The Opposite of Maybe by Maddie Dawson

2 Stars

 

Advance apologies for the profanity laced .gifs. I have a case of the Mondays.

At the ripe old age of 44, Rosie really wasn’t spending her days dreaming about having a little bundle of joy.



No, Rosie had bigger fish to fry. Problems like dealing with her long-time boyfriend Jonathan’s teacup obsession and his multiple proposals (first, to get married after being a couple for 15 years and second, to move across the country in order for Jonathan to accept his dream job of managing a teacup museum) as well as the problem of her aging Grandmother and the random “caregiver” she’s moved in to her house. Rosie finally decides to take control of things, sends Jonathan packing to California on his own and moves in to Grandma “Soapie’s” house to find a reasonable solution to dealing with her failing health. She never would have guessed an unprotected moment one night morning would lead to yet another little problem . . .



or that she would find herself falling for Soapie’s live-in helper, Tony.

So, this was a perfectly decent little book, but it didn’t do anything to rock my world. This is a story that’s been told a time or twelve before, so if you’re a fan of the “gets knocked up by a complete jackass, but then finds love in the arms of an adorable cab driver gardener” like in



you’ll probably like The Opposite of Maybe.

My problems? It was way too long. This could have easily been wrapped up in 300 pages rather than 400. Also? Jonathan was a total douchewad. I kept waiting for Rosie’s hormones to take over and give him the tongue-lashing he deserved. Something kinda like:



but it never happened.

Also? When dealing with the whole “time to have the baby” in an already clichéd romantic comedy, it’s common knowledge there has to be an over-the-top delivery scene. Rosie was kind of a hot mess, so I was hoping for some giggles when it came baby time . . .





but once again, it didn’t happen.

In addition, things got muddled up (unnecessarily) toward the end with the story of Rosie’s deceased mother. By that time I was counting down to the finish line and really didn’t need another plot twist.

The couple of redeeming factors that kept me interested were (1) (as I stated in one of my status updates) the description of Tony brought delicious imagery into my brain:



and (2) Soapie started off as a foul-mouthed firecracker of a granny



but unfortunately morphed into kind of a hateful old bag the more we got to know her.

At the end of it all, that left The Opposite of Maybe as just “meh” for me.

ARC receveived from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review