Review: Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It’s time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she’s not entirely sure how…

Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.

Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore—and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.

My Thoughts

“Your abilities lie in the places people usually overlook, so you’ve been convinced you don’t have any at all. But you’re smart, and you’re capable, and if people struggle to see that, it’s their problem, not yours.”

Act Your Age, Eve Brown, Talia Hibbert

Act Your Age, Eve Brown is an amazing, funny, and swoon-worthy finale to this adorable rom-com series, and I will always love the Brown sisters deeply. Even though Take a Hint, Dani Brown will always be my top favorite, Eve and Jacob’s story will always be dear to my heart and be that adorable cherry on top. I just really love how this entire series showcases strong, independent women who always love themselves fiercely first, and then family and their partners. It’s just a series that spreads a wonderful message of different issues and discussions on mental health, but keeping its light and carefree tone all the time.

It is also wonderful that I’ve also listened to this book on audiobook, and like the other Brown Sisters books, this third one was pure joy and fun. The narrator, Adjoa Andoh, really brought these stories to life and gave it that very appropriate lightness that the book exudes. If you’re going to pick this series up, I highly recommend checking it out on audiobooks!

Eve & Jacob – Period.

I listened to this book on audiobook, and I had such an amazing time with Eve and Jacob! Their opposites-attract, rivalry, enemies to lovers thing between them was hilarious and had me laughing the entire time, but even with them being so opposite from one another, there were similarities between them that they got to know better. Their romance blossoming with a lot of banter, sexual innuendos, and tender moments got me really interested in them. While there was a lot of conflict that happened between them at the beginning, I enjoyed how they were immediately rectified and it didn’t prolong it unnecessarily. They were just really adorable and lovable, and one can never get enough of them.

Aside from the romantic relationship being the main focus of this book, I also loved how this was the book that explored more even more familial dynamics. Even though we got glimpses of it from the previous two books the third book was the one who brought another perspective of the Brown family, especially on their parents’ part. Chloe and Dani were “the perfect and successful” daughters, and to see Eve’s struggle with trying to meet with her family’s expectations for her was so real yet puzzling. Of course, Gigi is the amazing light in this quirky family, and I love seeing her closeness with Eve. Apart from the Browns, I also had to commend the way the author directed Jacob’s family dynamics. It showed that not all families are perfect, and that sometimes the family you’ve come to love deeply isn’t always directly related to you.

Autism Representation

Autism awareness is a highlight topic in this novel, and I love that the author showcased both main characters who are within the spectrum but exhibiting different traits and personalities, and even portrayed all those characteristics well in the story. It’s actually been rare for me to find books tackling autism within their characters that don’t fit the “typical autism characteristics” usually portrayed, so to see both of these characters so similar yet so different in a lot of ways was truly enlightening. It also helped that this book also talked about the openness of coming to terms and learning about autism, even as an adult already.

Over-all Thoughts

I just love this series a lot, and I am obviously going to miss this quirky group of characters. It’s been such a pleasure to get to know them and their stories while also having fun. I will always highly recommend this series to anyone looking for light-hearted rom-com novels that pack a punch in a lot of entertaining ways.

 

My Rating

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About The Author

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Talia Hibbert is a USA Today bestselling author who lives in a bedroom full of books. Supposedly, there is a world beyond that room, but she has yet to drum up enough interest to investigate.

She writes sexy, diverse romance because she believes that people of marginalised identities need honest and positive representation. Her interests include beauty, junk food, and unnecessary sarcasm. She also rambles intermittently about the romance genre online.

Talia self-publishes via Nixon House and is represented by Courtney Miller-Callihan at Handspun Literary.

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