The New Normal by Tracy Brogan a fantastic four-star read. This is a new to me author, but I will definitely be looking at what else they wrote as I enjoyed the overall style and character development. I enjoyed finding a new normal, as we went along with the characters as they each found new things some found new homes, careers, dogs, friendship, difficulties of divorce and finally romance. This Is a good story and one I am sure many will enjoy.

RATING: 3.5/5

This was such a sweet romance. Two neighbors become friends as they deal with divorce, each becoming single parents to teenagers, and learning how to be their own selves again. I feel like this is not a story that is written often - single parents to teenagers, dealing with real feelings and issues that we each encounter daily.
I felt the characters were well written, had great chemistry. But I wish that this book was a bit longer - the ending felt a bit rushed, and I wanted a tad more romance between Carli and Ben.

If you love second chance romances with a unique twist, this book is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was charmed by this book from the first page. Carli and Ben are both newly divorced and newly neighbors. They become close as they relearn how to be single. Both of them want to focus on their kids and getting their lives back on track before even considering dating but neither can deny there is a spark of attraction. A warm book with believable characters, it was wonderful watching them grow through their experiences. I would have liked more from the ending especially after such a slow burn but it was still satisfying.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The new normal is a sweet romantic novel about second chances, the hesitation of the heart to accept things that are too good to be true. Loved the character development of Ben and Carli. Their thoughts about future are so matured and hopeful. The language of the author is easy to understand and flow of the story is heartfelt. Not disappointing at all!
Thank you NetGalley, Tracy Brogan and Montlake romance for reader’s copy of this book. The review is my own opinion on the book.

Carli has spent the last year of her post-divorce life focusing on her daughters and figuring out what she needs and wants. She hasn't even thought about dating until her new neighbor moves in. Ben is new to single parenthood, having just split from his wife, he's doing the best the can to make his kids feel comfortable in a very uncomfortable situation. Both could use a little help, who's more perfect than your attractive neighbor.

The New Normal is less of a romance and more of a women's fiction in my opinion. It focuses more on what life can look like post-divorce and dealing with all that comes with that. While Ben and Carli do end up together it's a super slow burn as they get together at the end of the last chapter. It's an easy read with minimal drama, lots of heart and some humor.

The story of Carli and Ben started out pretty well. She was divorced, he was in the middle of a divorce and both have two children and they are next-door neighbors. She's trying to get over her husband walking out on her and handling a new job and he is trying to wrap his mind around his wife and his business partner (and so-called best friend) having an affair. Sounded interesting to me. But they dance around each other for the entire book. No kissing until near the end and of course no steam and no sexual encounter until the very end. There was not even romance. If I hadn't signed on to do this review, I would have quit reading half-way thru.

I enjoyed how normal this book was - when you get divorced you do have to make a new normal. And these two did have to start over with everything.
I enjoyed this one, but it was just missing a certain spark for me.

3.5 stars.

While this was an enjoyable read, it lacked anything in it for me to be classified as a romance book. I felt this would have been best classified as women's fiction.

Carli is semi new to the divorce scene and her story focuses on moving on in her life with her friends and advancing in a career rather than a "job". Her story was entertaining, laced with friction if her ex moving on much quicker than she did.

Ben is brand new to the divorce scene, actually just beginning. His slime of an ex took up with his now ex best friend and business partner. Ben moving next door to Carli should lead to lots more sparks and chemistry, but instead we get the interactions as neighbors, him jumping into several dates that shed him in a bad light with me, then insta love with Carli.

I was enjoying the book, realized how far I was into it and was like well these two aren't even together and only have flirted in their own minds. Then bang they were in love. I personally wish to have had more depth I'm their relationship rather than a hurried ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Montlake Romance for this arc.

I found this to be an easy, read. The characters carli and Ben are well developed and interesting. They bothe are /going through a divorce and have 2 teenage kids, but Besides the neighborhood parties, ( who wouldn’t want to live in this neighborhood) it was mostly redefining life after divorce. This is a very slow burning book, but still very good.

I’m actually torn with this book. I really liked it. It’s clean, no sex scenes. But it takes awhile for the couple in the book to get together. The book is about. Around Lancaster, trying to deal with life as a single parent and learn how to co-parent with her ex. While Ben Chase, is going through a divorce from his cheating wife. Majority of the book involves the neighborhood women getting together for parties. I want to live in a neighborhood like this. Carli and Ben really interact halfway through the book. How they ultimately get together, not really sure -even though they did like each other. This is a very slow burn book. Entertaining with the neighbor exploits and ex’s. If you like the show Desparate Housewives, you will love this book.

I opted to select this book because I have read previous works by Miss Brogan and enjoyed them very much.I must admit though that this one missed the mark for me and I was frequently distracted or just thrumming through the first 60% of it in an effort to reach the end.I hate not finishing a book so I trudged through the mediocre dialogue and situations hoping that it would get better.The story became mildly interesting once there was more of a personal interaction between the protagonists,but it still was not enough to give this book more than 2.5 stars.The ending felt rushed and unsatisfying and the insta-love left me with more questions than answers.It would have been gratifying to see a clear-cut conclusion to this one in view of all the developments in the ex husband of the female character.

It was an okay read.
This is my first time reading anything by Tracy Brogan, even though i loved the whole concept if this story it just din't click with me ,the writing style felt immature at times and somethings felt rushed while others felt really rushed

This is a slow burn romance and by slow burn, I mean slooow burn. It was a beautifully written novel about getting through a divorce and learning to live in the "new normal". In that situation, it was sweet and I enjoyed how Carli and Ben grew from their friendship. It was really a neighbors to friends to eventually, "more" situation. But be forewarned, the romance, while sweet, was pretty much secondary to them being friends and getting over their divorces. I loved the perspectives of the children (both have 2 children, each) and the neighbors were a hoot. This is a well written novel and the first novel I've read from the author. I enjoyed it although I was expecting something different that focused more on the romance, rather than the psyche of getting over divorces. But overall, I enjoyed the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the fun read!

The New Normal
By: Tracy Brogan

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

I was excited to read this book based on the cover, but the story ended up being a little different than I had anticipated. This is a cute story about new neighbors Ben and Carli who are both newly divorced. They both struggle to help their children adjust to divorce and having two homes while trying to hold themselves together too. Carli starts the new career she’s always dreamed of and leans on her friends (the neighborhood parents club) for support. Both Ben and Carli try to figure out how to move on with their own lives and find love again. Thank you @netgalley for this ARC. Look for this book out on shelves 6/2/2020.

This was a very cute, well-written romance. I really felt for both main characters (and enjoyed the switching perspective between the two) and felt that their story, and their romance, was very realistic. A sweet, feel-good story!

Thank you NetGalley and Montlake Romance for this arc.

I found this to be an easy, breezy read. A sweet story that focused more on the post-divorce "highs" experienced by Carli and Ben than their "lows." There were enough lows thrown in to stave off diabetes, but not of the agonizing and paralyzing variety, just enough to approach "real life." But who reads these books for vicarious pain? The characters seemed to be well (if not fully) developed and interesting. Beyond the neighborhood parties, it was mostly the day-to-day business of redefining life after divorce, so while the characters were finding their "new lives", there weren't any OTT dramatics. This felt genuine given their circumstances. There was enough humor and humorous situations throughout to keep my interest sparked, despite the predictability of the plot.

3.5 stars rounded up.

The New Normal was such an awesome read. Carli was a very strong woman trying to keep her family NORMAL after her divorce. Divorce is hard on everyone, especially when there are children involved, trying to keep everyone happy is not an easy task. I too dealt with the fallout of divorce and life does go on and everyone will thrive in the end. Carli was fun, hard working and made me laugh. Ben was also a fun character with this newly divorce status they were made for each other. I could not put this book down a great read.

This book feels mischaracterized as a Romance. The first kiss happens between the H and h at 91% through the book (reading on a eReader).

9/10 of a way through a book is a lot of build-up, but in this case even the build up wasn't very exciting.

The story was so slow in getting anywhere at all (not just slow on romance, just slow in every way) that I just couldn't keep reading. It's hard to engage with characters when the story is plodding along with almost no story arc or purpose. Moving on after divorce and redecorating a house is not that exciting.

This book and its snail-like pace was definitely not for me.

THE NEW NORMAL ist das neueste Buch von TRACY BROGAN und ich habe das Buch ABSOLUT GELIEBT!
CARLI LANCASTER ist 42 Jahre alt, frisch geschieden, hat zwei Mädchen im High School-Alter und einen ziemlich unerzogenen Hund. Zugutehalten muss man ihr (und dem Hund), dass die Fellnase noch sehr jung ist. BEN CHASE ist der neue Nachbar! Gerade getrennt, ebenfalls mit Kindern.
Das Kennenlernen der beiden verläuft nicht ganz so reibungslos, auch hier hat erst einmal der Hund seine Pfoten im Spiel. Aber das Buch wäre vermutlich auch nur halb so lustig, wenn es anders wäre!
Die Nachbarschaft, in der die beiden leben, erinnert mich ein wenig an einen deutschen Kleingartenverein, denn es werden mahnende Briefe geschrieben, sobald der Rasen eine bestimmte Höhe überschreitet oder andere Pflichten nicht rechtzeitig wahrgenommen werden. Außerdem wird getratscht bis sich die Balken biegen.
Ich liebe den SCHREIBSTIL von TRACY BROGAN. Ihre Bücher sind immer LUSTIG, UNTERHALTSAM und VERSTÄNDLICH geschrieben. Auch bei THE NEW NORMAL habe ich wieder viel gelacht und die Geschichte lässt sich auch für nicht Muttersprachler hervorragend im Original lesen. Die Erzählweise der Autorin macht es einem leicht die Geschichte vor dem inneren Auge zu sehen. Insbesondere die Frauen aus der Nachbarschaft kann ich mir nur zu gut vorstellen. Auch dass es CARLI es nicht immer schafft einen Bogen um die Fettnäpfchen zu machen, die das Leben so bereitstellt, und das macht die ganze Geschichte WIRKLICH AMÜSANT und REALITÄTSNAH.
THE NEW NORMAL ist abwechselnd aus CARLIS und BENS Perspektive erzählt. So lernt man beide Protagonisten gut kennen. Ich mag das sehr, bietet es einem doch noch tiefere Einblicke in das Leben der Protagonisten.
THE NEW NORMAL von der WUNDERBAREN TRACY BROGAN ist ein tolles Buch für einen oder mehrere gemütliche Nachmittage auf der Couch. Mir hat das Buch richtig gut gefallen! Ich hatte viel Spaß und ein KURZWEILIGES LESEVERGNÜGEN. Deshalb von mir absolut verdiente 5 von 5 STERNEN.

The New Normal is one fine story about woman with two teenaged daughters and an enormous dog trying to find her way post divorce. Her very male, very sexy new next door neighbor, also with two teenagers is in the process of getting a divorce. The neighborhood they live in is very big on community celebrations that along with the kids and her unruly dog set these two up for at least a growing friendship. Tracy Brogan has a style of writing that reveals honest themes and responses from her characters and her readers. This is a love story, but the course of love is seldom smooth and divorce means letting go and redefining. The journey is the important thing and what a fun journey Ms. Brogan sends her characters and readers on. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.