“Daddy Issues”, Kate Goldbeck
Published November 18, 2025
At 26, Sam Pulaski expected to be thriving in her academic career, living on her own in some exciting city. Expectations, meet reality. She has massive student loans from studying art history, a dead-end service industry job, a situationship that’s equal parts intoxicating and toxic. And she’s been crashing in her mom’s condo—at least it’s not a basement?—for the last five years. If she can finally get accepted into a PhD program and get out of Ohio, the adult life that’s been on hold for half her twenties will finally begin.
Her mom’s new neighbor, Nick, is the ultimate grownup. His adult life began the moment his nine-year-old daughter, Kira, was born. Her happiness is Nick’s only priority, especially in the wake of divorce. There’s nothing he won’t do for Kira–including giving up his globetrotting career for something more stable…like managing a chain restaurant.
Sam has zero interest in an ultra-dependable guy pushing forty; frankly, she’s a little afraid of kids. But with just one thin wall separating the two condos, Nick proves difficult to avoid. His quiet confidence forces Sam to grapple with the other men in her her emotionally derelict friend-with-benefits and her actually-derelict father. As her unexpected connection with Nick heats up (and steams up his minivan windows), Sam finds herself falling fast for a man whose life is steady and settled–while hers is anything but.
Kate had me in a chokehold the second she teased the cover over the chorus of “Relationships” by HAIM.
When I got the ARC, I geared myself up for a smart, sexy rom-com with emotional baggage and a side of snark. I was ready for 2.0 of her debut novel You, Again—a divisive story, but I loved how real and imperfect the main characters were. Indeed, Kate has once again proven herself the reigning queen of messy, realistic characters who live, love, and spiral like actual humans.
The FMC, Sam, collects comic books (or…her dad did and left her boxes before he went to the corner store and never returned). Her favorite character also happens to be Magneto. Without getting into it too much, the Magneto and paternal abandonment parallels in this book was inspired, made more poignant with pop culture nerdery that still somehow boasts emotional depth. She also reacts to the infuriating mistakes that small children make the same way I would in a fit of anger, and this gave me so much joy to read. (Tbf, Nick’s daughter doodled on a prized comic book even after Sam told her how much she values the collection.)
I was so into this book that when I finished, I literally went to Chili’s to celebrate. (Partly because I needed a victory margarita, partly because Kate Goldbeck had the audacity to make a Chili’s manager a compelling romantic lead.)
Five stars, one Chili’s dinner, and zero regrets splurging on a signed copy.
Content Warnings
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of content and trigger warnings.
abandonment • sexual content
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Owned: Eagle Eye Bookshop signed & personalized paperback