She drives a hard bargain with a woman's touch: WE ALL LIVE HERE.

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I typically enjoy Jojo Moyes, this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It’s engaging, but it treads familiar ground—a struggling, divorced author and mom juggling family chaos and career uncertainty.

Lila is trying to keep life together post-divorce, raising her daughters, Celie and Violet, while sharing a home with her stepfather, Bill, who moved in after her mother passed away. The irony? She built her career on a bestselling book about her "perfect" marriage—one that has since crumbled. Now, she’s under pressure from her publisher to rebrand as a fun, sexy single mom, but inspiration is nowhere to be found.

Enter her long-estranged father, Gene, a charming yet self-absorbed actor. His sudden reappearance stirs up plenty of tension, particularly with Bill, who harbors deep resentment toward him. As Lila struggles with writer’s block, family drama, and personal insecurities, nothing seems to be going as planned.

I had a hard time fully rooting for Lila. While character growth is essential, she often comes across as self-absorbed—neglecting her kids, belittling the kindhearted gardener, and using people's personal stories as writing material without much thought. She also fails to appreciate either of her father figures. Gene, for all his flaws, at least has some heartwarming moments with her daughters, and Bill, despite his quirks (and questionable health-conscious cooking), is endearingly steadfast.

Honestly, I would have loved more from Gene, Bill, and Celie’s perspectives. Their dynamics were more compelling than Lila’s romantic woes, which felt repetitive. While the story is easy to read, it doesn’t break new ground. Lila’s fixation on needing a man overshadowed the strong family bonds already present in her life, which was frustrating.

Overall, this is a quick, readable novel, but not one that will stay with me.

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