Rating: ⭐⭐⭐💫 (3.5)
Steam Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (very descriptive sex scenes)
Trigger Warning: loss of a parent, alcoholism

Adina Gellar is struggling with finding happiness in New York. She's had a hard time making it as a journalist, has dated one too many losers, and now is at risk of losing the apartment she shares with her mom. Luckily, Adi has the perfect solution to her problems- she'll write a real-life story about a small town similar to the ones in her favorite Hallmark movies. Adi is convinced she will save the town of Pleasant Hollow from the big city developer and maybe even meet a dreamy small town hunk at the same time. But when she gets to Pleasant Hollow she realizes it's not quite the Hallmark backdrop, and her story might be dead on arrival.

This story was a lot of fun with a sweet romance. I loved seeing Adi's excitement about Pleasant Hollow and then experiencing her disappointment when the town was nothing like the movies. The best part of the book was the love interest, Finn Adams. Even though he and Adi had a bit of insta-love, I still enjoyed the chemistry between them. It was fun seeing them run into each other over and over during the beginning chapters before they officially got together. The conflict was a bit weak at first which made the story drag, but I did like how Adi was upfront with Finn and confronted him about her feelings and concerns. Finn's actions near the end did frustrate me, but I still was rooting for him and was happy to see some begging and a bit of a grand gesture to finish off the story on a high note.

Thank you Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A book about a girl who is obsessed with Hallmark movies, Gilmore Girls & romance books and is struggling to find a job in the field she is passionate about, all while still living with her mom...very relatable.

I really enjoyed twist on a small-town romance. It is a quick cozy read with funny dialogue and an interesting premise. I really enjoyed all of the Hallmark movie references ( I found myself recognizing more than one without the author having to name them, was a real eye-opener for me). Adi and Finn were a really cute couple and I enjoyed their banter together. In particular, I really enjoyed the lack of the miscommunication trope in this book. Whenever Adi had a problem with Finn or was stewing over something, she actually brought it up and they had a proactive discussion about it. As much as I enjoyed their relationship, I didn't really feel a spark between them for most of the book and I think maybe this was because we only got to read from Adina's POV. However, I overall really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to fans of Gilmore Girls and Hallmark movies


Thank you, NetGalley and Forever/ Grand Central Publishing for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I loved every scene with Adinas mom. That woman got some good advice.

As precious as Finn was I kind of hated him at some point, same goes with Adina but in the end they were, er, redeemable I guess.

I was bored out of my mind at some points but the storyline was unique, something I haven’t read before which kept me reading until the very end.

The ending was super cute and that last part shouldn’t be a shock after all of the romance novels I’ve read but it still was 😭

Anyway this book was a solid three.

It was so good to have Meredith back in the book world! I loved this book and I really am hoping it turns into a hallmark movie! I can’t wait for her next book out!

I’m so sad to say this one just was not for me. I really, truly wanted to love it. I promise! If you’re a lover of Hallmark movies and the extra saccharine stories of that sort, then you will LOVE this. Totally a personal preference on my part, so do as I say, not as I do, and pick this book up if you want a light, fun read that’s got all the tooth-achey sweetness of a made-for-tv romance (that also has Jewish rep!).


Thank you to Forever Pub and Netgalley for pro using me with an electronic ARC to read in exchange for my fair and honest review.

I absolutely adored this book! As a city girl with a love of Hallmark movies, I was so on board with Adi wanting to explore a small town and live her own happily ever after. I loved that this book took the expected tropes and turned them all upside down. It was a lot of fun to meet the cast of un-Hallmark like characters and get to know their real personalities. And I loved the final message--that home is where the people you love are. Such a fun and entertaining read!

As Seen on TV is a rom-com starring a Manhattan girl who LOVES Hallmark movies and jumps at the chance to visit a small town with a big city developer moving in. Once there, she meets a guy she believes is the single hot guy in town, and it turns out he works for the developer. What could go wrong?

I enjoyed this book. It is easy to read with a medium level of steam. There were moments of fade to black, and the open door steam wasn’t excessively detailed. Does that make any sense?

While reading the book, I found Adina’s character to be a bit too naive about love and romance. When you are young and trying to find love, I understand that it can be difficult, especially when all the guys you are dating aren’t ready to settle down in a relationship when you are. Adina’s complete ideation of romance comes from her love of Hallmark movies, small-town romances, and her ideas about her parents’ relationship.

Overall, if you are like Adina and like watching Hallmark movies and small-town romances, you will like this book!

First and foremost, if you love Hallmark you need to read this book. I will probably buy it for my mom.

This book is definitely my favorite of May so far. I thought Adi was such a likable and relatable hero who stood up for herself and what she deserved.

I thought the idea that the small town was NOTHING like Hallmark was hilarious. We all know the tropes. The overly friendly bnb owner, the abundance of bakeries. I know that I had all the same thoughts.

Finn was pretty dreamy. The had a lot of chemistry and there was a little bit of spice. But I also loved that Adi knew what she wanted and wasn't going to settle for less. I thought the end conflict was necessary and I'm glad Adi spoke her mind.

And just like hallmark, we got a pretty awesome HEA for these two!

This comes out in June, and I can't say this enough - if you love hallmark GET THIS BOOK!

There’s a Hallmark-esque, Gilmore Girls insulated feel to this story. The witty banter and small time feel kept this book interesting, but overall I had a real hard time connecting with Adina. She initially came off as too sheltered and naive to be a journalist. She seemed to have idealistic notions that were not based on reality.

I didn’t feel the chemistry between Adina and Finn. It felt more like friends giving each other a hard time rather than a building passion between two “enemies”. Though I did enjoy some cute moments, it wasn’t enough for me to fully enjoy.

I think this was the case of not being the right reader for this book. I can easily see why so many enjoyed this book. The writing is good, but it wasn’t enough for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Pub for this ARC

There was just something about As Seen On TV that made me instantly curious to read it. I confess that I have never watched an episode of Gilmore Girls nor am I a big fan of Hallmark movies, but I do enjoy a good uplifting romance book when I'm in the mood for the genre. I liked the sound of the city girl going to a small town for a story and discovering something she didn't expect instead... And I really thought this story was going to be a winner for me. Sadly, this didn't end up being the case, and I came really close to DNFing it. Below I will explain briefly why this book wasn't a right fit for me.

I still like the premise of As Seen On TV, and I guess that Gilmore Girls and Hallmark movies fans will probably find a lot of references and maybe even quotes to love. The fact that I didn't was mostly my own fault of course, but I hoped to get a lot more out of the story despite my lack of knowledge of either. Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of the execution at all. My first important issue is with the main character Adina. She comes over as such a self-centered, immature and living-in-the-clouds brat, and I really couldn't stand her. The fact that she thinks that the world revolves around her and that everything/everyone has to adapt so that she can get what she wants is beyond annoying, and the way she talked felt more like a spoiled teenager than a 25-year-old journalist. The fact that I didn't like her at all made it really hard to keep reading; especially since the story is told from her POV.

I also wasn't a fan of the romance at all. I simply didn't feel that the connection between Adina and Finn was natural and it just all felt rather forced. The sexy scenes were simply cringeworthy, and made me start skimreading as soon as they appeared... And once I did, I started skimreading the non-steamy scenes too just so I could reach that final page sooner and stop having to deal with Adina. This is of course never a good sign, and I probably should have just given in and DNFed instead, because As Seen On TV and me most definitely weren't ment to be. To make things worse, the ending was a little too convenient to be credible, but I admit that by then I was just hurrying things along to end my experience with this book.

Before I go, I do have to stress that most people do seem to enjoy As Seen On TV better... If you enjoy Gilmore Girls and/or Hallmark movies and don't mind an immature and not that likeable main character, you might get a lot more out of this story than me.

This was a cute little rom-com that I think a lot of people will like. Especially fans of Hallmark movies and that sort of thing. It just wasn’t for me.

2.5 stars

In her trade paperback debut, Meredith Schorr turns the Hallmark movie machine on its head as her heroine Adina is forced to reckon with the fact that not every love story can be like the ones as seen on TV. As someone who pays monthly to fund a podcast where the schtick is that the three hosts love, like, and despise Hallmark movies, it's a concept that definitely speaks to my heart.

However, for me, the execution left a lot to be desired, particularly in the first half of the book. In the first chapter alone, I believe the word "Hallmark" is used no less than 12 times. That, on top of the uber-specific references to actual movies and actors, made the book feel immensely overwritten even for my Hallmark-loving heart. Beyond that, the way that Schorr conveys the idea that the small town does not live up to Hallmark standards consists of the heroine Adina having almost the exact same interaction with individual townspeople, resulting in a fairly repetitive first half of the book.

Things do pick up at the halfway point once Adina finally accepts that the town is its own entity and some wrenches start to get thrown into her budding romance with Finn. Due to the nature of those wrenches and the way that Finn reacts to them, I definitely would have preferred for this to be a dual-POV romance so that he could have been more fully fleshed out. The grand gestures did warm my heart a bit, so I will give the book props for that!

I definitely think that the bones of this book were good, but the execution of its fantastic concept didn't land with me personally.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

As Seen on TV is the "Anti-Hallmark" Hallmark movie, in book form. Adina Gellar is done trying to find love in NYC, so she moves to a small town where, according to tv, all the best romances are formed. Except there is no charming bakery or quaint seasonal festivals, and more importantly, there is no Hallmark worthy Hero, or is there? Both funny and relatable, As Seen on TV shows that the best romances are messy, real, and don't always follow Hallmark movie storylines.

This book didn’t quite work for me but if you’re really into Hallmark movies and Gilmore Girls, then your mileage may vary.

Adina Gellar is an aspiring journalist obsessed with the romantic potential of small towns as depicted in Hallmark movies and is convinced that if her widowed mother hadn’t moved them from Indiana to NYC when she was a toddler, they’d give Lorelei and Rory a run for their money in the “best mother daughter relationship” contest.

So when she hears that a nearby small town in upstate NY is being developed by a real estate magnet, what’s a single big city reporter gal to do other than trek up to said village and expose the misdeeds of an unfeeling corporate overlord ruining a small town’s charm, and maybe falling in love with a charming local?

None of that happens. The corporate office is actually making improvements, the small town has next to no charm (and no homemade pies), and the only single guy that catches Adina’s eye is not who he seems.

Nothing is as seen on TV.

If you like cringe attempts to enliven a town who just wants to live their lives, a friends to lovers romance with a not-so-local local, and ships passing in the night grand gestures worthy of a early 90s romance movie? You might like this.

Content warnings for alcoholic parent, verbal abuse, estranged sibling.

Loveeeeeee idk what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. This was super cute and I loved the mcs. It was fast paced and a quick read. Highly recommend

This was most definitely not for me. The main character was terribly immature and annoying. “Annoying AF” as she would say herself. Do people really use that in real life? I didn’t find anything charming about this book at all. Adina went on to write a terrible story that still got published, and her life ends up kind of like a bad Hallmark film. But not really. She goes from living rent free with her mom as an adult to living rent free with a man. Still no real responsibility or consequences for her actions. I’m surprised the Pleasant Hollow folks didn’t run her off with pitchforks.

The references to Gilmore Girls were just too twee for me. Even the main characters last name being the same as Paris. It just read like an infantile adult gets everything she didn’t know she wanted, and more story. There were some cringey (to me) sex scenes that just didn’t work.

I’m sure this will be a great read for someone, but that someone is not me. I kind of felt bad that the Brothers beer got trashed by Adina who happily drinks Blue Moon. Yuck. That reminds me, this book also included a lot of weird product and brand placement. I fully expected her to mention the can of Folgers coffee that shows up in Hallmark films.

Emerging journalist Adina Gellar has learned a lot from Hallmark-type made-for-TV romcom movies, specifically, that the heroine always finds love after travelling to a small town. She dreams of a welcoming place with spring fling festivals, winter carnivals, 24-hour dance-a-thons, movie nights in the square and snowman building contests like in "Gilmore Girls'" Stars Hollow. When Adina learns of a big-city real estate magnate targeting tiny Pleasant Hollow for development she thinks she's found the perfect story to earn her a position at Tea, a coveted online magazine. Except nothing about this quaint community is charming. The only upside is Finn Adams; until she realizes he's a city boy and not a local resident.

As always, I'm very happy whenever a book has a Jewish main character. That said, I found Adina to be very naive and her actions sometimes came across as immature which was frustrating as a reader. Additionally, she was quite nosy in my opinion; a lot of her motives were self-benefitting. I had flashbacks to Rory Gilmore's regressed character in "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" as a comparison.

"As Seen on TV" hits the friends-to-lovers, insta-love and close proximity tropes. I was surprised by the steamy moments only because of its relation to G-rated feel-good films. Overall, this is a cute heartwarming story, but I wish the relationship didn't feel so forced.

I had REALLY high hopes for this book since I love all things Hallmark and Gilmore Girls but it was a letdown. From Adina's idea to go and save a small town from a big-city developer (a small town which didn't care at all and really didn't have any stand out characters) to the weird love story I couldn't get into it. It felt too long at some parts then the ending wrapped up in two chapters.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever for the ARC.

I’m a huge Hallmark lover so I was so excited for this one! There are tons of references to hallmark movies and actors so if you are also a fan those little nuggets are great.

I struggled with this one a lot though outside of the Hallmark references. Adina is a New Yorker who goes to a small town to chase her Hallmark dreams. Sure, she’s a journalist there for a story, but if she falls in love with a local business owner along the way, what’s the harm?

When small town living doesn’t match up with the fantasy she’s built in her head, she turns pretty rude about it. She’s disappointed in the townspeople not immediately embracing her and becoming her friends, the lack of cute town events she’s expecting, the lack of anger over a new development occurring when she expected them to all band together to oppose outsiders developing their town. So she’s super snotty about it all and writes a really mean article about how much the town sucks. A city person going to a small town and complaining about how it doesn’t match up to the city is just so annoying to me.

The other thing that really sucked was the hero, Finn, talked about how all his family baggage means he can’t settle down because previous girlfriends couldn’t deal with his baggage. Adina gets mad that she’s judged by how other girls reacted so she pushes him into a relationship, then the very next day she’s confronted with his baggage and she loses it and dumps him.

I really wanted to like this one but overall Adina was so immature and bratty it just made me cringe the whole time.

Big city writer ventures to a small down with hopes of making her big break into journalism by comparing what’s happening in a small town to a Hallmark movie.

While the premise sounded cute, the MC voice was naive and I could not connect with her. I did not feel any chemistry between the two MCs, the story moved slowly, and the immature narrator’s voice made this a DNF for me.