title: Dolly all the Time
author: Annabel Monaghan
publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
publication date: May 26, 2026
pages: 368
peppers: 2 (on this scale)
warnings:
- parental abandonment
- car accident with traumatic brain injury (in past)
- suggestion of abortion
- cancer (she's fine now)
summary: Along with her son Gus, Dolly heads back to her small town for the summer to help her father at his fish store and with their falling-apart family home. After a cocktail-shrimp delivery on her bicycle, she ends up helping Stewart, the handsome descendant of the town's namesake on the same day his finacée appears in the paper with her new lover, a Red Sox relief pitcher. To help him get the job he wants and her get the roof she needs, they enter into a fake-dating contract.
tropes:
- fake dating
- rich man-poor woman
- makeover
- small town life
- learning to trust again
- abandonment issues
- single mom
- good-deed doer
what I liked:
- everything, but I'll be more specific--honestly, if I could give this one six stars, I would!
- Dolly as a mother
- portrait of a teenager
- disability representation
- learning arc for both main characters
- her family, particularly her brother and son
- his family, particularly his sister
what I didn’t like:
- n/a
overall rating: 5 (of 5 stars)
As always, you can click on the photo above if you want to buy the book.