"Every facet of you is sparkling right now. You're so bright, you're blinding."

I love a good love story.

Love Story is a romance focusing on Sophie and Joe. Sophie Taylor, school teacher by day is hiding a big secret. She's Este Cox, the mysterious author that has the whole world captivated by her debut romance novel, Butterflies. Joe Walsh is the arrogant Marketing Director... and he happens to know Sophie's secret. When a home town trip ends up with serious questions asked, Joe covers for Sophie, and she can't tell why. But there's something about Joe she can't avoid, and the chemistry between them is growing. She might be the biggest romance writer in the world, but can she let herself have her own love story?

The premise of this book really fascinated me. A small town romance with a secret author, seemed right up my street. I tore through this book so fast, really enjoying it. My favourite thing about this book though, is the acknowledgemnt and the confrontation about women reading and writing romance. So many people have such negative opinions and as readers, were supposed to have some grand and deep reason why we like them, like they're supposed to have some grand literary relevace to be worthy of being read. But I have to agree with Charlotte, there's enough negativity and bad, downright depressing things in the world. Reading romance books for me anyway, offers some much needed lightheartedness and escapism into a world I would much rather live in. The whole interaction with Chloe Kahn was perfect, and healed me in a way I wasn't expecting going into this book. The fact this book also champions some of my favourite authors *cough Sarah Adams and Emily Henry cough* made me feel validated and it was refreshing to read these authors getting the praise they deserve.

As much as I agreed with Charlotte, she is potentially my least favourite character of all time. I'm not sure whether the point of her character was to move the plot along, but the entitlement, and bratiness was extreme. Constantly going through her sisters things is one thing, and it's something me and my sister are guilty of doing, but demanding to have your sisters belongings, (and don't even get me started on the parents in this scene) and trying to make a scene, for once again going through her things and finding information that she wasn't privy too is something else entirely. I have never, in my life, wanted to reach into my kindle and slap a character so much in my life.

An interesting thing in this was the way Sophie differentiated between Colin and CJ. It was a really fascinating way of knowing the person he was before and afetr writing his book. The scene at the birthday party was equal parts entertaining and infuriating with the way he spoke about Sophie and her book. It really drove the point home about the difference between when people thought Joe was the author and when people found out Sophie was the author.

Joe is a really hard character to pin down, and honestly, I'm still not sure how I feel about him. He was bit too extreme with his hot and cold attitude, and while he had a secret of his own, I thought it could have been handeled a bit better. He said some really amazingly sweet to Sophie and the chemistry between them had me on the edge of my seat, but it seemed a little bit superficial.

Sophie though, she may be one of my favourite characters. It felt as though she had been plucked straight from brain, and I really felt like I saw myself in her so much, it made me feel incredibly seen. I liked her flaws, and the way she is around other people, theres a very different version of Sophie, depending on who she is with, and each version was enjoyable to read. It also interesting the way she doesn't trust anyone, which feels likea reflection of the scret she's keeping, and once the truth is out, it's so interesting to see how things had changed with her as a person and around her family. Her hopes and fears, made her a really complex character, it made every emotion I had reading this heightened, and it felt like it was my closest friend going through it.

I wish the ending had been a bit more fleshed out. The main issue I had with this book was the ending feeling rushed and a bit forced, which was completley at odds with the rest of the book. Everything leading up to the last chapter was so intriguing and kept the pages turning, but the quickness with the way things were resolved just left quite a bit to be desired. An apology and the forgivness was just too quick for me personally, and going into the last chapter I wasn't sure how it was going to be resolved, and I think it needed one more chapter. But that's just me.

It was a really fun romance, and the banter about the signature tropes of a romance book, as well as the conversation about romance books in genral was just so fun for me. This book is an easy 4 stars.

ARC provided by HarperCollins through NetGalley, thank you for the opportunity to read this early copy, all thoughts are my own.

I was first introduced to Lindsey Kelk when I got a free copy of her book, I Heart New York, in my Cosmo magazine. I ended up meeting her a few years later (in 2013) when she was doing a signing for her book, I Heart Christmas at my local WHSmith store. I was quite nervous about meeting her but I remember having such a fun and easy conversation with her, we spoke about our love for Ryan Gosling (I too,was and still am a massive Gos fan) her books and writing. I was so excited to hear about her latest novel Love Story, which is an enemies to lovers, close proximity romance.

The story follows Sophie Taylor, a primary school teacher, who leads a double life as the mysterious author behind the spicy romance novel, Butterflies, published under the pseudonym Este Cox. Despite her literary success, Sophie fears of disappointing her parents – her father, the renowned book editor Hugh Taylor, and her mother, the feared literary critic Pandora Taylor. She worries about being judged for writing a steamy chick-lit novel that lacks the depth of the more traditional books her parents work on.

Sophie's carefully guarded secret is at risk of being exposed by Joe Walsh, the hot senior creative director working on her book. But when Joe unexpectedly shows up at Sophie's parents' home to celebrate her dad’s birthday weekend, things become more than just complicated. Sophie finds herself in a precarious position, desperately trying to protect her secret identity while also trying to stay away from the charming and persistent Joe.

This was such a fun read with trademark Lindsey Kelk banter. I loved how she approached the criticism surrounding romance or ‘chick lit’ novels, it was so refreshing. It’s because of stories like these I no longer feel embarrassed when people ask me what book I’m reading and can proudly carry a book of a topless man holding a woman in a night dress on the cover!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the digital arc!

Thank you NetGalley & Harper Collins for allowing me to be an ARC reader for this book!

⚠️⚠️⚠️ WARNING, SPOILERS AND TRIGGER WARNING MENTION OF S HARASSMENT⚠️⚠️⚠️

……

After reading ‘Love Me Do’ By Lindsey Kelk, i was super excited to hear she has a new book coming out called ‘Love Story’. I rated ‘Love Me Do’ 4 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so had high hopes for this book!

……

For me, this book was a little underwhelming. I LOVED the concept of a secret identity and the main character Sophie Taylor battling with her parents finding out who she really is; with their background in Publishing and Writing, being a Romance author was looked down upon. I also enjoyed the banter between the characters, especially the sibling relationship between Sophie and her brother William, likewise between Sophie and her sister Charlotte when Sophie hears that Charlotte is obsessed with her book. The Dad’s eccentric character was also enjoyable, especially the scene where he is dressed as a clown and wants everyone’s opinions on his outfit. I didn’t personally enjoy the amount of pop culture references within the story. This might be something others enjoy, but it’s just not for me. Tiktok was mentioned on the first page, and then there’s mentions of Youtube, real life books like Iron Flame, there’s a page where there’s a list of Authors (about 3 lines) different actors, TV shows, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Britney Spears etc. The characters commenting on book tropes was a no from me. For me, reading is an escape from reality so the constant reminder was a tad cringy.
I felt the relationship between Sophie and Joe was a bit shallow. Joe was arrogant and rude from the start, and when you meet his Dad he is even more rude and misogynistic. I didn’t understand how or where Sophie found Joe attractive as they hated each other but in the next chapter they couldn’t stop thinking about each other. I think that their relationship needed a bit more depth and screen time, as i felt Joe hadn’t redeemed himself from being so rude. Lastly, i felt there should have been a trigger warning for a sexual harassment scene. This was my least favourite thing in the book, feeling out of place and made me feel quite uncomfortable. The Aunt had shut her and Joe in an upstairs bedroom and was coming on to him against his consent and this was sort of laughed off and then the book moved on.
All in all, i rated this book 2.5⭐️⭐️ (rounded up to 3 on GoodReads and NetGalley)

I loved the dynamics between the characters, and there were lots of laugh out loud moments (bordered on a farce during the party). The discussions about being judged on what you read were interesting. And well...the love story between Joe and Sophie...some racy moments and it's definitely complicated!

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

This was a simple, fun, easy and quick read. The perfect type of book for your holiday, beach, pool kind of read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Ahhhh I loved this book! I found Sophie so relatable and endearing and the way her feelings for Joe developed felt very natural to me. Needless to say I shall be buying more LK books soon!

2.5⭐️ rounded up to 3⭐️
Sophie Taylor has a secret and Joe Walsh is the last person she'd tell. He’s devilishly handsome, incredibly hot – and far too sure of himself.
But Sophie desperately needs his help.
Because she's not just hiding something small. She is Este Cox, the mysterious romance author the entire world is desperate to unmask.
When a trip to the countryside means sharing a cottage with only one bed, it’s a short step to sharing a whole lot more besides… Can Sophie trust Joe with the truth – and be herself?

I struggled with this book, the story was nice but didn’t grip me. I found myself skim reading just to get through it, I was bored a lot of the time.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in return for an honest review.

*3.5

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book and the chemistry between the characters was amazing! I'm a huge fan of Lindsey Kelk and her I Heart... series, and this was a bit racier than her usual romances. I did find the main character quite annoying for a lot of it though, she would do anything but admit she wrote this best selling book, even though her life was falling apart because of the lies!

Ultimately I enjoyed the book and found it very readable, despite some scenarios being far fetched

Hilarious - and full of messy frenetic energy - like there’s all these people in the room - all talking at once 😲

Sophie is a schoolteacher, she’s penned a best selling romance but is keeping it secret from her literary snob parents - and the rest of the world. Joe is also in the publishing business, a bit of a hot shot, newly landed in the UK from New York.

Most of the book happens over a 60th birthday weekend. There’s secrets and subterfuge and people pretending to be things they’re not, and a bossy little sister (Charlotte of the main character energy) and work rivals, overbearing relatives and an ex-boyfriend. Some deliciousness and meta-moments with all the romance tropes. There’s frenemies and archness and smugness and subplots of the subplots. Is it too much? Yes and no.... I just had to keep on reading to keep up.

I loved the frantic slapstick energy of it but I also wanted a moment of stillness where the main characters could catch their breath, and so could I. Sophie has so many layers of secrets that she really needs to think for a minute, if only she’d have the opportunity… She’s brittle and judgy, but maybe I would be too with all that going on?

It’s only a l’il steamy 🌶 - and the growing connection between Sophie and Joe is only one part of this big messy whole. A plot twist at 80% gives us a third act break up but let’s face it they’ve only been together for three days - how much trust is there really going to be? So funny and packed full of shenanigans, this is quite the read. Recommended💖
Thank you NetGalley, Lindsey Kelk and HarperCollins for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

Sophie & Este ✍️

🦋Sophie’s having lunch with her godfather Malcolm before leaving to take the train to her father’s 60th birthday party. He’s also her editor father’s friend and the publisher of Sophie’s best selling book Butterflies, which she has published under a secret alias.

🎤When the publisher’s creative director Joe arrives, the sparks fly, and not in a good way. But one thing leads to another and the two land up afternoon drinking and singing karaoke together before Sophie gets on that train.

🚝On the other side, she realises she has left her laptop along the journey, together with best seller and the draft of the sequel. The romcom starts as Sophie and Joe go to great lengths to keep her identity as the author Este secret.

📚With a fast moving pace, loads of current culture references and several nods to the romance genre, I love the suble layers and messages in this story. Sophie’s mother and father are firm in their “literary” preferences and they don’t bother hiding their thoughts about romance writing. When the partygoers believe Joe is the mystery author, the prejudice suddenly switches and he is praised. None of this commentary feels unbelievable, and I love how Lindsey Kelk has woven these lessons through her love story. Supportive brothers, best friends, hot publishing guys, a questionable ex, this story delivers.

Read an eARC copy courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher
My rating 4.5/5 - ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫
Pub Date 4 Jul 2024

What. A. Book!
Brilliantly funny, uplifting, pulsing with great romance and with a plot that feels like a real breath of fresh air, it's so original and new!
The characters were hilarious and so warm and the banter between them, the dialogues were one of the best I've ever read - sharp, clever, quick, making me laugh. Sure, the story sometimes felt too much and overdone, there were some iffy scenes, but on the whole it was so entertaining, so different, that to hell with iffy scenes, too much and overdone - it was a great, great read and it's not always easy for the author to write a funny book without trying to be funny- Lindsey Kelk can do this easily. The comedic timing makes even the most hilarious and unbelievable moments believable.

I wouldn't say no to a sequel, to be honest, I desperately want to know what is going to happen with the main characters. But also with Charlotte, to be honest, she was real gas.

And just so you know, I'm a proud romance reader.

REVIEW
Sophie Taylor is the daughter of esteemed literary parents. Knowing her parents would look down on her for writing a spicy romance novel, she uses the pen name Este Cox. But when she loses her laptop with the sequel to her hit book, it's charming but cocky Joe Walsh who finds it. The disgruntled pair find themselves sharing a cottage at her father's birthday weekend, but can she continue to keep her secret when her younger sister discovers the manuscript?

I always love Lindsey Kelk's books, so I was excited to read this story. And there was lots to enjoy. I loved the first half of the story. I liked Sophie immediately and could empathise with her need to keep her author identity separate from her job as a teacher. I struggled a little more with her need to keep it secret from everyone else in her life (except her brother and Mal). That said, the snobbery surrounding romance as a genre, and here, specifically, spicy romance was well-observed. Sarah, Sophie’s childhood friend, was hilarious. I loved the scene where Sophie finally told her about the book. I also loved Sophie's relationship with her brother, William. He was so supportive, and I enjoyed the banter between the two siblings and William's husband, Sanjit. I also loved how he spoke to Sophie’s ex, CJ. However, I found Sophie’s sister, Charlotte, quite obnoxious, and her storyline felt totally unrealistic. I also quickly found all of the pop culture references (particularly the numerous TS ones) tiring and gimmicky, and there was a literal paragraph-long list of romance authors namechecked at one point which just felt needless.
I did like Joe and there was clearly an attraction between him and Sophie. I ADORED Joe's takedown of Sophie’s obnoxious ex. I also loved their first night together in the cottage, and the movie reference with the sheet was perfect. But, I was expecting so much more from a book called 'Love Story'. I expected more swoon and romance. While I love a good instalove novella, I'm not fond of that trope in a full-length novel, and I struggled to believe the love story or the chemistry. The book was spicier than Kelk's previous books, but at the same time didn't fully commit to it. It was more of a peek inside the door than open. And while I'm more than happy to read books with any level of spice (even zero), the entire plot focused on a REALLY spicy book, with some really swoon-worthy quotes, and I kept wanting to read that one instead. I'm rarely a fan of a third-act breakup, especially when the entire story takes place over a weekend! So, even though we were left with a Happy For Now ending, it all felt a bit rushed and disappointing.
What I did enjoy was the enthusiasm for Sophie/Esme's book from the romance community. From the die-hard fans to how much readers covet special edition books. But, ultimately, I couldn't help but wish I was reading 'Butterflies' instead of this book. Hopefully, I'll prefer the author's next story.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. Love Story is published on 4th July in the UK*

Favourite Quotes:

‘Chapter seventeen kept me awake all night,’ Joe said, moving as close as it was humanly possible to be without making contact. I could feel his lips on my ear even though we weren’t quite touching. ‘Chapter seventeen might keep me awake forever.’

I loved this book! It would be a perfect summer read! Fun, flirty and thriving!

Lindsey kelk has done it again and I loved every second of this book. Our main character Sophie has a BIG secret. And then loses her bag which could reveal this secret to the world!

The couple in the book do not get of the the best start but it certainly heats up! And I think I had a soft spot for Joe from his first scene!

I've given it 5 stars, however I wish it had an epilogue because I just needed more!

Lindsey is a feel-good rom-com writer. You always know what you're getting when picking up one of her books, and this one was well in line with my expectations on romance and humour. Her books are so easy to read and this one was no different- the main character was relatable and funny. I enjoyed Lindsey wandering into the world of spice, albeit briefly, she pulled it off well. I do however wish that something happened between the love interests a bit sooner- I felt like we waited a while for the inevitable!

📚Arc Book Review 📚

Genres: Romance
Narration: First-person POV
Pub Date: July 4, 2024

First of all, I want to thank NetGalley for granting me this arc💖

🚨My rating for this book is not accurate, to leave a review I had to leave a rating and I didn't want to leave a low one🚨

I’m so sorry to say that I couldn't finish this book. I was more than halfway through it and not much was happening apart from the drama of who Este Cox was. The book felt slow but it also felt fast at the same time… I don’t know if that even makes sense😅. I was 250 pages into it and I think it all happened in the lapse of two/three days. There were a lot of spelling errors in the book that confused me most of the time. Sophie and Joe were giving me whiplash with their mood swings since they were fighting one second, ok the next, and then fighting again. It also bothered me how her sister got away with everything and no one did anything about it. Some of the characters were annoying and I felt like it was too soon for the FMC to think about being or not being in love with the MMC after meeting him for two/three days.

I must admit that I liked the banter and enjoyed the references to other books, authors, actors, etc.

Absolutely loved this it's the best romcom I've read for a long time, really funny, entertaining, full of sizzling chemistry and delivers such an accurate response to literary snobbery about romance books/female authors!
Fabulous

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Where do I begin ?
This book has my heart 🩷 I loved this book. It had me smiling and laughing from chapter to chapter which I find is missed in a few romance books.

This book was truly a page turner, it held my attention more than others and I couldn’t put it down. I finished the book super fast because I couldn’t wait to see how the story played out.

Near the end of the book there is a little miscommunication trope which I’m not a big fan of but I fairly enjoyed it in this book !

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the beautiful cover of Love Story ! ✨

Kelk’s writing style is such a delight and I am looking forward to reading more of her work ! 📚


*Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Uk, Harperfiction for providing me this arc in return for an honest review*

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback. Thank you Harper Collins UK and NetGalley!

I read this at the perfect time because I finished it the night before I went to The Eras Tour!

Sophie Taylor is a publishing nepo baby that decided to make her own path and become a teacher. BUT she’s hiding a big secret from her family. Can she survive a crazy weekend surrounded by the who’s who of the book world including having to share a cabin with the handsome and confident Joe Walsh without spilling her secret?

I absolutely love the way that Lindsey Kelk writes her female main characters and it’s what keeps me coming back for more. This was an endearing story that had me laughing out loud one minute and frustrated the next (with it being enemies to lovers) but ultimately it left me with Butterflies.

I also felt that some really interesting and important points were made within the book surrounding the perception of the romance genre in the publishing industry and the influence of booktok.

Lindsey Kelk never disappoints - what a brilliant new read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Este Cox - a best selling author with her new book Butterflies hitting the charts - but who is Este Cox? Written under pseudonym, the author tries to protect her identity from fear of what her family would think.
From a family of writers and publishers, Sophie is the eldest daughter and a respectable teacher whose family always thought she’d write. Younger sister Charlotte has taken a gap year, a hit on booktok and opened a book store. Obsessed with Butterflies, she’s determined to unveil the authors identity… unknowingly knowing her all along.

Muchly based on fantasy, Butterflies explores ‘love’ from a women’s prospective and very erotic - a world apart from Sophie current ‘love story’
Over a birthday weekend celebration, many secrets unfold and truths told. Sophie’s ex, currently interested and family collide - what could go wrong!?

Thank you to NetGallery & Harper Collins for a copy of Love Story published July 2024!

3.75 stars

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the ARC.

Lindsey Kelk's 'Love Story' was such an easy and enjoyable read for me. I really loved the story, the characters and the banter. There's so many banter!!! And I love books that are written for book lovers. I knew I was going to love this after reading the first couple of chapters and I can tell you that it did not disappoint.

I loved(!) the chemistry between Joe and Sophie. There was so much sexual tension between these two characters and I was blushing and kicking my feet every time. Although, I think it could've used a bit more time to deliver their chemistry, and the plot twist towards the end kind of made me not root for Joe and Sophie ending up together.

The reason why I gave this a 3.75 is because, even though I enjoyed this book a lot, I had an issue with one of the scenes between the aunt and Joe. It was meant to be funny but I felt really uncomfortable reading it and honestly, there wasn't any need to add it into the book.