Reviews

The Rom-Com Agenda by Jayne Denker

amyhungerford's review against another edition

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2.0

Are we supposed to like and route for Eli or.... Nah?

He is like a less likeable/slightly more delusional Tom from 500 Days of Summer.

Joseph Gordon Levitt People GIF

t_kay's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

nomomstayandread's review against another edition

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3.0

This had a really cute premise and a not very cute execution. Boy gets dumped by girl and spends the time she's away trying to transform into a "better" version of himself via rom-coms and help from his friends. Cute, right?

He spends the whole book trying to win back a girl he dated for four months that doesn't want anything to do with him. He is thoughtless and cruel to the gal who ended up being his girlfriend by the end. I don't have the exact page count but it was over halfway and he hadn't moved on from Girl #1 yet but was kissing girl #2. Girl #2, Leah, only deserves good things.

The writing was find but if this is a series, I'm probably not going to continue. Some of the side characters were cute but I can't deal with a clueless hero like this a second time.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Jayne Decker for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

rusereviews's review against another edition

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3.0

The Rom-Com Agenda by Jayne Denker is a cute contemporary closed-door friends-to-lovers romance. We follow our two main characters with alternating third-person points-of-view. The audiobook clocks in at a little under eleven hours and is narrated by Erika Schindele.

After growing up in the foster care system, Leah is used to feeling alone. She spent the last year back in Willow Cove, taking care of her sick foster mother. Now she has nothing left to tie her to the town and it's time to move on yet again. Eli's ex-girlfriend just flew off to Rome for a year, but he thought their relationship was going amazing. After telling his family and friends how determined he is to get her back, they decide to give him a makeover inside and out.

This was cute, though there were some deeper moments. I especially liked all of the pop culture references, especially to rom-coms. I liked everyone in the friend group, and I hope we get a Delia book sometime in the future. Leah's foster brother Patrick was a major tool. There's some casual queer rep with a bisexual side character, but I wish there were more.

Leah was great and there were a lot of parts of her personality that I identified with. Eli was okay, but I feel like he was stubbornly holding onto his plan to woo back Victoria for a little bit too long. That being said, I really did like the two of them together.

I had a hard time reading the ebook version; for some reason it just wasn't holding my full attention. I think my main issue was with the pacing. There was also some weird information missing, at least in my reading. I don't think I realized Eli's sister's husband was not white until very near the end of the book when he had an offhand comment about having more melanin than his wife. It's possible I missed some references to this but the author could have shown this in other ways.

Once I switched over to the audiobook I had a much better reading experience. I think the narrator did a good job, but with dual POVs I tend to prefer having two different narrators.

Tropes in this book include: found family, slow burn, friends to lovers, small town, closed door

CW: death of parent from cancer (prior to book), description of panic attacks and dissociation

I received a copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

If you want to see more from me, check out my blog and my bookstagram!

#TheRomComAgenda #JayneDenker #ErikaSchindele #DreamscapeMedia #StMartinsGriffin #StMartinsPress #NetGalley #romance #closeddoor #smalltown #foundfamily #friendstolovers #slowburn

ceruleanshelves's review against another edition

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just not feeling it, might come back to continue in the future

lionheart_31's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

nightshade_1's review against another edition

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4.0

₊꒰ ⊹ ࣪—˚Final thoughts

⥼~-✰-~⥽ ☽ ˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚*☾ ⥼~-✰-~⥽


╭⊹ This book was really cute but of a slow burn at the beginning was hard to get into at first.
The whole chemistry between each other was kinda off everyone wants the two to be together.

I really enjoyed Eli character he seemed very cocky in a way trying to impress everyone and Leah even though he has a girlfriend he loves want to keep that friendship with Leah which is understandable so. He did seem so much cocky guy very laid back but when it comes to personal things he’s always there for you 100% he’s the type can rely on

I did enjoy Leah aswell she was a bit hard to like at first she seemed a bit of a pushy friend always tried to get her way but she was always after the one guy who is avaliable for her and her emotions were mixed.

There wasn’t a huge amount of romance in this book just seemed a lot of toxic drama with everyone drama between families which did put a bit of a slow burn to this book which was a disappointing to find out but I gave this 4 stars dispite the lack of romance here it was still an enjoyable read.

I was really happy about the ending everyone had there happy ending with having lots of rollercoasters in the way would definitely be reading something like this again for sure!

jenndunfee's review against another edition

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3.0

This novel was really sweet and cozy. I absolutely loved the movie references throughout along with the movie worthy makeover montage.

The aspect of found family was heartwarming. I felt I ended up more invested in the side characters though versus our main couple of Eli and Leah. I didn't initially buy into their chemistry but like a slow burn, it built over time for me.

alleymb's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

lizvex's review against another edition

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4.0

It took me a minute to get into the story, but once the romance and movie watching started I was HOOKED. Loved this story☺️