3.5 stars!

This was a super cute and quick book that kept my interest throughout.

Shelby and Cameron are ex-child star actors who once had a beautiful young relationship. After Cameron quits acting and goes off to college, Shelby starts to date fellow costar Lyle, who ends up cheating on her 4 years later. Devastated, Shelby calls Cam and he flies in from Alaska, where he is now working for National Geographic, just to be there for her in a time of need.

After a brief time together and realizing Shelby needs to get out of Hollywood, he leaves her while she’s sleeping and encourages her to find something that makes her happy.

Another 5 years later and she is now back in Michigan running her own woodworking business alongside her contractor Dad and has turned a new leaf after leaving Hollywood behind. When he ex-boyfriend Lyle cons her and Cameron into taking a meeting about a home renovation tv show, in which he would be the producer, the two ex lovers embark on the journey with the slime ball who ruined Shelby’s life.

The love Cameron and Shelby had was so sweet. Always having those feelings but always at the worst times. It was nice to see them finally be in the right head space at the same time and take a chance in love.

It was so nice to not have a third act break up and I love anything with home renovation/tv show concepts. Side characters were entertaining. Main characters second chance romance was adorable. Where it fell flat for me was the two main characters sex scenes. I couldn’t get into it and it turned me off. Maybe because I was imaging them as child actors I know. But otherwise, I would definitely recommend this to anyone!

Thank you Netgalley and St.Martins Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Such a fun and delightful romance! Definitely recommend, especially if you’re into home makeover / renovation settings

I really enjoyed this second chance romance! Reality TV is one of my guilty pleasures, so that element of drama was really fun. This took a little bit to pull me in, but once it did, I couldn't put it down. The relationships felt super authentic and believable, which is my biggest hope for this type of book!

we love a feel good, dual pov, second chance, and friends to lovers romance. this was a sweet book that really focuses on the two mcs from their childhood to now. the writing wasn't really for me, but i definitely think that some readers would really like this style of writing. not terrible but i would not read this again.

I immediately fell in love with Erin Hahn YA book last year so I was excited to read her new adult romance, Built to Last.

Built to Last was a bit of a disappointing read for me. I had high expectation for this book because I loved Erin Hahn YA book last year. But this adult romance book, Built to Last, wasn't for me. It was too messy to read through. I truly got annoyed with all of the characters. They acted a bit too immature for my taste in romance books. And the miscommunication between them doesn’t help at all. We are all grown adults so we are able to confront the past and talk it over. It’s the mature thing to do. Why it was so hard for them to do? Don’t know. It was completely dumb and endless.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow, what can I say… this book was ADORABLE! Seriously, so cute.. and it had some hints of spice, which was pleasantly surprising!

I love a good former lovers brought back together story, and this was exactly everything I could have hoped. Cameron was so lovable and Shelby was so down-to-earth.

I would recommend this book to anyone!

This book had all the things I love: second chance romance, childhood love reignited, small town settings, slow burn, and witty banter.
The two MC’s are absolutely perfect! There is miscommunication (my least favorite) but only in the beginning, they talk and work through things and it’s such a refreshing take.

This was a fun and pretty spicy at moments!

DNF

I honestly couldn’t even get through the first chapter because of the amount of profanity, use of alcohol, and even the possibility of a sexual situation. Not my cup of tea.

Built to last is a second chance romance, but so much more. Shelby Springfield, Cameron Riggs, and Lyle Jessup have a very complicated past. They were all co-stars on a television series as teens, and there was a bit of a love triangle. Shelby and Cameron were each other's first loves, but Cameron is spooked by those feelings and he leaves to go to school. Lyle swoops in, and he and Shelby become an item, for five years until he dumps her for her best friend. Who does she call, Cameron. Cameron has a great career as a National Geographic photographer and documentary maker, but he packs up and takes a rickety plane to LA when Shelby tells him she needs him. Knowing she is living a toxic life, her leaves her a note saying she has to get out of LA, and takes off again, before he can act on his attraction to his former love. Fast forward ten years. Shelby works with her father on home renovations, specifically restoration, as well as owning her own furniture restoration business. Enter Lyle who wants to stir the pot. He is now a director and offers Cameron and Shelby a pilot to make a home renovation show. When Shelby asks Cameron if he is interested, he can't help but come on board, even though he knows nothing about renovating homes.

This was a great story, and I enjoyed it more than I had expected I would. I love home renovation television shows, but this was more about relationship building, coming home, second chances, and finally standing up for yourself. The TV pilot was Shelby's chance to show the world that she wasn't that messy party girl anymore, but had landed on her feet and had a successful business. She wasn't pining over Lyle, the one who dumped her. Cameron is finally ready to face Shelby and all the feelings he has for her, even ten years later since their last meeting. Lyle is just a mess. He is a bit of a narcissist and wants to make Shelby and Cameron look bad, to make himself look self-important. Family plays a huge role in this story as well. Neither Shelby or Cameron have healthy relationships with one of their parents, and we see them come to terms with that in the story. I have to say, Shelby's mom is a piece of work, enough said. This story pulled me in from the start and I was invested in seeing where Shelby and Cameron would go with their lives. There is a lot of baggage to unpack, feelings to share, emotions that need to be explored and finally they can both move on. The romance took a bit to develop, which I liked, but eventually it happened and there were some open door bedroom scenes, but overall, this was a story I recommend to those who enjoy a nice, fun romance

Unfortunately my opinion on this one differs from the majority of reviews. I was disinterested and a number of weeks after reading it, I can't recall the players or the plot. What I do remember is picking it up and putting it down many times as it didn't quite hook my attention. I am, however, very much a big mood reader and this could be a case of wrong book, wrong time.

ERIN HAHN STOLE MY HEART ONCE AGAIN! 😍
The cozy, warm feelings of this book with a splash of those HGTV renovation feels made this book the perfect romance. The pining. The swooning. The tree-trunk legs. All of it made for the wonderfully swoony adult debut from one of my favorite authors!

Built to Last deserves so much attention and so I feel a little guilty that this review is coming a month after I read it. That said, it's never too late to rave about a book, right? If you love books with HGTV vibes, grew up in the era of Disney channel and Nickelodeon stars having way too much pressure put on them, and just generally are in the mood for a sweet love story, I think this book could be a real winner for you. I've said before I need to write a post just about how I think romance novels are tackling actor/actress narratives differently this year, and I sort of feel like Built to Last is a softer version of Birds of California by Katie Cotugno, which released earlier this year.

In terms of actual plot and tropes and other reasons why you might want to read this book, this one is a sort of mutual pining, second chance situation that wound up working so incredibly well for me. Also, Shelby was everything. At the beginning of the book, we meet her at arguably her messiest and when we re-meet her, she's put her life back together in a way that looks a lot smaller than it used to. I loved all of her jagged edges and the hidden gooey inside. Cameron, for his part, is such a cinnamon roll whom I mostly adored immensely. And really, just, I highly encourage you all to pick this one up if ANY of this sounds interesting because I'm really struggling to find the words to explain why this one was such a winner. I can't wait to read more from Hahn in the adult space.

This was my first book by Erin Hahn, and It was unfortunately a miss for me.
I ended up DNFing this book, I tried to enjoy it but it could just not hold my attention.
I'm not a huge fan of love triangles and the story was just overall slow.

I was given a copy of this book as an ARC, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Griffin, and Erin Hahn for allowing me to be an early reader.

Middle of the road for me, sadly, I just didn't feel any of the chemistry at first and didn't care for the characters. While they do definitely grow on you the romance was still just eh for me. I love Erin's writing though and really enjoyed the background of the main characters, will definitely still always pick up more from Erin.

Loved lover loved this! So witty and salty and totally lovable characters! Erin Hahn will now be an auto-buy author for me! I absolutely adore Shelby and Lorelei and Maren - I want them as buddies in real life!

I really enjoyed this book! It was a fun read about two former child stars who have a second chance romance when they team up to shoot a pilot for a home renovation show! Highly recommend if you like: Michigan, the Midwest, famous people, second chance romances, guys with beards who wear flannel, and pop music. Each chapter starts with a song title which was pretty cool! Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press for the copy via NetGalley. This is my honest review. This book came out a while ago so you can read it now!

I really enjoyed this book! The book follows two former child stars that have a second chance romance when they team up to shoot a pilot for a home renovation show. I loved that the big conflict was more external than internal. I really liked that their former co-star was the villain. I thought it added an interesting aspect. I really liked that Shelby and Cameron sorted their stuff out individually and when they finally had their conversation, it was healthy and worked for them. By communicating clearly they were able to avoid the miscommunication mess that is in so many romance books.

I loved all the side characters! Based on some of the reviews I’ve read it seems like some of them may be getting spin-off books which I look forward to reading!

Overall, this was a 4.75 for me! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

This is a super cute second chance contemporary romance book. Shelby, Lyle and Cameron were child stars on a hit show. Cameron and Shelby had instant chemistry, but when they became young adults circumstances led Cameron to leave the show, go to college and start a career creating National Geographic documentaries all over the world. Shelby fell into a relationship with Lyle, which ended publicly, and messily. Shelby left her acting career and went home to Michigan. She worked with her father in his contracting business and became a master furniture restorer. Every time Shelby needed Cameron, he dropped everything and came running. But, he never stayed.

Shelby's latest call comes with a proposition. Star in a home renovation show so they can prove to everyone that they aren't total screw-ups, and Cameron can explore finally settling down. The catch; Lyle is producing the show, and he's got shenanigans up his sleeves to mess with the couple. I loved the chemistry and the "will they or won't they" tension throughout most of the book. Shelby and Cameron and so cute, but they kept sending each other mixed signals. When they finally got on the same page, however, the couple was fire. I loved the trust and support they had for each other, and the minor characters supporting the main story added dimension and humor to the book. I raced through this book in just a few hours and loved it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All opinions are my own.

Oh my stars. This book absolutely knocked it out of the park for me! Picturesque setting, adorable characters, and an actual plot line made this a 5 star read for me. I absolutely loved that Shelby found her calling after her acting days were over. I loved the relationship with her dad and all that she learned from him. From the beginning, I was so pulling for her and Cameron to pull through and go the distance. Lyle was such a monster and I was very passionate about how much I hated him. I think him and Shelby's mom had a tie for who I hated the most. Overall, I thought this book had everything it needed to make it a true five star read.

This romcom was cute, though not the most memorable for me. That isn’t to say it doesn’t have it’s good moments— I always appreciate stories told via dual or multiple POVs because it allows to know exactly where both characters are at mentally-speaking in relation to the plot, and I do think that worked in this story’s favor. And while I don’t read too many small-town romances, I adore second-chance ones, so this was a nice happy medium in-between both.