Family and Other Calamities is a sharp, funny, and surprisingly heartfelt read about grief, family, and the messiness of coming home.

Dawn, once a rising journalist in Baltimore, has spent years avoiding her past—until her husband's death pulls her back to the city she ran from. She’s juggling grief, a meddling family, her mom’s 70th birthday party, and the not-so-small matter of her ex-best friend-turned-nemesis turning her life into a villainous movie character. Yep, chaos.

Told mostly from Dawn’s hilarious and brutally honest POV, this book had me laughing out loud with her inner monologue and one-liners. It’s full of heart, great banter, and messy, lovable characters. There are some big coincidences and a neatly wrapped ending, but it works—especially if you’re in the mood for a story that balances humor with real emotional depth.

It’s the perfect beach or weekend read: light, relatable, and packed with charm.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Don't mess with a grieving widow. You might not know what hits you.

Dawn is a strong woman. While not perfect, she has morals and ethics, unlike a particular former friend who was out for himself. All would have been ok on her journey back to Baltimore to lay her husband's ashes to rest, until that same former friend decides to trash Dawn in his upcoming movie based on his award-winning article. 

Joe is a despicable character who deserves everything he gets in the end. I think he fought so hard because he knew he was wrong, and it was unlikely Dawn could prove it. Never underestimate the power of women and their friends.

I wasn't sure what to think of this book, but I soon became immersed in the story and was rooting for Dawn. She made plenty of mistakes along the way, but when it came down to it, she had her friends and family supporting her. The family is somewhat dysfunctional, but what family isn't these days?

Told in dual timelines, we see what Dawn did as a young cub reporter in the early 90s and how she blossomed and grew in the present. I loved how she talked to her husband, Dale, even though he had died. I love that relationship, and that she still feels close to him. I even appreciated how her relationship with her brother-in-law changed in the present. There was fault on both sides, but sometimes death brings people together when you least expect it.

This novel is about family, friends, and truth. Can we say the same about our lives?

We give this book 4 paws up.

This book exceeded my expectations; it was both emotional and heartwarming, and the characters were so memorable. I was totally engaged throughout the entire novel.
The book was full of vivid descriptions and vivid imagery to the point where I felt like I had slipped into the pages.

Like many other ARC readers I was initially drawn to this book for it's title and the fun cover.
This book was fun!
Some plot lines were so outrageous that you just had to laugh while reading it.

Dawn's character could get a little hard to read about, but I have a feeling that was the intention of the author when writing.
The time flashbacks were fun most of the time, but did find a it did take away from the main story at times.

I do think if you want something easy to read this summer, pick this book up.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Once, Dawn Roberts was a scrappy young journalist on the rise, working for a spot in a newsroom in Baltimore. But that was the 90s, and a lot has changed.

Now it’s 2023 and Dawn is struggling through the grief of losing her husband to cancer while working for the online entertainment magazine she started in Los Angeles.

When she returns to Baltimore with half her husband’s ashes (his brother does NOT deserve all of them), her world implodes.

After decades of alternately running from and dwelling on the past, it’s all about to hit the fan when her once best friend and mentor, now nemesis, Joe Perkins, drags the past into the present.

The book he wrote three decades ago is being filmed in Baltimore, an exposé on governmental corruption. Except…the villain of the film is “Fawn”, a barely disguised and absolutely unflattering caricature of, well, Dawn.

Now Dawn is going to have to seek help in the most unlikely places while trying to make up with her brash, opinionated sister, plan her busybody mom’s 70th birthday party, interview an R&B diva who refuses to remember Dawn’s name, and make nice with her dead husband’s family.

Listen, this book is a chaotic, laugh out loud hoot! I absolutely ate it up! Told in two converging timelines, the story is so engaging. Dawn is hilarious, full of insults, one liners, and an inner monologue that never stops, and yet still offers emotional depth and heart. It’s a fast paced, rollicking read, with more bumps in the road than I83.

It’s the perfect read for anyone who enjoys character driven fiction filled with heart and humor. The ending is a bit too tidy but honestly, I loved it all!

Thanks to @netgalley and @lakeunionpublishing for the ARC to read and review. This one is out now so don’t miss it!

Entertainment reporter Dawn is taking her husband’s ashes home to his family in Baltimore. And who should be on the flight – but her nemesis Joe. He once stole a story from her, publishing it at his rival newspaper under his own name and now there is a movie being filmed about his award-winning efforts.
And Dawn discovers she’s in the script as a villain, her late husband Dale as a shady character and her sister Tonya is acting as a consultant on the film. So she decides to call Joe out – publicly.
Told over two timelines – the present and Dawn’s days as a young intern – this book has plenty of witty dialogue and a sharp plot about double-crossing and correcting a wrong. It’s a true grudge match.

Thank you Lake Union Publishing for this arc.

Dawn spends a lot of the first part of the book getting on my last nerve. I totally get that she’s a strong woman who has had to fight for her chances, who has had to overcome opinions about her as a Black woman in journalism, and whose journalistic calling has made her a woman unafraid to ask probing questions and keep hammering home until she gets answers. But she’s also an expert at stepping on the toes of people who appear to be trying to help her and or are related to her. More than once I silently urged her to hush and stop aggravating the people on her side. When you’re deep in a hole, think about putting the shovel down.

Yet that wouldn’t be Dawn. From her early discovery that being a journalist allows you to ask hard questions, make people upset, and control things, Dawn found her calling. Working twice as hard to be thought half as good, she’s pushed for chances, grabbed opportunities and not let go. Then Life happens, some bad choices are made and she has the next thirty years of her life to ignore her regret. Now Fate comes calling as she returns home to face her neglected family and the in-laws she kinda/sorta didn’t push to keep in touch with even after the too early death of her husband.

She finds though, that it’s not too late to face her own failings and make amends. This, of course, takes most of the book to reach so readers need to strap themselves in as Dawn learns all this. Watching her be stubborn and more than a little self-centered for a while makes her self realization all the more satisfying. Dawn gets pushed into a corner by events from the past and the way she’s treated some people. When someone tries to push her dead husband’s reputation there with her, that’s when she comes out swinging – yes, for her but also because this someone tries to make Dale into a sleaze and Dawn isn’t going to stand for that shit.

There are lots of great characters to enjoy over the course of Dawn’s journey and some of them also need to take a hard look at things they’ve done and believed. Dawn’s family are fantastic, especially her mother who is fabulous and a mother – and we all know how mothers can both see us and love us despite our mistakes. Aunt Weedie is a hoot, too. Bria James takes no prisoners as she and Dawn discuss (ahem) Gen X vs Gen Z and the pathways that Gen Zers have to forge and invent for themselves now that things Gen Xers used are no longer a thing.

The penultimate scene might be a little too movie perfect with its many “just in time and on camera, too” revelations but after what Dawn tells her lawyer she wants and more importantly what she isn’t after, I’ll happily take it. Dawn’s seen her mistakes, owned them, and made amends and that gives me the character growth I love to see. B

This was such a great book. Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this copy. I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. The main character's determination for truth and get retribution for the story that was stolen from her. I like that she wasn't perfect but still was an incredibly complex character. Her relationship with her mom and sister felt very realistic and unfortunately I also have felt betrayed by a close friend who spread lies about me and my family. I was kind of surprised by Joe's ending considering the fact that he tried to ruin her and her family's reputation, but I found myself not minding it that much. The pop culture references were very funny and I very much appreciated them. The ending itself felt extremely satisfying in general.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC for this one!

I grabbed this one because the title sounded super fun, and I wasn’t wrong!

I had multiple laugh out loud moments with this book and many of the plot lines were just so chaotically insane that it was a fun step away from my real life to enjoy the calamity that was Dawn’s

This being said I found some of the pacing strange, the flashbacks in certain areas I felt took away from the main story and weren’t as interesting/fast paced taking me out of the story

This paired with the treatment that Dawn, Tonya, Bria, Sarah, even Dale put people through… it was hard to root for some of the main characters when you see how easily they’ll turn on each other and how much they thought about only themselves

Overall I think this was a really fun book, the story was compelling and the ending was genuinely so satisfying!

But, think of the characters less as hero’s, and people you WANT to always root for, and more like genuine people, people who mess up, people who are trying their best <3

Thank you to Lake Union and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. This type of writing really irks me and I had to DNF

Unfortunately, had to DNF this one at 16%. I follow Leslie Gray Streeter on Threads and love her writing in the Baltimore Banner, but her writing style just didn't transfer to a novel for me. I also tend to have an issue with people/characters who are supposed to be mature grown ups in their thirties and forties who talk and act like they are barely out of college. This was purely a "just not for me" thing and I highly recommend her other writing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley & Lake Union Publishing for an eARC ♥️

This book feels like catching up with an old friend—one who’s messy, hilarious, and unapologetically real. 🥰
Dawn, a journalist with a bruised ego and a suitcase full of regrets, comes back to her hometown only to find her past waiting for her like a bad tabloid headline. Her ex-mentor is making her the villain in a movie, her family’s a disaster, and to be quite frankly she’s not even that sorry about it. 🫢

I loved Dawn because she doesn’t pretend to have it all figured out. She wants revenge, sure, but she also just wants to stop feeling so guilty. The side characters—a sassy R&B legend and a rookie reporter who won’t quit—steal every scene they’re in.

It’s got drama, laughs, and that *oh-no-she-didn’t* energy that makes you flip pages faster. If you like stories about imperfect people stumbling their way toward redemption (with a little chaos along the way), this one’s a winner.

Sharp, heartfelt, and way too fun. Dawn’s train wreck of a homecoming is the best kind of mess.♥️

This book started out wonderfully but it appears the author lost their way about half way through. It was a struggle to finish.

I literally could not get through this fast enough just to complete it. I hated the writing style of this book from the jump and really should've given up on it but oh well.

Family & Other Calamities was an enjoyable novel - with some highly entertaining moments and characters. Dawn is an entertainment reporter returning to her hometown of Baltimore for the internment of her late husband's ashes only to find her past is being misrepresented in a movie about to start filming about a past local political scandal and the reporter that allegedly broke the story. Dawn and her family were incredible, relatable, and funny and they truly made this novel. Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to read this novel.

Tenía muchas ganas de que este libro me gustara más. La idea central me pareció muy atractiva y tenía potencial para desarrollar una historia potente, con drama familiar, secretos y tensiones del pasado. Pero lamentablemente, la ejecución no terminó de convencerme.

Uno de los principales obstáculos fue la protagonista. Me costó mucho empatizar con Dawn. Sus decisiones me resultaron desconcertantes y, en algunos casos, directamente injustas con la gente que más la quería. Eso hizo que me costara engancharme emocionalmente con su historia.

La estructura narrativa, con tantos saltos al pasado, también me sacaba de la lectura. El ritmo se volvía irregular: por momentos avanzaba demasiado lento y en otros todo sucedía de golpe. Además, había personajes secundarios que parecían estar ahí como relleno, y de repente resultaban claves para el final, sin que se hubiera construido antes una conexión real con ellos.

Tampoco sentí que el título reflejara bien el contenido del libro. Terminé preguntándome qué tenía que ver con lo que acababa de leer.

Dicho todo esto, reconozco que la autora escribe bien. La prosa es cuidada y hay ideas interesantes a nivel temático, pero no fue una lectura que me atrapara. Si te gustan las historias cargadas de drama familiar, rencores antiguos y política emocional, quizás valga la pena darle una oportunidad. En lo personal, me dejó con gusto a poco.

When a grieving journalist, Dawn, returns home to inter her husband's ashes with his estranged family, she gets far more than she bargained for. Upon arriving she is quickly thrust into the spotlight as she discovers that the story that was stolen from her by a close friend is now turning into what will be a blockbuster movie. After decades of sitting silently with the anger and betrayal of watching Joe, her old journalist friend and colleague, reap the benefits of writing and publishing her story, she decides it’s time to come clean and call him out. This is a story about family, friendship and trust. It's as funny as it is inspiring, with a cast of very vibrant characters.

I really enjoyed this story and its characters, except for the obvious few. The banter and the inner monologues were written in a way that had me laughing and also wanting to jump through the pages and help find justice for Dawn. Though lighthearted, this book tackles character growth and highlights the struggles and microaggressions of black women professionals really well. I love Dawn’s family and her team of supporters who rally around her as she speaks her truth and takes back what is hers.

Family and Other Calamities comes out June 1st! Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for my copy; all opinions are my own.

Dawn hasn’t been home in a long time, but when her late husbands family wants his ashes she really can’t avoid it any longer. She does not expect Joe Perkins to be on her flight, or for her sister to working with him on the movie about his Pulitzer Prize winning story he reported many years ago. The story he stole from Dawn, but no need to get into the tiny details. Actually…yes need. When Dawn finally les the world know who did the hard work behind the story, chaos and lawsuits ensue.

Oh did this book make me mad! Well actually, just Joe did, but dang did he get me super fired up! I loved that we got a look at both the past when Dawn found the story/found out about Joe stealing it, and the present where she is finally sticking up for herself and letting the world know the truth. The relationship with her late husband’s brother definitely took a turn I did not expect, but I really adored how it turned out. This book will infuriate you for Dawn, while also wanting to shake some sense into her for some of her decisions, but hey, don’t we all have moments that someone should have shaken us out of? I really enjoyed this book and the ending was just perfection!

Thank you to @lakeunionauthors and @otrpr for my gifted copy of this book!

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I think this is good for the reader who likes this type of thing. I thought it sounded fun, and I'm probably just miserable. But I wasn't super into it.