I DNFed this book and i honestly don’t remember very much about what I did read.
I didn’t intend to never finish this, but it just didn’t hold my attention well and the next thing I knew it was no longer available.

Not what I was expecting - for example, there's the Taj Mahal on the cover, yet it's not set in India or takes place anywhere near India, and the prince, despite having an Indian name on a Pacific island, has no links to India either. And then the story starts, in media res - which we can follow somewhat if we've just read the blurb - but the heroine is everything but competent and/or professional. She's clumsy, ditzy, and generally a mess, has no clue what she's doing - which is not at all the image of a grown woman, let alone one aiming for an illustrious position as an editor of a best-selling newspaper. The story and scenes also felt forced - cue the clumsy heroine here, too - it all tries too hard to be cute, but it just slips into 'cringe' territory and that was the case for most of the start and then the rest of the tale. Sadly, wasn't enjoyable

A did not finish for me unfortunately, just not my usual style of book. Too fluffy, not much content unfortunately

DNF, this one wasn’t for me! I absolutely love the cover of the book though! I have read a lot of other reviews about this book and completely agree!

"Serena McAllister is devastated to find her fiancé has cheated on her—again. When she learns her newspaper is outsourcing jobs to freelance writers, she’s desperate to land the last remaining staff position. Unfortunately, her rival Jane Childers wants the coveted spot as well, and she’s just as determined."

The synopsis and the cover got me hooked, but when I started reading it, I found the MC too annoying, everything she did didn't seem as justified to me, and it was hard to finish it. I only powered through because I really hate to DNF'd books, but man, it was difficult to do that.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange of an honest review!

DNF 49%
Serena was annoying, bad at her job, whiny and just not the MC i had hoped she would be. I had hoped this would be funny, rom-com, interesting and was hoped the harem would be dealt with well... It was not. Just ugh.

this book was so weirdly paced and written with every possible stereotype no pocs as given the cover I thought it would would set in inida. the mc is annoying and white I have never been more disappointed

Beautifully written, heartwarming story. I couldn’t put this one down and I can’t wait to order my physical copy!

This was a book that I ended up not finishing due to lack of interest in content. For that reason I was unable to rate more than one star.

A light romance, the story between Serena and Shai is really too fantastical to believe. Serena is a journalist, angling to win a promotion. She decides to write a story about coteries, modern day harems. She flies off to a remote island, with little preparation, and of course within a week she and the King to be Shai fall in love. I was expecting a book about love matches in India, and instead, this fluffy romance did not make the grade. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Welp. Definitely a frontrunner for worst read of the year. It does have some competition and there are 5-6 months left for more awful reads to come, but I truly do think this one will make the shortlist.

The cover and the premise pulled me in - a girl gets cheated on by her fiance and decides to join a modern day harem to throw herself into research? Sounded like a bizarre setup for romance with potential for being something off the beaten path. I was intrigued.

Unfortunately, the book immediately started off on the wrong foot. Serena gets no backstory and there is no lead up to her deciding to join the coterie. She's already been cheated on and she's already joined the harem once we start. What? That was honestly jarring in itself. It felt like it started in the middle of the story.

So really, the book *starts* with insta-love and sadly continues to deteriorate from there. The characters are flat and not a single one is compelling. The coterie is boring. The backstabbing character gets a couple pages and is quickly found out and vilified. It's littered with poor pop culture references. There are also many "humorous" parts that aren't funny at all. I honestly felt bad as I read it because it just kept getting worse and worse with the over the top cheesy love and cringey "steamy" bits and I knew that it wasn't going to save itself. Every time Shai referred to Serena as "my American," I couldn't help but actually say out loud to myself: "This is so bad." Seriously. My dog checked in with me several times as I audibly groaned.

Listen. I don't relish dumping on someone's final work. This is what I mean when I say I feel bad. Someone spent time and energy developing this and putting it out there for the world to see. Kudos to her for getting it out there. But that's it. That's the only positive thing I have to say.

I was instantly sold on this book by cover alone, after reading the synopsis I had high hopes, and after beginning the novel, my hopes were quickly dashed. I pushed myself as far as I could, but ending up DNF-ing around 60%. There were far too many things I disliked and not enough things I liked that I just couldn't bring myself to continue. Shame, I really thought this one had potential. That old saying, never judge a book by its cover, is definitely true with this one for me.

This book did not do it for me. The writing seemed choppy and it was hard for me to get into. It seemed very slow starting. I think the characters had potential to shine, but I think the author missed the mark by a hair.

Thank you to NetGalley and BHC Press for an e-galley of Love Match.

Ever wondered what a modern day harem was like? Have no fear, Serena is going undercover to get the scoop - and to score the coveted promotion at work. However, when she arrives on the tropical island of Birin, Serena discovers that things are much more complicated than she imagined. An immediate nemesis within the harem, combined with a handsome, charming king-to-be proves to be a different type of challenge. Will Serena get the headline she needs, or will she find love instead?

Do you love happy endings, palace and hot princes. Then this book should be high up on your tbr. Ms.Mckinney tells a deliciously amazing story with hilarious lines sure to get you looks if you're reading it in public and steamy scenes as well.
I would definitely recommend this book for the hopeless romantic looking for something exciting and heartwarming to read.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me the ARC of this book!

Story of the book-

Serena is an American Journalist by profession who is competing for advancement at work, and if she doesn’t win, she will probably be cut off from her job. She likewise found that her life partner has undermined her- once again. So, when a chance to join a clique on the opposite side of the world emerges, Serena leaves promptly, no inquiries posted, wanting to gather an article from her involvement with what she’s hoping to be a current group of concubines. Upon her appearance, she’s quickly pushed into life as prince Shailemon’s guest on different occasions before she even had the opportunity to understand what was going on. Despite the fact that Serena is unmistakably crude and strange, the prince ends up mysteriously drawn to her. Furthermore, Serena can’t deny her appreciation for him either, in spite of her sureness that he’s just playing with her-as he is famous among women about that- for his own pleasure.

So, what is the outcome of this? Is this the starting of a romance at risk of disintegration under Serena’s intention and Shai’s commitments?

Read the book to know more.

My review-

This book gave me high expectations after I read the blurb, yet shockingly, this book didn’t match my expectations. The characters were not described in detail and they took some very questionable actions in the book. It was difficult to like both of the main characters. Unfortunately, even the supporting characters were all basically exaggerations of run-of-the-mill sentiment book storylines- the wonderful abhorrent Russian blonde, the overweight, and over-the-top negative role, the radical dippy reckless mother, and so on. The characters are simply not that impactful.
The composition of the book was simple and it was a speedy read. The romance in the book ended on a very cheesy note, making the plotline mainstream and unsurprising.

I’m simply baffled. I completed the book since I needed to give it a full and fair shot before viewing it. The plotline had so much potential but the unimpactful characters and their mainstream descriptions made it a not-so-good read for me. However, I would pursue other books by the author later on.

I will recommend this book to individuals who are searching for a simple adorable fast romance read.

Cover of the book-

The cover was beautiful and that only attracted me to give this book a try. Unfortunately, the story didn’t turn out to be great but I loved the cover of the book.

Rating of the book- 2/5
Rating of the cover- 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley for my gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

DNF@30%. This book is weird, it doesn’t make sense and I cannot relate to any of the characters. Also, putting the Taj Mahal on the cover is super misleading as this book doesn’t take place in India.

This book did not do it for me. The writing seemed choppy and it was hard for me to get into. It seemed very slow starting. I think the characters had potential to shine, but I think the author missed the mark by a hair.

This was cute and a little sexy. Some constructive criticism is that the romance felt rushed and underdeveloped. The whole novel with characterization and world building is lacking more depth.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital copy in exchange for a fair review.

I did not finish this book. I found it very difficult to get into and that the characters did not make me feel anything. I wanted to like this, but sadly, the book was not for me.