Act your age Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert [Book review]

Title: Act your age Eve Brown

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publish date: 9th March 2021

Source: Netgalley

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I would like to first say a huge thankyou to Netgalley UK and Talia Hibbert for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this story. I am going to admit something shocking.... I haven't read the other two books about the Brown sisters in this series yet Get a life, Chloe Brown or Take a Hint, Dani Brown. They have both been on my TBR for a while but I hadn't had a chance to read them. So when I saw this book as an ARC I thought it would be a good one to try, and boy was I right! After reading the third book of the series I am desperate to go back and read the other two! What an amazing book this is. I'm wounded that this is in fact the finale of the series and there will be no more escapades for Eve. I feel I am going to have to savour the first two books!

I genuinely had to take a breath after finishing this book. I absolutely inhaled it!! The writing is hilarious, clever, emotional, the depth of character is phenomenal and WOW the steam!!

Blurb

In Act Your Age, Eve Brown the flightiest Brown sister crashes into the life of an uptight B&B owner and has him falling hard—literally.

Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It's time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she's not entirely sure how…

Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.

Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore—and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.

My thoughts

Eve Brown is a whirlwind of pink glitter and chaotic excitement, the dizzy, black sheep of her family. Destined to fail at everything she does and struggling to find her place in the world. When she meets calm, orderly, organised Jacob she begins to unearth a side of her she didn't know existed. He grounds her and brings order to her chaotic existence. She unbalances and riles him up in a way he is completely unprepared for.

The banter, emotion and connection (not to mention the sexual attraction) between the two characters is apparent from the beginning and drew me in with a force that kept me gripped until the very end (leaving me bereft and desperate for more) The two completely opposite personalities complimented each other so perfectly well. Reading it I couldn't imagine a more perfect pairing.

The comedy throughout kept me laughing out loud. I think my husband wondered what on earth I was reading whenever I would let out a spontaneous cackle! The inner monologues of Jacob and his train of thought had me in stitches on a regular basis. He was so dry and quick witted. His thoughts after coming back from the hospital were just too brilliant! And I will just say.... The Duck Pond! You will have to read it to find out what that is about!

I also enjoyed the fact that it was not just your run of the mill love to hate, hate to love each other story. There were other themes present that were lightly explored during their interactions. The subject of autism, the interactions and relationships and difficulties people on the spectrum can face. Abandonment, rejection, and self protection. Discussions around body image and self love, acceptance of yourself as you are and shrugging off the need to change yourself to fit in with society. That is a very popular discussion currently in the world of social media and so it really resonated with me. Eve talked about how she didn't always fit in and was a bit of an outsider but had learned to love herself as she was. It is such an important message of confidence and self worth.

" people told me to to pay my dues and change things from the inside, and I saw others doing that. But I didn't want to. And none of us should have to. So I left. "

Throughout the story, entwined in the comedy, sarcasm, romance and downright 'getting a little hot under the collar' steaminess. There were many moments of heart felt beauty, conversations and feelings between the characters which really tugged at my emotions and made me feel desperately sad and happy all at once.

Talia Hibbert has fast become one of my favourite authors and I cannot wait to read more of her work!

About the author

Talia Hibbert is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who lives in a bedroom full of books. Supposedly, there is a world beyond that room, but she has yet to drum up enough interest to investigate.

She writes steamy, diverse romance because she believes that people of marginalised identities need honest and positive representation. Her interests include makeup, junk food, and unnecessary sarcasm. Talia and her many books reside in the English Midlands.

https://www.taliahibbert.com

@TaliaHibbert