Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Rating: ★★★ | 384 pages | Contemporary | Berkley | Release Date: 11/5/2019

This is the hardest kind of review to write because Get A Life, Chloe Brown was a lukewarm read for me. It’s not rant inspiring bad, I just don’t really have a lot to say about. Talia Hibbert is a romance writing dynamo who self-published her first book two years ago and has been amassing a dedicated fan base ever since. I have so much respect for her but this is my second Hibbert and I’ve come to the conclusion that her books are just not for me.

In Get A Life, Chloe Brown the titular Chloe Brown is a 31-year-old web designer who has a wake up call after almost getting hit by a car. She moves out of her parents’ house for the first time and into an apartment building that is currently being managed by Redford Morgan, a tattooed-leather jacket-wearing-motorcycle-riding artist. A lot of reviews of this book get into Red’s deal but it’s not fully revealed until about 80% into the book so it feels kind of like a spoiler so I won’t get into it. It does add depth to his character but it felt like it came in too late in the book.

The thing I struggle with in Hibbert’s book is they turn on internal conflict and emotional literacy. There isn’t a lot of keeping the characters apart except their own emotional baggage. One of the reasons I picked this one up is because I thought the list would drive the story more than it does. Although I do like how in the end *mildest of mild spoiler* Chloe getting a life isn’t about the list but the friends she makes along the way.

The romance overall is a sweet one once they to get over their assumptions about each other and explain their emotional baggage. This is described as a romantic comedy and there is a lot of dry banter. Chloe has fibromyalgia and the representation of chronic illness isn’t one I’ve seen before in romance and I’m sure many readers will appreciate the rep.

As I was writing this review it occurred to me that this book is a lot like the Netflix show Special where a disabled man in his 30s moves out of his parent’s house and decides to get a life after almost getting hit by a car.