Mall You Need is Love is a novella in Sarah Robinson’s At The Mall Series.

Summary: Amara, a retro-gaming arcade owner does not believe in love after having a series of failed relationships. Valentine, the jewelry shop owner next door is a romantic at heart. Though they’ve never met each other, they’ve plenty of preconceived notions about one another which are quickly, mostly disproved once they finally meet due to a robbery at Val’s store. Their views towards love slowly begin changing as they spend time with each other and Amara must decide if maybe love is worth it with the right person.

Review: The book was a fun read and a quick one too if you’re looking for something like that. It is packed with sweet, enjoyable conversations between the protagonists, cute moments, and a subplot that pushes the story ahead.

However, it wasn't perfect. This was my first time reading a novella so I don’t know if this holds true for all of them or if it just happened with this one, but I felt the story was really rushed. Characters were not really developed or detailed, and they fell for each other too quickly for people who hadn’t ever interacted with each other (before the robbery). Thus, as a reader, I felt a lack of connection with the characters. The story could have been more engaging overall.

In a nutshell, if you wish to read a short, simple, and sweet book with Valentine's Day around, I definitely recommend this.

My rating - 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Author Collective 20 for providing me with a digital ARC of this book.

This is a sweet and quick read. I felt it moved a bit too quickly and it feels a bit too brief. The characters moved a bit too fast and you didn’t really have a chance to know them. Having Nell be a lesbian (and it’s mentioned as the only fact about her) felt more like the author tried to just add diversity without it bringing anything to the story or without purpose.

Amara Hart, owner of Rad Retro Arcade. The arcade is her life. But not everything is smooth with her business. And the robbery in the store beside her surely doesn’t help, especially not when it looks like her arcade was a part of the crime.

Valentino Rossi owns Kisses and Karats Jewelry right next to Amara’s arcade. When Kisses and Karats Jewelry gets robbed, the police suggests they create a neighborhood watch in case the robbers decides to come back. Agreeing that they both will hold watch the first night, excitement is something they both feel. What will the night bring? Learning more about each other surely helps their feelings blossom, and they get more and more intrigued by each other as time passes.

Mall you need for love is a quick and easy read with a good dose of witty romance. I was surprised over how short it was, but it was a cute and nice read. And the ending was quite adorable.

*Thank you Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*

I enjoyed this, it was a quick and easy romance fix. It was a novella so of course, the pace was faster than normal. It did make me smile though, which is the ultimate goal, right? I liked the little mall community setting of the book. However, I had an easier time connecting with Mara's character. I wasn't exactly swooning over Valentino, but he was likeable enough for the story to work. All in all, a short and sweet Valentines day novella!

3 Valentine's Stars
* * *
Take a noisy arcade and it would be a sore spot to a jewelry shop focused on love next door. Each owner has an attitude toward the other. A situation causes them to make an effort to be more open and friendly...in fact, the friendly becomes a love match.

"Mall You Need is Love" is a quick, cute read! It is a "little" breath of fresh air. Will two people, who are very different in many aspects (personality, looks, paths, etc.), see that they are actually more alike than they think AND will they end up together...or won't they...?! The little playful nuances in the novella are "super cute" and creative. I loved all of the names for the other stores in the mall and the little "plays on words" here and there in the story. Way to wrap it up with an Epilogue! Who doesn't love a look in to the future?! Sure, it's nice to imagine what happens...but sometimes I like it all spelled out for me! Cheers, my fellow gal-entines!

This is a fast paced and easy to read novella, if you want something cute and cheesy.

Amara Hart is the owner of a mall arcade. One day when the electricity goes out at her arcade, she goes to the back room to find the circuit breaker. When the power is restored, Amara notices that the back door was open. When she comes back to the arcade she hears about the robbery in the adjacent store - Kisses and Karats Jewelry.

Kisses and Karats Jewelry is owned by Valentino Rossi who believes in endless love and has made it his mission in life to help others express that love through romance and custom-made jewelry

The police suggested that they create a neighborhood watch, and the two of them were the first to sign up. They spend the whole night together getting to know each other.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Mara and Val are nextdoor neighbors at the mall where they each have a business. Mara is a smart, geeky arcade game owner and Val is a romantic jeweler. Mara's business is constantly too loud for Val, and Val is obviously way too stuck up and pretentious for Mara.

Hijinks ensue when a robbery in the jewelry store leads to Mara and Val spending a lot more time together.

This was a cute rivals-to-lovers story that was uber sweet. It's definitely a Valentine's day novella with a lot of heart (see what I did there?). While I found it really cute, there just wasn't really a lot of character development. Because they were so one-dimensional, I found it hard to care about their romance and to forgive some of the over-the-top gestures that came across cheesy.

All in all, this was a cute and short Valentines themed romance. If that's what you're looking for, I would definitely recommend. But if you want a novella with a little more substance, I would probably pass on this one.

2.5/5

In this novel we follow Val, jewelry store owner and Mara, arcade store owner, as they quickly fall from enemies to lovers. (Think novella length!)

Overall, I thought it was a cute book but because I wasn't with the characters for a very long time I wasn't as invested as I may otherwise have been. (Now, this is the first time I've read from this author so if these characters appear in a main series of hers and she's highlighting their romance in this book then ignore me.) Overall, I thought it was cute and I enjoyed how they came together to deal with the robbery and the aftermath of those decisions.

Trigger Warning: parental imprisonment

* I just reviewed Mall You Need is Love by Sarah Robinson. #MallYouNeedisLove #NetGalley

Actually 4,5 stars. I have the perfect idea for a post of this book omggg. I simply loved this story it’s kind of enemies to lovers with characters that really care about their community which one in their own way. The end is spectacular and a little bit surprising too. It’s a fast read that I highly recommend!!!

This story was cute! Definitely a good quick read for Valentine's Day. The story follows Amara, an arcade owner, and Valentino, a jewelry store owner, whose businesses are next door to each other in a mall. When the two clash after Valentino's jewelry store is robbed, sparks (of hatred) fly immediately. But when they team up to try to catch the robbers, they start to realize that they may have judged each other too quickly.

My favorite thing about this was Amara's role as the cynic and Valentino as the hopeless romantic, especially with the story centering around Valentine's Day. The enemies-to-lovers storyline was handled pretty well, but some of the character development felt rushed. There wasn't much in between enemies and lovers; it felt like Mara and Val made the jump really quickly. Also, the dialogue was a bit awkward and stilted at times.

Overall, this was a fun read!

Finished reading 17 - 18 January 2022

Less than 5-word critique; heartfelt, compelling, and entertaining.

This is such an adorable novella. I absolutely LOVED it.

The story about a young woman not looking for love and the romantic main hero is likely to melt your heart.
Beautifully and brilliantly written by Sarah Robinson. Excited to explore more of her current and future works.

Recommended if you enjoy;
*Cute and funny banter and dialogue
*Enemies-to-lovers romance
*Forced proximity
*Store love stories
*Grumpy/sunshine

Thank you so much NetGalley and Author Collective 20 for this copy.

P.S. I also love the gorgeous cover.

This was a fun novella to get into the Valentines Day spirit! It's weird that I don't read many romances based around it's holiday, considering it's the holiday if love and all, ironic right??

This was fast paced, as novellas usually are, but I enjoyed it. It was short, sweet and interesting too. I love how Amara ran an arcade while Valentino ran a jewelry store!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sarah Robinson for the earc in return for an honest review.

A short cute romance about Amara who runs a video game store and Valentino who runs the Jewelery store next door.
They get off to a rocky start but ends up working together to solve a burglary. and fall in love.
Voluntarily reviewed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read Mall You Need is love.

This is a kitschy Valentine’s Day themed novella. I liked the idea of the grump/sunshine “let me show you how to love” concept, but I think it fell a little flat.

The characters seemed too annoyed by each other to change their minds and be enamoured so quickly. The relationship builds nicely at the beginning, and then I reached end and suddenly everything was wrapped in a bow (as per a usual romance HEA). I felt like I missed a chapter!

I think a little more time/tension towards the end would have made this a more solid read for me. And maybe some spice!

This was a fun, super short read to get you in the mood for Valentine's Day! I enjoyed the setting of the arcade and the nostalgia of the old machines. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed and wanted more information! Thank you for the opportunity to read this story!

Ok so I got an ARC for this book, and it was pretty good. It was really really short as well, like I finished it in around half an hour. It follows Amara, who owns an arcade at a mall, and Valentino, who owns the jewellery shop next door. When a robbery happens, they are forced together.

The plot was definitely very cheesy, and the plot was very fast, but if you're looking for a short read to reach your reading goal, then pick this one up!

Overall, 3.4 stars.

Cute, quick little love tale perfect for Valentine’s day. Likable characters, and a nice flowing story. Not particularly memorable, but I did enjoy it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Author Collective 20 for the ARC.

I had such high hopes for this novella and they ended up falling a little flat.

I personally didn't see any chemistry between the two characters at all. I think they might have been able to be friends, but definitely not a romantic relationship. For the friendship portion, I did enjoy them working together to figure out who broke into the store and why and then, later on, protecting the stores.
As for the romance portion which I know is what a lot of people will read this book for it's not worth it. You don't actually get to see any romantic relationship form besides part of one date and then at a time jump a year into the future.
The ending of the time jump was a little disappointing to me as well because again it didn't establish anything besides a question that was had about one of the people involved in the robbery.
I just feel like this book is missing something.

* Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the arc *

4 stars.


It was a fast paced and easy-to-read novella, which will undoubtedly make anyone feel in the Valentine's Mood. Cute books are just MY thing so of course I loved it.

Amara is a fun protagonist who I founded very easy to empathize with, she is a bit apathetic with Valentine's Day and all things love related due to previous bad experiences and also believes that love should be shown every day, not only on February 14, Val on the other hand, is her opposite, he made me reflect about Valentine’s day, his way of thinking and seeing the world seemed very cute.

Apart from that, Val seems to me like a memorable and refreshing character, he is not the typical man who hates love and all the things related to it that we usually find in the books, for him the details and Valentine's Day do have a meaning and that made me feel kind of…warm? soft? both?

I will definitely reread this novella on February 14 while I stay at home drinking sangria and wishing to have such a cool date such as Amara and Val.