i loved the characters in this one! my favorite jayci lee book so far! thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the e arc!

I've tried to read this three times and I just can't get into it. The premise is there, but overall the vibe of the book just wasn't for me. It felt like YA (but not good YA, unintentional YA, which isn't the same!), the plot was slow to pick up, and while I was interested to see what happened, I wasn't interested enough to continue reading it when other books came off my holds list at the library. Skimmed to the end and didn't find it to become more engaging later, so I'm moving on!

okay, if you liked the first two in this series, I am fairly confident you will like this one too!

If, like me, you only really like book 2 (The Dating Dare) I don't think this book will cut it for you.

This book hit all the same markers:
- good flowing writing style that was easy to read and felt current
- good chemistry between the main characters
- diverse rep that was not forced or gimmicky
- a setting we know and love

but the trope's that we know and love - friends to lovers, small town romance, etc. etc. - just did not reach out and engage me in quite the same way.

Thank you to #StMartinPress and #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

this was yet another enjoyable read by jayci lee set in small town weldon with characters appearing from both a sweet mess and the dating dare, making their appearances all the more exciting for anyone who's read the previous installments. that's not a necessity though, as each book stands on its own legs and this one does the same.

i enjoyed the friends to lovers theme that built between lizzy and jack. jack is supportive of lizzy's ambition as a lawyer, but upon experiencing a panic attack in front of him during a trial, the two end up bonding over an imposed break from work that leads her back to her hometown. it's during this time that she realizes what she truly wants for her own life and jack finds a push in the direction he wishes to make in his, hopefully with lizzy by his side.

their support of one another is in every action they take throughout, especially as lizzy fights to find direction in her life. jack is there, putting aside the deeper feelings he has for her. they truly grow together and while they eventually find the romantic connection with each other, i do feel like there were moments where their immaturity showed despite their ages. i also think that their inner thoughts and dialogue made moments where progress could be made, into stagnant moments of lost opportunities. i really wanted to enjoy it more, but when miscommunication began to filter in and not being honest with someone considered a friend started seeping through, my interest in reaching their happily ever after began to ebb as well.

This book is a light and heartwarming small town rom-com about two childhood friends who have gone their separate way but continue to stay close.

I enjoyed the story, but felt the characters and storyline were a bit one-dimensional. I wish we had gotten more depth into Lizzy & Jack’s childhood friendship and their connection. The romance was sweet and hit all of the right moments, but it felt a bit like a smutted up Hallmark movie. Don’t get me wrong – I love both of those!

This is my first book from Jayci and I will definitely be checking out her others. This one might not have hit the spot for me, but I did enjoy her writing style.

I want to thank NetGalley, Jayci Lee and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

Lizzy Chung, a hardworking lawyer with ambitions for making partner in her firm, and her childhood friend, Jack Park, an accountant, are both hampered by family expectations for their careers, when they both secretly yearn to break free and follow their hearts.

I liked the traditional and straight forward telling of this story on one hand, but would have liked more surprises and challenges in the romance and family areas of the book. We find out from the very beginning, for instance, that Lizzy and Jack both like each other romantically but are afraid to show it. The romance angle and its final result are predictable. The bookstore angle is also predictable, making the novel only lukewarm in interest.

More complex characterizations and situations would have helped the book along.

3.5 rounded up. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this friends to lovers book! Friends to lovers is not my favourite trope, especially when they are both super interested in their friend but just ~assume~ the other couldn't possibly have feelings for them. That being said, Lee does a lovely job of building the chemistry between Lizzy and Jack. The added layers of parent pressure to be high achieving and cultural connections to food and family really helped me settle into this book. The ending leading up to the epilogue felt a bit long, but still got me a little choked up!

A friends-to-lovers romance set in a bookstore? This should have been a slam dunk for me but it didn't connect with Lizzy or Jack the way I wanted to. I loved their antics and the bookish elements but I wish I was more invested in their romance overall.

Thanks to St. MArtin's for the copy to review.

3.75⭐ rounded up.

First of all I am mad that I haven't read book 1 & 2 and hope I didn't miss out on anything.

Featuring ~ dual 3rd person POV, lawyer, panic attack, bookshop, friends to lovers

Lizzie needs a break from lawyering and heads to the small town of Weldon and hangs with her bff, Jack, for 3 weeks. As they spend more and more time together, their attraction for each other grows. Can they be friends with benefits or will one of them want more?

The bookshop setting was lovely and I liked that Lizzy was on a journey to find what truly makes her happy. They have some nice banter and the karaoke scene sounded like a good time too. All in all, a fun quick read/listen.

Side note ~ I really can't stand where there are medaling parents to their adult children ~ Lizzy's mom really bugged me!

I was able to listen to the final version on audio as well, so I went back and forth reading and listening. Cindy Kay did a fine job narrating for 9 hours and 41 minutes, easy to follow at 2-2.5x

Okay, this one was seriously cute. I love a good friends to lovers trope and I like the way it was handled with Lizzy and Jack.

I'd have loved Lizzy to stay at her high powered job because there are not enough stories where women rock their usually male dominated careers.

Jack was a fantastic lead and now I want to go back to read the other novels in this series.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

I'm sad I had high hopes for this book. Who doesn't love book themes inside a book? It was a let down and I wasn't a fan of the characters.

My first book by Jayci Lee and I really enjoyed it! The main characters were acting a little immature for 30+ but not anything that really deterred me from reading or enjoying the book. I'm a sucker for friends to lovers romances so I loved that aspect as well. Definitely a great read for a quick cute but a little steamy palate cleanser.

The third in the Sweet Mess series by the author this book, like the two before it hits all the right now on all the right heads for all the things that are trendy in cozy romance reads in exactly the same ways it's predecessors did, Good for any friends to lovers with a must love books vibe going on.

a 3.5 stars! best friends to lovers just never fails me!

having read lee’s other two books, i was familiar with her writing style. it was fun and sweet but neither of her first two books captured me. i was so happy to read asian leads but they fell flat to me and i wasn’t as excited after reading them. this one though… was so much more than i had hoped for!

i’m sure it was the trope that really made me fall in love with it. best friends to lovers (and one has been in love with the other for so long?!) is just so right.

although it was the best of the three in the series, it wasn’t the best book i’ve read but it was still a solid standalone, does that make sense? i still found myself skimming some passages wanting to get to the best parts. jack and lizzy were both such fun and adorable characters to read and cheer for. their inner turmoil also came across the pages well in developing their characters… i just felt a little bored reading it. i wanted more fun and witty banter between the two who seemed so smitten. i did enjoy it nonetheless and may just get my own copy!

thank you netgalley and the publishers for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review.

This book was super cute

Once again I find a book that I love but is part of a book series. I needed to read the rest but reading this one without the others did not make me lost.

Super cute idea and I loved that idea of once you get what you have worked hard for your whole life you realize it was never your dream because it is true for a lot of people

i thought it was really cute and really appreciated the disability rep that was in the book. I really liked the story line and how her anxiety was handeled.

Ah this was so so cute! I read it in 2 days! I love friends to lovers tropes and it was a sow burn. The anticipation was building until 50% and then finally, magic! I loved the growth in these 2 characters. And the banter so so cute I loved every minute of it. I just wish the POVS were more separate. It would change mid chapter and I’d have to realize oh now it’s this persons POV okay and then once I figured it out it was good. Super cute read other than the POV I have no complaints! For sure I would recommend this to other romance lovers!

I wanted to like this. Lawyer who ditches job to run a bookstore, friends to lovers, handyman main character, bookstore renovation. On paper this sounds like exactly my kind of book. But I did not click with the author’s writing style at all. It’s very basic and amateurish, I felt like I was reading YA, or the first draft of a book idea rather than a well-crafted story. I found the dialogue to be stilted and not at all natural. Also the author provides details for the sake of details when describing a scene or a character’s physical actions, but without any apparent reason for the details in relation to the plot. I don’t mind detailed writing but there has to be a reason. This book is a perfect illustration of the idea that grammatically proper sentences that convey an idea alone are not enough to make a good writing. I think there’s a good story idea here but the style prevented me from connecting with the characters or caring about the story.

I decided to not finish this book. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style and to be completely ho eat the chemistry wasn’t there for me from the start. I do admit that I got only about 10% into the book, but I just knew it wasn’t the book for me. Hence, the DNF.

Unfortunately, I almost didn't finish this book. Had it not been an arc copy, I wouldn't have. I couldn't connect with the characters and had a hard time getting into the story.