Counting the Days by Laura Chinn

 

Summary (from the publisher): What begins as a near-midlife crisis transforms into a journey of love and self-acceptance in this sharp, beautifully layered, and funny debut romance that explores true love and unexpected happiness from screenwriter and director Laura Chinn.

At thirty-eight years old, Rhea Darby has never been more single in her life. With her best friends all married and having kids, her social calendar is filled with baby showers and birthday parties, petting zoos and bouncy castles. However, she’d much rather be having hot sex with "the one" and getting closer to the perfect life she always envisioned. After being told that her fertility might plummet when she turns thirty-nine, and always having wanted kids of her own, Rhea decides that drastic times call for drastic measures. She has less than a year to find the right guy, or she’ll have to rethink her meticulously crafted vision board of the future.

Apparently, manifestation really works, because she soon meets Danny, a gorgeous gardener who is perfect for her—until Danny reveals he is absolutely morally opposed to having kids. Still, the connection between them is too strong to resist, even as their differences threaten to tear them apart. Rhea realizes she can’t let go of Danny, but is she willing to sacrifice her dreams to keep him?

Counting the Days is an insightful and sexy novel, in which the complexities of love and modern womanhood are met with relatable humor and self-acceptance.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley and Dell Romance for an ARC of this book, which is out on August 11th!

Rhea Darby is the only one in her closeknit friend group that is single and not yet married with kids. She feels her biological clock ticking and is delighted when she meets Danny at a friend's baby shower. Danny is seemingly perfect for her and they have ideal chemistry. Everything seems meant to be! Until he reveals that he is absolutely not interested in having kids. 

This book is a romance, but it is also a book about self-discovery and digging deep about what you really want out of life and what will make you happy. The central conflict between the couple felt profoundly realistic to me in a way, more than many romances I read. Rhea and Danny have a great connection and natural chemistry. They communicate well - but what do you do when you disagree on a very profound and central issue that will affect your future? I was worried by how this book would conclude but I actually loved the way the author ended this. 

I really liked Rhea's friend group. They are all deep in the trenches of motherhood and their lives feel very different from Rhea but they try to make space for her and I think they all work to meet in the middle. Rhea is constantly swept up in baby showers, kid birthday parties, and the general chaos that is life with little kids thanks to her friends and as a mother myself, it felt relatable. The scene of Rhea trapped in the bounce house in the insanely short dress made me laugh out loud, as did the scenes from Halloween where Rhea was running away crying in a lemon costume: "Brushing past all of them was an adult woman dressed as a lemon, fragile, perishable, and utterly alone." This book was the perfect mix of emotional and darkly funny. 

In addition, I think this book painted such an accurate portrait of dating that felt both tragic and hilarious. I was absolutely HOOKED by the scenes of her on a date with the dude that had his cell phone clipped to his belt and was wearing dad New Balance sneakers: "they had a great deal in common, and this was devastating news." In comparison, the meet cute between Danny and Rhea felt OVER THE TOP cute. I loved how natural and effortless their connection felt from the first scene of them together. 

I also liked just how awkward Rhea could be. Like when she hides behind a tree to avoid Danny, but her boobs are still visibly sticking out beyond the tree in his line-of-sight haha. 

I did think Rhea seemed a little immature for 38 years old. She is so focused on checking items off on her vision board that she doesn't seem to ever pause to consider what she actually wants. But I give her grace because she had a hard childhood and I think some people do take longer to figure it all out than others. On the flip side, Danny sometimes felt almost TOO perfect...except for his stubborn refusal to even be open minded about children!

Also, the soulmate retreat they both independently sign up for felt a bit woo woo and over the top for me. It was a great vehicle to bring them both together, but I guess I didn't buy that either of them would go to such an event. 

Stars: 4