Ok, this one was juicy.

It follows a NYC-based writer who moves to a coastal New England town for a writing fellowship, where she falls hard for a local guy and is reluctantly woven into his close-knit friend group. A few weeks into dating, though… oops. His ex is pregnant, which sets off all kinds of chaos and drama.

There are a few reasons why I loved this one:

1. The coastal New England setting was, of course, extremely appealing to me. I’ve been to the North Shore a few times and loved recognizing the location references, along with mentions of Boston restaurants, hotels, and familiar spots.

2. I loved the details and nuances the author got absolutely right about parenting, motherhood, and life with newborns and toddlers. I was laughing out loud at some of the scenes, nodding along at certain newborn scenarios, and then completely stopped by one paragraph about how taking care of young kids can feel so hard in the moment but how you never want to wish it away, because as they grow, you miss the smallest pieces of who they used to be.

3. The dramaaaaa. The book follows a group of friends who grew up together, and it is messy. But not in a way that felt manufactured or like the author was throwing in random storylines just to stir things up. The drama actually felt very real, which made it even more entertaining.