I have a lot of conflicting thoughts about this one, that's for sure.

Allison Avery is determined to earn her Ph.D. in medieval literature. But it seems history is repeating itself when in walks Colin Benjamin, the ex-boyfriend who majorly disrupted her goals two years prior.

First of all, I loved this academia setting. It was filled with history that gave a cozy vibe to this rivalry romance. While Allison is incredibly smart and driven, Colin had the charisma with students, and initially I really enjoyed their insecurities with wanting what the other had.

I was completely into this story ... until the third-act conflict. I adore stories with realistic, flawed characters, but with repeated toxic behaviour, these two were simply not ready for a happily-ever-after. I'd say lots of growth still needed to happen both individually, but especially Colin. Oof.

With that said, the writing was solid. I love the way Jenny L. Howe incorporated heavier topics into the story, with Allison experiencing fat shaming and emotional abuse from her father. I'd definitely give Jenny L. Howe another try in the future. The story was great, but this romance had too many red flags for me.

dnf'd at 40%

I think it had a promising premise but it was not executed well enough to keep me engaged. I didn’t find myself invested in the story or characters and instead found myself skimming through most of what I did read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I usually love and enjoy books like this and the premise was promising. The actual story? Just awful. Two annoying, immature characters that are competitive with each other in a PhD program and it becomes an enemies to lovers type story. I also did not think the chemistry of the two characters was good either. The whole book was just annoying.

Cannot recommend. I still like this author but this was not her best book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Jenny Howe and St Martin's Press Griffin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 9/13/22

This is going to be very short because there isn’t a single thing I liked in this book but since it was an ARC, I pushed myself to finish it.

You know that awful ex boyfriend that was terrible to the heroine in the past and/or present in romance books? The one that, if we’re lucky, gets punched in the face by said heroine or her love interest? Well, this book has that ex boyfriend… and it is the hero. Colin Benjamin is the definition of mediocre white male. GOD. How can someone be so awful? And that’s not the most important question here, that one should be why is Allison giving him another chance? Another TWO chances? Girl. That sounds like self loathing to me. MOVE ON. FIND SOMEONE BETTER. IT WON’T BE HARD.

Everyone in Allison’s life was so awful to her. Her mother forcing her to have a relationship with her shitty father even though she constantly told her she didn’t want to have anything to do with him? Her father calling her fat all the time, underestimating her job, but then after he dies it’s revealed that he had her on a pedestal at work? Her best friend getting defensive when Allison tells her it hurts that they’re drifting apart?

Allison, babygirl, you should have given everyone the middle finger by Chapter 3.

Rating: 1/5
Steam level: 1/5

Thanks to St. Martin Press for my ARC. I hope someone else enjoys this, but I truly didn’t.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦-𝘜𝘱 𝘛𝘦𝘴𝘵 follows Allison enroute to securing the place she's always wanted, i.e. working as a TA with the professor she admires. Her only issue? She's got to share her workplace with Colin, her ex she hasn't once forgotten about in the last two years.
And now the professor's declared that she can only fund one position which makes her and Colin rivals. Again.

- ~ -

No. Just 𝘯𝘰.

What even what the point of this story?

I've never been so confused and enraged simultaneously.

Our love interest Colin was initially, in lack of a better word, an ass.
And yeah his current self might be healing or trying to improve as a person but he still has a long, LONG way to go
However, atleast he's trying. I'll give him that.

My heart would go out to Allison but she wasn't exactly pure either. Although she hasn't had even a bit of a break. All her relationships are jagged.
She's distanced from her bestfriend, her mother is guilt tripping her, her father's almost non-existent in her life (but always present to insult her), and on top of it all Colin - the guy she's never quite forgotten is there reminding her of all the past she's desperately tried to forget.

And the WORST of all, no-one apologized. Sigh.

Also I didn't quite understand the literature references (which there are tons of), which is on me, I fully get that but it only added to more of my dislike towards the story.

Another thing, can we collectively decide to not mention the pandemic in fictional stories, just ruins the whole vibe for some reason.

- ~ -

3.17 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯'𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 & 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

I really wanted to like this book. I did. It was such an interesting premise, rival academics and exes end up in the same literature PhD program and TAing the same class, but the competitiveness and miscommunication just ruined it for me. And there was a lot of miscommunication, so much. I also felt at times that the female MC was just borderline mean, which I mean I'm glad we're starting to see more unlikeable heroines, but I just think at times this MC took it a little too far. I did, however, love the fat representation in this book and would love to see more in mainstream books. The other thing I'll point out is that this is definitely not a rom-com, even though it has a cute illustrated cover and a rom-com premise, it quickly delves into not being a rom-com, so keep that in mind when reading.

I cannot recommend this book as a romance lover. I ended up DNFing at 20%.

I found the characters to be extremely unlikeable. Would not recommend to anyone.

Thanks to the publisher for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I love the idea of an academic setting and a curvy female MC. Allison is a really strong main character. However, I found the love interest to be really frustrating in this one. I didn't see Colin's appeal at all and there were some moments that really pulled me out of the story. The second chance romance trope isn't always my favorite and it just didn't work for me in this story.
I had high hopes for this one but it let me down a bit.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Make-up Test was a cute second-chance romance between Allison and Colin who are also competing against each other in order to have their professor be their advisor. Since they had previously dated and then broken-up this felt more like a rivals-to-lovers because of the emotions that were felt. I didn't really like either of the characters very much and it was hard for me at times to feel a connection between them. I did enjoy the glimpse into the life of a grad student and the friends were a great element. I also thought that the romantic gesture at the end was sweet. The best part for me was the fat representation.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my opinion.

The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe follows two academic rivals who also happen to be exes as they fight for their future in the academia.


I was so excited for this book after learning it was about two exes who also happened to be academic rivals, a trope that is not often seen in romance as much as it should be. Unfortunately I personally did not have the best time reading this and I’m extremely bummed about it.

From the begging it is understood that Allison and Colin did not part in the best way, and as this book is told from Allison’s POV it can also be understood that it was Colin who wronged her.

I started struggling to like Allison’s character from a little after Colin appeared(but I also think this was because the author did not explain why they broke up until wayyy after in the book and was very vague through out it, so I was very unbalanced from that point of view) and while she was mad and stand-offish with him(rightfully so) at first, she started to take literally everything Colin did personally and she seemed to think that everything Colin did was to spite her and when read her thought process in her head I admit she started to annoy me and at another point bore me because it was always the same cycle of, “he’s plotting against me”, “he’s doing it because he wants to steal my spot” and so on, when it was clear he was just doing his work in the university.

I felt like Colin was a little unbalanced too. One moment he was being cocky, and a know it all and the next he was swooning for Allison and then he was sad. I can’t say much about him because to me he like he was a bit of a secondary character and he felt plain(I hate saying this).

One thing for sure was that their were both incredibly immature and their relationship was a reflection of that, very unstable and at times toxic.

As for the romance, I didn’t start feeling it until like 60-70% of the book which was not ideal but once they were together it was cute. Also, I should mention that the climax of the book was one big miscommunication that left me a little whiplashed and it didn’t at all feel necessary.

I liked this story! I loved the plus size female main character who was so comfortable with herself even with people constantly shaming her. I enjoyed the medieval discussions in the academic world even though I’m not very familiar with it.⁣
⁣
The steamy scenes were 🔥 who knew SCRABBLE could be so Seggsy.⁣
⁣
I enjoyed that this was a second chance romance, nemesis to lovers, somewhat close proximity, with some family drama, and the death of a parent. ⁣
⁣
The relationship between these two with hot and cold, and even conflicting at times. I liked them together but sometimes I felt like maybe they weren’t great for each other. ⁣
⁣
Overall, I liked it and would still recommend reading it, if you like academia reads, medieval culture, and nemesis to lovers/second chance.⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Make-Up Test, a debut book by Jenny L. Howe, about two competing teaching assistants—who also happen to be former lovers—happily fulfilled that fall-ish school setting vibe I enjoy, making me even more ready to transition from summer to autumn.

The Make-Up Test is getting some harsh early reviews here on Goodreads, and while it’s not perfect, I found plenty to enjoy in this second-chance romance. It does feature one of the least favorite tropes, the miscommunication trope. If that’s a trope you refuse to read, you should probably skip this one. It seems like that’s where most of the harsher reviews are coming from. It’s not a trope that’s a hard no for me, as long as the story has plenty more to offer.

What I loved about this one:

The curvy woman representation! Allison is strong and confident and is okay with her body, despite her toxic father who has fat shamed her all her life. She’s made the decision not to have a relationship with her father, and is striving to combat the guilt of that decision, which is hard with her mother’s pleas to connect with him.

“Allison had once taken stock of every description she could think of for large bodies, and they were pretty much all food-related: pear-shaped, apple-shaped, juicy bottom, big melons, etc. It was disgusting. So, until everyone started referring to thin people as ‘asparagus-shaped,’ Allison would be curvy or plus-sized, or if she really wanted to watch people have a shock, fat.”

This story is romantic! While I didn’t always love Allison and Colin, or their relationship, it was steamy and heart-breaking. I felt the connection.

I loved the academic setting! I could tell the author wrote from experience—the setting is realistic, with authentic dialogue between the teachers and students, and believable interaction with the professors.

“She remembered everything, as if their entire history had been carved into her bones.”

I was impressed with Howe’s writing and would happily read another book by her. Give this one a try if you like an academic setting, body positivity, and second-chance romances!

This academic rivals (and exes) to lovers second chance romance follows Allison and Colin as they start their Ph.D. program. The two dated 2 years prior in undergrad before breaking up and not only are they in the same program, they were selected to be co-TAs for the same class. The two have an icy relationship, at best, that centers around trying to 'win' every possible competition. But when their advisor says she has to pick one of them to stay under her at the end of the semester, the real competition begins. However, as the two spend more time together and finally start to talk about their shared past, they both realize the feelings they had never went away and there might just be a future together if they don't let their competition get in the way. I really enjoyed this debut and thought the whole set up was great. I really liked getting the school setting with older (mid-20s) characters and slightly higher stakes than a typical college/new adult romances. Both Allison and Colin were so interesting and complex with their own journey as well as their shared past. This is only told from Allison's POV and I really wish this was dual perspective because of their shared past. There was a ton of fun banter back and forth and I really enjoyed the whole group of grad students. If Howe writes more in this series, I would be so interested to follow the other people in this group. I'm a little bit of a hard sell on second chance romances, especially when the initial breakup was for very valid reasons (as is the case here). I think Howe did a fantastic job of showing us how much both Allison and Colin had changed during the past 2 years as well as showing them working through any hurt that they still had and actively choosing to move forward together. The 3rd act conflict in this, for me, was a little too much of a communication issue that literally could have been cleared up with 1 conversation but it was on-brand enough with the characters that I wasn't put off too much by it. Overall, I really enjoyed this read and I would love to read more of Howe's romances in the future.

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. Publication date is September 13, 2022

This funny, heart-wrenching, and charming book is what you get when you put two driven and brilliant doctoral students competing for the mentorship of one professor. Allison is a plus-sized woman at home in her own skin, who strives for excellence to the point of exhaustion. Colin is her straight-laced, cardigan wearing ex who dumped her during their undergrad years after shattering her world.

Don't let the cover fool you. This book deals out a hefty amount of emotional issues to sort out. Not only the damage done by Colin, but navigating through the difficult relationships with one parent who is emotionally abusive and another that allows and encourages a toxic relationship between them. Trust issues, forgiveness, and acceptance are hard fought battles throughout this book.

This debut novel from Jenny L. Howe was smart and tender, it was infuriating and warm, and it was an amazing second-chance slow burn romance. I thoroughly enjoyed it (when I wasn't bawling my eyes out) and am looking forward to more from her!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for provding me with an ARC of this book.

DNF @32%

I am so bummed about this one because I wanted to love it. Nerdy romance with a fat heroine? Exactly my cup of tea! Unfortunately this really isn't working for me and based on other reviews, I don't anticipate it improving. Both characters are irritating and incredibly immature, especially for being in a PhD program. They don't seem to have much chemistry at all and I don't know how you get past everything that happened to end their relationship initially (it's a second-chance romance). The believability for me is also fairly low- that this program would take two students from the same undergrad school in the same niche field is very unlikely. And the heroines behavior makes me wonder how and why she is even in the PhD program in the first place. I hope this connects better for others and I hope we continue to see fat representation with heroines who love themselves and aren't trying to lose weight, but this just didn't hit for me. Which is unfortunate. The audio narrator does a good job though. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

There is so much I like about this book.

Mainly, I really liked Allison, our main character. Her passion for medieval literature really comes through and some of my favorite parts were her ruminating on the texts and her overall desire to learn. Her struggles with her dad were really relatable and I appreciated the lessons she learned about cutting a toxic person out of your life.

Really, the parts of this book I struggled with the most was the romance and as this is a romance book first and foremost that is where some of my dissatisfaction lies. Second chance, academic rivals to lovers has so much room to mine content. There are tons of opportunities for pining and charged moments and I do think the book delivers on those. However, I really don't think Colin treats Allison very well, either in the discussions of their past relationship or even in their presently developing one. Colin is the definition of toxic masculinity and none of this is resolved. In fact, the book seems to let him off the hook and lets Allison make endless excuses for him in a way that left me angry and not in a good way.

This book has a lot going on and some of it is done really well and I think because for me, the romance fell a bit short, the balance was a bit off.

Overall, I really liked Howe's writing and I'm looking forward to what she writes next.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and St. Martins for letting me read an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I started this read… and DNF’d it I wish that I liked it more, but I did find myself invested into the book. The reading was more like work but That’s not to say I won’t give it another chance.

I’m hoping to return to this one in the future.

Well, I never thought that I’d read a second chance romance that would tempt me to crack open a copy of Beowulf again. Honestly, I never thought anything would do that. But, alas, here we are.

The Make-Up Test is an academic rivals, second chance romance featuring a plus sized heroine and her, I guess, nerdy-hot ex. These two are quite possibly the most competitive people on the planet. This, unsurprisingly causes problems, when they find out they’re both vying for the same spot to study under the foremost expert on medieval literature. They also face further complications when it seems they both still have unresolved feelings floating around.

This book has a lot of great things going for it. The writing is clever and the main characters are well developed. I will admit I was annoyed with our MCs on a few occasions, but since I am not really a competitive person this didn’t surprise me. Overall, I really enjoyed this read. I thought the subplots surrounding the main characters did a good job explaining their motivations. Really my only complaint is that the ending happened very fast. I would have liked an epilogue or even one more short chapter to give the story a more solid resolution. Don’t get me wrong there is an HEA, but I just wanted a bit more.

Pick up if you’re looking for:

- open door but lower heat
- second chance
- academic rivals (PhD candidates)
- slightly sexy scrabble
- pets with cheesy names (please check back after reading to fully appreciate this line item)
- good fat representation

CW: Grandparent with dementia, death of a parent, fatphobia, mentions of cancer

NOTE: I received an eARC of this book through Netgalley, but the thoughts and opinions here are all mine.

this was cute! it wasn't a favorite but i'll read anything with a fat mc. she just like #me. i would definitely pick up a jenny howe book in the future!!

thank you net galley for the ARC in exchange for a review <3

As an English major (and a middle school teacher), I really enjoyed Allison's character. Her struggle to be a good teacher and pursue her passionate love of medieval literature. At no point did I ever really like Colin, though. I'm not sure they would have been good together. This book needs an epilogue mainly to prove that.