This book had a really fun concept and I was looking forward to reading, but it was a little too all over the place for my taste and I couldn't get into it like I would. I'm so sorry, but I had to DNF this one.

Because of the cover, I was expecting something close to "The Hating Game" by Sally Thorne and was looking forward to a meet-cute office romance between two journalists. But it was a disaster! 😫

Lucy, a cat mom through and through, lands a job in men's magazine to solve men's queries through the Ask Adam column. But she knows nothing about men (you won't be able to forget this fact because it takes almost half of the book), yet she accepts the job because her sister promises to assist. I loved Lucy's sister more than her until she backed off from this arrangement as soon as she got married.

In that office, Lucy meets Ross. He's so energetic that Lucy blushes and falls in love with him after hearing a few Seinfeld quotes.  The romance, however, takes up only 10-15% at the end of the book, and it's rushed, so calling it a romance book is quite doubtful. Was it a comedy? No. Was there chemistry between Lucy and Ross? Big No. I was about to DNF this book at 80%, but I kept going only because I wanted Ross to have a happy ending. 

This book had great potential, but somehow it missed the mark because it was more focused on Lucy's cat, her sister, and Lucy's constant complaints about Ask Adam and men instead of Ross and Lucy as a couple.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC. This is my voluntary, honest review.

The Love Hack by Sophie Ranald is a slow-burn romance but picks up halfway into the book and ends quite well. I liked the lessons on discovering yourself and not settling for less. Thank you, Netgalley and Storm Publishing for giving me the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A lovely story overall but maybe too bland for my taste?

The characters were nice and all but I didn't like the fact that she travels from London to NY to tell her sister that her husband is a cheating asshole.

Also, the journalist using AI to write her columns kind of pissed me off. I wish it could have been addressed as something other than ‘Oh but look, the AI is like an assistant and is helping her to do her job. She trained it’. Girl, NO.
I was sure she was legit going to get fired because she was using it. Or like, her boss was going to see the AI was doing her job better than her in less time and fire her.

ANYWAY, it wasn’t for me at all, but if you’re looking for a feel-good book about two very shy coworkers who like each other but are afraid to try their chance on each other, here’s the perfect book for you.

The first part of the book, seemed a little much with the large amount of internal monolog of Lucy. Though once she started to grow with confidence it was more interesting and entertaining read. As this was told all in Lucy’s point of view, Ross was a bit heard to get to know. Overall, he seemed fairly sweet. The interaction between them was quite cute. Overall, I have to say this was an enjoyable story.

I just couldn’t get into this book. Too many characters and I couldn’t get invested. DNF At 10%. It was a cute premise. Just. Didn’t land with me

I really enjoyed this book and it was different to some of the romance books I’ve read recently. I liked the friendships the main characters developed and some of the funny, crazy things that happen. The MMC makes a choice that annoyed me - can you really not notice someone falling over drunk - and then he just maintains that choice! I had a hard time seeing beyond his actions. I like the FMC, she seems brave but unsure of herself and had little confidence but she knows what’s right and she goes to battle for those she loves. Overall, I enjoyed it.

I like these types of book covers, so when I was searching for a new book to read, this one caught my eye. The synopsis had promised an enticing forbidden romance set in an office that should be light-hearted and fun. Alas, it did not live up to my expectations.
I felt lost in the story as it seemed as if there were too many things happening at once. The narrative jumped around too much with an overabundance of focus on Lucy and her ex-relationship instead of doing justice for now. This part could have been shorter.
So, as a result, it took a long time for Ross and Lucy’s relationship to grow. There were fleeting moments when they connected, but there was not enough tension or build-up between them to satisfy my wish for romance, because, after all, I took the book for that.
Secondary characters and subplots added some depth to the plotline, but there was still something missing in the storyline.
Overall, this book wasn't the worst I've ever read, but neither was it the best.
My thanks go to Storm Publishing and Netgallery for providing me with this ARC.

I enjoyed the premise of this book more than the actual story. I didn't feel that Ross and Lucy had much connection and I was hoping for more. I thought the descriptions of the agony column were good and i was a bit disappointed that the story wasnt as good as I had hoped

Overall it was a cute book that made me feel the feelings. However, I didn’t really love it.

Pros: the heroine had some backstory that I thought was solid. The relationship with the sister was interesting at the beginning.

Cons: really started to drag at the end. And the development between MFC and MMC was a little too slow to begin with. I LOVE a slow burn but there wasn’t nearly enough close tension for me.

It was probably a 3.75 for me- good and cute but didn’t love it.

This was such a fun book!

I’ve been reading so much dual POV so it was a nice change to read a single POV. Sometimes I wished I knew what the other person was thinking… but there is something special about single POVs too.

This didn’t end how I would assume it would, which was great. I also got invested in the side characters, would love a sequel on Amelie.

Thank you to Netgalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, the romantic tension between Lucy and Ross didn't come through for me, even halfway into the book. Despite a promising and intriguing blurb. While the concept, including the advice column excerpts, was interesting, the execution fell short. The characters lacked depth, especially the main character who spent too much time dwelling on the past. As for the relationship, it didn't feel developed enough to engage me fully in the romance. However, I did appreciate the creativity behind the idea and found the entries to be cute. Overall, while I wasn't completely invested, I found the book enjoyable enough to continue reading.

Thank you Netgalley and Storm Publishing for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I didn't feel any romantic tension between Lucy and Ross. I'm almost half of the book and didn't see any progression in their love story. I really tried to like this book because the blurb was promising and intruiging. I was also look for a romance book that will serve as a palate cleanser for reading thriller books continuously before, but this ain't it.

When I heard this was of the caliber of Emily Henry and Beth O'Leary I had high expectations. Overly high expectations. It just seemed that this wasn't so much a book about romance but a book about Lucy and how she really hasn't quite figured out much. We really don't get to see much interaction or great development between Lucy and Ross. I wish there was more there. That it carried on for longer. I did appreciate the British humor of it all as someone who lives in both the States and in London. The writing wasn't bad, it was just marketed as a different story than I thought it was going to be so I was expecting something different.

I've enjoyed other books by this author before, so I was excited to read this book. From the blurb, I was expecting a fun rom-com office romance with funny scenes and banter. What I got was more a depressing dip into Lucy's relationship insecurities, her attempts to help her sister with her horrible relationship, rants against men, then a very short and rushed ending where she and Ross finally get together. I liked her spunky sister Amelie and Ross is really sweet and funny, but it's hard to enjoy a book when you really dislike the main character.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This one offers itself up as a romantic comedy but it’s neither romantic nor comedic. It would do much better to categorize itself as women’s fiction as it focuses more on a woman struggling with devastatingly low self esteem and her relationships with sister, job, and coworker (on whom she has a crush).

Lucy, our heroine, will likely find herself with whiplash from so often changing her mind. Like, literally one page after she’s in heaven and so sure about her romance with Ross, which, it’s worth mentioning is only 24 hours old, she immediately assumes, once she’s out of his sight, that he’ll regret everything, forget her, and never call.

And no, I do not regret that convoluted run on sentence because it fits with this book!

——
Lucy writes an agony aunt column for a British magazine - except it’s a men’s magazine, she’s not a man, and she doesn’t understand them. She’s immediately in over her head.

At this new job, she develops a crush on Ross, the cute guy in the next cubicle.

Additionally, there’s a subplot featuring her sister, Amelie, and her husband, Zack. The two marry early in the story - though it’s quite clear it’s a mistake, which becomes another struggle for Lucy.

The writing is good - often in books where characters are unlikable or the plot is a mess, it’s due to the words on the page. Not the case here at all.

Lucy is a problem. She’s the most wishy washy person I’ve ever seen crafted. Her low self esteem and lack of confidence - questioning every single thing, person, idea? It’s exhausting.

The romance is meant to be a slow burn, I’d guess? But how can she be mad that Ross dates another woman when she’s literally never told him she’s interested or so much as flirted with him?

Ross is fine, if a bit dim. There’s a chunk in the middle where he furiously blushes every time he’s in Lucy’s presence that makes no sense.

And the subplots - an affair, a pregnancy, and 9/11 (yes, 9/11) just make it feel like a jumbled mess.

Sorry guys. Can’t recommend this one.

Thanks to @netgalley and @stormbooks_co for the eARC. This one came out June 7, 2024.

MC isn’t my type of girl but I did love the love interest Ross. Not a hit rom-com for me but it was fine.

I so enjoyed the vibes of this book and was quickly drawn in by the premise. I think all the elements were there, but I needed more interaction and time for the development of feelings between Lucy and Ross. This was a quick, sweet read however and I did enjoy it

The cover, the whole premise, everything had me sold, but the follow through just wasn't there. I was really hoping to fall in love with this one, but it was too much for me.

Lucy was not an enjoyable FMC. Were there times when I felt for her? Yes, absolutely. But, she's someone who dwells way too much on her past. Which, hey, I'm all for getting some background info on why she's the way she is -- but, some things just didn't need to be brought up. If they were needed I think they were focused on way too much; spend a page on that info and move on.

I just feet like if I'm supposed to be rooting for a couple it should be the main one in the book; and that wasn't the case...at all.

First off, thank you for approving me for this ARC, I'm always excited to read new books and maybe find new authors to gush over. I was drawn into this book firstly when it mentioned that if someone loved Emily Henry, then they would for sure love The Love Hack. As an Emily Henry Stan, I can say with full confidence that, this is not true. I decided to DNF at the 75% mark due to nothing really happening with the FMC, Lucy and the MMC Ross? Russ? Honestly he was so irrelevant throughout this book I don't even think he could be considered an MMC. Anyways, this book is practically focused on Lucy being delusional, not knowing anything about men (which is fine, I hate men anyways) but being an advise column giver for men, so make it make sense AND her sister and her failing new marriage.

Lucy isn't even able to do her job, she had AI do it for her and I'm actually convinced at this point that AI wrote this book because.. why? The reason I decided to just DNF was because Lucy received an email from a man that she was convinced was her sister's husband about him cheating, Lucy decided to take matters into her own hands and get to the bottom of it. SPOILER, YES the husband was cheating and Lucy does decide to tell her sister, and her sister being one of the stupidest people I've read about hit Lucy with "you don't know men, this happens, when I tell him about the baby, he'll kick his mistress to the curve." I hate to be that person, but I am that person who FULLY believes a baby won't fix your marriage, don't be so stupid or selfish to bring a child into this world and think it'll fix your failing sad marriage or life, don't do that. I couldn't do it anymore.

But another issue I had, the MMC, was he even a love interest? I think this book is pushed as a ROMCOM but romance where? Unless this is literally the slowest burn in all of history. Lucy was completely delusional with Russ (Ross) I don't care to remember his name. Lucy was adamant about not falling for another coworker because she had dated one previously and it broke her heart, which okay makes sense. But this man had NO interest in Lucy and Lucy was making scenarios in her head already. I kid you not 75% in and nothing happened, I truly don't care what happens in the remaining time left.

I'm sorry, but these are in fact my honest thoughts, I'm disappointed.