Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It

by Brooke Averick ★★★★★

By most accounts, Phoebe Berman is succeeding at life. Just a month shy of her thirtieth birthday, she has a job (pre-K teacher) she loves and she's great at, and she has a tight-knit group of friends who love and support her. She's respected and liked by her fellow teachers, and she is first in line to become the new assistant principal at the school. But when it comes to her love life, Phoebe is a mess. A first kiss that went horribly wrong has scarred her for life and created a series of neuroses around dating and intimacy, and thirty days before she turns thirty she is still a virgin.

That looming milestone birthday is the trigger that sparks action in Phoebe. While out at her favorite neighborhood bar for trivia night with her friends, Phoebe announces she's determined to lose her virginity before her twenties are gone. As is her custom, her OCD means a checklist is in order, and Phoebe meticulously crafts a series of small steps and meet-cutes she plans to accomplish that will force her out of her discomfort zone and hopefully lead to a connection with the man of her dreams.

There's a problem, though: Phoebe has no game. Thirty years of celibacy and panicked avoidance of intimacy have left her painfully (and hilariously) awkward when it comes to flirting and social interactions with men she's attracted to. Small items on her checklist intended to spark a connection, like "Compliment a stranger on his outfit" go sideways when Phoebe gets involved. For instance, determined to cross that item off her list, she tells a guy at her favorite bar that she likes his shoes without even looking at them, only to see he's wearing a walking boot for an injured foot:

"I panic. 'I meant your shirt. I like your shirt.'

'Thanks?' he says. His Pac-Man gets eaten, and he offers me one last confused look before stepping back from the machine and walking toward the bathroom.

I follow him, unable to resist the urge to overexplain myself.

'It's not that I don't like your shoe," I say as he disappears into the bathroom. 'I just think your shirt is really a standout piece!'"

The door slams shut in my face."

Despite all of the awkwardness, Phoebe actually has prospects, and before long she finds herself torn between not one, not two, but three options that each fit a different romance trope. There's a friends-to-lovers option with her gorgeous best friend and roommate, there's a workplace romance with the hot new 4th grade teacher, and there's the blast-from-the-past guy from high school she has reconnected with. As Phoebe tries to navigate her neuroses and fill this one big hole in her life, we get to come along for the ride.

It's quirky and charming, and it was without a doubt the funniest book I've read this year. Phoebe is a lovable main character, and her struggles make for a refreshing new angle from which to experience a romance novel. As first-time author Brooke Averick notes of 'typical' romance novels in a foreword, "I always find myself wondering: Where’s the part before the first date where our main character can’t get off the toilet thanks to a bout of anxious diarrhea? Or the part where she freaks out and cancels the date altogether?" Averick acknowledges it's because "anxiety is not romantic. It’s messy and uncomfortable and funny and sad, and all these things make it incredibly difficult to create a modern-day fairy tale," but kudos to her for tackling a tougher path to romantic happiness for her main character in support of drawing attention to what is a reality for some. The payoff is a main character and a story that feel wholesome and real and perhaps even more romantic as a result.

I wouldn't change anything about this one. Have fun falling in love with Phoebe and cheering her along her journey towards finally finding love; you won't regret it.

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Quick Facts

• Title: Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It

• Author: Brooke Averick

• Publisher: Crown

• Release Date: May 26, 2026

• Format: Ebook

• ISBN-13: 979-8217088270

• Pages: 296