I put this book down at 20%. I flew through it but not because it was written well. There was no character development. The plot was poor. Relationships were rushed. I wouldn’t recommend this.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I don't think that I would be able to recommend this book to people, because I don't think that I liked it all that much. It just wasn't what I expected it to be, and I think that the audience for this book is a little different than what I'm used to. I guess I just found a lot of the things going on a little too dramatic and inauthentic. Overall, I thought that the characters were fine, and the romance aspect was good. I just didn't think it was for me, but it definitely has it's audience somewhere else!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to read this in advance! All opinions are my own.

I loved the book! It took me a while to read it — thanks Covid! — but it won me over. The plot (actress, coworkers, a big mystery) was amazing and was written in a good and funny way.

There is romance, there is mystery, there is tension. Loved the couple too.

Received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.

This was more of a mystery/whodunnit than a romance, which I was a bit disappointed to find out. With 'Love' in the title, I expected the romance side to be a lot strong, and unfortunately, I didn't really fall for either love interest. I also didn't enjoy having one in the first half and another in the second half. It made both feel weak. The end was pretty cute though.

I thought the mystery side was pretty decent though. I was able to guess some of it but not all, which is always nice.

As for Dana, I wanted her to have a bit more personal growth. She did mature a little bit, but she was still pretty selfish and never really had to face consequences for her actions.

Overall, not a bad book, but didn't really grab me. I actually put it down about a third of the way through and didn't pick it back up for a month because I just wasn't invested in the romance, which is what I'd wanted going in.

Received an ARC from netgalley for an honest review... and i was reminded again why I don't read mysteries. I don't click with rude and judgey main characters, and while Dana is an actress, she didn't need to be an awful person. I ended up dumping the book after 25% because I just couldn't with Dana was a main character. Sorry not sorry.

Love Sold Separately is part murder mystery part love story, and it's really good! Dana Barry is maybe not the *best* person in the world, but she knows it and doesn't care. Her dream is to be an actress, and when an audition comes up for The Shopping Channel she jumps on it and nails it. BUT, on her first day - the star of the show is murdered in her office while Dana is on the roof sharing a joint with a coworker. She finds the body, and immerses herself immediately in the investigation. The detective leading the investigation rubs Dana the wrong way instantly, and they spend a good part of the book going back and forth.

I thought Dana was a good character, enough faults to make her interesting. I thought adding in her family dynamic was a good touch, because you can really see *why* she is the way she is. Her father is stingy with his approval and her sister is almost her complete opposite. There were some plot lines with Dana that felt unnecessary to me, because they didn't end up going anywhere and weren't really discussed again.

I think the murder mystery part of this was the most interesting. I figured about half of the ending out before it ended, but there were some twists that I didn't see coming. The love story is really more of an afterthought, but the progression of the MC's love affair is interesting to read. It just takes a backseat to the murder, so if you're reading this just for the love story - know that is isn't the main focus.

I have to say I enjoyed this more than I thought I would after realizing it wasn't a love story. Even without that, it was interesting, twisty, and showed that a normal human can help investigate a murder and actually help solve it. Love Sold Separately is a fun, easy to read, novel that will keep you guessing.

Actual Rating 3.5

Somehow I thought that this was a romance. Probably because of the word 'love' in the title; however, this reads more as a cozy mystery, and I'm not mad at it.
Our main character, Dana, is an out of work actor and has a knack for seeing the details all around her. When she hears that there is an open audition for the Shopping Channel, she uses this to the best of her abilities and nails the audition. But on her first day of work, another host is found shot to death in her office, and Dana takes it upon herself to figure out who the killer is.
I was drawn into the story right away, even though the genre was not what I was expecting (it had been a while since I had read the synopsis). The writing was quick paced and I loved getting to see the behind the scenes at the Shopping Channel and it merging with Dana's life as an actor.
However, I didn't quite find her investigations into the death necessarily believable. She was not discreet and was always bringing new people (who were often suspects) into her investigation.
I guessed part of the plot right away, and even though the ending was a bit surprising, I also felt that it was abrupt and I wished there was more explanation.
Overall, it was a very interesting premise, and I'm glad I read it.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think that one downfall of this book is that it's hard to figure out what genre it quite wants to be. I picked this up hesitantly because I was intrigued by the plot but it's kind of a weird amalgamation of a rom-com and a thriller that almost reads YA at times. Because of that, I don't quite know how to recommend this book to people. I enjoyed the thriller/mystery aspects of this book but wasn't a fan of most of the rom-com elements personally. I know people that love rom-coms but generally dislike mysteries. The characters and story are interesting but it just felt like a very strange read that would swing wildly between genres for different portions of the book and I found myself skimming portions of the book that didn't quite catch my interest. IF you're looking for a light mystery story, this might be a good choice for you.

Love Sold Separately is a quirky, upbeat hybrid of a rom-com meets murder mystery. I can't lie, the premise of our main character working at a Home Shopping channel really intrigued me because I can't say I've ever read anything like that before! This was definitely a light and easy read despite dealing with some heavier topics (suicide, infidelity, drug use, etc.) and it was quite enjoyable. I thought that some of the character relationships were a bit far fetched and progressed way too quickly to be realistic. Our main character has two love interests within days of each other which lessens the authenticity of both of them. I also found the family relationship between Dana, Chelsea, and Kenneth to be a bit odd and unexplained. This could've used some more backstory. I loved Ollie's character, I thought he was so wholesome and wanted to give him a hug!

4.5/5! I liked this book! I enjoyed the characters, the romances, and I liked the overall aspect of this story. It kinda reminded me of a hallmark movie mystery, like Aurora Teagarden or something! It was slow at first, and the main character did some things I wasn’t too sure about in the beginning, but overall I liked it. Once you get past the first part, and into her working it picks up super fast!

I didn't get this one. Is it rom-com? Is it a thriller? Is it YA? Unfortunately I felt like it didn't quite hit any of those marks for me. It was a little bit too unrealistic to me. I like cop dramas when they feel realistic. And listen, I'm not that much older than Dana, but I feels years upon years more mature than her.

Love Sold Separately is an adorable rom-com about an actress who gets a job on a television shopping channel where she self-involves in a murder investigation.

Dana Barry is a struggling actor living in New York City and barely making ends meet. She gets an opportunity to host a show on The Shopping Channel and takes it even though it has a stipulation that she can’t act in any productions without management sign off, which she is assured she will never get. This is a bit of an issue because she’s been cast it an off-off Broadway play.

Dana manages to break records on the job, selling merch like she was born to do it. However, before her job has even started, she manages to smoke a joint on the roof of the the building where she works and kiss a coworker. Oops. And while they are kissing, they hear a gun shot. Oops. The star of the network has committed suicide except it looks like it’s actually a murder.

Dana’s kissable coworker is under suspicion so she decides to investigate on her own, battling with Detective Marks who is leading the official inquiry for the NYPD.

I mean, I think we can all relate to the impulse to interfere in a police investigation and lie to police.

There is romance, there is mystery, there is tension. Will Dana start a new career as a PI? While there are plenty of unrealistic elements to the plot, spoiler alert: Dana does not try to join the police force.

This was a really cute book.

Attempt to combine thriller and romance just didn't quite gel.

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

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy!

Did not finish - I could not connect with the plot or writing so I decided to put it down.

This novel was a tough read and not a favourite for me. More of a YA suspense than a romance in my opinion. The main character was incredibly spoiled and completely un-relatable which definitely shaped my view of the entire book. In saying that, I took a long time reading this and lost interest quickly. Note that I only finished it because it was an advanced copy and I wanted to give my review.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my thoughts as my honest review.

I like mystery/thrillers and romance so I thought I would give this one a try. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. It was a nice change of pace. I struggled to get into this book in the beginning, but I liked the quick pace the second half of the book. I would recommend this for a romance reader that needs something a little different.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a cross between a cozy mystery and a romance. I really liked the couple in this.

2.5. The writing is decent and the drama is fun and soapy in parts, but I couldn't connect to the characters at all. In fact, I probably connected the least to the main character, Dana, who is an immature woman who can't seem to keep a job and reacts in ignorant and/or cruel ways to the people around her; it's tough to root for someone who got fired from a Hot Topic for telling "emo" kids that "they generally wound up on hospital beds at some point." Also, she has little-to-no chemistry with her love interests, straight-laced, brooding detective Ari and bad-bound sound engineer Lorenzo. Additionally, there's some sketchy stuff going on with how Meister writes about race and mental illness that didn't help how I felt about Dana...

For some strange reason, during this time of quarantine, our television keeps on defaulting to the Home Shopping Network. After watching Netflix or my recorded shows, the screen reverts to these ecstatic women selling horrible jewelry and crazy vacuum cleaners (that I have almost decided I need). So, I enjoyed this book for the behind the scenes views of what it is like to work on a shopping network. Dana, the main character, is beyond immature and self-sabotaging. I could see where her character alone would be enough to turn off some readers to this book. But, the light mystery and description of an industry I know nothing about was enough to keep me engaged.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.