After reading In My Dreams I Hold A Knife last year, Ashley Winstead became on of my auto-read authors and when I saw she was releasing a romance book, I instantly added it to my TBR pile.

Lee Stone aka Stoner is a communications director at an electric car company. Ever since her dad cheated on her mom, she doesn’t believe in love. She’s had multiple heartbreaks throughout her life but nothing compares to the love of her life, Ben Laderman. After not seeing each other for five years, Ben comes back and they end up being forced to work together on her clean energy bill. The tension between the two is definitely real and the old sparks start to resurface.

This was such an easy and fun read. I found it hilarious at times and Ben was just so sweet and romantic. The only issue I think I had with this one was how immature Lee could be at times but overall I really enjoyed my time reading it. If you rom-coms and second chance romances then I highly suggest picking this one up!

Releases on April 5th!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Graydon House for the e-arc!

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and the ever fabulous Ashley Winstead for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of Fool Me Once in exchange for my honest review.

By day, Lee Stone is a successful communications director for a women-owned electric car company, by night she is "Stoner," who loves to outdrink men and enjoy them in her bed. Lee doesn't believe in love or happy endings thanks to four heartbreaks she's experienced throughout her life. The first: her father cheating on her mother, and the last: an epic break-up with her grad school boyfriend, Ben Laderman, after she cheated on him because she was *convinced* he was cheating on her. (Spoiler alert: he wasn't).

When Ben shows up five years later to work on a clean energy bill (AKA Lee's pride and joy), things get a little competitive. As they are forced to work together, tensions build and old feelings begin to surface. Lee knows she only wants him because she can't have him... right?

It needs to be stated that I do not read romances. Like ever. But it's Ashley Winstead, and I'd read literally anything she writes. Fool Me Once is absolute perfection. The first chapter had me laughing out loud, and it was completely unputdownable from sentence one. Winstead's exceptional sense of humor is on full display throughout the entire book.

As a happily married woman, I have very little in common with Lee, aside from my love of wine. Winstead develops and writes her so well, however, that I found her very relatable. And I'm a little bummed she's not a real person because 10/10 would be besties with.

I'd like to share a quote from the book (it does not spoil anything don't worry!) that made me want to pump my little feminist, brown girl fists:

"I want a future where we've dismantled systemic sexism and racism and every other bias that keeps cis straight white men in charge of society and everyone else under their heels. I want innovation and competition and strong safety nets. I want to celebrate autonomy and recognize the fact that we're all hopelessly bound together, whether we like it or not."

Same, sister.

To summarize: I loved this book. I love Ashley Winstead. Auto-buy author status: CEMENTED.

Fool Me Once is on US bookshelves April 5, 2022!

such a fun second chance romance! this was such an easy read and i loved these main characters! the chemistry was off the charts between these 2.

Ashley Winstead, you have such a way with words. This book was a delightful rom-com with all my favorite tropes.
Enemies to lovers, workplace romance, and all the wonderful things that a rom-com could possibly contain.

Her character development is incredible. Lee Stone is definitely not a typical main character, but we really get to grow to love and understand her.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for our free ARC of Fool Me Once by Ashley Winstead!

This was so cute. Thank Netgalley and HTP Books for the early copy. I really enjoyed the Story and the banter of the main characters. Ashley Winstead can write fiction or thrillers and captivate you with the story. This was a fast paced RomCom with EX's becoming lovers again. It did not Disappoint.

I went into this expecting a sparkling romcom, but found this underwhelming. Lee has major trust, self-destructive, and addiction issues that clearly require a lot of AA and therapy, but one 5-minute conversation with her therapist best friend 80% into the book and she’s better. While romances aren’t known for their realism, I’m not buying Lee’s 180, and spending hundreds of pages in her first-person narration was not all that fun. I’m tacking on an extra star because her friends and especially her love interest were great.

This was such a fun novel!! I loved In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and couldn’t wait to read whatever else Ashley Winstead wrote.

I was surprised to love the political aspect so much and was obsessed with Grover Mane during the first 3/4 of the book for being the progressive governor I wish Texas had.

I laughed so hard during the half marathon Stoner ran and was cheering her on throughout the entire book. I loved her commitment to the cause and the inspiring ending.

This was my first romcom I've ever read and it absolutely blew me away!! I loved Ashley's debut In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and totally trusted that if anyone could sell me on romcoms, it would be her. And that was the case! The witty humor of the main character, Lee Stone, had me literally laughing out loud. The will they won't they tension is almost unbearable. And underneath the love and laughter is a coming of age story as Lee has to face her defense mechanisms and self-destructive coping skills in order to become who she wants and needs to be. Without spoiling the ending, it might be the most empowering ending I've seen any romcom (Movie, TV Show, or book) give to a female lead.

I haven't read her thrillers but I can tell Winstead is a talented writer. This was a really smart read with great, nuanced characters. I hope the main character does not put people off because I think while she is a tough cookie it is coming from a really relatable place.

It was a very fun and enjoyable romcom for me. And I really liked the main characters, especially Lee. She was one charming lady, I really loved her and her wit. However, Ben, seemed a tad bit flat for me. Nonetheless, their chemistry made up for his lack of intrigue(ness) lol. Also, I really liked the writing, it was just beautiful; the pacing and the build up; it was everything, just perfect. Overall, it’s a 4 stars read for me!!

This was such an underwhelming book for me which is such a let down!

I thought Ben was so. boring. What an incredibly flat character and that’s so disappointing considering he’s our hero.

Lee is so smart and driven and I can absolutely relate to her struggles and she made this book for me.

I loved Ashley Winstead's first book, IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE, and so was delighted to hear about this upcoming romcom. It follows the messy, competent, afraid-of-commitment Lee Stone (Stoner) and her ex-boyfriend Ben Laderman, whose heart she broke back when he was in law school. This book is a love letter to Texas politics, unlikeable characters, and falling in love against the odds -- there is no shying away from Stoner's mistakes here, but we also get a compelling glimpse into the heartbreak that made her who she is, and Ben and Stoner's relationship is funny, complex, and ultimately satisfying.

Will be honest. I don’t enjoy second chance romances I feel like it’s the most boring and predictable trope. However I did like the heroine most people would call her unlikeable and mean but I loved how flawed and funny she was. Ben though he was dry and flat and boring.

Overall this book was well written and most enjoyable. If you love politics and a strong feminist lead you’ll appreciate this book. I personally, as a Disney fanatic, didn’t appreciate the lack of facts pertaining to Disney at the beginning of the book. I wish I could sleep at a resort in the middle of a Disney park but that’s not possible.

Lee the main character is driven, smart, and strong. Her attitude with relationships gets to be annoying but I also never experienced cheating at the level she has, so I can’t relate to it very much.

Cheating, trouble with commitment, politics, feminism, and a little bit of love; If you love those things than this is your book.

Oh my freaking gosh. I cannot with this book and Ashley Winstead’s writing. I’m pretty sure at this point, she could write a refrigerator technical manual and I would throw money at it.

Ashley does such a great job with the character development. The banter between the characters was on another level and I found myself constantly laughing out loud while reading. Ugh and her writing style! Ashley does such a great job at pulling you in with her writing and character development that you just feel like you are apart of the story. She also makes you feel ALL the emotions and ugly cries. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who loves a good enemies to lover romance! Thank you for this wonderful novel, I cannot wait till it is released in April!

This review will be posted to my Instagram blog (read_betweenthecovers) in the near future!

This book is a cross between The Hating Game and Meet You in the Middle. Both of those happen to be two of my favorites. This book was such a great read. I loved the witty banter, the depth of the characters and of course the romance. I read this one super fast because I couldn’t put it down. I was rooting for Lee and Ben right away. The writing of this book was wonderful. Great dialogue, easy to read, not too much fluff, etc. The reason for 4 ⭐️ instead of 5 ⭐️ really has to do with the subject matter. Cheating was such a huge part of the storyline and sadly I just didn’t love that. It kept me from completely embracing Lee because the cheating almost seemed justified. Another part I didn’t love was the marathon scene. So random and out of place. Still not sure what the point of it was. Not a deal breaker at all, just odd.

This is an open door romance and a political read. Political books don’t bother me if they are funny and sweet, which this was. I don’t have to agree with certain things to enjoy the book. And this book was most definitely enjoyable!

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

This book started off strong. I truly was immersed and loved the banter, wit and writing style that Ashley Winstead provided. However about 1/2 way through the book, a certain plot point (infidelity) was treated in a way that I didn't appreciate. I couldn't agree with the message that was presented, and I bet this is just because of the way I was raised . But ultimately this book just didn't do it for me. Individually I liked the characters and certain parts of the book, but in the end, this flippant disregard for this one scene left a bad taste in my mouth. Again this is a me thing, so I'm still rating this book a 3.5 (round up to 4) because It was still good in many other ways

love love LOVE Fool Me Once!

I bow down to Ashley Winstead who can not only write good thrillers but slay us romance lovers with fun banter, an enemies to lover trope, and relatable characters that jump off the page in her latest rom com debuting April 2022.

Lee Stone doesn't believe in love. She's been burned many a times with cheating and has suffered four major heartbreaks that have her set her straight when it comes to romance. Despite her messy romantic life, Lee is thriving as the communications director for popular electric vehicle manufacturer that is sponsoring a bill to turn Texas green and its success is sure to set her up for a VP position. However, the governor's new policy director and the only man standing in the Lee and her dreams is none other than Lee's Heartbreaker #4. DUN DUN DUNNNNN. Talk about drama...

Fool Me Once is truly such an enjoyable read. It is a fun, relatable second chance romance with a plot and good laughs to keep you going.

Lee Stone is a flawed main character, who for her actions can easily be written off. You want to shake her a bit and tell her to get her life together. She's not perfect, but she's relatable. We've all been her or been friends with someone like her, which makes you want to root for her despite her terrible way of handling things.

She's messy, but so is life. Winstead does a great job of showing that life is not all black and white. There's a lot of grey when it comes to love, cheating, grief, and relationships. And often times, we're the only ones standing in the way of our own happiness.

Along with great side characters, light political drama, and some spice that'll make you blush, the depth this rom com offers is one of the reasons it's easily 5 stars and one to read in 2022!

Run, don't walk to read this one!


Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for sharing an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I didn't think I'd ever rate a book about Texas state politics 5 stars yet here I am.

There is not one character I did not like in this story, ok maybe Chris cays she's highly punchable but I truly loved how real these characters felt and that is something Winstead is really good at doing is making her characters relatable and flawed.

The political parts weren't even as boring as I thought they would be. They were fun especially the campaigning shenanigans parts.

The romance was sweet because reasons I can't say without spoiling but cute af.

Favorite scene was definitely the marathon for breast cancer!

So excited for the next book by Winstead and I'm so hyped she is writing another thriller! But I also want more romances cause I saw potential with Alexis and a certain brother and I need that story!

Oh yeah thanks for the early copy publisher gods and goddesses!

I loved this book and couldn't put it down. I've been recommending it to everyone I speak to. I sped through Winstead's first book "In My Dreams I Hold the Knife" and I can't wait to read what she writes next.