THE SEAT FILLER is a standalone contemporary romance by Sariah Wilson. This will appeal to romance fans who enjoy stories in which a celebrity falls in love with a regular person. Juliet Nolan is a dog groomer who recently started supplementing her income by helping a friend of a friend and acting as a “seat filler”. As a seat filler, Juliet fills out gaps at events, so the tv camera doesn’t pan out and capture an empty look in the crowd. At one such event, Juliet winds up sitting next to the wildly successful and handsome movie star Noah Douglas. Depending on your perspective, they have the opposite of a meet-cute. Noah comes off a bit grumbly and Juliet doesn’t take his bs. Even though she obviously recognizes him, she plays it off like she doesn’t. A move that you just know will inevitably come back to bite her later. This introductory interaction is a little reminiscent of the antagonistic encounters between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet from Jane Austen’s classic PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

Because THE SEAT FILLER is told strictly from Juliet’s perspective, you can’t help but empathize with her more. It also reinforces the celebrity otherness of Noah. There is plenty of snarky flirting going on for the first part of the book, before Noah charms Juliet totally and they get to know each other better. Although Juliet initially tries to create some distance between her and Noah while he pursues her, friends and circumstances keep throwing them together until she stops resisting. A lot of this story is fantastical in some respects as well as being fun, and sexy brain candy, but there is a lot of emotional punch packed in the story too. You root for this couple as the story progresses, and the deep conversations and witty banter add complexity to this romance. Even though one of the two main characters is a celebrity, both characters are realistically flawed. The biggest obstacle to a HEA for these characters comes from them. Juliet and Noah each have their own baggage to work through before they can accept happiness. There is a tiny amount of romance related angst near the end of THE SEAT FILLER, but it doesn’t last long.

THE SEAT FILLER is a compelling story, and an emotionally powerful romance with complex characters. Sariah Wilson adds enough humor and sexy tidbits to balance the drama. I loved the secondary romance involving Juliet’s BFF. I don’t know if Sariah Wilson previously released the story of how they met and their early romance, but I would be interested in reading that. I look forward to reading Sariah Wilson’s next book.

Philemaphobia - the intense fear of kissing...

It all started as a favour for a friend... she never thought she’d meet a celebrity and she certainly never dreamed she’d ever kiss him! Kissing therapy with a movie star? Sign me up! 💋💄

In true Wilson style, the author spins a romantic comedy that is clean and swoony, fast-paced and humourous, with delightful characters. Wilson based this story on her own celebrity movie star crush and she included a few Easter eggs throughout the book which were also fun to try to spot. And, unlike the ending to the famous movie, this one has a happily ever after finish!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and chose to leave an honest review. I definitely recommend this book.

Noah and Juliet were so cute, and I found myself so happy with their relationship. The rapport and banter and dialogue was always so entertaining and refreshing, I enjoyed it so much. It was so well written and I really see myself going back to re-read again and again. So good!

This was a really cute and sweet with a hollywood celebraity angle and I really enjoyed reading it.

Juliet meets celeb Noah at an awards show when she fills the seat next to him. She acts like she has no idea who is when he is her celeb crush. He falls for her and finds out she is a dog groomer and chases after her.

This was a tame romance and a slow burn romance. I enjoyed the quirky characters and I loved watching Noah fall hard for Juliet. I am a big fan of this authors reading style and I really enjoyed this story about a regular, quirky girl finding love with her celeb crush.

The Seat Filler was such a cute story! Juliet and Noah were so much fun - I was rooting for them from the beginning. If you're looking for a lighter read, look no further.

The Seat Filler by Sariah Wilson
Publication Date: April 27, 2021 - Available Now!
.
Description from NetGalley...
It’s one of Hollywood’s biggest nights when Juliet Nolan volunteers as a seat filler and winds up next to movie heartthrob Noah freaking Douglas. Tongue tied and toes curling in her pink Converse, she pretends that she doesn’t have a clue who he is. It’s the only way to keep from swooning.

She’s pretty and unpretentious, loves his dog, and is not a worshipping fan. No way Noah’s giving up on her, even if his affectionate pursuit comes with a bump: Juliet has a pathological fear of kissing and the disappointments that follow. What odds does romance have without that momentous, stupendous, once-in-a-lifetime first smooch? Patient, empathetic, and carrying personal burdens of his own, Noah suggests a remedy: they rehearse.
.
Thank you to @netgalley @amazonbooks #montlake for the digital ARC in return for my honest review.
.
My thoughts...
Smiling all the way. There was a nice flow and an ease to the narration of this book that I read it right through. Maybe I was just in the mood, but I really enjoyed this book. I’m a big Keanu Reeves fan so I pictured him as Noah. I connected quickly to the characters and of course, any book with a great dog story in it is a plus for me! I appreciated the necessary “drama” wasn’t prolonged and I thought her narrative of philemaphobia, or philematophobia was so interesting. Definitely a great weekend and beach read.
.
.
I waited to post this review because I wanted to wait after our book chat with Sariah Wilson. Honestly, she was so kind and generous with her words that this book has become even more endearing. Thank you so much @sariahwilson411 you were so fun!

Sariah Wilson is one of my go to authors and she delivered in The Seat Filler! I was captivated from the first page to the last!

I voluntarily reviewed this book.

Did you know fear of kissing is a legitimate fear? This premise was so unique I had to see what it was about.

Juliet is 24 and she’s never really been kissed. After a traumatic experience in her youth she’s pushed men away and refuses to get into a relationship that would lead to any kind of lip locking. When she meets the man of her dreams, dreamy super star Noah Douglas...they hit it off but can she overcome her phobia?

This was freaking adorable! I was hooked from the first “meet cute” which is literally the best. Noah is so sweet, and so down right patient with Juliet’s fears — it really makes him so endearing. I was a big Noah fan from his cheesy one liners to his late night cereal habit.

Also I have to put it out there. I definitely feel like he was patterned after real life Adam Driver? Anyone else pick up on that vibe...because I was down for it.

Juliet and Noah have sizzling chemistry as they “practice” kissing and warming Juliet up to the idea of that kind of physical relationship. It’s adorable and electric and downright addictive.

If you are looking for your next summer rom com, make this it! 4.5 stars

*clean content overall, although the push for more is insinuated ♥️

The only thing I got from this book, is that Adam driver needs to get a restraining order against this woman. Who takes all the public known facts about someone, good or trauma related and writes it in a book! I hated this so much. It made me cringe and I can’t believe that I read the whole thing.

Warning: reading this book may give you a book hangover! A book hangover is 1) the inability to start a new book because you are living in the last book's world, 2) the inability to function at work/school because you were up all night binge-reading.

Juliet is doing a favor for her roommate/best friend and takes a job as a seat filler. It's a real thing--ordinary people like us get all dressed up and sit in assigned seats at award shows, so when the camera pans the audience there aren't any empty seats. There are a few rules like no interacting with the stars in the seats around you and make sure you're sitting when they come back from commercials. Sounds easy right? Well, those simple rules lead to the best meet-cute and some of the funniest scenes when Juliet finds herself seated by her long-time crush Noah freaking Douglas!!

Oh. My. Gosh. Ladies turn on the A/C and get out ALL the fans--hand fans, table top fans, tower fans, ceiling fans! There are SO many swoony kisses in this book. Why? Because our sweet Juliet was traumatized when she was 14 and has philemaphobia--the intense fear of kissing--and what's a better way to get over something than by exposure to it? So Noah and Juliet practice kissing.

I loved Juliet. She's sweet and tries to help her best friend which is why she was helping with the seat filler gig. The thoughts in her head are hilarious, especially when they aren't thoughts and she actually speaks them. When she described her lack of dancing skills it made me think of Elaine on the TV show Seinfeld. LOL "One time at a dance in junior high, a chaperone literally pulled me off the dance floor because she thought I was having a seizure, so I don't do that in public anymore."

I loved Noah too. He's not one of the stuck up Hollywood types, and I liked that he was living in a house with hardly any furniture. His banter with Juliet had me laughing out loud so many times. One of my favorite comebacks of Noah to Juliet was "Which makes you ...what? Schrodinger's seat filler?"

Once you start this book you won't want to stop to do anything else so be prepared. You've been warned. I received a complimentary copy from the publisher Montlake via NetGalley. All thoughts expressed in my review are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded intriguing to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have
decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

Loved this read! Couldn't put it down and decided to read it all in one sitting, definatly did not disapoint! Thankyou author!

I have really mixed feelings on this one.

On one hand I felt like it was adorable and I loved Juliet - loved her quirks and that she was a dog groomer. I can almost always get sucked into a pro-dog book! I liked Noah and thought he was a great leading man! They had some cute banter together. I also ADORED the cranky neighbor and loved her role! I could have done with more of her lol

On the other hand ... a lot of this felt weird to me. I just can't get behind being OBSESSED with a celebrity and then dating them. I'm sure it's everyone's fantasy come true, but it came off a little bit creepy at times. Especially when Juliet denies even knowing who Noah is. Girl. Come on. When Juliet is asking Noah "getting to know you" questions it felt so creepy. She even says how this is her chance to know what he won't tell the tabloids. GIRL. COME ON.

I don't think it's horribly written and I would read another book by Sariah Wilson, I'm not put off by her writing. But over all there were just too many moments of "ew" and "weird" for me in this one for me to LOVE it. Cute idea and cute concept - just not the best execution.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free ebook of this in exchange for my honest review.*

A dog groomer (Juliet) does a friend a favor and ends up sitting next to her biggest celebrity crush (Noah), who she pretends to not know at all. They hit it off, he ends up hiring her for dog care, they fall into something north of lust and south of love and the truth comes out. Will they be able to overcome her lie-by-omission?

It’s been a little while since I opened a review with a summary like that, but for this book, it seemed fitting. The meet cute is creative, but the secret-keeping situation is going to be such a red flag for some readers, I wanted it right up front. I’m not a huge fan of ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop’ stories, and this one was carried for me on the strength of the world building, and the mood I was in while reading.

When I picked up The Seat Filler, I’d just finished another of Ms. Wilson’s books The Room Maid, which is also full of well-worn tropes that she manages to inject with freshness. Your mileage may vary, therefore, on your enjoyment of the book based on the tropes she employs, and because the publisher’s summaries don’t often identify them, I’ve started being really, really upfront.

Other tropes in The Seat Filler? The ‘business-type arrangement of sexual experimentation leads to true love’ (Juliet gets panic attacks when she kisses someone, Noah offers to help her overcome the trigger), and ‘quirky every girl lands famous dude’ (Noah is fashioned VERY BLATANTLY after Adam Driver).

Speaking of Adam Driver…

In the world of transformative works (otherwise known as fanfiction), there’s a device known as a ‘self-insert’. This is where the author writes an original character and inserts that character into the world of the fandom they’re writing in, for example, writing themselves as a student at Hogwarts. It is really hard to not think of The Seat Filler as a self-insert story, I can’t lie. I obviously don’t know Ms. Wilson at all, but this book follows a lot of the beats of a self-insert. The hero is generally perfect except that he has a broodiness only the heroine can cure; the heroine is the one with flaws that can be fixed by the power of the hero’s love. The author’s note at the end calls out that Noah is Adam Driver and thanks him - but in the way that makes me feel like no one actually sought permission. Which I don’t think anyone has to, it’s just a choice to make it this blatant that I personally wouldn’t have made.

THAT BEING SAID. I had a good time with this book! Juliet was a bag of quirks and Noah brooded with the best of them, but I knew what I was getting going in and enjoyed my time there. Let me know if you felt the same!

Buy it at: Amazon, Audible, or your local independent retailer
Visit our Amazon Storefront

This one - it was charming, had cute dogs, and heart. It had a lot going for it. And who doesn't, on occasion, love a normal person meets famous person and sparks fly story? I know I always have.

The story started off strong. moved along nicely, and was well written.

However, I felt it made light of Juliet's strong fear of kissing (for a years long phobia, she's magically cured in just a few dates?), as well as the boundaries someone with no-low communication with toxic family needs to adhere to. Juliet's unfortunate best friend seemed to exist in a problem filled vacuum so the reader can see how much Juliet cares for her and tries to improve her life.

Cute, but with some insurmountable issues. This had potential but missed the mark.

I received this a eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Sariah Wilson, Montlake, and Netgalley.

When Juliet agreed to attend an awards ceremony as a favor for a friend she never imagined that she would get to sit next to Noah, the celebrity actor who was the star of her daydreams. She thought it was a dream come true until she begins to realize that he is nothing like she expected and not in a good way so she refuses to acknowledge who he is.

Noah is a successful actor who is used to being around people because of his status and not because of who he is. Juliet is unlike anyone he has ever met before and he realizes that he wants to know more about this fascinating woman as what starts as a friendship evolves into a slow burning romance between two people whose lives collided under the most unlikely of circumstances.

The characters draw you in and the author finds a great balance between the humor and emotion of the story.

This was a really cute book! Juliet and Noah's meet cute was adorable. Noah was an actor and was up for an award. Juliet was a seat filler for the award ceremony. She was assigned to the seat next to Noah. This meet cute started a friendship that of course turned into love. They both had some issues to sort through to get to their HEA.

This was a really cute story about a dog groomer, Juliet, who gets seated next to superstar Noah Douglass when she is volunteering as a seat filler. The immediate interaction between the two is really funny and such a great start to the book.

I will admit it lost me a little in the middle, I felt like I had a hard time getting into it past the initial meet-cute, but by the end, I was invested! I was rooting for Juliet, Noah--even Noah's lovable dog and Juliet's best friend.

I don't always read the acknowledgments but I'm glad I did for this one, if only to learn who inspired this story! It is also amazing to know that the proceeds of the book were sent to Arts in the Armed Forces, which I really appreciated!

Overall, I enjoyed this. It will definitely make you want to make out with someone, so beware!

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for an advanced copy of this and the opportunity to share my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This could have been a really sweet romance but ended up being just okay for me. It bugs me when the heroine of a romance book spends the whole book thinking the guy would never like someone like her even though he’s been so obvious about how much he likes her. The conflict at the end was too much for me, it was just too much build up to it and ended up being super dramatic.

I didn’t know anything about Adam Driver before reading this but learning that every single detail of Noah Douglas was taken from Adam Driver’s life is just too much. Being slightly inspired by a celebrity is okay but this just made me feel super uncomfortable. Not a fan.

3.5*

This was a fun premise for a book. Noah and Juliet's first meeting was pretty comical. She's trying to not interact with anyone per her contract as a seat filler during a big Hollywood awards ceremony. Sit in the seat so the cameras don't catch any empty seats, leave when the attendee returns. Simple and easy. Except when the person you're sitting next to is your life time crush, and who is determined to get you out of the seat and to have you not be some crazed fan. So play aloof and uninterested.

Juliet is a bit of a spitfire but I love her personality. She was very fun and some of her internal thoughts (and let's be honest a lot of her vocal thoughts) had me laughing out loud a lot of the book. Especially when she was saying things out loud that she thought were just her thoughts. Hahaha! That was a funny scene. I could just imagine Noah standing there smirking and trying not to laugh too hard.

The book is told only from Juliet's POV. Which works great and keeps Noah as a brooding character until she really starts to get to know him. And boy do they break down those barriers fast. I really liked the way that their characters meshed together and had this great friend connection. Of course there are sparks and great chemistry as well but with Juliet's fear of kissing and her history she's very protective of her heart and draws the friend line very firmly.

I kept waiting for some big hoorah to happen that would big the conflict of the book but it didn't quite come like I thought it would. There is a conflict and something that happens in the beginning that carries throughout the whole book and makes Juliet worried about what will happen with their relationship when it's revealed. It worked but to me it felt like Noah's reaction was a little bigger than what I would have thought. And maybe that's not the right way to describe it. There was just something that felt a little off for me. But I'm sure other readers will probably enjoy it. And I should clarify that I did like it. I can see and understand both Juliet and Noah's reasons behind everything, maybe it was just what I said that I felt his reaction was bigger than I expected.

Overall it was a cute story. Fun, flirty and a cute premise.

Content: Sariah Wilson can write characters with great chemistry like nobody's business. This book didn't dive into the characters having sex with each other but the steam level is definitely a few steps above squeaky clean. The premise is about a character who has a kissing phobia and these two dive into helping her overcome that with practice. So there are several scenes of kissing and flirting and touching. The touching is just on the arms and neck and face, etc. The kissing does turn intense and there are a couple make out scenes. At one point near the end of the book, Noah does remove his shirt as they kiss and the kissing becomes more intense and Juliet's thoughts are that she doesn't mind what happens if they keep kissing like this, but they are interrupted with a phone call. At another point in the story the characters sleep in the same bed, no kissing or anything, just sleeping.
The characters also drink alcohol and talk about not drinking too much because of becoming drunk and without inhibitions.

I received a copy from the publisher, Montlake, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!