Hard hard pass. it was not funny, not interesting...just somewhat of a pain to read.
Not my cup of tea.

My first time reading something from Liz Talley and it was sweet and heartwarming. I'm speechless. Super good. Recommend it to my bookish friends.

I began reading this book months ago and left it on the side because I was not interested in the book. I gave it another try and decided to finish it. What a mistake; I should have left it where it was. How predictable and boring (still). I did not like the plot, the characters, the dialog. It is amazing I actually finished it. I gave the book a star because I liked Gage’s character and how he did not allow the spoiled Ellery to have things her way.

Daphne is a recently divorced woman with a grown daughter, who is rather spoiled by her parents. Daphne is a well-known children's author and illustrator. Ellery, her daughter, is engaged to a med student and their relationship is a bit shaky. Daphne gives her a job as her assistant to help her out. Daphne is starting over and when a flirtation with a man 15 years her junior gets a bit carried away, her daughter is not happy. Ellery is involved in a flirtation of her own with a man who she met at a winery. Will either of these women find the happiness they are looking for?

This book has some romance, but that is not the main story. Daphne and Ellery have a lot to learn about themselves and each other. It depicts a mother/daughter relationship that is strained as Ellery has been daddy's girl all her life. There is some romance, some failed relationships, some mistakes and some secrets that all play out during this journey. The story is told from both women's POVs, and as a mother, of course I sided with Daphne, although they both had some things to deal with in order to make their relationship work. This was a quick, entertaining story that had me breezing through it to see how things would work out. It was relatively predictable, but there were some surprises along the way. Although I picked this one up thinking it was a romance, it is more contemporary women's fiction with some romance as part of the story. Overall an enjoyable time spent with this story.

Going into this, I was nervous, because I felt like the premise could easily go very, very wrong. It's a very melodramatic sort of set-up, which can either be amazing or terrible, with very little possibility of it landing in the middle.

Right from the start, I liked the voice of this. I listened to the audiobook, and even the fact that they hired only one narrator for two third person limited POVs couldn't make Ellery and Daphne's voices sound similar. The voiciness, particularly in Daphne's POV, made this one an instant joy. I was sucked in, and I listened to this whole audiobook in two days. For those of you who don't listen to audiobooks, that is SO FAST. Like, five-ish hours per day fast. All I wanted to do was listen to this book.

Now, I will say that I was so much more into the mom's plot line than the daughter's, which I'm trying to convince myself is not because of how old I am now lol. But really, it's just that I found author Daphne, who has made life changes for her happiness and lives with verve and humor, so much more charming than her stick-in-the-mud, whiny brat of a daughter.

Admittedly, Ellery's relationship with her fiancé has been kind of sucking since he started medical school, so I get why she complains about that, but she also didn't seem to really work on it in any productive ways. Rather than trying to talk to him or connect emotionally, she just tries to seduce him. Like, I get that this would be the common recommendation, but omg these two do not communicate. (view spoiler) And when it comes to her professional life, she just bitches about not having gotten her dream job but has basically given up, and she's like two percent grateful for the cushy job her mom gave her.

Though the romantic elements serve as the catalyst for change for both Daphne and Ellery, the romance is not the focus of the book, and I'd label it as a contemporary rather than a romance. And, come to think of it, the romances didn't do much for me. Both happen way too quickly, but I do think they work in the sense that they service an emotional need the women have. And physical needs too lolol. I'd come hoping for a romance, but it does speak highly of the book that I was happy even though that part was on the weaker side of the book for me.

The audiobook is excellent, and this book was a surprise hit with me. I've added more Liz Talley books to my tbr, crossing my fingers that I've found a new author to love.

Liz Talley has a gift for creating flawed, fascinating, and memorable characters, embedded in a narrative that draws you in and doesn’t let go. The story focuses on a mother, Daphne Witt, and her daughter Ellery. Daphne, who was pregnant in high school, and then married to Rex, raised Ellery. Daphne found great success as a children’s author, which her husband couldn’t handle, and the two divorced. Ellery is a spoiled, entitled person, who is engaged to Josh, a first year medical student. Ellery just finished her degree in fashion design, but did not get the one internship she applied for, and with no backup plan, comes home to Shreveport to live with Josh, and work for her mom. Ellery has a lot of growing up to do, which she accomplishes despite a lot of wrong turns and atrocious behavior.

The book is about both Daphne and Ellery’s journey to happiness and, in Ellery’s case, maturity as well. Even Rex, the doofus ex-husband, comes to a better understanding of his boorish behavior, so there may be some redemption in his future. I won’t write more about the story in order for you to enjoy the journey without spoilers.

I mentioned above Liz Talley’s gift in creating memorable characters. As an example, let me use the minor character of Clay Caldwell, a 25 year old contractor, who once briefly dated Ellery when both were in in high school. Clay is a contractor who is renovating Daphne’s house, and is attracted to Daphne as much as Daphne is attracted to Clay. After a few initial few scenes of mutual attraction, Clay makes two short appearances later in the book. His character became so real to me I worried how Clay would end up in life. That is magical writing!

I just loved this book, as I followed the unfolding, interweaving stories of Daphne and Ellery.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from the publisher and am voluntarily reviewing the book.

I started Room to Breathe and wondered if I’d be able to finish it. I didn’t love the characters at the beginning. I found Daphne to be odd. It seemed all she thought about was the hot contractor that was fixing up her childhood house to sell. I’m not all that into cougar romance books so I was doubting if I’d like what I was reading. Yet, I continued reading and I quickly realized that there was so much more to Daphne. She started as a young mother and bride, a mostly stay at home mother who did everything for her daughter and husband, and then found a new way at life. She became a successful author and her entire life changed. I was in awe of all that she accomplished without the support of her family and how she embraced her new life.

The rest of her family left something to be desired. Her ex-husband is a trip and doesn’t deserve how much Daphne did for him. Ellery is a spoiled brat. She was given everything in life and now doesn’t know how to stand on her own two feet without her parents giving her money. I didn’t feel any compassion for them and was hoping that Daphne would call her out on the lifestyle she felt like she was due to live, not the lifestyle she could afford to live.

I ended up admiring Daphne and wanting to kick Ellery in her booty. Room to Breathe is a fun book to read. The story flowed easily, the characters were not all likeable but they were interesting.

Um, this is a weird one. The mom and daughter are both trying to be involved with the same guy. It's all just a little too ick for me.

I was a great fan of Liz Talley’s Superromances, indeed one of my favourites ever is her Sweet Talking Man. There was no doubt then, though I’m not a WF fan, I’d follow her on her new-ish path into WF. So I read Room to Breathe, with uneven results: I still love Talley’s ethos and writing and I still don’t like WF. Room to Breathe is funny, witty, and offers loveable characters. It is organized around two main characters, not a hero and heroine as in a romance, but a mother and daughter: nearing-40 Daphne Witt, aka Dee Dee O’Hara, children’s author, and her 23-year-old daughter, failed fashion designer, Ellery. When the novel opens, Daphne, now a long-established divorcée, is feeling the effects of a dormant sexuality. Her ex-husband left her, claiming her then-new-found career interfered with their marriage. Like many women who married young and became mothers, Daphne is hurt and disappointed at the loss of her marriage, but loves her new-found freedom and independence.

While Daphne is on the ascendant, Ellery is anything but: engaged to her beautiful med-student fiancé, Josh, her loss of a covetted NYC internship sees her back home in Shreveport “supporting” his studies and working retail. Despite the rock on her ring finger, not all is well in Ellery’s “perfect plan” life: Josh is preoccupied, even indifferent, and her own career failure plagues her, as does her loss of security, comfort, and ample “spoiling” on her parents’ parts. Ellery is a spoiled princess with a Birkin bag and she grated for the novel’s first half. Room to Breathe‘s theme is as its title states: how Daphne and Ellery figure out how their socially- and, even more so personally-imposed, constraints are preventing them from living good, uncertain, but freer and most joyous lives.

Daphne is on the right track: she’s having her farmhouse renovated, put on the market, and moving into a smaller, urban, home. Her career is on the rise and she’s enjoying the fruits of financial security and independence. But when Rex Witt, her ex-husband left her, claiming she was giving all to career and not enough to marriage and motherhood, it drove a good-girl spike through her heart. She has worked through some of that, and also feels, for the first time since she had to pick up her life’s pieces post-divorce, physical desire. After too much wine, she sleeps with the 25-year-old contractor, who, for a few days, dated Ellery in high school. Daphne is mortified, but Clay, handsome, buff, and affectionate, is not a pool-boy caricature. He’s smart, sympathetic, and knows what he wants and what he wants is Daphne. Suffice to say that Daphne makes her way to an embracing of a relationship and an understanding of who she is and what she wants. I don’t want to spoil, but that is not necessarily the charming Clay. Other men come into play and we leave Daphne in a great place by the end.

What plagues Daphne above all, however, is her broken relationship with Ellery. One of the things I actually really liked about the novel is how Daphne comes to understand that Ellery needs to stand on her own feet and she, Daphne, doesn’t have to martyr herself on the altar of her daughter’s spoiled needs. Daphne and Ellery don’t ever talk their way to an understanding and reconciliation, but time heals. I’m not sure whether this worked for me because I’m of the time does work things out sometimes ethos, or because Talley failed to portray. Given that Room to Breathe is more comic than tragic mode-written, I’d say the lack of psycho-babble that permeates so much WF was refreshing.

Though less likeable, I found Ellery’s story the more interesting, simply because Ellery is a mess. She’s spoiled and, at times, petulant, but Talley does such a great job of breaking her down, in a comic, slapstick way, that you can’t help but like her by the end and wish her well. Ellery is a girl who wants a perfect life: her parents, together, indulging her; her fiancé, focussed on her desirability and wonderfulness; the fashion world, acknowledging her brilliance. None of this is happening and the more she tries to make it come to fruition, the more fallow her life-field. When Daphne, guilt-stricken, plans a birthday party for her at One Tree Estates, everything both falls apart and shows potential for coming back together. One thing I didn’t like about Room To Breathe was how things are worked out, or not worked out, with Josh, Ellery’s fiancé. I thought the revelations about him were trite and bordered on offensive. But Ellery’s comeuppance and eventually pieces-put-back-together was terrific.

In the end, the best thing about Talley’s novel was the humour. Talley’s light touch and ethos of never-taking-oneself-too-seriously but taking her work seriously works in her favour. There are many light, heartfelt, and engaging scenes in a novel that, overall, has flaws. Though I prefer romance-Talley, I will continue, for this reason, to read WF-Talley. With Miss Austen, we would say the flaws lie more in the genre than the actor, and Room To Breathe offers “real comfort,” Emma.

Liz Talley’s Room To Breathe is published by Montlake Romance. It was released in November 2019 and may be found at your preferred vendor. I received an e-galley from Montlake Romance, via Netgalley.

The story follows the Witt women, Daphne and her daughter Ellery, as they are both facing personal challenges in their lives.This was an interesting read about family and self-discovery. I loved the main character Daphne and her struggle to evolve as a mother and a woman. I think a lot of women who will read this book will connected with her!

I am very picky when it comes to romance novels. This book is tagged as a mother/daughter story and a later in life coming of age. I was initially hesitant as an older daughter who has always had an up and down relationship with her own mom, but the idea of a mom dating a guy the daughter used to date was not at all appealing.

Even though the writing was fine and I would read another book by this author, I couldn't get into this one because of the way the premise developed. I don't avoid controversial subjects in books because they can be interesting and thought-provoking. I am willing accept many things in fiction that would not fly in real life. So, I chose this book knowing the mother falls for her daughter's ex, wondering where this would go. I feel that it was handled with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. The book dives straight into Daphne lusting after Clay, who is now a contractor doing work at her house, and it just felt over the top and cringey. If you must have a mom go after her daughter's ex, a slow build with a bit (or a lot) of hesitation or introspection would have invoked a bit more empathy for a situation that merits little of it. A slow build would have also helped establish a building chemistry to balance out the inherent wrongness of the situation. But the kiss of death was when Clay talked about her daughter Ellery's faults and Daphne just went with it. It felt disloyal and gossipy and just wrong, even more so than her lusting after him.


Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this to be a strange story with both the mother and daughter going after the same man. I find this to be worse than breaking "The Girl Code" and somewhat icky as well.
I was hoping to like it more, but I found it very hard to get into the story because of the dynamic.
Thank you Liz Talley, Montlake Romance and NetGalley for allowing me this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Um, this is a weird one. The mom and daughter are both trying to be involved with the same guy. It's all just a little too ick for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I was hoping to like this more but I felt the language and explicit scenes were too much for me. I did appreciate the mother daughter relationship in the book.

The beginning of this book was a huge "ew" for me. From the very weirdly written cougar mother to the stereotypical young guy who takes off his shirt while doing some plumbing chores, everything just felt dirty. And not the good kind.
The dialogue was so stiff. And off-putting. I've seen stories on wattpad have more insight into how "young" people talk than was in this book.
Overall, this was just a cringeworthy read to me.

I read a couple of Talley’s Superromance’s back in the day and really enjoyed them. I was intrigued when I saw the blurb for this. I love a messy relationship, especially between mother and daughter. I want to note now that this book is not a romance but rather fiction with romantic elements. The journey is definitely focused on Daphne and Ellery’s growth.
“For a good part of Daphne Witt’s life, she was a supportive wife and dutiful mother. Now that she’s divorced and her daughter, Ellery, is all grown up, Daphne’s celebrating the best part of her life, a successful career, and a flirtation with an attentive hunk fifteen years her junior…who happens to be her daughter’s ex-boyfriend.
Ellery is starting over, too. She’s fresh out of college. Her job prospects are dim. And to support her fiancé in med school, she’s returned home as her mother’s new assistant. Ellery never expected her own life plan to take such a detour. With no outlet for her frustration, she lets an online flirtation go a little too far, especially considering her pen pal thinks he’s corresponding with her mother.
As love lives tangle, secrets spill, and indiscretions are betrayed, mother and daughter will have a lot to learn—not only about the mistakes they’ve made but also about the men in their lives and the women they are each hoping to become.”

This story was okay. Daphne, the mother, is trying to find her place in the world. She’s not quite 40 and knows she isn’t old but isn’t quite sure where she fits in the world now. I definitely relate to that. Daphne is also exploring her sexuality and what that means to someone who was married for most of her adult life and now isn’t divorced.

Ellery is kind of a brat. She is jealous of her mother’s success. She’s a single child of parents who catered to her a lot. She was annoying yet it also seemed appropriate. Ellery is also kind of a jerk to her mom and others. When the story opens up, Ellery is engaged to be married to her college sweetheart but also having an emotional affair of sorts.

The story itself is solid, mother and daughter both finding themselves and trying to repair their relationship. I enjoyed many aspects of it. I love complicated women. I liked the romantic aspects of the book. There was some slut shaming and weird comments about food, weight, and body image that I wished wasn't there. It is really hard for me to overlook things like that and will take me out of the story. This wasn’t a bad story, but it wasn’t great. I look forward to more books from Talley
Spoiler- there was something with Ellery’s romantic relationship that I felt was a little flat and I wanted to see more nuance or development of it.

Cute women's fiction/chick lit mother-daughter story. This could easily be a movie starting Diane Keaton and Anna Kendrick.

Room to Breathe by Liz Talley was an interesting story about a now divorced mother and her adult daughter and where life and choices have taken them. It’s a story about second chances and finding who want to be.

Daphne has been the good wife and mother she needed to be. Now divorced and having raised her daughter, can she revel in the woman she wants to be now? Then there is her daughter Ellery. Done with college, she should be embarking on a new life, but when the unexpected happens, where will it lead her?

While Daphne is ready to live on her own terms, her daughter just wants her to be her mom. But she can be both right? Daphne, like most newly divorced women, is finding her new normal, but will others stand in her way? Ellery has always been loved and spoiled, as the only child, and now resentful about what is happening in her life, is not always a nice person. So begins the journey of Daphne and her daughters, as choices are made, love entanglements begin and each finds their way to what they truly want.

This was a fun and quick read. Sometimes I enjoy a book that doesn't have a lot of action and is character driven. This book is just that - perfect chick lit!