Adult Assembly Required

You ever had a day where it seems NOTHING is going well? (*cue #Friends theme* 👏👏👏👏) That is exactly the kind of day Laura has at the start of #AdultAssemblyRequired by @abbiwaxman. And, I mean, girl- I feel you! After missing out on a job and coming home to your apartment building on literal fire, I’d be in a bit of shock too. After that tragic start to the day Laura winds up at Knight’s bookstore. (Yes, Nina’s store from #TheBookishLifeofNinaHill. No, I haven’t read it yet, so please no spoilers. I promise I’ve already ordered it!) Lucky for her, the ladies of the store are kind and comforting, and even manage to get her a new place to live that very same night. Which is how she meets Joe aka Impossibly Handsome Joe, aka the housemate she absolutely won’t be starting any sort of ~relationship~ with. They’re totally #justfriends. The rest of the book follows Laura as she starts to build her new life in Los Angeles. She’s moved cross-country to go to grad school following a terrible car accident that left her with PTSD. The move also left behind Nick, her fiancé- sorry, EX-fiancé, and her entire family who really just don’t get her. Let’s just say she has some learning to do before she starts classes. Waxman has written some wonderfully relatable characters that have real world problems, like losing everything in a fire (my personal greatest fear tbh), issues with self-confidence, and some difficulties processing Trauma- capital T. While I do still categorize this book in adult contemporary romance, the romantic storyline isn’t the whole book. The book is almost more about the journey of self-discovery and finding out maybe you aren’t all the things you and everyone else in your life to this point have always thought you were. If you haven’t yet, definitely add this new release to your #TBR. And side note- there was some MAJOR foreshadowing of another book that I suspect is already in the works. Something to look forward to, if I had to guess, sometime in Spring 2023. If you were to pick up and move to another city for school or a job, where would you want to go? I really do want to know, cause this is something I think about all the time for myself.