Mom Com
By: Adriana Mather
Available November 14th, 2023
"Haverberry Cove is Massachusetts' standard for elegance. It's three-quarters New England charm and one-quarter brine-scented driftwood, which is to say it's basically perfect ‐-- except for the fact that I can't stand being in it. Rambling historical houses with ocean views surround a postcard-worthy square where the aesthetic is hand-made, hand-carved, and locally sourced." - Adriana Mather, Mom Com
With a release date set in November, just in time for the holiday season, fans of Adriana new and old will be sure to find Mom Com quickly become a favorite to add to their shelves and gift to their rom-com loving friends and family.
While romance isn't my typical go to genre to read, I was not disappointed and this one from Adriana has already earned five stars from me!
Those whom have read any of Mather's previous books set in New England, such as How To Hang A Witch, will find themselves sucked into Haverberry Cove, MA as the story unravels about Maddi's complicated past and buried, unresolved feelings tied to the fictional New England town.
Through Adriana's detailed and descriptive writing, I found myself whisked away through various scenes such as the decorated and lit up seaside square, the holiday market, The Corner Bar and Tony's pizza and bar, and of course, There's Nothing Batter Bakery.
Mom Com truly is as heartwarming and sweet as the pastries described in the book and as the titles of each chapter. As a thirty something year old woman from small town, coastal Maine myself, it was easy for me to relate with the setting with winter and holidays a main theme. Of course it's nice to escape to other worlds when reading, but sometimes we crave what's already familiar and need some of that "magic" restored through the story in a cute, feel good book.
Adriana manages to do just that, bring back magic and connection for her characters that they thought they lost in themselves, their friends and families, and their home. I think everyone can remember times where we dealt with grief, tried to run away, wanted to handle life on our own without any help, and ended up isolated, missing pieces, having wrong ideas, or lost along the way.
Mom Com brings Maddi and Spence back home all the way from California where she's been trying to make it for herself and Spence his whole life. Upon returning to Haverberry Cove, it dredged up a lot of heartbreak and memories Maddi tried to move on from. But through seeing Haverberry from the perspective of her son and his wonder and amazement that she hadn't felt herself since her childhood, and through reconnecting with her mother and her old flame, the handsome, rich Wilder, Maddi begins to rediscover what she loved about home. In a series of appropriate and semi-dramatic events, Maddi finds out missing puzzle pieces and is on the way to mending relationships with her mother and friends, and falling in love with herself, with Haverberry, and with Wilder again. She finds that the magic of baking and her father, and even love, were never truly gone, she just needed to see it for herself.
I am honored to have had the chance to read and review Mom Com, and I can't wait to add it to my shelf and share it with others! Mom Com had the sense of familiarity and New England setting I always love, and it has relatable emotions and some sad but also realistic life events. Adriana's characters are like people we all know in our own lives, the rich ones, the gossips, the ex friends and lovers, the children and cousins, the new or reconnected flames, the family that are sometimes difficult to get along with, but they're still family and the loved ones or community members gone, but not forgotten or who have left their trademark or legacy, like a bakery.
Like the icing on a hot cinnamon bun on Christmas morning, Mom Com and Adriana really do bring a taste of that holiday spirit and that magic of love and more deep human connection that we all need more of all year round, whether in sunny California or snowy New England. Mom Com will fill you up, just like every treat at There's Nothing Batter Bakery would.