This was a fun and quirky, enemies to lovers story in an academic background, which is one of my favorite tropes. Allison is an intelligent and driven woman and is over the moon when she is finally accepted into the PhD program she has been dreaming of, only to find out she will be working alongside her ex-boyfriend, Colin, as a TA for the same professor. He made an unacceptable mistake with her in the past, and now acts as if it was nothing. Now they are in competition with each other for a research opportunity and Allison is determined to win it. But when circumstances throw them together, Allison begins to see how much Colin has changed and grown and sees him in a new light. As they grow closer and her old feelings for him begin to resurface, can she let a once in a life opportunity go and take the second chance at love life is giving her?
This was a very charming and cute story and I am glad I had the opportunity to read it. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing a complimentary copy. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This was a really fun one! I don't know if its a priority purchase for most libraries, but it's definitely an author to follow in the future.

This was such a good book! I related with the main character way too much. I felt for her when her dad just couldn’t give her the reassurance that a father should give. And her mother was just as bad allowing her father to treat her in such an awful way. And then of course there was Colin, who broker her heart 2 years ago and left her hanging.

The author did an excellent job of showing the many sides of Allison, she was so likable! And I loved the way her confidence grew during the span of this book. Although, she was pretty awesome when it started!

Overall I would definitely recommend The Make-Up Test. The writing was good, the storyline was fabulous and the main characters were so fun to read about.

Two of my favorite tropes are second chance and rivals to lovers, so this book sounded like it would be right up my alley. And I did enjoy it, for the most part. The plot was good, and I loved the plus-size representation of the lead character.

If you’re familiar with my reviews, you know I really get into the characters, I am all about well written characters with lots of backstory. I want to connect with the characters and understand their motivation and get to know the workings of their minds, and I didn’t quite get that here, hence the 3.5 star rating over a 4 star rating.

The story is told first person from Allison’s point of view, so that already means we don’t get a deep look into Colin’s mind. But the lack of communication between the two of them makes it harder to understand him and his redemption.

Allison puts up a lot of walls and keeps a lot to herself in her relationships. Unfortunately I think this character trait carried over to the reader as well. I felt like Allison’s emotions and true feelings and motivations were hidden behind a wall the entire time. Not only in relation to Colin, but also her parents and roommate as well. Even her main motivation about wanting her dream position is muted.

That being said I did enjoy the story, and I do recommend it, I just wanted to get to know the characters a bit more.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book through Net Galley on behalf of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved the play on the enemies to lovers trope with The Make-Up Test. Basically, we have a lovers to enemies to lovers and it was fun!!

I enjoyed the banter and competitiveness between Allison and Colin. It felt genuine and I appreciated the wit and intelligence.

Generally, I love an academia setting but this focused quite a bit on medieval literature which I'm not overly familiar with nor am I very interested in. This was a bit of a drawback for me because so much of the novel was based around Allison's and Colin's studies and aspirations to become Wendy's sole mentee.

Allison is a plus-size woman and I adored that while this was an important theme, Allison was in no way self-loathing and totally embraced her beautiful self. I also loved that Colin loved Allison for her brains, but also didn't hold back on being very into her physically as well.

This had some mild steam but is definitely one I would consider a closed door romance. It also took quite a while for there to be any steam at all, so if that's what you're in the mood for, this one might not hit the spot.

Allison's relationship with her family was super complex and I appreciated how the author handled that, particularly her relationship with her father.

This novel brings up a lot of good discussion points and would be a good pick for a bookclub.

I listened to the audio and enjoyed the narrators.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the copy.

Tragically I DNFed this book. There are so many things wrong with it that absolutely killed it for me.

Great story and love that it was not your typical romance story. I would love to read more by this author.

thank you for my advance copy in exchange for a fair review.

The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe follows Allison Avery. She has been accepted into her dream Ph.D. program at Claymore University studying medieval literature. She is ready for the challenge—until she learns that her ex-boyfriend Colin Benjamin has also been accepted. They are both assigned to TA for the same professor, so it is war when the professor announces a research trip opportunity with one open spot. It’s been two years since Colin broke up with Allison, so one-upping him comes natural to her. But when unfortunate circumstances bring the two close again, she begins to realize they just may work better together.

I liked Allison. She was a great curvy heroine who was very academic. I struggled with the romance in this book, though. I felt a lack of connection and investment in it.

I was really REALLY excited to read this book when I saw the cover and read the synopsis. My first thoughts were: body positivity AND academic enemies-to-lovers, so of course I set my expectations quite high. When it came to the book, it wasn’t that at all and it saddens me to give it this rating but I want to be honest before anything else.

The first aspect that was lost on me was the main characters and how incredibly unlikable they got to be, especially Colin. I can’t believe that we got a repeat of the past, with him stealing away from the accomplishments she was setting for herself. Why do you write about a character that’s equally bad in the past and the present?

So of course the second aspect that was not of my liking was the romance. And, how could I when the man that was supposed to love her and be a great love interest just keeps proving himself to be a bad man?

And lastly, I realized this while reading but with the behavior of the characters it just seemed like this was a YA, I swear if it hadn’t been for the adult setting and knowing they’re adults, this could have been that.

*ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Allison is thrilled to be starting a prestigious Ph.D. program in medieval lit–until Colin–her ex from undergrad, the guy who broke her heart and stole her academic thunder–shows up in her graduate program. Not only does she have to study with him, but they also have to TA together and are competing for the mentorship she’s been dreaming of.

She’s furious, but Colin is intent on convincing her he’s changed–and getting her back. She doesn’t trust him, but soon she feels herself drawn to him again.

Enemies to lovers is not my favorite romance trope anyway, and unfortunately, I wasn’t convinced by Colin–that he had changed, that he was then or is now worth Allison’s time. I like a good romance set in academia, but without a compelling love interest to root for, this was just okay for me.

I had trouble getting into this book. The romance felt forced and flat. I liked Allison, but the misunderstanding with Colin was easily avoided. Maybe this book wasn’t for me.

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

While I adored the representation in this one it just did't grip me. I found myself a bit bored and struggled to stay engaged. This book just fell a little flat for me. I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. It was very average to me.

A very clever body positive rom com! As someone with a PhD I thoroughly enjoyed this romanticized view into academia. In addition to the love story, the friendship between Allison and Sophie is a relatable one for women everywhere. In addition to the lighthearted story line, Allison’s complex family dynamics leaves something for everyone.

DNF at 55%

Thank you SMP Romance and NetGalley for the gifted ebook of The Make-Up Test! All opinions in this review are my own.

I like that the more romances I read, the more I can pinpoint what I like. For example, I'm beginning to learn that if a book is hate to love, it has to have dual POVs. It's really hard for me to listen to how horrible the love interest is for most of the book and then suddenly believe that everything can be fixed in the end.

I was really interested in Allison as a main character and loved all the literature references. However, I felt like most of that was lost because she was too busy complaining about Colin. Apparently this was just not the book for me.

DNF for me. I didn't like either of the main characters and found them to be a bit juvenile. Skimmed ahead a bit and didn't like where it was going.

The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe is so much more than a rom com. This debut novel includes such realistic characters with complex, hard to admit feelings. This novel is an important work because its message is sadly unique today. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

I finally got around to picking this up! I wasn't sure what to expect since the reviews seemed somewhat mixed, but, overall, I did enjoy it. There were funny moments, and some more serious moments. The characters both had times where I found them a little annoying and was really frustrated by some of the choices they made (particularly Colin). I did appreciate the academic setting (I do enjoy a good school romance) and as a fellow literary fan, I did enjoy how focused the story was on books (though I was never much of a fan of the medieval classics... Beowulf was such a bore). I also appreciated the struggle Allison had in her relationship to her father, and that just because some helped birth you, does not mean that you owe them your time/effort if they give you none of their own. I think that's such a taboo subject for no reason, so I appreciated that the author included that in the story. My biggest complaint for the book was the ending. It was just so rushed. So many story lines all mangled together with many feeling like they didn't get a proper conclusion. I just feel like it could have been a little longer to give each storyline a proper ending.
The Make-Up Test was a sweet romance, with a college setting and academic MC's. It was a second chance romance, slight enemies-to-lovers, and the romance was slow-burn (minimal spice as well).

Great romantic comedy read that tackled some very real issues with a lot of grace. Can't wait to see what else comes from this great author.

I really loved the premise of this book. Unfortunately I found the main characters both unlikable and uninteresting, and they kept making illogical choices that did nothing but hurt themselves. The writing itself is good, I just couldn't get past my dislike of the characters.

There are so many sub-plots here that I loved - body acceptance and body joy, complex emotions around parent / child relationships, and the ability for us to change as people and as partners. So much of the story hit so close to home from me that I needed to step back at times and take a breath. While not always the best feeling, I loved that the author was able to offer this type of reading experience.

That said, I did feel like some points were belabored to the point where I just didn't care anymore and was ready for things to move on.

Overall, cute second-chance love story with valuable perspective and a lot of nerdy quirks that made me smile.