Definitely better now A novel

After years of struggling with addiction to drugs and alcohol, Emma has been sober for a full year. She keeps her head down at her job as a marketing assistant. When her computer crashes while she's composing a speech to commemorate her first year of sobriety, Ben, the company's IT manager, arrives to fix it, and there's an immediate attraction. But Emma has never been in a relationship while sober, and her nervousness threatens to derail everything. She's also continuing to work through ongoing family issues, especially with her father, whose own struggle with alcoholism darkened Emma's childhood. In her debut, Robinson presents Emma's sobriety as a rebirth of sorts, showing how complex it can be to rebuild a life as an adult. Thoughtfully presented details about alcoholism and sobriety add realism to Emma's story, and while serious issues such as addiction, trauma, and terminal illness are major plot points, there's a hopeful tone throughout, and plenty of humor. Fans of Natalie Sue's I Hope This Finds You Well (2024) will cheer for Emma as she learns to navigate her new life.

Robinson debuts with an appealing chronicle of a 20-something woman as she enters her second year of sobriety. Though Emma Finley still struggles with feelings of self-hatred, she takes tentative steps to reveal her true self to Ben Nowak, the cute IT director at her Manhattan office, where she works in marketing. After she fumbles her first one-on-one conversation with Ben, the pair end up spending time together planning the office holiday party. Rumors fly about them, even as they remain friends and Emma tries to guard her privacy. Tensions arise when Emma's alcoholic father, Robert, visits out of the blue, leading her to suspect there's something he's not telling her. After Robert leaves, Emma learns he's dying of liver cancer, and the stress causes her to undermine her burgeoning connection with Ben. Robinson offers a detailed and convincing look at Emma's recovery as she attempts to overcome her tendency to self-sabotage and worries she'll scare off Ben with her grief and then relapse. There's raw honesty on every page, and the narrative ends with a moment of well-earned hope. Readers will find much to like. Agent: Jamie Carr, Book Group. (Dec.)