It took me a awhile to get through this book because i was really unclear what it wanted to be. The relationships in this book are cringeworthy; I’m still in shock that the protagonist’s obsession actually amounted to anything. Speaking of, her personality was unlikable. I found myself rooting against her, especially with her little quips about her not looking her age. I imagine it was supposed to come off as her confidence growing but it didn’t work for me.

I’m also all for a little vulgarity in my fiction, but this just didn’t hit right and felt almost more dirty than it needed to be. I wouldn’t read something else by this author.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Happily Whatever After” includes all the best ingredients for an entertaining female-centered work of fiction. Page goes from single, broke, and unemployed to living her dream life. Of course, the journey there is punctuated with challenges and harsh doses of reality along the way. This fun, effervescent novel is peppered with just enough heartache and despair to make it an almost believable story.

I loved this book, it had everything! It was funny, it was sad, it was uplifting. The setting for the main outline of the story was a ‘posh’ dog walking park in which our heroine (Page) found herself with a book but no dog. She soon begins to recognise the different dog walkers and their dogs, and gradually gets to know them. Having just moved to a new city to live with her brother after losing her job in an art gallery and being dumped by her longtime partner, the park was where she came each day to pass some time.
The friends she makes there are instrumental in her adjusting to her new life, and she soon begins to find doors opening for her, plus a handsome vineyard owner who she is very attracted to.
The characters are brilliant, some eccentric, some flamboyant, mostly rich and all keen to help Page move on with her life .
This is one of those books you don’t want to end, you ‘know’ everyone in it and want to continue that ‘friendship’ with them all. I’m now searching out more books by Stewart Lewis, hoping for same kind of warmth and humour.

loved it! absolutely loved it! this is the first book I've read of this author and I definitely intend to read more.

Happily Whatever After follows protagonist Page after the worst week of her life: losing her job and her boyfriend. As she moves to a new city to start fresh while crashing with her brother, she changes her life by following her heart…to the dog park. It is there she meets the people who will help her find her direction and maybe even heal that broken heart.

I’m not one to write negative book reviews. If I find I don’t like a book, I take a “it’s not the book, it’s me” approach. Just because a book doesn’t click with me doesn’t make it bad or not worth reading; it just wasn’t a good fit.
I hate to say it, but Happily Whatever After wasn’t a good fit for me. I had a hard time relating to the protagonist, which makes reading the first person narration a bit more challenging. There were many things I enjoyed in it (you know it wasn’t unbearable because I didn’t give up on it; I still had to find out how it ended!).
Aspects I enjoyed were the descriptions of Washington, D.C. and what life is like when you’re starting over in your mid thirties. I thought the author did a fabulous job of setting up the hurdles she had to overcome and showing that every obstacle is not met with a peppy can do attitude; some things truly do knock you down. Though I didn’t connect with Page, this book is full of fun and quirky characters that are fun to get to know. I also loved the diversity of characters; our world is made up diversely, and it’s refreshing to find that represented in a book where the diversity isn’t a plot point.
While I neither loved nor hated this novel, it was a fun read about finding who you are and deciding what matters. It has both light and serious moments and an unexpected personal struggle.
Happily Whatever After by Stewart Lewis will be available July 28.

This book was definitely cute.

I loved the dynamic between all the characters, and enjoyed the plot a great deal. I thought it was well written!

I absolutely adored this book. The characters were so real that it sucked you in and made you feel a part of the story. You didn't want it to end!

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a chance to read and review this book.

It was a quick and easy read. I liked this story and the characters were fun. This book revolves around Page who had recently lost her great job and boyfriend one after the other and is looking for a fresh start at a whole new place. So she packs up and bids Au Revoir to NYC and goes to live in DC with her brother. As I said it is a quick and fun read with likable characters and good plot. I loved the dog park theme and how that became an important part of the book. Does Page gets her happy ending or not is yet to be seen cause I don't want to give away any spoilers but if you are a looking for a light read then it is definitely for you.

Happy reading!

1/5 🌟
So unfortunately this just was not my thing. I thought there was too much fluff. I also could not believe our main character at times and her decisions. I found myself saying "Ok. WHY? Why would you think that would be a good idea?" She doesn't even know the guy's name she's "in love" with until chapter 56 which is the last chapter! And while she's "in love" with him she's going out with someone else.
Okay so a few things I did like about this book. It was a cute funny quick read. I pretty much was flying through the book.
I liked that she read the dog's expreasion and tried to come up with what they were thinking. (Lol I think I liked this so much because I always try to give Molly a voice) like "Mom, I wanna go on a walk. Please take me on a walk. *goes outside* NO. No walk. No walk. Let me back in too cold!"
The ending for this book was perfect! I really enjoyed the ending.
Things I thought while reading:
"Haha been there!"
"Don't we all?"
*sings No Air by: Jordin Sparks*
"Really? Girl. Really?"
"Why?"
"Ok. Now why would that be a good idea?"
"Get. A. Dog."
"Now why would you tell them that? You don't even know his name!"
"Oh. No!" 😳
"But. Why?"
"Finally!!!"
YESSSSSS 👌

Quirky, contemporary and fairly relatable; Lewis' novel is a quick and heart-warming, albeit rather formulaic, read, ideal for getting one's mind off of things.

The story lagged for me. The pace was just slow. My other complaint was that the main character reduced a lot of things to initials and nick names, then when you did learn the name of a character, for example, it was kind of confusing to remember who was who.

The story of Page, starting over in DC after losing her job and her boyfriend in New York.

An emotional read at times, given some of the things going on in her family. Overall an enjoyable read though.

Very cute and had some unexpected turns. I didn’t love the repetitive use of drugs. Other than that, it was a nice story about Page finding her happy ending and it really made me want to get a dog now! I got attached to all the characters, they all had their quirks and were lovable with their own personalities.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this arc.

A sweet and predictable easy read. Page's complacency with her New York life is shattered when she loses her job and her boyfriend in the same week and she relocates to Washington DC to live with her brother. Without a job or a social life or even a dog, she starts hanging out at a dog park for lack of anything better to do with herself. She meets a collection of OTT characters and her social life starts to pick up from there.

The second half of the book, focusing on the issues surrounding Page and her family was very entertaining. Brady is a brother everyone would want to have. . In the beginning of the book Page and her new friends came across as fairly shallow, and the situations were not entirely believable.

Page thought she had it all: a great job at an art gallery, fabulous job and living in NYC - until it all went to crap at once.

Page moves in with her brother Brady to DC for a fresh start. Her favorite thing to do is go to the dog park. Some wonder why she has no dog and others think she’s the weird new woman. Page forms unexpected friendships with the dog owners finding happiness outside her comfort zone.

She needs a job, a boyfriend and a dog- not necessarily in that order. Could these crazy new acquaintances be the key?