Let's Pretend This Will Work by Maddie Dawson
The search for your ideal beach read ends here! Maddie Dawson’s Let’s Pretend This Will Work (June 1, Lake Union Publishing) balances humor and heart and is an absolute must for your summer reading list.
Much like Cinderella, who has a fairy godmother and a magic slipper, Mimi Perkins, Dawson’s quirky, lovable protagonist, has a Brooklyn psychic and a skirt that just might hold a bit of magic.
A new hire at Manhattan’s posh Piedmont Academy in the 1980s, English teacher Mimi longs for lasting love and a true sense of belonging. After a whirlwind courtship with head drama teacher Ren, Mimi is shocked when he proposes. Ren is older, charming, sexy as heck, and could have any woman he wants.
“If he’s a ten, I’m probably a seven on my very best day, and even then only if my straight iron doesn’t cause a fuse to blow.”
Could this be the real deal? Mimi’s psychic, La Starla, seems to think so. After all, lots of great things have been happening in Mimi’s life since she purchased a certain blue skirt at a thrift store.
Shortly after proposing, Ren’s ex-wife is involved in a serious accident, requiring round-the-clock care. Ren makes a temporary move from New York City back into his former home in New Haven, Connecticut to help his young adult daughters care for their mother. Hoping to keep relationship disruptions to a minimum, Ren suggests Mimi move to New Haven too. Must be part of the greater cosmic plan, right? After all, La Starla did say Mimi’s life is a journey with a bit of a detour.
While life in New Haven is not what Mimi expected, she finds community and purpose while working for a daycare co-op. Over time, though, Mimi wonders if Ren might be reuniting with his family for good, leading her to question all the recent twists and turns of her life.
One of Dawson’s greatest strengths is her ability to create endearing characters. I am a Mimi fan! Her voice jumps off the very first page. I adore her quirkiness, her loyalty, and her desire to do a good job. I love the tension Dawson created in this story too. It’s not always sunny in New Haven, and multiple conflicts kept me turning pages, cheering for Mimi until the end. Finally,
Dawson’s charming, witty prose truly shines from beginning to end. It’s her hallmark, in my opinion, and the reason she will forever be an auto-buy author for me.
No need for Maddie Dawson to pretend – her new novel absolutely works! Fate, found family, and romance align like the stars. It’s messy, relatable, heartwarming, laugh-out-loud fun. Let’s Pretend This Will Work will stay with you long after your summer tan fades.
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About Maddie Dawson:
Maddie Dawson grew up in the South, born into a family of outrageous storytellers. Her various careers as a substitute English teacher, department-store clerk, medical-records typist, waitress, cat sitter, wedding-invitation-company receptionist, nanny, day care worker, electrocardiogram technician, and Taco Bell taco maker were made bearable by thinking up stories as she worked. Today Maddie lives in Guilford, Connecticut, with her husband. She’s the bestselling author of six previous novels: Matchmaking for Beginners, The Survivor’s Guide to Family Happiness, The Opposite of Maybe, The Stuff That Never Happened, Kissing Games of the World, and A Piece of Normal.
