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BOOKWORM REVIEW: Talk of the Town by Jennifer Bardsley

 

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
SPICE: 🔥.5

Peter Marshal and Noelle Walters have known each other for a long time. They work together. They're friends. For as much as they confide in each other, they certainly keep their crush on each other a secret from one another. 

Noelle had good reason. She was raised in a very strict and overbearing family, and when you add being a widow and a single parent, she has a lot of crosses to bear. Besides, they have plenty of time to eventually sort their feelings out. Right?

Not so much as Peter's opinionated sister Vanessa just posted what amounts to a dating ad on the Facebook group for local moms. This definitely lights a fire under long-time group lurker Noelle.

I love the easy friendship and dynamic between Peter and Noelle. While we definitely get more of her in terms of character arc and history, Jennifer Bardsley provides enough banter and interaction to connect readers to the main characters. The skew of attention toward Noelle certainly made her more relatable as the book drives home the message that our born family might not necessarily be the family we want in life. 

What kinda stole their thunder is the Facebook group. I mean, it portrays the online forum full of outspoken, oversharing member to horrifying perfection (#IYKYK). It provides some great comedic relief as we traverse through the slow burn.

If you love small-town and friends-to-lovers, this standalone read provide wholesome light entertainment with minimal spice on the side.

** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Jennifer Bardsley, Montlake, and NetGalley for providing an ARC. **

ABOUT THE BOOK

In this lighthearted romance filled with small-town humor and high jinks, an unsuspecting real estate agent becomes the wildest dream come true for all the single moms—except the one he wants.

They’re coworkers, friends, and confidants, but Peter Marshal has always pined for a little something more with Noelle Walters. As a widow and a single mom, Noelle prefers to play it safe, and falling for Peter was never part of the plan.

Then again, neither of their plans accounted for the well-meaning but meddling actions of Peter’s sister, who offers him up as their town’s most eligible bachelor in the local moms’ Facebook group. He’s none the wiser about the source of this sudden surge in attention, but he only has eyes for Noelle. And from where she’s standing on the sidelines of Peter’s popularity, it’s getting harder to pretend that she doesn’t see what everyone else sees in her best friend.

With all eyes on them, will Peter and Noelle finally see beyond the hurdles to the happily ever after that’s been there all along?


MEET JENNIFER BARDSLEY

Jennifer Bardsley believes in friendship, true love, and the everlasting power of books. A graduate of Stanford University, she lives in Edmonds, Washington, with her husband and two children. Bardsley’s column I Brake for Moms has appeared in the Everett Herald every week since 2012. She also writes young adult paranormal romance under the pen name Louise Cypress. When Bardsley is not writing books or camping with her Girl Scout troop, you can find her walking from her house to the beach every chance she gets.

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