Dolly All The Time by Annabel Monaghan

 Dolly All The Time by Annabel Monaghan 

3.5 rounding up to 4 Stars

After enjoying Summer Romance, I was excited to pick up Annabel's newest release, and reading it with my friend Theresa made it even more fun.

Dolly is the ultimate caretaker, always managing everyone else's problems. As someone who often feels like the "chaos manager" in my own family, I found her incredibly relatable. At 39, she returns to Rhode Island with her son to help keep her family home from being sold, where she meets Stewart....a wealthy man fresh off a very public breakup. Their fake dating arrangement naturally turns into real feelings, and I appreciated that the fake relationship involved far less deception than most books in the trope.

Stewart took a little while to grow on me, but once his vulnerabilities came through, I really enjoyed him and Dolly together. I also loved seeing Dolly as a devoted mom, especially since her own mother left her and her family. Her growth in standing up for herself and the family dynamics with her father and brother stood out too. The disability representation through her brother added another layer to the story.

My biggest drawback was the romance becoming more detailed than I personally prefer. There is one open-door intimacy scene (Chapter 25, pages 241–249) and another fade-to-black scene (Chapter 31). While not as explicit as many general contemporary romances these days, they were beyond what I typically enjoy or recommend to my clean-romance audience. She also talks about sex in a really convenient and unrealistic way. This is my issue with a lot of romance books though in general sometimes.

Overall, I still really enjoyed the story and found Dolly to be a relatable, well-written FMC. This story stands out for the family dynamics and real life situations. It was nice to see Dolly even resort to prayer and begging God to help at a really intense moment. I especially appreciated seeing characters in their late 30s and 40s. I don't think this will be a favorite for most of my clean-romance followers, but I enjoyed it for what it was.

The audiobook narrator was great and I'd happily listen to more of her work.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of the ebook to read for review. I purchased a copy but will be unhauling since it wasn't really an all time favorite. All thoughts are my own.

Content: Moderate language (including 4 F-words and several uses of the Lord's name in vain), detailed kissing, one open-door intimacy scene (Chapter 25), one fade-to-black scene (Chapter 31), references to sex, panic attack, parental abandonment

✨Sign up for Libro.fm Audiobooks here: https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm206402 (Supports Local Indie Bookstores)

Libro.fm Audiobook: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9798217338085

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4yGeVDX

*Amazon links are affiliate links and a commission may be earned on items purchased from these links.