved me and I loved it so much.

This is a really well-done debut that you won’t want to miss.

I have addicts in my life and I thought this was a great contemporary fictional book on being sober and that journey. I don't know anything about it, I cannot claim to really know the lived experience but I thought this was a tender and honest way of framing this story. I highly recommend.

Emma is a recovering alcoholic in her 20s celebrating her first year of sobriety. Emma felt so REAL. You really are rooting for her in all her aspects of life. I felt like I couldn’t help but to be proud of her for going through and experiencing the firsts in life sober. She was honest about parts of her addiction as well as just trying to navigate life with a new light while life still throws her curve balls. She took her faults, her firsts, her love, her fears, and her struggles and continued to push forward in life for better in all aspects. Definitely recommend.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harlequin Publishing for providing me with early access!🥰

Ava Robinson’s “Definitely Better Now” is her debut novel. When the novel begins, Emma is getting ready to celebrate one year of sobriety from alcohol. The overview is slightly misleading. The novel wasn’t quite as humorous as it was described to be.

Instead, the reader follows Emma on her journey as she navigates her sobriety, her relationship with her divorced parents, working on how she feels about her past mistakes, as well as entertaining the idea of dating as her sober self. I don’t recall having read a fictional book about a recovering alcoholic so it was interesting to learn more about that world and what it may look like.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and found it memorable. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for a eARC of this novel! This was such a lovely surprise. I was deeply touched by these flawed characters. There was depth, sadness and humor all wrapped up in Emma’s story and I felt like the author did a beautiful job of balancing the complexities and intricacies of life in your twenties - and how uncertain and uncomfortable it can feel. I really loved the writing here and I truly enjoyed Emma’s character arc. The writing really moved me. I think this one will stick with me. What a stunning debut!

If I had to pick one word for this book, I think it would be: real. I don’t have any experience with many of the things in this novel: difficult parent dynamics, addiction, living in New York, and more, but it all felt so authentic. The romance had awkwardness and never felt sugar coated, the healing wasn’t linear or full of platitudes or straightforward solutions, and the characters felt real and flawed. Sometimes you may want to shake the real and flawed MC, Emma, lol but still 😆

This book was such an amazing debut and definitely moving! I think in the end it didn’t get more stars from me just because I got a little tired of spending 352 pages with Emma and the romance was maybe a little too slow burn?