When an advice columnist'spicture-perfect life implodes, she opts to go rogue in this hilarious, heartwarming romance from the author of Meet Me in Paradise.
Violet Covington pens Dear Sweetie, the most popular advice column in the state of North Carolina. She has an answer for how to politely handle any difficult situation...until she discovers her husband, Sam, has been cheating on her. Furious and out of sensible solutions, Violet leaves her filter at the door and turns to her column to air her own frustrations. The new, brutally honest Dear Sweetie goes viral, sending more shock waves through Violet's life. When she burns Sam's belongings in a front-yard, late-night bonfire, a smoking-hot firefighter named Dez shows up to douse the flames, and an unexpected fling quickly shows potential to become something longer lasting.
A lot of people want to see the old polished Violet return--including her boss, who finds her unpredictability hard to manage, and Sam, who's begging for another chance. But Dez appreciates Violet just the way she is--in fact, he can't get enough of her. The right answers don't come easily when Violet finds herself at her own personal crossroads. But maybe, by getting real, Violet can write her own happy ending.
If You Ask Me by Libby Hubscher is a romantic comedy with an emotional punch. This is not your typical light romcom, but a fun story that also deals with bullying, gaslighting, and mental health issues.
Violet Covington writes an advice column for the local Raleigh newspaper under the pen name Dear Sweetie. She writes good solid advice and her column is popular in South Carolina. When she comes home from work early and finds her husband in bed with the neighbor, she goes off the rails a bit. When she burns her husband’s things in the road in front of her house a handsome firefighter, Dex, shows up to put the fire out.
The betrayal of her husband puts Violet on a revenge path and her column becomes more bitter and direct than her previous polite advice. Because of this, the column goes viral, and everybody in the country starts reading her blunt advice. But eventually, everything spirals out of control and Violet finds herself almost out of a job, alone, and bitter, and she doesn’t like it.
This book is quite the roller coaster of emotions. At first, I thought it was a cute, and predictable romcom, and then it got a bit crazy, and I didn’t like Violet and the choices she was making. But, then Violet realized she was being self-destructive and her path to redemption made this book a very enjoyable and emotional story for me. We had to see her at her worst, in order to appreciate her journey, and I loved how she grew and changed throughout the book.
I highly recommend this book to lovers of romance and women’s fiction. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
About Libby Hubscher
Libby Hubscher is a women's fiction author and scientist. She studied biology at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine and holds a doctor of philosophy in molecular toxicology from North Carolina State University. Her work has appeared online and in textbooks, scientific journals, and literary journals. In 2018, her short story "The Unwelcome Guest" was long-listed for the Wigleaf Top 50. During the week, she is a coffee-fueled value communications writer for an innovative health economics outcomes research boutique. In her free time, she enjoys reading, painting, playing tennis, and watching Mandarin-language dramas. She lives just outside Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband, two young children, and a menagerie of pets, including two dogs, two cats who believe they are dogs, two parakeets, and a bearded dragon named Bubbles.
Your new blog design is gorgeous! I love the outdoorsy theme.
I love a good redemption story, and I like that this has more going on than just the romance. Self discovery is a big deal when going through a tough time. I might have to read this.
Thank you, Jodie! I hope you enjoy If You Ask Me. I’ll warn you that I didn’t like the heroine at first, I thought she made some bad decisions, but she redeemed herself eventually.
What a dramatic response, but finding them in the actual act is more impactful than learning about it some other way. Sometimes we have to hit bottom before we can rebuild. It sounds like there was a lot of character development.
Great review Wendy. Definitely different from the usual but it also seems perhaps a bit realistic in its portrayal of how someone might act uncharacteristically or just hit out blindly in her situation
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Fab review! You’ve definitely made me curious about this one. xx
Thank you, Yvonne!
This book sounds like a lot of fun. I might have to read it. 🙂
Thank you, Jenni! I hope you enjoy it, if you can get to it.
Your new blog design is gorgeous! I love the outdoorsy theme.
I love a good redemption story, and I like that this has more going on than just the romance. Self discovery is a big deal when going through a tough time. I might have to read this.
Thank you, Kami! It’s very good. The heroine makes some bad decisions, but learns from them.
I love the new look of your blog Wendy! It’s beautiful! I have the audiobook of this one on hold with my library and looking forward to reading it.
Thank you, Jodie! I hope you enjoy If You Ask Me. I’ll warn you that I didn’t like the heroine at first, I thought she made some bad decisions, but she redeemed herself eventually.
What a dramatic response, but finding them in the actual act is more impactful than learning about it some other way. Sometimes we have to hit bottom before we can rebuild. It sounds like there was a lot of character development.
Yes, you’re so right. It was interesting to see her go through so many emotions.
This sounds good, nice that it was kinda surprising in a good way. Love the new look too!
Thank you, Greg.
Fun new look to your blog! 😀
Thank you, Lark!
Great review Wendy. Definitely different from the usual but it also seems perhaps a bit realistic in its portrayal of how someone might act uncharacteristically or just hit out blindly in her situation
Thank you, Mallika.
I like romances with depth and this sounds like it has just that.
Thank you, Cathy, you’re right, it was a lot more than a fluffy romance.
Not read this, but I don’t think it is for me, the emotional stuff sounding a bit too heavy.
I understand, Rosie. I have noticed a trend where they market books as light and easy and then you read them and they are very emotional.
You are so right, this does not sound like the typical RomCom. It sounds great. I am adding this to my wishlist.
Thank you, Nadene!
I’ve just added this to my list, it sounds great. I’m digging the new blog format!
Thank you, Rae!
This does sound like quite the emotional roller coaster. I’m kind of liking that about it. Excellent review!
Thank you Tessa, my emotions were all over the place for this one.
Wonderful review Wendy! I just moved this one up my TBR mountain!! So thank you for the reminder!🤗📚💜
Thank you, Susan. I hope you enjoy it.