cw: body-shaming, coercive behaviour

Perci Mayfield just got dumped live on the radio. With her best friend Mathias's help, she makes several anti-resolutions for the new year. She will NOT: try to lose weight; try to be more confident; put more effort into her job; date; or try to be a better daughter or sister. When her overbearing mother starts meddling in her life yet again, she lies about dating her neighbour, Nate Russo. Nate is a single father to Lilah, a nature-obsessed 8-year-old.

I empathised with Perci immediately. Her journey of self-acceptance was incredibly uplifting and I absolutely adored her relationship with Nate (who made me swoon several times). I really loved their chemistry and how amused Nate was by Perci's ramblings.

There are several subplots and I loved every single one. There are two supporting characters who I absolutely ADORED: Mimi; and Lilah. Similar in so many ways, both taught Perci a lot about self-acceptance. I particularly loved the Mimi-isms, and the anniversary party was next-level hilarious, but also left me sobbing. And I loved the other romance, as well as the Hope House storyline.

This story had the perfect blend of humour and heart, and ultimately felt like a hug in a book. Absolutely gorgeous read.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥
Emotional Rating: 😬😢😂🙈🥰😍😭💔💓

*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review*

I laughed, smiled, and giggled my way through this awesome romcom.

Perci is one of the most adorable characters I’ve read in years. She’s curvy, relatable, lacking in self-confidence, yet believes in herself, despite all the self-doubt thrown her way by a critical mother.

The Do Over is full of witty dialog, with a wonderful protagonist in Perci. Add in a memorable beginning of the book where she is dumped live on the radio by her scuzz-ball boyfriend. A touching fun read I just loved.

Such a fun read! A warning though - don’t read it where you can’t laugh out loud.

This a great book about self discovery and living life for you. A funny sweet rom-com the writing was wiitty and the characters were well developed and real.

This book feels like like an extended version of the Dove Real Beauty ad; it’s full of positive vibes and feel-good, heartwarming humor.

Perci is in her late twenties but not really a <i>grownup</i> grownup yet; she works at her dad’s company and allows her mom to pick out her clothes, meals and boyfriends. However, after a series of rather unfortunate events triggered by her pathetic, mom-approved boyfriend breaking up with her (on the radio!!!), she decides to stop trying to please everyone around her and start living her own life.

Her journey of self-discovery is full of mishaps and awkward moments that had me laughing out loud more than once. Perci could be Bridget Jones’s younger sister; struggling with her weight and overbearing mother, all while being incredibly funny. Ultimately she also lives up to Bridget's theory, that the best way to find a boyfriend is to feel whole without one 😁.

What confused me was, that this book is advertised as a rom-com and I do not see it as such. While there is a lot of good comedy, the romance is not the main focus but rather a PG-13 sub plot. It doesn’t even start until like 50%-60%.
This is a well written story with a relatable heroine, that is remarkable in its own right. Classifying it as a romance makes the pacing feel off and generally puts the book at a disadvantage.

The short quotes opening every chapter were the perfect finishing touch and I absolutely adored them. I wish we all had a grandma Mimi in our lives.

Recommended with your favorite ice cream and/or a girly drink and Elsa singing “Let it go” in the background.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Bookouture for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review, it totally made my day 😁.

This is a genuinely laugh out loud book that then tugs at your emotions, makes you think, makes you cry, and then comes right back around to making you laugh again…sometimes on the same page. Perci is such a beautifully-drawn character, and you can’t help rooting for her from the moment she gets dumped over the radio. Her grandma is a delight—everyone needs a grandma like that!—and the whole cast of characters just sucks you in and makes you want to keep reading, including sweet-under-his-gruff-exterior Nate and the delightful Lilah. If you’re a fan of Kristan Higgins, you’ll love this book. I highly recommend it and can’t wait for Sharon’s next one!

I honestly don’t know how I am going to be able to put into words how much I loved this book but I’ll try. It has brought me on a rollercoaster of emotion from laugh out loud moments - which is entirely Mimi’s fault with her witty banter - to completely heartbroken. I read this book in one sitting because I could not put it down. I would finish a chapter and then have to keep going because I needed to know what happened next. The story line is so realistic that you can relate to Perci and her life. This is also the first book I’ve read recently where I enjoyed all the characters. They all brought something to the story and added to the overall experience. I loved Perci and Nate and Lilah but my absolute favourite was Mimi. She reminded me so much of my own nan with her little sayings and I love how Sharon began every chapter with one. If you love romance with a little heartbreak and a lot of witty banter then this book is right up your street. If you love Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry then this is for you. I will never stop recommending this book and it’s Sharon’s debut novel. I cannot wait to read more from her. “Perfection is boring. Be imperfect. All my favourite people are.” - Mimi
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. I felt everything this story conveyed.

Percy was a relatable character for me. She constantly feels like she is messing up, a failure, but she finds herself and her confidence. This was a hopeful story that I believe readers will relate to. The characters in the story are funny, likable and entertaining. Mimi is the best!

Congratulations to the author on her debut!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to listen to this book.

I love reading. I love the stories, the places we can go inside the pages and the people we can meet along the way... And I especially love books that remind me how much I love to read! I loved this one so much I immediately pre-ordered a physical copy for my shelves so I can do a re-read soon! ❤️
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This book was everything. Between the super cute cover/title combo, to the horribly hilarious meet cute to the seriously fantastic writing style with enough chemistry and laugh out loud moments to make an impact, Sharon M. Peterson really got it right. I related to Perci SO much and I was rooting for her from the get go!
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Side note: the "this was a date" scene had me SQUEALING. My romance loving heart was DYING! This book should be made into Netflix romcom ASAP.
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BLURB:
“Look, you’re a nice girl but I don’t think we should see each other anymore.” The voicemail ends and I freeze in the dentist’s chair as I realize, I’ve just been dumped on live radio.

It took the most humiliating break-up for me to see that my life is in serious need of a do-over. Cue my anti New Year’s resolutions that even I can’t fail:
Stop dating. (Men are the worst.)
Stop trying to lose weight. (I’m never giving up chocolate.)
Stop working so hard. (Selling mortgages is not my dream career.)
Stop trying to live up to unrealistic expectations. (Start living my best life.)
Stop trying to please my mother. (It’s not possible.)

But it turns out number five is harder than I thought, as she begins her campaign to get me back with my ex. So, what’s the perfect solution to keep her out of my love life? An imaginary boyfriend—at least he was supposed to be imaginary until I blurted out my neighbor’s name…

Nate, the bad boy next door with gorgeous hazel eyes, a razor-sharp jawline and a mysterious scar, might be hot, but he’s definitely not my boyfriend. Now all I need to do is stick to my resolutions while also keeping my interfering family away from my non-existent lover who has no idea that we’re fake dating. What could possibly go wrong?
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Such a refreshing read. The Do-Over was a brilliantly written second chance love rom com. But more than that, this story was both laugh out loud and a little tear-jerky in parts.

Perci is a very relateable character, with very likeable (and some dis-likable) side characters.
I loved Mimi's quotes.

I loved the setting of this story too. US-based, and set in Houston (a place I've never vistied) but the writing was very descriptive, and I love when authors can transport the reader to a place they've never been before, making it feel like you're right there in the thick of it.

My two gripes about this read are minimal yet noteworthy;
I didn't like the constant mention of Perci's weight/size. I get that it was a pivitol part in the story, but we the reader know at the first few mentions that she is a curvier girl, I don't think it needs to referred in every chapter.
I found I skimmed a little bit of this story, without missing anything. Perhaps a little too much internal thoughts? I'm not sure. I love teh description of the settings, and the people. But maybe a bit too much telling...?

This was a definite 4 star for me, from a first time author, and I definitely look forward to reading more from Sharon M Peterson.

Thanks to the author, Bookouture, and Netgalley.

Second chance love!!!! Who can ask for more?!!! This was a lovely romance that uses this trope in a new way. If you love romance this is a book you should try.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW 

Review for 'The Do-Over' by Sharon M. Peterson. 

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Samantha M. Peterson, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous 

Publication date 1st August 2022.

This is Samantha M. Peterson's debut novel. 

I was originally drawn to this book by its  eye catching unique cover and intriguing as well as hilarious sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'A completely addictive, feel-good rom-com perfect for fans of TikTok sensations The Love Hypothesis, The Unhoneymooners, and Sarah Adams.' I am a huge fan of Sarah Adams so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture  that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of 48 chapters. The chapters are short in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in the USA 🇺🇸 

This book is written in first person perspective and the main protagonist is Perci Mayfield. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them.  

OMG!!!! I CANNOT REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I LAUGHED SO MUCH AND FELT SO GOOD BECAUSE OF A BOOK!!!

What an absolutely page turning, refreshing, laugh a MINUTE, emotional and amazing read!!!! It is perfectly written to hook the reader in and the title, cover and synopsis is perfect for the storyline. 

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVED this book which got me hook, line and sinker!! I absolutely devoured it in one reading and was completely absorbed throughout!! I loved that it feels that Perci is talking directly to me over a cup of tea at the kitchen table. I couldn't stop laughing from the first page to the end. I adore the fact that although there are quite sad moments and emotional times that within minutes Perci or Mimi has you laughing until you are in tears again. This book is a complete breathe of fresh air and is the perfect mix of 'Bridesmaids' and 'The Hangover' and 'Bridget Jones Diaries' but funnier!!!! I genuinely couldn't recommend this book any more!!!! This is the most hilarious book I have read this year. If you are looking for a light hearted read filled with romance, alcohol, love, comedy, friendship, family and so, so much more you are in the right place!! I absolutely adored the quotes/sayings from Mimi some which made me laugh out loud and others that had me deep in thought! I thought the plus size body representation and inspiration of being happy in your own body was absolutely fantastic and much needed in these times when all we see around us are adverts and programmes with slimmer ladies and not enough representations of larger sized people in romances especially. This book is thought provoking and feel good filled with positive vibes and humour!!! I loved the way it ended and it is such a heart warming page turner I'm tempted to read it all over again!!!

It is shocking to think this is Sharon's first book when it is an absolute page turner and written perfectly!!! I was devastated when I came to the end of this book and really hope that Sharon is writing her next success as I am writing this!! 

I read approximately half of this book on kindle and listened to approximately half on audio book. I must also give a huge congratulations to the narrator Elise Roth who not only brought the storyline to life by really portraying the emotions through his voice but by doing absolutely fantastic impressions of males and females with different accents so a HUGE congratulations Elise!! I cannot imagine that this was anywhere near an easy feat!!! I am looking forward to discovering more books read by yourself as you definitely have a perfect "book" voice!! I sometimes struggle to absorb the storyline through an audio book but if you are the same as me I can promise you will not have that problem with this amazing narrator!!


The characters were all an eclectic mix and each one of them were realistic and strong. I was completely invested in them especially Perci who I thought was absolute hilarious and who I absolutely LOVED getting to know!!! Perci teaches womwn everywhere to live life to their fullest and to love themselves as they are. I loved watching Perci's personality transformation and character growth throughout the book and she is definitely a character I won't be forgetting anytime soon. I adored her relationship with the Sal who, even though he is a fish and can't talk, made me laugh on several occasions just by swimming in his bowl!! Brent and Joel Allen were both absolute ends of bells!! I could not stand the low life idiots who didn't have dress senses, loved themselves and don't deserve a relationship with a flea let alone any of the fantastic women in this book!!! I absolutely LOVED and ADORED Mimi who was larger than life and reminds me such of my beautiful Gran who was also larger than life and would say it as it is!!! Her quoted were hilarious and thought provoking and I'm tempted to print them up and put them all over my house!!! Mathias was another absolutely amazing larger than life character who was an amazing friend at times and then others was a right div but still a huge lovable one!!! My heart went out to him at times. Whether you love them or hate them each of these characters come together perfectly to make this an absolutely epic page turner!!!


If you have never read this book you, my friend, are SERIOUSLY missing out!! This is a book you will never forget and will have tears streaming down your face in laughter and will make you feel amazing!! 


A MASSIVE WELL DONE to Sharon on a HUGE success!!! I loved every page of your book and I cannot wait to read more of your future books. I would love to see this turned into a series along with becoming a top hit movie!! Congratulations you are now one my favorite romcom authors!! Here's to your next success 🥂 

Overall a laugh a minute, thought provoking, heart warming, feel good and addictive genuine page turner that will have you crying with laughter and happiness. 

Genres covered in this book include Women's Fiction, Romance, Humour, Romantic Comedy, General Humourous Fiction and Comedy amongst others. 

I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of 'The Love Hypothesis', 'The Unhoneymooners', Sarah Adams, Mark David Woollard, Bridget Jones and anyone looking for a feel good, heartwarming page turner!!

335 pages/ 9 hours 18 minutes audiobook reading time. 

This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!! This book is £18.29 on audionook. 

Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook. 

Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews 

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This is a feel-good rom-com made even funnier with an ornery grandma! Not only is it super cute, but it's all about believing in ourselves. I think we could all take note of the anti-resolutions. Sounds like a great way to ring in the New Year.

After a very public dumping, where Perci’s now ex, trades in their relationship for concert tickets (to a cover band at that). Perci (with the help of her best friend Mathias) decides to reevaluate her life by making Anti-Resolutions. Which leads to a series of rom-com level misunderstands, one of which includes a fake relationship with her neighbor Nate.

Not gonna lie, I had a rough time with this book. Maybe it hit a bit too close to home with some things, but it just felt like there was so much going on, you couldn’t quite get a hold on what the true plot was.
What I Liked: I enjoyed the Nate and Lilah scenes and their time with Perci, their moments are cute and they had great banter and it would make me smile when I would read those moment. Those moments read like a rom-com and I literally felt like being edged with romance and never quite getting it.

What I didn’t enjoy: This book has both internal and external fatphobia which is jarring when you start reading it, and just continues as the book goes on. If you didn’t know Perci was fat within the first couple of pages, you were reminded of this fact with every chapter. She constantly narrates the things she eats (and not in a I enjoy this food type way, you can read the self-deprecating intent with it), talks about how she weighs herself constantly, the reasons for her clothing being black is because it’s slimming. Constant. Externally, you have her mother who makes passively and aggressive comments, you have the ex, and the sister’s boyfriend all making comments on Perci’s body.

I think having read books with fantastic fat female leads, where being fat is fact and not a personality type just really marks why this book didn’t sit great with me.

Self-realization comes too late for Perci, in my opinion. This book is constant is pushing Perci down just as she starts standing up for herself, and the one person that uplifts her (Nate) – we don’t get enough of.

I think this book tried to be too many things. It tried to be romance, it tried to be uplifting, it tried to be a romcom, and it just didn’t quite hit any of those marks fully. The book contains Perci’s relationship with her mother, father, ex, neighbor, new boss, kids, sister, best friend, and grandmother. In addition to that, there were sub plots between a brewing romance between Perci’s sister and best friend. It was so much packed into the book.

The writing is good, I will not begrudge the book that. The relationship between Perci and her grandmother Mimi is fantastic. The relationship that starts between Nate and Perci, and in addition Lilah, is great. But all the great moments are overshadowed by all the mini subplots.

Overall: It’s not a book I would go back to. I think it really was mis-marketed as a romance, and expectations would have been managed better with it marked as ‘women’s fiction’ or ‘fiction’.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Do-Over follows Perci on a journey of self discovery and self confidence following an embarrassing public dumping!

I was immediately drawn in by the Mimi quotes which start each chapter, my top favourite “when life gives you lemons, give them back and ask for grapes. You can make wine with grapes.” What I loved most about this story was the focus on Perci falling in love with herself and putting herself first despite familial guilt. The side-story of Perci with Nate and Lilah was lovely and added a very sweet layer to the book which had me grinning ear to ear. Mimi was definitely one of my favourite characters and I enjoyed her influence on Perci’s character. Overall this book is very well written and the growth and journeys that each individual goes on is lovely.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This might be my top rom-com of the year! Perci's do-over was a joy to follow, and despite working with tropes that might have felt cliche in another author's hands, but in Paterson's they were perfect.
What I found particularly beautiful was the way she writes friendships. The way Perci and her best friend acted felt so natural and real, and you 100% wanted to be part of that little duo. I also loved Perci's sister, and the way their relationship was portrayed. It was obvious to us how much Phee loved her sister, and how hard it was for Perci to see that.
I found Perci such a compelling character. Time and time again she reasoned with herself and the situation around her, only to find herself reverting to bad habits. I think that is something we can all relate to, Her frustrations and woes felt realistic and not overdone.
Nate was the perfect love interest, and it was easy to see why Perci might fall in love with him! Their stumbling journey was so natural and fun to follow!
This was definitely an author I would read again and again, and I can't wait for her next book!

𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕝𝕖: The Do-Over
𝔸𝕦𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣: Sharon M Peterson
ℙ𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥: 335 pages
𝔸𝕧𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: Available 1st of August
ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤
🫧 I LOVE Mimi’s quotes I’m literally writing all of them down!
🫧 I LOVE Nate and Lilah’s relationship, such a wholesome heart warming relationship
🫧 At some point through the book the feelings were overwhelming I almost cried.
🫧 I’m so looking forward to more Sharon books because I really liked this one

𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤:

🫧I get the references to Perci’s weight were essential to the story but at some point it became too much.

aa i love this sm !! it was so cute.

the main character was shaped so good, i fell in love with her the minute i started reading. it took me a little longer with nate to like him but i did, i think it was just because he wasn't mentioned a lot in the beginning but he got more involved later into the book, which surprisingly i really enjoyed?

ive read book where the main character has problems with body image, and there's romance in the book as well and i found myself not really liking those books because they focused more on the romance then anything but oh my god the author did such such a good job with making the two fifty-fifty. you could see the change in perci in the middle of the book, and if you were to compare them, there would be such a difference in her self confidence.

like it says in the blurb (atleast on goodreads) if you liked the love hypothesis by ali hazelwood, you will most likely like this book and as a person whose favourite book is the love hypothesis and have read it five times i can very much say that they are very similar. the vibes were def there, just minus the science stuff. the characters were very similar and i found myself seeing olive in perci, and maybe a little of adam in nate (the vibes were really there but kinda were?) the only difference was the single dad trope being in there (WHICH I WAS SO HAPPY TO FIND OUT ABT). but olive and perci were very similar and as someone who sees myself a lot in both of these characters, i loved perci !!

thank you thank you sm netgalley for giving me this amazing book, will def read more of this author when she publishes more !!!

This book was so great! Normally I wouldn't read a book like this as I would classify it closer to women's lit than a romcom but I was so entranced from the first line. Perci felt like an extension of at times myself, she goes through a beautiful journey of self discovery and gave me a good laugh while doing it. Mimi was the best part of this book and having her be the hallmark of the book, the chapters and the family was perfect. I will be thinking about several of her quotes for the rest of my life. Like I said the romance in the book isn’t a huge focus, the characters barely interact in the first half of the book and once they get together it still feels like one of the less focused on plot points in the book. Either way a great debut novel.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc!

Official rating: 3.75 stars. It was so close to 4 stars, and honestly when I started it I thought it had the chance to be a 5 star read; this book started STRONG and I loved it. Mimi and her personality had me hooked from the beginning, and I was so excited to see how she played into Perci's story (love that name by the way). However, I realized a couple chapters in that this was less romance and more contemporary fiction with a dash of romance on the side. In the synopsis the romance is the main plot point, but the pacing just doesn't fit that. It's being marketed as a book for fans of Love Hypothesis, The Unhoneymooners, and Sarah Adams, and as a strong fan of all of the above...this book was a massive letdown.

Say what you will about romance books -- the pacing is predictable. Heck, for all books, the pacing follows a pattern. Around 20-25% you'll have your first point of conflict that leads into the rising action that makes up the middle part of the book. In a romance, you expect that to be, well, the romance beginning. The two love interests getting thrown together in a meet cute. In a fake dating romance, you expect that to be when they start fake dating.

The main issue I had with this book was there was just too much going on. Perci got broken up with. Perci quit her job (as she should've). Perci needed a new job. Perci wanted to change her life. Perci's bets friend was in love with her sister (they get an entire plot point that should've just been it's own book). Perci gets a new job. Perci also gets a new volunteer role. Somewhere in there, we meet the love interest Noah. But we don't really get Noah as an *actual* love interest until almost the 50% mark. The fake dating doesn't kick off until halfway through the book, mostly because as previously stated, this book has too much going on.

Now, it makes a great contemporary fiction story about a woman's journey to find herself and let go of other's expectations of her. If that's what it'd been marketed as, and what I would have gone in expecting, I would've probably loved it. But I went in expecting romance, and based on the amount of baggage that both Noah and Perci needed to unpack in order to form a healthy and convincing relationship...50% just wasn't going to cut it. They needed their own story, and it got lost amidst all the other plot points. It's not even a slow burn romance (in which case the pacing would fit); it's simply...not really a romance.

It's still a good book, and if you're looking for a good contemporary fiction (albeit a slightly cluttered one), I'd recommend this one still. I just wouldn't recommend it for anyone looking for a book where romance is the central plot.

I loved this book from start to finish!!
The FMC was a relatable plus sized people pleasing character who was on cruise control through life until she was forced to do something about it.
I love the journey she took towards self love and forgiveness.
I love the relatable sister bond throughout the book and that everything isn’t always sunshine, roses, and being best friends.
I loved her New Year’s Resolutions.
I especially loved Mimi and all her Mimi-isms at the start of each chapter.

Fake dating, self love, amazing FMC, well thought out side characters, great and unexpected friendships, and sweet relationships throughout.

My only drawback was how many times it was mentioned that Nate was “un-handsome” or “not handsome”- just let him live! LOL