I thought the premise of this book was great! The very open door explicit sex scene just didn’t fit with the theme or vibe of the book. It felt out of place for the story line, but I didn’t like the friends to lovers trope idea. Thank you for the privilege to read it.

The perfect amount of everything - friends to lovers, spice, small towns, horrible bosses. It's a little predictable, of course, but totally fun and actually well written. The characters are rounded and the settings are clever, and all in all it's a lovely romance!

In JJ Knight's Not Exactly a Small Town Romance talent scouts Kelsey and Zach are fed up with their boss aka The Demon and Kelsey decides she wants her own happily ever after, so they take off across the country looking for her Mr. Right, when he's there all along.

I enjoyed the premise of this book, but Kelsey was a bit much and dare I say it? A spoiled brat. I thought her best friend, Zach, who was an actor and a talent himself, was obviously in love with her and if she was so astute at finding the perfect person - why not him all along.

Suspending disbelief that she couldn't see what was in front of her eyes, I enjoyed the book, I just wanted to smack her and tell her to stop it - stop looking for more when you already have it all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. It was enjoyable, I was just frustrated with the main character. :)

Well that was a bust... I liked the story idea, it was a bit quirky but I just felt my interest waning the more I read it.

It was mostly because of the characters tbh. At one point, I just found Kelsey to be annoying. She was too judgemental which was ironic considering she was ridiculous and came off a little dumb. Or in her own words "a ditzy blonde". She went to a country cafe in small town and ordered a Starbucks order... Didn't even bother to read the menu or ask what they have. She kept saying she was born in Alabama but she was a completely spoiled city brat. She thought herself as self sufficient but was completely dependent on others.

Zach... Well, I didn't understand why that dude wouldn't go after what he wanted when he clearly wasn't happy with how his life was. He certainly had the resources to make it happen so whining about it just felt annoying. He also seemed happy to let Kelsey use him like a lackey. He had zero character when he was with her. For God's sake, he changed his coffee to what she likes because apparently she takes his coffee when she's done with hers. I thought it was cute at first but how entitled could a person (Kelsey) be? He had zero backbone when it came to her.

The nail in the coffin was the fact that both of them had zero chemistry.

Thanks to Montlake for an ARC copy!

Happy Reading.

Sweet, funny and perfect for rom-com readers!
I liked this book a lot - kind of like a Hallmark movie in the good way.

Post on IG the 20 of July (@one_fairy_tale_at_the_time)

Can you orchestra a meet-cute? What if it's staring you in the face and you can't see it. An age-gap romance featuring a Hollywood casting agent who prides herself on her casting or pairs. When she sets out on a road trip to try out every meet-cute in the hopes of finding her own. Too bad Kelsey's older coworker is madly in-love with her but can't admit it to himself or her. Buckle up for a road trip!

4⭐
1🌶️

Kelsey and Zachary are coworkers working at a casting company in LA, and he is very much in love with her.

In an effort to not give into his feelings for her Zach pays a fortune tender to give Kelsey a little push toward dating again and she sets off on a road trip back home. But to no one's surprise he drives out to meet her the first night she's gone to "help" her find THE ONE


I really enjoyed this story! It was a cute easy read with lots of Y2K movie throwbacks. The pacing was good at first, until she propositions Zach. Even with all the backstory of them having feelings for a long time it still seems rushed. I also wasn't thrilled with Zach's lack of assertiveness, he's almost too a sweet and gooey cinnamon roll, but still a very enjoyable read

Tropes: One bed, friends to lovers, reformed playboy, city vs country, age gap

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the change to review this ARC in exchange for a honest review

Let this five-star read take you along on its amazing journey. What an adorable read, this is a must read for any rom-com lover, you will get so many of the cute references and adorable moments. Dillfest was just a beautiful moment for me, that made me smile so big. I could understand where Zachery was coming from, where he was concerned, and that made this story so much for me, he didn’t always go about it the right way, but who does? Kelsey will be someone you will just feel for, she is so determined in herself, and she will hook you and have you praying for everything that she gets her happily ever after. Do not miss this amazing story, JJ Knight writes characters that are fun and flirty, and full of uniqueness that make you smile so big.

The best part of this story is Ace, the beaver, the rest, just “eh”. I could not connect with Kelsey and Zach, found them sad. I did have a couple of chuckles. JJ Knight is one of my favorite authors, this book was not my top read.

Kelsey and Zachary
Friends to lovers romantic comedy.
Zachary is such a good guy. He feels he's not right for her so he watches out for her. Trying to what's best. She is optimistic but burning out. She sets off on a road trip across the country to find her perfect meet cute. It has a lot of fun banter and great side characters. There is the dragon, the grump and Jasper is the best! He totally is on Kelsey's side.
It was a cute story. I read it in a day (well a little into two since I couldn't put it down) and would definitely recommend it.

What a cute, fun read! I loved the characters of Kelsey and Zachary and the rom com slow burn chemistry that unravels between these MCs. I love the road trip forced proximity and age gap attraction combined with living a hallmark movie in romance book.

Perfect light hearted read!

Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for honest review.

What an entertaining and engaging read!!

Set in the dog-eat-dog world of film casting, Kelsey has lasted as an assistant to Desdemona longer than others. With help from Jasper and Zachery, she has made fantastic on screen matches. But she still hasn't found her own.

I gladly followed along with her, on her cross country trip to find the perfect small town man, who completes the happy ever after that she has been crafting on screen, for herself.

She certainly finds herself in some very entertaining situations, which she shares with Zachery. Unfortunately, he hasn't been truthful about his feelings for Kelsey, to her or himself.
I enjoyed seeing the way she handled herself and the personal growth she gains on the trip.

I loved the HEA and recommend reading this book and others from this talented and creative author. Totally worth your time!!

This story is of Kelsey amd Zachary. Zach is a former movie Star who have done some great comedy movies until his career came tumbling down. Kelsey is from a small town in Alabama and they both now work as casting agents with desdemonda aka the deamon. Zach has always loved Kelsey but he thinks he is not deserving for her as he is older and has insecurities because of his downfall. Kelsey also really likes Zach but think he is not for her as he a great charmer. So he pushes Kelsey to find her one true love which results in them both taking a cross country road trip.

The story is really interesting. Kelsey's attempts at creating fake meet cutes and failures is hilarious. I mean this girl needs to understand you cannot fake it. The chemistry between Zack and Kelsey is really good and their friendship is perfection. Zachary Montgomery Carter is literally a dream. The guy orders your favourite coffee, watches rom com With you.... and literally can do anything for his girl .... absolute perfect blend.


Thank you netgallery for providing me with the copy of this book

I unfortunately had to DNF this one. Immediately the MMC complaining constantly about how he is a "washed up" actor was just too much. And I'm extremely tired of the "I'm too old for her" plot line in age gap romances when the age gap is ten years or less. I also just couldn't take it seriously that our MFC took the advice of a fortune teller (who she knew was just a Hollywood actress trying to get noticed) and dropped everything to go on a road trip to find love.

i loved the plot of this, and the characters were super fun and interesting to follow along. BUT the first sex scene was horrible (terrible dialogue) and the FMC is way too obsessed with what men think of her and changes herself to suit them. definitely disappointed bc i liked the idea of this.

Loved this one! Great and fun read. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for my ARC.

If you are in the mood for a cute, fast paced story with enjoyable characters than this is the book for you! It's well written and incredibly hard to put down. In fact I finished this book in a day!

The plot is lighthearted and fun and I really enjoyed that it's written with dual POVs. I liked the juxtaposition of Kelsey trying to find her dream man, then reading how Zach felt about everything she was doing. I love a pining male character. I also really liked how each chapter was titled. I thought it was a unique way to note the POV switch.

The only thing that I didn't like was Kelsey's utter lack of forethought. She wants to meet her future husband, so she travels to small towns and tries to orchestrate the perfect meet cute. What did she think was going to happen when she met the man of her dreams in a small town from a completely different state? It wasn't likely he would give up everything and move to California for her, and it seemed as if she didn't plan to give up her job. Girl was doomed from the beginning.

This was a fun road-trip rom com! I consider myself to be more small town than big city, so I struggled to relate to Kelsey and found her frustrating at times. I also felt like Zachery was almost doing way too much for her and we didn’t see her reciprocate as much in terms of helping him out. However, those things aside, I did enjoy the story and seeing them discover their true love has been right there all along, as well as the various settings of the small town festivals and what not throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Not Exactly a Small-Town Romance was such a cute story, throughly exploring romance tropes but deliberately, for our main character, and through its character dynamics.

Kelsey gets her fortune read with the dire pronouncement that she’ll lose all hope in romance if she doesn’t shake things up by the end of the summer. That’s a bit of a problem given she casts leads for romance movies. Zachery, her coworker and best friend, has a few secrets he’s hiding - he set up the fortune teller to get Kelsey back on the horse and he’s in love with her. When Kelsey sets off on a road trip to try to engineer a meet cute for herself Zach follows but between some meet cures gone wrong and both trying to hoodwink their demanding and demonic boss that they’re back in the office, we get plenty of laughs and things not quite going to plan. But when Kelsey’s perfect man may have been found what’s left to see is if Zach can give up on Kelsey as his love.

As seen by the plot this was a lot of fun, and I loved the exploration of tropes! A lot of hallmark movie callouts were made in the story and it was a lot of fun seeing them satirised but also explored the way they were. I’d recommend this to those who love their romances but also understand what we see and read is manufactured and doesn’t always end up so perfectly.

The setup for this story was cute, but the execution was quite cheesy. The author packed the book with so many romance tropes and themes that there wasn’t much room to develop the characters