Evie Summer is ready for a promotion at the TV and film agency she's been working at for the past 7 years but in order to do so, she has to convince their biggest client, Ezra Chester, to finish writing the script for a rom com. The catch? Convince Ezra that rom coms are real. In desperation, she strikes a deal with him - she will go on a series of meet cutes and prove that you can fall in love like they do in the movies in exchange for his script.

This debut book has strong "Waiting for Tom Hanks" vibes but in my opinion, it's better. It's easy to read with witty dialogue and a super cute story line. It made me smile and it also made me tear up at times. I loved Evie's friends - novels with strong friendships always appeal to me. And Ben and Annette were super adorable. Don't you love it when a child set their single parent up with someone? Children just have a way of seeing things adults cannot :)

The entire premise of this book is just yasssss. The main character takes all the classic meet cutes and recreates them! Somehow she finds love, finds herself, and overcomes her writing block.

Win-win super cute book with tons of references to all my favorite meet cute movies.

This British chick lit story falls flat on both characterization and plot. Evie has three friends who are a retread of Bridget Jones's friends--two galpals and a gay friend--only this trio is far less likeable, and the love interest and the bad guys (Evie's ex and Ezra) just don't work. While the author does a good job of adding email and text dialogue to the narrative, the emails and text messages do nothing to make the story any better or to fill out the characters, so they are just filler.

The plot is bizarre and unappealing: Evie is a screenwriter agent's assistant who wants to be promoted to agent. Toward that end, Evie is trying to get the agency's star screenwriter, an unbearable narcissist named Ezra, to write something even though it's not her job in the first place, so, in an informal secret contract (in addition to his actual contract with her agency), she promises him she will stage "meetups" with men in scenarios from various rom-coms and write up the results for no earthly reason, and Ezra agrees that he will write something if she submits reports of the meetups to him. The fact that Ezra is not writing anything even though he has promised to do so comes up over and over again. and yet Evie continues to do the idiotic meetups and faithfully send them to Ezra.

One of Evie's girlfriends is getting married and being a bridezilla. She's obsessed with the mandatory perfection, not of her wedding, but of her "hen do" (???) which is occasionally funny but mostly adds another layer of annoyance. The protagonist seems helpless in the face of absurd expectations all around.

The bizarre plotlines leave the actual romance on standby for the entire novel and the climax (wedding and declaration by love interest) seem ridiculous and forced.

Some girl-power/feminist stuff is thrown into the mix just because. The romance and career story lines progress along predicable lines. I had to force myself to finish.

I received an advanced readers copy from the publisher and was encouraged to write a review.

*Contains spoilers*

When Evie Summers agrees to help struggling screen writer Ezra Chester finish his script in exchange for a much deserved promotion, she has no idea it will entail coordinating numerous meet cutes... for herself. This is a delightful romantic comedy that feels light but also contains a lot of heart. Evie's meet cutes are laugh out loud hilarious, and she and her friends are well-drawn and very likable characters. I was hooked from the very first scene in which Evie causes an uproar in a cafe. My only complaint is the ending, in which Ezra reveals himself to be a (mostly) unredeemable character, and Evie ends up with Ben. Evie's friendship with Ben and Anette is heartwarming, but I never felt any chemistry at all between Evie and Ben. Whereas Evie and Ezra had undeniable chemistry, and every single scene between them was exciting and unpredictable. I suppose I wished the choice between the two hadn't quite been so obvious and clear-cut. A small part of me even hoped the ending might be ambiguous and open ended, with Evie getting her promotion and having her choice between the two men. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to reading more by Ms. Winters!

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

You know who loves rom-coms? This girl! So, obviously I would adore a book, which was essentially a love letter to all the rom-coms I have loved before.

Evie had been putting in her time as an assistant, patiently awaiting the opportunity to move on to junior agent, and it seemed as though that opportunity had presented itself in the form of Ezra Chester. He was one of the agency's most lauded screenwriters, but they were having difficulty getting romanic comedy he promised from him. Evie's task was to push Ezra to finish the screenplay, but it would come at a price. She would have to engage in multiple meet-cutes as she pursued true love. Though she felt it was impossible, she agreed, and it may have been one of her best decisions yet.

Seriously, a book filled with meet-cutes. What a wonderful thing! And, in true rom-com fashion, they were not just fun and sweet, they were quite hilarious. Watching Evie push through all these painful encounters provided me with lots of laughter, but I also liked how these events added to her life.

Once an aspiring screenwriter, Evie lost her spark after a bit of biting criticism and the death of her greatest supporter, her dad. She had resigned herself to a life as an aspiring agent, but these meet-cutes reactivated that passion in her, and it was great to see her writing again.

These meet-cutes not only had her returning to something she loved, but they also helped her form a friendship with a wonderful widow, Ben, and his precious daughter, Annette. Kids can be hit or miss for me in a book, but I found Annette to be a great addition to this cast. Her brutal honesty and amateur matchmaking added to this tribute to romantic comedies, and also reminded me of another cute kid, who stole me heart (think, Sleepless in Seattle).

Ben was also wonderful. He was doing his best as a single dad, while still dealing with his wife's untimely death. The friendship that developed between him and Evie was lovely, and I greatly enjoyed each and every one of their encounters.

The cast definitely stood out in this book, and not only did it have dad and the cute kid, it also had a fantastic quirky group of friends, who I would welcome as my own. This quartet was not only an endless source of amusement, but I could also feel the love among them. They had history, and I loved getting to peek into Evie's past as she pushed forward.

This was an adorable and fun rom-com with a ton of heart, which provided me with lots of laughs and a bunch of warm-fuzzies too. I hope to read more from Winters in the near future.

I love WOULD LIKE TO MEET! Engaging and captivating, this is one of my top reads for 2019. I literally couldn't put this book down. While it's pretty long--longer than usual--I finished this in two days (in between work). There are lots of things to love about this book:

1. Heroine Evie Summers -- She owned the book, and it was fun and entertaining to watch her growth throughout the book.

2. Her wonderful group of best friends -- I love the friendship here, something not too often depicted in books. I love how the author gave Evie's relationship with her friends equal screen time, because really, what's a girl without her best friends, the people who supported her through ups and downs all these years? Another thing is that each of them is so wonderfully characterized with their own voices that they come across as individuals instead of just as a collective "Evie's friends". Standouts are Jeremy and Sarah, the bridezilla.

3. Anette -- seriously adorable. Smart and wise for her age (7 years old). Reminds me of my nephew.

4. The hero! I'm not going to reveal who it is, but I'd like to say that it wasn't obvious to me at first who he would be (most heroes in romance books are alpha a**holes; the ones I read anyway), and for a while there, I didn't know who it would be. I vacillated back and forth, until one of the guys started coming out ahead, making me then wish he'd be more proactive. But I guess there were valid reasons for his holding back.

5. Issues tackled were timely and done without being preachy.

I've definitely categorized this as a "to be reread" book. Don't miss this wonderful read!

A sweet story that was somewhat predictable but just enough not that I very much enjoyed it. How the main character missed ALL the signs remains a mystery

I loved this book so much!! It has been awhile since I’ve found myself smiling so much at a story, even laughing out loud at parts. Would Like to Meet is funny, sweet, ridiculously cute, and just so much fun.

I knew right from the first chapter – a classic meet cute gone horribly awry – that I was going to enjoy reading this story. Though there is much more to the book then the humorous meet cute failures, they were definitely my favorite parts. But I also found Evie a likable and relatable main character. I liked her group of close friends and loved Ben and Annette, the father and daughter she befriends on her meet cute journey. Evie’s boss, Monty, and Ezra/NOB, the temperamental screenwriter, also provided a good amount of humor and tension to the story.

Any good Rom-Com fan will probably guess how the story is going to turn out long before the final chapters, but it didn’t lessen the enjoyment for me. There were a few parts here and there that I felt dragged just a bit, but these are really the only complaints I can think of.

Overall, I loved Would Like to Meet. I loved the characters and the meet cutes and the humor. I also love the cover – though if you’re like me, you’ll need to take a second look to notice that Evie is tipping over her drink, which is perfect for the story. I found this to be an impressive debut from Winters and I am very eager to see whatever she comes up with next. This is definitely a must read for lovers of rom-com.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

Would Like to Meet is a fun and quirky romantic comedy that is heavily based on the meet cute. Before I delve further into my review, I want to clarify a few things to romance readers. Would Like to Meet is a romantic comedy, but the romance is secondary to the heroine's character growth. It's not a conventional romance novel. The romance is also sweet and low on the level of steam. Some may categorize this book as partly being women's fiction, others may categorize it as partly being a chick flick. I'm not fond of either categorizations, mainly because these terms tend to have pejorative connotations associated with them ('chick flick' in particular). But this book definitely falls under the defined category of chick flick, more so than women's fiction.

Evie Summers's job as an assistant at a screenwriting agency is at stake if Oscar-winning screenwriter, Ezra Chester, does not finish writing a romantic comedy script in three months' time. Ezra is suffering from writer's block and the only way he'll write the script is if Evie proves that people can fall in love in real life the way they do in romantic comedy films. In order to inspire Ezra to overcome his writer's block, Evie starts enacting iconic meet cute scenes from classic romantic comedies in real life. She sends Ezra weekly reports on her meet cute scenarios, hoping they will push him to write the script. Her eventual goal, of course, is to find a Mr. Happy Ending before the 3 months deadline.

This book is mostly about Evie's journey as she rediscovers her love for writing and rebuilds her confidence and self-esteem. The romance happens in the background, as a result of one of the meet cute set ups. I surprisingly really enjoyed Would Like to Meet even though the romance is not the heart of the story. I think the reason why I loved this book so much is because I really vibed with Rachel Winters's writing style. Would Like to Meet is cleverly written, with an added twist to the traditional meet cute that is ubiquitous in the romance genre. The twist of it all is that I ended up playing the "Guess who the hero is" game! Typically, I hate set ups like this, but it was just so darn fun in this book. At first, I was expecting the story to go in one direction. But with just a small twist, one of the meet cute scenarios ended up throwing all of my preconceived notions out of the window. For those who don't like "Guess who the hero is" games, don't worry: you'll easily figure out who the hero is early on! And you'll definitely be rooting for the right guy.

As much as I enjoyed this book and the romance, I really do wish the author had dedicated more time to the romantic development. When I finished the book, the romance felt a little underdeveloped on the heroine's side. I feel like the hero put a lot more effort into chasing her. Like most chick flicks and unlike most romance novels, the hero and heroine don't officially get together until the very end. So there's not much space given to further develop the relationship after they get together. Regardless, this was a fun debut and I can't wait read more books by Rachel Winters!

This was a very fun read. The premise is totally unlikely, but go ahead and suspend disbelief and enjoy. Evie is an assistant to an agency specializing in screenwriters. She has to convince an obnoxious writer who hasn’t delivered on a contract to write a rom-com. In order to persuade him to write, she agrees to try to turn a meet-cute into a real romance. So she attempts all sorts of meet-cutes based on the classic rom-com movies. Everything goes wrong and she ends up sending the writer amusing descriptions of her dating-attempts disasters.

Meanwhile, she has amusing conversations and text threads with her three best friends. And she befriends a handsome single dad and his charming seven-year old daughter in the coffee shop where she retreats to write up her misadventures in romance.

The course of the novel is rather predictable. For example, when the two guys vying for her affections confront each other as in “Bridget Jones’ Diary” and are in the presence of a wedding cake, well...you can guess what is going to happen. But it was still fun.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Evie works as an assistant at a talent agency for screenwriters, and her career mission is to be an agent herself. Enter Ezra—attractive, 33 year old arrogant man-child and Oscar-winning screenwriter. He was hired to write a script for a new romcom. The only problem is: he hasn’t written a word and he has 3 months to do so or Evie loses her job. Evie conspires a contract with Ezra where she is to live out classic romcom meet-cutes to inspire his script writing. Does she finally achieve her goal of getting a promotion after all this? Does she find real love?

A Waiting for Tom Hanks hybrid (with all the classic romcom references and similar setting of film), this debut novel had a bit of romcom originality. From the Challenge meet-cute to the use of emails, texts, and script excerpts, it was an easy and funny read. It kept me guessing to the point I was absolutely dying to know how it would all end for Evie! Friendships, relationships, all things that could’ve gone wrong—what an adventure. Safe to say, I was quite entertained!

While the bones of this book were good the writing would get weak and a couple of times it veered off in ridiculous territory. It was disappointing overall. Love the cover!

Love a good love-hate romance novel and this one definitely' didn't disappoint. The always growing dynamic between teh two main characters was great to read.

There have been a lot of conversations in the romance book community about what constitutes a book as romcom, but I think Would Like To Meet by Rachel Winters would be a book that fits it. First of all, the book is specifically about writing romcoms, and the main characters is going about meet-cutes like in all the romcoms. I think it really fits the mold here.

I was actually afraid that I was going to absolutely hate this book, because I had some fears about what was going to happen with Evie in the end. (Who she was going to end up with). I'm not giving spoilers, but I was happy with that outcome.

I still think this was a 3 1/2 star read for me though, because starting this book I felt like it was just soooo dull. It took me a really long time to actually get into this book. I think that might be an issue for other readers too. Also, in typical romcom fashion it was pretty predictable. I knew what was happening and WHY Ezra kept hounding Evie to send him her "reports." He was the absolute worst.

I also didn't really care for her friends like at all. Sarah was so annoying to me, and even though Evie does a lot of selfish things, the whole side-plot with the wedding and group chat chain just didn't do anything for me. Maybe this was just me though!

If you like romcoms and books that are more sweet romance than sexy times (there is no sex in this book, just mentions of it) than I would recommend it. Definitely for fans of Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey.

*I received a review copy of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

I really liked this book!!! I literally picked it up at like 10:30 pm and I didn't put it down until I was done at like 3:45 am so I obviously really enjoyed it. Rachel Winters did a fantastic job at keeping you going because you want to find out if any of the meet cutes are successful but mostly you want to find out if she's going to see what's right in front of her face. I did have a few issues though which I'll get into later but overall it was a really good book. First, I'll start with the stuff I really liked. I am a huuuuuge fan of Rom Coms like they're literally my favorite and the fact that the book starts with a Notting Hill reference made it for me because that's literally my favorite movie of all time. I also must say that the JEMS group chat was incredible, I loved seeing they're part of the book and seeing them all be there for each other. They were such developed secondary characters and Ben and Anette were the absolute best. Now I'll move on to the slight issues that I had with the book, first being that I found it to be a little predictable and I hated the stuff with NOB (Ezra) in the end like he absolutely sucked and I hate that she even slightly fell for it. I also personally am not a fan of the love triangle type story so I didn't really like that side of it. Overall, it was really good! I give it four stars!

This was a really fun novel. Evie is a wonderful character, just wanting to get ahead in life. The only way she can do this is by ensuring the Oscar winning screenplay writer will write a rom-com for her studio. I really liked the effort Evie put into her work and the relationship she had with a Ben. Also the introduction of single people with children in relationships is one I haven’t seen done often enough.

I liked the premise of the book - someone recreating meet-cutes in order to help a scriptwriter finish a movie. This reminded me of the Shopaholic series - the main character tends to get herself in some funny predicaments. The romance is not the main part of this book but it is subtly there. Overall, it’s just a light, funny story with quirky characters. 3.5

There isn't as much romance as some people might like but it has a very romantic ending for a non-romance book.

Evie is an assistant to a literary agent, who is really useless. His one top client can't figure out how to write a rom-com script. In order to advance her career, she helps him write by recreating meet cutes in real life and sending him reports. Of course, embarrassment and hilarity ensue. Early on she meets Ben and his daughter who witness what happens when she 'accidentally' spills juice on someone. The scenes she has with this family is very sweet but his fear that he is a meet-cute holds him back from pursuing a relationship.

Watching Evie grow in her confidence as a writer was the most enjoyable part. Before the book, someone read a script she wrote and said that she doesn't have what it takes. Those words haunted her and is something she has to overcome through those writing exercises.

This was such a fun modern rom-com! Evie is absolutely a relatable protagonist. Not quite where she wants to be in her career, but trying to make the best of things working long hours to prove to her boss she can promoted and spending the rest of her time watching Netflix...sounds like almost every millennial I know. I love how her spunk really started to show and when she lost her temper trying to convince NOB to write the damn script he'd promised. Her spunk continues to show as she tackles meet-cute after meet-cute, all perfectly aware that she's making a fool of herself, but I admired her ability to laugh at herself about it. Overall this book is full of many truths about life as a professional millennial trying to make her way in the world and ends with a sweet, sweet love story that certainly made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group's G.P. Putnam's Sons for the eARC!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Netgalley but all opinions provided are my own.

INT: Jessica C.’s house, a white ranch set off the road. Picture a house that looks well-lived in and loved and also cluttered with discarded kid-related things/suffering from some unfortunate design decisions made in the 90s.

The darkened house is lit by the glow of a Christmas tree. A bowl of milk speckled with Cap’n Crunch crumbs at her side, heavily pregnant Jessica C. contemplates going back to sleep, the errands she should run today, and whether her own love story (of repeatedly forcing a borderline antisocial man to talk to her until he gave up the fight and acquiesced to be her partner) is a meet-cute. (She knows it is not.) But she’s feeling particularly proud to be part of the human race this morning, and besides that, she’s still feeling the glow of the lovely Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters, which had an ending that could only be called adorable.

Noise in the background. Someone’s yelled. Jessica’s head springs up alarmingly fast from its focus on the computer.

Jessica: Oh shit. Baby’s waking.

**CUT**

I’m a hugeeeeee fan of the rom-com. And I’m not even that particular. Basically give me any movie with a vaguely romantic storyline and I’m happy. Woman fakes that she’s the fiancée of a man she’s never talked to who’s also in a coma? Two thumbs up! Female FBI agent has to get a makeover before the hot-kinda-asshole-ish coworker notices her in a positive way? Okayyyyy! Just make sure you give her some good music to walk out to post-makeover and end the scene with a funny reminder that deep down, she hasn’t changed. She’s beautiful and awkward!

So Rachel Winters’s Would Like to Meet is a kind of catnip for me. An astute, hilarious rom-com with an irrepressible heroine who has her own distinct style? Sign me up.

Evie Summers is an assistant agent who aspires to be an agent and secretly aspires to be a screenwriter. But she gave up her dreams after receiving some devastating criticism years before, and now she plugs away helping her boss with his clients. Said boss is super lazy and also incompetent (among other things), but hints that she’ll be up for a promotion if she can get their prize client—an Oscar-winning screenwriter—to finish the rom-com he’s already been paid to write.

Ezra is the Oscar-winning screenwriter. He’s a jerk. But he might have hidden depths. But he’s also a jerk.

Evie and Ezra make an arrangement: she’ll reenact a series of meet-cutes from famous rom-coms to see if it’s really possible to meet your one and only in one of those ways, and after each one, she’ll send Ezra a report of what happened. He’ll work on his rom-com script and indirectly ensure that not only does the place where Evie works stay afloat, but she’ll get a promotion.

Along the way, Evie’s helped by widower, single dad, and talented former photographer Ben, who makes it obvious that he looks down on her meet-cute project.

I should say that usually love triangle plots don’t work for me. But it’s pretty well done here. The pacing of both relationships, the way that Evie’s writing renaissance is linked to her meet-cute mission, and the way that her meet-cute mission is linked to her ability to keep her job, make it successful. Throughout the book there are times when I get vaguely annoyed/frustrated with Evie—sometimes I wanted her to throw a drink in a certain someone’s face/go a little farther in discouraging the person—but I could deal because of the aforementioned reasons.

Also, because this book is freaking funny. Evie gets herself into some really embarrassing situations but she’s resilient, positive (but not in an annoying way), and resourceful, and she lights the book up. Her friends are equally amazing. The friendship quartet that Winters creates is fantastic; it’s a no holds barred kind of friendship with LOL-moments and cringe-worthy moments; the friends are sometimes selfish and self-absorbed but also loving and hilarious and generous and all too human. In its capacity to let people be people, Would Like to Meet feels Bridget Jones-esque in some ways.

Though one aspect of this plot seems kind of obvious to me throughout the book, and there was at least one scene when I thought, Evie, are you kidding me?! (and not in a good way), most of it’s a delight, from the chapter openings—which look like they’re taken from a script, to any scene with Ben’s daughter Anette. Would Like to Meet is fizzy and sparkly and joyful, but it’s also substantive. These are people with some real struggles, even if they’re often in some ridiculous situations. And the ending is pure loveliness. I’m sure I had the biggest smile on my face, but really, read the book and tell me if you blame me.

In Would Like to Meet, Evie stands up for herself and is reminded of what makes her happy. She also finds her HEA…and luckily for us, not in the way she expected.

​
This is kind of a hard one to rate, but I'm ultimately going with 4.5 ⭐️ ​ because what's good here is so good, and reading this book was a happiness-inducing experience.