A House Full of Windsor by Kristin Contino

☆☆☆☆
.ePUB, 274 pages
Expected Publication: July 13th 2021 by Get Red PR - Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing

About the Book:
Sarah Percy's career depends on New Yorkers taking her household advice as gospel. "Sarah Says" used to be the most popular segment on the city's top morning show, but ratings are down and it looks like Sarah might not have a tip for everything, after all... especially when her mother gets involved. Debbie Windsor, Sarah's mother, is a shopaholic and compulsive hoarder, a secret Sarah has worked tirelessly to hide her entire life. Debbie was always fascinated by royalty, but when her real-life love story started to parallel Princess Diana's, she turned to collecting royal souvenirs to fill the void. Leaving her husband's native England and relocating the family to her hometown in Pennsylvania doesn't help the situation, and two decades later the house is a royal mess. Debbie's safety is on the line, but she brushes off any attempts her family makes to help. When Sarah's brother gets a job on Stuff, a TV show about compulsive hoarding, he nominates their mother for an episode and promises his famous sister's participation. Backed into a corner, Sarah and Debbie agree, but everyone has something at stake whether the episode does or doesn't go off without a hitch. With both family and romantic relationships on the line--including the connection between Sarah and the show's sexy host, and Debbie's budding romance with a local shopkeeper --long-buried secrets and resentment must come to the surface for the family to move on.

My Review:

I absolutely adored this book--from the very first word until the very last. Contino's characters in this story are an utter delight, and I would have happily hung out with them while they cleaned out their mother's (Debbie) home. I especially loved the before parts, where we get an inside look at Debbie's thoughts and feelings and why she started hoarding in the first place, Alan was an absolute bastard.

The brilliance of this novel goes well beyond characters. It's really a grown up coming of age story, as Debbie wrestles with cleaning out her hoard for the television show Stuff...of which her son is a producer. While debbie deals with what to keep, what to throw away and what to donate she also has to deal with her feelings from the past. That leads Debbie to flee to London to confront her ex and her children follow suit...not to mention the Stuff's host and star!

Finding a heartfelt yet witty book, with an ending that made me smile, is not easy right now...and I love how I felt and looked at the world after reading this. If you want a little bit of magic in your life, this is the book for you.

Disclosure:
Thank you NetGalley, Kristin Contino and Get Red PR - Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

#AHouseFullOfWndsor #NetGalley