I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I felt like we were constantly reminded that Trixie is quirky and that she does some things that (to me) didn't feel like she did it for any reason other than to be perceived as quirky by others.

I REALLY wanted to love this. I thought it was going to be a fun & quirky romcom but sadly the characters and the writing just made me cringe a little. I found some of the side characters, like Bear’s sisters and Trixie’s coworker Lindsey, annoying which also made it difficult to read. The book is laced with very OTT/cheesy American humour which some may love but sadly it wasn’t for me! I usually love a cheesy romcom but there was just something missing for me. DNF at 20%.

I might give it another in the future and see if I get on with it any better, at which point I’ll update my review on Goodreads, but for now I just can’t finish it!

The title and plot line made caught my interest. The storyline lost my interest quickly the characters were dry. I lost interest quickly. DNF.


************************************************I received an arc for my honest opinion from Net Galley. ******************************************************

I had fun, liked the unusual story involving chicken and rooted for the characters.
It's a light story that made me smile and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I'm the type of person who loves most romance books so while I did enjoy this, it's definitely not one of my new favourites. I loved the roommates to lovers trope and I really enjoyed the fact that it was written in a dual POV.

I know that rescuing the chicken is meant to be part of the main plot but I just couldn't get into it - I found myself rolling my eyes anytime the chicken was mentioned.

I don't think that the characters were fully developed, some of their dialogue seemed extremely surface-level for two people who were supposed to be in love with one another.

If you want a quick romance read that is fast paved and has the instalove trope, you will enjoy this!

A sweet romance with a love in unexpected places trope. Trixie with her rescue chicken (literally) and Bear with his resistance to outsiders and change. Everything about this book was sweet. It gave me all those warm fuzzy feelings you want from a rom-com!

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing this title in exchange for an honest review.

I had a really hard time finishing this book. I started it in late May, had to take a break twice during which I considered opting out of giving feedback, and finished it in August. That's two and a half months for a romcom of a little over 300 pages - that could honestly be cut in half. Here's the thing: I should have listened to the reviewers who mentioned the words "manic pixie dream girl", and I should have realized that wasn't for me before requesting it.

Trixie works at an animal shelter and loves animals, so when she sees a helpless chicken trying to cross the road, she hops off her car and goes to the rescue. The other drivers are not too happy, but luckily Bear (whose name is actually Barrett) is also around at the time and helps Trixie and chicken. They are both instantly attracted to each other. Soon after, Bear's sisters, who are incredibly lacking in boundaries or manners, trick him into having a female roommate so that he might finally have the girlfriend they're all wishing for. Because that's a totally normal and okay thing to do. Lo and behold, Trixie's new pet is about to leave her homeless, and her house search leads her to Bear. When she goes to see the house, he's being accosted by everyone who legit thought he was renting out a room and very pissed off about it... but the thought of living with this quirky girl he's been thinking about ever since their flash meeting changes his mind. Even after he finds out she comes with a sick chicken.

I will try to start with the good parts. Trixie has a backstory that explains why she always seems like a happy, bubbly person with lots of friends, and why she's reluctant to get involved with Bear. I thought that story was interesting and worth exploring. Bear has a backstory that explains why he puts on a macho persona even though he's a "sensitive soul" who likes flowers and wine instead of beer (Chicago men are you okay?), and I thought there was a good intention at questioning and flipping gender roles. Having these two characters work through their insecurities and traumas to let themselves be vulnerable to each other was an interesting premise that was done relatively okay. I love the "and they were roommates" trope, so that's what drew me to this book.

However, the execution of all those things left a lot to be desired. Trixie is a quirky girl and the author beats you over the head with it. Literally, Bear uses the word "quirky" to describe her at least ten times for the first 30 pages or so, and even uses the word "pixie" once. We all have quirks, but being a quirky girl has a very particular flavour, and it checked all of the marks here. Trixie's full name is Trixie (rhymes with "pixie", and I wonder if it's a coincidence at all). She wears fun mismatched socks all the time on purpose. When she stands up, she does a flamingo pose every single time that wears down that side of her pants. Instead of walking or running, she tiptoes, which the author claims is due to her past as a dancer (are all the former dancers I know faking it? I never saw any of them walking on tiptoe). She names her new pet chicken "Chick-Chick", reads books to her, and clucks at her in conversation. She's, of course, petite. With a great ass and boobs. She wears polka dots and brightly-coloured clothes that don't match. She doesn't swear (except for one "damn"), but instead makes up a different curse every single time. I counted at least 15. My favourite might be “Oh Pikachu”.

And of course, all of those things turn Bear on from the start. Trixie shows up at his house and he's already checking out her ass and getting blue balls. For all of the book's intention to paint Bear as a sensitive guy, we spend half the book on him constantly thinking about how sexually frustrated he is by Trixie doing such perverse things as... showering. Or walking in front of him. Or wearing her PJs. I don't mind a good insta-attraction and UST, but here it was done very poorly and I wanted to punch Bear in the face very early on. The chapters are split between Trixie and Bear, showing us both of their POVs, and I feel like the author was split between wanting to convey a "regular" cishet man's thoughts about a woman he's attracted to, and wanting to show him as sensitive, so we have chapters where he's waxing poetry and crying over a chicken, and chapters where he just thinks about Trixie's ass. Funnily enough, at one point he sternly tells himself “no is no” after she refuses to let him comfort her. Cool?

Their backstories and the conflict between them ended up being too repetitive. The author hints at Trixie's backstory, and then she lets us in on it, and then she has Trixie repeating it over and over and over. Yes, we get it, we remember! I also thought that her misunderstanding with Bear towards the end was forced, trauma or not. He was very clear, and yet she was convinced he’d just run out on her. I just… I don’t want to judge anyone’s trauma story, but that felt like too much, or too poorly done. Probably the second.

The way that Bear's sisters meddled with his life was incredibly bad and it was never problematized because "it all worked out". They rent out a room of his own house without his knowledge so that *maybe* a woman will rent and *maybe* he'll fall in love with his tenant and *maybe* they’ll date. Just no. They constantly show up unannounced at his house, walk in, and borrow stuff without him knowing. They make inappropriate comments about Bear and Trixie before they're even together just because “they know”. They follow them to their date with a boombox. They're even invited to witness a moment that should have been between Bear and Trixie, if Bear's family had any concept of boundaries. They were grown-ass women acting like teenagers and I cringed every time they tried to "help".

Overall, I thought the story suffered from a lot of character quirks, not enough believable development to the insta-attraction, and plot devices that just felt annoying and trite. It didn't come remotely close to making me swoon or laugh; I just wanted it to be over. It has the potential to be better with some heavy editing.

I struggled to get through this book. Without the dual pov I don’t know if I would have completed the book. The first 40% had potential but as the book progressed the characters landed very flat. I was not invested, found the chicken to be a nuisance and didn’t relate to anything that was happening. The sex scene was so awkward and didn’t even address the fact that he was in a cast at the time. The fake swearing was distracting and all in all this book just didn’t resonate with me. I can respect the work that went into writing the book. However the romance was awkward and the comedy was not there.

I am dying to dive into more books that introduce the love interest as a roommate because I love it! Also, any love interest that loves the show Grey's Anatomy is my type of guy. I am also obsessed with chickens, and I loved the role that they played in this book. I am biased that the love interest is named Bear because I have a friend who nicknamed her baby Bear and he's the cutest thing alive! I don't know why but it does irritate me that Trixie acts like every other girl in a rom-com and just doesn't always think about other people and just is aggravating but I still overall enjoyed the book!

4.25 stars
It was a cute read. Felt a little insta lovey , of which I am not a big fan of . I loved all other aspects of this book. What stood out for me the most was chick-chick. It was dual pov. It had an adorable meetcute. I loved Bear's family especially his sisters.
TROPES: grumpy sunshine
roomies
insta love

I would recommend this book if you dont hate insta love.

This was such a lovely, positive read. Even though it was highly predictable, I always enjoy these kind of boy meets girl storylines. What I particularly enjoyed about this book is that with each chapter, you would alternate between the perspective of Bear and Trixie. With each chapter you also found a out a bit more about both of their struggles & worries, portrayed respectfully so too without making a spectacle of trauma. I also appreciate seeing the main male character as less stereotypical, he is a very sensitive guy who loves Grey’s Anatomy, prefers wine over beer and loves making flower arrangements. His character development and him accepting himself more and more throughout the book is lovely. All in all, a very fun light, romantic read.

3.5 Stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very cute romcom story! It hits all the marks a romantic comedy should. And a cute chicken too!

What I liked:
Grumpy X Sunshine- love this trope and to see Trixie and Beat interact at the start was so sweet

Chick-Chick- Love an animal companion and loved the scenes she was in. Her personality definitely shines through the words.

Forced Proximity- Fighting feelings while having to live in close quarters…excellent

Supporting cast- Somehow I always find myself likening main characters and loving the side characters and this was no exception. Bear’s sisters, his niece and Ryan all added great moments to the book.

What I didn’t like:
Insta love- I’m just not a fan of this trope.

Lastly, I wish there was a little bit more resolution for Trixie and her parents like we eventually see with Bear.

Overall, I liked this story. I liked a lot of elements of this story. A solid romantic comedy.

I enjoyed this book well enough but there was still something missing. I appreciated the character POVs from both love interests but they came across as two dimensional at times, each in their own way.

Trixie is one of the realest and most relatable characters I have ever read - she uses smiles as armor against the world because it has not been kind to her. Forming connections and celebrating relationships with other people is not easy for everyone and Ohlert writes it well with this character. While not always opening up to people, she actually has a deeply caring side, as we see in her behaviour with Chick Chick and even Bear.

On the other hand, I did not like Bear all that much. I very much appreciated the author tearing into toxic masculinity and showing a more caring side of Bear, while also giving him traits and interests that are generally considered feminine. However, the one thing I could not get my head around was his behaviour with Trixie. Maybe its the part of me that doesn't believe in love at first sight, but Bear is way too malleable when it comes to Trixie's wishes. He rarely gets angry with her or puts up a fight, instead coming around for everything or going over the top for her. And we know its not a lie because we have his POV!

I understand this is the author's way of showing us, or rather Trixie, that there exists someone who will love her unconditionally, but for me it was not particularly believable. Do people like that even exist in real life?

Overall, the romance is great since I'm a sucker for the roomates trope. The book is mostly fast paced, though its drags a bit in parts. The side characters, especially Bear's sisters, were the highlight for me. Who I most loved, however, was Chick Chick, and that how everyone who meets her is enamoured by her. She added a great element to the story since she was also the thing that brought together Trixie and Bear in the first place.

A tale of two people who were badly affected by their upbringing: Trixie was under pressure by her parent's to always appear cheerful to ensure the best possible scores in dance competitions, Bear was told that enjoying flower arranging in his mother's florist was "unmanly" by his biological father and schoolmates. They are brought together when animal loving Trixie rescues a chicken and has to urgently find new lodgings so that she can keep it.
The star of the book is the rescue chicken, Chick-Chick, even though she causes so much trouble. I felt for both Trixie and Bear struggling to overcome their fears, the dual POV helps with this. There are some humorous moments to help balance the sad ones, with a couple of non-explicit sex scenes to raise the temperature just a bit. Looking at other reviews it does seem to be a bit of a "marmite" book (love it or hate it for those not aware of this tasty spread), but personally I thought that it was an enjoyable book, especially as a first for this new author.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

I'm really sorry, but I dnfed this book. I really did not enjoy this.

The characters seemed flat to me, and the premise was weird. The writing was likewise flat and dull.

Thank you Netgalley and Alcove Press for providing me with an ARC for an honest review.

This book was a quick read perfect for the beach. It wasn’t great in my opinion and started off better than it ended but I did enjoy they dual POV throughout!

Overall this was a quick and fun read! It has tropes I love, I really enjoyed both of the main characters, and I always love a book with dual POV. I do wish it had ended as strongly as it started though. Trixie and Bear’s insecurities and the things they had to overcome began to feel a little forced/stretched out so I think the end could have come together better.

Read if you love:
- New Girl
- Grumpy/Sunshine tropes
- Forced Proximity
- Cute family dynamics
- Chickens 😉

Content: Closed door romance, language

O livro não me prendeu e não dei continuidade ao mesmo, acredito que por não ser tanto o meu tipo de leitura.

I requested this book because of the chicken, it immediately made me think of Hei Hei from Moana so I was over the moon when I received the arc. Unfortunately this book fell flat for me. Don't get me wrong, it had its moments but they were scarce. I felt bored and didn't feel invested in the characters.
I love Grumpy/ Sunshine trope but I thought the characters didn't have any dynamics, they were bland and a bit irritating. Especially Trixie who honestly acted really flaky and irrational. Her emotions were all over the place and she had bit of an abusive streak. That one scene with the shoe didn't sit well with me.
Bear had potential but unfortunately fell short.
The love was a bit too instant which I really dislike in novels so that was a huge turn off for me.
Aside from all this, the overall plot was mediocre and so its a no brainer book for those days when all you want is to read a quick and easy book.

Trixie stopped the car in the middle of the busy road to save a chicken. She works at a shelter and has the biggest heart for animals. However, she can't keep the chicken at her place and the shelter she works at is for pets. So she desperately needs a place. There is an ad in classifieds that seems perfect.

Bear is a huge homebody. He spends most of his time at home and works in construction, which isn't his favourite thing to do. Lately, there have been fewer jobs and money is a bit tight. His sisters secretly put an ad for an extra room in order to help him get more money.

They start as roommates and quickly become friends. They both have issues in the past that they run from and the same things that bond them, keep them apart.

It's the sweetest romance, with adorable chicken and a lot of family dynamics.

It's a fast pace, easy read, and a very fun one.

received from Netgalley, all thoughts are my own