This is my first time reading her book. I always enjoy reading any small town romance book, and it makes no difference if it’s the author's first debut book.

I don’t know how I feel about this book. I’m kinda conflicted on how I feel. Like this book had the potential to be a good romance book with its small town romance vibes. But yet, I find myself bored reading this book. There were too many parts that were dragged out. It should have been straight to the point about the female character finding love in a small town setting. Instead, we were stuck reading about her struggles with journalism while also struggling with love as well. It was too much back and forward for my taste in reading.

If you're looking for a great follow-up to Book Lovers, this is the perfect summer read for you! Another adorable take on the Hallmark movie trope, As Seen on TV finds Adina, an aspiring NYC journalist, relocating to a small town in order to report on what she thinks is a slam dunk story. What she finds instead, is a pretty boring town, a nice real estate developer, and maybe a little bit of romance? This book was a little bit cheesy and quite a bit heartwarming.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

I was drawn to Meredith Schorr’s new novel As Seen on TV as soon as I saw the comparisons to Hallmark Channel movies and to the Gilmore Girls, two of my favorite things.

Adi Gellar works as a freelance journalist in NYC. She’s hoping to land a permanent writing position at an online magazine, but so far that hasn’t panned out. That frustration, coupled with rising rents in her apartment building and a serious lack of good dating prospects has Adi feeling jaded about big city life.

When the opportunity arises for her to temporarily relocate to the small town of Pleasant Hollow to write a story about a real-life Hallmark-like small town, Adi can’t resist. And maybe if she’s lucky, she’ll not only write a story good enough to land her a permanent writing position, but she’ll also find someone worth dating because isn’t that what always happens in those small town Hallmark romances?

I loved Adi and sympathized with everything she was up against in NYC, but, man did I get a laugh out of what happens when she rolls up in this small town with her Hallmark expectations. Not only is there nothing charming about Pleasant Hollow; the people aren’t even nice! Then she meets Finn, a nice guy in Pleasant Hollow that she considers to be excellent boyfriend material only to learn he actually lives in NYC. Haha!

It’s such a reality check for Adi as one by one, all of her assumptions about idyllic small town life are turned upside down.

Adi, although flustered by how completely wrong she has been, is smart and resourceful and I enjoyed watching her regroup in order to try to meet her writing deadline.

The relationships in this book were a huge draw for me, not only the amazing chemistry between Adi and Finn, but we also get to see how close Adi is with her mom. I adored their scenes together.

If you’re in the mood for a charming, feel good romance that has a fresh take on the small town romance trope, you’re going to want to check out As Seen on TV.

I thought this was a really fun adult romance! And I think it's perfect for Hallmark fans! Overall, I would definitely recommend to people who think it sounds good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

As Seen on TV was super easy to binge! Adina Gellar is feeling some major burnout in her life. Dating, living, and working in NYC has pushed her to her limits, and the Hallmark-movie superfan is ready for some big small-town changes. She pitches a story that seems made for the movies she adores– big-city real estate guy targets small town for huge development. With her boss's blessing, but her own small budget, she heads to Pleasant Hollow with hopes of breaking the perfect story to catapult her stagnant journalistic career into success.

Adi quickly finds Pleasant Hollow is anything but. From rude residents to lackluster dining options and nonexistent festivals, Adi is grasping at straws to find an angle for her story. So far, the only decent thing she’s found in the small town is Finn Adams. He’s handsome, charming, and helpful, but despite pouring out her heart and soul to him, Adi finds herself wondering who Finn really is.

I enjoyed this story so much! There’s great Jewish rep, plenty to learn about reframing expectations, and cute banter to keep romance readers satisfied. It’s a much more realistic look at real-life small-town living, but still has the charm you’d expect from your favorite rom-com movies. (Content warning for parental death (off-page), alcoholic parent, and verbal abuse.)

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for a digital review copy!

I really liked the premise for this book. The small town of Pleasant Hollow felt a bit like Stars Hollow in that there were some kind friendly people, but then there were the grumpy Luke's and particular Taylor's. I liked that Adina dreamed big and hustled while working towards her dream career. I thought Finn was a great character who had a hard past and present with his father. Together I liked Adi and Finn for the most part. There were a few times when I thought they were a bit wishy-washy, but I guess that's relationships though theirs did move rather fast.

I enjoyed the side characters of Kate and Adi's mom more than those in the town. The people in Pleasant Hollow didn't add as much to the story as I thought they would.

If you like Hallmark type romcoms, you'll like this book.

This book had all the promise of things I love - namely, Cozy small town charm and Hallmark movie references. The idea behind the novel is to throw those things on their head and show us that perhaps things aren’t like they are as seen on TV.

Sadly, this book was a miss for me. I found myself wanting to get it over with fast. The MC was hard to root for - Adina is 25 and living with her mom for free as she tries to get a job as an entertainment journalist in NYC. When her original pitch for an article doesn’t pan out, Adina tries to create a story in small town Pleasant Hollow that will get her a f/t position at a digital magazine.

The MCs lacked chemistry, and the connection they did have felt too strong too soon. I know that’s rich coming from me because that’s the foundation of a romance novel - many of which I love, but this one was just a bit too far for me to get on board with.

On a positive note, I thought the book’s romantic grand gestures were cute and enjoyed reading those 💜

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Heat Factor: It’s got its moments of heat but it’s not a rip-roaring fire of a book.

Character Chemistry: They’re very real characters–so their chemistry isn’t overpoweringly “meant to be” but it’s adorable the way they work through things together.

Plot: Adi is desperately chasing a story that could make or break her career–and on the way she stumbles into Finn, a dreamy project manager whose company helps lessen the blow when her whole project falls apart.

Overall: This is a very relaxing and sweet read, which makes sense considering Hallmark movies are an integral part of the plot.

This book opens with Adi in New York City, desperately trying to find something to write about that will launch her writing career. As it is, she’s piecing together an income with three different jobs while still living with her mother in an apartment that they’re about to be priced out of. While moping one night, she stumbles across an article about a small town a few hours outside New York called Pleasant Hollow, where a developer is working to build a high rise for commuters. She immediately thinks about Hallmark movies and pitches an idea to her editor about a real-life Hallmark movie scenario, and rushes off to Pleasant Hollow to fall in love with small-town life.

Only the small town isn’t like the small towns on TV. It’s like small towns in real life. It’s boring, the people aren’t quaint and charming, and most of them are either ambivalent or excited about the upcoming developments. Enter Finn, the project manager for the development company, who is actually the most supportive and charming person in town, and Adi is essentially out of a story.

Finn’s not actually interested in a relationship because he’s carrying the dead weight of his alcoholic father’s dysfunction. And Adi is really struggling under the impossible pressure of her own perfectionist thinking. So it’s not a huge surprise when the story falls apart and so does their blossoming relationship.

The story is really about letting go of expectations and learning to live and love with what we really have. It’s a very sweet and charming story, with very real characters–they’re not idealized and sweepingly perfect. On the other hand, the story Adi ends up coming up with was really actually kind of underwhelming, and so the subsequent ending was kind of out of place for me. I really loved their reunion and mutual grand gestures–it was very sweet.

Ultimately I felt like it was a nice book even though it wasn’t utterly gripping–which wasn’t, I think, the point. Much like a Hallmark Movie, it’s easy to read, sweet, and very low on stress. Which is sometimes just what you need.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

As Seen On Tv
By Meredith Schorr
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Loved this book! Adina, the main character is done dating in the big city. She wants romance like she sees on tv, which they are usually in small towns. A career opportunity takes her to a small town. Excited to meet friendly people, she goes to this small town to find out that maybe romance isn't like the movies portrayed.

As Seen on TV feels like a Hallmark movie with a twist! Adina is a city girl who moves to a small town expecting the quaintness and pleasantries that she's seen on TV. But lo and behold, Pleasant Hollow doesn't live up to those small-town expectations.

Really cute and light-hearted read. Loved the rom-com feel of this book and the budding romance between Adina and Finn. Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

3/4 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

This was a very middle-of-the-road book for me. Nothing really stood out to me. I enjoyed the Gilmore girls/ hallmark aspect that this involved. I could see where the author had inspiration. However, I felt very bored while reading this. The romance was just okay, I didn't really feel a lot of passion or chemistry between the two characters. I also wasn't the biggest of the main character. I found her a little annoying and wasn't the biggest fan of her personality. Overall it was a very okay book.

Right from the synopsis I knew this was my kind of book 😍 and I don’t think I could’ve been more smitten 💕

I LOVED the Hallmark & Gilmore Girls references, & the humour was 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Adina was perfect! I loved getting to know her, & watching her go after her dreams ☺️ even when her ideas got ahead of her sometimes. Kate was the perfect BFF & I could see her and I being great friends! And Finn with his grand gestures 😘😘

I am a sucker for all things romance, & this swoon worthy story was exactly what I was hoping for! Thank you @readforeverpub @netgalley for the early copy 💕💕 it is OUT NOW!

Overall verdict: A cute, funny, slightly spicy romcom, filled with tummy flippin sweetness, the best BFFs, & some self discovery 💖👏🏻

DNF at 45%

I have watched my share of Hallmark movies and was looking forward to diving into this novel. It's set in the town of Pleasant Hollow, which sounds like the quintessential Hallmark town with its small town charm, but it's anything but. Much like a Hallmark film, As Seen on TV held promise to be more that what it seemed, but for this reader it wasn't. I failed to fall enough in love with this story to care about the narrative to keep going after actions that took place in the first half. The writing felt very flat to me making the characters feel very one note. Additionally, there wasn't enough action to propel me as reader forward with the narrative. Besides the Hallmark callbacks, Gilmore Girls fans will also notice a few Easter Eggs as well placed in the narrative, at least in the first half of the book.

I DNF'd at 58%, I have been trying to get through it for weeks and really struggling. I'm talking like it is taking me days to get through 1 chapter at a time.

I really liked the idea of the book but it is just really not for me.

I DNF'd this book at 30%. I really wanted to like this book. The writing is charming and well done and I liked the relationship between Adina and her mother that was deftly established at the beginning. Finn is a great love interest and I appreciated how he and Adina are seemingly at separate ends of an issue but he remains warm and open to her as she is clearly struggling.

I wish I could have given this more of a shot, but I personally kept getting more and more frustrated by Adina. She came to Pleasant Hollow with very clear biases and desires to write this one story. I'm sure there is a lesson to be learned and that at the end of the book she will write a great story based on her experiences but it was very frustrating for me, 30% in, to hear over and over again how the town was falling sort of Adina's vision for it. I also found her journalistic ethics lacking - she had a very clear bias and asked a lot of leading questions that made me feel uncomfortable. It is hard for me to root for her and her writing career when she keeps making the same blunders over and over again. She touts how good she is at research, but then clearly didn't do anything more than a cursory google search of this town and the corporate entity that was in town.

I know this is a romance book but I just couldn't get invested in the romance when I was distracted by the other issues. I know of a lot of people that would enjoy this book and be charmed by the Hallmark beginnings of this idea. I personally don't really like pop culture references in books and this entire book hinges on so many pop culture references (Gilmore Girls and Hallmark Movies etc) so I feel like I was poised to dislike it before I even started - let alone when Adina calls Chicago pizza "disgusting" which...how would you know Adina you clearly haven't been outside of New York?

I am positive that a lot of my concerns would probably be null and void by the end of it and I'm sure I would be rooting for Andi. As it stands, though, I think I am better suited to abandoning this book rather than continuing on with my personal bias.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an opportunity to read an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

(my star rating of this book is only for the 30% I finished and is not a review of the overall book which I did not finish).

Struggling freelance writer Adina Gellar is working as a barista and spin instructor to stay afloat, until she pitches the perfect story to an online magazine. This story could change her career, and her life. She heads to the small town of Pleasant Hollow, which has been targeted by a big-city real estate developer, in search of her story, only to find that the town is nothing like what she's seen in Hallmark movies and shows like Gilmore Girls and Virgin River (there's not even a bakery!). Can she turn things around in time to find a story?

As Seen on TV by Meredith Schorr
Contemporary romance. New adult.
Adina travels to the far suburbs of New York to Pleasant Hollows to write an article of a new condo development. Her basis of small towns comes from romance movies. She expects to expose the developer, rally the towns people, and maybe fall in love. What she gets is her dream bubble burst and now she needs a new spin on the news column that is supposed to be her big break.

Amusing in her naivety, poor Adina may be New York City street smart but has a lot to learn, especially about small towns. And relationships.
And learn she does but it’s a painful as growth can be. Both for the characters and me as the reader.
All’s well though. I don’t want to spoil it but by the end Adina is truly adulting.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

Small town love. Gilmore Girls and Hallmark references. Spicy Scenes. Fun read, but did not feel like an actual story Hallmark would have.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own

Thank you to Forever & NetGalley for the gifted digital ARC. 

Review & Notes:

Steam Rating: R: Steamy but not in a good way. The language surrounding the intimate scenes are a little vulgar for my taste and there wasn't a lot of sexual tension building up to it.
This book has some funny parts but I was sad to find the writing fell flat for me. I didn't find myself engaged in the story or the characters. It seemed like a fun story plot but the description didn't hit the mark for me.
It mentions Hallmark multiple times and the occasional Gilmore Girl reference but it didn't have a Hallmark Channel vibe which is what I had been wanting. I appreciated the nod to stars hollow in the small town’s name but that’s where the comparison ends.
About 60% in I was starting to warm to the book more. I liked the perspective that there’s always a story, even if it’s not the story you initially thought would be there. I always enjoy learning about people’s lives and how they got where they are. I like the angle that formed of how people put down roots in the town and their own (or their parents own) romantic relationships that blossomed.
The writing style wasn't my favorite but towards the end I found myself somewhat enjoying the story. It kind of reminded me of a hallmark movie with a 5.5 out of 10 on IMDb rating. I usually will only watch those with a 6.0 or higher. Anything less than a 6.0 is borderline if it’s worth watching and they tend to turn out to be okay. They sometime end of being worth watching for one reason or another but usually it’s a little rough and not something you’d recommend because the acting or directing or editing is just okay and could have used more work.
I liked the perspective on book/movie romance vs real life regarding the time frame that they have to tie things together and find resolution when there’s conflict.
Sensitive topics: homelessness, losing a parent as a child to illness, family dynamics and drama
Tropes: meet cute, close proximity, misguided intentions (re the small town vibes and life isn’t always like the movies)
Favorite Quote: Just because I'm a sucker for a sappy romance doesn't mean I expect real life to be that simple.
Recommendation: It wasn’t a favorite and I wouldn’t give it a glowing review but there were redeeming qualities and perspectives. I was expecting it to be more fun but I’m sorry to say it fell a little flat for me. I really wanted to love this and I was sorry that it didn't click for me.

This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I get a small commission so I can buy more books to review! Full disclosure here.

With a plot inspired by Hallmark movies, references to 𝘎𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, and a Jewish heroine, I was sure 𝗔𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗩 was going to be on of my favorite romcoms this summer. I was wrong.

The book is well-written but the main character, Adina, was too self-obsessed, immature and naive for me to connect with. Finn, her love interest, deserved better. Maybe my bar for romcoms is super high (I did read this right after 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴...) but this one wasn't for me. 2.5 stars rounded up.

Thanks to Forever Publishing for the #gifted copy.