I’ve been in a chick-lit and romance mood recently, so when I saw The Do-Over on Netgalley I thought…why not give this one a go? It sounded cute and like a fast read. I got exactly what I wanted from this book.
Perci was just dumped by her boyfriend on the radio. On New Year’s Eve. Spending the night with her best friend, it’s decided that she needs to try something different. This year she won’t date, she won’t try to please her mother, and she won’t attempt to lose weight, among other things. She’s not sure she can do it. Yet in an attempt to complete one of them, she lies to her family pretending that she’s dating her next-door neighbour. When he finds out, he agrees to play along. What could possibly go wrong?
This book was pretty much what I thought it would be. It was an enjoyable read, but one where it was a little hard to decide whether I actually felt for her or not. Perci’s home life was difficult. Her mum was too harsh, and there were moments when it felt borderline abusive. She was trying to control things way too much. But the way things exploded near the end felt too far. She just assumed she wasn’t wanted when her parents had never suggested otherwise. I could see why her mum wouldn’t want to talk to her for a bit then. But at the same time, I wasn’t sure why Perci would want to go back to spending time with her. Obviously, they sorted things out in the end, and they were both willing to try. But it was just a bit of a mess.
The other main relationship in the summary was obviously romance. Now this book contained something I loved which is when the love interest has a kid. I love seeing the kid involved in trying to get their parent with someone lovely. Lilah was a sweet kid. Very weird, but it just made her even more adorable. I loved that she didn’t care that she was odd, going as far as to do bird calls at the school talent show even when Perci was trying to put her off. The fact that the third act breakup involved her also made sense. There was no miscommunication. It was just a parent worrying that they weren’t being there for their kid. Perfectly understandable.
The thing I liked the most about this book was seeing Perci’s growth. In the beginning, she’s doing what’s expected of her and is kertowing to everyone. By the end of the book, she’s growing more confident. It was nice to have a plus-sized protagonist in a romance and see her grow to love how she looked. Her style definitely suits her body, so it was nice to see some plus-sized vintage love.
As I read this as an audiobook, I just need to quickly say something about the format. I tend to enjoy non-smutty romance and chick-lit in audio as they tend to be easy reads. The narrator for this wasn’t amazing, but I felt like her accents were decent and she made it fun.
I thought I’d have more to say about this book as I genuinely enjoyed it, but only a few days later, it’s already started to fade. It was a fun read but probably not one I’m going to reread.
That said, I would recommend this book. If you want more plus-sized positive romances in your life and love chick-lit or romantic comedies – this book is for you.
4/5 Stars
Title: The Do Over
Author: Sharon M. Peterson
Genre: Chick-Lit/Romance
Age Range: Adult
Publisher: Bookouture
Release Date: Out Now
BUY LINKS
Lace and Dagger Books 