Book Review: Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up by Charish Reid

‘Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up’ by Charish Reid was released in 2023. I happened across it when I was browsing recommended romance novels after finishing another romcom. I was immediately enamoured with the idea of older characters finding love, since it seemed that most of my romance reads before them were about people in their early to mid-twenties, not their thirties and forties. I quickly added this story to my TBR and found it on BookBeat, where I listened to the audiobook.

I really enjoyed Mickey and Deigo’s romance, because it was clearly a love story that bloomed in the background, not one that came to be through a series of dates. I love a good strangers to lovers story, especially when there are stakes – the kicker here? Mickey is an ajunct – a part-time lecturer at her university, without the job security of tenure, and Deigo, a mature student, has just enrolled in her summer class. And to make things worse, due to only having one class to teach that summer, Mickey needed a second job, something she could do on the side to top up her finances and pay for her expensive thyroid medication. She just so happens to get a job at The Saloon, the bar owned by none other than Deigo.

I feared when I began reading this book that the imbalances of power would make this an uncomfortable reading experiences, since both Mickey and Deigo were in positions of power above one another, with Mickey’s grades impacting Deigo’s schooling, and Deigo being capable of firing her and leaving her effectively penniless. Instead of a heated, toxic relationship, I was delighted to see a relationship that formed on a level playing field, where they made it clear that Mr Acosta was Professor Chambers’ student, and Mickey and Deigo’s employee. There would be no blurring of those lines, regardless of the lack of an HR policy preventing them from getting feelings involved.

My favourite part of this book was, by far, the way that Mickey is completely respectful toward Deigo’s late wife, Lucia, a lovely woman who was vibrant, stylish and fun-loving, and coaxed Deigo out of his shell. There is nothing to fear when it comes to Mickey being jealous of her, and the version of Deigo she knew. I love how unbothered she is by the fact Deigo had a wife in the past. She is so kind and thoughtful when she approached anything to do with Lucia, even ensuring she was remembered and immortalised in a book that contained all of the signature cocktails she made for the bar when she was alive, cocktails that weren’t on the menu much anymore. It was amazing to see such a mature response to grief, moving on, and finding love again. Reid did an impeccable job handling such heavy subjects with respect and kindness. I loved it.

This book was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed getting to see Mickey and Deigo let their walls down and fall in love! I would definitely recommend it!