Adulting: A Novel

Therapist Olivia and her patient Chase each have deep-seated issues to work through, even though they are both resistant. Both of their problems stem from the family ties that bind. Substance abuse, rape, and incest are referenced so this story is not for the faint of heart.Well-written with the empathy due to the victims and censure for the villains coming through. A great cast of characters, some a little broken. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute I spent listening to this story. A new author to my TBR list.

I overall really loved this book but the ending felt rushed. There were so many things I would of liked to see how it happened.

To “adult” is a colloquial verb meaning taking responsibility for one’s own life. In this book, romance-book author Talley tells the story of fictional celebrity character Chase London and her therapist Olivia Han. Chase was a famous child actress who has, as she reached adulthood, gotten in highly publicized trouble with drinking, drugs, and men. To prepare her for an acting assignment, Olivia attempts to teach her how to take responsibility in a life-coaching program called Square One.To pursue the program away from the bright lights, they journey from urban Hollywood to rural Cotter’s Creek in Northern California. Fortunately, Chase adapts to the program well and learns basic life skills like cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping – all for herself. Through conversations with Olivia, she confronts defining moments in her life story and begins to find out who she is. During this time, Olivia also has to confront some of her own life and family issues, and the tables are turned as therapist becomes subject. Adulting works both ways as women learn sisterhood and healthy lifestyles.Given Talley as an author, this book would not be full without some romance. Chase gets to know her neighbor in Cotter’s Creak, and they spend much time together. Olivia also has an ex who plays a leading role in the story along with Chase’s actor-friend Spencer. This book should not be categorized as a pure romance – its main theme is women taking responsibility for their own lives. Nonetheless, romances play a significant role in the story. Talley, who has won awards for her writings in the genre of romance, weaves together multiple themes nicely in a more sophisticated tale.This book will find an audience especially among women who like romances that also address other life stories. The tale of getting one’s life in order (i.e., adulting) transcends gender, however. I honestly would have liked this theme to have been even stronger in the book, and the romance, less expansive. As titled, this book has the potential to appeal to all types of people who want to take charge of their lives. Child actresses aren’t the only ones whose parents have pushed them down a particular professional path. For leading characters Chase and Olivia, romance plays a leading role in that story. Adulting, however, has many more facets than one’s love life. Regardless, Talley provides a constructive tale that stands to provide fodder for entertainment and personal growth in the coming years.

This book caught me from the beginning. Watching Chase and Olivia both deal with all the crap life had thrown them was engrossing and compelling. You cheer for them. You cry with them. But most of all, you relate to them- maybe not the whole woman but each has traits that you see yourself in, especially the messy parts.

In this tale, a movie star is out of control and addicted to drugs. She also has not been in a movie for a long time. Her name is Chase. Spencer wants her in his new film. But he needs to get her clean and sober. So he pays a life coach to come in and help her. Olivia had her own sister die of an overdose. And as you read, the actress she helps and her sister have a lot in common. But in the end, Chase doesn't want to act. She falls in love and finds herself while getting herself together.

Adulting by Liz Talley is a story about starting over and how it is never too late to get your life back on track. Self-destructive actress Chase London had one too many all-night benders, too many failed rehabs and a parole violation. Written off as a has-been, she is given one last chance...if Chase is willing. Olivia Han is a life coach who is devoted to Square One, her “adulting” boot camp therapy program. She decides to take Chase far away from the prying eyes of Hollywood and focus on her treatment. Together they travel to Olivia’s Northern California cabin where they discover it needs as much TLC as Chase does. As they work together to rehab the cabin, Chase discovers a safe place to come to her terms with her troubled past and face the demons she has been running from. At the same time, Olivia finds herself coming to terms with her own demons as she helps Chase learn the life skills she never had.Adulting is a story about life. The ups and downs. The great times and the darkest secrets that shape us. The book does come with a disclaimer that the story deals with substance abuse, depression, suicide, sexual abuse and rape. However, I don’t want the disclaimer to dissuade any readers from this story because it is a great story. Ms. Talley wonderfully deals with these subjects with seriousness and tenderness. Adulting is a story of second chances in life, love, and friendship. There are great moments of emotional revelation. Romantic moments that will make you sigh and smile with the occasional “Oh my!” There are even a few laugh out loud moments such as the stupid mistakes we make as we learn to do our own laundry and wash the dishes. There are many wonderful characters that help Chase and Olivia find the healing they truly needed. I wanted to reach through the book and give these women a big hug. This book exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend Adulting!Adulting is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook.

I was not sure what to expect from this book, but I am very glad I read it. Sometimes when book mix dark and light themes they seem disjointed. This does not happen here.This book covers both the joys and darkness of life. I also like the idea of therapists and counsellors need to but don't take their own advice. The book has great character development as well. I don't think either of the main characters are the same by the end of the book as they are st the start.A great book about finding yourself, and owning your life. There are some dark moments and secrets that will come out in this book. A very good read.

The book was quite slow paced which made it a bit of a struggle to get through. The author would flip from past to present without much warning so often I found myself having to reread to understand what was happening. Also to avoid naming the characters all the time she used “the actress” and “the therapist” again and again needlessly. Reminding the reader of their occupation offered no benefits at that time and detracted from the fluidity of the story, which was a bit frustrating

Another really great read from Liz Talley.Chase London is a child star, thrown into fame's spotlights from a young age, but, as is the story for many, the fame doesn't translate as well as an adult.Battling addiction, rehab, and a failing career, she ends up in the hands of therapist, Olivia Han, who's been hired to straighten her out and get her ready for her next role.They end up in a small wooden cabin, inherited by Olivia and her sister, Neve, as an opportunity for Chase to learn how to Adult - something she has never been taught to do. Simple tasks, such as grocery shopping, clearing leaves from a garden as well as the simple pleasures of eating a candy apple or going fishing.On the surface, it seems like a straightforward story of spoilt rich kid needs bringing down a peg or two, but quite quickly, the story shows the depth of trauma that Chase has suffered over the years; something quite tangled for Olivia to unpick.Beyond that, the treatment ends up being a time of reflection for Olivia, as well, facing some disturbing truths from her own life, building bridges and burning some, too.Of course, there is the element of relationships, too.Olivia is avoiding her supposed 'soulmate', and Chase has never really thought about the future, and who might be her 'one'.A touching book, with some moments to make you smile, but equally, some distressing moments, with talks of child abuse, but handled sensitively.

This book is well written and opens with a shocker - at least from my perspective, as I wasn't expecting the heroine, Chase London, to be in such a bad way. It was very refreshing to see a female lead who'd sunk so low as to not actually being able to recall events of the last 12 hours, and to have had sex with a groupie, have gotten off her head with drugs, have been betrayed by her so-called friends, have fallen foul of her PO, and more - you'd kind of expect this of a guy in one of those romances where love saves him, but not here. And whilst it didn't create a great impression of Chase, it did make me think she'd be worth reading about. And yes, money and fame and hedonism and believing one's publicity and having one's cake and eating it, as well as the power hungry were at the core of it. I'm a bit ashamed to say that I couldn't feel for her all that much, as she wasn't likeable and she was quite stupid until Olivia Han got her into her clutches, but overall the tale was readable.It was quite sad as it hinges on some truths - fame and fortune being fleeting, hangers on, knowing who your friends are when the chips are down - or maybe, as is the case, not. It's all too vivid a picture of the many high profile actresses and slebs, both in the US and UK, that have hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons and you can't help wonder why they had no one to deliver some tough love, as Olivia ended up doing.It's also quite cliché as it quotes a little too much, and with a feel of cutting and pasting, from life-coaching books and counselling affirmations. It lacked believability but at the same time, it had a ring of truth in how damaged some in our westernised world are, compared to those in the world who have far less material stuff and more of the stuff that matters.I couldn't quite believe the HEA for the lead females. It had a touch of the Bollywood rose-tinted specs that didn't have the right ring of truth, but for who Chase and Olivia were, and for how life had treated them, and yes for the strength of character that both showed, it was fitting.

I soooo enjoyed the first half of this book and thought I would end up giving 5 stars, but the second half just absolutely ruined it for me.What I liked in the beginning was the style of writing, the way the characters were so detailed, they seemed consistent and logical in their behaviour, not much was happening but somehow I couldn't put the book down.Without wanting to spoil too much, the book mentions a few traumatic experiences that the main characters went through but then it did not actually go into how they overcame those traumas or in which way they actually impacted them. I missed a more detailed connection between those traumas and their present character traits.The main character Chase, learns in 2 weeks what others learn in life time of therapy. She goes from being a self-absorbed, dump hollywood chick to throwing life wisdoms around.So Olivia was such a good "therapist" that she healed Chase in 2 weeks but then so unaware of herself that a 20 something client ends up being her life coach. How does that make sense?It is such a shame because from one point the book just turns into this overly romantic love stories which gave me the feeling that the mentioned traumas were just used to bring a little bit more drama/action into it, or to give the characters more depth on the surface.All loose ends are hastily tied up in the Epilogue (Hollywood Style). In fact the epilogue was soooo bad, I cringed the whole way through, also the reason I ended up with 1 star. Conrad was one of the main characters and then there is barely closure for that storyline, *spoiler* Chase gets married after 7 month and is pregnant - I mean seriously WHYYYY?, this basically undid all the already unbelievable growth of Chase. From being a child to having one in just over a year...I thought this book had potential in a way of wrapping psychology knowledge into a fiction novel but it stayed so much on the surface of it that it made it unbelievable.