“You get so few opportunities in life to throw a drink. Take them.”

She’s Up to No Good

Thank you, NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Four years into her marriage, Jenna is blindsided when her husband asks for a divorce. With time on her hands and her life in flux, she agrees to accompany her eccentric grandmother Evelyn on a road trip to the seaside Massachusetts town where much of their family history was shaped.

When they hit the road, Evelyn spins the tale of the star-crossed teenage romance that captured her heart more than seventy years ago and changed the course of her life. She insists the return to her hometown isn’t about that at all—no matter how much she talks about Tony, her unforgettable and forbidden first love.

Upon arrival, Jenna meets Tony’s attentive great-nephew Joe. The new friendship and fresh ocean air give her the confidence and distance she needs to begin putting the pain of a broken marriage behind her.

As the secrets and truths of Evelyn’s past unfold, Jenna discovers a new side of her grandmother, and of herself, that she never knew existed—and learns that the possibilities for healing can come at the most unexpected times in a woman’s life.

After being blindsided by divorce, Jenna is in a rut. So when her grandmother tells her about her upcoming trip to Massachusetts, she decides that going with her may be the best way to get her life back on track. But what she thought was just a trip to the beach ends up being an eye-opening exploration into her grandmother’s past and a way to finally heal.

I loved Sara Goodman Confino’s debut last year, For the Love of Friends, so I was excited to pick up She’s Up to No Good. When I started reading, I didn’t know that the grandmother from For the Love of Friends would be one of the main characters, so realizing that was a nice surprise. Although I struggled to get into this at first, once I picked up the audiobook, I started to love this book. The narrator did a great job bringing this story to life, especially through the accents.

I loved the dual timelines and felt it really helped drive the story forward. While the two romances between Evelyn and Tony in the past and Jenna and Joe in the present were the main focus, I feel like the heart of this book was really about personal growth and family history. As Jenna learns about her grandmother’s past, she also learns about a family and a town she didn’t know nearly anything about, and the growth that comes out of that was probably my favorite part of this book.

My only problems were with how Evelyn and Tony’s relationship played out in the past. Evelyn was selfish, and I feel like Tony deserved better than he got. It seemed a little unfair that Evelyn got to live a life that moved past Tony, whereas Tony’s life seemed to still be stuck revolving around Evelyn. It’s possible that it was just Evelyn’s bias in her storytelling, but it still bothered me.

But overall, I enjoyed She’s Up to No Good, and I will definitely keep an eye out for Confino’s books in the future.