I didn't love the style of When We're Thirty... it felt more like a stream of consciousness than a complete storyline. Hannah and Will have made a pact to marry each other if they're still single when they're 30. Even though they've been estranged for the past five years, as Hannah approaches 30, Will reappears in her life looking to make good on their deal. What follows is a path of friendship and love as they navigate through their "fake marriage."
Thank you to NetGalley and Red Adept Publishing, LLC for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was provided with an eARC of this book in exchange for a fair review.

This was such a fun read! I love the marriage pact trope, esp since it usually comes with a friends to lovers theme, which is my absolute fave. Hannah and Will were just so cute, and I loved seeing them grow together and navigate things, I do wish we had seen more of their friendship highlighted - we got hints of it in flashbacks, but I’d have loved to see it rekindled and built on. Even so, it was a great read and I look forward to more from this author.

This is a terrific story with lots of twists and turns for Hannah and Will, some they handle well, and some … not so well. They were best friends in college, and but for horrible timing, never more than that.

This was a very believable marriage of convenience. There’s not weird some codicil in Grandpa’s will that forces them to get married. Will needs stability after some very flakey behavior at work and ultimately so does Hannah, in the form of medical insurance to get rehab for knee. I love that I could buy into this premise.

It is very easy to love Hannah and Will and to desperately want them to be “real” because it’s obvious to us that they are already very much in love. The thoughtfulness and the respect they show each other is phenomenal. Even though Will does leave out one very important fact of his life with Hannah, I never questioned his love or commitment to her.

My biggest issue with the book revolved the emphasis placed on certain events. We knew exactly how Hannah’s cat felt at every moment during this book, but Will and Hannah finally have sex (closed door, which is fine) and there is no emotional feedback at all after this momentous occasion.

All in all, a terrific book with relatively low angst and lots of reasons to root for this couple!

I received a reader copy of this book from NetGalley and these are my honest opinions.

Super sweet!!
The premise of this book was so cliche and interesting! I loved how the hero approach the heroine and have always loved her.
About the plot I only dislike with all my heart the hero ex- and OMG just the whole plot line about this was just too much but overall this book is a quick romance read :)

This book is perfect for when you are in a reading slump and needs an easy read. This book was not amazing or groundbreaking, but it was enjoyable and had lot of the common tropes. The thing that really drag this book down for me was that I could tell what was going to happen before it was realived.

I could not put this book down! Isn't it just a wonderful fantasy - the idea that someone wants to marry us if we haven't both settled down by a certain age? It's just the best pact! Like - do we follow through? Do we just start dating? Do we get married right away? Do I still know and like this person? Could I spend the rest of my life with them? I loved living vicariously through these characters. I will be buying this one for the library!

Before I get into criticisms, I want to start by saying that I enjoyed this book. Really enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for a forced-proximity romance and this book checked a lot of boxes in terms of my favorite tropes. I would probably even recommend it to a friend.
That being said, I wish there had been more real romance and less angst. Hannah and Will's story felt like insta-love at the beginning, which honestly didn't bother me too much. What I didn't like was that they didn't have many real conversations. Hannah said over and over again that Will was the only person who truly understood her, but the reader didn't get to see any good examples of that understanding.
I understand that the Madison blowout fight needed to happen, and I also understand their argument about Will thinking that Hannah wanted out of the pact, but I didn't love how quickly the two arguments melded together. It gave me a sort of emotional whiplash and at one point I thought I had no clue why they were upset with each other. All of this book's angst was concentrated into the span of 30 or so pages and it felt a little much.
On the whole, this was a sweet romance. It probably won't go down in history as one of my favorites, but I enjoyed the ride nonetheless.

I went into this book expecting a slew of fake dating tropes and hi-jinx, but it became very apparent early on that this was not going to be the case. Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed by this as fake dating is my favorite romance trope but for Will and Hannah it was known pretty much from the start that they wanted each other.

This doesn't mean that they didn't have their fair share of hurdles like; scheming fathers, disapproving mothers, ex-fiances, and a brother betrayal. So, they already had their fair share of things going on. The one thing I can definitely say I did not like was the conflict, which could have been avoided had they just communicated with each other from the beginning. To me it seemed a bit ridiculous that it went on for so long.

Overall, a pretty solid romance

This is a sweet friends-to-lovers romance with appealing characters and interesting family dynamics, ensuring plenty of conflict and obstacles along the path to true love. The book explores themes of friendship, forgiveness, and the difficulties of managing toxic family relationships.. The writing is assured and the story flows well. Readers will cheer Will and Hannah, former college friends who have missed chances along the way in the decade since graduation to turn their friendship into something more. I will definitely look for more books by this author!

There's a new author in town! Her name is Casey Dembowski and her debut book is called When We're Thirty. If this is just her beginning, I can't wait to see what the future holds for her and her readers.

The book is based on a pact two college students made at graduation. If neither one of them were married when they turned thirty, they would marry each other. Will shows up at Hannah's door and the rest is history. Or...is it? This was such an enchanting premise and as you can guess, there were some bumps along the way.

I really came to care about Will and Hannah. The characters and plot were developed in a way that allowed you to insert yourself into their circumstances. Most of the secondary characters were just that. They weren't as well developed so, I didn't feel as close to them. I'm alright with that and didn't feel anything was missing.

If you like a story that is on the surface fun and carefree but, has some heavy topics underneath to stretch your mind, this is a book for you. It hooked me from the first couple of page and wouldn't let me go. If my husband didn't want to go fishing in the morning I would have finished it in one day.

I received a copy of this book from #Red Adept Publishing and #Netgalley for a fair and honest review. Thank you!

✨Book Review: When We’re Thirty by Casey Dembowski✨

📖: Journalist Hannah Abbott has a thriving career and a long-time boyfriend who she... kind of likes. Enter Will Thorne, environmental lawyer and old college friend of Hannah. When Will shows up unexpectedly just after Hannah’s 30th birthday, he initiates the marriage pact they made on graduation night. Holding true to the pact, Hannah and Will have to convince their friends and family that they are madly in love. But they aren’t always acting. Can their “fake marriage” hold up through the ups and downs of a real relationship?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: I am so glad I was granted this ARC! This story was so fun. It was flirty, romantic, sad, sexy and heartbreaking all in one! Casey did such a great job depicting real-life likeness in each character. I didn’t feel like it was fictional so much as someone telling me their true love story. Everything from the characters jobs to the family dynamics was just so detailed. I really enjoyed this one. My only complaint it that it had to end. I want to know more! 😉 5 stars!

You can't go wrong with humor and romance. And, that is exactly what you get in When We're Thirty.

Hanna is not happy in her relationship. The job she loves pays so little she is struggling. Just when she least expects it Will her college roommates shows up with an unexpected proposal

It seems they made a pact a while back that Hanna forgot. Will never though and he shows up to collect.

A truly fun read with great crafted characters. Highly recommend.

I just reviewed When We're Thirty by Casey Dembowski. #WhenWereThirty #NetGalley

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley, and it in no way influences my review.

I LOVED this book. I wasn't sure how the author was going to pull off a marriage pact story and make it seem realistic, but she did. I liked both Hannah and Will so much. This is a fresh, readable book that I had so much fun reading. It is exactly the type of romance that I love. I highly recommend it for a light, quick read.

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

It was an enjoyable read. Sweet story. Go for it.

Thank you NetGalley, Red Adept Publishing and Casey Dembowski for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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If you’ve been around for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard some bit of my love story. As you probably know, I’m a HUGE advocate for (mutually) falling in love and so for obvious reasons, friends to lovers is my FAVORITE romance trope with enemies to lovers following closely behind! This all being said, when I saw this book on NetGalley I jumped on that request button so dang fast. Throw away whatever you’re expecting from this book because Casey Dembowski delivers! I devoured this book in one sitting, surprising myself with how quickly I got into this story. A little fake dating, a lot of ‘the one that got away’ and two people who really work, When We’re Thirty is such a fun read!
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The only thing keeping this from being a 5star is my personal preference when it comes to bedroom scenes. Casey Dembowski utilizes the fade to black style which caters to a lot of people, but personally I like a little spice with all the love!

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the premise for this novel; two best friends creating a pack to marry each other if they are not married by 30. Hannah is celebrating her 30th birthday and she gets a surprise visit and proposal from Will. I wasn't crazy how this part was rushed in between Hannah trying to figure out what she wanted out of her current boyfriend Brian. I felt the author didn't spend enough time developing Hannah and Will relationship so that we could fully understand how a marriage of convenience would work between them. The storyline dragged a lot and was bogged down by irrelevant every day nonsense.
I was hoping to enjoy it more than I did.

I loved the premise of this story. If we're single at 30 we'll marry each other - its the type of thing I said in college and I was excited to see how this was going to play out. At the beginning of the book I was all in, I liked both Hannah and Will, our central characters and I liked what we were given about their past. I think that Will, could have been more greatly fleshed out because I didn't have a good sense of who he was outside of Hannah and being heartbroken by Madison.
Where the book fell down for me was the conflict, I don' t think that it was entirely necessary and would have preferred if the rift caused wasn't due to a hidden history with another woman. I quite like Madison and Hannah's friendship and it either could have been more obviously one sided and two faced, or it could have been a true friendship between the two.
Overall it was a cute, easy read with a great concept,

As soon as I saw marriage pact, I was in. There’s no talking me out of my ways. So, I settled in for the journey with Will & Hannah.
The pacing: started a little slowly for me, there were a few patches where the timeline just seemed to drag, and other spots where it would speed right past me.
The characters: each character was relatable, easy to connect with.
Overall, with a story that’s easy to follow, and characters that were easy to enjoy, this one definitely provided a mostly light rom com that is perfect for a lazy Saturday read.

Dembkowski's debut novel is a fun and twisty romance. Hannah and Will made a pact near the end of college to get married if they were both single by the time they were thirty. The time has come for them to actually follow through or laugh over the insecurities that led them to make this vow. Thanks to a series of unfortunate events that closed out their twenties, we are thrown into a wedding and the question becomes: what next? The novel is told in chapters from each of their perspectives, so we do get a sense of what's motivating each of them. Ultimately, we do get quite a bit more time with Hannah, which is okay. She's the more clear-eyed of the two. The rituals of any engagement and early marriage are played out in tandem with each of their families, and the inevitable exes are brought out of the woodwork. While there are some tropes that may be unavoidable, there's enough of a plot to keep the reader moving through those moments. It's certainly a book for fans of romance and music (appreciators of early Nick Hornby may find a home here).

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book!

I was intrigued by the plot of this book. You always see or hear about marriage pacts in movies, the line, "if we're not married by thirty, we can get married." This is exactly what happened with Hannah and Will. On Hannah Abbott's thirtieth birthday, her old college friend, Will Thorne, shows up at her door and proposes, fulfilling their pinky promise made on their college graduation night. After breaking up with her not-that-serious boyfriend, she accepts Will's proposal. What ensues is a fun and very dramatic adventure as they have to convince everyone around them they are madly in love.

I loved the insights about Hannah's job as an editor for an alternative music magazine, I found her relationship with Riley really special. The setting of New York really made the book come alive as Hannah accepts her identity as a New Yorker. That being said, I thought the relationship between Hannah and Will wasn't explored as in depth as the others (Hannah's with Kate or Madison, Will's with his father and brothers). I would've loved to hear more about their friendship in college and how their feelings changed for each other. It was obvious that they loved each other but were those old feelings from college? I also did not really like the whole brother stole-my-girlfriend plot line. It provided more drama necessary in an already dramatic situation.

Overall, I did think it was a very cute and enjoyable read.