The celebrity story line doesn’t usually interest me but this took a left turn and became something special. Working in the movie industry is a different kind of beast but Kelsey and Zachary have a certain skill when it comes to casting actors. Zachary was an actor type cast in silly comedies when he decided to work behind the scenes. Kelsey hails from Alabama dairy country but landed in LA with big dreams. These two are attached at the hip, finish each other’s sentences and are best friends. Of course, there’s more feelings involved especially when she decides on an adventure to find true love. Their banter and feelings were quite entertaining and made the story a quick read. I was given an advanced copy from NetGalley and I’ve written this review voluntarily.

A road trip across the country to find "the one" filled with lots of colorful characters.

Kelsey is great at matching Hollywood stars for the silver screen, but her nose for picking out the right man is waaaayyyy off. On her road trip across the US, she stumbles and bumbles herself into multiple dates and over and over again without realizing that her best friend is madly in love with her.

Zachery is a decade older and feels washed up within the Hollywood scene, but he has a mad crush on his best friend, Kelsey, but he feels he isn't fit to move things out of the friend zone since she has her entire life ahead of her.

These two are perfect for one another, but are blind to the fact that they are. It gets to a point that it becomes almost painful to read, but eventually they do figure it out. The ending was well worth the road well traveled between these two.

Thanks to NetGalley, & Montlake for access to this book!

Queue the meet-cute!

If you are a fan of Hallmark movies, happy endings then this is the perfect read. Knight delivers a sweet romance with that will keep you entertained.

Meet Kelsey, a young casting assistant with an eye for paring leads to create magic who is worried that her own love story will never happen. She sets out on a road trip to her hometown in Alabama, recreating meet-cutes from Hallmark movies, looking for her smalltown romance.

Along for the ride, to look out for her is her colleague and best fiends Zachary, an ex-actor who now uses his looks and charm to persuade actresses to take roles the casting agency are trying to fill.

The adventure they embark on across the country will have you laughing, wanting to smack the two of them on the side of the head, with an Ooi, come to your senses already!!

Like any Hallmark movie, you are questioning is reality coming into thinking here, have you thought this through, thankfully, reality does come into play.

Above all, we get our very happy ending.

Looking to experience a real-life Hallmark movie romance, Kelsey goes on a road trip visiting small towns in an effort to create the perfect meet-cute moment. What she’s completely oblivious to is the fact that Zachery, her best friend and the guy tagging along with her on this journey to find love, has actual real feelings for her.

Coming from the small-town Midwest, some of the scenes kind of bothered me in how they portrayed small towns. We’re not all a bunch of hicks, but this is fictional, and I can respect that.

If you’re a fan of romantic comedies, this is definitely a read to consider. With the perfect mix of humor and spice, this friends-to-lovers romance will both warm your heart and keep you laughing throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the opportunity to read this digital ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

I liked the cross country road trip the main characters went on, but I struggled to really connect with their love story. He is basically a male escort for a Hollywood big shot, and she is under appreciated by the same employer. They have feelings for each other, but I didn’t really buy in to the impediment to their relationship.

This is a very interesting Hollywood love story. Kelsey and Zachery hide the feelings they have for each other. Kelsey wants very much to find love and a fortune teller takes her on a road trip and an interesting adventure. Zachery decides to accompany her. Their relationship gets very complicated on the road, will they declare their love or not?

I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgalley

I enjoyed this road trip story of Kelsey setting out to see if she can find Mr Right as she travels from the big city through several small towns on her way back home. Her coworker, Zachary, doesn’t feel comfortable with Kelsey making this solo excursion so he uses technology to catch up to her and convinces her to let him join her. Kelsey doesn’t realize how Mr Right is right there with her as she sets out to force several different meet cute scenarios in hopes of finding love. This was a nice alternative to other romance plots.

Kelsey is a casting assistant for an awful boss and works at creating couples with chemistry for the romance stories in Hollywood. As an expert in all things romantic comedies, she wants to take fate into her own hands and potentially create meet cutes for herself. Kelsey embarks on a meet cute road trip. When the best friend and co-worker Zachary shows up, this wingman needs to show her that the person she is looking for is right in front of her.

Pick this one up if you enjoy:
◾ Road trip romance
◾ Small town and Hollywood
◾ Co-workers & friends-to-lovers
◾ Age gap (11 years)
◾ Funny meet cutes a la 90s/2000s RomComs
◾ Reformed playboy turned perfect book boyfriend material

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the advance copy.

I was excited to read this because I work in casting! Unfortunately, the story began to drag and I had to DNF at 34%. I think it would have been more exciting to keep Kelsey at work rather than put her on the road trip. Great premise otherwise, but I don't think this author is for me.

This is the first book I've read by this author abd it won't be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed this fun rom com with hidden depth.

I think this book came along at the right time. I wanted a quick and fun read, and a quirky romance and that's exactly what I got.

A solid 4 star read for me.

I always like to start by thanking the author and publisher for opportunity to read an advanced copy of the book. To be honest the book was not my favorite I’ve read this year. The titles of the chapters were really long and the story just didn’t flow for me

The characters did not have much chemistry for me, but I also don't find friends to lovers all that exciting.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC of "Not Exactly A Small Town Romance" by JJ Knight.

I am a big lover of Hallmark movies, so this book slipped straight into my 'must read' list.

This dual POV, co-workers to lovers had me hooked, and toss in the age gap... I was one happy reader!

There were so many cute moments between out MCs and I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves cute meet-cute stories.

This book was so cute! I loved how Zach and Kelsey were friends and oblivious to their feelings for each other. It isn't until Kelsey goes on a journey to find romance that Zach realizes something is there. I found the adventures Kelsey got up to to be entertaining. The story moved quickly from the start and kept me interested on how it all would conclude.

Thanks to Netgalley & Montlake for access to this
E-ARC! Really cute! Loved the banter & the characters. Excited to read more from this author!

Not Exactly a Small-Town Romance was a fun friends-to-lovers/ age-gap romance set on a road-trip to find true love in a small town. Kelsey is working for a Hollywood casting agent longing for real connection and love that she has only really seen in Hallmark movies. Her friend and co-worker, Zachery has developed the reputation of a player who still uses his former acting credits and good looks to get what he wants. After a slightly manipulated encounter with a fortune teller - Kelsey embarks on a journey back to the small town she grew up in - trying to find love along the way. Zachery and Kelsey have a beautiful friendship and seeing their relationship develop further was very entertaining. Zachery is torn between wanting to protect and love Kelsey but wanting her to be happy, even if it isn't with him. Neither character is perfect - but this was a fun and heartwarming romance. Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for the chance to read this novel.

What a fun cute and wonderfully written romance. This was an all the feels, everything and more joy to read. I love all of Jj Knights books and this one was fantastic.

Not Exactly a Small-Town Romance was adorable. I loved the nods to our favorite romcom movies, both literal and more vague. I thought Kelsey's whole journey of self discovery was fun and her feelings were relatable, which made for a fast paced and easy read.

I liked the characters a lot, I thought Desdemona was a hilarious name and felt very Miranda Priestly. I loved Jester and the color commentary he brought, and the characters from each stop were bizarre in their own right. The plot gave us a friends to lovers classic structure, with a low spice rating and a heavy romcom undertone. Influences from movies were listed at the conclusion, which was fun to see the references I caught and/or missed. I liked the characters a lot as well as the overall flow of the book.

The whole 'miscommunication'/'I'm not enough for her' trope is not my favorite to read, and we lived in this space for quite a long time. The story did move quite fast as the road trip progressed quickly, but somehow the plot lingered in this aspect. I was ready for the characters to let a bit more feelings or touches slip, but, alas.. it was just a big tease.

Overall, this was a cute and fun read. Definitely for a lover of low spice and would be a great palate cleanser after a darker romance. I liked it, but did not fall in love.

Zachery and Kelsey

Zackery and Kelsey work together in the movie business. They go out and try to get actors to use the casting agent they work for. During all that time together, they have become each other’s person. The best friend, the friend that knows all, etc. Except for..when it comes to dating.

Zach is an actor, and he had several good parts years ago but that is all behind him know. Now, he’s part of a team that tries to find that next big actor. With a girl on his arm very red carpet, the world thinks that he is a player, and he admits he’s not a saint. But everything is not as it seems either. Like his best friend Kelsey..and how he feels about her.

Kelsey has a lot of talent when she looks at actors. It is usually her vision of who should be with whom in a movie. She is great with pairing people together. Unless you count herself. Then she misses the mark. So Kelsey wants to go on a journey to meet The One. But Kelsey thinks life is like a Hallmark movie and she tries to emulate one, down to the practiced meet-cute.

So to start, I have liked everything from JJK. Fun entertaining stories. And this one is no different. But Kelsey can be a bit much since she is completely unrealistic and I felt bad for Zach. But it’s a cute story.

I just finished *Not Exactly a Small-Town Romance* by JJ Knight, and it was such a delightful read! Kelsey is a rom-com expert—literally, it’s kind of her job as a casting agent—and watching her try to engineer her own love story was both funny and engaging. I loved the setup of her trading city life for a small-town adventure, hoping to find her perfect, rustic love interest. The twist? Her best friend Zachery, who’s been by her side all along, might just be the guy she’s been looking for. The story is light, flirty, and filled with those feel-good rom-com vibes, but it’s also about figuring out what really matters when it comes to love.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.