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My new next-door neighbor seems to have everything figured out. Small town golden boy? Check. Single dad extraordinaire? Check. Hot baker forearms? I didn’t notice them, I swear.
I, on the other hand, don’t–at all–have anything figured out.
Trust me, I didn’t think taking over my mom’s dream bed and breakfast in Copper Run Vermont was going to be easy. It should be a good place to heal after my divorce. But apparently my scones belong in the garbage with my small talk skills. As pointed out by none other than Cliff.
Cliff is inescapable. He knows exactly what people need–always. His charm, the way he wears flannel, and even his pastries, make not wanting to be friends with Cliff and his daughters pretty hard.
Friends? I can make friends. That’s safe.
Except I’m leaving in three months to pass the inn off to my little sister and get the promotion in Seattle I’ve been working towards.
So ask me why I’m thinking about kissing my hot neighbor. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)
When I realized that If It Makes You Happy takes place in the late 90s, I couldn’t help but want to read it. The nineties are one of my favorite decades, and I thought adding a playlist of music from that timeframe was a really nice touch by the author! It provided the perfect soundtrack to the lives of the characters, especially for Michelle and Cliff. Heck, even the title of the book itself, most likely an homage to Sheryl Crow’s song, fits well with the type of situation that Michelle finds herself in. One moment, she’s living the big city life and likes things a certain way, used to the routines and structure that has helped her get through a recent divorce. But now, she’s smack dab in small-townville, where every little nuance is a game of telephone, spread like wildfire from resident to resident.
Michelle isn’t used to having to engage in small talk with people. Or having nosy neighbors who seem up in her business at every given moment. It doesn’t help that Cliff is the nosy neighbor. Or that he’s uber attractive. And sweet. And nothing like her ex. She’s trying to balance her new environment, the at odds feeling she still has about her mother, not feeling adequate enough to fill her mother’s shoes and the bed-and-breakfast she’s running in the interim, along with the constant attraction she feels towards Cliff. He represents everything she thought she never wanted, but ultimately, he’s what she’s needed.
The banter between the two characters was so much fun! Michelle doesn’t pull any punches; Cliff brings that out in her. And Cliff presents as someone who is always jokey and funny, but Michelle helps Cliff to have a bit more of a serious side, so they balance each other out quite nicely. A major breakout star in the book is Rocket, the dog left behind by Michelle’s ex. I thought it was so cute how they’d have “conversations” with one another, when Michelle would say something to Rocket, and he'd respond with exasperated glances or the cold shoulder. Their partnership is one built on a love/hate vibe, yet as the story progresses, they both thaw towards one another, knowing they’re in this for the long haul.
I love small-town atmospheres in books, and If It Makes You Happy did a great job of providing that. Michelle learns a lot about herself through the process of learning more about the small-town her mother had fallen in love with, and it doesn’t hurt to have someone like Cliff in her corner. It was a fun read!
Thanks to Berkley for the book in exchange for an honest review.
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