Zora Books Her Happy Ever After by Taj McCoy

e-Audio, 10:13:29
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Release Date: April 25, 2023
Published by: Harlequin Audio
Read from: April 23-25, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: Libro FM ALC 
TW: Death of a parent, Grief, Alcohol/Drug Use, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Car Accident
For Readers Interested In: Romance, Adult, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Black Romance, Fat Leads

    Zora has committed every inch of her life to establishing her thriving DC bookstore, making it into a pillar of the community, and she just hasn’t had time for romance. But when a mystery author she’s been crushing on for years agrees to have an event at her store, she starts to rethink her priorities. Lawrence is every bit as charming as she imagined, even if his understanding of his own books seems just a bit shallow. When he asks her out after his reading, she’s almost elated enough to forget about the grumpy guy who sat next to her making snide comments all evening. Apparently the grouch is Lawrence’s best friend, Reid, but she can’t imagine what kind of friendship that must be. They couldn’t be more different.
     But as she starts seeing Lawrence, and spending more and more time with Reid, Zora finds first impressions can be deceiving. Reid is smart and thoughtful—he’s also interested. After years of avoiding dating, she suddenly has two handsome men competing for her affection. But even as she struggles to choose between them, she can’t shake the feeling that they’re both hiding something—a mystery she’s determined to solve before she can find her HEA.

*MY THOUGHTS*

I didn’t have a lot of luck with McCoy’s first story. The fat shaming was too much. So I was a little scared to try this. However, after I started reading it I realized I didn’t need to be. This was so different than her first and I’m glad I gave her another shot.

The very best thing was the way the romance unfolded. I don’t think I’ve read a book where the FMC was dating more than one person at a time. And I mean dating, being intimate, and actually talking about important stuff. Zora had the full treatment with both of them. Now did I know which one she was going to choose? Not until the fiasco that happened (TWICE!) but I figured it out. And I was SO GLAD she picked that person. Tbh I liked the dates and things that they had together more than the others too. I was glad she didn’t let the glitz and glamour be the only thing she worried about.

The writing style was good too. I didn’t care for it in her last book. In fact I DNF’ed it. (I was put off by the fat shaming. I know it was own voices, but I just couldn’t stomach it. I was re-living too much from my past and I didn’t like it. But in this one, both of her partners and her only talked about what was amazing about her body and what all they liked about it. My body dysmorphia felt so much better.

The bookish part of this was also awesome. But y’all know me, I ALWAYS want books about books, so this was an easy add to the TBR for me. I found myself picking out things from the book that I related to. Like how she fangirled a bit when she met the author. And how she picked out things from the book that others hadn’t. And how she felt when she found out the conflict. Now what she did when she found out….. Yeah i wouldn’t have done all that.

Speaking of the end, for her to read books, I don’t know how she didn’t realize what was happening. I immediately figured it out. Like as soon as she said he didn’t understand what was happening with his own character? How did that not clue her in? And she mentioned that she was a bigger store, so she was able to get stuff from publishers, so I thought she knew some of the bookish publishing terms. I thought she would have called it, but it lasted entirely too long in my opinion. Idk it just seemed a bit naieve.

This book was definitely just what I needed at the time. She was me and I was her. All of it had me just trapped in the pages. I remember not being able to sleep until I finished. Go read this book and fall for it like I did!

Overall, I give this