Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Pages: 384 pages
Published: November 2019

I can't remember where I first learned about Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert, but the premise of the book seemed like a fun, light read that I ended up taking with me on a work trip. I have a lot of alone time after hours when I leave town for work. So, reading helps keep my mind occupied.

I would categorize this fictional novel as contemporary romance with a hint of humor. The protagonist is Chloe Brown who suffers a critical illness that becomes chronic and forced her into a life of solitude. I kind of relate to the solitude aspect, living as an introvert, myself.

Anyway, Chloe decides she needs to get herself back out there and she makes a bucket list of sorts to help her get a life, hence the title. The first task was moving out of her spacious familial home. In her new abode, she comes into contact with Red, who is the property's superintendent. He's the opposite of Chloe in just about every way. And as you might suspect, a love-hate relationship ensues and you can probably guess where the plot goes from there. No big surprises in the story. It's a tale as old as time.

The surprising, little nugget is the backgrounds of Chloe and Red. We learn some things about them, that happened before they met, that give their characters depth. The author lightly touches on some pretty heavy topics as a result of developing their respective back stories. I wish she would have put some more research and focus into those topics. Instead a great majority of the book is explicitly described sexual encounters. I think these could have been reduced by at least 25%. I found myself rushing through to just get to the expected ending so I could call this one done.

I do appreciate what the author was trying to do as well as her focus on more realistic ethnic and racial representation in novels. I just don't understand why some authors of color have to contribute to the stereotype of over-sexualized black women. That was a little disappointing for me. Additionally, the book was told from the perspectives of both Chloe and Red, but the author wrote in the same voice for both characters. It wasn't difficult to differentiate because one is female and one is male, but because the voices were so similar, the dialogue fell flat for me.

Recommendation: I wanted to like this one. I really did. In looking at other reviews, I realize I am in the minority on this, but my vote is a hard pass on this one as well as the other books in the series that focus on Chloe's sisters.

Until next time ... Read on!

Regardless of whether I purchase a book, borrow a book, or receive a book in exchange for review, my ultimate goal is to be honest, fair, and constructive. I hope you've found this review helpful.