Back in the Burbs

If you’re looking for a slow burn, laugh out loud, relatable story then Back in the Burbs is for you. I found myself laughing at some of the witty banter and sayings by different characters. Especially the leads Mallory and Nick. They are a pair the reader sees coming and cheers for throughout the book.

I feel this is a modern love story which many people can relate to based on several different topics covered. The authors did a great job of making Mallory a heroine even when she had been wronged and struggled on many different levels.

I absolutely loved this book and would recommend anyone to read.

Loving this new series from Tracy and Avery! Mallory has always done what her parents have wanted and thought what was best for her by marrying who she thought was the safe choice and supporting him, until she catches him cheating on her and her life is turned upside down. After the death of her great-aunt who she always adored, she’s unsure where to take the next step in life after losing her home and income due to her breakup and impending divorce, but somehow her aunt knew and left Mallory her home in her will. Trying to get the home up to code for the HOA since the home is in the suburbs, a place Mallory isn’t the biggest fan of, she meets her neighbor Nick who is a stickler for the rules. As these two butt heads, it’s truly an opposite attract situation, but also these two help the other grow and move on from the hurt and pain they’ve experienced. Nick helps Mallory with her divorce and getting what she deserves, as well as Mallory helping Nick move past the devastating past he had. Things were a little prolonged in the plot, but overall, I enjoyed the book, especially the surprises throughout the storyline, but it made the book that much more enjoyable while reading! Can’t wait to see if these characters continue!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

who doesn’t love an enemies to lovers romance, this is a very cute and sweet story. we have the quirky, funny and very hard working Mallory who is trying to find herself after a very nasty divorce, her ex is just A-hole who keeps popping up and trying to push her into things. Then we have her neighbour Nick who is a nice but grumpy guy, but when you get to know him more you find he’s a sweet guy who is happy to listen and help out where he can and you can’t help falling in love with him. This is an easy light hearted read with a few strong emotions. Characters that will have you laughing out loud with all hilarious banter and moments. This is a great read that I could not put down.

Overall Grade:

When you read a romantic comedy, do you get a feeling of home? Like, as you’re reading it, there is something comforting in its cadence and revelation of the story. I mean, a romantic comedy isn’t without its strife. Inevitably there is an issue between the hero and heroine, but it is always tempered in sweetness or hilarity or absurdity. This is truly the case with Tracy Wolff and Avery Flynn’s Back in the Burbs. As you read this story, you find yourself enraptured with its hero and its heroine’s journey of self-possession that you get lost in the story. When it’s done, you’ll honestly heave a sigh of happiness because from beginning to end, Back in the Burbs is everything you adore about romantic comedies.

Back in the Burbs tells the story of Mallory. Basically, Mallory has hit rock-bottom: she’s left a cheating husband who wants to give her nothing for her sacrifice of ten years, getting him through law school and setting up his law business, making it incredibly successful. Additionally, her great-aunt has died leaving her her home in the suburbs of New Jersey. Unfortunately, this isn’t a great gift because Aunt Maggie has several HOA violations on her house, it has taxes in arrears, and Mallory finds out quickly that Aunt Maggie had a bit of a hoarding issue. Mallory has years of being brow-beaten by her parents and her husband, and she’s not sure she has it in her to overcome her challenges. Until she realizes that can. Deciding to move forward with fixing her aunt’s house, she meets her grumpy, rule-following neighbor, Nick. He has no problem telling her that she needs to mow her lawn. However, as the days progress, Nick and Mallory feel drawn to each other. Is it possible that the neighborhood hottie could be interested in her? Even more, is it possible for Mallory to find the person she was before her husband?

Mallory is this archetypal romantic comedy heroine. She is beleaguered by her life experiences. She’s quirky, loves to break rules, and has a zest for life that she has to rediscover over the course of the story. She represents so many women and men who lose themselves in a relationship, and she doesn’t want to make the same mistake. Wolff and Flynn make her so adorable that you can’t help but root for her to succeed and fall in love with Nick, but Wolff and Flynn also make you work for their coupling. To be honest, this book is a slow-burn, and I thought it allowed for Nick and Mallory to grow a friendship before a relationship. It allows for the story to develop in ways that give Mallory the space to begin to know herself again without having a man help her do it. Instead, she grows into herself again on her own terms. This also potentially derails a future with Nick, but that is part of the growing process for Wolff and Flynn’s heroine, which I think is insightful in her characterization.

Since we don’t have Nick’s point of view except through Mallory’s perspective, he is fairly one-dimensional, but he’s everything you adore about a romance hero: he is insightful, kind, seemingly grumpy except he is a “white knight” as Mallory states. There just isn’t enough emotional development for Nick that this story is clearly about Mallory and her overcoming her past. And there is a lot to overcome between the ex-husband and her parents.

There are also so many great moments of humor in Back in the Burbs. The house and Aunt Maggie’s hoarding alone offer you many moments of laughing out loud.
I highly enjoyed Back in the Burbs. I began reading it, looking forward to Tracy Wolff and Avery Flynn’s collaboration. I never expected to fall so deeply in love with Nick and Mallory. But I did, and I think you will too.

This is a pretty good story about finding love the second time around. As someone who divorced and remarried in her thirties, many of the situations here stuck a chord with me. And as someone who recently moved into an HOA neighborhood, I can definitely commiserate with Mallory.

I was truly appalled at how everyone in her life — with the exception of great-aunt Maggie — treated Mallory! And even more depressing was how she just let them do so. I wanted to go smack some sense into her! True, she did progress throughout the story toward being a normal human being with some semblance of self-love and self-preservation, but it was definitely painful to watch.

And just when you start to think that she has achieved some sense of normalcy… well, not to give anything away, but she goes from being a doormat to acting like a spoiled brat. Once again, I found myself wanting to smack her upside the head.

Nick, in contrast, starts out as a grumpy guy, not very supportive or even tolerant of Mallory (or seemingly much else). However, as his personality begins to be revealed more, we learn that he is actually something of a nice guy in disguise. The transition was rather abrupt, and I wondered if we were seeing a dual personality or evil twin situation.

In fact, much of the book did feel as though the characters were at odds with themselves, let alone each other. Probably due to this, the actual romance between the two characters seemed to fall rather flat. But in between all of the stops and starts, there were a lot of moments of fun and friendship, not to mention some hot love scenes.

Despite the overall sense of gloom and doom, and dealing some very serious mental health and abuse issues, this was a fairly good read; one that would be especially appropriate for a lazy spring evening or summer afternoon.

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Mallory Martin Bach, soon to be just Martin again, is determined to start fresh. After catching her husband cheating on her with his mistress, she left him and went back to her parents house. And suddenly, it’s like a veil has been lifted from he face and she realizes how through all her relationship with her ex she let herself get annuled: she agreed to drop out of college to help advence his career, she managed his law practice for minimum wage and she basically did everything he wanted, the way he wanted, just to avoid discussions…

Not that being back at her parents house makes her feel any better since, to them, the end of the wedding was her fault and the best thing she could do was to convince her husband to accept her back… To make everything worse, her favorite aunt dies. But, with her death, a beam of hope surges, since her aunt left Mallory her house. And, despite everyone’s insistence for her to sell the house, she decides to move there and start a new life.

She knew the house needed work, but nothing could have prepared her for what she finds when she arrives at the house… Not only there are countless repairs to do and many infractions to the HOA to be adressed, but Mallory also discovers that her aunt had been an hoarder and no one knew…

And as if that wasn’t enough, she still has to put up with Nick Holloway, the grumpy neighbour (and quite handsome, not that she noticed) that won’t stop bugging her to mow the lawn. But who also, mysteriously, seems to always be there when she needs him. Even if at the time she’s unable to admit it…

This book has two of my favorite tropes, neigbours with benefits and enemies to lovers, and I really enjoyed being able to follow the evolution of Mallory and Nick’s relationship. Since the story is told only from her perspective, we never really know what is going through Nick’s mind but, in the end, it all makes sense. Mallory doesn’t want to commit the same mistakes of her past and the fact that Nick is a lawyer like her ex, is very decided and determined and always follows the rules, signifies that she’s constantly comparing them. And she ends up making different mistakes. But when she finally realize what she wants will it be too late?

I also loved all the secundary characters, especially Nick’s parents that, despite only making an appearance at the very end, make a nice impression! I don’t think I’ll ever forget that dinner and the conversation about The Lord of the Rings.. Oh, and I cannot forget aunt Maggie. Even though she’s only present in memories, she’s a crucial character throughout the whole story. I would love for the authors to write a story for Sarah, especially if they paired her with Mikey…

This was a good read. The writing flowed well, but I did have a few things that took the rating down for me. First, Mallory was a mess and was mean to Nick for most of the book. Second, she goes on several dates with a completely different man before she finally stops seeing him (even though she knew she didn’t like him that way). I’m not a fan of books where one of the MCs has a relationship with another person, however long it lasts. Third, this book is a lot more about Mallory trying to get her self together than it is about the MCs relationship. While I don’t mind a part of the story being about her, I was really expecting more of a romance. All in all it was a decent read, and I would read a collaboration from these authors again.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.

From the get go Flynn & Wolf had readers cheering on Mallory. Newly divorced after catching her soon to be ex-husband cheating on her, she inherits her favorite aunt’s disaster of a house…in the suburbs. And for a NYC girl that is a little culture shock shall we say. Mallory finds her gumption to stand up to her parents after they are adamant that she sell the house. She embarks on a new journey of finding herself, making new friends, and learning who she is! First order of business is finding a contractor….oh, and dealing with the HOA. There is also a hottie across the street that she should not be drawn to, but totally can’t get him out of her mind.

I found myself laughing out loud with Mallory through the entire book, and also like a good friend cringing and shaking my head at her antics. I also think so many people can relate to Mallory. She lost her way, worked for so many years to make others happy and do all the things that she is “supposed” to do, but never thought about herself. I also maybe wanted to throat punch so many people in her life. And her ex-husband is the absolute worst. Like all of the exes I’ve read about he is president of the douchebag society. And the hottie across the street, Nick. Well, he is so easy to love. How he just effortlessly allows Mallory the time and space to grow, he is also there to provide back up when she needs him. There is a walk of shame scene that was the best. Nick and Mallory are just so well suited for each other, she is quirky and he is solid and they just balance each other out.

If you are on the hunt for a funny romcom with a heroine that works hard to find herself, and helps others along the way this is your next read! Also, it is hilarious and just makes you happy because when good things happen to good people it leaves you smiling! Great job, Avery & Tracy….I have a list of characters that I need their story next!!!

Back in the Burbs was a fun read about a woman down on her luck and trying to get herself back together.

Mallory is newly divorced and has just moved back in with her parents. Her parents that think she should go groveling back to her husband even after he cheated. After she inherits a falling down old house from her Great Aunt the story gets good. It’s a hoarders nightmare but she finds so much more than a collection of items that needed to be tossed away long ago. With HOA and family problems that keep coming at her Mallory is tested in every way. This book was a good easy read with a story I enjoyed.

4.5 Stars
I will read anything by Avery Fynn so I knew I had to dive into this one. The blurb had me sold. I’m not gonna lie it started out a little slow for me and I wasn’t sure I felt about the book. Then has Mallory moved into her late aunt’s house that’s when the magic started. I so got sucked into the story. I truly loved Mallory and Nick. Nick is going to win you over though hang in there because his first impression didn’t do him any favors. Mallory is an inspiring character. She is at rock bottom and trying for a fresh start. This is quite the journey Mallory goes on. A lot of twists and turns are headed her way, but it shows there is light after the dark. I loved Nick’s parents. They’re a hoot. I wished they were in here more. I can honestly say for someone who prefers dual points of view this book worked so much better from just Mallory’s point of view. It’s her journey and she takes us in her footsteps of finding herself again. It’s a great book that will make you laugh, but also give you all the feels.