This book follows Ramona, her young children and her teenage neighbor as they navigate evacuating a hurricane in Savannah, Georgia. This evacuation effort comes directly after Ramona walks in on her husband cheating. This was a very middle of the road book for me. I enjoyed the chaos of it all but I had trouble suspending my disbelief for the majority of the book. Ramona makes decisions that I have trouble believing anyone would make. Maybe I didn’t enjoy this as much because I don’t have children and I just don’t get it?? I’m not sure. I read this on audio and I did not enjoy the narration. The kiddy voices used for the children made me cringe. This book was nonstop stress from the very first page. So if you don’t enjoy hours of tight-chested anxiety, maybe don’t read it. I think this book was aiming to be relatable and realistic surrounding infidelity but I didn’t love how the subject was treated. The cute cover and title are what drew me to this book and the title definitely fell short. I feel like this would’ve been the exact same book without the Prince references. Or you could’ve subbed in any other celebrity and their death. I appreciate the “reallness” with which the author approaches marriage, motherhood, and individual personhood and how all those things interconnect but it all felt a little cobbled together. But I guess that’s life.

I loved the humor in this book and she nailed the life of a mom of 2. Fun, smart and light, I thought this was a great book

3.5/5

A Category Four hurricane about to hit Savannah is only one of the catastrophes Romona has to contend with today. Because she has to prepare to evacuate her 7- and 3-year-olds, she comes home early to discover her husband is having an affair. And the job she left early from is a place where her management is younger and child-free and don’t understand that as important as her job is to her, of course her kids come first.

I found this to be funny and engaging, although it in no way makes me envious of married women with children, particularly women who work outside the home even at jobs they mostly enjoy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES NOVEMBER 8, 2022.

I think I picked this up for the same reason that a lot of Prince fans did--because we can recall exactly where we were on April 21, 2016.

This story follows Ramona through 48-hours, from the time she finds out that Prince died, to evacuating a category 4 hurricane, to catching her husband in the midst of an affair.

Although not my typical read, this was a light and witty palate cleanser for me. It felt really honest and I enjoyed the characters quite a bit.

I'm really glad I picked this up!

Ramona’s inner dialogue is my jam…

As one that is in throes of my late 30s and motherhood. I deeply related… cackled… and went along on this crazy path through a category four hurricane.

Also it was a debut?!? This is what has drawn me to the Aardvark Bookclub box… fresh new picks that don’t disappoint!

The Prince references made me make a playlist and reminisce… it was the humor in straight up dire times that felt real and made you want to hug every mama out there that is just trying.

If your a fan of zany, fast paced comedies, and let’s just say it again Prince. Then this is a must… also any parent that has read Giraffes Can’t Dance… your welcome!

I was really enjoying this book until the end. I feel like the author only solved one conflict and the rest was just left. It was unfulfilling to complete and not in a cliffhanger/needs another story kinda way.

This book was everything, funny, relatable and just plain enjoyable. Romona is a middle aged mom of two crazy kids a 3 year old girl and a 7 year old boy. She has a job where her boss is younger and doesn't understand kids and family come first. Then not only is there a category 4 hurricane headed her way Romona leaves work early and come home to find her husband with the mean girl from school. Highly recommend this book it was so good funny serious and relatable.

I wanted to really love this book (like I love Prince!) I loved parts of it, but once I got to the end I was left feeling kind of blah about it. So much time getting to know the characters. I deserved a better ending!

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I requested this book solely because of the title, not really knowing what the book was about and if it was my sort of jam. Well, it’s women’s contemporary fiction (even though it’s set in 2016), and for the most part, it is a book for me. Ramona is 38, is married with two young kids, working for a bonehead boss, a mother who won’t listen to her daughter, and oh, yeah, a hurricane is headed their way. What happens in the next 48 hours is what makes up the bulk of the book.

I don’t read “chick lit” often, but this book made me reconsider that. It’s well-written; I could tell it was when I kept getting frustrated at Ramona’s actions or reactions to events. She’s got a horrible husband whom she just caught cheating on her with a mom from her son’s school. For the most part, her reactions to this and how she deals with her husband are realistic. What’s not realistic is that after 48 hours of drama, she seems so willing to forget and forgive him, which to me didn’t make sense after all she’d been through. It didn’t match the character arc at all.

Having been the world’s worst potty trainer myself, I sympathized with Ramona’s plight with her daughter, in the midst of a hurricane, dealing with potty training with an unwilling participant. Her daughter is three, which some people might consider old enough to use the potty, but trust me when I say that each kid is different and two of my kids were four when they finally got potty trained.

I don’t know what I’d do if I lived in hurricane country, but as a rule, I’m prepared for any sort of emergency, which Ramona is not, and that drove me a little nuts. You’re talking to a woman who lives with a large bomb shelter stockpiled with non-perishable food and water, emergency road kit for the car, the works. The fact that she’s lived in the south for years and didn’t have any sort of plan didn’t ring true to me. Then again, on another level, it did. She’s a working mom who just struggles to get through the day, so perhaps I could cut her some slack.

If I worked for Ramona’s boss, Kenneth, I would have quit long ago. I mean, there’s a hurricane coming, the government is saying mandatory evacuation, and he’s still wondering and asking why she’s not at work. And then telling her she’s got a zoom call tomorrow. I’m glad she stood up to him in the end; it definitely showed some growth during the short two days the book is based upon.

The Prince references and flashbacks are interspersed throughout the book and add to the story, and I enjoyed them, because I enjoy Prince and grew up with his music. Ramona is a little younger than I am, yet she had the same visceral reaction to Prince that I did. I distinctly remember our summer park program parade and how most of the songs we danced to on our Solid Gold float were from Prince.

Overall, if you enjoy good women’s fiction, you might enjoy this book. You don’t have to be a Prince fan to enjoy the story. This reminds me of a Jennifer Weiner book, which is a good thing.