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#Review of Eat Your Heart Out (Starting Over #2) by Shirley Goldberg w/a rafflecopter giveaway! @wildrosepress @mylifeasadate

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Shirley Goldberg will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

When a tyrant in stilettos replaces her beloved boss, and her ex snags her coveted job, teacher Dana Narvana discovers there are worse things than getting dumped on Facebook. Time for the BFF advice squad. Alex—hunky colleague, quipster, and cooking pal extraordinaire is Dana’s staunchest ally. So what’s with the smooching after hours? And why won’t this grown man make up his mind?

Actor turned teacher Alex Bethany craves a family of his own. Newly hotified, he’s now got the confidence to try online dating. Meanwhile he’s sending Dana mixed messages in the kissing department. After a surprising event rocks his world, Alex panics, certain he’s blown his chances with his special person. Funny and bittersweet, Dana and Alex’s story will have you rooting for them all the way to dessert.

Read an Excerpt

“He’s here. Don’t look!” Noelle’s voice dropped to a whisper. “With a date. Your nine o’clock. He’s facing this way.”

“Who?” Noelle had a knack for making something as mundane as vacuuming into the dramatic.

“Oh, for God’s sake, our own former Mr. Big. Who else?”

If I turned my head and shot my eyeballs to the far left, I could see Alex in profile. With a blonde. I turned a few degrees more, tilting my neck, keeping my head straight.

“It’s not working,” Noelle said.

“What’s not working?”

“It’s obvious you’re looking at him.”

Seeing him on his home turf, relaxed, in charge, and preparing dinner had made me imagine Alex in all sorts of homey mini scenarios far removed from the classroom. Those knives. The pungent scent issuing from the old-fashioned crock pot. And that apron! Talking, getting real, sparring with his friend Jewel. And now with a date, so…unexpected. “What should I do?” A ridge of unease in my stomach.

“For freak’s sake. We’re acting like adolescents.” Whatever else she said was lost in the rising volume of talkers outdoing one another, cell phone alerts, and behind the scenes shouts and pans clanging whenever the doors to the kitchen whipped open.

“Should I wave?”

Noelle shrugged, then turned and aimed a jumbo smile in Alex’s direction at the same time I gave into sheer nosiness, twisting around to get a good look.

His interest level in his date, judging by how far he was leaning over the table to talk to her? Looked like a 9.5 out of ten.

 

So this little gem hit my reader when I wasn’t looking.  I read the first book in the series which features Sunny and Luke.  I miss them but I digress.  Honestly, I forgot that I was reviewing the book until a couple of weeks ago.  Sorry, Ms. Goldberg but working is kicking my rear right now.  I sure was glad that I read it.  Let me tell you why.

  1.  It’s features teachers and working at a school.  I work with 1st-3rd graders and trust me, most of what is said and done are so very true to me.  The observations are beyond true.  I hate those and I feel like I’ve sweated at least 5 lbs off.  Plus, believe me, administrators like the new boss are just plain awful and have no business around children much less adults.
  2. The subject matter that is behind the title of the book is so REAL.  Ms. Goldberg has written about disorders that you wouldn’t think that middle-aged people deal with but they do.  It is just not for the young.  In fact, it’s worse.  Starting over isn’t easy and Ms. Goldberg delivers on the struggles that they are facing.
  3. Dana is a trip.  I loved how she called Alex on the mixed signals he was sending.  She is a strong woman that deals with her issues in a completely surprising way.  No spoilers.
  4. Noelle and Sunny are the friends that we all need.  Not just work buddies but true besties.
  5. Alex reminded me of a labrador puppy at times.  Sweet, lovable, confused but you can’t help but want to pet him, cuddle him and tell him that everything will work out.  When he FINALLY decided what he wanted, I cheered.
  6. The secret that Alex got is a doozy but the subplot dealing with that is refreshing.  Ms. Goldberg wrote a great side plot for Alex and it explains a lot of who Alex was and is today.  Kudos.  No spoilers.  Sorry.  Jewel is a trip.
  7. The book is hilarious but also poignant.  Ms. Goldberg knows how to pull at your funnybone but then the heart.  Her characters have more depth than most writers.  Even the teenagers in the classroom have well-developed personalities.  I can attest to that being a mother of a teenage boy.  LOL!
  8. The ending is superb.  Enough said.

Ms. Goldberg is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.  I’m middle-aged and I relate so much to her characters.  Especially this book.  It hit home for me in many different ways.  Of course, I’m happily married with a teenage son that still loves his mom and dad.  But I can still relate.  And laugh and cry right along with the characters.

I can’t wait to see what Ms. Goldberg has in store for her next book in the series.  Maybe Noelle or Isabel?  Only time with tell.


About the Author:

Shirley Goldberg is a writer, novelist, and former ESL and French teacher who’s lived in Paris, Crete, and Casablanca. She writes about men and women of a certain age starting over. Her website http://midagedating.com offers a humorous look at living single. Her books FINISH THIS and dating in mid life, and her friends like to guess which stories are true. Eat Your Heart Out is the second book in the series Starting Over. Middle Ageish, the first, is available now. Her characters believe you should never leave home without your sense of humor and Shirley agrees.

Contact Links:

Website/blog: http://midagedating.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/midagedating
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mylifeasadate
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shirleygoldbergauthor/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3916624.Shirley_Goldberg
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/3531427862?list=following

Purchase Links for Eat Your Heart Out

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Heart-Starting-Over-Book-ebook/dp/B08VHWN56S/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eat-your-heart-out-shirley-goldberg/1138734045
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/eat-your-heart-out/id1552301489

Purchase Links for Middle Ageish, 1st book in series

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Middle-Ageish-Starting-Over-Book-ebook/dp/B08DHHGVSD
APPLE: https://tinyurl.com/y37cbc5u
Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/yyuwpq6o
Google: https://tinyurl.com/yypcdp7t
Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/y3ezzmhk

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8 thoughts on “#Review of Eat Your Heart Out (Starting Over #2) by Shirley Goldberg w/a rafflecopter giveaway! @wildrosepress @mylifeasadate

  1. Thanks soooooooo much Harlie, love it that you’re a teacher too and you enjoyed Dana and Alex’s adventures. I so appreciate your detailed comments and look forward to more of your opinions about other authors new to me on your blog.
    ps
    Dana and Alex would like you to come to dinner. When’s a good time? Sunny and Luke will be joining us.

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