Thank you to NetGalley and Julie Valerie in exchange for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This novel was definitely interesting, but it just wasn't for me. It seemed like nothing could go right for this poor girl and I got a bit tired of listening to Holly. I just found some chapters so extremely tedious to get through. I couldn't find anything to enjoy really, but I can see why some people would enjoy this novel.

After just one month of moving house into a new town, Holly is still trying to sort her life & hone out whilst trying to keep up with her neighbours & fellow mum's.
At the beginning I didn't like the length if the chapters and I found it hard to get into the book, whether that us because it is the second in a series & I hadn't read the first. But the book few on me after continuing to read & it became an enjoyable read.

I love the author’s voice and writing style, but felt there were too many storylines (the discs and water tower stuff didn’t seem necessary).

Holly Banks is back! Still living in the idyllic Village of Primm, this book takes place a few weeks after the first book.

True to Julie Valerie's style, The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks also has its share of shenanigans, but it is more serious and a little mysterious. I missed the humour and lightheartedness from the first, its definitely not as quirky. That being said, I would still recommend this book, if not for just reading about Struggle the dog—he was a total scene-stealer.

What a delight this one is! This is a laugh out loud, quirky and charming book into the crazy life of Holly Banks in the Village of Primm. I loved getting to know the fun and kooky characters of Primm! Holly is a wife, mother, aspiring filmmaker who unravels a mystery with her rambunctious dog that affects her new home of Primm. If you are looking for a great book to keep you laughing and is just a feel-good book, check this one out!

I really enjoyed Holly Banks, Full of Angst when I read it last year, so I was excited to pick up book 2 in the series! Holly is such a funny, relatable character. I was happy to return to the Village of Primm! Things are always overwhelming for Holly, but when true crises strike, she realizes what is really important. I didn't fully follow the drama with the town and the artifact, but I appreciated Holly coming to learn the importance of the moments that make up a life.

This book was a decent read. Holly Banks was an interesting character. My biggest complaint about this book is that sometimes it was difficult to follow along and I had trouble getting along. I did begin to become more interested in Holly's story later on.

Holly Banks is back!

I enjoyed this romp with the people of Primm Village. Julie Valerie creates such a joyful setting with laugh out loud circumstances.

Perfect escapism read with a bit of Lucille Ball meets Desperate Houswives.

Holly Banks returns in the newest Village of Primm novel, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴. The first book, had me laughing (and cringing) throughout. This installment picked up right where the first left off, a month after Holly arrived in Primm. I won’t share any spoilers, but the Village of Primm is still recovering from her past misadventures. It would definitely benefit you to read the books in order. The first novel introduces the characters and setting in greater detail.⁣
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Holly is such a relatable character. I am not a mom so I couldn’t relate to that aspect of her life, but I could relate to some of her other struggles. I love her honesty and vulnerability as she goes about her life. I felt most invested in the storyline surrounding her relationship with her husband Jack and her mom Greta. I could have done without the psychic storyline in both this and the first book, but I understand that it does add some comedy. This story had heavier moments, but we didn’t lose Holly’s wit and sense of humor. ⁣
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A final note, the chapters were a tad too long in places, but even with longer chapters, it is a quick read.⁣
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All in all, this was a great addition to 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘮 series. I am excited to see what Holly gets up to next. ⁣

After reading Holly Banks Full of Angst last fall, I realized that Holly is my spirit animal. She is quirky, impulsive, and on the quest for perfection. It was so much fun to return to the Village of Primm and see what hijinks Holly finds herself in this time.

This one was just as fun as the first book! While the first book focuses more on Holly as a mom, the second book focuses on Holly’s career pursuits and community involvement in Primm.

One of my favorite parts was Holly’s mom, Greta. She played a much larger role in this book and I loved the growth of their mother-daughter relationship.

The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks can definitely be read as a stand-alone novel, but I highly recommend that you read the first book too! Even though I think the first book is still my favorite, you can still expect a little drama and mystery, some laughs, and a whole lot of heart from this one too!

4/5 stars!

Thank you so much to Julie Valerie, Amazon Publishing, and Netgalley for my gifted copy to review! All opinions are my own.

Life is not a movie for Holly. It seems everyone is out to uproot her well laid plans. With her future in flux , she thinks if she can only have things and be seen a certain way life will be good. A husband who really works at half speed and a daughter refusing to learn to read her basket is full. It seems her mother has embraced life to the fullest. Holly feels not only out of the picture but at odds with how she wants to be seen and how her life really exsists. Another twist appears when an artifact dug up by her dog puts Holly front and center in a town confrontation that crests with a hilariously satisfying ending.

I was so excited to return to the Village of Primm in the next Holly Banks installment as I devoured book one, Holly Banks Full of Angst. In this book, we see Holly a little more settled but still trying to juggle so many things. She has recently started her own business, has a tough time with her mother, is showcasing her home in the Primm House Tour, has house renovations going on, is still trying to be the best mom....and the list goes on and on. ⁣⁣

Holly Banks has finally finished unpacking and is settling into her life in Primm but that doesn’t mean life is getting any less crazy. In THE PECULIAR LIFE OF HOLLY BANKS, Book 2 in Julie Valerie’s Village of Primm series, Holly is still searching for the perfect life that she is sure everyone around her has. While she is trying to create perfection, life happens and the situations she gets herself into along the way will have you laughing hysterically while shaking your head in sympathy and disbelief.
Holly’s life is one of those that anything that can go wrong will, but every step of the way she changes both her perceptions of what her life should look like and where she fits into Primm. This one picks up almost where the first one ended and it’s fun to watch as she and the village recover from the craziness of the last book (though, if you didn’t read the first one, there is plenty of background to keep you from being lost). Valerie’s characters continue to evolve and I loved watching them and their interactions, and Holly as she comes into her own.
Full of humor, this was a thoroughly enjoyable follow up to Valerie’s HOLLY BANKS FULL OF ANGST.
Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#thepeculiarlifeofhollybanks #villageofprimm #lakeunionpublishing #julievalerie

Holly Banks is desperate to have it all, but nothing in life goes according to plan. With her husband's job in flux, her daughter's difficulty with learning to read, and her mother's new zest for dating, Holly's life is anything but picture perfect. When her dog digs up an old artifact in the village center, Holly finds herself in the middle of a mystery between two rival towns, and if solved, could change the Village of Primm forever.
I think I'm unable to give this book a fair review because I didn't realize it was part of a series until I started reading it. The synopsis made it seem like the mystery would be the central plot point in the story, but there was so much going on and it got very chaotic at times. I definitely would have enjoyed it more if I read the first book before and had a little more background information on the characters. I'm sorry book, it's me, not you.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

We follow Holly and her family, in simply what is her life. A fun, hilarious, yet relatable story of a modern-day family in their new neighbourhood where community and pretenses are everything. Now imagine a stay-at-home mom, yearning to go back to work, that wants to fit in, have it all, but barely struggles to keep up. Oh, and secretly eats Nutella from a jar when she's stressed out.

I could totally picture Reese Whitherspoon in a motion picture of this novel. Drop Reese into the Desperate Housewives neighbourhood and voila! You'll see me binging it on the weekends, for sure.

The humour in this was just impeccable. Whether it was laughing at the writer's descriptions and coined words and phrases, or the character's comments, dialogues, or turn of events, you can't help but laugh. Our main character was constantly seeking approval, struggling to fit in, and putting herself in these situations that were absolutely unnecessary! Ha! But that's what made her hilarious after all.

It was slightly slower paced for me, but you do get pulled into the story easily or brought back on track because there's always something happening. I especially enjoyed her emails, and her honeybunch sugarplum little daughter - she was a hoot!

Who would like it? It's entertaining and light, but as I like to say it has a heart. It has soul! If you love reading about families, mom life, peculiar events in a very ''tight-nit'' community, or a very uptight neighbourhood (whatever you want to call it). Overall, if you need a good laugh, pick it up.

Thank you Julie Valerie and Lake Union Authors for the gifted copy.

It's been a few weeks since the end of Holly Banks, Full of Angst, and the Village of Primm is still reeling from the chilli thrip invasion and the demise of their mascot, Plume the peahen topiary. Holly is still a hot mess, but now is dealing with an ore sniffing dog, a missing astrolabe, the launch of a new career, a water leak, a QU wedding, a hobby aircraft...among other things.

I do recommend you read them in order, but this one will make you laugh and roll your eyes at the antics of Holly and the VOP. I think it's especially funny if you have kids and/or you are a hot mess like Holly :)

This book is a charming and funny look at life in a small town where people are trying way too hard to present a facade of the perfect life. It's over-the-top sometimes, but there are also deeply emotional moments that make up for it. I loved the characters, and would really like to see more of Greta (Holly's mom) if there's a Book 3 in the series.

If you're a fan of physical humor, you might want to read Book 1 in the series first. If not, start with this one. Book 2 is more witty with less slapstick humor.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received.

A cute follow-up to 2019’s Holly Banks Full of Angst, The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks follows the same formula as the first.

Holly, newly moved to the Village of Primm, has lofty goals to have and do it all in what is supposed to be suburban utopia. In her efforts to be the best wife, the best mother, and the best neighbor, crazy hijinks of course ensue. And through it all, Holly fails miserably, and once again learns that having and doing it all isn’t as important as family and friends.

The perfect light read when you need a lift of spirits, or a great gift for that friend or sister who needs a loving reminder that being overwhelmed in life is normal and that’s perfectly okay.

You know what I love? books that make you laugh and don't take themselves too seriously, and that is exactly what I get with this series. The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks by Julie Valerie is the second book in the Village of Primm series and I think I liked it even more than the first book (Holly Banks Full of Angst). It was so much fun, and I love Valerie's personable writing style. There is just something about the way she writes these books that I just love, and it makes them that much better because of it. I read until about halfway and then switched to the audio and man that is the way to go. Kathleen McInerney narrates, and she is AMAZING, she makes the perfect Holly and you just have to give her props for the way she makes all the sounds in this book. I don't think I could keep myself from laughing, but she was fantastic and now I will definitely be listening to the audio for all Village of Primm books to come.

I also love that there was a little dash of mystery in this one. Book one is about Holly, the school, and the neighborhood for the most part, but this one goes into a full-blown mystery thanks to her dog Struggle. I also really enjoyed the addition of the crossword puzzle that I couldn't solve. This would make a great summer read or a palate cleanser in between heavier books. It was fine as a standalone, but I did find myself wishing I had recently read the last book since I couldn't really remember anything about it. However, I thought Valerie did a great job on catching the reader up on what happened in Holly Banks Full of Angst.

If you are looking for a fun, lighter read look no further and pick up this book today! That sounds like an ad but I'm serious.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with an advance review copy of this book! All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I have to say that this one was a DNF for me. I think I a, not the audience, too scattered and beyond silly. I like strong decisive female characters. Thank you for the ARC.