The seat filler is that contemporary romantic comedy that many lovers of the genre will enjoy immensely.
It’s filled with great banter and chemistry, a quirky heroine and a swoon worthy hero.
Their story is a beautiful romance sprinkled with some twists but overall a heartwarming experience.
I wasn’t sold on the ending and how everything solved and how easy he forgives but that’s just me and my feelings.
While it was my first book by the author, I’ll be sure to look up some of her other books because this one was that good.

Netgalley arc 3.5 stars

4.5 stars = I loved it! Would re-read.

This is super fun, with great characters and laugh-out-loud moments. I enjoyed Juliet and Noah as individuals and as a couple. Rom-com fans should be sure to check this one out! (TW: Panic attacks)

Hollywood movie star meets feisty heroine who had a major teen crush on him. Total wish fulfillment! This book is filled with Sariah's Wilson's usual snappy dialogue. It has humor, heart, and chemistry that sizzles off the pages.

I was blessed to get an ARC of this in January. Once I started reading, I was hooked. My only problem was that I wanted to gush about it with my friends, yet it was four months until the release date. This is a book you'll want to talk about, share with friends, recommend to strangers...

Content: cleaninsh (making-out, they almost get to removing an item of clothing but are interrupted, mild innuendo, mild language)

The synopsis for this one sounded promising, but quickly felt a little creepy and stalker-like. This was a DNF for me.

A fun read! Apparently at televised award shows, no one wants to see empty seats, so people are paid (or volunteer, as in this book) to temporarily fill seats that are vacated at different points in the evening. This is the basis for everything that happens in this book. It was a great “meet cute”, for sure, and I felt that the two main characters, Juliet and Noah, had wonderful chemistry. There were some delightfully funny parts, as well as sweet romantic moments. Plus adorable dogs!

Note: Not being an Adam Driver fan (other than enjoying his movies), it was news to me that the author based so much of Noah on Adam Driver, per the acknowledgements at the end, and that made the story I’d just read feel a bit creepy to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Cute romance that would be a great beach read.

I really enjoyed this one. Fun characters, interesting storyline, and some fun pets as well. I recommend it to those who enjoy close door romances.

Juliet Nolan lives in LA, but she doesn’t much care about Hollywood. Sure, she has her movie star crushes (or crush, Noah Douglas, who has held that place in her heart since middle school), but she doesn’t much care about the industry. That is, until her best friend Shelby needs her to help out at an awards show.

Shelby is an interior designer, but her fiance’s mother supplies seat fillers for all the major awards shows. And her fiance’s mother hates her. So when there’s a major awards show and three of her seat fillers call in, Shelby recruits Juliet to help out. And because Shelby is asking, Juliet says yes. She puts on her rented dress and her pink Converse (she figures she’ll be standing a lot and wants to be comfortable), and puts a candy bar in her purse before heading out.

There are specific rules for the seat fillers—they are not to speak to anyone unless spoken to first and they are not to be on television. The idea is to be as invisible as possible. So when her first assignment turns out to be the seat right next to Noah Douglas (THE Noah Douglas!), it takes all of Juliet’s resolve to stay calm. And then when he gets upset with her, asking if she’s a stalker and telling her to get out of the seat that is not hers, she has to explain that she is merely the seat filler, waiting for his date to get back. And just to bring him back down a peg, she tells him that she doesn’t even know who he is.

Their bickering turns flirtatious, and when he finds her after the ceremony, Juliet refuses to believe Shelby when her friend insists that Noah was looking for her to ask her out. Because Juliet thought the idea was ridiculous, she didn’t say anything encouraging, but Shelby handed him one of Juliet’s business cards, for her mobile dog-grooming business.

And Noah does call. He asks her to come clean up his dog Magnus for a photo shoot, and Juliet and Noah start talking. He asks her out again, and again she turns him down. She doesn’t date—not just movie starts, but anyone, and she has her reasons for that—but they can be friends. Noah agrees, and they spend time together, talking and laughing and getting to know each other.

As Juliet gets more comfortable around Noah, she trusts him more and is finally able to open up about why she won’t date. She explains to him that she gets panic attacks about kissing someone. It had started back in high school, got worse in college, and she finally just accepted that she would be single forever. And she was okay with that. Except that the more time she spends around Noah, the more she wants to get past her panic. She likes him and wants to kiss him. She just doesn’t want to feel like she’s having a heart attack when it happens.

Noah agrees to help her with her panic, and as they practice kissing together, and Juliet slowly overcomes her fears, they develop feelings that are more than just friendship. But is possible for a movie star to have a real relationship with a regular person, or is it all just too complicated?

The Seat Filler is the latest romantic comedy from Sariah Wilson, who also wrote Roommaids and a host of other rom coms. It’s a fun story of friendship and love, and her charming characters make you want to root for them to find their happily ever after after all.

I really enjoyed The Seat Filler. It’s a fun and frothy rom com with great characters. But I did have some problems trying believing some of the things that happened. I had to make the choice to suspend my disbelief for some of these scenes, but I was willing to do it because I liked Juliet so much. I really wanted her to be happy. I was also very happy to read about a character in a romance novel who had a fear of kissing, which is apparently a genuine phobia. Kudos to Wilson for that, and for approaching the topic with kindness and understanding.

Egalleys for The Seat Filler were provided by Montlake through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Oh, wow. Wowza. Wowza yumma stuff. Loads of it. So, so good. Swoony everything. I'm having a problem with full and complete sentences, obviously.

The banter? Yeah, top notch. The buildup? Two thumbs up. The kissing? Get my fan and a cold glass of lemonade. No joke. This story was SO. MUCH. YUM. Sigh. I want to go back and read it again right now. I probably should since I read through it so quickly. That happens when you can't put it down. And yeah, now I have a book hangover which is also what happens when you have a book like this. It's hard to move on.

So yeah, read this book. Carve out some time so you don't have to put it down and be angry at the people around you for living and mistakenly assuming you want to leave your book world for the other world we live in. Just giving you a head's up.

Content: PG-13 intimacies (kissing, making out)

- I received a complimentary copy of this book but have since bought my own copy. 😍

A dog groomer getting together with a famous movie star? The movie star helping the dog groomer get over her phobia of kissing? If you said SIGN ME UP to both of these, then this book is for you! ⁣
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The Seat Filler is a perfect vacation read or that book you pick up when you want to read something light, fluffy and happy. I'm sad to say I still haven't read Room Maid but after this one, I will be picking it up pronto. ⁣

Such a fun read! I've been a seat filler in the past and it was never this exciting!

Juliet attends an award show as a favor for a friend and is a seat filler, someone who sits in the empty seats when an actor is out of their seat presenting or accepting an award. She ends up next to Noah, the hot Hollywood heart throb. She pretends not to know him, which makes him intrigued.

The two develop a relationship that tests phobias, establishes trust, and breaks down walls between them. A sweet and lighthearted romance that was a refreshing read.

I liked the back story and thought it was an original way for Noah and Juliet to meet. The book was well written and entertaining and told from Juliet's point of view. It's a slow burn romance between a movie star and the woman he met 'seat filllng' at an awards show. The story itself stands alone, but does contain spoilers for the previous book in the series (Juliet's flat mate), so you might want to read that one first if it's a problem for you. I thought the whole issue re kissing was strange. I did fly through the last few chapters more than I should have, as they didn't capture my attention as much as the first half of the book. Also my pet peeve at the moment; the continual use of the words - basically, totally, literally and, like,... I understand why they might be in dialogue, but they have no place in internal narration. My thanks go to Netgalley and Mortlake for the eArc in return for my opinion. I did enjoy this book. 3.5 stars.

This book was so so so good. I was sad when I had to put it down and so excited to get back into the story. It made me laugh, got me teary and I just overall really, really enjoyed it.

Juliet Nolan doesn't date. When her BFF Shelby is trying to impress her future mother-in-law volunteers herself and Juliet to be seat fillers at an awards show, Juliet grits her teeth and gets through the evening for Shelby. However, she finds herself seated next to her long-time childhood crush, Noah Douglas and she tries not to be gobsmacked. A flip remark from him about her being a stalker while she fills the seat next to him earns him multiple acerbic comments and she pretends not to know who he is. However, in true rom-com fashion, Noah and Juliet fall hard for each other, no matter how much she tries to keep him at arms' length.

The writing in this book is fantastic. I loved it from page one and Juliet is a wonderful, strong and sarcastic heroine. There were multiple times I laughed out loud at the barbs she and Noah trade. This author clearly is witty and charming and I was surprised to read this was based on a true story when she met Adam Driver of Star Wars fame.

If you like light romantic comedies this is the book for you. This is one I would definitely pick up and re-read in the future. Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC, although I will probably buy a copy because I loved it so much.

The Seat Filler by Sariah Wilson was such a fun, feel-good romantic comedy. Reading this story left me with such a light and warm feeling. It was such a cute, humorous and swoony read. I loved the characters and the slow burn build up of their relationship from strangers to friends to lovers.
In this story Juliet is trying to get her life on track. She has a dog grooming business that she's trying to get on track and has a fear of kissing after a few traumatic experiences in high school and college. That means she's never had a boyfriend and the thought of kissing someone puts her in a panic. As a favor for her best friend, Stella finds herself being a seat-filler at an awards show. She finds herself seated next to her favorite actor Noah, and although she isn't meant to talk to anyone, she can't help herself when his arrogance begins to show. To bring his ego down a notch Juliet pretends she doesn't know who Noah really is, but all that does is intrigue him. He soon hires her to groom his dog and so begins this friendship. She is attracted to him and is naive to his advances but when she tells him all she can offer is friendship, he takes it all in stride, never pushing her for more no matter how much he wants to.
Noah is such a kind and patient man. I absolutely loved him and how willing he was to go at Juliet's pace. Being an actor, he is surrounded by fakes and he can't handle liars. What happens when he finds out that Juliet lied about knowing who he was? Will their friendship go further than that? And will Juliet ever kiss someone without going into a panic attack?
I absolutely adored this story. It was a light fun-loving romantic comedy. The chemistry and sexual tension between these two is something to admire. I think Sariah nailed it with this story. It had all the elements of a great romcom and was such a delight to read.

Holy up too late holy book hangover! I thought I'd read a few chapters before bed, but I should have known it was a mistake to try that with one of Sariah's books. Noah and Juliet's story grabbed ahold of me and wouldn't let me go until the sweet happy ending! I won't go into all the plot -- there's tons of other reviewers who will do that -- but I do want to take a minute to say that the way Sariah writes a kissing scene is an art all of it's own. She brings the right amount of chemistry and heat into it without going too far. Another reader commented that just reading about Noah and Juliet's kiss took her breath away. I agree! Of course, there's lots of relationship challenges and growth along the way that make this a touching story with lots of character development that will make you want to know more after the final pages are done. The end of a good book should always be like saying goodbye to a friend. (And... Noah can be my friend any time!)

Thanks to NetGalley and Mantlake for this free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. :) This book is available today, 4/27!

In "The Seat Filler" by Sariah Wilson, dog groomer Juliet helps her best friend for one night by being a seat filler at a swanky Hollywood awards show. To her surprise, she is seated next to her long-time celebrity crush Noah...and then promptly pretends she has no idea who he is, to his consternation and delight. What follows is a fun little friends-to-romance read with an interesting twist.

I zipped right along through this one! It was a sweet, enjoyable, quick read. The ending was extremely satisfying—I was grinning like a fool! The premise was definitely different (MC Juliet has philemaphobia—fear of kissing) and I loved how absolutely sweet and supportive and dreamy Noah was. There were moments when the pacing seemed a little quick, and at times the dialogue felt a little off to me--especially with Juliet. A conflict driven by holding back the truth is frustrating but overall, if you like romcoms, this is the book for you! I also really liked all of the conversations around consent and what it means to be a supportive partner.

Steam: 🔥—lots of kissing, thoughts of desire but no sex scenes.

When Juliet's best friend Shelby asks for a favor to be a seat filler at an awards show, it's the last thing she wants to do. Knowing she would do anything for Shelby, she reluctantly agrees and hopes it is not as dreadful as she anticipates. When she's put in the seat next to famous actor Noah Douglas, her shock and internal fan-girling moment is shut down as soon as he opens his mouth. Wanting to knock him down a few notches, she pretends she has no idea who he is so he can stop talking. Unfortunately for Juliet, Noah is now intrigued by the snarky woman sitting next to him who hasn't even glanced his way and is not affected by his megastar status.

Juliet is a little disappointed but relieved she won't have to see Noah again. Until he calls her mobile pet grooming business and hires her services for his dog. An unlikely friendship blossoms into something more, and soon he is helping her overcome her fear of kissing. But what will happen when Noah discovers Juliet's biggest secret of all - that she's lied all along about not knowing who he is?

This was such a great read with laugh out loud moments. Told from Juliet's POV her internal talks to herself are hilarious. Loved her interactions with Shelby and Noah's cranky neighbor. Overall this is an entertaining book and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and Montlake for the opportunity to read this book.

Juliet Nolan, dog groomer by day and Award Show seat filler by night, meets her childhood star crush, actor Noah Douglas, one such night and pretends not to know of him. Sparks fly, but due to Juliet’s past romantic issues, she tells Noah they can only be friends. Noah convinces Juliet to let him help her get past those pesky issues. During these sessions, Juliet falls hard for Noah but can’t get over the idea that she lied to him early on and knows honesty is a deal breaker for him. She knows she needs to confess, but will he forgive or forget her?

I instantly fell in love with both Juliet and Noah. Their perfect chemistry from the start made me never want to put this book down! Several scenes focus around dogs, and as a dog lover, they made me happy. Sweet, romantic and emotional, The Seat Filler is an excellent rom-com I won’t soon forget!

Juliet is a mobile dog groomer. As a favor to her friend Shelby, Juliet agrees to be a seat-filler at an awards show. Then her long-time celebrity crush sits next to her, Noah Douglas. He comes off as arrogant. In an effort to take him down a notch, she pretends she doesn't know who he is. Needless to say, when she gets an emergency call the next day, she's suspicious. After all, who needs a pet groomer on an emergency basis. Apparently, Noah Douglas.

The story was very sweet, absolutely cute in parts, and romantic in others.  I loved Juliet and Noah together and found myself smiling and laughing - especially in the beginning. The conflict nearing the end seemed a bit forced and extended, but I didn't care. These characters were wonderful. Noah's neighbor and the dogs were an added bonus,

Overall, if you like a super sweet rom-com with fun banter, a kindhearted celebrity, a crabby neighbor, and lovable dogs, then you'll likely enjoy this read.

4.5
/I received an advanced edition of this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book or content of my review./

I’ve read every single book Sariah Wilson has written so it was a no brainer when I got an opportunity to read an ARC copy of The Seat Filler. And I wasn’t disappointed!

This book is written quintessential Wilson style with the perfect meet cute, witty dialogue between Juliet and Noah, and all the feels as they progress from acquaintances to friends to more!

I can’t even begin to list the whys of why I loved this book so much. Maybe it was the backstory of why Ms. Wilson wrote the story (if you don’t know how big of a fan she is of Kylo Ren, you don’t follow her on social media enough). Maybe it was how awesome of a hero Noah is. Maybe it was the unique fear she gave Juliet. All I know is I binged read this in one sitting. Then I told my friends how awesome it was. Then I read it again, you know in case I missed some awesomeness the first time around for reading so fast. Then I waited a couple of months and read again because I had to make sure to convey how awesome the book was for review.

Hopefully I’ve managed to do so. 😉

*I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and was not influenced or required to review it. I did so because the book needs to be on your TBR pile!

Pages: 319 pages
Genre: romance
Pace: medium
Rating: 3 ⭐️

Themes: living with Philemaphobia, friends to lovers, supportive friendships, family baggage, importance of honesty in a relationship

My thoughts: this one had an adorable meet cute that immediately piqued my interest and kept me intrigued throughout. I also loved the premise of a movie star falling in love with an average, dog-loving woman (mostly because I always hoped Leonardo DiCaprio would one day realize he loved me 😂). The setting was also fun, with parts taking place at celebrity awards ceremonies and parties. As far as characters go, I wasn’t a *huge* fan of the leading lady. I personally just think she thought she was funnier than she actually was, and I just didn’t personally click with the dialogue. I’m also not a huge fan of when characters lie to themselves about liking someone (the “we’re just friends” routine). It always feels very middle school to me. That said, the story was cute, incorporated lots of dogs, and had fun Hollywood vibes. I think most rom-com fans will enjoy it.

Who should read: fans of the Tourist Attraction, Happy Ever After Playlist, You had me at Hola