Mr. Nice Guy was a pretty good book, with an interesting plot line. I believe it was written by a husband and wife team, and I'd be interested to know if the husband wrote Lucas' chapters and the wife wrote Carmen's chapters. Why I mention it is because the third person point of view became annoying at times, mostly in Lucas' chapters. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a kids' book with the like of "Lucas did this. Lucas thought this." Also, I found myself connecting more with Carmen's chapters, and now I really do wonder if it was because of the author. I'm used to reading romance books from female authors, so that could be why I wasn't connecting to the whole book. Also, it was a little confusing with the point of view of the chapters. Lucas might have five chapters, and then suddenly Carmen had a chapter, Jays had a chapter, and Alexis had a chapter. But there weren't any titles on the chapters to warn you of the change of POV. In fact, one chapter skipped from Lucas to Carmen's POV. This could be due to it being an unedited copy, I'm not sure.

All in all, this was a pretty good book. The backdrop of NYC and the wild adventures Lucas got into at the beginning was entertaining. It was a decent romance, although the ending was not exactly as I expected or wanted. But then again, not all endings are the HEA, tied up with a bow ending, and that's okay too.

I thought I would like this book by the description but unfortunately I am too old, too southern and too country and finally gave up on trying to read it. The writing was excellent but I just couldn't relate to the characters or story. I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my voluntary review.

The plot summary seemed really interesting. The novel was a quick read and I really liked the characters. The articles for the column were hilariously funny. The hero and heroine relationship gets a bit complicated, but I think the ending was realistic and the author tied everything up nicely.
Overall, a fun, sweet read. Thank you to NetGalley for the book!

*I received a free Advance Reader Copy in exchange for my honest thoughts/opinions of the author's book.*

My biggest issue with this book is that it was marketed as a romance. THIS. BOOK. IS. NOT. A. ROMANCE.

I had the hardest time getting through this book because I abhored the main character. I think it was satirical to some degree, but I still could not appreciate or care about his goings-on at all. Uh, you don't usually like women as chubby as the one you are talking to, but you try to sleep with her anyway? DEFINITELY NOT A NICE GUY.

I had lots of issues with this book, and wouldn't spend my money on it at all. I wanted to give it a shot, thinking the husband-wife duo would be like similar c0-authored books, but ended up feeling skeevy.

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a rush!! From the moment Lucas walks into the One World Trade Center, I only put the book down to have a couple of hours of sleep and work before I picked it up to finish again. Told from multiple point of views, Mr. Nice Guy tells of the adventures of Lucas Callahan and how he wanted to "make it" in NYC at one of the top magazines. Taken under the wing by the editor of the magazine, Lucas tries to emulate his hero, Jay Johnson, in any way he can...including buying silk ties he can't afford. Stopping to buy a drink , he meets a beautiful woman in the bar and she takes him home.

This happens all around the world. Lucas had only had one long term serious relationship. But when he finds out that he's the butt of the joke when the beautiful woman turns out to be the author of "Screw the Critics" column, he finds out how much he doesn't know about women.

Hurt, he responds back to her and signs himself Mr Nice Guy. When Jay sees this, he finagles it so they meet in person as who they are.

This begins a lesson in life, love, and who you want to be when you grow up. Carmen, being older and having been a victim of Jay's, attempts to caution Lucas as to what might happen to him if Jay finds out who Mr. Nice Guy is. Because the only one that matter to Jay is the Editor...or namely himself.

This book was fast paced and a great read. The piece dealing with Nicolas and the article that was rewritten to show someone horrible as positive spin could have been tightened up or even left out entirely. Sophia had a nice little run but being the minx she is and the foreshadowing, it's apparent she wasn't in for the long haul.

Lucas meets characters from his past and future that help him to find out who he is, who he loves, and what is he willing to risk to make his life his own.

I enjoyed this and would love to read more of these authors as they grow as a writing team!


I was given an uncorrected proof by Net Galley for an honest review.

I wanted to read this book due to the blurb. I then looked at how it was categorized and saw satire; then I saw that it had a male and female author. Realizing that it was most likely a humorous take on the subject, I was ready to read. I did enjoy this book as I remembered being that age and wanting to advance in my career (not that I would have gone that far). I found it an engaging blown out of proportion read. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

The concept is cute and different, which is what enticed me to request a copy from NetGalley, but I had the hardest time getting into this story. The beginning dragged on and I wasn't emotionally invested in Lucas by the time Carmen entered the story. It took a few times of putting it down and trying again, but I finally finished it. There were definitely funny moments, but I'm heartbroken this book didn't live up to it's potential. Not what I was expecting, and definitely not in a good way.

Boy meets girl, boy goes home with girl, girl happens to be a sex columnist and writes a scathing article about boy, boy responds with an equally scathing letter to the magazine. Uh-oh, they both work for the same magazine. It's not hard to see where this story is going, and it does - in a slow crawl.
Mr Nice Guy is well-written, at least in the technical sense, which is the only reason for my second star on the rating. However, technical correctness aside, this one does not live up to the hype that caught my attention and made me want to read it. Compared to The Devil Wears Prada and Sex and the City, a funny and all too real comedy, the ultimate RomCom. Those are just a few of things I saw about this one before reading. I found none of that.
Now, maybe it's just my sense of humor, but at just over the 50% mark, I realized that I hadn't laughed even once at this supposedly funny story. Not a chuckle, not even a smile, nada. And on top of that, I was bored. I didn't like the characters, most especially our main characters, Lucas and Carmen. They are both self-absorbed, judgy, and don't seem to care who might get hurt as they climb that invisible ladder to success. Carmen may as well be a prostitute charging by the hour with the way she uses sex to get what she wants, and Lucas, well, Lucas acts like a teenager having a tantrum most of the time. I suppose, when looking at it that way, these two are well-suited. I don't know how they even liked themselves, let alone anyone else.
The pacing is slow, and the story is filled with way too much non-essential information. Setting the scene is important, and the reader does need to know about the jobs these people do as well as who they are and how they live their lives, but this one went a bit over the top with that. So, at around the 50% mark and 27 chapters in, I decided enough was enough. I didn't care enough about any of the characters to want to know how their story played out, and the book was just too easy to set aside and too hard to pick back up. Life is too short for that.

To be honest, I ended up just skimming this one after about the 30 page mark. Both characters were a little too self absorbed and stuck up, and I found it hard to care about either of them.

The summary was so promising; I love a good contemporary adult romance. I love the journalism/media aspect. I love the whole plot synopsis. The execution of the book was just a little off for me. If the characters had been more likable, I may have been able to hang in longer and actually read word for word, but unfortunately, this one was a bit of a disappointment. There is definitely appeal others may find within the pages, but for me it was a dud.

What a fun read! Great plot and characters! I really enjoyed the banter between these two. Definitely recommend!

An entertaining peek at the cut throat world of publishing. Lucas gives up law school to become a journalist and gets seduced by the glamour of fame. He ends up having an incredible journey of self discovery and learns what ultimately are the most important things in his life.

Not much I can tell you about this one other than it wasn't my cup of tea. Lucas was cringe worthy at times and made me roll my eyes (which with the headache I'm nursing was not a good thing) and Carmen, though better, we needed more of her. Pitting them against each other in the work place was so unprofessional especially when they should have been a one and done. Frankly, if this had been a shorter book and condensed to get rid of some of the blah-blah-blah it would have been better and probably could have shown more promise.

**Received this ARC for review from the publisher via NetGalley**

I'm going to start this review by saying how much I wanted to like this book. I tend to love books that follow the hate to friendship to love path. They're often gooey and sappy and adorable. Unfortunately, this book really didn't do it for me.

Mr Nice Guy follows Lucas - an aspiring writer (and current fact checker at a major magazine) who is seeking a way up the corporate ladder. After a random hookup with Carmen (a prolific sex column writer) he finds his personal life is suddenly tabloid fodder. Instead of sitting idly by, he writes an anonymous response and inadvertently starts a biweekly column that starts a media frenzy. Along the way, the two clash and develop from hate to friendship to something more. 
One thing that really detracted from this book were the long inner monologues that the characters had a tendency to go on. Don't get me wrong, I realize that these can be a powerful plot tool to show character growth, but when over used they tend to make characters sound preachy and over-inflated. Both Lucas and Carmen constantly went on long, self important monologues about what they had learned in the five pages since their last monologue. It was all a bit over the top for me. On the whole, the plot really dragged most of the book. The book could have been significantly reduced and it would have been a more enjoyable read.

Let's focus in on the two main characters: Lucas and Carmen. The story is told from both of their points of view, which did add a certain amount of depth to the book. However, I found both of them to be insufferable for most of the book. Carmen could have been one of the characters I love most: a tough, takes no shit, career oriented woman. However, she turns out to be a stubborn and immature person who never takes ownership of her own choices. She's a woman who is trying to claw her way out of the writing corner she has painted herself into. Specifically, she decides to write a sex column knowing that there isn't much growth potential, and then is upset and blames everyone but herself for the rest of the novel when she is stuck in a career without upward mobility. Honestly, it just really bothered me that she never owned her own choices, she just continued to languish in a job that made her miserable and pointed fingers at everyone else.

Lucas is a naive new New York-er looking to cut his teeth in the world of journalism. He is also trying to get out there in the big city. He is the archetypal 'nice guy' (ie. I was nice to you and now you owe me a relationship), which would have been fine if it was used as a starting point for his personal growth. Unfortunately, he never really grew as a character past this expectation that if he was nice enough to a woman she would fall head over heals for him. Everything he did was driven by his need for the women around him to want to be with him:  even his big final act was driven by the need to win the affection of a woman who had time and time again told him her expectations did not match his. He constantly disregarded what the women around him said: for example, he started hooking up with a woman who stressed from the start that she was not looking for a relationship, but he decided that they were in love. He then got upset when she broke things off with him for  not respecting the boundaries she had set, and instead of reflecting on the missteps he had made, he made her out to be the villain for standing by WHAT SHE HAD TOLD HIM SINCE THE BEGINNING.

On the whole, this was just not a great book. The plot dragged and the characters were overly self important. The sort of half redemption that Lucas and Carmen got was too little, too late, and made me wish I didn't sink as much time into this book as I did. It wasn't my cup of tea, an moving forward I think I might be taking a break from this genre.

Rating 4/5

I'll start by saying this is NOT a romance. There is no HEA. BUT it is a romantic comedy full of twists and diversions that made this a quirky, fun read that if expanded on could definitely be TV show potential! What fascinated me with this was how the authors incorporated the risks people take when it comes to their career and what they are willing to sacrifice to achieve certain things. The choices these characters make seem very unethical at times, but that's what made the drama of the novel entertaining!

I read Mr. Nice Guy twice, all the way through, because I couldn't get a good feel for the characters on the first read. My impressions: This is not a romance. *SPOILER ALERT* The characters do not fall in love. There is no happily ever after. What there is, is a journey of discovery and an oddly satisfying ending.

Would I spend my hard earned book dollars on this? probably not
Would I recommend to friends and family? Maybe
Does it qualify for my Do Not Remove from Kindle on Pain of Death section? nope

Nice Guy is a well written, engaging read if you're in the mood for a "different" kind of romance.

*ARC via netgalley.com*

Lucas moves to New York to become a writer. He starts at Empire as a fact checker. Carmen is a woman who writes about her sexual escapes. When they meet in a bar and his night with Carmen is in Empire, he writes a rebuttal . Empire publishes Lucas rebuttal and the columns go viral. They meet weekly and write about there experiences and thoughts about each other. This book was a fun read. There are two sides to every story.

Sorry for this but I really do not like a book that has generated so much expectation in me and ended up like that. For me it broke all the magic of the couple's writing that was fantastic and surprising, I do not deny it, but I'm the type of reader that likes cute endings.

Such a fun book! Couldn't put it down. Highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I'm going to put this out there: I don't think Jennifer Miller or Jason Feifer have ever read a romance novel. I didn't hate this book, it's a slightly satiric, social commentary on dating and sex in New York City. It's general fiction. Which is fine. Just please don't label it a romance novel. I see why romance readers are having a hard time with this book. Romance is primarily written by women, and for women, not that there aren't male romance writers, there are, but the vast majority of the authors and readers are women. Mr. Nice Guy felt like it was very much written from the male gaze. You will enjoy this novel much more if you shift your focus away from the romance aspect of this novel.

The first problem in this book is that 80% of it is spent in a 24-year-old man's head. Listen, I get it. I was 24 not too long ago, I have a 24-year-old brother. It was an entertaining glimpse into the insecurities lots of young men face. Sexual inadequacies, whether their head is too small for their body, how to get ahead in business, all of these things are realistic; but not at all what I want in a romance novel hero. I don't think the point of Lucas' character was to be likable (which is good because he wasn't) but I really wanted someone to root for, and I usually prefer that be the main character. As it was, Lucas had very immature characterizations of the people in his life, especially the women, a skewed idea of what a "nice guy" is, and a massive victim complex. 

I appreciated Carmen's character much more. She was a confident and successful 31-year-old sex columnist looking to start the next phase in her life. I have no idea how she accepted so much criticism, but I aspire to have the confidence she does. Carmen had an extremely adversarial relationship with Lucas at the beginning of the book, and while she is portrayed as the "mean" one, I would argue that Lucas had the harder blows in their back and forth columns. She talked about technique and confidence, things that can be changed, whereas he attacked her character and attitude. 

The second problem for me was the lack of emotion in 95% of the sexual acts in this book. There is no exclusivity (the hero is having regular sex with two women at one point), because of the column, both Carmen and Lucas look at sex with this sad and jaded eye that made me feel just a little bit worse about the world. Not exactly what I am looking for in a romantic comedy. Worst of all, this smacked of prostitution. Please have sex with this guy, tell the world, or else you might be fired. The whole thing could have been cute but the way it was handled made me feel a bit skeevy.

The climax of this book made me feel physically ill. I wanted to punch Lucas in the face and Jays was evil incarnate. Again, this is what we're supposed to think as a reader, but it was tough to stomach. Lucas attempted to become a hero at the end; however, I wasn't convinced. Tyler was the only character I really connected with. He was way too good for this book. #TeamTyler he should have a real romance novel with Alexis where they meet at Noser.

Overall, the book is an intriguing look into the world of journalism and imperfect, ambitious people. As I mentioned before, it is NOT a romance novel. I don't regret finishing the book, and I hope other readers connect with Lucas and Carmen more than I did.

**I received an ARC of this book in order to provide an honest review**

While this book played out about as one might expect, it was still a delight to read. Lucas and Carmen had a lot to learn about each other, about priorities, and about love.