No Judgments

I almost feel like Meg Cabot needs a pseudonym for this book! But I feel like this wouldn’t sell without her name attached to it, so that’s an odd line to balance. This was much more generic chick-lit than anything Cabot I’ve ever read, and that’s totally fine, but my expectations were quite different and I think I could have been disappointed if I had gone in really expecting something like one of Cabot's previous standalone adult books.

The amount of DOGS in this book is absolutely delightful! Seriously, all the stars for the abundance of dogs. Dogs make me happy and thus this book made me happy.

There was a Me Too moment in this book that I'm of mixed minds about. It felt like it was put in there as a way to be culturally show more relevant and to make this about the times. But I did love the way that the character dealt with it all.

I wish we had had a much deeper examination of the love story that develops. It's instalust and then instalove and there were no real conversations shown. Nothing like that good ol' Mia and Michael romance that is to date one of my favourite literary romances out there.

I would three star this for being not at all spectacular, but I'm throwing in the extra star for the animals and for how well paced it was. Four times, I checked the length, because it absolutely flew by and it felt like it was half the size it actually was. Normally I'm going the other way and thinking books should have been cut down, but this was super fast.

I adore Meg Cabot forever (there's a reason the Princess Diaries is the one series I've reread in the past few years) and this is a new direction for her. I can't say I'm thrilled with the more generic romance that lacks her general wit, but she's as readable as ever. show less

I generally love Meg Cabot and have been a lifelong reader from her 1-800-Where-Are-You and Mediator series (both before Princess Diaries), but I really had to force myself through "No Judgments". The character was much more wimpy and whiny than she needed to be. Sure she's figuring out a lot of things after moving from New York City to the Florida Keys and trying to keep a lot of things secret from the locals, but she fought herself and her love interest so much that when she hooked up with the guy, it felt extremely forced. I loved certain aspects of the novel. For instance I read the majority of it during Hurricane Dorian so the storm preparation and weather descriptions were heightened by my own real world experiences. I also show more appreciated that there was a lot of love for rescuing animals both from shelters and after-storm dangers. Cabot has the atmosphere and the kooky island down, this just would have been a whole lot better with a different heroine. show less

No Judgments is two different books smushed together. One part is a fluffy tale about two stubborn people coming together during a hurricane and then rescuing animals in the aftermath. The other part is about a woman who's just run away from a toxic relationship and family. I'm going to give spoilers in this review, so if that's not your thing, go ahead and click away now.

Here's the everything-in-the-fridge soup that is this book:

- Hurricane, but people choose to stay and they're all fine! No mention of Maria, but this one is conveniently named Marilyn... Oh the privilege of these characters. Her family offers to fly her out by private jet but she chooses not to evacuate. I get not wanting to go with her ex (see below) but her family show more offers to put her somewhere far from her family or her ex, so I just... ugh.

- Parental death prior to the book followed by heroine finding out that her mother isn't her bio mom (which is a stupid subplot, because all it means is they used an egg donor due to fertility issues)

- Town drunk who abuses his dog, hero punches him and takes the dog. It's clear the police keep taking the guy to the jail to dry out and then letting him go

- Emotionally abusive ex, laid out for you in the blurb

- Sexual assault by ex's best friend, followed by no one believing her

- In the last 10% of the book, the ex and his best friend pretend they are a family who have pets at X house but surprise! it's really an "apology" and an attempt to get her back

- And the heroine confronts her attacker with a gun, so that's great. She actually discharges the weapon (at a bottle of tequila) in order to get him to lay on the floor. The trauma of this situation is never mentioned. She doesn't have an adrenaline come down or anything, which I had assumed to be the bare minimum. It's like a switch went off and she went from being survivor to attacker, which was not great even though I could tell the author was trying to make the character feel safe while getting closure. But she needs a counselor, not to wave a gun around? (She's lucky he didn't get the gun and use it against her... Wow I hated this sudden tonal shift.)

- In the last 10% of the book, the mom shows up (surprise!) AND brings the egg donor with her... for some reason?

- Mom is a conservative talk show host a la Judge Jeanine and the hatred she spreads is not addressed as anything more than "Mom, your show makes its money off telling people the world is bad."

So you've probably sorted out that I didn't love this book. Like I said, it's really two totally different books smashed up. The whole thing felt book-ended by trauma which was never addressed in a healthy way. We know that the heroine couldn't sleep at night, that she is afraid of sex, etc. But Drew is magical and these are never problems in their relationship. (It has been three months.) To my knowledge, Sabrina (Bree) never got therapy, but she did move from NYC (the city is evil) to a Florida Key, dye her hair pink and change her name. These are proven strategies for recovering from grief, sexual assault and emotional abuse.

On top of this, it's boring? When I wasn't angry at this book, I was crawling through the pages. It took me a week to read and a solid four days to get to 24%. I'm not sure if it's that I don't click with Cabot's adult writing voice or if there's a serious pacing issue, but it was a slog. It could be that Cabot was setting up the series, introducing us to the town and island as a whole, but we spent a lot of time before the hurricane, very little time during the hurricane, and more than 50% afterward. I love animals, but a huge section of plot was about going to houses and finding different types of animals. Cabot chose to spend all this time on feeding different kinds of dogs, but no time on healing a human from trauma. I guess waving a gun around is supposed to have healed her. Mr. Wonderful stands outside the house while this is happening, as though he knows for sure after knowing Bree for all of three months that she wouldn't actually kill the guy. The whole thing was unnecessary.

I guess I'm going to recommend it only to people who need to read everything Meg Cabot has ever written. I'm sure it will sell and I wish you all good luck.



Suzanne received a copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss. As you can tell, that didn't influence her review.

Content Warnings: sexual assault (she escapes by promising to go out with him? I can be more specific if you need, email me), emotional abuse, mom is probably a Trump-er, gun violence, animal abuse, hurricane, gaslighting show less

It did its job sharing the story of the storm and the general hysteria, or lack thereof in some cases, preceding it. It was beyond truthful in the initial aftermath of what can happen, how the face of a place can be changed, and the trauma caused both to those that stayed as well as those that left. The heartbreak of deciding to leave someone, some place, or something behind..if you haven't had to do it, I pray you never know what you're missing. The knowledge that THIS could be your last stand, and the choice (or again, lack thereof) of where you make it...so true.

My heart broke at the pets left behind...honestly, I couldn't do it, but I tried as hard as Bree did to understand, and couldn't have been prouder of her for providing show more assistance. The stance shared by Angela about those that choose to stay and why...girl, you had it SO RIGHT, I could have hugged you through the page (we're not all crazy; the reasons vary from person to person, but the choice is no less hard to make). The characters made their impression long after they left the page, and much like in real life, their comradery and desire to help one another was so true. Then there was the unexpected romance with Drew, and oh my ever loving heavens was it something else! No really, suspected player or not, dude had my heart. Why? Oh, let's see...he's easy on the eyes, a pulse racer for the heart, enormously kind to animals, adores/puts up with (sometimes that can be the same thing!) his family because he truly loves them, and although a stubborn male through and through, has the kind of heart worth knowing. Oh and yes, he stands by, for, and with the ones he loves (take note of the scene with the ex and the pit bulls...so much love for that scene...LOL!).

So, if you're a Contemporary Fiction or Romance fan, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. Trust me, you won't regret it.


**ARC received for review; opinions are my own show less

This is a new one by Meg Cabot, who every so often writes an adult contemporary as well as her incredibly successful kids books. I really loved her other adult series, which sadly have not aged well (BlackBerry messaging, anyone) but had a host of supporting characters in the various books who worked at newspapers (remember them?) and had reliable jobs. Anyhow, so that's a long winded way of saying I'm a fan of her sense of humour. I found this one to be quite a bit darker: don't panic, it's still a romance, but both characters are mourning and there's a hurricane about to hit their island, plus a #metoo incident in the past that's not going to stay past.

And rather than the romance trope of being stuck in a hotel room/ inn / ice house* show more Cabot takes the story in a different direction entirely, complete with water damage and community kitchens. I enjoyed reading it, and I'll read the next one set on the same (fictional?) island.

*I've not read this one, but would be willing to bet it exists.

This was a netgalley preview. show less

Bree has been a full-time resident of Little Bridge Island in the Florida Keys for a few months as she tries to figure herself out and determine what she wants to do next with her life. When a category 5 hurricane nears the island, she makes the decision to wait it out since her cat has recently had surgery and wouldn't travel well. In the aftermath of the storm, she discovers multiple citizens have left their pets behind and can't get to them right away. So Bree comes to the rescue with the help of the peskily attractive Drew Hartwell, her boss's nephew. The storm may not be the only thing to shake things up in Bree's life.

Meg Cabot has always been a reliably good read for me, whether it's her teen or adult novels, and this novel show more doesn't disappoint. Living in the Keys herself, I assume Cabot gets most of the hurricane details right and while giving a mild sense of peril, it's Bree's growth in herself and her blooming relationship with Drew that are the focus here. Sweet with a couple steamy moments, recommended for fans of contemporary romances. show less

Bree Beckham is living on Little Bridge Island and happy to be. She's away from all the fuss and away from her famous mum. When a hurricane hits the island she is unprepared for what this will mean and for what will happen when she gets together with her boss's sexy nephew, Drew Hartwell to feed the animals left behind.
But can they work with their attraction or is it just a fling.

Fun light read with two characters who spark well and Meg Cabot's sarcasm drips off the page. I enjoyed it.