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bookreviewsbyjules's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley for this book in exchange for my honest review!
This was a really cute story - it definitely reminded me of the classic Rom com movies from the 90s. Anyone who likes romance movies should adore this book I would definitely reread this book!
This was a really cute story - it definitely reminded me of the classic Rom com movies from the 90s. Anyone who likes romance movies should adore this book I would definitely reread this book!
clizk425's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
lara_bookish_turtle's review against another edition
1.0
Eli is the most annoying man I've ever had to read about. His inability to move on with life after a 4 month breakup was pathetic and frustrating, and not in a cute way. I think if the female MC had been that insufferable there would be nothing but criticism, so not sure why it would be cute in a man? And it's not like he had a good personality to even make up for it! Just a walking ick!
I can't remember the last time I actively didn't want the couple to end up together, there was somehow negative chemistry between them. But I really think that's mainly due to my hatred of Eli, my opinions about everything else were neutral.
I can't remember the last time I actively didn't want the couple to end up together, there was somehow negative chemistry between them. But I really think that's mainly due to my hatred of Eli, my opinions about everything else were neutral.
bookblurbs13's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this so badly, in fact, as someone with a little bit of a rom-com obsession, I expected this to be a 5-star read. I loved the idea of it - guy gets dumped by the love of his life so his sister and friends rally around him to make him the ideal man of rom-com dreams to help him get her back. An amazing plot that unfortunately fell flat for me.
My list of issues with this book is pretty extensive:
-To start, all of the characters seem extremely one-dimensional. We know nothing about Eli or his friends except for the fact that Eli is in love with Victoria and his friends hate her
-The author seemed to be aiming toward a more YA crowd with the word “woke” being used 5 times in one paragraph
-Eli’s obsession with a girl he dated for less than 6 months who is clearly not interested in him was bizarre
-Eli’s sister and his friends were insufferable. Their insistence on making him an entirely new person to win back a girl they didn’t even like felt gross and just plain mean
-The characters themselves felt like just that - characters. They didn’t feel like real people, they all felt like exaggerated tropes
-Leah’s foster brother was a nightmare
-Leah having a job at every business in town just felt like a convenient way to have her show up in every situation. It felt clumsy and awkward
This book was not for me, but if you are obsessed with 90’s and 00’s rom-coms maybe give this one a shot, you may have a different opinion than me!
Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and Jayne Denker for the opportunity to review this book!
Read more at:
Website: https://bookblurbs13.wixsite.com/reviews
Instagram: @bookblurbs13 - https://www.instagram.com/bookblurbs13/
My list of issues with this book is pretty extensive:
-To start, all of the characters seem extremely one-dimensional. We know nothing about Eli or his friends except for the fact that Eli is in love with Victoria and his friends hate her
-The author seemed to be aiming toward a more YA crowd with the word “woke” being used 5 times in one paragraph
-Eli’s obsession with a girl he dated for less than 6 months who is clearly not interested in him was bizarre
-Eli’s sister and his friends were insufferable. Their insistence on making him an entirely new person to win back a girl they didn’t even like felt gross and just plain mean
-The characters themselves felt like just that - characters. They didn’t feel like real people, they all felt like exaggerated tropes
-Leah’s foster brother was a nightmare
-Leah having a job at every business in town just felt like a convenient way to have her show up in every situation. It felt clumsy and awkward
This book was not for me, but if you are obsessed with 90’s and 00’s rom-coms maybe give this one a shot, you may have a different opinion than me!
Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and Jayne Denker for the opportunity to review this book!
Read more at:
Website: https://bookblurbs13.wixsite.com/reviews
Instagram: @bookblurbs13 - https://www.instagram.com/bookblurbs13/
bookblurbs13's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this so badly, in fact, as someone with a little bit of a rom-com obsession, I expected this to be a 5-star read. I loved the idea of it - guy gets dumped by the love of his life so his sister and friends rally around him to make him the ideal man of rom-com dreams to help him get her back. An amazing plot that unfortunately fell flat for me.
My list of issues with this book is pretty extensive:
-To start, all of the characters seem extremely one-dimensional. We know nothing about Eli or his friends except for the fact that Eli is in love with Victoria and his friends hate her
-The author seemed to be aiming toward a more YA crowd with the word “woke” being used 5 times in one paragraph
-Eli’s obsession with a girl he dated for less than 6 months who is clearly not interested in him was bizarre
-Eli’s sister and his friends were insufferable. Their insistence on making him an entirely new person to win back a girl they didn’t even like felt gross and just plain mean
-The characters themselves felt like just that - characters. They didn’t feel like real people, they all felt like exaggerated tropes
-Leah’s foster brother was a nightmare
-Leah having a job at every business in town just felt like a convenient way to have her show up in every situation. It felt clumsy and awkward
This book was not for me, but if you are obsessed with 90’s and 00’s rom-coms maybe give this one a shot, you may have a different opinion than me!
Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and Jayne Denker for the opportunity to review this book!
My list of issues with this book is pretty extensive:
-To start, all of the characters seem extremely one-dimensional. We know nothing about Eli or his friends except for the fact that Eli is in love with Victoria and his friends hate her
-The author seemed to be aiming toward a more YA crowd with the word “woke” being used 5 times in one paragraph
-Eli’s obsession with a girl he dated for less than 6 months who is clearly not interested in him was bizarre
-Eli’s sister and his friends were insufferable. Their insistence on making him an entirely new person to win back a girl they didn’t even like felt gross and just plain mean
-The characters themselves felt like just that - characters. They didn’t feel like real people, they all felt like exaggerated tropes
-Leah’s foster brother was a nightmare
-Leah having a job at every business in town just felt like a convenient way to have her show up in every situation. It felt clumsy and awkward
This book was not for me, but if you are obsessed with 90’s and 00’s rom-coms maybe give this one a shot, you may have a different opinion than me!
Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and Jayne Denker for the opportunity to review this book!
sherwoodreads's review against another edition
A fun middle-of-the-night insomnia read. I liked the small town and the found-family aspect, always tropes that will draw me. I really liked Leah, and her wistful but practical quest for a home of her own, while she took care of a grumpy old lady and avoided that lady's hilariously awful heir.
The romance was lovely when it finally happened, but it took far too long. I did enjoy all the other aspects, though: for me, this story was more about Leah finding her place, with bonus romance, rather than a romance from beginning to end.
The romance was lovely when it finally happened, but it took far too long. I did enjoy all the other aspects, though: for me, this story was more about Leah finding her place, with bonus romance, rather than a romance from beginning to end.
amyhungerford's review against another edition
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.
He is like a less likeable/slightly more delusional Tom from 500 Days of Summer.
t_kay's review against another edition
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
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.
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
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
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