Book: Everything’s Coming Up Rosie

Author:  Courtney Walsh

Thank you, NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Fiction Audio, for an advanced audio copy.
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. 

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Kristen’s Review:

I absolutely loved this inspiring novel!

Rosie Waterman wants to be a theatre actor. However, she loses her apartment and job all in the same day, so she heads back home. She decides to apply to any and all theatre positions anywhere she can. She doesn’t even bother to read any of the descriptions. Finally, she gets a call to work at Sunset Hills for a directing position in Door County, Wisconsin. 

Once she arrives at Sunset Hills, she is greeted by a handsome man named Booker Hayes, who also works in the community. He shows her around the area, and Rosie can’t seem to shake the idea that the area is gorgeous but seems odd. She finally realizes the theatre position is for directing Cinderella at a senior citizen community. 

Every character in this book is excellent, from the stubborn Arthur, who works in the theatre, to Dylan, a teenager living in the community with her grandmother. They become the perfect found family. 

Watching the play hit the ground from auditions, to the theatre flooding, to opening night. You will wish you could see the play in person. I would especially love to see the transformation dress. 

I also adored the love aspect between Booker and Rosie. Seeing them living in the moment and falling in love with one another will have you rooting for them in the end. 

I never highlighted so many wonderful quotes in a book before. It will really have you thinking about how everything happens for a reason and to never give up on your dreams. 

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Brian’s Review:

Who doesn’t doubt themselves from time to time? Who doesn’t see someone else figure out their life and get self-conscious about their own decisions? If you relate to one or both questions, you will relate to Rosie in this excellent book, Everything’s Coming Up Rosie. 

Rosie is an aspiring actor, but she has failed to land her big break. She moved from the Midwest to New York to further pursue her career, and in the process, she has grown further apart from her friends. She doubts herself and is afraid they will see her as a failure, so she never confides in her friends. Her friends are moving ahead in life, while Rosie feels she is standing still, and this is a major struggle for her. 

Desperate for work, she applies to many jobs, barely reading any of the descriptions. This is how she accepts a directing position for a play in a retirement community. 

This was a great story about trusting yourself and leaning on those around you. All of the supporting characters, both young and old, were so well-written and thought-out that I felt I personally knew them all.

It initially seemed like a predictable book, but I was surprised by how different it turned out to be from what I expected. This is my second book by Courtney Walsh, and once again, I was blown away.

Final score: 5/5