Too Good to Be Real

Rating: 4/5🌟!

Rom-coms and meet cutes are just for books and movies right? Or are they?!

Too Good to Be True follows three best friends - Julia, Andie and Kat - as they head off on an all expenses paid vacation to a resort offering just that - a chance to spend one week living like their lives as a story in a romantic comedy.

Enter Luke - sweet, extremely nerdy and head game simulator for the resort. He’s used to having a plan for everything and plan he has. Between him, his sister Penelope and his best friend Vijay, the three of them are ready to give the resort’s guests the most romantic, comedic week of their lives. Or at least, that’s what he planned.

One chance encounter on the beach later, Luke and Julia find themselves questioning if maybe rom coms are real, and maybe so is love at first sight.

This was such a fun and interesting take on romcom but Melonie Johnson - I loved the idea of characters on a LARP (live action role play) adventure and thought it was such a fun approach to a genre that can be a bit overdone. I appreciated the time she gave to developing each character and their stories and felt compelled to keep reading to see where their game experience would take them. While some parts were a little wordy and repetitive, I truly enjoyed this fun and different read!

Read if you like:
+ Romantic comedies
+ Love at (almost) first sight
+ Best friend adventures/character arcs

Thank you so much to Melonie Johnson, St. Martin‘s Press/Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars

I would love to stay in a themed hotel where you get to role play as a rom-com character! I think that's a fantastic idea and now I wonder if something like it exists in real life? The game was my favorite part of the story, the activities they planned like paintball and wine/painting night sound fun and everyone playing a character was great.

Julia and her friends are cute and I enjoyed their relationship. They tease each other and push each other's buttons but are also supportive through tough times. Each of them got a little romance in and they all had some funny moments. Luke also has a squad with his younger sister and his best friend. They aren't as funny, but it was still an interesting relationship.

The pacing was pretty quick and the story was cute. If you're looking for a lighthearted romance, give this a try. Bonus for corgi cuddles and lots of rom-com references!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I have voluntarily chosen to leave a review.

Such a cute story! This is just the type of book to reach for when you want something lighthearted but well written. The premise was a bit convoluted for my taste, with all the rules to this fantasy romance game at a resort. Where this book really shines is its characters. The heroine and her friends are very likable, the dialogues are great and the whole group feels well-defined. The hero was refreshing because of he felt like a real guy you could meet, not some perfect ideal but just a nice guy. Very charming!

Escapist and fun - perfect for pandemic times! A recommended purchase for collections where light WF and romcoms are popular.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange of an honest review.

I thought the story was cute. Not much depth but nice and easy read.

Sadly, this book was not for me. The characters are interesting and often charming, but they are unfortunately held back by a contrived plot and an unconvincing central conflict. At times, it feels like they're being forced to act in ways that don't make sense for who they are in order to fit into a specified rom-com blueprint. Fans of romantic comedies will enjoy the many nods to the genre and its beloved tropes, but a gimmick will only get you so far, and Too Good to Be Real lets the tropes use it instead of it using the tropes to create something fresh and honest.

On the plus side, there is some enjoyable banter between the leads and several humorous encounters with seagulls.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Too Good to Be Real was all kinds of cute and filled with tons of awkward and funny moments as well. It also reminded me of Austenland but way cuter and with less annoying characters (for me).

In it, you will meet Julia and Luke. Now these two had tons of chemistry throughout the book. Plus the little baby sparks from their first meeting was kind of adorable. But the real thing that kept me laughing? Julia and her friends.. and the seagulls. Man the birds were hilarious. The trio of girls were equally entertaining due to their bantering too. It just shows you how close they truly were.

Now some of the events were kind of interesting to me. I mean, a sand castle competition and paintballing sounds like a lot of fun. It's just the whole fake name thing that would mess me up. Just like Julia and her friends, I would end up saying everyone's real name instead of their fake one.

With all the puns and bittersweet moments, the book was quite enjoyable. I cringed, laughed, and made comments in each chapter. It was definitely entertaining and a page turner for me.

Lovely! It was cute and fluffy and had just the right amount of steam to keep my interested. Would have liked it better if it was not dual pov but alas

Too Good to Be Real follows a writer, Julia, on her adventure at a meet cute resort for her job.

This was such a fun read! I loved the concept of the meet cute experience. This reminded me a bit of How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days with the journalist trying an experience for her job. The chemistry between Julia and her friends was iconic, Luke was a bit less than iconic. Overall I did like this a lot though!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So so unterhaltsam! Ich hätte nie gedacht, dass mich das Buch so packen würde. Ich habe Tränen gelacht. Es könnte DAS Buch für den Sommer werden.

Too Good to be real by Melonie Johnson is well written. The story is fun, quirky, and very enjoyable. I love the idea of a Rom-Com retreat.

"I'll have what she's having."

If you enjoy rom coms even a little this book is going to keep you entertained. I absolutely loved the premise and had quite a few good laughs.

While trying to save her job, A reporter attends a rom com resort, and of course all the typical antics ensue. From meet-cutes to forced proximity, all of it is on the table.

I did find that the character interaction could have been stronger and the writing sometimes left me confused on who was speaking, but overall a fun read.

I love the concept of this book. I adore rom-coms and really enjoyed all of the references to classic rom-coms throughout the book. I enjoyed the friendship between Julia, Kat, and Andie. I also really like Julia and Luke together, however it happened so fast it didn't feel too real. I did not like Luke's interactions with his sister.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

<i>"Did the resort deliver the magical experience of being a part of a romantic comedy?"</i>

This one was absolutely adorable. A female journalist signs up for an full immersion, roleplay type experience at a resort - one that lets you experience all the rom-coms you've loved and all the cute moments that go along with them. But when you're staying in a make believe land, it's hard to know when something might actually be real.

I loved the trio of friends (both sets!) The girls were so fun. Their banter was well written and easy to read, even when they were having candid conversations. The other three, putting on the experience, were equally fun and I enjoyed learning some of the behind the scenes stuff for the resort.

This is a great, easy read that had so many cute moments - I laughed and cringed right along with everyone in the story - and I loved it!

<i>An e-ARC was provided to me by the author and publishing via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.</i>

I wanted to like this book. The first couple of paragraphs had me cracking up, with the girls comparing a man’s appendage in a photo to a shrimp. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there for me.

I felt as though the writing did not “flow” at all. As soon as we hit one subject, we’re on to the next, and it was honestly just confusing. I wasn’t connecting to any of the characters.

I had to DNF. I do want to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book, but unfortunately, it wasn’t for me.

Reminiscent of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, in Too Good to be Real we meet Julia who loves Rom-Coms but believes they are just fantasy. When her job for a popular website is on the line she decides to make a pitch... 12 Reasons Rom-Coms don’t happen in real life.. by traveling to a new resort that allows guests to role play living in a rom-com for a week.

Here she has an almost-meet-cute with Luke, a fellow guest with secrets of his own.

Can Julia forge her own real-life Rom-Com or will she prove Rom-Coms just exist in the movies?

This book was so cute and had me rooting for love to prevail!

This is going to hit the sweet spot for many readers. Definitely pick this up if you are intrigued by the storyline of a resort where people can go to role play romantic comedies. There are continuous references to popular romantic comedies, and some colorful and endearing secondary characters.

This book started out for me to be cute and entertaining, but at some point I began to lose interest. That was partly because I didn’t feel any true chemistry between the main characters and I wasn’t truly invested in whether they found their happily ever after with each other. I also found that there were maybe too many characters and storylines to keep track of, especially since the players in the role playing game had both their real name and their character name. Although many readers will enjoy the seagulls as characters and plot device, I did not.

Ultimately, this seemed to become a book focused on showing how cute it could be by how many references to popular romantic comedies it could contain, and I grew weary. The thing that drew me to this book, the ability to live role-play a romantic comedy, is what I ended up finding dissatisfying because it overshadowed the main character connection and romance for me. However, I own that as personal preference and this is going to be an enjoyable read for those looking for a fun nod to romantic comedies.

Julia's a love skeptic, but love may be the only way to save her job. She pitches an insider review of a fantasy rom-com resort to her boss, and suddenly she and two friends are living a real life rom-com. Julia even gets a meet cute with the handsome Luke! But life and love are never simple, and the secrets they hide may tear them apart.

I love romantic comedies, so this book was right up my alley! Any rom-com fan will recognize scenes inspired by their favorite movies, including the infamous "I'll have what she's having" scene from When Harry Met Sally. I wish I could go to a rom-com resort! I was prepared to give this book a 4 star rating, but unfortunately it got bogged down in exploring too many rom-com scenes. The middle dragged somewhat and the ending resolution felt a bit unsatisfying, so it was more of a 3 star read for me, but I still enjoyed the change to revisit some of my favorite love stories.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was attracted by the cover and the blurb and I enjoyed this fast story. Julia is a journalist and intends to write a piece about a live action role play resort (rom-com). She bumps into Luke on the first day. She hides the fact she is at the resort for work, but Luke also has his secrets.

Overall a good story. I just wish there had been more chemistry between the main characters. I liked the setting and the other characters together.

Julia writes for a Buzzfeed type of site. Her job is on the chopping block, and to save it, she convinces her boss to let her do a feature on a rom-com role-playing activity. She'll be traveling incognito to a Michigan resort for a week-long adventure, along with her two best friends. All the common rom-com tropes will be played out - paintball fights, getting trapped in an elevator, and so on.

There, she meets Lance, I mean Luke Every player in the game has an alternate identity. Luke is the game developer, but at the last minute, he decides to join the game instead of masterminding it. He and Julia meet and there's an instant connection. But, they're keeping secrets from each other.

The resort owner is a whack-a-doodle with more money (and Corgis) than sense.

Such a fun premise, but the story just didn't feel plausible at all. Also, it dragged on way too long. Even the resolution had way too much back and forth. I thought it would never end!

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review.