Charlie Quinn Lets Go by. Jamie Varon | ARC Review – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice: 🌶️

Title: Charlie Quinn Lets Go

Author: Jamie Varon

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 304

Publication Date: 9/30/25

Publisher: Park Row

Categories: Women’s Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Park Row for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Charlie Quinn has spent her life playing by the rules. But when, on her thirtieth birthday, she is laid off, her boyfriend leaves her because their life is too “predictable” and she spends the night with violent food poisoning, she hits rock bottom at a stunning velocity, and her carefully constructed world unravels.

She has no choice but to return to her childhood home in LA, where her little sister strikes up an Can control freak Charlie go a whole month saying yes to anything her free-spirited sister requests? Charlie agrees, if only to prove that living by one’s whims will result in nothing but disaster and disappointment.

But when a serendipitous encounter with her high school crush leads to a month of steamy no-strings romance, Charlie starts questioning her monotonous existence. Can she learn to loosen her grip, to let go of past heartbreak, to finally say yes to a messy, bold and exciting life?

Content Warning: grief, trauma, parental abandonment

+ Charlie Quinn’s life has turned upside down and for the woman who values control of her life, this is not ideal. Her younger sister, Benny tells her to come home and she does – reluctantly. Home has a different meaning for Charlie who as a kid, didn’t feel safe with her carefree, free-spirited mom who is an actor looking for her big break. Charlie was afraid because her mom didn’t have a stable job and why Charlie worked hard for her job and put her whole self into working. But coming home is something that she needed desperately.

+ While Charlie goes home, she replays nightmares of a moment in her past. She’s in college, meets the man of her dreams and they make plans to travel the world. She’s in love, but it’s clear this story doesn’t have a happy ending and most likely is the trauma that makes Charlie the way she is now. Yes, before meeting him she already felt unlovable – because her dad abandoned the family, but after this time with Noah has made her afraid of love, and wanting joy in her life. I love Charlie’s mom and sister and that their house is a place where people can gather and be themselves (except Charlie I suppose).

+ The romance with Alex, her crush from high school is really cute. I was really rooting for Charlie to embrace their attraction and open up to him. But this is a realistic story and people in trauma don’t open themselves up to happiness that easy, as we see in this story.

+ I really liked the themes that are tackled in this story: family, self-worth, passion versus stability, mental health, and grief. Charlie is not okay, but bottling it up for year was not the right thing to do even though she thought it was. I’m just glad things worked out in the end.

~ Charlie is such a tough nut to crack and she frustrated me with throwing all her anger over everything in her life towards her mom. I wanted to shake her. I understand her fears – her story actually triggered me, and caused me to shed a tear, but wow, was it frustrating to see her take it out on her mom.

~ There is mention about the pandemic and I know some people don’t like that in books. I don’t mind it at all – the pandemic was a change in mindset for a lot of people and it shows it here in this story.

~ There’s a moment that helps Charlie “see the light” so to speak and it feels a bit magical. Not sure that was needed at all and would’ve like it without it.

Final Thoughts:

This was such a quick read, which I appreciated! I loved all the themes about family, self-growth, and love. Charlie really needed to let go, and I hate that she took it out on her mom, but this story was showing a complicated family and that’s realistic. Overall, I enjoyed this one, even though it got a tiny bit triggering for me.