ARC Review: Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair by Laura Piper Lee

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair by Laura Piper Lee
Published by Union Square and Co on February 13, 2024
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance, Adult LGBTQ Romance
Pages: 336
Source: the publisher
Format: ARC
My Rating:
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Blurb:

Hannah Tate can hardly believe her sleep-deprived eyes when she finds an engagement ring hidden in the closet. Killian, her super responsible, incredibly attractive boyfriend—and the father of her new baby, Bowie—is finally going to propose. But a romantic night out goes horribly wrong when Killian reveals he’s dumping Hannah, not proposing. 

Furious and heartbroken, Hannah takes Bowie and moves in with her mama and stepdaddy in the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia. Hannah realizes that her parents’ cabin has vacation property gold written all over it—and could save her mama from going broke. Again. 

Only problem? The cabin’s décor is . . . mildly terrifying and it’s in desperate need of renovation. Hannah hires the hot carpenter living in the treehouse next door to fix up the place. Not only does River respect Hannah’s business acumen, he looks at her like she’s a woman, not a hot mess. And Hannah can’t deny that River awakens something new inside her. 

Can Hannah embrace a future that looks different from the picture-perfect family she once dreamed of . . . and maybe start living life on her own terms?

My Review

When I first heard about this book I was so intrigued I made sure to reach out to the publisher about getting an early copy to read, and I am so glad I did! This book kept me turning pages as fast as I could, as well as made me laugh and tear up at times on the same page! This may be this author’s first novel, but I’ll be waiting to read more I hope in the future!

The story starts out with one of the wildest scenes I can think of, a mother whose breasts start spritzing milk as her son is crying while she looks for his pacifier. The craziness of what a breast feeding mom has to deal with really set the tone. I wasn’t expecting that craziness even knowing that it was going to have a single mom as the main character. But it was that sense of humor and looking at the real humor in life that grabbed me and kept me turning pages.

Hannah’s life as a single mom seemed to kind of be a haphazard things fall into place as the unexpected pregnancy led her and her ex moved in and stayed together for their son Bowie. The whole expected proposal turns into a breakup instead as the blurb points out also seemed uniquely done, if still a standard in romance at times. I did appreciate how Hannah never once actually considered cutting Killian out of their son Bowie’s life, her own lack of a stable family growing up causing her to know it was important Bowie had his father.

Moving back to live with her mom and stepdad did give me one confusing moment or two with the story. I guess her mom and Darryl wanted their grandparent names to be G-ma and Big Daddy. But I guess maybe I read too fast past the part that pointed that out and at first was a bit confused and wondering if Hannah’s grandparents were living with them. And then there was the hot yoga guy her mom told her about, who turned out to be River, the handsome laid back guy who lived in a treehouse near her parents.

It was easy to understand why Hannah developed a little crush on River. Also easy to understand why she was hesitant about giving into any of those feelings after what she’d just been through with Bowie’s baby daddy, as well as what her mother’s relationship examples had been while Hannah was growing up. And while River seemed like the perfect guy, I mean how he was into her even with the mess she felt she was, even with her having another man’s child, etc., when the issues came up that started to drive a wedge between the two, like not being able to contact him, or at times not hearing from him for a while, the story became even more realistic in my opinion.

Not that Hannah was perfect now that she’d figured things out, she had her own issues to work through to become the person she wanted/needed to be. The story had so much more than just that romance and family issues though. The whole Airbnb project and mystery of how it went downhill even after a perfect renovation was such a great storyline too. And the perfect way to bring our final act make up scene about. Hannah’s best friend Kira and her partner Mattie were great parts of the story too. The lawyer, the fellow parents, the best friends, they fit in to shore up story arcs as well as add some outside drama that in a way I think helped Hannah realize her own issues.

While there were a few things I didn’t necessarily need or care for in the story, there was so much good about it that I had to bump it to a 4.5 from a 4 star rating. Again, even with what I’ve talked about here I haven’t even mentioned all the wonderful characters in this town. There’s so much in this story to enjoy. The romance was steamy, but not over the top, and even though it was a main part of the story it wasn’t the only main part of the story. Overall such a wonderful debut novel!

About the Author

Laura Piper Lee has wanted to be an author since she was a kid. Well, she first wanted to be a mermaid, but that didn’t work out. Luckily little Laura never got her hands on what adult Laura writes. Then again, it’s not like the ratty old V.C. Andrews novels she found under her big sister’s bed were any better.

Unlike V.C. Andrews, Laura Piper Lee writes adult romantic comedies with zero incest and/or children locked in attics. She enjoys making people laugh, flirting, and not exercising, so spending an inordinate amount of time writing romantic comedies is pretty much a perfect career choice for her. She loves nothing better than a perfectly ripe mango.

Now, go be a mango and buy her book.

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