Kate Bromley's debut novel, Talk Bookish to Me is the perfect contemporary rom-com. Kara Sullivan is a successful romance novel writer who is immersed in wedding planning for her best friend's wedding. During a wedding related event, she bumps into Ryan, the 'ex' love of her life. Ryan and Kara's college relationship ended badly and both parties were burned badly. Kara is a writing slump, but Ryan's re-entry into her life has inspired her writing again. This second chance at love romance (somewhat enemies-to-lovers in there as well) expertly written by Bromley is witty, and fun to read. Kara and Ryan have great dialog and chemistry from the start. Kara's sarcasm and sense of humor is hilarious, and Ryan's right there with her. Ryan says all the right things, although he doesn't always do all the right things.... All in all Bromley's novel is terrific contemporary romance...has all the right pieces...looking forward to Kate Bromley's next novel! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I received a free ebook ARC for this title in exchange for an honest review.
Kara and Ryan dated in college but Kara broke up with him when she thought he was cheating with another girl. She thought about getting together again, but when she mentioned that to her father, they got into a big fight and shortly after that her father was killed in a car accident for which Kara blamed herself. In the interim, she becomes a romance writer who meets with some success.
Then Kara meets Ryan again at her friend's wedding rehearsal dinner, and the sparks start flying again.
Kara struck me as a pretty self-centered character and I had a tough time finding much sympathy for her. Part of that was because most of the other characters were one dimensional and all either unreservedly adored her or provided help for her and/or her writing. While Ryan and his dog Duke end up staying with her (long story), it's never clear what Ryan has been doing in his life after college except for pining after Kara. Kara's sister, mom, and friends are all present to give her advice and support, but there's very little reciprocality or seeming interest on Kara's part for their concerns.
This isn't a bad book, but it could have been a lot better with a more sympathetic central character.

4.5/5

College sweethearts turned enemies meet again after ten years, is the past really ancient history?

I was laughing within minutes of starting this debut novel, Kara and Ryan are pushed unexpectedly together after ten years, they have a passionate and painful past, but their instant banter and tension have you routing for them to rekindle their romance.

This is lovers to enemies to lovers, forced proximity, second chance romance, and the chemistry is palpable between these two ex lovers.

The beginning of this book was the real shining portion, there was no need for long chapters of build up, the author sets the tone immediately.

Kara is a romance writer and part of the book is tid bits of her latest romance and it is a little
art imitating life as her and Ryan spend more time together and more light is shed on the real reasons their relationship went so wrong the first time.

I honestly sat with this as a 5 star but without giving away the big conflict I was just so disappointed in Ryan and had a hard time grappling with his logic/excuses.

The ending didn’t tie up too neatly it was a bit disjointed but there was redemption and understanding and I appreciated the human nature of the characters, they were more fleshed out and not your typical happily ever after couple.

Overall I was sucked completely in by this book and read it in 24 hours.

Ugh this book is romcom perfection y'all!
Kara is a writer and bookstagrammer and is so relatable and funny! Ryan is her gorgeous ex boyfriend who is a big teddy bear sweetie pie. Put them together and you get laugh out loud hilarious banter. And to top it all off, you get AMAZING side characters!

The story is about second chances, forgiveness, and a dash of enemies to lovers.
I highly recommend this one if you're looking for a laugh out loud funny, but also emotionally deep romantic comedy. Be prepared to laugh, cry, and maybe even yell a little because this one takes you for a ride.


Thank you to Netgalley, Kate Bromley and Harlequin Trade Publishing- Graydon House for this e-ARC 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 bits 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.

A sweet rom com interspersed with about half a historical romance novel that the main character is writing that is supposed to be related to the main plot (but I can't see it.) I was pleased that the conflicts are dealt with realistically. A nice beach read.

I don't know but I just didn't like this as much as a thought I would. I do usually enjoy the exes-lovers trope, but this was a mess in my opinion. I didn't really care too too much for Kara. And I'll be honest I didn't read any of the "story" inside the story because I did not care for it. Ryan was meh but with that ending I can never see myself being okay with that situation but maybe that's just me. I know a lot of people really enjoyed this book but I just don't see it. Both Kara and Ryan need severe counseling before they would ever work as a couple. Maybe if they showed that I'd enjoy it more so you'd see some growth. But for there to be no real conversation about the problems they had in the past, the problems in the present and the ones they will have in the future, I just didn't vibe with this book.

I DNFd this book because:
1. Fatphobic commentary
2. Randomly referring to two women as prostitutes
3. "Hero" refers to historical romance as literary porn
4. Casual joking regarding suicide
(The above all happens within the first 10 percent of the book)
5. At the 75% mark, the "hero" of this second chance romance (who has already gotten re-involved with the heroine) is revealed to have a fiancee the whole time.
I'm sorry....WHAT? No, thanks., HARD PASS.
I don't often rate a book 1 star, it actually takes a lot for me to do that. But this book just really pissed me off.

This was kinda a book within a book story. Kara’s best friend is getting married. Imagine her surprise when her old college sweetheart is best friends with the groom. Kara’s also a historical fiction romance writer who’s on a dead line.
This was a fun relaxing book which I rather enjoyed.
The characters were fun and the story kept my interest.
This is a perfect beach read
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

This book got me out of reading funk! I laughed, I cried, and I shouted! This wonderful story of enemies to lovers and second chances is a definite must-read. It’s a book in a book and I found myself reading so fast to see how they both end.

I really enjoyed this. I didn't love the ending....Not sure why, but it felt too rushed and cliche. I thought it was clever but super predictable. I love a good rom-com. I even liked the tiny unforgivable twist at about 80 percent through. It's basically about a romance novelist who is the maid of honor at her best friend's wedding. She finds out the best man is her ex-boyfriend from college 10 years ago. They did not end on good terms. I knew there was going to be a Pride & Prejudice type misunderstanding, and there was a bit of that. The Italy sideline was a good throw-in. If you like romance novels, this is a nice, fun read. The banter is hilarious.

Thank you so much to #Netgalley #Katebromley #Harlequin for this advanced reader's copy for an honest review.

I had very high hopes for this book, but it wasn't my favorite.
It was hard to get into, the pacing at the beginning was so rushed that I wasn't connecting with Kara. Then things seemed so far-fetched. If she was so close with Cristina that she was the maid-of-honor in her wedding, how did no one know that Jason's groomsman was Kara's ex-boyfriend from college?
Also, I found it odd that all of Kara's friends immediately wanted her to get back together with Ryan when they knew how badly he'd hurt Kara when they were dating the first time. That didn't seem like a very strong friendship.
Between feeling like the relationships weren't actually what they were being portrayed as, the story within a story didn't work for me either.
Finally, the trip to Rome was an odd break in the action of the story. I know we need the long dark night of the soul before the lovers decide to be together, but she was off having fun with a new man.
Overall, there were some fun parts, but the book was kind of confusing and I didn't connect with any of the characters enough to really love this book.

Ugh, I loved this.

Kara is busy mingling at a party before her best friend Cristina gets married, when Cristina's fianceé Jason walks in with one of his friends, Ryan. Ryan is THAT GUY - Kara's one that got away. They had a messy break-up, they broke each other's hearts, and they haven't seen each other in a decade. They both agree to be civil for the sake of their friends, but how civil can they be when there's still so much left unsaid?

Kara is such a fantastic main character. She's a bookstagrammer, a regency romance writer and she's incredibly likeable. Ryan is also very likeable (and there's a dog). The book Kara is trying to write is also featured, now I don't have much of an interest in Regency Romance so I just skimmed those parts, but if you like a book within a book, here you go.

Both Kara and Ryan have a lot of stuff to work through, and I was really happy with the way they did that in this book. Too often we see female leads drop everything for some guy and Kara really wasn't prepared to do that. Ryan was, by all accounts, a shit at times. By the time I had realised how big of a shit he was, he had already won me over. In reality he would have been shown the door before he took his shoes off, and I was glad that Kara didn't immediately forgive him.


This was light-hearted yet emotional, and I enjoyed it a lot. Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

Fun Tale. Unnecessary Element In Epilogue. This was a fun rom-com full of angst and banter and miscommunications. The book-within-a-book worked, even while I'm not really a fan of the Regency style historical romances. Indeed, until the epilogue itself this was truly a fun, witty, banter-filled tale filled with heart. Even the actual endgame itself (the last 15% ish of the book, IIRC) was interesting, even as it got away from the main storyline for quite a bit of it. (Unlike some other reviewers though, I totally get why and how it worked. It isn't a *usual* storyline in romance novels, but I've seen it before - and even a few times in real life.) My only issue, and it is more of a quibble since it *is* just in the epilogue, is the completely unnecessary baby. It adds nothing, and only reinforces the "you're not a real couple unless you procreate" bigotry. (Also, not an actual spoiler - romance novel. Couple by definition ends up together. :D) Still, on the whole this book really was fun and had some interesting twists to it. Very much recommended.

This isn't my normal read, but the summary sounded interesting. However, the book didn't feel like a finished copy. It seemed all over the place, with a bit of romance, a bit of suspense, a bit of women's fiction--almost like a genre mashup. It wasn't what I anticipated based on the title or blurb. Also, too much dialogue ... and not well-written, believable dialogue.

I loved the cute characters in this story, especially the great friendships between Kara and her friends and the cute dog is a nice touch. Chemistry built fairly well, but then it seemed to kind of fizzle out. The introduction of another male character toward the end seemed like a little strange to me, but I assume that he will play a role in a future spinoff. I would definitely recommend this to fans of contemporary romance.

Thank you to the publisher of the book for a free netgalley.

And while I am thankful for a free book, this one is a big NO go for me. Here's my reasons why:

- Almost the whole story has been written in dialogue. Ummm is this a screen play or a prose?
- The dialogue is all "witty banter". I am not sure when romances became 100% sarcastic banter? My husband and I make sarcastic jokes, but apparently we are more mature than most modern rom com couples because we actually have real conversations.
- I find it weird that her best friend is pushing her EX boyfriend onto Kara. Does she not know the background of this relationship? I find it weird that her best friends does not even know.


When I decided last night if I was going to finish this book, I decided to come onto Goodreads and I am happy I did. I had a REALLY good idea of where this was going, so I confirmed my beliefs.

While I could prob finish this in just a couple hours, I am choosing to not and move on!

I am not usually a big fan of second chance romances but this was a fun romantic read. It was fun to hear parts of of the book she was writing as it went along. I also really want to go to Italy now.

Favorite things:
Quirky characters
Novel within a novel
Good pace

At first I had my misgivings because I was supposed to believe that she’s supposed to spend time with the ex-boyfriend she hates in order to help her write her novel? Come on! After I got over that, I got into the book and I loved it.

Kara is a successful romance author who is having trouble with an upcoming deadline. Her college boyfriend, Ryan, shows up as a groomsman during her best friend’s wedding festivities, and she is completely shocked. She is still mad at him fo what happened 10 years ago, but it turns out Ryan is the perfect muse to get her started on that novel. As she writes, snippets from her book weave nicely through the main story. Overall it felt like an ode to romance novels.

I’d recommend this book to fans of rom-coms, New York City, Rome, bulldogs, and ex-boyfriend tropes. Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! I couldn’t put this book down! And adorable storyline with everything I love about rom-coms - witty banter, comedy, travel, surprise and most important, romance. This second chance romance had me rooting for Kara and Ryan from the beginning and a surprising revelation left me questioning everything. I loved the ending and you will too!