Oh Maisey, you know how to write a gosh darn love story! This book just was absolutely darling. I devoured it! I could not put it down. Get ready for a fun ride with this one.

I enjoyed the concept of two different genre of authors writing and falling in love. Of course I wasn't sure if it was going to end up that way. This book was a lot about the towns people and then second about the two main characters. I read it during a snow storm which was prefect because part of this book takes place over the Christmas season.

Already one of my favorite books for 2025. The characters fit together in this story so well. I enjoyed their banter and back stories. I love this cover. The colors make me happy. I think Yates did a great job with Happy After All. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

3 ⭐️ I really liked the concept but I had a hard time getting through the book! It was just a little too wordy and long winded.

3 stars for "Happy After All", but mostly because I identified with leaving L.A. for the desert and really liked the quirky retro motel setting. But like other reviewers, I felt this was just way too slow and really dragged and I think a lot of it just needed cutting and better editing. I did not mind the trauma discussed as most people over young adulthood have baggage, but others may disagree. So, overall a mixed review from me. Many thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for the "read now" advance copy - greatly appreciated that

I have a few issues with this one. First, it's just too long in my opinion. There is so much inner monologue that just made the story drag. Then we get to the second half and it's suddenly one big trauma dump. Add in, there was no content warning about the grief and loss of an advanced pregnancy (in the past, but heavily talked about). It just went downhill for me.
In the beginning, I enjoyed it. It was cute and had potential. It just sort of went off the rails and my interest in the main characters dwindled.

This book truly had it all! Maisey Yates was a new author for me, thanks to NetGalley. It was quirky, intrigue-filled scenes paired with sharp, witty dialogue/banter, and emotionally charged moments of grief between Amelia and Nathan. Their chemistry was evident on every page. With Amelia and Nathan's shared history as writers with deeply hidden tragic pasts, making this an instant page-turner.
Adding to the charm are the long-term elderly residents of a roadside motel, whose meddling brings humor, warmth, and heartfelt wisdom to the story. Their advice and reflections are beautifully woven into the plot, delivering moments of profound insight. Great cast of characters.
The balance of emotional depth, compelling revelations, and an overarching sense of hope make this one a 5 star for me. It is one of my favorite reads this year. If you're looking for a story that will make you laugh, cry, and believe in second chances, this book is an absolute must-read!

Happy After All by Maisey Yates is how I started my new year. I mean a title like that is guaranteed to be awesome or so I thought. Amelia Taylor desired for a new way of life. Her prior life was just that - gone. She buys a motel in Arizona to start again.

Her hotel features pink flamingos and fun times for its residents. There are some interesting full time residents who are truly characters. The rest of the rooms are rented by vacationers. Except for two summers room 32 was rented by an author, Nathan Hart, who seems to need total withdrawal from everything and everyone. However, there seems to be a connection between Amelia and Nathan. The connection is never fulfilled until Nathan shows up for a December and actually spends time outside his room with the other characters. Amelia and Nathan connect and sparks fly.

I am totally conflicted by this book. I love Maisy Yates and her writing usually, but not so much in this novel. I was disappointed in how ‘wordy’ it was. It seemed like so much of the book was full of too many words that I felt took away from the story line. The premise of the book started out strong, but the book kept with an undertone of blah,blah, blah. Having said all that, I read the entire novel and was able to enjoy scenes between the characters and the overarching story. There were some poignant moments and some great lines. For me, this book was not a hit, but I am sure other people who can handle wordy books will enjoy it. Meanwhile, I will wait for her next novel happily in hopes that her past style will reemerge.

Happy After All by Maisey Yates is an okay read. It has great moments among the storyline that make the book interesting.

This was my first book from Maisey Yates but definitely not my last! I enjoyed her writing and this romantic fiction novel was the perfect way to start 2025! It was quick, sweet, with the perfect touch of emotional and literary depth! I’m excited for the next novel from Yates, now!

Happy After All by Maisey Yates

Amelia leaves her LA life behind and buys a motel in the desert to run whilst writing romance novels. But you take yourself with you and the past will catch up eventually. Nathan is a guest at the motel and a reclusive writer but he also has a past he can't escape. Can they help each other to forge a new beginning and a happy ever after?

Even though this book is not my usual genre/taste, I read it because it was about writers and enjoyed it. I liked the use of tropes as chapters to tell the story of Amelia and Nathan's relationship and I loved the community at the motel - the older ladies in particular. A lot to like about this book and especially if this is your usual genre/taste.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

It feels like there’s a lot of books around right now chronicling romance writers and openly referencing all the tropes - or maybe that’s just my TBR backlog. This one has an interesting take on the trend, introducing two characters deeply affected by personal tragedy who really don’t want to be attracted to each other - and yet. I enjoyed the unusual setting and the way Nathan and Amelia’s relationship developed, with a well-balanced blend of sharp dialogue, chemistry and sharing of angst. The meddling and advice from the elderly population of the motel was also a lovely touch. The only drawback for me was the lengthy internal monologues - as the book progressed they began to feel repetitive and in need of some serious editing. Still this was an uplifting story of healing, growth, and what can happen if you allow yourself to love again.

📚 PUBLICATION WEEK BOOK REVIEW 📚

Happy After All By Maisey Yates
Publication Date: January 1, 2025
Publisher: Montlake | Amazon Publishing

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
(Rounded Up To 5⭐)

📚MY REVIEW:

Happy After All was one of those rom-coms with so much more to its story than just a romance! Because of my own life experiences, this book really resonated with me and touched my heart.

This is the story of Amelia, who uproots her entire life in LA after she literally finds her long-term boyfriend cheating on her. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, she buys an old motel in the desert of California and moves there to start anew. She's settling into her life as a desert motel owner, enjoying her new community of the much-older permanent residents in her motel, when Nate checks into the motel for a month. There's instant chemistry with grumpy Nate, but he makes it clear he's there to work on his latest book - not for any type of interpersonal connections. And of course, the slow burn romance storyline begins.

As the book continues, we learn that Amelia lost a baby not long before she caught her boyfriend cheating (Trigger warning to anyone who might be affected by this part of Amelia's story.) However, as someone who has experienced this loss personally, I can tell you that this topic was handled so genuinely and so heartfelt in this book. Honestly, it made me feel seen and validated my emotional journey since my pregnancy loss in a way no other book has when mentioning this topic. Yates wrote about the loss of a pregnancy in a conversation between a group of women that felt very real and was filled with so much wisdom that it knocked me sideways with an emotional sucker-punch...in the best way. The way this grief was addressed resonated so very much with me, and I just have to say thank you to the author for creating this inclusive and healing storyline in this book.

"Women were supposed to be mothers. I failed at that. It made me feel useless for a long time. I didn't want to feel different, I didn't want to be different...But I am. I'm different, and my life is different than I planned for. Different doesn't make it wrong, or bad, or failed. When I accepted that, I found a lot more peace."

Happy After All is a story about found family, second chances, letting go of grief, acceptance, community, and of course - love [with a side of yummy spiciness]. It's just such a beautiful story with a heart-filling message - I really needed this read in my life. Thank you so much to NetGalley, Montlake, and Amazon Publishing for the advanced copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review.

#HappyAfterAll #MaiseyYates #Montlake #amazonpublishing #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #bookrecs #romcomreads #adultfiction #bookworm #booklover

Happy After All is the story of Amelia, a kitschy motel owner and romance novelist starting her life over after loss. A handsome and mysterious writer checks in, and the story goes from there.

The plot holds promise, but the execution falls flat. The attempt to prove that romance novels are superior and should be taken seriously is marred by incomplete sentences and jumbled prose. The dialogue did not flow.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really really wanted to like this. I was getting 'Any Trope but You' vibes from the description and loved that one so I was looking forward to getting this one.
I've never had a book spout so much unneeded filler before. It was like Maisey Yates needed to reach a specific word count in the beginning chapters. I fully understand character development, slow burn romance and all that, but this just went on and on about absolutely nothing and by the time it actually started moving in any direction. I was bored.
The only bright side was in the beginning with 'The Golden Girls'.

I hate giving one stars, but I did not enjoy this book. When I started it, I was interested in the narrator’s/ Amelia’s quirky monologues and behaviors, but everything just felt so surface level. The monologues were also scattered throughout and often interrupted dialogue that would get lost in the mess. I was just lost in this one and couldn’t connect.

*An ARC was received for an honest review.

Happy After All is about a romance author who is writing to give herself hope about romance and to help her rebuild her life after a devastating breakup. Books about authors and tropes seems to be becoming a trope in and of itself, though one that I enjoy. I appreciate the insights into the book industry, specifically the romance genre, and the tongue-in-cheek nature of the narration. Happy After All reminded me of the book Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan in that sense.
Yates writes with humor and emotional depth. The book had many positives:
1) that Amelia’s life isn’t just about romance, so we find out about her community
2) The relationship between the two protagonists isn’t a “whirlwind” and doesn’t take place over just, say, a week or something unrealistic
3) The format of using romance trope definitions at the start of some chapters like some authors use quotations
4) It was well-written and well-paced

However, this book was not for me. I stopped reading at about the 50% mark because of the open-door sex scene. While I’d love to know how it ended, I didn’t want to read so many details about the sex part of their relationship and her sex-related thoughts. I also felt like it wasn’t realistic in some of the same ways the author was poking fun at the genre - the impossibly handsome guy, the world-altering sex the first time they get together, and the Hallmark-y part relating to her ex.

If you enjoy books with open-door sex, then you’ll likely enjoy this one. If you don't, pass on this one.

Amelia is a former scriptwriter and current romance author, and the new owner of the Pink Flamingo Hotel (home to a large number of elderly, long-term residents). She is estranged from her distant parents, and is reinventing herself in the California desert after leaving Los Angeles. Nathan is a distractingly handsome and standoffish hotel guest at the Pink Flamingo, he is stoic and tries to keep to himself despite the other residents' best efforts. Both are hiding pain and past secrets, but are reluctantly drawn to one another. (I get a Crusie/Mayer vibe from these two, albeit with softened edges.) I liked it, I thought this was going to be a quicker read but it was a more complex story than I expected. The book is written in a singular 1st-person POV from Amelia's perspective, which limits our ability to fully see Nathan's viewpoint. The story was written well but was a little dense and overall a little lighter on the dialogue for my liking. Sometimes it felt like two different books: one a little lighter and rom-commy, and the other a more somber literary fiction story. But I think that's reflective of Amelia's personal journey, so it works. Nathan sometimes felt like a secondary character, but I think that ties into this being Amelia's story as she's truly the main character here. There were points in the book that I wasn't sure how much I actually liked Nathan, as his moodiness without explanation was initially a significant issue between himself and Amelia (and it was a bit much for me too). That said, it was definitely representative of his mindset at various points, and as his backstory unfolded I eventually warmed up to him and found him to be more sympathetic.

There are deeper themes of sadness and grief (don't let the cheerful cover fool you, and definitely pay attention to content warnings), but there's a sweetness there too along with some humor. It's actually a nice change of pace to read a romance where so little is easy for the main characters, and it was rewarding to watch Nathan and Amelia open up to one another. It always feels a little meta when a main character is a writer, but the author weaves this very well into Amelia's identity and observations on life. The trope chapter headings were a nice touch and acted as guideposts for upcoming events in the story. There is a great cast of supporting characters, and the writing is both witty and thoughtful. If you're a fan of slow-burn, open-door romances with deeper themes and touches of humor, then this is the book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for an ARC of this story, this was my objective review.

Tediously slow pacing, a whiney MFC, and ten pages of monologues for a two-minute conversation made this book a chore to read. This book was very well padded, I think it would have been a better read if it had been a novella.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in return for my honest review.

I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

This book was a little hard for me to get into at first but the last quarter reeled me in. Nathan and Amelia both had tragic and emotional pasts but Amelia’s sunshiny personality came through and won Nathan.

Lots of heartache and tough subjects in this book but one that had a nice ending.
3.5 stars

Lo sentí muy forzado y artificial, sobre todo en la primera mitad. La segunda parte me pareció un poco más amena, pero no lo suficiente como para quitarme la sensación de que Nathan parecía un robot, de que Amelia había pasado por muchas cosas y parecía estar escondiéndose, en negación, ya que, en lugar de enfrentar sus problemas, inventó una atracción entre ella y Nathan. Cada una de sus interacciones me resultó extraña, y cuando ella decía que se notaba que él también se sentía atraído, no podía verlo. Solo lo creí cuando finalmente se acostaron. En la última parte, sí se logró ver un avance en Amelia, pero no dejé de sentir que se trataba de la típica idea de que "el amor lo cura todo".


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.