Full disclosure, this book is from a publisher I have a book coming out with AND while I don't know the author well, I've spoken to her on social media and I have friends in common with her (smart friends whose opinions I trust). That said, no matter how much I like the people involved in this book I don't think I could've read it in a single sitting if it wasn't actually good. And I did and it was lovely. Warm and genuine and very real. And again, genuine but warm, because I think those are the best adjectives to describe it, in that order.

Adi (short for Adina--and what the love interest calls her) Geller is a freelancer trying to land a full time job at a publication where she interned. Her and her mother live together in NYC and their rent is going up, and that makes getting her career on track along with her part-time jobs as a barista and a spin instructor, kind of priority. A pitch of hers is accepted to write about a small town in upstate NYC kind of like it's a Hallmark movie, and the angle she thinks she has is a developer coming in and changing it.

However, when she gets up there she soon learns that the development isn't really a problem and the town while distinct and interesting is neither Hallmark nor Deliverance. She does, however begin a relationship with a manager on the development project who is there temporarily from NYC. His name is Finn and he is extremely sweet and fun and charming but also dealing with difficult things in his own life which he sometimes uses as a crutch to not et too close to people.

What ensues is both Adi searching for her story and Finn and Adi trying to find love together in a very real world, in which even "wins" don't solve all your problems and nothin is simple, however, love and friendship and caring is worth the effort.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Jewish representation since Adi is Jewish and I'm Jewish. It's very clearly a part of her life but not an emphasis in the book. It's just lovely representing in which she is allowed to be an interesting person and have an adventure with that neither being and "issue," nor not a part of her, which is really special. Her and her mom are just Jews like tons of Jews out there, celebrating our holidays, looking for our regular culture lens, and living our normal, regular lives, with normal regular job and financial and relationship struggles.

Also, shout out to Adi's relationships with her mother and her best friend Kate. They were so well done and also REAL but sweet and strong and just a joy to real. Anyway, I really adored this book.
So thank you very much to Forever and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honestly, and only slightly biased review.

Thank You netgalley for this wonderful ARC.
This book was so good! I loved how Adina was made out to be the cliche journalist hallmark movie girl but, shes actually quite different she doesn't go about things like the girls in the movies. Also, I loved Finn hes the perfect . hallmark/non-hallmark movie boy
4 stars

This is my first time reading something by this author and I really enjoyed it. The story caught my attention from the beginning and held it all the way through. This was a quick and easy read, but left quite an impression. The romance was by no means easy, but still a lot of fun with plenty of laugh out loud moments throughout. The book definitely left me with a smile on my face and a happy feeling afterwards. The characters were interesting and well-developed with realistic qualities that gave them an authentic personality and were easily relatable. The story was delightfully cute with a little bit of steam. If you're looking for a fun, quick and light read, then you definitely will want to pick this one up.

I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

As Seen on TV by Meredith Schorr was such a fun romance, perfectly injected with adorable banter, cringe-worthy moments, and slices of reality. Adi and Finn had to work to make their love story end in a happily ever after, and I loved cheering them on! Highly recommend!

I am grateful for the opportunity to read this book! As a Gilmore Girls fan, it was fun to read the parallels and nods towards Rory & Lorelai. I will say, it was a slow start for me. I wished more had happened early on in the book as Adi was finding her way in Pleasant Hollow. While I understand the slowness and lack of activity was exactly what Adi was experiencing upon her arrival, I found myself wishing for something a bit more. But as it picked up, I fell right into rooting for Finn and Adi! I enjoyed how the author pulled together the plot points and loved the role her Mom played in helping her process what was happening. If you enjoy Hallmark movies, this book is right up your alley!

3.5/5 - This was a super adorable, Hallmark, but not romance! Adina is convinced visiting the small town of Pleasant Hollow will give her all of the Hallmark movie vibes where everyone knows each other, there will be the token local man for her to fall in love with, and all of the small town hi jinx when a construction company moves in for new elite housing.

What she finds is little effort or care from the locals, and the most welcoming person is her ‘enemy’ of the story. She needs to adjust her plot, and maybe adjust her frame of mind for Finn.

The romance was so sweet. Finn and Adi had r spice, but the chemistry didn’t read as magnetic for me. I liked the sass from her friend as well. Overall, it wasn’t an amazing storyline, but I liked it!

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an eARC copy of As Seen On TV by Meredith Schorr.

This was a quick, sweet read with a twist on the Hallmark movie angle.

I liked that the first few chapters gave a lot of background, set up the story, and got going fairly quickly but it did not feel like an info dump. I did not like that Adina was really naïve, it was fun for a bit but after a while it was annoying that she refused to let go of her preconceived notions of small towns and it's people. You'd think she would let go some after talking to the handyman and seeing herself in him and his obsession with NYC. Maybe I have preconceived notions of hardened New Yorkers.I see how that was meant to drive the story but it was a bit much for me, if you can get past that it is enjoyable.

The fight at the end was another example of how naïve she is, I felt bad for Fin and was kind of uncomfortable with Amina's prying.

Just a peeve: near the end she's still struggling for money, waiting for her new job/money to start and she pulls out a Khiel's chapstick. Those are not cheap.

"It’s hilarious how tourists paint the city as the romance capital of America when it is the worst the worst."

I know many reviewers will read and state "the book had me from page one!” but in this case, it’s true!

Page 1 = smile on my face
Page 2 = already highlighted a quote
Page 3 = grabbed my snuggly blanket and silenced my phone.

I mean... who does that? Not every book has this kind of effect on me, but As Seen on TV by Meredith Schorr is absolutely one of those books! Memorable. Talk about a meet-cute.

I love Adina Gellar's relationship with her mom. At one point its written "she snuggles in and takes comfort in her mother's familiar scent." I felt that on a visceral level. God, I miss my mom. I just love it when characters have this great relationship with their parents. Oftentimes, in books, they don’t but I guess that’s real-life as well.

Adina heads to a small town in New York hoping to find her very own Hallmark movie article to write about as a freelance author. Her article centers on a big bad developer buying out a quaint town for greed and prosperity. Unfortunately, the diner has no pie, the local B&B owner is a grouch and the only hotspot in town has just two beers to choose from. There’s no small-town doc or vet. No festivals or town gatherings. Nothing. It’s not the hallmark/lifetime movie setting people dream of. What she is finding is people are excited about the new development. Which is very much a plot twist she wasn’t expecting.

But it’s growing on her as well as this one guy she keeps running into. The only problem is... will this really make for a good story?

I loved every moment of this!
~Tanja

I really enjoyed this story and loved reading about a Jewish character! This was a really cute, fun, and quick read!

As Seen on TV is about a New York City freelance journalist named Adina going to a small town called Pleasant Hollow to try and see how real small towns compare to ones in Hallmark movies. When she gets there she realizes things aren't exactly like you see on TV.
I thought it was a really cute concept and really liked the Jewish representation as well.
The book is a combination of Gilmore Girls and a Hallmark movie, so if you like either of those this book is definitely for you! Looking forward to more from the author.
Thank you to Forever, Meredith Schorr and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a lovely debut by this author. I love romance novels where the characters grow and learn more about themselves and each other. It was relatable and funny.

Very fun and easy read. Highly recommend.

This is a cute, quick read! Adina is looking for an escape from life in New York when she travels to a small, upstate town to write about small town life. Adina quickly learns that small towns aren’t all they are cracked up to be! There are a few unexpected twists and I enjoyed watching her story unfold.

I feel like this book could easily become a cute Netflix original movie!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

Listen, I’m a big fan of the falling in love in a small town as comforting as Stars Hollow trope as everyone else is. If not, more. I love Gilmore Girls and cheesy romcoms and Halmark movies. In this book, Adi learns the opposite. That small towns aren’t as romantic as they seem to be. That they don’t have fall festivals, oktoberfest, and big Christmas trees. And instead, falls for the city boy developer. I LOVE the idea and set-up. But did not enjoy the execution. At-all. I was bored for most of the book other than one or two scenes that were good or steamy. It just wasn’t a strong book for me and the tension lacked between the love interests for me. Other than the spicy scenes I didn’t feel much of a connection at all.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

As Seen On TV

Meredith Schorr

Publication: June 7, 2022

Adina is trying to find her place in New York City as a journalist. She believes in the mentality of small-town living equals Hallmark romance and quirky, close-knit community. She pitches a real life “Hallmark story” and the idea is accepted. Unfortunately, the town, the proposed situation, and even the love interest is not following the made-for-TV- romance movie formula. Adina’s life is suddenly turned upside down as she tries to make a story out of a town that doesn’t even have homemade pie and the hero/love interest (Finn) is not even from the small town…not everything is “as seen on TV.”
This book had a cute storyline, while not quite Hallmark it still had a sweet romance, low angst, and predictable outcome that I enjoyed.
3 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for sending me the invitation to read this book. I'm not a big Hallmark/Gilmore Girls fan, but I thought I'd take a gamble on it and see if it interested me anyway.

Answer: No, it did not.

Ummm, there's nothing really major that deterred me from reading past chapter 6. It's pretty heavy on the Hallmark/Stars Hollow kink, which for me wasn't something I could genuinely enjoy. And to be brutally honest, the premise and characters and general plot outline just screamed basic from page one. I didn't see this one holding my attention.

I absolutely loved this book. I would reread it again! It’s the perfect rom com. The main character I feel in love with instantly and I loved watching her relationship with Finn develop. It’s everything I look for in a book. Easy to follow, characters you feel connected to, and the romance between Finn and Adina felt so natural!

(4/5) This was just the read I needed (and I don't just say this because I share a first name with the author). The premise of the book - a big city journalist coming to a small town expecting it to be straight out of a Hallmark movie only to find that life and love aren't like they are in the movies - drew me in. This book had all the best tropes, and had me goofy grinning like a fool at the end, the sign of a good romance novel. I wish there had been at least a few chapters from Finn's perspective (or a bonus chapter, please Meredith, I beg you).

I loved Finn. I think he was the redeeming part of this book. He was sweet, kind, and reflected on himself and made changes.
However, that’s where my enjoyment ended. I felt like marketing this as a Hallmark movie meets Gilmore Girls book was very misleading. Adina was annoying and immature. I got so frustrated with her constant whining about how the small town wasn’t living up to her expectations. She expected more out of Finn after a week than she was entitled. There was barely any banter with the mom or best friend.
The spicy scenes were awkward and the banter between them was stilted.
All in all, I think the concept of the book was good but the characters were not well fleshed out and the interactions between characters needed work.

DNF @ 24%
This story had a cute premise but I just couldn’t get into the characters or the setting. I felt like there wasn’t much drawing me in to their development, and the “twists” all seemed predictable.

"Adina Gellar is fed up with her hometown of NYC-the high cost, the constant competition, the never-satisfied men. She longs for a sweet, simple small-town romance like she sees in her favorite TV movies. So when Adina hears about a real estate developer creating a big condo monstrosity in Pleasant Hollow, a tiny town in the Hudson Valley, she follows her journalistic instincts straight to the source, sure that she'll find a David vs. Goliath scandal that will launch her career. And if she meets a swoon-worthy small-town doctor/mayor/handyman in the process? Even better! But Pleasant Hollow doesn't quite live up to Addy's expectations-there's no homemade pie or harvest festival anywhere! And the one person willing to help her out is the cute developer, who she was sure would be her nemesis. Suddenly Addy has to wonder if maybe TV got it all wrong after all. But will following her heart mean losing her chance to break into the big-time?"--

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Thank you NetGalley and Forever Books for an ARC of As Seen on TV! With the Texas weather keeping us iced in, I am devouring books and this one was so fun! While I found this book to be a bit long, I loved the plot line. I love cheesy rom-com movies, especially Hallmarks and this discussed just that. It showed life isn’t like the movies and love can be messy but worth fighting for. I loved the ending and the spin class plot line because I’m addicted to SoulCycle. I recommend this book for an easy read.

3.5⭐️