On Location is about a woman who has girl bossed a little too close to the sun (sorry, I spend way too much time of TikTok) and is now the showrunner of a travel show being hosted by a complete nightmare. Picture Steve-O from Jackass. To the rescue comes this super great freelancer who happens to be the guy she had an epic first date with.

This book is funny and sweet.

Happy pub day to this lovely romance by @authorsarahs! This was such a quick and fun read, I could not put it down.

This book makes me want to grab my camera and go exploring. Not only that, it tackles some important issues as well that I really enjoy seeing in these type of books.

This is a story of love, gender equality, self identity, and so much more.

On Location is out today, so do yourself a favor and run to your local bookstore and pick yourself up a copy.

This was such a refreshing romance to read. It had all of the things that I love about romances — a meet-cute, believable chemistry, and a beautiful setting to name a few! Alia is a hard-worker who fights for what she wants in a male-dominated field. As someone who loves TV shows, it was awesome reading a romance about a woman who gets her dream job as a showrunner for a travel show. Reading this book made me want to book a trip to Utah to visit all of the places mentioned.

There was an insanely UN-likable character who crossed boundaries (#meetoomovement) and I loved how the characters banded together to stop this behavior. On Location is a captivating romance that I will be recommending!

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟💫 3.5/5 stars

After enjoying Simmer Down by Sarah Smith, I was excited to see she had another fun romance coming out. On Location is about Alia Dunn, who is finally achieving her lifelong dream of producing a travel series about Utah’s national parks. However, when she discovers her new crew member, Drew, is the guy that ghosted her after a perfect date, she is not as thrilled. Throw in a series host determined to destroy the show and Alia begins to realize she will have to save her dream job from turning into a nightmare.

I loved the setting of the book and found myself becoming more invested in the workplace drama vs the romance. Smith addresses many issues within the workplace and how Alia navigates being a woman in a male-dominated company. Also, the locations were perfectly described and made me actually want to leave my house so I could see Utah. However, the romance was a little lacking for me. When there is a hate-to-love romance, I really need a good reason for them to hate each other and this one was iffy.

Overall, it was a fun read, but I had my quibbles and my high standards for the enemies to lovers trope.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Alia’s luck has finally turned around. She had a brief encounter with Drew, a man she meets on the subway. All is good until he ghosts her. Alia doesn’t focus on that too long because she got news, she is finally able to produce a show that she has pitched a while ago. She is finally ready to prove to everyone she has what it takes to be in this industry.

The crew is ready to go. The only problem is that her brief fling is part of the team. Now the two of them are constantly bickering. Alia can’t let anything stand in her way of achieving her goal but when things doesn’t go as plan, she starts to rely on Drew to help her.

One of my favorite tropes is enemies-to-lovers. The constant pull and fight between characters as they fall in love just seems to draw me in. It is a fine line though between the tension and the unnecessary drama. Very few authors execute it perfectly. While I did enjoy this story the constant arguing and lack of communication bothered me. There is no real solid conflict after that.

Once miscommunication is the only form of conflict the story becomes repetitive. At times, I wanted to shout out at them to just speak. They were arguing or upset with one another for no reason. A conversation could have cleared up a lot of misunderstandings early on. It makes the characters appear immature.

Despite my frustration, I like how the author still remain true to her humorous dialogue like previous books. The romance is kind of stilted because I didn’t feel the connection between the two characters. However, I liked how author used Alia’s problems in the industry to highlight the way females are treated in certain industries. I loved the female bond in the story.

Overall, this is a very light and quick read. I am still a fan of this author and look forward to other books by her.

~ Samantha

This is the first time I’ve read this author and I went in thinking I was going to get the typical story. But this book surprised the hell out of me with a different spin completely.

There are many reasons for this spin. Most due to the different topics the author tackles. Workplace sexism, harassment, inappropriate work behavior, plus more. But we also get to enjoy fun and humorous moments, deep connection and hot romance, Plus the enjoyment for the love of travel.

The story for me was a delight. Smith nails this contemporary romance which begs for a second reading and a warm cozy spot to devour this story!

Alia Dunn has finally gotten her big break. After years of working her way up at TV’s top outdoor travel channel, she gets the green light from network executives to bring her dream project to life: produce a series about Utah’s national parks. It’s a touching tribute to her late apong, who sparked Alia’s passion for travel and the outdoors as a kid.

Alia is thrilled—until she meets her newest crew member, Drew Irons. The same Drew she had the most amazing first date with two weeks ago—who then ghosted her. The same Drew who has the most deliciously thick forearms and who loves second-guessing her every move on set in front of the entire crew. It’s not long before the tension between them turns hotter than the Utah desert in the dead of summer, and their steamy encounters lead to major feelings.

But when the series host goes rogue one too many times, jeopardizing the entire shoot, Alia realizes that she’ll need to organize one hell of a coup to save her show—and she’ll need Drew’s help to do it. It’s the riskiest move she’s ever made. If she pulls it off, she’ll end up with a hit series and her dream guy . . . but if it all goes wrong, she could lose both.

I have to admit, I was skeptical about this one at first – workplace romances aren’t my favourite. They can be rife with power imbalances that I don’t enjoy. I am happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the whole setup of On Location. Smith puts her characters literally on location in Utah’s national parks where a TV crew has to deal with a renegade host who likes his vices more than he likes to work. Leading the way is showrunner, and our heroine, Alia. She’s worked for years to have the chance to produce her own shows her own way. She’s not going to let anything get in the way. She’s focused and determined – which is why her conflicting emotions with Drew Irons, a freelance employee that she has major chemistry with, is so authentic. Alia doesn’t just give it all up for a wild night. She’s frank and open with Drew about how hard she’s worked to get where she is, and she’s not going to jeopardize her show just because she wants a fling. Drew works hard to woo her as well as to show her how much he cares for her and respects her position of power. Alia and Drew work hard as they establish their relationship to put boundaries into place – for them both to respect each other at work and in their private time. And that mutual respect is sexy as hell.

And let me tell you what else is sexy as hell – Drew and Alia’s chemistry. Their sexy encounters are hot! But getting to watch them build and develop their relationship is also pretty attractive. Alia and Drew are two individuals, who at the start of the book aren’t interested in more than fun times and no string attached sex. But, as they get to know each other as individuals, their mutual attraction turns into deep swoony feelings. I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve read a book where the characters develop such a strong friendship as they fall in love. Their relationship reads as authentic and genuine – this is no insta love – and I was rooting for them to find their happy ending.

I enjoyed that I got a sneak peek into the world of tv production, an industry I know very little about. One element that really stood out to me was Alia’s friendships at work. She had a small but solid circle of women that took the time to support each other: her mentor Brooke was there to support and fight for her with the executives and her best friend Haley was there to give her tough love and be a shoulder to cry on. During the story we meet Rylan who Alia ends up mentoring. I kept waiting for one of the women to become a bitch or drop the nice act and be a frenemy ready to stab Alia in the back – as it seems to happen so often in books and TV shows these days. I’m happy to report that I was wrong, and that strong, healthy friendships filled with mutual respect are a mainstay here. As a note: the women deal with some pretty heavy sexism and there is a sexual assault in the book. It felt, sadly, all too authentic an experience for working women.

I loved On Location. It was a fast read filled with character depth and emotion. Set in Utah’s national parks, the scenery became a part of the story and fueled my wanderlust. I’m ready to go get swept off my feet on a desert hike by a hunky man!

Thank you to Penguin for giving us an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect for people who want to travel, like national parks or have always wondered what it would be like to produce a TV show!

Alia, the main character, is a great demonstration of women facing sexism and harassment in the workplace. When she gets the opportunity to have her own show, she gets stuck with the worst host and a coworker who she got stood up by a few weeks before. Traveling through the national parks, Alia has to deal with the host who’s too busy being drunk/ high to show up on time, and constant miscommunication with Drew, the guy she had a great first date with.

Overall, i liked this book! I liked the travel aspect and the camaraderie between the colleagues was great. They seemed like a fun bunch. Drew, the guy Alia hit it off with and then stood her up has good moments and bad. Some of the things he did I understand but sometimes I scratched my head.

I think I wanted more from the ending. I was kind of caught off guard with the epilogue, but I would absolutely read it again!

Alia Dunn works at a travel channel. She has finally been given the opportunity to produce a series about the national parks in Utah, an area that she was been travelling to and loved since she was a kid.

Everything seems perfect until Alia arrives for the first day of shooting. Her newest crew member is Drew, the guy that she had an amazing date with but recently ghosted her, and her host is a reality TV star that can’t stay sober long enough to do his job.

In order to save her show, Alia asks Drew for help, but she wasn’t expecting to fall in love along the way.
I wasn’t expecting to love this one as much as I did! I thought it was fun that they were shooting a TV show, and I’ve actually been to some of the locations that they filmed. The host was an absolute jerk, but all of Alia’s other crew members were fun side characters. Alia and Drew’s relationship was the sweetest, and Drew got himself into a funny predicament being outside in his underwear, in order to keep their relationship a secret from the crew. Overall, I really enjoyed it and recommend it to all the rom-com lovers out there.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Such a fan of Sarah Echavarre Smith! Her books are always light, fun, and a joy to read. This rom-com was a bit too insta-love for me, but I just don’t like that trope. Still fun & cute, and a nice break from reality. Loved reading about the national parks in Utah, especially since we can't really travel right now. Would love to see them one day!

Sarah Smith’s new contemporary romance On Location checked a lot of boxes for me. As someone who loves books that feed my wanderlust, I loved that it’s centered around a travel documentary that highlights iconic national parks in Utah. I’m also a sucker for a protagonist who is an underdog, so I was excited that the main character was a young woman trying to succeed in a male-dominated industry surrounded by mansplainers. And last but not least, On Location also features an enemies-to-lovers romance, which is one of my favorite romance tropes. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to dive into this story and fell head over heels for it from the very first scene, an adorable meet cute that takes place in the most unlikely of places, the NYC subway.

On Location follows Alia Dunn, a young woman who has just scored the chance of a lifetime, the opportunity to produce her very own travel series at the TV network where she has worked for years. It’s everything Alia has ever dreamed of career-wise, plus it has the added bonus of being set in the national parks of Utah, which Alia has a very personal connection to from her childhood. There are just two catches: 1) the network executives (all men of course) insist on selecting the show host, and their choice, a D-list celebrity supposedly trying to rehab his image, is questionable at best, and 2) the newest member of her production crew turns out to be Drew Irons, the sexy guy Alia met on the subway a couple of weeks ago. This wouldn’t be a problem except that after their meet cute and what Alia thought was a lovely first date, Drew then ghosted her. Awkward much?

I really liked Alia and admired her determination. As awkward as her situation is, she isn’t about to let a D-list celebrity who behaves like a diva and a guy who ghosted her ruin her vision for this series. She is feisty and resilient and doesn’t hesitate to put these guys in their places if the situation warrants it. I had mixed feelings about Drew at first because, like Alia, I was skeptical about his excuse for why he disappeared after their date. I was also not a big fan of him stepping in to pacify the D-list Diva instead of letting Alia handle things herself. It came across as very sexist and I cheered for Alia every time she confronted Drew about overstepping, and I also applauded Drew because he seemed to really listen to her and try to learn from his mistakes. That growth won me over, especially since it was also very clear that he and Alia had major chemistry so I was really rooting for them to figure out if they could move forward as a couple.

Aside from Alia and Drew’s evolving relationship, I was also a big fan of the actual process of putting together a travel series. I never would have thought I’d find that interesting, but the author does a wonderful job of showing all of the hard work that goes on behind-the-scenes, while at the same time, keeping it an entertaining read. Another highlight for me were a couple of younger secondary characters who had a major case of puppy love for one another. So adorable.

On Location is a fun and sexy read that is sure to please romance fans.

On Location was a super cute contemporary romance that was a little enemy to lovers and workplace romance tropes.

Overall, this was a super cute book there were just times where I felt like it could have been a little boring and needed to speed up. I really loved the tv producing nature show aspect of the book and how there were real national parks incorporated because it made me want to travel.


On Location is a very classic rom-com with a lot of very common tropes and twists, but I enjoyed the stories and the characters enough to finish the book.

Three Stars MIGHT be generous.

A huge thank you to Berkley Pub and NetGalley for my advanced copy of On Location.

This book wasn't all bad you guys. Promise.

What I Enjoyed-

*The Premise - The Premise of On Location is what drew me to this book. That and the fact that I read Simmer Down last year and really enjoyed it. I loved that Alia worked for a network similar to The Travel Channel and we were able to see her fulfil one of her career goals : shooting her very own series in Utah. I don't think I've read anything set in Utah and this book definitely made me want to visit.

*The Characters- Alia was a great main character. The supporting cast of characters were equally as enjoyable to read ( the good and the bad.)

Why This Book Lost Stars-

It started off really strong. I was excited to read On Location and it was a buddy read with one of my book besties.
As the book progressed I was less invested. The romance wasn't my favorite. The conflict was thrown in at the last minute and sucked. Some of the things that happened toward the end of this book had me scratching my head.

All of that being said- I will still read Sarah Smith's books. This was just not her best work.

This was a sweet & sexy romance.

I liked the development of Alia and Drew’s relationship. Though there were some moments that had me rolling my eyes (communication people, it’s not that hard).

I also loved the concept of this story set in the National Parks of Utah and this team working to create a show highlighting them.

There were some situations typical for women in entertainment/production (harassment, having to work 3x as hard, etc) that had me wanting to smack those men.

Overall and enjoyable read.

This is my first book by Sarah Smith and it won't be my last. On Location made me want to visit Utah again and explore more National Parks. The descriptions made me feel like I was right there on location.

I was excited for Alia and the chance she got to be the showrunner for her new idea for a show on the travel network. After a subway meet cute and getting ghosted, Drew is the last person Alia expects to be the field coordinator. They get off to a rocky start because he never called her and tensions are high as they both try to navigate what their attraction means in a workplace environment.

I appreciated that Smith discussed the sexism that is in the entertainment industry, but that it wasn't the focus of the book. I wanted to scream at Byron for giving Alia the worst host ever, but the awesome crew Alia had made up for it. I loved the friendships and that the crew was ready to stick up for each other.

I do wish that there hadn't been so much miscommunication between Alia and Drew. This might also just be because I love dual POV so much and was really missing it here.

This was an escapist and steamy read that made me want to go traveling.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis:

Alia Dunn has finally gotten her big break. After years of working her way up at TV's top outdoor travel channel, she gets the green light from network executives to bring her dream project to life: produce a series about Utah's national parks. It's a touching tribute to her late apong, who sparked Alia's passion for travel and the outdoors as a kid.Alia is thrilled—until she meets her newest crew member, Drew Irons. The same Drew she had the most amazing first date with two weeks ago—who then ghosted her. The same Drew who has the most deliciously thick forearms and who loves second-guessing her every move on set in front of the entire crew. It's not long before the tension between them turns hotter than the Utah desert in the dead of summer, and their steamy encounters lead to major feelings.But when the series host goes rogue one too many times, jeopardizing the entire shoot, Alia realizes that she'll need to organize one hell of a coup to save her show—and she'll need Drew's help to do it. It's the riskiest move she's ever made. If she pulls it off, she'll end up with a hit series and her dream guy . . . but if it all goes wrong, she could lose both.”

What I Liked:

The Setting—I’ve only been to Utah in the airport, but it seems like an incredible place to visit. The book captured the feeling of majesty!

The Show—I really liked the idea of Discovering Utah, the show the crew was filming. I love mountains so I felt swept away by what they trying to capture. I also loved the crew; they were such fun characters!

What Didn’t Work:

The Pacing—I didn’t vibe with how this was paced out. It did capture the TV motto of “hurry up and wait” because things felt so rushed and then drawn out.

The Trope—Insta love meets constant miscommunication. I found myself annoyed with Drew and Alia a lot because things kept getting repetitive. They’d make up quickly and then once again, miscommunication. It just felt like there were too many tiny bumps.

The Romance—I just didn’t buy into the romance and wasn’t routing for them. The smut? Excellent. But everything else…eh.

Content Warnings

Relationship trauma (emotional), assault

Character Authenticity: 2.5/5

Steam Rating: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3/5

Forget the one bed trope. I am now a sucker for the one sleeping bag trope.

This is the meet cute that I daydream about. Their chemistry form the beginning was amazing. The development of the Drew's relationship and personal self as Alia really gave it to him was well done and I actually laughed multiple times reading this.

There were a few times were the dialogue between Aliya and Drew just felt really off to me. And I just really hate the third act breakup especially if it's due to miscommunication.

Despite those two things, this was a solid book and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

3.5 ⭐️

With a deep personal connection to Utah, Alia is finally given the chance to showcase this special place as a series. The execs at Expedition can be misogynistic, but Alia is determined to prove them wrong with her creative producing skills. The challenges though? Working with the hot guy she met by chance on the subway who recently stood her up, dealing with an infuriating host the execs chose, all the while cramming shoots in a limited amount of time.

There was a handful of touching moments, balanced with infuriating ones, and a hell of a lot of apologizing. But, the overall premise was a pure delight. I couldn’t help but cheer for Alia and swoon for Drew. Plus… one sleeping bag?!

I really liked Simmer Down and was so excited about this book. The main character just did not work for me. I LOVED their meet cute. I thought they had such great chemistry and then when they finally meet again, she is just cranky and rude. I kept reading thinking it would get better, but between her crankiness, the host being the worst human ever and him being all over the place with his reactions, it was too much for me. Thank you for letting me try.

Alia Dunn is not going to let the opportunity of a lifetime pass her up. She gets a fabulous job producing a new series. Falling into bed with crew member Drew Irons is not in her plans. This is especially so since the pair met previously and she was ghosted by him. Drew is the last man that Alia wants to think about. However, he is too gorgeous for his own good. Her attraction to him is palpable and it proves clear that he mirrors her feelings.

But, Alia knows she has something to prove, especially with some difficult crew members and other difficulties that happen on the set. Needing Drew on a professional level soon morphs into needing him on a physical level. How long can they hold out, all while leading the series they are working on to success?

On Location is an enjoyable read with very likable characters. The passion grows with intensity. Meanwhile, drama on the set doesn't seem to let up, thus creating conflicts with Alia and Drew. Sarah Smith is a new author to me, but I really like her style. Reality television has always been popular so to see it fictionalized in a romance book setting was quite a delight.

Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.