Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of The Half of It.

This book is a feel good romance about found family and the relationships that develop as a result of this. The chemistry between the main characters builds throughout the story with just the right amount of spice!

My favourite relationship within the whole book was June and Cara’s - it was so beautifully written.

Would definitely recommend for any romance lover!

The Half of It is a spicy romance set in a small Irish town, but it is so much more than that. It's about found family, self-discovery, grief, and acceptance.

First and foremost, I loved Juniper and Aidan. They had both emotional and physical chemistry, and all of the dialogue between them was well-written. I also especially enjoyed the side characters, namely Evvie, Cara, and Lis, and could really feel through my Kindle screen how much they all cared for the main character.

The writing was accessible yet descriptive, with some evoking metaphors. My favorite is the one that compared June's beating heart to a ball in a pinball machine. That was quite lovely.

The setting was one of the strongest features, as the reader really feels like they are there, with Cara's family and friends, in a quaint little town in Ireland.

There was a perfect amount of spice to develop June and Aidan's journey, while still emphasizing their emotional connection.

Overall, it was such a pleasant read, and I'm grateful to have received this ARC :)

A spicy small town Ireland romance? Say no more! I knew immediately upon reading the description this book was for me. I loved Juniper and the slow burn aspect of the romance. I love a found family trope and anything set in Ireland. This had me hooked from the beginning. Look forward to reading more from this author.

Juniper travels from New York City to Ballygra to meet her newly found (thanks to a DNA test) Step-Sister. Juniper has had a rough upbringing, not knowing her father and not having a relationship with her mother, so to find any family is thrilling. When Juniper and Cara meet, Cara immediately folds her into her family, inviting Juniper to be a part of the wedding and introducing her to Cara’s best friend Aidan (Danny).

Juniper tries her best trying to navigate newly found family and friendships while also attempting to write an article about her experience finding family from a DNA test for her job back in NYC. But right when she is starting to settle in and feel comfortable, she gets a phone call that may just upend absolutely every aspect of her life.

This book was a fun read. I always love reading books that allow you insight into other cultures. Theresa does a great job writing Irish accents. I have found that typically, about halfway through books, I will lose the accents in the voices in my head. This time, through Theresa’s uses of the slang and her spellings of various words, I never lost those accents in my head. I imagine that this book would translate beautifully into an audiobook.

I will say, this story was a bit predictable, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable. It is a slow-burn romance with pining, and there is a third act breakup. There is spice in this book but it has a great blend of plot and spice, so the spice does not feel out of place or forced.

Juniper Martin works as an exploited journalist for one of the “click-bait” companies. Her company collaborates with a DNA company, and she finds out about a half-sister in Ballygra, Ireland, a fictional, rural town near Cork. The book opens with her arrival in Ireland, and the first person she meets is Aidan McCarthy, who is bartending in his family’s pub. As luck would have it, Aiden is best friends with Cara, Juniper’s half sister. Cara is about to get married, and she warmly and lovingly folds Juniper into the family, an experience which is meaningful but foreign (pun intended) to Juniper.

The found family in this book shines as a strength. As Cara introduces Juniper to her fiance, community, and parents, Juniper learns to value family and joy. These scenes could have been a cliche, but they are not. Christine captures the warmth and hilarity of Irish culture, and the banter and love feel very authentic.

The other strong element in this book is the chemistry between Juniper and Aiden. The two end up rooming together, and while they try to delay the inevitable, they cannot deny their incredible attraction. Their scenes together are engaging, and the author shows great strength in the way she builds chemistry. Christine also incorporates the Irish scenery and atmosphere into their relationship, including a classic “stuck in the rain” moment that offers peak romance.

While many elements of this book work well, the book utilizes the “big secret” trope, and this brings stress to the end, and it causes the reader’s esteem of the heroine to lower. This secret is major, and while the heroine certainly holds on to it for too long, the other characters have an extreme reaction to it. This overwrought strife at the very end weakens what would have been a very sweet, heartwarming book.

I love Irish literature and culture, so this book still provided a fun escape for me. I want to thank @netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity. As always, these opinion are mine alone.

The Half of It by Theresa Christine is a slow burn romance set in Ireland. I really enjoyed this book and I think contemporary romance readers will like it as well.

Loved reading this book. The small town is something I really loved and though I know it is made up, i hope I do get to visit a place like it once. The characters are well written and the chemistry between them is good. The storyline keeps the reader to the pages. Definitely a recommend.

3.25 ⭐️ I enjoyed this sweet small town debut novel by Theresa. It’s an easy read that actually covered heavier topics which gave this story a more believable aspect. I love the found family trope and I felt a good connection to the main characters. I’m not usually a huge fan of the “falling fast” approach but Aiden was very lovable with June so it made sense.

I do think it felt like something was amiss in some parts of the story and I think a little more insight into previous character interactions would’ve made their actions more justifiable

Tell me why I’m here wishing I could visit Ballygra though? Loved it being set in a fictional rural Ireland and the way Theresa portrayed the community and family feel was incredible! I wish I could visit them in real life.

There was a point where I actually didn’t know where the story was going to go but I personally don’t think there was another way for it to pan out. I think the miscommunication made them seem more life like in the sense that not everything can work out (the first time) but I’m a big softy who loves a happy ending!

Overall, I had a good time reading this touching story and would definitely read more Theresa in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Theresa Christine for allowing me to read an eARC copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Theresa Christine for providing an eARC to read. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Juniper has led a life without family. She has a best friend, and an okay job, but when results from a DNA test indicate she's got a half sister in Ireland, she jumps at the opportunity to visit.

Aiden is grieving, his family is too. They aren't sure how to live life after the loss of his brother. Until his best friend's American sister appears and he starts to imagine what could be.

I enjoyed my time reading The Half of It. Seeing June forge bonds with the new people in her life was lovely, and much of the conflict and resolution the characters experience felt genuine. I will was that some parts felt a little slow but the payoff in the last act made it sticking it out worthwhile.

3.5/5 stars

4.5⭐️

A charming, hope-filled, small town romance and a hot Irish boyfriend?? Sign me up!

The Half of It had so many great parts of a romance—friends to lovers, forced proximity, and a couple fun spicy scenes. However, it was much more than that! Each character was well-rounded and had their own issues to resolve. Even the secondary characters were extremely interesting to read about (fyi, I will fight Cara’s grandma on sight). This book is a dual POV between June & Aidan, but I would’ve loved another POV from Cara (hoping for a spinoff focused on her & Yaz)!

The found family trope in this book is so wholesome! Not only did I love the immediate acceptance that Cara & her mom had for June, but the entire town made everything so much better. Seeing an entire community rally around someone who struggles with love & acceptance was so heartwarming.

The twist in this book had me STRESSED for June, but the way things turned out couldn’t have been better. There needs to be something to stir the pot, and I think the main issue was a perfect way to do it!

Also, Aidan is a 10/10. He’s a great friend, loving son, invested boyfriend, and he has an Irish accent?? No notes!

3.5⭐️
Thank you NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and Theresa Christine for this eARC copy. I will be giving my honest review.
Anyone who knows me will tell you of my obsession with all things Ireland so this book was right up my alley.
The author did an amazing job at setting the scenes to make you feel like you were there. Even though Ballygrá isn’t a real Irish town (more an amalgamation of all the different places the author has traveled to in Ireland) it gave all the cutesy small town & townspeople vibes that I love to read.
The story starts out with Juniper, who finds herself in Ireland to primarily connect with her half-sister Cara that she only recently discovered she had via DNA test. Once there she meets someone and while Aiden is dreamy the romance kinda took a backseat to all the other layers of the book for me. While the romance is unfolding, you’re also getting budding familial relationships and workplace drama which I’m here for.
Be warned, this book definitely has a slow burn aspect so I was HERE for it and the pining/will they?/won’t they?of it all.
The spice when we did finally get there felt a little lackluster. Can’t quite put my finger on why. That’s not true there were a couple little things but I just can’t say why they bothered me. Ya know? Like I would’ve liked to hear the expletive he said instead of her narrating “…a string of expletives leaves his mouth.” Or maybe just have her say the body part instead of indicating left left right this or that. Which see seems crazy and like a very personal me thing. So my random qualms got nothing on…
My favorite things:
•cozy small town
•3 dimensional dynamic characters
•exploration of dreams & goals
•slow step by step unfolding of the romance
•the Irish setting ☘️

This book was a throughly enjoyable read. It'll make you laugh, it'll make you yell in frustration, it'll make you cry, and it'll make you smile! It has everything I could of dreamed for even if it made me cry at 1am when I couldn't put it down. The details about Ireland were absolute perfection and added a level of real into the story that made me fall even deeper in love.

Tropes: small town, sibling's best friend, forced proximity

The Half of It by Theresa Christine is a sweet, small town, forced proximity, friends to lovers romance. June, a writer longing to take on more serious pieces, has recently completed a DNA test and discovered she has a half sister living in Ireland. On a whim, she says yes to a trip to Ireland to meet her prior to her sisters upcoming wedding after being offered a chance to write a piece for her paper on the experience. Aiden has returned to his hometown of Ballygra, Ireland to help run his parents’ pub after the death of his brother, leaving college where he was studying photography.

I absolutely loved this book! It is almost hard to describe what makes this book so magical, but I think the center of it being the characters who were authentic, flawed, and unbelievably kindhearted. The make-believe setting of Ballygra is beyond charming and I wanted nothing more than to immerse myself in the town and hug all the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Theresa Christine for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️

This was a sweet debut novel – a fun read if you love stories set in the Emerald Isle.

I have to say that books set in Ireland will automatically grab my attention, so I was already hooked from the beginning. I studied in Cork at UCC and toured around Kerry during the semester so it was wonderful to imagine those spots again while I was reading. Slang like craic and eejit made me smile and reminisce. I loved all the Ireland moments.

I thought the characters were three-dimensional and flowed together well. June's backstory about the lack of love she received growing up informed her fears of letting people in and it made sense why she leaned so hard into being part of Cara's family. These moments we got as readers made her actions later in the book make complete sense. Her character flaws were set up well and her actions felt justified even if they were mistakes. Cara was a beautiful character who took in June with open arms and gave her love generously. Everything about her character choices was fun to read and easy to believe. Aiden's loyalty to his family responsibilities and his brother played well against his interest in June and a life beyond his current situation. They had good banter that was fun to read.


I did have some issues with the writing. The first spicy chapter felt like it was the author's first time writing a scene like that and she included every cliche phrase she'd ever read in a sex scene. Suff like "hottest sex" "past the point of no return" "burst at the seams" and those are some of the non-explicit cliches. What surprised me was the second sex scene was written much better and there were far fewer corny phrases. I was so confused at how the writing felt dramatically different from one scene to another.

I also had trouble with the last 25% of the book. Not the plot, but the writing. There were multiple times I noted disjointed sentences, sentences that were oddly phrased, and dialogue that seemed out of character all of which took me out of the story. A few times, in the middle of a chapter, a scene would change so abruptly that I had to take a moment to get back into the story. It was especially weird because I didn't notice any of that in the first 20 ish chapters, which I really enjoyed.

Overall, it was just good, but I liked it enough that I would read future work by this author.


Spicy rating: 2/5 🌶️ Two open-door scenes and light references to closed-door moments, some cliche writing and cringey language that took me out of the scene.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

The Half of It Honest ARC Review:

Half of It has been truly enjoyable to read!

Juniper, a writer from New York, takes a DNA test and discovers that she has a half sister who resides in Ireland. Juniper connects with her half sister, Cara and the two seem to get along well from the start. Cara is engaged to be married soon to her fiancé Yasmine and invites Juniper to act as Maid of Honor. Cara’s best friend, Aiden is Best Man.

Aiden and Juniper spend a lot of time together as Juniper stays at Aiden’s home while in Ireland and the two are both now close to Cara.

As Juniper becomes closer to Aiden, she faces an ethical issue regarding her current article on her DNA test and trip to Ireland. Wanting to progress in her career as a journalist and attempting to do what’s she feels is right are testing her resolve.
Aiden has obstacles that he is working through as well. Each character is complex and develops further throughout the novel.

This novel illustrates difficult stages and life experiences as characters work through grief, heartbreak and unexpected events.

Beautifully romantic, heartbreaking and full of hope, “Half of it” is definitely one to add to your TBR!!


Thank you so much for sharing this ARC with me.

It's sweet and well written, I really enjoyed it for the most part, it just seemed like there were some parts missing.
Like Aiden's mam is supposed to be at odds with her husband, but it mostly looked like she's tired of her husband and son fighting. Cara's Nan seemed rude and stuck in her ways, but not as cruel and heinous, as we were told. I wasn't sure if this was a mistake in the writing, or the editing (where some more backstory had been removed), or are June and Aiden were just unreliable narrators. June's editor is clearly a prick, but their discussions as the situation develops, and her big reactions, seem a bit at odds. Some more onsiggts about past interactions or clearer depictions of said behaviours, would've gone far in relation to making their reactions be more understandable. Of course, it could just be me misinterpreting everything too. That really is the only complaint I have about the book.

There's a brief moment in the story where I didn't know which way it was going to go, and while I wish for them that the story had been simpler, I appreciate the meaning of that plot point.
For once in my reading history, I actually think the miscommunication couldn't have been fixed. Because they really were stuck in-between a rock and a hard place, there was no easy way out of it, and I would've done the same.

Overall this was a touching story about finding family and accepting love, and I adored the Irish setting.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC!

Dual POV with a Hot Irish Bartender? Found family? Sign me up.

I honestly adored this. This book tackles the complications of grief and love, and the myriad ways in which each can look. From start to finish this story was a delight, even though it involves a trope that I’m not the biggest fan of (I hate when a main character keeps a secret/lies by omission) the way the author wrote it made me want to keep reading. It’s a quick but immersive read with great characters, a great setting, and I look forward to reading more from this author.

“I’ll take you any way I can get you. My life is better with you. I’m better with you.”

The Half of It is my first NetGalley eARC which is super exciting! NY writer June is gifted a DNA kit by her company. After a crappy day and a few cocktails, June decides to send the kit in on a whim. Imagine her surprise when she gets a match to a half-sister (Cara)...who lives in Ireland! Cara invites her to come visit so they can get to know each other. June’s boss agrees to her vacation request and offers to fund the trip if June will write an article about it.

The story unfolds with dual POV chapters which are written in first-person, which I love- I think it helps me connect more to the characters. Though the majority of the book takes place in Ireland, it wasn’t saturated with Irish words or slang and my brain thanks Theresa Christine for that! June not only meets her new sister, but she also finds a gorgeous man named Aidan who also happens to be Cara’s childhood best friend. The story explores June’s broken childhood, and her path to learning to open up to love. It also follows Aidan in his quest to repair his family without sacrificing his dreams as they grieve the loss of his brother. I enjoyed the character development in both June and Aidan, and I was just waiting for them to act on that magnetic attraction they had brewing between them (though there’s not a ton, they have some good spicy scenes)! This book kept me so engaged and excited to see what happened next that I read it in one day! I especially couldn’t put it down when June gets an unexpected bomb dropped on her, which threatens to ruin everything she’s built with Aidan, Cara, and Cara’s family. The Half of It does explore some tough topics, but it helps with the character development and is part of what makes you want to root for the main characters.

If you love:
-sibling’s best friend tropes
-small town
-forced proximity
-found family
then add this to your TBR grab a copy when it comes out on March 11.

Thank you to Theresa Christine and NetGalley for the advanced copy. This review is my honest opinion.

#TheHalfofIt #NetGalley

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book. A gorgeous 4 star read book from me. What an exciting plot, vivid storytelling and relatable, rich characters. I couldn't put this book down – absolutely loved it.

When Juniper Martin’s employer gives her a DNA test instead of her yearly bonus, June drunkenly sends in the test. When the results show a half sister in a small town in Ireland, June’s new sister Cara invites her to come join them for her upcoming wedding.

The first person June meets in town is Aiden McCarthy. After losing his brother in an auto accident a year prior, Aiden is stuck in his hometown running the family pub and desperately trying to hold his family together, leaving behind his dream of becoming a professional photographer.

As Juniper becomes more and more involved in the life of Cara and her family, she’s overjoyed to find the family she’s never had. And she finds herself falling for Aiden, Cara’s best childhood friend. But when everything that brought June to Ireland is called into question, will she lose the new family she has just gained?

This was a lovely book, containing the following tropes:
-new friends to lovers
-sister’s best friend
-small town (dreamy Irish setting!)
-found family

This book is open door with a couple steamy scenes. I received this as an Advanced Readers Copy via NetGalley. It releases on March 11 so be sure to add it to your TBR if it sounds like one you’d enjoy.