ARC Review: The Single Dad's Guide to Recreation (Welcome to Climax #1) by Karen Grey
10:00
Series: Welcome to Climax #1
Author: Karen Grey
Published April 24th 2025 by Jasper Productions LLC
Goodreads Synopsis
At least I didn’t fall on my patootie.
That’s what I keep telling myself when the box of supplies I’m carrying crashes to the floor. When the sexiest man in a suit to set foot in my place of employment finds me scrounging on the ground for markers and gluesticks. When he holds out a hand to help me to my feet, and his touch sends a shiver through me, just like in the movies.
It’s only when he shows up to the toddler class I teach that I learn how wrong we are for each other.
He’s more stoic than the statue of our town’s founder; I cry at commercials. He’s moved upstate from Manhattan; I returned to my small town roots after my big city relationship fell apart. He’s a grieving widower with two adorable kids; there’s a ninety-nine point nine percent chance that I’ll never be a mother.
Oh, and did I mention that it’s his job to cut my mother’s legacy program?
Despite all this, the only thing keeping our hands off of each other is a total lack of privacy.
Despite all this, he’s got me dreaming of something I told myself I’d given up a family of my own.
Despite all this, it’s apparently my job to welcome him to Climax.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
After returning to Climax to help care for her parents, Avery takes the lead in the local community groups, particularly those for children. However, they're haemorrhaging money, and when a new corporation comes in to save the town, handsome widower Josh sets his sights on cutting the programme as a cost saving measure. Going toe to toe, Avery sets out to prove to Josh that the programme is worth it, and that he needs to give the town a chance.
First things first, I love Parks & Rec, and the comparison between the show and this book was on point. Think of Leslie and Ben's relationship in the beginning, and you'll start to see how Avery and Josh worked. Josh is a widower, with two young children, who doesn't enjoy his job, but he feels he needs to continue with the job because his in-laws are threatening to take his children away from him. This book was both cute and extremely hard hitting at times. I loved the relationship between Avery and Josh, and how sweet Percy and Mable were. Their found family element was just right to counteract the darker themes of illness, death, and mental health.
Dates Read:
March 29, 2025
Rating
4 Stars
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