The first thing I loved about this book was the fact it’s set the same world as Set On You. It’s one of my all time favourite things authors do. Plus, I found it so easy to get sucked into Tara’s world, probably due to my love of all things bookish.

I definitely think Tara would highly rate this book on her TikTok page. It has all the great tropes, forced proximity, grumpy x sunshine and friends to lovers (plus many more).

The character growth for both Tara and Trevor is done beautifully, too.

A fun and flirty read filled with a host of romantic endeavours for Taylor Swift to write a whole new album.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin General UK for the ARC.

p.s Pascal is a chameleon not a frog ;)

This swoon-worthy novel is intoxicating and will make you fall madly in love with the grumpy x sunshine trope and everything romantic. Amy Lea incorporated a fantastic level of comedy and somehow made this book feel like a massive hug! <3

This is one of the best romcoms I’ve read in a long time. Wonderful heroine who is fun and messy and insecure, coming off the back of being dumped horribly by her fiancé, moves in with allergic-to-relationships gruff, grumpy firefighter. It is funny and delightful, and incredibly emotional too, as they both have some trauma in their past. I absolutely loved the slow burn of Tara and Trevor getting to know each other - I couldn’t get enough of it. It is wonderfully, incredibly romantic, and I loved every page. I’d recommend this book to everyone.

Wow. I went into that book without knowing just how much I would absolutely adore it. I think most romance readers think you need to fall in love with the love interest ultimately, but I think you need to at least side with the protagonist first before getting into that. Most romance authors can do this, even when they're attempting to write a blank slate of a character for you to project on. Amy Lea (author extraordinaire), however, has gone beyond with this protagonist - not only making her relatable enough but so adorably quirky it's beyond any love I have for a protagonist in the romance genre. I love a funny protagonist with some attitude, but to also have a protagonist who has a hilarious inner-dialogue and unique mindset is quite the achievement to get on page in my opinion. I loved every second with Tara, even when she had me cringing along with other characters. I want all the happiness and love for her more than I do for myself! Is this a problem?

I loved watching Trevor and Tara's romance build. They've got such a great basis of friendship and Amy does well not to spoonfeed us with laying his emotions out throughout watching them fall in love. We've read enough romances to know how this goes, so when we get these little moments that might seem 'off' about Trevor's behaviour, we know he's seething with jealousy and internal conflict over his true feelings. The romance crew definitely know what's happening!
It's clear this is a romance book written by a true reader of the genre, trusting the readers will pick up on subtle hints and enjoy the game being played, building a beautiful romance with a trope-loving protagonist whilst simultaneously setting a different story entirely.
The effortlessness of Amy's skill to weave pure hilarity into internal rants and loving banter was so impressive to read. The climax was so realistic for what each of the character's struggle with and although there was drama, none of it will have you banging your head against the wall (which is rare in this genre). Honestly, I loved every second of this story. I'm already salivating over Amy's next book and hope to all hell I can read one of the first copies when it's underway!!

I love Amy lea her books are so feelgood. Really enjoyed this one. I can see why it's popular on tik tok.

Thanks for the arc I will be recommending

This was so sweet and a lot of fun. I highly recommend this if you enjoy romance books. My first book by this author and I plan on reading her debut now as well. Highly recommended.

Fun, exciting and another 5 star book from Amy Lea.

This book is a perfect summer chill out and read, it's a easy read and keep you on your toes.
I enjoy Amy books and love her writing style.

I would happily read this book again and also get Amy next book out.

A romance book that mentions bookstagram, book tropes and quotes the US Office? I was always going to be here for it. Let's be honest.

The female MC Tara is a fellow bookstagrammer with a passion for romance books who is in search of her happily ever after. She becomes hooked on the idea of a second chance romance and makes a list of her ex boyfriends who she reaches out to one by one to see their potential of fulfilling the role of her second chance love story hero but fate has other ideas in the form of her grumpy firefighter roommate Trevor. Despite their not so cute meet-cute the two of them build a relationship that ends up with the usually closed off Trevor slowly dropping his guard revealing parts of himself to Tara showing his vulnerable side. Showing vulnerability doesn't seem to be something Tara has struggled with..if anything I think it's fair to say she could be labelled as an "over-sharer" (the best kind of people usually are ;) ) In other words, opposites definitely attract in this book. There are a few spicy scenes in the book but nothing too much for those who aren't big on smut. I'd say it's just the right amount for the storyline. I loved the whole book but the epilogue specifically was pretty perfect imo. I'm yet to read set on you which is @amylea previous book but you best believe it is now sitting high up on my wishlist after reading this. The sneak peak into her next book sounds like something I'll also enjoy too so I can't wait for that!

I would struggle to be able to review this book due to issues with the file/download. The issues stopped the flow of the book. The issues are:
- Missing words in the middle of sentences
- Stop/start sentences on different lines
- No clear definition of chapters.

Not sure if it was a file/download issue but there were lots of gaps and stops/starts which really ruined the flow. I would love the chance to read a better version as the description of the book appeals to me. I would be more than happy to re-read the book with a better file or as a physical book as the book topic and genre are of interest to me. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

Thanks for my eARC of this book. I really enjoyed what I read but the formatting was such that I couldn’t continue reading. I will buy the ebook when it comes out.

Would you date your exes to try and find second chance love? Tara is an avid booktoker and bookstagrammer and like most of us, she also has her favourite romance tropes. Inspired by her grandma who found second chance love, Tara decides to work her way through her list of exes. On top of this, she has to move into a flat with a guy she’s never met before, Trevor, who has a different girl over every week and is absolutely not looking to settle down. Will she get her second chance love or are the sparks with her new flatmate worth exploring?

This book really pulled me in from the start, I giggled throughout the it and I completely devoured it! In a way I kinda wanted less of the exes and more going on with Trevor but then whole point of the book kinda goes away. The book has quite a few pop culture references so keep that in mind if you don’t like that but it didn’t bother me too much. This was my first Amy Lea book and I’m excited to read Set On You now as well, overall it was a really good read and I highly recommend it!

I really enjoyed the focus on Tara's love of books, and the analysis of different romance tropes within this romance book - very cleverly done. I liked that the romance journey wasn't easy, and that there was a lot of reflection on the past and chasing doomed relationships, as this was far more realistic than a lot of romance books.I wasn't a huge fan of the transcripts from Tara's live-streaming, as it often felt a bit stilted, but otherwise it was an enjoyable read.

A great follow up from Set On You.

Amy Lea is a fan of grand gestures and without spoiling, the one in this book had me heavily hinting to my husband that maybe we should renew our proposal.

I loved so many of the tropes; the slow burn, the forced proximity, the angst moment at the 3/4 part of the book where it looks like they won’t live happily ever after, loved it all!

An enjoyable romcom, filled with great tropes and easily readable. I liked the nods to Booktok and Bookstagram, and it was filled with humour and likable characters!

This is a very cute, forced proximity, grumpy x sunshine, slow burn romance. I'm not normally into the player trope, but I think it was very well done here.
The dynamcs between Tara and Trevor were sweet and funny and I liked that they were good friends before anythig happened between them. I loved Tara and how she was a hopeless romantic and unapologetically herself..
I really recomend it to people who enjoy romcoms and specially if you liked the movie What's your number..
The book is full of pop culture references and that's the only thing I didn't love.
It was a very fun quick read and I'm looking fowards to discover more books by Amy Lea.

"The corner of his mouth quirks up when he notices me blatantly ogling him like a tiger awaiting a hunk of raw, bloody meat."

A great fun romance that was devoured within one sitting!

The female lead is an enjoyable, upbeat character who is searching for a date to a Valentine's Day Gala and next relationship; a history of unlucky in love but not ready to give up. I liked the approach of a female character who wanted the romance not through desperation and nothing else in her life, but looking for romance because that's what she wants in her life.

Our male lead is more secretive who unravels more slower throughout the story but is still very likable and is a humorous partner in crime for the female lead.

The story plays on the female lead as a book influencer and therefore the book includes a lot of romance tropes. I do not think it was over played but intertwined well with the story. The build up of the tension and romance flows smoothly and made it so enticing to sit down and read it all in one evening.

Definitely recommend for lovers of modern romance books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin General UK for an eARC, I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Alex play ‘Blank Space’ and ‘New Romantics’ by T Swift simultaneously please 🎵
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Just went I thought Amy Lea couldn’t get any better, I read Exes & O’s. This book is written for those who have ever been labelled as a ‘crazy ex-girlfriend’ and is a love letter to romance lovers alike.
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Following on from Set On You, Crystal and Scott are moving in together, which means Tara is moving out. Logically Scott offers to ‘swap’ and she moves into his old apartment with his firefighter co-worker Trevor. However, when she moves into her new apartment, meeting her new roommate goes tit’s up… quite literally 😂
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Tara isn’t giving up on love and instead of re-exhausting dating apps, she enlists her new roomie Trevor to help her find her happy ending. She takes a leaf out of Flo’s book and goes through a list of her exes in the hope of having her very own second chance romance story. All I’m going to say is… it’s Trevor who’s on the cover right? Through their escapades, their chemistry continues to grow until it becomes undeniable.

From their first conversation the humour and banter between the main characters is spot on! I was laughing out loud on several occasions. My cheeks were hurting for a considerable period when I was reading because there are so many cute moments, I couldn’t stop smiling!

Also yes, we do get to see Crystal, Scott, Grandma Flo and Hillary of course. I can’t remember what breed of dog she us but I’ve always imagined her like the dog that's in Mary Kate & Ashley’s New York Minute.
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This book won’t hit shelves until January but when it does pick it up, I promise that you won’t be disappointed. I can’t get to see who Amy brings to life next ❤️

thank you to penguin books and net galley for the arc of this book.

ok lets be real can Amy Lea do any wrong in my eyes? no. She's instantly become an instant buy author for me and this book is no different. I will be buying the physical copy don't you worry.

This book is everything I could have wanted and more. A romance book about a bookstagrammer?? helloo?? I related so much to Tara it's unreal (sometimes the way Trevor called out her hopeless romanticness I felt attacked).

Tropes:
- Social Media Influencer (I love this let me pretend I am one of you)
- Forced Proximity
- Friends to Lovers
- Slow Burn

It is a single POV book which is different to many romance books that I read but I love Lea's writing so much - It's almost as if I can guess what Trevor is thinking without needing the storytelling to be split between the two characters.

Tara goes on a questionable journey to reunite with her ex boyfriends hoping for a book worthy second chance romance. Now second chance romance isn't my favourite trope but I do love forced proximity (Hello moving in with Trevor). Trevor helps Tara and tries to teach her how to not scare men off on the first date and make her realise that not every man likes the mention marriage and babies from the get go.

Tara is such a relatable character it was hard not to love her, and I mean who doesn't love a closed off, grumpy, I show no emotions love interest? The two compliment each other perfectly and I cannot be more in love with them if I tried.

I gave this a four stars because at times it felt a little bit too mopey on the exe's (keeping all of the things they gave her) and I just wanted to hit them both so they could see they had EACH OTHER. Another reason being Crystal and Scott still have my heart <3

I cannot recommend this book enough. Please go and get it.

I haven't read Amy Lea's first novel, but I enjoyed this one! It was sweet and charming, and although it was predictable, it was a fun ride anyway. The sex scenes were a bit cringe, but overall it was an easy way to pass a few hours.

Thank you for the ARC for this book!

This is mega slow slow burn at its finest! The tension... Eugh!
Tara and Trevor are so cute together and love the whole instagram/booklover personality that as book lovers we can relate to instantly.
Really lovely fun, flirty and cute book.
Great for a quick and easy read! ❤️