Get a Life, Chloe Brown

Get a Life, Chloe Brown (2019) Talia Hibbert

Chloe Brown has been all but a recluse because of her chronic illness. But a near-death experience convinces her she needs to change things up: so she makes a list.

“Excuse me, universe,” she whispered to the kitchen floor. “When you almost murdered me today— which was rather brutal, by the way, but I can respect that— were you trying to tell me something?”

The universe, very enigmatically, did not respond.

The first item she checks off her list is to move out of her family home, and it’s there she finds Red Morgan, supe of her flat, and the immediately… rub each other the wrong way.

Chloe didn’t do well around people like him; confident people, beautiful people, those who smiled easily and were liked by everyone and felt comfortable in their own skin. They reminded her of all the things she wasn’t and all the loved ones who’d left her behind.

But when Chloe decides to rescue a cat, they decide maybe they were wrong about each other.

“You like to research everything,” he guessed. “No; you like to know everything. You’re one of those ‘knowledge is power’ people.”

“Knowledge is power,” she shot back.

“I bet you were a massive teacher’s pet at school.” He was grinning. Hard.

“I bet you were an aimless slacker,” she said archly.

“I bet you always file your taxes on time.”

She was clearly scandalized. “Who doesn’t file their taxes on time?”

Maybe.

What did I love about this story? Chloe’s family, for starters.

“You sound,” Gigi murmured, “as though you are telling fibs.”

How could she tell? She could always tell. It must be a grandmotherly superpower. “We’ll talk about this later,” Chloe squeaked. “Got to dash love you bye!”

“Who does all this food prep?” he asked, popping up from the fridge door with far too many boxes balanced in his arms…

“Eve.”

“The rainbow girl? Really? She’s  .  .  .” He put the boxes down and waved his hand in a way that conveyed Eve’s chaotic vibe perfectly.

Also, I loved that Red had supportive friends (even though he’d walked away from most of the people he knew when he was trying to make it as an artist).

I didn’t love all the boinking, but that’s a given, really.

The only other thing I took some issue with was the final Big Misunderstanding. Not that they had a Big Misunderstanding (after all, both had issues they need to deal with) but that Red was the one who had to make it up to Chloe. To me, it felt like they both had things to apologize for, and it felt any groveling should have been mutual, rather than one-sided.

But that’s a pretty small part considering how quickly I tore through the book.

Also: This cover. THIS COVER!

Chloe was not petite. She was on the taller side, big boned, and well insulated for the winter.

It’s AMAZING! The woman on the front LOOKS LIKE CHLOE IS DESCRIBED.

Publisher: Avon
Rating: 8/10

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