The Love Hack... I'm not sure where to begin with this one. When I read the synopsis I thought it was going to be another 4 or 5-star read for me, but I have to settle on a 3.

The overall plot had a ton of potential but I felt like the story was all over the place, and Lucy was not the most likeable main character. She was super wishy-washy and her timeline jumped so frequently it was hard to keep straight. This book was not the rom-com I was expecting, but felt more like a "dear diary" and was a bit of a letdown for me. I'm not one to be super critical of books. I wish the author had done this one as a dual POV to give us Ross' perspective as well. That would've been a great dynamic for the reader and made things more intriguing when things were revealed toward the end of the story.

Overall, it was an okay read that I didn't hate, but not one I would read again.

The Love Hack is an easy read, with a plot that I've observed before in other book, however, it's well-written, good-humored, and made me think of the huge benefit that being on the other's shoes and empathise with their feelings and hurts helps us understand our own and to move forward on whatever might be holding us. It's good entertainment for a few hours.
I thank Ms. Ranald, her publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

although the concept was really cool and I loved the whole advice column excerpt thingy, it wasn’t executed the best and I didn’t really love the characters too much…

characters:didn't have too much depth and the fmc spent too much time in the past making her less likable and relatable I guess
relationship/romance: idk there wasn't too much, and I didn't love them enough to enjoy the romance?
idea:loved the idea and all the entries were pretty cute!!

idk I just wasn't super invested, but it was enjoyable enough to want to keep reading

"The Love Hack" follows Lucy, a new online advice columnist for men, under the pseudonym "Ask Adam." Despite knowing little about men, she faces another challenge: her attractive coworker, Ross, whose presence makes her blush. Having been betrayed by a past coworker-turned-boyfriend, Lucy is reluctant to pursue a relationship. Lucy's life is further complicated by her sister's marriage to a controlling man. At a bachelorette party, Lucy sees Ross kissing another bridesmaid, leading her to distance herself from him to avoid heartache. Despite this, working closely with Ross helps Lucy understand men better and grow into her role, while their friendship deepens. However, Ross's continued involvement with the bridesmaid dampens Lucy's romantic hopes.

The story explores Lucy's journey of self-discovery, building self-esteem, and learning about relationships through her "Ask Adam" column. The book blends humor, romance, and valuable relationship insights, making it a delightful summer read.

This was a cute story of a woman pretending to be a man writing an advice column for men. She starts off using the advice of her sister who provides snarky, rather cynical responses, but comes to soften up regarding why men might have the problems they’re writing about. As she tries to advise men how to deal with the women in their lives, she has her own questions about the young man in her office to whom she’s attracted. And then she has worries about the marriage of her beautiful younger sister.

I enjoyed reading the letters she writes with advice while she’s still rather clueless herself about the young man in her life. She’s shy and awkward, at least in her own minde, but not so much in real life. She also finds out that AI can help her understand and write responses to the men writing in for advice.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

DNF 3 chapters in. I tried reading and listening but found this book boring and did not care for the direction it was heading in.

I wanted to like this book because the premise of a cute office romance between two journalists is always intriguing. Unfortunately, this book was not a hit for me.

Lucy, an amateur journalist has become an advice columnist posing as a man giving advice to the male readers. Despite a promise made to herself to never have another office romance, she finds herself falling for a cute fellow journalist, Ross.

There was more of a concentration on the relationships Lucy had with her sister, her past relationship and her column, where the romance part was barely a blip in the book. There were moments that were funny and cute, but very few and far between. Unfortunately this was not the book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm publishing for the opportunity to provide a fair review of the book.

I wanted to rate The Love Hack higher. I feel like it started out well but I was a little bit underwhelmed overall. I feel like Lucy was very self deprecating at times, I did like her but she certainly wouldn't go down as one of my favourite FMCs. I enjoyed the banter between her and her work colleagues and Ross was really adorable. As with most of Sophie's books there's an amazing cat who is an integral part of the story. I've read a few really good books by Sophie but unfortunately, I was just a little bit let down by this one.

I enjoyed the first 15% of the book and couldn't get past the 30% mark.

The introduction of the characters was okay, the story had potential but the dialogues were lacking.

A lot of unneccessary inner monologue that didn't bring anything interesting to the story and felt like "filler", making it hard to want to keep reading. Plus the story didn't move at a fast pace.

For me, it is a bit ridiculous that a woman in her late twenties is begging her sister to basically do her job?!

Okay, she helped her coming up with the idea but the FMC expected her to keep helping her???

Also making up this whole story from the first time she met Ross, that he is into her. And being jealous of Bryoni? When they had only talked 3 times, max.

A sweet and touching romance with a bit of feel-good bits in it. After being hurt, Lucy has worn off men, but she learns to open her heart again over the course of the book. Definitely a heartwarming read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
0.5🌶/5

Lucy is a technology editor who suddenly loses her job and has to move to a rival magazine and in a position she lacks experience in: relationships. I thought there would be more romance in this book than there was but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it anyway. It was a story about finding yourself and overcoming situations where you think you wouldn't be able to and the people that can help you along the way. It also had a healthy amount of sister relationship and the sacrifices that we sometimes make for the benefit of others; and of course falling in love. I loved the slowburn of Lucy and Ross' relationship and how they navigated around their feelings. There was so much surprising complexity in this that I wasn't expecting but it was still really easy to read!

I picked up this book just by the cover and the promise of a romance but this wasn’t really a romance to me. I didn’t feel any chemistry between Ross and Lucy. It was mostly about Lucy, her issues, her insecurities, the relationship with her sister, her new job, her relationship with her ex, her cat and just a bit about Ross.

The book was repetitive and frustrating at times. Each chapter just going in circles and giving us crumbs of a plot.

The writing is good and I think the side characters were great, but Lucy didn’t give me what I needed from her as a main character. And Ross as the love interest was infuriating and didn’t give me that butterflies feeling book boyfriends give me in romances. And he was mostly in another relationship for most of the book. They both just fell flat for me.

I also didn’t like her narrative of making all men untrustworthy and unreliable, just because she had one bad experience. And at the end I feel like she didn’t really learn anything or change her behavior. She just stayed the same from beginning to end.

I’m not saying it is a bad book. I wish I had been more invested, but this book just wasn’t for me.

This was a bit of a let down for me. It seemed like such an interesting concept but the plot was just kind of all over the place. Lucy as Adam was probably the most interesting part of the whole story. Her crush on Ross honestly was not a huge draw for me. It felt so forced and just not that great in my opinion.

I really wanted to love this. The cover and description drew me in and I had really high hopes, but it just didn't hit the mark for me. I didn't find myself rooting for the characters. Bummed, because it had a lot of potential.

A slow burn that had me hooked! I typically lose interest in slow burn romances, but the tension and story line kept me turning pages! Lucy took a step out of her comfort zone suggesting to take a job with Max! As a woman. She was very quick to show her value to not only her boss but many of her coworkers. One coworker in particular noticed her more and more everyday. Ross’ and Lucy’s desks were facing each other. This allowed the sparks to fly in the middle of the workday with the quick glances and blushing! The tension between Lucy and Ross kept me waiting for their moment to finally notice each other with the correct timing! Overall, would very much recommend to anyone and everyone!

The Love Hack

Lucy is on the verge of being laid off and in a last ditch effort she agrees to write for the men’s magazine as an advice columnist the only problem is she doesn’t understand men and therefore she turns to AI to help her write her responses. This novel is described as “relatable rom com that will have you laughing and crying as you race through the pages”……. Ummm 😬



I could not handle Lucy’s naivety about pretty much everything. Almost every person in her life treats her unbelievably bad. I think the most frustrating part of The Love Hack was Lucy’s relationship with her sister. Emily and her internalized misogyny were too much for me. The romance was minuscule and I would have loved more of that. I think the AI bit was interesting giving that it’s infiltrating every part of our society, and made me wonder if writers are actually using it in that capacity. This was not my cup of tea, but maybe it will be for others.
2.5 Stars for me :)

(Thank you NetGalley & Storm Publishing for ARC in exchange for an honest review. )

I was enticed by the premise of this story. The book gets muddled in a few parts and wasn't quite as good as I hoped it would be. Having said that, I do think that it does have some good parts and is a good idea overall. I am planning to try another story from this author in the future.

I appreciate receiving the advanced reader copy of The Love Hack from Storm Publishing and NetGalley in return for an unbiased and truthful review.

In her role as the new online advice columnist for guys with a variety of relationship and personal questions, "Ask Adam," Lucy has found herself overcome with responsibility. She has no prior experience with males, which is her first obstacle. Her second obstacle is an extremely attractive coworker named Ross who is often making her blush with his covert glances at his computer screen. Lucy is adamant that she has no intention of pursuing a relationship anytime soon because she hasn't found herself interested in one in years after being misled by her last coworker who turned lover.

In addition to her attractive coworker and new job, Lucy's best friend and sister are getting married to a man who she feels a little too domineering and snobbish. Lucy puts forth a lot of effort to be there for her sister and encourage her through all the pre-wedding activities, regardless of the feelings she may be experiencing from their relationship. Lucy spots Ross out at a club, flirting with one of her bridesmaids, during the late-night bachelorette party. Had she been misinterpreting Ross's energy all along? Why would he hook up with a random female at the pub if she wasn't the one?

At this point, Lucy makes the decision to attempt to avoid Ross in order to safeguard her heart Lucy makes the decision to attempt to avoid Ross at this point in order to save her heart from being destroyed yet again. Nevertheless, this is harder than I had thought because he works immediately across from her. Over the course of the weeks, Lucy settles into her new duty as Ask Adam and gradually begins to learn more about the male species and how they react to different kinds of emotions and circumstances. She also begins to develop a closer friendship with Ross as a result. Unfortunately, Lucy's personal life is seriously hampered by the fact that he is still seeing the bridesmaid from the reception informally.

When Lucy wants their relationship to be so much more than just friends, how will she manage her relationship with Ross? Is she going to succeed in her new role as Ask Adam? Will it come to light that she is a fraud? Can she rescue her sister from the potentially terrible relationship she finds herself in?

This book is really enjoyable because it has so many interesting elements. I adored Lucy's lack of understanding about men and her own worth. Ask Adam gradually helped her develop into a cheerful, self-assured individual who was learning what it meant to be a helpful and excellent partner while standing up for own self and having one's own boundaries.

As much as I liked Lucy's relationship with her younger sister, I also truly liked the interaction between Ross and Lucy and the spark they plainly shared. An adorable book with a strong emphasis on relationships, The Love Hack has some really insightful lessons to offer. The ideal summertime weekend read!

When Lucy, a technical editor for a women's magazine, gets called into her boss' office, she fears the worst. When she finds out they're merging with their "brother" magazine, her fears are confirmed. Since they already have a technical editor, one who has been there just a shage longer than her, she will be out of a job. Desperate to stay employed, she pitches the idea of a column called "Ask Adam", the men's version of a Dear Abby column. She will be the one behind the "Adam mask", but there is just one problem....she knows nothing about men. Her relationships have been limited, especially after a traumatic one caused her to lose her last job. When her boss approves her idea, she gets sent to the "men's floor" to begin her new role. Her new coworker's seem nice enough, especially "middleing" Ross (middle of the road across the board).

She enlists the help of her sister at first, but soon that ends as her sister is getting married and won't have time for this. Lucy begins to pay more attention to the men in her life, her coworkers, men on the train, her sister's fiancee, to learn more about the male psyche. She ebbs and flows between feeling like she is learning more and appreciating them to full fledged men are jerks. This is only exacerbated by her sister moving right after her wedding. Once connected at the hip with her sister, Lucy can't help but feel there is something wrong. Since her sister has become uncommunicative, she hops on a plane from the UK to New York. All the while, she is fighting her feelings for Ross, who now is way more than middle of the road to her.

The premise of the story was good, but I think the premise of the story was overshadowed by the subplot with her sister. There was more tension with her sister and the fiancee than there was with Lucy and Ross. I also thought the lack of her confidence was cumbersome to character development. I think the backstory with the ex-boyfriend would have been a good avenue to explore as she being to fall for Ross more and more. I am not sure what The Love Hack is referring to. Maybe the hacking of knowing what love is? It was a cute start to a sweet romance, but I do wish it had been fleshed out a bit more.

This book is a rom-com. It is a romantic, funny,and sweet book! I really enjoyed Sophie Ronald style of writing. It is the first time reading any of her work, but it won't be my last.
A new take on losing a job and getting a new one all in the same day pretty much let alone in basically in the same place. Not to mention the guy that is taking over your old job....

Lucy is the girl that has been working for Fab, a magazine and now she is sitting in front of her boss finding out that she is getting let go. Oh, but hey you have up to three days to come back with a better idea and representation.
She isn't having the best day and now she has to go help her sister with planning her wedding. She is happy to do it as it will take her mind off things but her sister is beginning to be bridezilla.

Lucy goes to work and goes to bat for the new project that her and her sister have come up with. That would be The Dear Adam column. The mens magazine loved it and she got the job and that's where she met Ross. She didn't think Ask Adam would come to be so popular but it actually goes viral. She is convinced that Ross has sent a letter to her and figures out that he is not single and that she just wants to go home to her cat Astro and curl up with him and Netflix and forget everything else.

This is a heart warming fun and funny romantic, and sweet book. I really had fun reading it.

Happy Reading!!