Review: It Doesn't Have to Be This Hard

It Doesn't Have to Be This Hard by Christina Hovland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Emmaline Eaton left her famous husband because he made her feel as though her only purpose was to make him look good. Now she's moved back to Denver to be near her family. Okay she has a soul-destroying job creating website bio pictures for a real estate firm instead of the fine art career she once dreamed of, but at least its a job. Having been out of the saddle for a while, Em gets herself a battery-operated friend, which promptly catches fire. Terrified that her daughter Fiona will come in and ask awkward questions she throws it in the dumpster outside the house - no surprise she sets that on fire too!

The ruckus introduces her to the celebrity chef next-door, who also has a daughter the same age. Ethan took time out from his TV career when he was given the care of Annie and is now trying to persuade the network to let him come back with a new show.

When Annie posts a shirtless picture of Ethan on his social media with the hashtag DateMyCelebrity Dad it goes viral, but Ethan is drowning in a sea of unwanted attention from women desperate to be become Mrs Ethan Greene, but his agent loves it ... could the solution be to find someone to be his fake girlfriend? Em owes Ethan a favour for trying to take the blame for the dumpster fire so, against her better judgement she agrees to be his fake girlfriend, but it can never be anything more because Em is holding out for a normal guy, she's over famous guys for good. But it seems Fiona and Annie have other plans as they scheme to get their parents together for good.

I liked the basic premise of the novel and I thought Em and Ethan were cute. However, my rating was brought down by what I call the Janet Evanovich factor (you could just as easily call it the Goldie Hawn factor or the Diane Keaton factor) where there is a whole raft of supporting characters who give kooky a bad name. There's Em's parents and brothers (maybe three of them) who seem determined to put her down all the time. Then her plethora of kooky friends Cress, Lauren and Barbie (just typing her name gives me hives), I predict the next book will be about Barbie and Em's brother James BTW. I wouldn't be surprised if each of Em's friends that isn't already married ends up with one of her friends either. Just generally, I think the comedic effect was overdone which spoilt it for me.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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