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Something Good
Newly divorced from her prominent attorney husband, and back in the job market after decades, Jennifer Branson is determined to rebuild her life. After renewing her Dental Assistant certification, she lands at job at Alejandro Rio's dental office and both their lives change. Is Jenn the woman who can inspire him to finally move past his grief from losing his wife and live? And can Alejandro show Jenn that she can love and trust again? And when Jenn's ex-husband realizes his mistake, can she resist the man who was the love of her life?
85 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 18, 2026
About the author
Natalie Dunbar
29 books20 followersWhen it comes to romantic suspense, action adventure, contemporary, and paranormal fiction and romance, Natalie Dunbar savors a front row seat behind the open book or the job manning the creative pen or keyboard. Writing fiction has been a lifetime adventure and treasured escape that resulted in her first book, Best of Friends, being published by Genesis Press in March 2000. Natalie soon followed that up with three more books for Genesis Press, a novella in an anthology for Bet Books, a novella in an anthology with Parker Publishing, and books for Silhouette Bombshell. Read her latest novella in the Kimani Arabesque anthology, Can I Get An Amen Again. In June 2007, her romantic suspense novel, A Serial Affair, will be available from Silhouette Romantic Suspense.
An incurable romantic, Natalie is married to her high school sweetheart and has two sons. A University of Michigan and University of Detroit Mercy graduate, she works fulltime in the Detroit area as an engineer.
An incurable romantic, Natalie is married to her high school sweetheart and has two sons. A University of Michigan and University of Detroit Mercy graduate, she works fulltime in the Detroit area as an engineer.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 19, 2026
🥃 ARC Review: SOMETHING GOOD
Author: Natalie Dunbar
Genre: Contemporary Romance · Midlife Romance
Tropes: Boss/Employee · Slow Burn · Divorced Heroine · Widower Hero · BWLM · Persistent Ex (Sir, We Said What We Said) · Workplace Professional Tension
Format: ARC via Booksprout
Series: Something Good — Books 1 & 2 in one volume (The Start of Something Good + Holding on to Something Good)
Drink Pairing: Michigan Riesling Spritz with a float of aged rum
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (High-Heat — explicit, integral to Part II, and worth every page of the buildup)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5) — A Good Date. Not the Love of Your Life. But a Good Date.
The Pour 🥃
I pour my bourbon neat, and I like my fiction the same way: full-bodied, no filler, complex enough to make me sit with it after the last page.
Something Good is not that kind of pour. What it is — and what it does genuinely well — is something lighter. A Michigan Riesling on a summer evening. Bright, easy to love, a little sweet with just enough tartness to keep it interesting. Not every book has to be barrel proof. Some books are meant to warm you from the inside out and remind you that starting over can be the beginning of something genuinely good.
Natalie Dunbar said, "What if we gave the grown women their flowers?" And I said — pour me a glass and pull up a chair.
Something Good follows Jennifer Branson, a divorced woman in her late forties who re-certifies as a dental assistant, walks into an interview, and accidentally sparks something she was not looking for — with the quietly gorgeous, still-grieving Dr. Alejandro Rios. What follows is one of the most genuinely adult slow burns I've read in a while. Not adult as in explicit — although it gets there, eventually — but adult as in: two people who have both been through real life and are taking their time.
I have a soft spot for midlife romance. I do not apologize for this.
Character Distillation: The Neat Pour and the Slow Reveal
Let me start where I always start.
Jennifer "Jenn" Branson is amber skin and sherry brown eyes and short curls and plump lips and the quiet dignity of a woman who has been through hell and decided not to stay there. She was married for over twenty years to a lawyer named Brent who charmed everyone in the room including her, right up until he didn't. The divorce didn't make her bitter. It made her clear. She re-certifies. She applies for jobs. She shows up 45 minutes early on her first day and charms the difficult patients before lunch.
What I love about Jenn is that she has no illusions about herself. She knows she still has residual feelings for Brent. She admits it. She processes it. She does not confuse old love still fading with new love worth choosing. That emotional intelligence is genuinely rare in a romance heroine, and it elevates every scene she's in.
She is the top-shelf pour of this book. Full stop.
Dr. Alejandro Rios is the kind of man who smells like patience, good intentions, and Colombian dark roast at 7 AM. He is olive-skinned, gray-eyed, late forties, and three years into widowhood after losing his wife Lisa to illness. He is kind and methodical and he does not rush. He thinks before he acts. He waits before he feels. And when Jenn's laugh starts coming through his office wall every morning, it takes him a minute to recognize that what he's feeling is alive — which is something he hasn't been in a long time.
Alejandro is almost too steady, which I'll address in a moment. But his slow reawakening is written with real tenderness, and by the time he extends his hand on that charity gala dance floor, you believe every inch of it.
Bailey — Jenn's daughter, a local news anchor, future bride, and complete scene-stealer — is supporting cast done right. The mother-daughter dynamic between her and Jenn is warm and funny and honest in ways that feel lived-in. Their Coney Island lunch scene alone is worth the price of admission.
Mrs. Barlow, the patient who engineers the entire charity event situation with zero shame and complete satisfaction, is a treasure and if she is not in every future Dunbar book I will be personally disappointed.
And then there is Brent Branson. Salt-and-pepper dreads, designer suits, a red Porsche, and the nerve to show up with puppy dog eyes after blowing up his own marriage. He is written without villainization, which is honestly more complex and more realistic than a lot of books manage. He is a man who chose to leave and is deeply unhappy with what that choice actually cost him. I appreciate the craft in that characterization.
I do not appreciate him personally.
What I Savored 🥃
The Salsa dance that launched a thousand feelings. The charity gala scene is this book at its absolute best. Two people who have been very professionally careful around each other all night — Alejandro in a suit, Jenn in something that makes him do a double take — and then he spots her on the sidelines doing Salsa she learned from Zumba class and extends his hand. Reader, I felt that in my shins. The chemistry that's been simmering for chapters finally has somewhere to go, and Dunbar lets it unfurl slowly on that dance floor. First the dance. Then the veranda. Then the kiss. That is how you let the barrel breathe.
Jenn's emotional intelligence — aged to perfection. She does not gaslight herself. She does not pretend the twenty years with Brent meant nothing. She does not perform over-it-ness for the reader's comfort. She sits with what's real, processes it with clarity, and moves accordingly. That kind of heroine interiority — specific, honest, unperformed — is genuinely rare and it is the best thing about this book.
The Traverse City payoff. They waited most of two novellas for this. By the time Jenn and Alejandro finally get to that Lake Michigan condo, the reader has been on the edge of their seat long enough to need a refill. The consummation scene is warm, passionate, tender, and explicit. He says "Te quiero, mi amor" and means every syllable. It earned all four 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️.
Alejandro's hospital response — quiet and everything. Brent gets in a car accident on the exact day they're supposed to leave for Traverse City. Alejandro drives Jenn there. Sits in the waiting room. Gets coffee. Does not make it about himself or their plans. And when she's ready to go, he says "Our bags are still in the back." That quiet, undemonstrative steadiness is more romantic to me than a grand gesture could ever be.
Mature midlife romance done with dignity. I want to name this specifically because the genre does not do it nearly enough. Two Black and Latino protagonists in their late forties, both carrying real losses, both choosing something new — Jenn's amber complexion and sherry brown eyes and full curves and all of herself seen and celebrated, Alejandro's Latinidad present in his Spanish endearments and his sister Camila's warmth and his community. This representation is specific. It is deliberate. It matters.
What I Side-Eyed 🥃
The pacing in Part I needed more time in the barrel. These two novellas clock in at 84 pages combined, which means the story moves fast. Very fast. The weeks-going-by sections compress what should be the richest part of the slow burn — the daily professional proximity, the patients they talk about, the lunches, the orbit tightening — into a few sentences. I wanted to experience Jenn and Alejandro falling into each other. I got a tastings note where I wanted the full distillery tour. For a slow burn to earn its payoff, I need to feel the slow part. I felt the summary of it.
Brent's amnesia subplot hits a little sharp. His car accident, the selective memory loss, the hospital scenario where he wakes up believing he and Jenn are still married — I understand the craft decision. It forces Jenn to articulate her closure out loud, to him and to herself. That confrontation scene is well-written. But it also introduces a soap opera adjacency that sits a little uneasy in a book whose strength is its grounded emotional realism. And it doesn't fully close — we end with Alejandro having had legitimate reason for insecurity about this man's continued presence, and the book wraps before that thread resolves cleanly. For a story about a woman who has earned her peace, I wanted the finish to pour cleaner.
Alejandro's composure stays sealed the whole way through. He is almost too reasonable. Real jealousy gets exactly one window and is quickly rationalized away. His grief over Lisa is present but always controlled. I wanted one moment — just one — where his composure cracked enough to let us fully inside. Not badly, not irreparably. But enough to make him genuinely vulnerable rather than consistently noble. The steadiness that makes him appealing as a partner makes him occasionally feel just slightly opaque on the page.
The Finish 🥃
Something Good is exactly what it says on the label.
Not perfect. Not the bottle you're going to keep on the top shelf for special occasions. But warm, honest, genuine — and deeply satisfying in the specific way that stories about women choosing themselves after loss can be satisfying when they're done with care.
For readers who are tired of twenty-something protagonists and want a romance that honors the complexity of midlife, starting over, and falling in love when you're old enough to know what that actually costs — this one pours true. Jenn Branson is the kind of heroine who stays with you not because she's dramatic, but because she is real. And in a genre full of larger-than-life everything, real is sometimes the rarest thing on the shelf.
A good date. Recommend.
🍷 Drink Pairing: Michigan Riesling Spritz with a Float of Dark Rum
Why it fits: Jenn and Alejandro tour wineries on Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City — so this pairing is practically canon. A Michigan Riesling spritz captures Jenn's energy perfectly: effervescent, amber-hued, sweet but with enough backbone to hold its shape. The float of aged dark rum honors the deeper undercurrent of the story — Alejandro's grief, Jenn's scars, the slow burn that takes its time before it finally catches.
4 oz Michigan Riesling — Château Grand Traverse or 2 Lads Winery, Old Mission Peninsula
2 oz club soda
½ oz aged dark rum, floated on top (Plantation or Appleton Estate)
Fresh lemon juice, to taste
Lemon wheel garnish
Tasting Notes: Bright stone fruit on the pour 🍷 | Warm, complex mid-palate once the rum threads through 🥃 | Long, honeyed finish that lingers — just like this story ✨.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Author: Natalie Dunbar
Genre: Contemporary Romance · Midlife Romance
Tropes: Boss/Employee · Slow Burn · Divorced Heroine · Widower Hero · BWLM · Persistent Ex (Sir, We Said What We Said) · Workplace Professional Tension
Format: ARC via Booksprout
Series: Something Good — Books 1 & 2 in one volume (The Start of Something Good + Holding on to Something Good)
Drink Pairing: Michigan Riesling Spritz with a float of aged rum
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (High-Heat — explicit, integral to Part II, and worth every page of the buildup)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5) — A Good Date. Not the Love of Your Life. But a Good Date.
The Pour 🥃
I pour my bourbon neat, and I like my fiction the same way: full-bodied, no filler, complex enough to make me sit with it after the last page.
Something Good is not that kind of pour. What it is — and what it does genuinely well — is something lighter. A Michigan Riesling on a summer evening. Bright, easy to love, a little sweet with just enough tartness to keep it interesting. Not every book has to be barrel proof. Some books are meant to warm you from the inside out and remind you that starting over can be the beginning of something genuinely good.
Natalie Dunbar said, "What if we gave the grown women their flowers?" And I said — pour me a glass and pull up a chair.
Something Good follows Jennifer Branson, a divorced woman in her late forties who re-certifies as a dental assistant, walks into an interview, and accidentally sparks something she was not looking for — with the quietly gorgeous, still-grieving Dr. Alejandro Rios. What follows is one of the most genuinely adult slow burns I've read in a while. Not adult as in explicit — although it gets there, eventually — but adult as in: two people who have both been through real life and are taking their time.
I have a soft spot for midlife romance. I do not apologize for this.
Character Distillation: The Neat Pour and the Slow Reveal
Let me start where I always start.
Jennifer "Jenn" Branson is amber skin and sherry brown eyes and short curls and plump lips and the quiet dignity of a woman who has been through hell and decided not to stay there. She was married for over twenty years to a lawyer named Brent who charmed everyone in the room including her, right up until he didn't. The divorce didn't make her bitter. It made her clear. She re-certifies. She applies for jobs. She shows up 45 minutes early on her first day and charms the difficult patients before lunch.
What I love about Jenn is that she has no illusions about herself. She knows she still has residual feelings for Brent. She admits it. She processes it. She does not confuse old love still fading with new love worth choosing. That emotional intelligence is genuinely rare in a romance heroine, and it elevates every scene she's in.
She is the top-shelf pour of this book. Full stop.
Dr. Alejandro Rios is the kind of man who smells like patience, good intentions, and Colombian dark roast at 7 AM. He is olive-skinned, gray-eyed, late forties, and three years into widowhood after losing his wife Lisa to illness. He is kind and methodical and he does not rush. He thinks before he acts. He waits before he feels. And when Jenn's laugh starts coming through his office wall every morning, it takes him a minute to recognize that what he's feeling is alive — which is something he hasn't been in a long time.
Alejandro is almost too steady, which I'll address in a moment. But his slow reawakening is written with real tenderness, and by the time he extends his hand on that charity gala dance floor, you believe every inch of it.
Bailey — Jenn's daughter, a local news anchor, future bride, and complete scene-stealer — is supporting cast done right. The mother-daughter dynamic between her and Jenn is warm and funny and honest in ways that feel lived-in. Their Coney Island lunch scene alone is worth the price of admission.
Mrs. Barlow, the patient who engineers the entire charity event situation with zero shame and complete satisfaction, is a treasure and if she is not in every future Dunbar book I will be personally disappointed.
And then there is Brent Branson. Salt-and-pepper dreads, designer suits, a red Porsche, and the nerve to show up with puppy dog eyes after blowing up his own marriage. He is written without villainization, which is honestly more complex and more realistic than a lot of books manage. He is a man who chose to leave and is deeply unhappy with what that choice actually cost him. I appreciate the craft in that characterization.
I do not appreciate him personally.
What I Savored 🥃
The Salsa dance that launched a thousand feelings. The charity gala scene is this book at its absolute best. Two people who have been very professionally careful around each other all night — Alejandro in a suit, Jenn in something that makes him do a double take — and then he spots her on the sidelines doing Salsa she learned from Zumba class and extends his hand. Reader, I felt that in my shins. The chemistry that's been simmering for chapters finally has somewhere to go, and Dunbar lets it unfurl slowly on that dance floor. First the dance. Then the veranda. Then the kiss. That is how you let the barrel breathe.
Jenn's emotional intelligence — aged to perfection. She does not gaslight herself. She does not pretend the twenty years with Brent meant nothing. She does not perform over-it-ness for the reader's comfort. She sits with what's real, processes it with clarity, and moves accordingly. That kind of heroine interiority — specific, honest, unperformed — is genuinely rare and it is the best thing about this book.
The Traverse City payoff. They waited most of two novellas for this. By the time Jenn and Alejandro finally get to that Lake Michigan condo, the reader has been on the edge of their seat long enough to need a refill. The consummation scene is warm, passionate, tender, and explicit. He says "Te quiero, mi amor" and means every syllable. It earned all four 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️.
Alejandro's hospital response — quiet and everything. Brent gets in a car accident on the exact day they're supposed to leave for Traverse City. Alejandro drives Jenn there. Sits in the waiting room. Gets coffee. Does not make it about himself or their plans. And when she's ready to go, he says "Our bags are still in the back." That quiet, undemonstrative steadiness is more romantic to me than a grand gesture could ever be.
Mature midlife romance done with dignity. I want to name this specifically because the genre does not do it nearly enough. Two Black and Latino protagonists in their late forties, both carrying real losses, both choosing something new — Jenn's amber complexion and sherry brown eyes and full curves and all of herself seen and celebrated, Alejandro's Latinidad present in his Spanish endearments and his sister Camila's warmth and his community. This representation is specific. It is deliberate. It matters.
What I Side-Eyed 🥃
The pacing in Part I needed more time in the barrel. These two novellas clock in at 84 pages combined, which means the story moves fast. Very fast. The weeks-going-by sections compress what should be the richest part of the slow burn — the daily professional proximity, the patients they talk about, the lunches, the orbit tightening — into a few sentences. I wanted to experience Jenn and Alejandro falling into each other. I got a tastings note where I wanted the full distillery tour. For a slow burn to earn its payoff, I need to feel the slow part. I felt the summary of it.
Brent's amnesia subplot hits a little sharp. His car accident, the selective memory loss, the hospital scenario where he wakes up believing he and Jenn are still married — I understand the craft decision. It forces Jenn to articulate her closure out loud, to him and to herself. That confrontation scene is well-written. But it also introduces a soap opera adjacency that sits a little uneasy in a book whose strength is its grounded emotional realism. And it doesn't fully close — we end with Alejandro having had legitimate reason for insecurity about this man's continued presence, and the book wraps before that thread resolves cleanly. For a story about a woman who has earned her peace, I wanted the finish to pour cleaner.
Alejandro's composure stays sealed the whole way through. He is almost too reasonable. Real jealousy gets exactly one window and is quickly rationalized away. His grief over Lisa is present but always controlled. I wanted one moment — just one — where his composure cracked enough to let us fully inside. Not badly, not irreparably. But enough to make him genuinely vulnerable rather than consistently noble. The steadiness that makes him appealing as a partner makes him occasionally feel just slightly opaque on the page.
The Finish 🥃
Something Good is exactly what it says on the label.
Not perfect. Not the bottle you're going to keep on the top shelf for special occasions. But warm, honest, genuine — and deeply satisfying in the specific way that stories about women choosing themselves after loss can be satisfying when they're done with care.
For readers who are tired of twenty-something protagonists and want a romance that honors the complexity of midlife, starting over, and falling in love when you're old enough to know what that actually costs — this one pours true. Jenn Branson is the kind of heroine who stays with you not because she's dramatic, but because she is real. And in a genre full of larger-than-life everything, real is sometimes the rarest thing on the shelf.
A good date. Recommend.
🍷 Drink Pairing: Michigan Riesling Spritz with a Float of Dark Rum
Why it fits: Jenn and Alejandro tour wineries on Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City — so this pairing is practically canon. A Michigan Riesling spritz captures Jenn's energy perfectly: effervescent, amber-hued, sweet but with enough backbone to hold its shape. The float of aged dark rum honors the deeper undercurrent of the story — Alejandro's grief, Jenn's scars, the slow burn that takes its time before it finally catches.
4 oz Michigan Riesling — Château Grand Traverse or 2 Lads Winery, Old Mission Peninsula
2 oz club soda
½ oz aged dark rum, floated on top (Plantation or Appleton Estate)
Fresh lemon juice, to taste
Lemon wheel garnish
Tasting Notes: Bright stone fruit on the pour 🍷 | Warm, complex mid-palate once the rum threads through 🥃 | Long, honeyed finish that lingers — just like this story ✨.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 25, 2026
This was a decent read, the pace of the romance between the hero and the heroine was reasonable. The hero and heroine were both unashamedly attracted to one another from the start, but maintained a professional relationship while working together.
Some of the off-putting instances in the book were scenes involving the heroine's ex-husband. His inclusion in the story took away too much attention from the hero and heroine. I care not to find out how the rest of his story will play out in a possible sequel.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Some of the off-putting instances in the book were scenes involving the heroine's ex-husband. His inclusion in the story took away too much attention from the hero and heroine. I care not to find out how the rest of his story will play out in a possible sequel.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
June 23, 2026
Something Good is a beautiful, deeply touching contemporary romance that proves it is never too late to rebuild your life and find true happiness. The story follows Jennifer Branson, a newly divorced woman stepping back into the workforce after decades away. Re-entering the job market and starting over from scratch takes immense courage, and Jennifer’s journey as a dental assistant at Alejandro Rio's office is both inspiring and highly relatable.
What makes this book truly special is the mature, emotional depth of its central romance. Both Jennifer and Alejandro are carrying profound emotional weight—she is healing from a broken marriage, and he is paralyzed by grief after losing his wife. Their slow-burn connection is built on mutual respect, gentle encouragement, and a shared realization that they can trust and love again. Dunbar expertly cranks up the emotional tension when Jennifer's prominent ex-husband attempts to slide back into her life, forcing her to decide between the familiar comfort of her past and the beautiful potential of her future. It is a heartwarming, beautifully paced story of resilience and midlife rebirth.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
What makes this book truly special is the mature, emotional depth of its central romance. Both Jennifer and Alejandro are carrying profound emotional weight—she is healing from a broken marriage, and he is paralyzed by grief after losing his wife. Their slow-burn connection is built on mutual respect, gentle encouragement, and a shared realization that they can trust and love again. Dunbar expertly cranks up the emotional tension when Jennifer's prominent ex-husband attempts to slide back into her life, forcing her to decide between the familiar comfort of her past and the beautiful potential of her future. It is a heartwarming, beautifully paced story of resilience and midlife rebirth.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
June 22, 2026
Jennifer Branson and Alejandro Rio: Two strangers brought together at crossroads in their lives. Jennifer is recently divorced from a prominent attorney she married twenty years ago. She has spent so much time building her life around him that she loses sense of who she is after the divorce. Focused on starting over, she applies for a job and becomes a dental assistant at Alejandro’s office where she finds more than she bargained for.
Alejandro is still grieving from the death of his wife. Since then, his heart has been closed off and lonely. Jennifer quickly becomes his normal and warms his world again. She forces him to realize that perhaps he can heal and love again. As he helps Jennifer find her footing after her divorce, she learns to trust, be independent and find her confidence once again.
They each grow closer to one another through healing, vulnerability, and understanding.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Alejandro is still grieving from the death of his wife. Since then, his heart has been closed off and lonely. Jennifer quickly becomes his normal and warms his world again. She forces him to realize that perhaps he can heal and love again. As he helps Jennifer find her footing after her divorce, she learns to trust, be independent and find her confidence once again.
They each grow closer to one another through healing, vulnerability, and understanding.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
June 22, 2026
The first book in the "Something Good" series I found it to be a well-written story with compelling characters. This mature interracial romance features Jennifer Branson, a 40+ divorcee rebuilding her life as a dental assistant, and Alejandro Rio, a widower and her new employer. The plot beautifully explores whether they can overcome their respective pasts—his grief and her broken trust—even as Jennifer’s ex-husband attempts to reconcile. This is a new Author to me. I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
June 15, 2026
This was a quick read with a FMC, Jennifer that just finalized her divorce and is getting her life back on track. I wish we got to see more of Jennifer and Alejandro's relationship. I liked that Alejandro was not afraid to show Jennifer how he felt about her.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
July 11, 2026
This is late in life sweet romance.
While she is fresh divorce she must start everything from beginning.
She needs to find herself again, go back to her career. The new man wasn’t in the plan.
He still mourns the loss of his wife , new relationships is big no for him.
What next ? Must read to find out.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
While she is fresh divorce she must start everything from beginning.
She needs to find herself again, go back to her career. The new man wasn’t in the plan.
He still mourns the loss of his wife , new relationships is big no for him.
What next ? Must read to find out.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 28, 2026
It’s a good book but something seems to be missing for me. Jenn is a recently divorced black woman who gets a dental assistant job at the dental office of Alejandro Rios. Eventually they succumb to mutual attraction with a few distraction/bumps to overcome.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews