This was definitely the light-hearted HEA story I needed after a couple of very heavy reads. Romcoms are the perfect books for me when I want to slip away to a happy place and enjoy humorous banter and fun flirting. My favorite romcom trop is second-chance love so when saw the synopsis for this book, I requested a copy right away!

Shelby and Cameron met while young teens acting in a television series. This story opens with them both working outside of Hollywood - Cameron with National Geography and Shelby building a name for herself in home renovation/restorations. When an ex-boyfriend brings them together again to film a house-flipping TV show, the sparks begin to fly immediately. Both Shelby and Cameron are such likeable characters. Their friends are just as likeable and hopefully at least one of them will get the next book dedicated to their story?! And then there is Shelby's ex - Lyle - and he is super easy to dislike.

I really liked the honest family dynamics. Shelby had a crappy mom who seemed only interested in what she could get from Shelby's fame. Her father, admittedly somewhat absent from her younger years, works hard to make up for lost time. Cameron on the other hand, has a doting and supportive mother, and a father who he feels like he can never be good enough for. He has run a narrative though his own head that's hard for him to change.

The character growth was great to see. I loved the home renovation aspect and the fact that Shelby and Cameron were intent on fixing up these houses for the everyday buyer in that Michigan market. I loved their banter, their chemistry and their easy relationship. My only small complaint is over the way Lyle acted in the end. I'm not sure I believed that outcome was likely. Even with that though, this book was such a fun and enjoyable read. Definitely recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy to read and review.

This is a cute contemporary romance with and HGTV setting. I wish I had connected more with this book, as the general premise is great! However for me there wasn't enough that made sense in the plot, and I feel like the ex-boyfriend Lyle being so involved throughout the book didn't really bring anything to the romance. The tension between Shelby and Cameron breaks quickly and left me wanting more. While we get a few conversations and descriptions of their original romance, it somehow did not feel very much like a second chance romance.. Again I think Lyle being the difficulty between them instead of timing, or other circumstances took away some of the romance. I did enjoy the furniture and remodeling aspects! However, overall this was just fine for me. Thank you to St. Martin's and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another gem by Erin Hahn! I enjoyed reading this one! Go buy this one and give it a read. Releases this fall and is available for preorder now!
Built to Last is a second chance romance featuring Shelby and Cam, child stars who have grown up and moved on. They come back together to create a home renovation show and have to deal with drama from their ex-costar (producer of their new show), and Shelby’s ex-boyfriend, along the way.
I was given an advanced reader copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I flew through this book. I love Cam & Shelby!! I couldn’t get enough of them! Although I’m happily married… I WANT A CAM 😫 my face hurts, I may have smiled through the whole book!

Thank you NetGalley & St Martins Press for the ARC

Shelby and Cameron were child stars who fell in love at eighteen but when Cameron went off to college, he left Shelby heartbroken and all alone. She threw herself back into the LA scene but after a bad breakup, she begged Cameron to come back to console her which he did, without hesitation. Once he arrived he knew he couldn’t stay so once again, he left her and went back to his real life. There was only so much rejection a girl could take so Shelby packed up her belongings and moved back home to Michigan, where life was simpler and where she could get on with the next chapter in her life. The Hollywood lifestyle was behind her or so she thought, until she was offered the chance to be the star of a different kind of show.

Shelby was proud of her new life and if doing the new show would also help her father, she just knew she had to do it. But how would she react when she sees Cameron again and will they be able to recreate the onscreen chemistry they once had? Does he really want to leave his coveted job with National Geographic to work with the one woman who has ever really owned his heart? How will Lyle, the third player in the drama treat them, and what tricks does he have up his sleeve to make their lives miserable?

Shelby and Cameron certainly have a chemistry that was built to last!! They fell in love as innocent teenagers who had been thrust into the spotlight of a popular TV show. Ten years after their last scene together, they are once again in front of the camera but this time, Shelby is calling the shots and Cameron is right there by her side. They are a charismatic, but humble couple who have a second chance to entertain their fans, old and new, one room and one house at a time.

I really loved this book. I zoomed through it so fast and can’t wait for whatever Hahn writes next!! The characters were so relatable and wonderful, even while dealing with scenarios totally different from my life

I really enjoyed the first few chapters. Seeing their relationship and how angsty everything was with all of the emotional build up over the years.

Everything was cheesy and went downhill from there. I didn’t understand the point of the last third of the book with Lyle and the
Family drama. I was wayyyy more interested in the secondary characters.

I just felt like the angst quickly went away and the plot continued for a long time.

I love the vibe of the book and the overall theme. It’s very sweet and cute.

Second chance love stories are the best, and Built to Last is no exception to this rule! The story introduces us to Shelby and Cameron, former child stars who are now all grown-up. Erin Hahn does a great job adding depth to these characters and showing us what's behind the glitz, glamour, and hard falls of child stardom. Shelby and Cameron are both likeable characters and I was eager to learn more about what makes each of them tick and how that affects their ability to connect with each other. This book had me laughing and rooting for the underdogs. If you're looking for a funny, sweet, quick read, Built to Last is for you!

For me, the highlight of this romance was Shelby Springfield's relationship with quality vintage furniture and her ability to make it shine. A former child star who has retreated from the world after a messy breakup with her co-star Lyle Jessup, she is sucked into a new opportunity assisting her other co-star Cameron Riggs in a home renovation tv show.
Lyle did not put Cameron and Shelby together out of the kindness of his heart, and it is little surprise when sparks fly between Cameron and Shelby. The two have a lot to work out from their past relationship--Cameron had walked out on Shelby, and he had some explaining to do!
Tapping into the American enthusiasm for home renovation shows, Erin Hahn created a fun world and plenty of opportunities for Shelby and Cameron to stand up for themselves and find their own path.

I thought this was a very sweet book. The characters and plot seemed different from the typical rom-com storyline. I felt like as I was getting towards 3/4 of the book there wasn't any true challenge for them. They had (what felt to me) minor challenges with Lyle and their parents but I kept waiting for something big to happen and it never came. In the end it just felt anticlimactic and kind of let me down as a reader.

This was the first book I have read by Erin Hahn.
I really enjoyed it. At first, I thought it might be a little silly, but the story jumped to present day and the characters were very well developed and realistic.
I related to Shelby and really enjoyed her friends and her relationship with Cameron.
The only thing I really thought was slightly far fetched was Cameron's job, how he went front being an actor to a National Geographic employee like a snap of your fingers.

I am hoping that Lorelia's story is next!
Thank you Net Galley for the ARC of this book.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good second-chance romance and believe me, this is a good one!

Set against a backdrop of farm country Michigan and a home renovation show, Shelby and Cameron are brought back together after years apart. These former child stars spent the last five years growing and learning and healing and now they're thrust back together to do a reality TV show.

Shelby and Cameron are wonderful characters! They're flawed and confused and emotional and human. The whole cast is great, really. I love Lorelai and I can't wait to see where her story takes her. And Kevin is hilarious. I could do without Lyle and Ada Mae but I guess there are always antagonists...

The pacing is perfect. We're able to see how they've grown separately but still have more work to do. And then we get to watch as they learn to do that work together. There are some steamy bits, too, if that's your thing ;-)

This story captures all the heart of Ben & Erin from Hometown, the sense of community and belonging. I want a book nook exactly like the one Shelby restores. It's a beautiful story from every angle and a lovely feel-good read. I highly recommend it!

I was absolutely giddy the entire time reading this book. Erin Hahn is a master at creating characters that come completely alive. This is a pretty quick read but the plot does not suffer at all; in fact, I’d say the pacing was perfect and the plot twists were never predictable. This was definitely a 5/5 star read for me.

✨Book Review✨

Title: Built to Last by Erin Hahn

Pub date: October 2022

Rating: 5🌟

Okay booksta babes, drop what you are doing and mark your calendars for October because you all need to read Built to Last by @erinhahn_author! I just finished the eARC courtesy of @netgalley and @stmartinspress @smpromance and I’m honestly about to start re-reading again it right now. If you loved When In Rome by @sarahadams and Maggie Moves On by @scorelucy, this release needs to be your next pre-order immediately!

Shelby is a former child star who survived that former life as well as losing her first love Cameron and then a very public breakup with her fellow co-star Lyle at 22. Fast forward 5 years later and she’s picked up the pieces of her life and heart and started a successful furniture restoration business and flips houses with her father. Cameron went on to college and then to become a documentary producer with National Geographic and Lyle went on to continue being a troublemaker in Hollywood. Shelby and her Dad are then tapped for a new home renovation show called HomeMade but things get interesting when the network feels her Dad isn’t the right fit and they reach out to Cameron to fill the co-host role they are looking for, much at Lyle’s conniving request. Cameron comes back to Michigan to give it a shot because he can’t ever seem to stay away from Shelby. The story follows from there with Cam and Shelby shooting the pilot episode while dodging their past, their current feelings, and many toxic digs from Lyle.

This book sucked me in from the start and fellow romance readers are going to swoon just like I did, while simultaneously wishing bad things for Lyle 😜. It’s a second (or third?!) chance at love trope that we all know and love and will have readers falling in love instantly too. And praying for a sequel! Like immediately please @erinhahn_author!

Thank you so much @netgalley & @stmartinspress @smpromance for the chance to read this story ❤️

second chance childhood sweetheart stories are my greatest weakness, so i was beyond eager to pick this up.

the chemistry between shelby and cam is really well done. every interaction they have is believable and feels genuine. i really enjoyed their banter and appreciated how their relationship developed. i was more than rooting for them and their home renovation show to work out.

so while this more than delivers with the second chance trope, im so bummed out that the childhood sweethearts aspect took a back seat. i would have loved to have more flashback scenes. other than quick references, i think theres maybe like one and a half actual flashback scenes total throughout the entire book. and, because of this, it creates a lot of miss opportunities for character development, growth, and connection.

but even though this may not have lived up to all of my expectations or wants, this is still a decently sweet story with a lot of heart. perfect for readers who are obsessed with home renovations shows!

This has all the fun, sweet elements I wanted in a book, so cute! I’d definitely recommend it to my family and friends.

I am finding out that I really love second chance books, so I was very excited to read this one!

I loved the relationship between Shelby and Cam - they were so adorable! The development of their relationship was on point and it just sucked me in and made me want to read more and more. I finished this book so quickly.

This was my first book from this author and won't be my last.

This was a super unique romance! I liked reading a story about former child actors. And the home renovation storyline was interesting too! My only complaint is that the reasons the love interests weren’t together for the first part of the book felt flimsy at times? But overall, a cute read! I hope the author does a book about Lorelai’s story next!

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!!

Thank you NetGalley, Erin Hahn and St. Martin's Press for the ARC Built to Last. This is my personal review.
I loved every word of this great book! The author made me really like Shelby and Cameron. I loved the chemistry between them and could feel it jump off the page as I read.
Friends to lovers stories are one of my favorites and this is one I can read over and over for years to come.
I read this book in one day and so glad I spent the day with everyone in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an arc of this book. I’m gonging to start off by saying that this book was a breath of fresh air. I went into it a little scared of how they would handle the situation between the characters but was pleasantly surprised with how well the author managed it. I love second chance romances and books where the two MCs have to work together. The way the characters went from not having seen each other in years to friends to lovers was perfectly paced. They acted like actual adults and communicated with each other and were willing to be honest and depend on each other! Like I said, breath of fresh air!


Slight spoiler!
My absolute favorite thing about this was the lack of third act break up! I love that they were a team. I think that having the conflict be something they could fight together was great because it shows them as partners and more romances should do that instead of misunderstandings or having one of them screw up!


Anyway, to sum it up, this was a quick and refreshing read about two child actors who got out finding their way back to each other.