Okay, so I just finished *The Half of It* and I am OBSESSED. Like, if you’re into small-town romances with dreamy settings, found family vibes, and a hot Irish guy who will absolutely make you swoon, this is your next read. Trust me, you’ll want to pack your bags and move to Ballygrá by the end of it.

The story follows Juniper Martin, a tough-but-tender NYC journalist who’s had her fair share of struggles. After a rough day at work (and maybe one too many cosmos), she impulsively sends in a DNA test her boss gave her instead of a bonus. Big surprise—it turns out she has a half-sister, Cara, living in a charming Irish town. Cara invites June to her wedding, and before you know it, June’s on a plane to Ireland, ready to meet the family she never knew she had.

Enter Aidan McCarthy. *Sigh.* Where do I even start with this man? He’s Cara’s childhood best friend, a loyal son running his family’s pub, and a secret photographer with dreams he’s put on hold after a tragic loss. Oh, and did I mention he’s Irish? Because yes, the accent alone is worth it. Aidan is the kind of guy who’s not just a love interest but a whole vibe—he’s kind, protective, and has this quiet strength that makes you want to root for him from the very first page.

The chemistry between June and Aidan is *chef’s kiss*. It’s slow-burn, friends-to-lovers perfection with just the right amount of spice. But what I loved even more was how real their relationship felt. They both have their own baggage—June’s trust issues and Aidan’s struggle to balance his dreams with his family responsibilities—but they help each other heal in the most beautiful way.

And can we talk about the found family trope? Because this book does it SO well. June’s journey to finding her place in Cara’s life and the entire town of Ballygrá is heartwarming and emotional. The way the community rallies around her, especially when things get tough, had me tearing up. Also, Cara’s grandma? Iconic. I would 100% fight her, but I also kind of love her.

The plot has this perfect mix of romance, drama, and a twist that had me STRESSED. Without spoiling anything, let’s just say June’s world gets turned upside down, and the way everything resolves is so satisfying. It’s messy, it’s real, and it’s exactly what the story needed to keep you hooked.

Oh, and can we get a spin-off about Cara and Yaz? Because I need more of them in my life.

This book gave me all the warm fuzzies, a few tears, and a serious case of wanderlust. 10/10 would recommend—just be prepared to fall in love with Aidan and never want to leave Ballygrá.

This was a cute slow burn romance set in a small town in Ireland. I really enjoyed the small town/found family aspect of the storyline. However the big confrontation in the book fell a little flat for me. I didn’t find June and Aidan’s connection to really pull me in. I did, however, love Aidan. He had a good amount of character development throughout the story. All in all it was a cute story about finding your chosen family and healing from the past.

A writer with a troubled family past finds a connection through a DNA test to a half-sister she never knew about and travels to Ireland to meet her attend her wedding, and get to know her long-lost family.

This is a unique story that felt nostalgically reminiscent of the movie "Leap Year" with Amy Adams, and at times I could easily visualize it playing out as a movie in my mind's eye. I really liked Danny's character, and I felt the story had a lot of good ingredients for a great book. I especially feel like it would make a really good movie.

I appreciated how the characters in the story had hard things experiences (both past and current) in their lives, and were making the best of things and still finding hope and courage in their lives.

However, as a book, I struggled as a reader with the writer's first-person present narrative style, which intermittently made it feel hard for me to connect with the characters and feel depth in the story. The narration also fell into the "telling" trap: instead of" showing, not telling" through the writing, telling the narrator's thoughts instead of allowing them to emerge alongside action and dialogue. The writing sometimes drifted into passive voice instead of active voice within the first person narration, which felt unnatural and further detracted from the narrative style.. Occassionally, when there was a scene change within a specific character's POV chapter, sometimes I had a hard time realizing it and would have to go back and re-read the previous paragraphs, feeling like I had missed something when I actually hadn't recognized the scene shift.

Review: Struggled to Read Due to Formatting Issues

I was really looking forward to reading The Half of It, but unfortunately, I just couldn’t get through it—not because of the story itself, but because of the book’s formatting. The text was oddly off-center, the color was off, and overall, it was just really difficult to read. It’s disappointing when something as simple as formatting takes away from the reading experience. I’ll keep an eye out for the Kindle version in hopes that it’s available in a more readable format because I still really want to give this book a chance

A moving debut about a NYC writer who takes a DNA test and discovers she has a half-sister, Cara living in Ireland. When Juniper (June) pitches the story, her online magazine agrees to pay for her trip and June is off to Ballygrá, Ireland to meet her sister and help with her upcoming wedding. Of course there's a hot bartender, Aiden, who is Cara's best friend and he offers June a place to stay while she's in town.

With tons of forced proximity, great queer rep and a lot of emotional depth, this indie romance hit all the right notes for me and is perfect for fans of books like The Irish goodbye by Amy Ewing, Off the map by Trish Doller or Last call at the local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz. Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

CW: loss of a sibling, drunk driving, parental abandonment, grandparent with dementia

Imagine turning in your DNA testing kit only to find out you have a half sister and a whole family in Ireland. Your half sister is getting married in two weeks so you quickly plan a visit across the world. You meet a her cute guy best friend and immediately hit it off. Then you get an interesting call that shakes everything up.

As much as this story was slowly progressing towards a romance I would say it’s more about found family with a hint of gender inequality at work. It was a very easy read. I did think it was a smidge dramatic at times but I loved the DNA testing aspect a lot.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Spice: 🌶🌶
Darkness: ●

Quotes:

“I’ll go anywhere with you.”

“It means a lot that you’d ask me to stay. Nobody’s ever asked me to stay before.”

“Our laughter subsides, and we’re breathless and sopping wet and grinning like fools. The scenery around me blurs out of focus. No more thrum of the rain, no narrow road, and no biting wind. My world shrinks to me and June and the air between us.”

Short version:

A sweet, cozy slow-burn that explores love in all its forms.

Full review below:

Tropes:
- Slow Burn
- Sister’s Best Friend
- Forced Proximity
- International Romance


Plot Summary:

After a DNA test connects Juniper with her half-sister who lives in Ireland, Juniper finds herself flying across the pond to meet Cara and attend her wedding. There, she meets a handsome bartender, Aidan, that turns out to be Cara’s best friend. Sparks fly, but are both Cara and Aidan too scarred by their pasts to let it move forward?

The Good:
I really like the author’s writing style. It’s descriptive without feeling like it’s trying too hard. She adds background to each of the characters without feeling like she’s exposition dumping. The pace of the story feels natural. I had no idea this was a debut novel when I picked it up, and I’m very impressed at her talent!

As for the characters, I thought they were all well-developed, including the side-characters within the story. The character development over the course of the novel was evident and well-done. I appreciated that many people helped heal Juniper, like her relationship with her sister. Her progress wasn’t entirely dependent on her relationship with Aidan.

The accents were fitting but they weren’t too over-written to the point of annoyance (this is a common gripe I have with a lot of international romance novels set in Ireland or Scotland, specifically).

Finally, I’ll disagree with some of the other reviews here. I don’t think Aidan and Juniper’s chemistry fell flat.


The In-Between:
At times, the “will-they, won’t they” back and forth, and the main characters’ inner monologues about their reservations towards the relationship got to be a bit repetitive.

The Bad:
I do think this book was trying to accomplish too much in a short novel. This resulted in some of the storylines being more surface-level than I think they deserved to be, and others resolved more quickly than I would’ve liked.

Spicy Chapters: 19, 22, 23
Cheating: No
Third-act Breakup: Yes
HEA: Yes
OWD: No

TW:

mentions of addiction, homophobia, and sexism

The Half of It was a beautifully written and cozy romance that was very easy and enjoyable to read. The setting was perfect for the vibes of this book and I felt like I was actually in Ireland while reading about June's adventures.

I loved how both June and Aidan recognised and tackled their problems realistically, especially Aidan with his grief and his family's grief, if felt real and raw. I do love that June was an imperfect character and the silly decisions that she made were understandable and aligned with her character but as a reader it was still frustrating to read how the events played out.

A lot of the secondary characters I felt were almost too trusting and forgiving, particularly Cara, so it would have been nice to expand on her character towards the end of the book a bit. Additionally, the romance between the characters did feel a bit cheesy and not quite as developed at times, particularly at the end of the book and I wish more time was put into their relationship rather than the slow burn at the beginning.

Overall a fun and light read and I'm excited to read more by this author!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read an early digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was the perfect romance for March! I was swept away and completely enamored by the Irish setting. It had me reminiscing of the time I spent in Ireland! If you are looking for a heartfelt small-town slow burn romance with a gorgeous setting, this is for you!

This is an adorable debut book and I will absolutely pick up the author’s next book. Juniper and Aiden are both well-crafted characters, especially Aiden! Ultimately the chemistry between the two of them fell a little flat for me, but overall I really enjoyed the story. I was really drawn to the family scenes - I’m a sucker for found family stories and the author hit the nail on the head in that aspect.

I really enjoyed this book and absolutely recommend to anyone looking for a cozy, light-hearted romance -especially if you enjoy slow burn, found family, and a cozy setting! Thank you NetGalley, Theresa Christine and Victory Editing for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley, Theresa Christine and Victory Editing for the ARC.

This story follows Juniper as she flies to another country to meet her half-sister she discovered after taking a DNA test. Once arriving in Ireland, she meets Aiden who happens to be her half-sister's best friend. Aiden is helping to run his family's bar after the death of his older brother but has dreams of becoming a photographer. Sparks fly between Juniper and Aiden, but they try to remain friends as they help with wedding planning. June is also writing an article about her whole experience with meeting her half-sister.

This is a slow burn romance that gives you all of the feel good vibes. It was a slow start at first, but picked up in the middle. I really enjoyed learning about all the relationships in the book and glad Juniper was able to open up to others.

This was my first Theresa Christine book and I was quite happy with it. It was super cute and the story was lovely and well paced. Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of this cute read

i was unfortunately unable to read and review this by pub date, as life gets in the way (as it will do in the case of good books) but i would absolutely recommend this to those looking for a sweet and steamy irish romcom!!

Solid 3.8⭐️ This is an amazing debut novel for Theresa Christine! I was so exciting to receive The Half of It as my first ARC!

The Half of It immediately grabbed my attention with its gorgeous cover, and I couldn’t wait to dive in, especially since my husband and I visited the exact location during our honeymoon. Ireland is one of the most enchanting places I’ve ever been. The rolling green hills and the experience of stepping into a castle for the first time left a lasting mark on me. The author, Theresa Christine, does an amazing job capturing the feeling of Ireland, particularly through June’s eyes as she experiences it for the first time. It brought back so many personal memories for me!

The story itself is warm and cozy, a sweet small town romance with just the right touch of depth. While the plot offers a light, charming narrative, it also touches on more serious topics that added layers to the overall story. Juniper’s journey to find a sense of family was especially moving. She’s such a well rounded character, and I was instantly drawn to her. From the moment she meets Aidan, I knew he was a total green flag. The found family trope really shines here, and it’s by far my favorite part of the book. June’s evolving relationship with her Cara is incredibly authentic and lovely to witness. The connection between them felt so real, and I found myself invested in their growing bond. The author did a fantastic job crafting relatable, dynamic characters that are easy to root for, even the supporting characters were seamlessly integrated, making each one memorable.

That said, while I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing when it came to the romance between Juniper and Aidan. It was sweet, but it didn’t quite spark the chemistry I was hoping for.

All in all, it’s a charming, easy read that beautifully captures the magic of Ireland. A solid 3.8/5 for fans of small-town charm, slow-burn romance, and a touch of Irish magic!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Victory Publishing for this early digital ARC in exchange for my honest view!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I really loved June! I would have rated this book higher but I wish the ending was different. I really liked all the characters and how welcoming they were to June. I also wish we got an epilogue but overall it was a cute love story

March is definitely the month to crack out a charming, swoony Irish romance, especially with St Paddy’s Day just a week away. I’ve got a perfect recommendation for anyone looking for a bit of Irish luck for a contemporary romance that will sweep you off your feet into an adventure on the Emerald Isle.

The Half Of It is an Irish small-town romance with a perfect blend of emotional depth and light-hearted rom-com, taking us on a journey of self-discovery, exploring what family is, and finding unexpected love (a nice slow-burn kind). The writing is engaging, descriptive, elegant, and fun to read, with some corny comparisons that had me giggling with the gentle pace of the storytelling, making this a cozy read with enough twist in the plot to keep conflict tension juicy and bring to life a heartwarming romantic connection between Juniper and Aidan that evolves emotionally with the deepening of their friendship after their initial sizzling spark of attraction.

Theresa Christine has captured the soul of Irish culture authentically and respectfully, showcasing the warmth and kindness of the Irish people to life in the characters of the fictional community of Ballygra. Her character building was incredibly well done, with vast layers for each character (side characters included). Juniper’s character struggles to trust and keep her distance from the Irish-loving family that adopts her without question and whose hearts she might break with her secrets. Aidan’s the perfect Irish hunk with a creative soul, honourable heart, and extra-sweet cinnamon roll vibes. His internal struggles of wanting to pursue his dreams and not letting his parents down as he tries to hold his family together in the wake of his brother’s death had me a little teary at times.

Thank you to Theresa Christine for approving my Netgalley eARC of The Half Of It. I loved reading this heartwarming romance. If you are looking for a romance to curl up with to celebrate St Paddy Day full of Irish charm, this is the perfect love story full of healing, found family and finding dreams set against the beautiful backdrop of Ireland with a sprinkling of spice.

I really enjoyed this! This was not only a story of love, but one of family, friendship, grief, hope, & forgiveness!!! The writing was great and the story was very fast-paced and unique. This book takes place in in a small town in Ireland and the imagery was just delightful. It also had all the things we love about small towns; close-knit community, unconditional caring for others, and the reminder that you get to decide who and what family means to you.

This story is a testament to the fact that the people who care about you will show up no matter the circumstances!!! I definitely recommend this if you love a slow-burn romance, delicious tension, and found family.

The Half of It releases on March 11th!! (Available on KU and in paperback)

*Thank you so much to NetGalley, Theresa Christine, and Victory Editing for this eARC in exchange for an honest review*

Really enjoyed this take on what is likely becoming a more regular occurrence as more people get DNA testing done. The idea of finding family where you didn’t have one before is so compelling. Loved how Junior found that immediately with Cara, her family, and Danny and how they got to choose to keep each other when things didn’t play out as they had hoped.

Thanks to NetGalley or the ARC.

The Half of It is a sweet small town romance with found family set in rural Irish town. First I'll start with what I liked. I liked the characters, they were not only likeable but also were written as well rounded characters. I'm also a sucker for anything set in Ireland, so I loved the setting. Theresa Christine was able to write it to where I really could imagine the little town, makes me wish I could visit Ballygra.

My biggest issue was with some of the corny and cliche phrases used through the book but mostly in the first love scene.

Check out The Half of It if you like:
Small Town Romance
Found Family
Slow Burn

Premise:
Juniper has never felt like she had a family that truly cared for her. When a DNA test at work shows that she has a long lost half sister in a small town in Ireland, she travels to meet her and immediately finds connections she hasn't felt before. The half sister's mom, the half sister's best guy friend, Of course the guy best friend is handsome, charming, and carrying his own baggage. Is it too good to be true though?

My thoughts:
I thought it was. a really cute debut book!! I love small towns so this was a fun read even if it was a bit predictable. I am a sucker for found family so I love that this provided for Juniper the love of family she never had. I also really liked seeing female camaraderie both in bestie Lissie back home and in new found half sister Cara. There may have been too many topics trying to be covered or things happening with the characters though because there was grief in loss of a loved one, family not approving of a LGBTQ relationship, lack of family, work harassment, divorce, going after your dreams, insecurity in relationships... a LOT to try to develop in a book under 300 pages.

Overall, thought it was cute, it even made me tear up, and I'll check out her books in the future, but not one that I'll be thinking about over and over.

This was such a sweet concept for a book and I adore everything about Ireland. I found this book to be a cosy fast-paced romance. For me the pacing was possibly too fast, which lacked a bit of depth with the plot and characters at times but it was still an enjoyable read.