Review of Vera Stein Is Fine by Julie Murphy

Vera Stein fits the bill for summertime escapism; some small moments didn't resonate with me and the pacing didn't always flow, but the retirement community setting is surprisingly sassy and fun for this second-chance romance that blossoms amid retired B-list Hollywood types.

"Just because something is offered doesn't mean it's worth taking."

Vera Stein has been working below her abilities as an assistant for her college friend, actor, longtime crush, and sometime hookup Brody.

That is, until she stumbles across Brody's email laying out how he's prepared to sack her in favor of a younger, cost-saving alternative.

Now Vera, her decades-old, languishing attempt at scriptwriting, her dog Marlon, and her few other possessions are headed from Brody's pool house to the only other place she can think of to shelter: her non-nurturing former scream-queen grandmother's wild retirement community, Starlight Palms.

But surprises await Vera, and she'll need to undergo some painful self-discovery in order to face the new phase of her life.

One unexpected element she immediately comes up against is Elias Buckley, her long-lost ex-husband (they married in Vegas on a dare in college, when he was Brody's roommate and seemed to detest Vera) who is the on-site doctor. They had a sexy fling on their wedding night, but various issues almost immediately forced them apart.

Murphy includes many charming elements: the large number of sassy former Hollywood types in the free-love eldercare facility; Vera's prickly, complicated relationship with her far-from-perfect grandmother; a past that includes Vera's having postponed living her own life while caring for her dying mother until she passed away; and a second-chance love (one of my favorite romance setups).

"...We try to raise children using the same rules we succeeded by, but by the time they need those rules, they're obsolete. As much as it pains me to say it, maybe the roads have changed and my map is out of date."

The pacing didn't always feel like it flowed, and I didn't buy into many of the small moments that make a story come alive for me. The sex scenes involved a lot of encouraging "that's a good girl" type of conversation that seemed likely to be distracting for those involved--and was definitely distracting for me as a reader--but to each their own; the characters seemed to be into it.

As in Murphy's novel Dumplin', the main protagonist is a body-positive, plus-sized woman. In that novel, I didn't think this element was essential but I appreciated the representation and matter-of-fact inclusion. Vera's full-figured status is mentioned but only in what felt like throwaway moments; it seems presented as a potential challenge for her to cope with, but she hardly reflects upon it, and her beau is obsessed with her curves.

Vera falls into an event-planning role at Starlight Palms and gracefully offers up edgy activities for her eager audience. The retirement-community setting and Vera's eventual role in it were two of my favorite elements.

The second-chance romance is sweet, and Eli is obsessed with Vera. The misunderstandings that occurred in the past to keep them apart didn't all hold water for me, but the ongoing Brody-Vera entanglement felt like enough to be a barrier. And I enjoyed that everyone involved recognized that coming to a relationship with the current amount of life under their belts allowed for a love they couldn't have had earlier.

This is entertaining reading; it doesn't very often feel realistic but it's fun, and it offers the happy ending it seems to promise from the very beginning.

I received a prepublication electronic version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Avon, and I also received a prepublication audio version of Vera Stein through Libro.fm and Avon!

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Julie Murphy is also the author of Dumplin'.

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