Get a Life, Chloe Brown is a fantastic romance by Talia Hibbert that made me laugh out loud and cry (at different times, usually)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars (4.5 rounded up to a 5)

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert is charming AF. The eBook version is 387 pages and the audiobook, narrated by Adjoa Andoh, clocks in at a little over ten hours. I really commend Andoh for having three distinct voices between the Brown sisters when they are all speaking to each other in a group.

Our computer geek heroine, Chloe Brown, has several “invisible” disabilities including fibromyalgia and chronic pain. She creates a list of new things she would like to experience to help her live her life to the fullest after a near brush with death. Our tattooed handyman hero, Red, is a visual artist trying to find himself again after getting out of an abusive relationship. He also happens to be the new superintendent of the apartment complex where Chloe just moved to from her family estate. Chloe agrees to build a website for his artful pursuits in return for him helping her check things off of her list. Chapters alternate between Chloe’s and Red’s point of view.

I appreciate the amount of diversity in this book! The heroine is a disabled and chronically ill Black web designer heroine; hooray ladies in STEM! I think the main reason that the details of fibromyalgia feel real is because this is an #ownvoices portrayal. Chloe is also plus-sized, which isn’t pointed out much in the novel but is described in text as a “normal” thing (which it is). Really great body positivity here, as she doesn’t seem hung up on her size at all, and Red is unequivocally and physically into her. Speaking of him, our hero is a man who suffered from domestic violence in the past, now going to therapy to help himself heal from that trauma.

I absolutely laughed out loud several times during this book. All of the characters felt fleshed out, like they came to life on the page. I love Chloe’s family, and want to read more about her grandmother Gigi. I loved watching two broken people heal from their respective tragic pasts and learn how to grow in a relationship while leaving space for a partner.

Tropes in this book include: enemies to lovers, interracial romance, rich girl/poor guy, trauma

CW: mentions of physically and emotionally abusive relationships, descriptions of pain and other physical symptoms from fibromyalgia, overreactions due to being triggered

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