Jayci Lee

Jayci Lee's romcom Booked on a Feeling features an overachieving lawyer. A failing bookstore. A childhood friend. And the chance of a lifetime....

Booked on a Feeling

My same experience with my one and only spin class 😅

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

"You never told me you took spin classes.”

"I took one... class. Well, maybe. . . half a class... is accurate. Fine... A quarter."

"There's no bond stronger than the one forged over bashing romance haters."

And she was everything he wanted. He would never tell her that, of course. He would take their friendship with a side of pining any day if it meant he would always have her in his life.

Besides, a little pining never hurt anyone.

As my Summer of romance books continues, I found this one hidden away on the bookshelf and decided that it was time to pick this one up and dive into this book and enjoyed the journey as well as sweet romance that is at the heart of the book all about childhood friends that decide to take a chance on their feelings for each other.

Lizzy Chung had her entire life planned out. She was going to make her parents proud, be successful, and live happily ever after. At least that was the plan. But plans go awry, and after a panic attack in court, she jumps in her car and heads to Weldon where she spent her childhood summers with her best friend, Jack Park. Jack has had a crush on Lizzy for so long and is happy that he gets to spend three weeks with her. When Lizzy needs his help saving the local bookstore, he agrees, and the sparks fly!

Whilst this was an enjoyable read and has at its heart a sweet journey, I think that I just struggled to connect to the characters. It’s told in the third person which I have always struggled with more to connect to characters. It was predictable to see where the story was going to go, and the 3rd act brake up would have been easily resolved through communication. I also felt that it was a bit too much of a slow burn for me and I really struggled at times to get through it.

If you are looking for an easy Summer read then consider this one!

Ian Brakspear

As my Summer of romance books continues, I found this one hidden away on the bookshelf and decided that it was time to pick this one up and dive into this book and enjoyed the journey as well as sweet romance that is at the heart of the book all about childhood friends that decide to take a chance on their feelings for each other.

 

Lizzy Chung had her entire life planned out. She was going to make her parents proud, be successful, and live happily ever after. At least that was the plan. But plans go awry, and after a panic attack in court, she jumps in her car and heads to Weldon where she spent her childhood summers with her best friend, Jack Park. Jack has had a crush on Lizzy for so long and is happy that he gets to spend three weeks with her. When Lizzy needs his help saving the local bookstore, he agrees, and the sparks fly!

 

Whilst this was an enjoyable read and has at its heart a sweet journey, I think that I just struggled to connect to the characters. It’s told in the third person which I have always struggled with more to connect to characters. It was predictable to see where the story was going to go, and the 3rd act brake up would have been easily resolved through communication. I also felt that it was a bit too much of a slow burn for me and I really struggled at times to get through it.

If you are looking for an easy Summer read then consider this one!

Jess LeBlanc

Courtney

3⭐️
Firstly, thank you to the publishers and NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press publishers for the E-ARC of Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee. The below is my honest opinion!

This is a cute, feel good romance. Booked on a Feeling is a second chance, friends to lovers romance. It follows two POVs: Lizzy, an attorney living in LA who realizes her life is not what she wants, but what her mother laid out for her, and Jack, who works at his family’s brewery wishing he had his own goals and pinning for his childhood best friend. The story revolves around the two helping a local revamp her bookstore. 

I enjoyed the Korean culture that is seen throughout the book- the different traditions with both households. I also enjoyed how cute and fluffy Lizzy and Jack were. 

Why I gave it 3 stars: I felt like these two people who claim to know the other better then they know themselves and hve been friends for 20years, had a hard time expressing their true feelings. They kept going back and forth with “oh she/he doesn’t feel the same” when they could have resolved the main conflict easily if they just talked. I also felt like there was miscommunication between them when there didn’t have to be. 

Overall, a very sweet romance with a childhood friends to lovers, the boy falls first tropes.

Amanda

Meh.
It's fine I guess, but I was bored for the first 30% waiting for the story to get started (it all felt like set up), and then I was annoyed through the second half by the leads' nonsense. The ending solution was evident from the first or second chapter and nothing at all surprised me at any point in the book.

The third act issue came about due to the fact that despite both of them saying it constantly, nothing about their relationship seemed like they were actually best friends. Best friends, for 20 years, but none of his current friends know her name or have ever met her or heard her name in passing? Ever? Okay. They don't actually seem to know each other very well. I think maybe this would have worked better for me if they had been long distance, correspondence buddies for the last decade and this was billed as more of a reconnection story than a friends to lovers. The details were off and so was the relationship.

It was fine, but, meh.

aurelia 

Jaila Esterline

This book was cute, but slow and poorly paced. I cared about their relationship, but all the legal talk at the beginning really turned me off from reading it. Also, the miscommunication trope in this story is so frustrating. They’ve been best friends for almost their entire lives and still can’t communicate clearly? I felt like some parts were unfinished, while others were overly developed. Not a bad story, but definitely subpar

Alyssa Huffman

ugh. i forgot that i didn't like the dating dare (?? is that what its called??) i know it wasn't advertised as slow burn but as childhood best friends to lovers i was kind of expecting a slower burn? that's just a personal critique. you know i love a good spicy scene but the ones in this book made me physically cringe. the ending chapters were soooo rushed. "a few months later....." okay but WHAT HAPPENED?!

sydney

*4.5

This book is so cute, childhood best friends to lovers you will always be famous. Jack and Lizzy are adorable and I loved seeing her fall in love with him. I'm also such a sucker where the couple takes time for themselves before getting back together.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Sarah Crouse

The characters were a little flat to me, and although I'm a big fan of almost any friends-to-lovers book, I'm almost never a fan of the miscommunication trope, unfortunately. 
I thought this book was written really well, and would love to read some of the author's past work, but I don't think that this was the book for me, which was a little disappointing! 
This book had everything that I normally love. Who wouldn't want to read about two best friends who revamp a little bookstore together? 
This book had cozy vibes, and great characters that just- fell a little bit too flat. I know that this is a standalone in a series, but we never get a lot of background on them. If a book is a standalone, I wish they would at least recap the friendship. Additionally, I thought that their relationship was simply... juvenile? It's a classic hallmark-y book that's great for a light read when you're not wanting anything too heavy, but just know that the miscommunication *will* drive you insane. 
 thank you to Netgalley for this Advanced Readers Copy

kali jade

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

This book is the first book by Jayci Lee that I have read. Booked on a feeling is a friends-to-lovers book centered around Elizabeth Chung who is a lawyer and Jack Park, her childhood best friend. After Elizabeth (also known as Lizzy) wins her first-ever court case the feeling of excitement doesn't come around and the feeling of dullness does. In a spur of a moment, she takes a vacation to her best friend's hometown, Weldon. Coming from the bustling city of Los Angeles, Lizzy arrives and instantly feels at peace in the small town. Is it because of her developing crush on her best friend Jack, is it that she's helping save a local bookstore or is it that she doesn't need to be a lawyer?

I thoroughly enjoyed the main characters in the book. I found the heroine isn't embarrassed, meaning that she didn't make me throw my book across the room from something that she did. I genuinely appreciated that and I think so did my kobo. The main female character didn't do anything out of character. Jack was a very intriguing character, struggling with his family business and the drive to do more work. I enjoyed their chemistry together.

I found this book had the same plot structure of Emily Henry’s, Book Lovers, where the main heroine goes on a vacation to a small town and discovers love unexpectedly. In addition to the love interest having to work at his family business, even though he wanted to do nothing more than follow his heart by doing something else. I liked the complex word vocabulary that was used in the story and the bookish themes that were incorporated into it. I also found it nice the way that the author made it so that you could obtain one of the characters' thoughts and be able to switch perspectives in a way while still writing in the 3rd person.

There were many Korean representations in this book, and as a white person, I don't recall many Korean words or dishes from their culture, so it would have been nice to include definitions at the end of the page like there were in Malinda Lo, Last Night At The Telegraph Club, I feel like it could have improved and helped people understand a bit better.

I liked parts of this book but overall wasn’t a huge fan. At 75% I honestly didn’t think I would finish it.

 The audiobook narrator does a great job.

 I liked the MCs and supporting cast but I get frustrated with repetitive inner monologues of characters.

 I saw where the story was going very early on, which isn’t super unexpected with a romance, I guess I just wanted more.

Megan BV

I liked parts of this book but overall wasn’t a huge fan. At 75% I honestly didn’t think I would finish it.

 The audiobook narrator does a great job.

 I liked the MCs and supporting cast but I get frustrated with repetitive inner monologues of characters.

 I saw where the story was going very early on, which isn’t super unexpected with a romance, I guess I just wanted more.

Faith Kitowski

thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for giving an honest review. 
holy moly. i loved this book so much. i was literally gushing. normally i’m not a huge fan on friends to lovers, like they are good but i definitely have tropes i like better, but this book…THIS BOOK AHHHH!!! my heart feels so full after reading it. it was literally so adorable. i definitely plan on getting a physical copy of this book when it comes out!!

Chrissie Smith

Read if you like…
-Friends to lovers
-Dual POV
-Books about books and bookstores
-Following your dream *cue TANGLED music*

“...finding the right book kind of feels like that. Once you read that book, a whole new world will open up for you. You’ll take these incredible journeys through your imagination and find limitless possibilities with every new book. It only takes that one right nook to change everything.” 

Lizzy is a big city lawyer, with her life planned out for her, thanks to her mother. Jack, a small-town bookkeeper for his family business, is anxious to find his own path in life. After a panic attack, Lizzy thinks it’s time for a getaway to unwind and escape the big city. There is no other place than Weldon, her best friend Jack’s hometown. Jack has been in love with Lizzy for as long as he can remember, but he could never risk their friendship by telling Lizzy how he feels. They’re spending three weeks together sprucing up a local bookstore, and their lives might be about to change. 

Booked on a Feeling, was a fun, flirty read. I have so much love for our two main characters, I don’t even know where to begin. Lizzy’s love of small bookstores and checklists made me instantly want to be her best friend. And let’s not forget how she sometimes dreams up these big romantic scenarios from books, willing them to happen in real life…we’ve all done that right? Jack’s love for his family and the fact that he’s such a selfless and supportive friend to Lizzy earns him so many points in my book. Their 20 year friendship…goals! I loved the realness of the characters, seeming to have it all together on the outside but inside they’re dealing with insecurities, anxiety, and finding a purpose in life. This is something so many of us can relate to and I feel like Jayci did a wonderful job growing these characters throughout the book. 

ARC kindly provided by the publishers and NetGalley in return for an honest review. 

Alicia Dixon

I didn’t like this book much, so I’m just going to break it down into pros and cons:

Pros:
1) all the food sounded amazing
2) bookstores are cute 
3) Asian romance representation!

Cons:
1) all the tension felt very overblown and contrived to me, even for a romance book. 
2) the sex scene in this book felt very rushed and unsexy 
3) there were several moments of weird critical body and food talk that felt unnecessary and out of place. I would not recommend this book for people with body image self consciousness or bad relationships with food. 
4) Jack’s “I’ve loved you for 20 years” storyline and his obsession with being in the “friend zone” came off kind of creepy to me?
5) I’m job hunting, and Jack’s job hunt plus Lizzy’s dissatisfaction with being a lawyer (my field) just made me stressed the whole book.

I was so glad to read this book by an Asian American author, and see two Korean romantic leads. However, despite centering around bookshops (my favorite things) this book just did not land for me. When I finished it, my first reaction was “That was the most hetero thing I’ve ever read,” if that tells you anything. (No hate to straight romance novels more generally, which, as a woman interested in men, I read and like all the time.) I’m sure it will work for some romance readers, but it felt very cringey to me the entire time I was reading. 

Booked on a Feeling

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