Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost - but not quite - dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life,” and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?
Enjoy a drunken night out, ride a motorcycle, go camping, have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex, travel the world with nothing but hand luggage, and…. do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job. Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit. But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior...
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Chloe Brown was just what I needed to get out of my slight reading slump. I couldn’t put this book down it was such a bingeable read and one of the most adorable romances I’ve read. Talia Hibbert has a way with words and a fantastic sense of humour. I spent this entire reading either awing at the adorableness or laughing at the witty banter and hilarious situations. I love reading romances with good representation because not only do I get to experience lives that AREN’T like mine, but I also get to fall in love with a cast of characters that everyone can find some way to relate to which makes the whole experience so much more enjoyable. Chloe was such a great heroine (I’m super jealous of her job btw), all of the characters were so loveable, and the plot was fast-paced and kept my attention from start to finish.
Chloe Brown is a girl with a chronic illness, a girl constantly in pain, a girl that feels like her own life isn’t even in her control. She makes a big change, moves out, and makes a goal to get out of her comfort zone and meets the perfect man to help her through it. The thing I liked most about this book was the diversity, the representation, and the absolute SMASHING of stereotypes. This author did such a good job writing characters that anyone can relate to (her little commitment at the start of the book to treat readers gently was so adorable and considerate that she won me over before I even started the book). I’ve also not read a lot of books with a disabled main character that’s as accurate feeling as Chloe was. She wasn’t just a character with a disability that is sometimes mentioned but otherwise forgotten, her pain and her limitations were a huge part of her life so it made sense that it was also a huge part of the story. Talia also addressed casual systemic racism in a very subtle way, making it clear this is an ordinary occurrence for Chloe, a black female woman. Our love interest, Red, was also a pleasant surprise as, being a big biker guy covered in tats, I didn’t expect him to be quite as sensitive as he was. He was unashamedly a mama’s boy, loved helping people and is described as “always having a smile” for whoever he meets. I liked how Talia went above and beyond in flipping every stereotype, big or small, on its head in this story!
My favourite part of this book was the relationship. It was so wholesome and adorable and loving. It really brought forth those feelings of early relationships and the beginning of love. It had that electric “enemies to lovers” vibe at the beginning but quickly transformed into a new friendship. The respect and playfulness between the two of them throughout the book were so refreshing. They both had boundaries and baggage and both respected each other's emotional limitations. Chloe was so supportive of Red’s art and his needing time to escape and heal and Red was the absolute best in taking care of Chloe not only physically when she hit her limitations but mentally as well, making it clear that how she was treated in the past wasn’t right and showing that he is reliable. Supportive relationships for the win!
The only thing I didn’t enjoy as much was that the relationship seemed to move way too quickly. It started off really good but it seemed like they went from loathing to love within the span of two weeks and a handful of dates…. maybe that happens for some people, but given the heartbreak that both these characters have been through in the past and the scars and trust issues that they both have, it seemed almost unbelievable that they would open up to each other so quickly in such a deep way. That’s literally my ONLY complaint about this book.
It was an amazing love story (I’m typically not a big fan of contemporary romance, I prefer historical, but this was goooood). I’m super excited to read the other two books in this series as I already know I’m going to love the other Brown sisters' stories as much as I loved Chloe’s. 4 Stars for this one!