If You Ask Me

Libby Hubscher

Mar 2022 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

When an advice columnist’s picture-perfect life implodes, she opts to go rogue in this hilarious, heartwarming romance from the author of Meet Me in Paradise.

Violet Covington pens Dear Sweetie, the most popular advice column in the state of North Carolina. She has an answer for how to politely handle any difficult situation…until she discovers her husband, Sam, has been cheating on her. Furious and out of sensible solutions, Violet leaves her filter at the door and turns to her column to air her own frustrations. The new, brutally honest Dear Sweetie goes viral, sending more shock waves through Violet’s life. When she burns Sam’s belongings in a front-yard, late-night bonfire, a smoking-hot firefighter named Dez shows up to douse the flames, and an unexpected fling quickly shows potential to become something longer lasting.

A lot of people want to see the old polished Violet return—including her boss, who finds her unpredictability hard to manage, and Sam, who’s begging for another chance. But Dez appreciates Violet just the way she is—in fact, he can’t get enough of her. The right answers don’t come easily when Violet finds herself at her own personal crossroads. But maybe, by getting real, Violet can write her own happy ending.

Ratings and reviews

Four and a half Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒ If You Ask Me by Libby Hubscher is a romantic comedy with an emotional punch. This is not your typical light romcom, but a fun story that also deals with bullying, gaslighting, and mental health issues. Violet Covington writes an advice column for the local Raleigh newspaper under the pen name Dear Sweetie. She writes good solid advice and her column is popular in South Carolina. When she comes home from work early and finds her husband in bed with the neighbor, she goes off the rails a bit. When she burns her husband’s things in the road in front of her house a handsome firefighter, Dex, shows up to put the fire out. The betrayal of her husband puts Violet on a revenge path and her column becomes more bitter and direct than her previous polite advice. Because of this, the column goes viral, and everybody in the country starts reading her blunt advice. But eventually, everything spirals out of control and Violet finds herself almost out of a job, alone, and bitter, and she doesn’t like it. This book is quite the roller coaster of emotions. At first, I thought it was a cute, and predictable romcom, and then it got a bit crazy, and I didn’t like Violet and the choices she was making. But, then Violet realized she was being self-destructive and her path to redemption made this book a very enjoyable and emotional story for me. We had to see her at her worst, in order to appreciate her journey, and I loved how she grew and changed throughout the book. I highly recommend this book to lovers of romance and women’s fiction. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Honestly, it was just okay. a little heavy-handed at times and I could see the author creating scenes to push certain messages out, beyond the advice column. I couldn't get pulled in, and for some reason, even with the backstory, Dez doesn't seem like a real/full character.

About the author

Libby Hubscher is an author and scientist. She studied biology at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and holds a doctor of philosophy degree in molecular toxicology from North Carolina State University. Her work has appeared online and in textbooks, scientific journals, and literary journals. Her short story "The Unwelcome Guest" was long-listed for the Wigleaf Top 50 in 2018. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, two young children, and a menagerie of pets.