Episode 1: Dolly All the Time (Four Stars and Up Podcast)

In the first episode of the Four Stars and Up Podcast, friends Jen, Shelly, and Ashley introduce their show concept: only reading books rated 4 stars and up on Goodreads (at selection time), plus their reading habits and genres. They discuss Dolly All the Time by Annabelle Monaghan (4.3 stars on Goodreads), summarized as a fake-dating romance between 39-year-old single mom Dolly Brick and wealthy CEO Stuart Whitfield, involving a $60,000 deal, a gala fallout, time apart, Dolly rebuilding her life into a bakery, and Stuart returning committed to her and her son.

All three hosts rate it under 4 stars (about 3.2–3.7), citing predictability, low stakes, and underdeveloped family/plot, while praising humor, Naomi, and some realistic moments. They answer prompt questions (casting Dolly/Stuart, birth order, and “ick” moments like not knowing basic skills), share other book recs, and close with non-book 4-star picks.

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 Ever finish a book your book club picked and think, "Why did I just read that?" Yeah, me too, and that's why we started this show.

Welcome to Four Stars and Up three friends only read books rated four stars or higher on Goodreads. So going in, you already know it'll actually be good. Well, hopefully.

Every episode, one of us picks a highly rated book, breaks it down, and we all rate it ourselves to see if we agree with the Internet we answer four book questions, dig in, and finish with other four-star things we experienced that month, books we read, shows we watched, things we bought and loved, random things we're loving.

Four Stars and Up, three friends, zero bad books. Follow now so you don't miss out on an episode.