Talia Hibbert is a Black British author who lives in a bedroom full of books. Supposedly, there is a world beyond that room, but she has yet to drum up enough interest to investigate. She writes sexy, diverse romances because she believes that people of marginalized identities need honest and positive representation. Her interests include beauty, junk food, and unnecessary sarcasm. You can find her online at taliahibbert.com. You can find more of my reviews of her works here.
Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong. So she's given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It's time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she's not entirely sure how... Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner's on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right. Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she's infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore... and it's melting Jacob's frosty exterior.
What immediately struck me about Act Your Age, Eve Brown was the way Hibbert approached the humor. In Take a Hint, Dani Brown, the humor mostly stemmed from Dani's speaking without a filter, and her internal monologue, or from Zafir's interactions with his family. Instead, the humor in this story stems from the dynamic between Eve and Jacob—their witty repartee and arguments are very humorous. This must have been hard to write and maintain consistent, and yet it's flawless across the page, and believable with every crack. Bravo to Talia!
This humor also comes from the fact that Act Your Age, Eve Brown leans into the grumpy x sunshine trope. This is one of my favorite tropes, because it is the most "realistic" version of an enemies to lovers types arc (this is definitely a different conversation). Anyways, Hibbert does a great job crafting Eve as the sunshine, and Jacob as a rather frosty, hard person. Of course, in the end, they're both rays of sunshine in different ways. The journey to them discovering this is humorous, and also incredibly compassionate.
The autism representation in Act Your Age, Eve Brown is depicted with care. Having read some of Helen Hoang's novels, I really appreciate how Hibbert depicted autism in a different way than Hoang, while still holding onto a really emotional core like Hoang does. What these two authors do for this space is so necessary: they shine lights on people with different experiences, without laying claim to their depiction as being the "ultimate" shining example of that type of experience—because there is no such thing. Hibbert's autistic characters are very different from one another, and different from Hoang's. For the contemporary romance space, this is a game changer, because it is this wide array of stories that are necessary, impactful, relevant, and timely.
And of course, if you've read the other Brown sisters novels, it's so fun and satisfying to see all of the sisters come together at the very end and have their moments together. While it was incredibly fun to see Hibbert give Eve her own friends outside of her sisters, it's very clear that family is a cornerstone of this entire series; thus, that moment of reunion between all of the sisters and their beaux is satisfying, and gives this series finale a full sense of closure and happiness.
I understand that there is a short story out there for Brown sisters superfans that is like an extended epilogue of life after Act Your Age, Eve Brown. I, for one, am hoping that these three novels are just the beginning from Hibbert. Until we can get any news on that, you can find her online at taliahibbert.com. You can find more of my reviews of her works here.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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