Kate Bromley

Inspiration can come from the most unlikely--and inconvenient--sources. Kara Sullivan's life is full of love--albeit fictional. As a bestselling romance novelist and influential Bookstagrammer, she's fine with getting her happily-ever-after fix between the covers of a book. But right now? Not only is Kara's best friend getting married next week--which means big wedding stress--but the deadline for her next novel is looming, and she hasn't written a single word. The last thing she needs is for her infuriating first love, Ryan Thompson, to suddenly appear in the wedding party. But Ryan's unexpected arrival sparks a creative awakening in Kara that inspires the steamy historical romance she desperately needs to deliver. With her wedding duties intensifying, her deadline getting closer by the second and her bills not paying themselves, Kara knows there's only one way for her to finish her book and to give her characters the ever-after they deserve. But can she embrace the unlikely, ruggedly handsome muse--who pushes every one of her buttons--to save the wedding, her career and, just maybe, write her own happy ending?

Talk Bookish to Me

Jenna-Lee Gordon

"Nothing could change how we felt not the mistakes we made, the pain we put each other through or even our years apart." 

melina25

** spoiler alert **
           As a (hopefully one day) future rom com writer, this book is everything. Them recreating the dirty scene from her book? AMAZING. And ending had me almost sobbing from happiness.

Petaco

WARNING THE HERO IS TRASH. (view spoiler)[This book is the absolute worst! I hate it everything about it! How is it okay for him to actively cheat on his fiance? I don't know how they justify it by saying he's only been engaged for 2 weeks. Or by saying that she proposed to him. None of what he did is okay! At first I was going to quit because I felt like this read like a very bad movie. I'm mad at myself that I did not quit. He was the absolute worst and she deserved much better! This is a terrible message to send. And how can he justify saying that her not telling him she's leaving for 6 months is equivalent to him lying and cheating?? (hide spoiler)]

Cait Yvonne

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
spice: 🌶/5
rereadability: 📖📖📖/5

what an lovely read this was!! it was such an easy book to read. it flowed really nicely. I loved the little bits of Kara’s book being interwoven into the chapters. 

I was rooting for the couple from the start and I was not disappointed 🥰 Kate did such an amazing job of writing two characters who are so CLEARLY meant for each other. I loved being on Kara and Ryan’s journey with them. 

if you’re searching for an laidback romance then this is perfect!!

Inspiration can come from the most unlikely—and inconvenient—sources. Kara Sullivan’s life is full of love—albeit fictional. As a bestselling romance novelist and influential Bookstagrammer, she’s fine with getting her happily-ever-after fix between the covers of a book. But right now? Not only is Kara’s best friend getting married next week—which means big wedding stress—but the deadline for her next novel is looming, and she hasn’t written a single word. The last thing she needs is for her infuriating first love, Ryan Thompson, to suddenly appear in the wedding party. But Ryan’s unexpected arrival sparks a creative awakening in Kara that inspires the steamy historical romance she desperately needs to deliver. With her wedding duties intensifying, her deadline getting closer by the second and her bills not paying themselves, Kara knows there’s only one way for her to finish her book and to give her characters the ever-after they deserve. But can she embrace the unlikely, ruggedly handsome muse—who pushes every one of her buttons—to save the wedding, her career and, just maybe, write her own happy ending?

A Novel

sydney

** spoiler alert **
           I received an ARC through netgalley.

I really liked this book, I wasn't sure at first because things were moving pretty fast but it was very enjoyable. The scene where they act out her book is everything. I enjoyed the fact that we got an epilogue of them with their kids, it was very cute.

Megan BV

I can see why this book has so many mixed reviews. It was a quick read for me. I liked a few elements and disliked a few more. I did like the little excerpts from the book Kara was writing but that was probably my favourite part. 

Samantha Studdard

This book is different than most I’ve read. It was a good book the MC is an author and you get snippets of the book she is working on through the book which is something I wouldn’t have expected but was a pleasant surprise. Maybe me consider reading other books I hadn’t thought about before. It was a quick read even though I did struggle at times. The characters in the book are lovable and charming and it’s a cute book. 

Sophie Hutchings

Kara Sullivan’s is a bestselling romance novelist and influential bookstagrammer, though Kara is having some serious writer's block with a looming deadline. 

Kara’s best friend, Cristina, is getting married next week, and her fiancé, Jason, invites his childhood best friends to join the wedding party... enter Ryan Thompson. Who just happens to be the Kara college sweetheart, first love, the guy who broke her heart, and the one she just never quite got over.

Ryan's unexpected arrival however seems to be the key to Kara's writer's block! 

Honestly, I loved this book. It was a great debut romcom novel and one I am praying getting a sequel with some of the other side characters. 

Kara and Ryan have some intense chemistry and clearly have some unfinished business with each other even after 10 years! This book was soft, when you find out more about their break out and the issues to follow, it's intense. 

One thing that I LOVED about this book was that the ending wasn't rushed... which is something I HATE at the end of some romcoms, all is forgiven, no one works on themselves etc etc but this was not the case with this book. Kara has a trip to Italy planned and she works on herself, works on her feelings, I loved those chapters, the character growth was perfect! Great ending, MC and side characters, good banter and SO MANY bookstagram and bookish references. A MUST FOR ANY ROMCOM LOVER!

Lucy Howard

This was such a lovely romance that I enjoyed so much. I really liked the central characters of Ryan and Kara and their banter was just hysterical. I also liked the emotional side to the book and dealing with tough subjects like grief, abandonment and the loss of trust. I loved that Kara was a bookstagrammer and an author and the book talk was lush and I enjoyed the book within a book. I couldn’t fault this romance. I was here for it! 

Maegan Kennedy

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an arc in exchange for an honest review. 

This books sounded so fun just based off the synopsis. I mean, second chance romance, hate to love, Bookstagram plays a role, there’s an adorable dog. It’s sounds like an amazing fluffy contemporary. But it had some hard-hitting issues including loss of a parent and cheating. I really enjoyed the first 200 pages of this book. I thought it was funny. I loved the banter between Ryan and Kara. Them living together made it even more funny. There were sexy times which was enjoyable. I even loved that we got glimpses into Kara’s historical romance she was writing! This took place over a week as they prepared for her friend’s wedding. Then she went to Italy and this is where it lost me. We jump from a week timeline to a six month timeline which wasn’t necessary. The twist that happens right before she leaves is so pointless. Like 14 days? Really?! It was not needed at all. And then her whole time in Italy was useless. She was trying to finish her novel and reinvent herself. Her return from Italy just lands her back in the same spot she was in before she left. I do have to say the epilogue was cute but unnecessary as it was 5 years into the future. Too many timelines and time jumps. 
Overall I enjoyed the first bit of the book but not the last chunk.

Laura Yaneth Martinez

Absolutely brilliant! I have to say I’ve never read a book like this. The beginning felt quite weird and confusing because you’re thrust into th story without being given much context into the situation and for that reason I almost put the book down. Once you keep reading you quickly come to appreciate this authors writing style. The author leaves a lot in the dark and it honestly feels like you’re integrated with the story. The plot twists were so well done I did not see them coming. What I find so beautiful about this book is the complicated reality of romance that is depicted. I’ve never really read second chance romance and I was going into this thinking that I’m not a fan of the trope but this was just too well done. It really showed how not clear cut life is, and how processing is an important part of life. I loved how the author was able to push you to question the relationship of the roles were reversed. This was just so cute and had an overal sad life is complicated & short vibe. I appreciated that the nerdy main character wasn’t depicted as a self-conscious embarrassed smarty, like is most often the case! This was an older couple and I loved it!

Amy Stone

I loved this so much. I found Kara so relatable, personally. Such a light-hearted romance, brilliant for a cosy night in

Esther

Calling a guy nice on the first date is the kiss of death.

enjoyable with a bit of banter.

Linda Quintanilla

I was so excited to read this romance book. And it was going to be an enemy to love with a twist of former love reuniting again. It had it all. Plus, we got to read about an author falling back in love with her former love again. But bam, big surprises for everyone that he is with someone else and they are engaged. And she was the main reason they broke up the first time. When I read the big surprise, I was in no way. Like how can you recover from this. You literally made her the other woman without her knowing. And even if you forgive, it still cheapens your love. I was just disappointed. And I got even more disappointed when she got back to him. That's not real love. I;m sorry but it's a no from me.

Anna Agarwal

erin s

Ten years after a disastrous split with her first love, romance novelist Kara Sullivan crashes right back into him. Both in the same wedding party, they rekindle their relationship as they uncover the feelings they’ve long tried to bury. Bromley’s dialogue is super cute and snappy, so fans of flirtatious/teasing banter should find lots to enjoy here. 

The meta plot of ~romance novelist writes romance novels while undergoing the exact scenarios of a romance novel~ means the book, including Kara herself, are well-aware of the fantasy and absurdity of it all. I liked Kara’s staunch defense of her favorite genre to other characters, particularly the love interest, Ryan. Her passion was sweet, even if she did write a scene in her novel about corsets being bad and my historical fashion senses started tingling because corsets were only bad if they didn’t fit or were laced improperly, but I digress :)

Without giving away any significant plot points, I will say the final section of the book took place outside of the main setting (NYC), and it felt a bit disjointed. I would’ve loved spending a bit more time there. I liked it as a backdrop for Kara’s self-reflection, and the fact that she gave herself time with her writing and herself to process her complicated feelings. 

[3/5: I don’t read a lot of romance, so this was a fun excursion for me into a genre I have little experience with. Kate Bromley has a great light read here, one that I suspect more avid followers of the genre will devour happily.]

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Heather Harrington

*I received a copy of this via the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Kara Sullivan is a whiz when it comes to relationships, just not her own. As a bestselling romance author, Kara can churn out swoon-worthy moments at the drop of a hat, but not so much when it comes to real life. With the stress of her best friend's upcoming wedding and the deadline for her latest novel looming (the one where she has yet to write anything), the last thing Kara needed was to be blindsided by the fact her ex-boyfriend, Ryan Thompson, also happens to be in the wedding party. The unexpected arrival of her first love, and first heartbreak, throws Kara for a loop but it also sparks a fire in her and she's finally able to write for the first time in weeks. 

As much as Kara doesn't want to admit it, Ryan has become her muse and if she wants to finish her newest historical romance before the deadline, she needs him around. After a mishap gets Ryan and his dog kicked out of a fancy hotel, Kara offers up her apartment as a way to keep her creative juices flowing. Ryan reluctantly agrees and soon the pair are sharing the same space after ten years apart and it seems like the feelings they shared never truly went away for either of them. Sure, Kara's writing has never been better, but when all the heartache and pain she's kept bottled up comes bubbling to the surface, is it worth it?

This had all the key phrases that catch my attention. Bookish main character? Check. Second chance romance with a sprinkling of enemies-to-lovers? Check. The main guy has a dog? Sign me up. But, unfortunately, this missed the mark on every level. Aside from a few funny banter bits, the writing felt stiff and some of the character interactions almost felt unnatural. Kara and Ryan never popped as main characters, and if I'm being completely honest, half the time I was trying to remember their names because they made that little of an impact on me. I do know that Ryan owned an overweight Celine Dion obsessed bulldog, though, because that was my favorite part of the whole thing. The pair just lacked any sort of chemistry or sexual tension. My tea kettle gives off more steam than their relationship. Even the dramatic bits felt flat and bland. The one thing I did enjoy was reading the parts of the novel that Kara was writing. I would've much preferred to read that story than this one. I really wanted to love this, but sadly, it was just full of lackluster characters and a forgettable plot.

Deborah Kerr

I really struggled with a few aspects of this book:

1. The fatphobia directed at a woman who is a size 8
2. The pacing was all over the place. For a few chapters we would sprinting forward with action but then after the conflict happened there were multiple unnecessary chapters that could've been consolidated down into 1 or 2 instead of dragging things out.
3. That type of conflict needs to be handled perfectly and it was not handled well let alone perfectly.

b.andherbooks

Call me naive but I honestly almost flung my poor, antique Kindle Voyage across the room after hitting the 75% mark in this story.

This second chance romance between two former college sweethearts, told in 1st POV from the romance novel writing heroine Kara Sullivan's perspective just did not work for me at all. I don't care how cute your bull dog is Ryan, good bye to you.

I also personally don't like the "book within a book" trope so I didn't care about the historical romance scenes mirroring Kara and Ryan's romance. I needed more time spent seeing why she'd ever forgive him.

SPOILERS AHEAD

(view spoiler)[Kara, a romance novelist, is aghast to find out that her ex and former love of her life Ryan is now to spend a week sleeping on her couch before their mutual friends wedding. His bulldog is real cute, but she's concerned her feelings will make it awful. But she's on deadline and the last time and Ryan was the spark that helped her write her first romance all those years ago. Of course, sparks fly, and they soon fall into bed and back into a love that seems to have truly never gone away. BUT, at the wedding, we discover Ryan has been engaged this entire time. to the woman she thought he was cheating on her with the last time they broke up (he wasn't, but now he is. And she's the other woman). GROSS. I was so so so angry at him. And then Ryan has the audacity to claim her keeping a 6 month Italy trip she's paid for and planned for over a year is the at the same level of bad secret keeping (NO IT IS NOT). She goes to Italy, for six months. Has a brief kiss with another man and a date, and then Ryan shows up to drop off ONE letter and a journal, and she forgives him after he she misses him in Italy, so she goes back to him. The end. I didn't buy it. Dislike. (hide spoiler)]

CW cheating, lingering grief issues, drinking, fatphobia

Keyanna Goodwin 

I absolutely loved the book, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time and i could not put it down. will definitely be reading the next book by kate bromley

Talk Bookish to Me

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