Headlights, Dipsticks, & My Ex's Brother by Heather Novak Pages: 235
Published by LLC on November 20, 2018
Genres: adult, Romance, contemporary
Source: ecopy from Author
A full-length STANDALONE romantic comedy!
Running an auto shop is hard; running an auto shop as a woman is harder; running an auto shop with your ex--who is about to become your STEP-FATHER--and his hot brother is just insane. (And then there's the chicken.)
Edie Becker is living her childhood dream of running her grandfather’s auto shop. She just didn’t count on having to share ownership of the company with two other people. Specifically, her ex-fiancé and his gorgeous older brother, Luke.
When Luke rolls into town for the first time in years, he has news that changes everything—he’s now the majority shareholder and he needs to sell the auto shop, and Edie’s house next door, as soon as he can.
To make matters worse, Edie’s ex-fiancé has just proposed...to her mother.
Edie’s determined to find a way to save her auto shop, to finally stand up to her heinous mother, and to not kiss Luke ever again...especially since he didn’t kiss her back.
If Edie’s plans don’t work, she’ll be unemployed, homeless, and worse: heartbroken.
Headlights, Dipsticks, & My Ex’s Brother is the first book in Edie’s Automotive Guide series by Heather Novak. Headlights, Dipsticks, & My Ex’s Brother, which I will be calling Headlights for the rest of this review, is a really fun read. There was one aspect of the story icked me out so much, but I just pretended it wasn’t a thing for most of the book, and out of sight out of mind worked well for me. (more on this in a bit.) Once I ignored that aspect, I loved Headlights. I found the characters delightful and it was a story that was a very nice, quick feel good read. I do have to say, I don’t love the cover. It is giving me major sweet valley high vibes. But the story more than made up for the slightly dated feeling cover.
First let’s talk about the part of the story that icks me out. I loved Edie. But to have her ex boyfriend marry her mother was a gross that I just couldn’t deal with. It made me seriously hate both her ex and her mother, and quite frankly, I just didn’t want to think about or deal with either of them. Luckily, they are really only passing secondary characters in the story. They do rear their ugly heads a few times, but I just breezed through those parts and got back to the much more enjoyable Edie and Luke. And now that is out of the way, we can move on to more enjoyable aspects of this novel.
I loved Edie. She is fiesty and strong and very determined to go after what she wants. And what she wants is to keep the auto shop up and running. Edie and Luke are really easy to root for. From the start, you just know they care about one another. Luke is such a great guy. I don’t want to give too much of the story away, but Heather Novak does a great job making her reader feel strong feelings for her characters. The characters that I loved, I loved hard, and the characters that I disliked, well I hated them just as hard. Which made this book a whole lot of fun. It wrapped up nicely, and I can’t wait to see what is going to happen in the next book. This is a series I am really interested in continuing. Some parts of the novel came together just a little too easily, if you know what I mean, but it was great for a quick lighthearted read. If you are looking for a fun feel good read, with a whole lot of emotion, then Headlights, Dipsticks, & My Ex’s Brother is a great book for you to pick up.
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature)
I hadn’t heard of this one before, but it sounds good, and your review makes me want to read it! Off to add to my Goodreads!
cosmosrex
You are the best husband ever, and I love you for always listening to my raves and rants over what I’m reading.