Thank you @netgalley and @jennylhowe The Make-Up test was the 3rd 5-star book I read this year. I loved the character and the academic setting in a ph.d program. We see Allison go through the stress and love of studying Medieval literature, which is fascinating. Allison loves school, and she has applied to work as a TA with one of her favorite professors. But is stunned and upset when she finds out her ex-boyfriend is also accepted as a research assistant, and they are both competing to be mentored and become research assistants with the same professor. Alison never knew Colin was even interested in Medival Research, and now he is trying to take her spot.

Throughout the book, Allison has to deal with helping her mother and dealing with a sick father with who she did not have a great relationship. All the while Alison thinks she and Colin and dealing with their past and their bad breakup and building back their relationship. only for it to fall backward again.

The Make-Up test by Jenny L. Howe is a perfect, light-hearted read! Allison is working on her PhD in Medieval Literature under one of the best professsors in the country. She's eager to get the TA position, but much to her surprise, she's named along with another for TA, and it happens to be her ex, Collin. They had parted on very bad terms, 2 years prior and she was in no way eager to share a TA position, or any position with him! But when a family emergency arises and he's the only one there to help, can she count on him?

I loved this novel, it was a fun and uplifting read that shows that love really does win in the end. Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Allison shares an embarrassing moment she’d rather forget with a gorgeous guy at a party. She quickly learns Colin (said gorgeous guy) is in her classes and they quickly strike up a romance. Fast forward to the future and Allison is left standing heartbroken after Colin breaks up with her out of the blue but not before stealing the very award Allison has been trying for right out from under her.

Now Allison is accepted into her dream PhD program studying under a professor she has admired for years only to learn Colin has been accepted into the same program and is also studying under the same professor. When the professor announces a change in circumstances and that she can only take on one student this year and all out war between Allison and Colin ensues. 

Allison is a curvy girl struggling with some familial issues and drowning herself in academics. She to be completely relatable and I found myself intrigued by medieval literature (a topic I can assure you I don’t usually think about) based on her passion for the subject. At first, Colin appears to be a prick but once his backstory unfolds you can kind of sympathize with him a little.

Emphasis on a little because I don’t care how charming a man is I would not be okay with you swooping in on my dreams because you don’t have any of your own. In my opinion, if you love someone you find a way for you both to achieve your goals or at the bare minimum communicate with the person instead of leaving them blindsighted! Will characters in romance novels never learn…

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

I enjoyed a lot of aspects of Jenny Howe's The Make-Up Test. The humor was spot on. And the non-stereotypical main characters were refreshing.

Special thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC of The Make up Test .

Super cute cover caught my attention - and it was giving me all sorts of rom com vibes. The Make UP Text was so cute! It was warm, LOL moments, witty and a fun read! We meet Allison Avery, a smart, vulnerable young women and Colin Benjamin the academic cardigan wearing love interest. Love that it is set in academia. Great one liners, TW of mental health. This book really helped me get out of a read slump = overall enjoyable!

Jenny L. Howe did such a wonderful job on her newest, sweetest debut novel!
I would give this book a million stars if I were able to.

Two college exes, find themselves battling against each other—and their unresolved feelings—for a spot in a prestigious literature Ph.D. program.
What more could I ask for?

The Make-Up Test is A fun, engrossing romcom that caught my attention from the very beginning.
Jenny L. Howe's writing is fun, and fresh, and I fell in love with this story and its characters right away. 
Fun to read, engaging, with some laugh youth loud moments and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic.
Not only did the author bring in a refreshing story, she created likable, relatable characters. Who I absolutely adored!
Jenny created absolute magic here.
A masterful romance. And from the first chapter I couldn’t put it down. I honestly didn't want to.
It was easy to feel every emotion that came from these characters.
A true gem. The Make-Up Test has climbed right up to the top of my favourite romance books.
I can't wait to read On the Plus Side.
This is an author to watch for. She is coming full force and I can't wait to see where she goes!

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

St. Martin's Griffin,
Oh how I love you! Thank you for this amazing widget!
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

4.5 stars. This is a delightful New Adult Contemporary, set in graduate school where Allison and her ex, Colin, must work together as TAs (teaching assistants) for the same professor. Competing against is each other is nothing new, but as time goes on, Allison's old feelings for Colin start coming back, and maybe he's no longer as awful as she remembers.

When the publisher offered me this ARC, I had extremely high hopes. I’ve spent a decent bit of time in the English literature side of academia, and while I’m now studying a different field, I do still very much miss it. And on top of that, we’ve got an academic rivalry going on! In the end though, while this book does deliver on a lot of what I was expecting from it, it entirely fumbled the ending, and there were also a few writing choices/quirks that kept frustrating me throughout.

For the majority of this book, the only thing that frustrated me was certain aspects of the writing style. The biggest issue I had here was the random use of Covid-19/a pandemic, with references sporadically mentioned throughout the book. It was such a rare occurrence that it was entirely unnecessary to even write the pandemic into this book’s story world, in my opinion, as the only times it was even brought up were to mention that the MC’s junior year sucked due to it, that she still carried a mask ‘just in case’, and that her dad considered it just a flu and that everyone else had overreacted. It added absolutely nothing to the plot and only served to take me out of the story, as I tried to ponder the timeline of the book and the necessity of these references. For other readers, these small lines will be enough to not even bother reading the book (fairly), as it can remind them of the traumatic events they might have experienced during the pandemic. Additionally, seeing a story world that is safely beyond the pandemic can be frustrating for readers, because we ourselves are still stuck in it. It’s better all-around to simply not even mention it if there is literally no point (and there isn’t!) to these small mentions, as a lot of us read romance to escape, not to be reminded of the struggles of our own real worlds. On top of this, there are also many moments where the writing style feels overly opinionated, which serves to push away readers that don’t agree. This might sound a bit like nitpicking, but when this genuinely caused me to put the book down and text the people around me for their opinions, I feel like it’s a valid complaint. (Some examples of these texts: ‘Do you consider Dr. Martens to be boots?? Because this author seems to not?’ and ‘Wait do people generally not like the actor for Anakin Skywalker in the prequels? Because I’d always assumed people generally liked the guy in the Star Wars fandom and yet this random love interest hates him enough to rant during an entire movie about it’). All of these are throwaway lines that add absolutely nothing to the plot or characters in any way at all but occurred frequently enough that I kept being taken out of the story. It just was not something I’d really encountered this frequently in a story like this before, and just kept frustrating me.

Honestly, for most of this book, I was sitting at around 3 to 4 stars rating, 4 when I was feeling nice and enjoying the banter, and a 3 when those writing quirks were just especially taking me out of the book. I was still having a genuinely nice time, seeing all these literary references (even if I was never into medieval lit myself), and watching the characters grow together despite their rivalry. But then, I hit the final 20% of this book and it just, collapsed for me. I think it’s largely due to too much going on that by the end, it was impossible to properly tie everything up in the space left. Most of the side plots suddenly felt like they had a bow stuck on top of them and all was good now (especially true for the friendship and father side plots), and the rush made some wrapping up feel more ridiculous than sweet or cute (namely the romantic plot resolution). The worst part was that all of this was happening at a funeral, the presence of which felt sudden enough on its own, and logically it did not make sense that everyone came to the funeral to wrap up all these story plots. We just kept having a resolution occur only for it to be quickly shoved aside, just so the next thing could be resolved, all the while the MC is accepting condolences? And lastly, I was just extremely frustrated with how the romantic relationship broke apart and was fixed in this last bit, and personally it relied just way too much on the MC just plain ignoring the love interest, and the love interest being, very not smart in the way he chose to do things, even if he’d seen how things had gone down similarly before.

Overall, I had really high hopes for this book, and it just didn’t end up working for me in the end. While there were aspects I enjoyed, especially the academic settings and references + having a fat MC where the focus wasn’t on her losing weight, and she loved herself as she was, they were overshadowed by, everything else. I may give another book from this author a chance in the future, but this one just wasn’t for me!

I did not enjoy this book at al, I guess I have an issue with enemies to lovers, although here it was lovers to enemies to lovers again. I just couldn’t care about Colin and by the time he was redeemed it was too late, specially because it all was a misunderstanding, which I knew it was going to be, predictable.
And don’t get me started with the father situation, why can’t shitty parents just be shitty parents, why does everyone need a redemption, ugh.

A fun, smart, heartfelt romcom about graduate students and rivals who eventually realize that their hatred may actually be something else. This book was such a delight to read, featuring a well-rounded cast of characters who are impossible not to fall for. At the same time, it tackles more serious issues of family, acceptance, and love with grace and ease. What a balm in difficult times!

really enjoyed this 2nd chance at love and trying to find oneself and teaching and dealing with family. Loved her friends and the romance was hot . I loved that she loved books and wanted to teach it to others but was struggling. Loved that they got another chance at love.

Debut author Jenny L. Howe has written a delightful and enjoyable story of exes who end up in the same graduate program pursing the same mentor professor in The Make-Up Test. In her dream graduate program Allie finds herself face to face with the man who crushed her heart in undergrad and then disappeared without a word for years. Now Collin is back and only interested in reconciling with Allie, or as she thinks once again stealing everything she's been working hard for.

An adorably and wittily written enemies to lovers story that is heartbreaking at times {Why won't Allie just stop and hear Collin out?!} and hilarious in others. The book ended too quickly in my opinion, I wanted more!

I really wanted to love this book, which features an academic setting, a plus-size heroine and a second-chance romance, but it didn't quite do it for me. Allison Avery is a grad student in medieval lit whose ex-boyfriend Colin, who dumped her when both were in college, suddenly turns up in her program. The two wind up having to compete for a single position, which Allison desperately wants.

My biggest problem with this book is that Colin seemed to be an extremely mediocre man who kept getting in Allison's way. We learn that in college, Allison spent months applying for an academic award, and Colin, despite knowing how much she wanted it, swooped in and submitted his own application at the last minute, and won. Then he promptly broke up with her. He wasn't even studying medieval lit back then, and now suddenly he's in a grad school program for it, competing with her because his previous field (genre fiction) was "too popular," at a college where his aunt just happens to be Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences?

Other aspects of the plot, including Allison's fraught relationships with her father (who can't stop fat-shaming her) and her best friend (whom Allison fears is growing apart from her) are more successful, but this is a romance, and I just didn't feel the chemistry between the leads. A lot of the time I just wanted Allison to move on, and for Colin to get out of academia and find something different to do with his life.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the review copy via NetGalley!

Received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you like RomCom, Second Chance or situations that have you laughing out loud then this book could be a good fit. Allison Avery and Collin Benjamin are exes who find themselves at the same grad college, competing for the same coveted position. Add in memories and sexual chemistry that she wants to stomps into oblivion because of their checkered past. Does she dare take another chance at love with someone who loved her as she is but also broke her heart into a million pieces? Or does their academic rivalry crush any chance of reconciliation? Time will tell.

I loved that Allison stood up to fat shaming and was comfortable in her own skin. This is a gal where the author doesn't have her being a size I don't consider plus-sized, which I appreciate. The focus wasn't on pounds or size of clothing but on personality, which she has plenty of! At times the academic rivalry was a bit excessive but the author managed to keep it from being too over-the-top. Allison & Collin remind me of Jack Sprat and his wife because of their size differences but this was refreshing in that each found things physically attractive/endearing in the other.

All in all, this was a good read.

4.5

hard to put down! i really liked a lot of things here. the academic setting was great, and using allison and colin’s past to show how they’d grown (especially colin) as people their second time around was beautiful. you can kinda see the third act twist coming, but it still lands with all the oof it possibly can.

#netgalley

Thank you to St Martin’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for the chance to read the ARC of this ebook. It’s a fun read with good characters set at a college as a group of students start their graduate studies. Allison has always wanted to be a professor, even without the support of her father who thinks college is a waste of time and money. She aims to prove him wrong and with the support of her mother and her best friend she works diligently on her medieval studies. I found all the references to medieval literature went right “over my head” but otherwise it had a good storyline. I found Colin to be wishy washy so that stopped me from liking him. I really like Allison’s character and how she develops great self esteem as the story progresses. A nice romance with a touch of humour to prevent it from getting too heavy.

Full disclosure, as I was reading this, I lost my mom. The parallels I was able to draw from this, were a tad bit uncomfortable but all in all, I enjoyed this. Both main characters were relatable, almost too much so. Allison was off putting at times but so was Colin and I think that's what made them human to me. Definitely a 5 star read.

I really liked the idea of a grad school romance and this did not disappoint. While medieval literature is not my thing, I liked the passion that Allison had for the topic and how she was working towards her goals.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Allison has wanted to be a medieval lit professor pretty much her whole life, and is starting grad school to fulfill those dreams. But on the first day, she sees the last person she ever expected or wanted to see there: her ex, Colin, who broke her heart in undergrad and sent her into a depressive spiral so bad she almost gave up on those dreams. She hated him then, and she hates him now, and the fact that they're competing for the advisor she's long dreamed of working with only makes matters worse.
But there's something between them still, no matter how hard she tries to convince herself that everything between them is fully in the past. And when she finds out her sort-of-estranged father is in the hospital, Colin offers to drive her the four hours to go see him, showing, yet again, that he might not be the same person he was two years ago.

I've been looking forward to reading this book since I first heard about it, and it definitely lived up to my expectations. I'm used to romance books-- especially enemies/rivals-to-lovers-- being dual POV, but I LOVED that The Make-Up Test is only from Allison's perspective. It took me on a journey of hating Colin, to slowly getting to like and love him, to absolutely despising him (I genuinely thought there was no way I could root for an HEA at one point, but I was so very wrong), to circling back to liking him. A dual POV would have shown his motivations from the beginning, which would have created a different type of tension, but this was absolutely perfect.
The struggles of academia, the fraught family situations, the friendships that grow and change over the course of the book, and a casually fat MC who loves herself gets her HEA without ever having to prove she deserves it, all combined into a truly beautiful book that I am so excited for more people to get to read.

The Make-Up Test is a sexy, cerebral, slow-burning second chance romance. Jenny Howe's writing is lovely and sharp, and she balances humor and romance with difficult topics like familial guilt and the natural transitions that longtime friendships pass through. Allison's wound from Colin seems so soul-deep that it's hard to imagine how they will have their HEA, but the book delivers. I loved the inclusion of PMDD and the way Jenny writes body positivity, and the way Colin so obviously loves Allison's mind as much as he loves the rest of her. The through-thread of academia and nerdy literary references are abundant but never bog down the story. It's hard to believe this is a debut!

I really, really hope we get some bonus content from Colin's POV someday. I would love to get inside his (perfectly coiffed) head.

Disclosure and appreciation: Jenny and I are friends on social media. Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the early read.