Member Reviews

Alex Turner is single and happy...ish. She’s a bad-ass divorce attorney who doesn’t need a relationship to define her. She’s a self-made woman, with an awesome support group. She knows what she wants and when that doesn’t please her anymore, she has no qualms about walking away.

And yet.

All it takes is seeing her ex-boyfriend’s fiancée picking out her dress on TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress to send her spiraling into a well of self-doubt. A quick Facebook stalking reveals that she was the last person all her ex-boyfriends dated right before they got married.

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What does it mean, indeed? Is dating Alex really so bad that the next experience for all these men turns out to be so good in comparison that they’re willing to settle down?

Unable to let it go, Alex embarks on a revisiting of "ghosts of lovers past" to analyze and better understand why she can’t stay in a committed relationship and why all her exes are finding their “happily ever after” right after passing through her life.

Things climb to a new level of frustration when newly divorced Will Harkness, her celebrity grandmother’s ex-stepson, whom Alex has carried a flame for since they were kids (whether she's willing to admit that or not), decides to join her--under the premise of looking out for her.

They get along like cats and dogs--after practically throwing herself at him when they were teenagers, Will rejected her, and Alex never forgave him. Still, Will has remained in her circle for years, even after her grandmother’s divorce from his father, Will refusing to relinquish the refuge he found in being part of her family--no matter how hard a time Alex gives him.

What Alex doesn't know is that Will didn't reject her because he wasn't interested. He rejected her for fear of it going belly up and subsequently losing the only real family he's ever known.

But when this enemies-to-lovers duo toe this forced-proximity line, their mutual attraction only grows, and Alex’s attempts to keep Will at arm's length are lost.

Thank You, Next is the full romcom package—great witticisms, entertaining characters (Lexi, Alex’s grandmother, definitely wins the award for Best Supporting Character as she steals the show whenever she’s in the scene—her lifestyle includes tarot card readers and aerial yoga in her living room), and of course lots of fabulous sexual tension and steamy love scenes.

However, the thing that really pulls the whole story together, adding a level of maturity that you don't always find in romcoms, is the way Christopher allows her characters to dive deep into their own psyche to analyze all the ways in which they sabotage their own relationships.

As Alex revisits her past romances, she begins to understand the way her upbringing shaped her. Her parents divorced when she and her sister were young, and her father basically checked out—happy to dump his daughters off at his mother’s when it was his turn to have them. Her mother, too, was always too busy for them, her love for her career having more pull over her than her love for her daughters.

Alex’s fear of attachment runs deep. She’s never wanted to need anyone, and she’s made sure to make that work for her. Until Will becomes a real part of her life. Now, understanding how to be a working part of a healthy relationship matters more than ever.

The same goes for Will, as he studies the places where he went wrong in his marriage (not communicating enough, for example). Once Lexi reassures him that he will not lose her and Will decides to take the plunge, he, like Alex, realizes he's got a lot of self-work to do if this is something he wants to work out for a long time.

Thank You, Next is not your average romance read. It doesn’t shy away from exploring heavier topics but manages to keep things light and entertaining. However, this is a novel for those who like to sink their teeth in a little deeper. Christopher has created lead characters who are three-dimensional and realistic and not just cartoon reflections of people in relationships as many romance books sometimes do--which is not a criticism of romance novels that lean on the lighter side. There's a time, place, and audience for all types of romcoms. If a richer, more deeply perceptive romance experience is what you’re looking for, this could be the romance novel you’ve been hoping to stumble upon.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Have you ever wondered why previous relationships with your exes didn’t work out? Thank You, Next is a spicy contemporary romance that starts when Alex, a commitment-phobe divorce attorney, sees her ex and his fiancee on Say Yes to the Dress. Alex suddenly realizes that almost all of her exes ended up getting married after their relationship ended with her and now she wants to know why. She sets off to interview some of her exes to find answers while long-suppressed feelings for her grandma’s ex-stepson start to surface. Totally not complicated at all.

I have not read any of Andie J. Christopher’s books before, but the premise of this one really caught my attention! I have been loving second chance romances lately and this one has a fun twist on the trope. It was an easy read and I enjoyed it overall, but I just never became fully invested and it fell flat. Alex felt very wishy-washy and while we got a lot of her internal dialogue, I never felt like I understood her. I think I would have preferred more of the history between Alex and Will because we just didn’t see a lot of that and I feel like that is needed in a second chance romance. Overall, there just isn’t much for me to say because while I enjoyed it, it won’t be very memorable for me. I think romance readers that love very independent heroines and second chance romances could enjoy this one!

Read if you like:
-Second chance romances
-Committment-phobe heroines
-Sexy chefs
-Diva grandmas
-LA setting

Thank you Berkley Romance and Netgalley for the gifted copy! All opinions are my own.

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Thank You, Next was a fun and snarky contemporary romance following divorce attorney Alex and her quest to find out why her all her ex-boyfriends found “the one” after their relationship ended. A frenemies-to-lovers book where Alex and Will, childhood friend and famous chef, have a second chance at love.

This book had a slow start for me, but I enjoyed it when the characters started to develop. This is a fun and quick read and reminded me of the movie Good Luck Chuck.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I love the concept of this book and the supporting characters are so delightful. However, the romance left a little something to be desired, and I wanted a little more growth from the main character.

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This book doesn’t have the highest ratings but I happened to enjoy this one a lot. The audio narrator was fabulous and did a great job at holding my attention. There are Clueless vibes with the long ago former ex-step uncle (but close in age) and eccentric grandmother with many marriages. The self journey quest Alex went on with Will was fun and I liked how their relationship evolved throughout the book.

🥰really liked || 💋some steam
🤟second chances, heartwarming, dual POV

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This was such a great book! It’s a humorous enemies to lovers, slow burn romance. Alex is a successful divorce attorney who says she doesn’t want to get married, but it bothers her when she sees an ex and his fiancé on Say Yes to the Dress. She discovers that she’s the last relationship her exes had before they got married, and she wants to know why. She decides to talk to her exes to find out.
Accompanying her is her old friend Will, now a busy chef. They’ve known each other since they were younger. As Alex meets her former lovers and learns more about herself, and Will opens up, they figure out that maybe they should be together.
I liked the characters especially Alex’s friends. Her parade of lovers were humorous too. 4 stars.

Synopsis
One of Amazon's Best Romances of June!
Alex Turner is never The One—but always the last one an ex dates before finding love—and now she’s determined to find out why in this hilarious new rom-com.
 
Single divorce attorney Alex Turner is watching reality TV when she sees her latest ex’s new fiancée picking out her wedding dress. Yet again, the guy she dumped went on to marry (or at least seriously commit to) the next person he dates after her. Fed up with being the precursor to happily ever after, she decides to interview all her exes to find out why.

Up-and-coming chef Will Harkness mixes with Alex like oil and vinegar, but forced proximity growing up means their lives are forever entwined. When Will learns Alex and her friends are going on a wild romp through Los Angeles to reconnect with her ex-boyfriends, he decides to tag along. If he can discover what her exes did wrong, he can make sure he doesn’t make the same mistake with Alex. 
 
On this nonstop journey through the streets of LA, Alex realizes the answer to her question might be the man riding shotgun…

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

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This was a really fun premise about a woman tracking down her exes to figure out why they kept getting married right after they broke up and Andie J. Christopher pulled it off. We follow Alex and she walks through exes past to see why they don't seem to be as non-committal as she though they were. Along with a bevy a wild and fun side characters and Will who Alex has known forever they try and solve Alex's commitment issues. A very fun and cute read from Andie J Christopher who really gets this genre.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

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This was a fun and quick read! Thank You, Next follows Alex as she revisits all of her exes to learn why their relationships ended. During her journey, she reconnects with Will, who is a family friend that she had feelings for years ago. Will and Alex fight their feelings for each other as they analyze their previous relationships. The romance in this book was cute, but overall it wasn’t a very memorable read.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

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After Alex, the protagonist in Thank You, Next, saw her newly ex-boyfriend on an HGTV type show with a fiancé, she decided to find all of her ex-boyfriends to ask why they didn’t want to marry her but had no problems marrying other women. Let me tell you, Alex is a strong female character and I am here for it. She is an attorney, self-confident, self-sufficient and not afraid of confrontation. She is so likable and so easy to root for throughout the book. The supporting characters are all charming and funny, especially her grandma, and the romance is 🔥 and will make you swoon. I loved watching Alex’s journey to find herself and to use the past relationships to better herself and learn to love herself, all with some very entertaining moments along the way. And I did some googling and the author is an attorney herself so I am here for that (and wondering how she had time to bill those hours and write such a cute book!).

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What do you do if you are watching reality tv and see your ex’s new fiancé picking out a wedding dress? Alex starts questioning why she is the last person all of her ex’s date before they find their happily ever after. She takes it upon herself to interview her ex’s to find out why.
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When Will, who has been part of her life forever, finds out what she’s doing he decides to join her group of friends on this wild tour of ex’s and to find out what went wrong in her past relationships so he doesn’t make the same mistakes.
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Her group of friends and grandmother made this book for me. No one made me laugh harder than her grandmother and I would love a book of her own!
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Huge thank you to @netgalley @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks and @dg_reads @berkleypub for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank You, Next by Andie J. Christopher is the story of a divorce attorney, Alex Turner, who is dead set against marriage, falling in love, or letting anyone get too close. A tarot card spread and a glimpse of her ex on Say Yes to the Dress is a sign.

Alex Turner had no good role models on love as a child. She bared her heart to one teenage boy who broke it. Alex was damaged.

Once she pieced together that all her ex-boyfriends got married right after they broke up, Alex went on a mission.

After consulting a string of loser ex-boyfriends, Alex discovers the problem. None of them was her love. Could she love?

You'll have to read to find out.

I liked the idea of the story. It was monotonous at times. It's a romance novel where the lead female has one hang-up, and the lead male has one. It's pretty cut and dry.

Despite the fact, I don't hate the book. It's a cute story and worth a read. It's an easy, light-hearted read.

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Read/Listen If You Like:
❤️ Romances with Tension
❤️ Enemies to Lovers
❤️ Characters that struggle with giving and receiving love
❤️Miscommunication Trope
❤️ Spice 🔥

Book Review:
I absolutely adored this one! It hooked me in so quickly with such a wonderful start, slowed in the middle to allow for development of the relationship between the characters, and then picked up at the end to provide a simple HEA.

I really loved that this one didn’t have an epilogue, which isn’t normal for me as I usually crave one when missing to help wrap up the story, but honestly this one didn’t need it.

The one area that I didn’t love was the miscommunication trope, as it is something I do not typically enjoy… that said, this was one of the better done miscommunication tropes in my opinion because of how it was set up and it felt very realistic that there would be communication issues with the backstories of the characters and their relationship with one another prior to the start of the book.

Also I loved the subtle nod to Ariana Grande’s song thank you, next and when you finish this one I think you’ll see what I mean…

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Books for the ARC of this book! I am so grateful to obtain a copy to read in advance of its release in exchange for my honest feedback!

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This book thought me one thing — growth takes time.

I loved the way Andie introduced Alex to us and how she knew she may have flaws and not be as perfect as she thought. And Alex took it in stride, willing to become better with the help of an admirer, Will.

Now her girlfriends, that was the highlight of this book. Every time I came across them, I either laughed or screamed positively.

Thank you, Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC of Thank You, Next.

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When divorce attorney Alex Taylor sees her latest ex's fiancé picking out a wedding dress, she decides to go on a finding mission to discover why all her exes seem to commit to the next person they date after breaking up with her. Will, the son of her grandmother's ex-husband and periodic bane of her existence, is along for the ride. Will has an agenda of his own. Maybe learning what the exes did wrong will help him avoid making the same mistake in his mission to win Alex's heart and repair any damage he did.

This book is a quick, fun, slow-burn romance. The alternating perspectives helped the characters jump off the page, particularly Alex and Will. The author does a great job of portraying the past's affect on the characters' present. I appreciate the work they do to come to terms with where they are versus where they want to be.

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Thank You, Next is an entertaining and fun romance that revolves around divorce attorney Alex Turner going on quest to find answer to why all her exes married or committed right after breaking up with her and rising chef Will Harkness, who is family but not exactly family, tagging along to Alex’s quest to figure out what mistakes her exes made so he doesn’t make the same mistake. The story is about self-discovery, effect of bad parenting, commitment issues, second chance, avoidant attachment, friendship, family, and love.

Writing is engaging, entertaining, and fast paced with third person narrative. Plot is most interesting. I loved the way book started and the concept of cynical heroine with commitment issues. While I found this interesting and promising I have mixed feelings for this book.

Alex is smart, intelligent, confident and independent divorce lawyer whose family had bad relationship history and her profession made her more cynical about love and the constitution of marriage. She couldn’t commit to relationships or rely on men or anyone in life. She believed in no strings attached relationships and if things start getting serious which mostly happens she will break up with the person without looking back or any regrets.

I liked reading why she felt that way and I mostly agree with her thoughts. When we witness so many broken relationships it affects our view of it. Her childhood, her parents’ divorce, her father’s narcissistic constant critical and unloving behavior, didn’t help her cynicism. To make things worse the person she truly loved in her teens rejected her. Yup, that was Will. I liked how she went looking for answers that made her want to move on in life, take a leap of faith and give a new relationship with Will a try. Her development and her struggle is realitstic.

Will is as interesting as Alex as there is so many similarities in their nature- They both have shared history, have issue in letting someone in their life, had a struggling and unloving childhood, and avoid confrontations or communications to resolve the issue. He is smart, intelligent, recently divorced up-and-coming chef. His relationship with Alex and her grandmother Lexi is unique and complicated. His father married Lexi and then they got divorced but he stayed with Lexi so that kind of make him family. His love for Lexi is lovely and admirable. I like him for understanding Alex, caring for her, and being patient with her, giving her as much time as she needed to get used to their new relationship.

I liked both Alex and Will but I didn’t love them or rooted for them, at some point they were annoying too. I loved supporting characters more. Both Alex’s best friends Lana and Jane are amazing. I loved their support and honesty. Lexi is fantastic. She quirky and eccentric old lady who had countless lovers and married many times. She is lively, fun and wise woman with open and welcoming nature. She kind of steal the show but didn’t overshadow main characters.

Romance is a little slow and mostly happens in second half of the book. There is hate to lovers arc, strong attraction and some hot sex scenes. It is also a second chance romance as Will and Alex shared history. I liked they took time to get together and understand each other keeping each other’s vulnerability and issues in mind but at the same time it felt dragged.

The climax is good but not too surprising. I wanted to end story here but it kept going on and on and I was tired of both characters but at the same time it was realistic and I liked how they tried to make things work. It was good this isn’t a happily ever after thing but still, the end is satisfying and lovely.

Why 3 stars-

I get Alex’s attraction reigniting after all these years as she didn’t exactly forget her feeling for Will but I don’t get Will’s behavior and attraction. First he rejected her as he didn’t want to lose Lexi but claimed to have feelings ever since he met her later. So based on “he always had feelings” I don’t get why he married and how he forgot about Alex! and as soon as he is divorced his feelings are back, and then acted jealous and overbearing when Alex went to talk to her exes! it doesn’t make sense.

I also didn’t like how easily he was forgiven. I mean Alex literally hated him and avoided him for how he treated her and broke her heart and then after one kiss she is all matured and says ‘oh we were just teens, it’s good you rejected me and it was childish to hold it against him’!! 🙄 Instead of them talking about their history and heartbreak, they kiss first and then talk about unresolved issues which didn’t make it convincing.

Alex had a younger sister but we don’t meet her throughout the book! Why she has to be in the story is beyond me.

As I said story started well and concept is promising but after some point it lost its charm, romance is a little dragging. It felt like story was lost in internal monologues and all monologues and conversations on same topic or theme made things repetitive.

Overall, Thank You, Next is enjoyable and entertaining second chance romance with interesting concept and theme but it lost its charm by the end of the book.

I recommend this if you like,
Biracial and diverse characters
Found family
Hate to love arc
Second chance romance
Commitment issues
Character with avoidant attachment style
Slow romance

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Thank you to Berkley Books for providing me with an e-ARC of Thank you, Next!

Check my blog for an excerpt of Thank you, Next!

Thank You, Next's tagline, "always the fling, never the ring" really called me out, huh?

I related pretty hard to Alex Turner & her thoughts on love. & I really did enjoy the idea of Alex meeting up with all of her exes to ask them what happened and why they decided to marry the person they dated right after her. Cause, bro, same. This seems to happen to me all of the time.

However, I didn't really vibe with the actual romance aspect. Lack of chemistry? I don't know. In the end, it was a fine read but I didn't fall in love as much as I would have hoped to.

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Argh, I went in with wanting to love this one soo much. As i am such a sucker for enemies to lovers trope. However, I just didn’t like our main character, Alex Turner. I found myself enjoying the side characters more.

The romance was a little flat for my liking and a little repetitive in my opinion. And we spent wayyy to much time in Alex’s and Will’s heads. Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Berkeley Pub and netgalley for granting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a fun contemporary romance read and loved the movie Good Luck Chuck, check this one out!

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Thank You, Next by Andi J. Christopher is a romcom about a woman trying to figure out why she’s never The One—but always the last one an ex dates before finding love. She’s determined to find out why in this hilarious new rom-com that was released Tuesday.

I paired the e-book with the audiobook.. The narrator for this one did an amazing job portraying Alex’s strong personality and the conflict she felt being a person who didn’t believe in marriage and happily ever afters while also being compelled to find out exactly why she wasn’t getting one of her own.

The side characters were the highlight of the book for me. I didn’t fall in love with Alex or Will, but I think a lot of readers might. For me she fell into the category of character everyone keeps saying is smart, but ultimately seems to do a lot of not-so-smart things. The book was a little repetitive and I had trouble believing she would remember so little about her exes. However the friends that help her on her quest and her eccentric tarot-reading jazz singing grandmother who’s always believed in Alex and Will’s chemistry made the book fun.
A Thousand Miles definitely felt like a cousin to Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation. I hesitated to write that line, because I think comparing any book or writer to Emily Henry is putting a lot of possibly unfair pressure on a book, but I mean it in the absolute best way. I think anyone who enjoyed that book—and I know there were a lot of us—will find something to love in this one.

The thing I loved the most about this book was the care the characters took with each other. It was really, really beautiful to read and it had my very favorite kind of ending where both characters own their part in the journey instead of one taking all the blame.

Thank you so much to @berkleypub, @letstalkbookspromo and @netgalley for a copy of this one. I’m pretty sure I will end up buying it as well so I have a copy.

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This was a surprisingly good read from a new-to-me author. I found Alex's story to be both endearing and fun to get through.

Will and Alex's romance had great potential. Although I enjoyed their slow burn, I can't help but think that their romance would have benefited from more interactions on the page and less introspection. These inner monologues were at times repetitive, which only served to slow the pace of the story for me.

I did enjoy the snarky humor sprinkled throughout the story and how it contrasted with the underlying sense of vulnerability displayed by Alex. Most of all, I was glad to see that by the end of the story both Alex and Will were finally communicating with each other and allowing themselves a chance to be together.

All in all, a fun quick read.

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Divorce attorney Alex Turner is sick of always being the girl who doesn't get the guy so she undertakes a project to interview her exes and see what keeps going wrong. What she wasn't counting on was repeatedly running into family friend Will Harkness, an up and coming chef, and the man who turned her down when they were kids. I really enjoyed this enemies to lovers/second chance, dual perspective romance that gave me STRONG Clueless vibes. Much thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for my advance review copy!

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