Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan
Releasing May 26, 2026
Rating: LOVED

Dolly! I want to be her BFF! Where do I even start with how much I loved Dolly All the Time? I swear I love every Annabel Monaghan book just a little bit more than the last one, if that’s even possible.

Oldest child of three, Dolly—now a 39-year-old single mom and Boston kindergarten teacher—has always taken care of everyone, even before her worthless mom took off on the family. She moves back to her small Rhode Island hometown for the summer to help her dad and brother after a house fire, and jumps back into life at the family fish house.

A serendipitous meet-cute with billionaire workaholic and town celebrity Stewart, who’s trying to get the CEO job at his family’s company, starts up a fake relationship. Dolly needs money to get her dad a new roof and Stewart needs to look like there’s more to his life than work.

As the oldest daughter and family caretaker, and former single mom, I can so relate to Dolly (though I have a great mom and didn’t need to take care of my whole fam growing up). But of course she’s WAY funnier than I am and so caring and selfless. So many of her quips and lines I had to reread a bunch just to enjoy the humor and wit. Sentence after sentence of Dolly All the Time just packs a perfect punch every time.

And I loved Dolly and Stewart together—not going to say too much. Loved them together, the connection they had, the way these two people from different worlds got to know each other and find love. Except I’ll say I’m still a little salty at Stewart. The characters are so heartfelt, unique, real (even though Gus is way sweeter than any 13-year-old boy I’ve ever met). I felt like I was there with everyone at the fish house, the family home, Stewart’s mansion, wherever. I don’t know what it is about Annabel Monaghan’s writing that’s so perfect, it just is.

Thank you to Putnam Books for my advance copy of Dolly All the Time. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

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