I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I wanted to love this book. Especially since it had a bookish theme. But I really didn’t. I was tempted to not finish at about 40%- but powered through anyway.

I didn’t really feel much connection to the characters, and found it annoying that all of sudden Lizzy saw Jake as attractive after 20+ years of friendship 🤷🏻‍♀️

I did love the connection to the bookstore / bookish theme

I felt like there was so much extra fluff in the book that really didn’t need to be there.

I did appreciate the Korean culture & I also enjoyed the theme of Lizzy following her true passion/what made her happy versus what she was “suppose to do”.

Overall, I’d give it a 3/5 stars.

If you're looking for a light, easy read with likeable characters and a heartwarming story, this is the book for you!

Lizzy Chung is a badass lawyer who, despite seeming to be on the fast track to becoming a partner in her law firm, decides to take a break from the demanding lawyerly life. This decision leads her to renting a studio apartment in a small Californian town near Jack, her childhood best friend.

Jack has been in love with Lizzy for as long as he can remember, but knowing it's unrequited has him keeping those feelings to himself. Of course seeing her in his small town rekindles those feelings, and having her in close proximity while they pair up to try to save the Sparrow Bookstore makes the attraction that much harder to fight.

Through witty banter, sweet dialogue, and absolutely maddening stubborn standoffs, these two characters come together in the most beautiful love story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC of this book in return of an honest review.

This book was super cute! My favorite out of the series! Lizzy and Jack have been best friends for 20 years but things start to change between them. Lizzy is a fun, happy go lucky kind of girl and super relatable. Jack is a great guy trying to figure out his place in life. Life can be quite messy and the ups and downs can change things either for the better or worse. You should read this lighthearted, cozy love story!

The bones were there, but the story just wasn’t solid. The chemistry felt a bit lack luster and their relationship didn’t really develop like it could have. The narration also felt like I was reading a YA book at some points. It may just not have been the book for me.

This book was cute! I love a friends to lovers story, and I think these characters were well-developed on their own before we got to see them get together, which was also so fun! One of my favorite parts of this book was the bookstore! I thought it was so so fun to get to see the whole renovation process, and breathing life back into such a cute little bookstore was wonderful. Of course I loved the relationship too. :)

Booked on a Feeling is a super cute read!

Loved the characters and their growth (although some plot points were predictable). Lizzy and Jack made such an endearing couple, and their struggles with what they wanted in life were quite relatable. Family expectations can have a huge impact on the choices we make, and Jack and Lizzy both had to navigate through this in different ways.

Some other reviews mention this, but I definitely agree that this story feels a bit YA but with added "spice". Considering it was a friends-to-lovers, I feel like there could have been more background as to how they were such great friends their whole life.

There were some cultural elements included which I also appreciated! Overall this was a quick and really cute read; I loved the cover art when I first saw it and I'm glad the book lived up to it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC!

this book was so cute! it’s perfect if you love hallmark movies and the cheesy, cute stories! i absolutely loved it, and it was such a quick and easy read!
“there were at least three that she was dying to read, but she promised herself not to buy any more books until she put a dent in her to-be-read pile.” oh lizzy, haven’t we all said that?
i found lizzy to be so relatable, and she made the story so easy to read! and friends to lovers is one of the best tropes, so i thoroughly enjoyed this book!
thank you to NetGalley and the published for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5

* I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review*
This book was definitely fun and there was a lot to enjoy however some parts of it did fall flat. I think the strong points are the believability of the relationship and the absolute perfect pacing for a short romance like this. However I did find myself asking a lot of questions for a book I should’ve been relaxing through.
There were moments where I thought we were going to delve deep into the characters’ pasts and instead we were left hanging and it felt like important pieces were brushed over. Also the ending was predictable by about 20% in. Obviously with a romance you’re aware there’s going to be a HEA but I prefer not to know the exact solution till the end. Overall would still recommend especially if you just want something light to read.

(3.5) I liked it I just didn't love it. I admit that friends to lovers might be my favourite trope but I don't know why this specific one feels almost TOO trope-y. There's almost no conflict about them moving from friends to lovers except for in the 3rd act break up and in the like very beginning of the relationship but I feel like that really could've been explored more. It's ooey gooey and it's definitely not a story you have to think too hard about which is always fun to read (!!) but as someone who reads a lot of romance this one just doesn't really stand out for me :(

This book was a quick and sweet read. I read it in just a few hours. Jack finally has a chance with Lizzy (his longtime crush) when she stumbles back into their small hometown but he doesn't want to risk their friendships since she's only in town for a few weeks before she returns to LA and the pursuit of her dreams to become a partner at her law firm. Along the way these two move from friends to more and it's great to see them discover a whole new side of their relationship.

I recommend this book for a short, quick and sweet read.

I got through half of it and gave up. It was just boring, not funny or quirky, and didn’t flow. The sentences seemed like a list of sentences instead of telling a story that I was excited to read and the characters were flat and boring. I tried though. I just kept trying.

I really, really wanted to love this book. It has everything I want in a story: a cozy bookstore, small town vibes, a brewery, and my favorite trope of friends to lovers. Alas, this book fell flat for me and I was actually kind of bored. I did really enjoy the scenes about renovating the bookstore and Lizzy's hangover Cup of Noodle remedy. Also, major shout out to the main characters and their families who are all Korean American. We need to see more diversity in romance books and the author delivered on that.

This is an adorable Rom-com about Lizzy, a burnt-out lawyer taking a much-needed three week vacation in her best friend Jack's hometown of Weldon, California. Jack has had a serious crush on Lizzy for two decades, unbeknownst to Lizzy, and he vows to use her visit as a way to get over her. Meanwhile Lizzy volunteers at a cozy independent bookstore as a way to keep herself busy as she realizes that she may have romantic feelings for Jack! Throw in some mouth-watering descriptions of Korean food and I really enjoyed this book!

This was such a sweet and adorable romance! These best friends to lovers really hit the spot! AND it's set in a bookstore!

Lizzy and Jack are seriously the sweetest characters, especially Jack, I mean who doesn't love a caring, supportive, gentle guy?! Reading about Jack and Lizzy, going from friends to lovers while fixing up a bookstore together was the absolute cutest (I'm not at all jealous lol)!! Lizzy is a total bookworm, and I found her so relatable, having a never-ending TBR is very normal!

This was a very fun, cozy read. Highly recommend picking up this book when you just need to relax with a good sweet romance

Loved the premise, but not the execution. Lizzy and Jack are sweet characters, best friends finding their way to a romantic relationship after decades of history. They do this while simultaneously trying to find their passion in life and making significant career moves. I felt some whiplash with how quickly characters changed their minds and there were too many sentences that felt like throw-away descriptors. Overall, fast read with sweet characters. Middle of the road book for me. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC.

Jayci Lee's new novel, Booked on a Feeling, is a sweet and heartfelt friends-to-lovers romance. It follows Lizzy Chung, a young successful lawyer living in L.A. and her best friend Jack Park, who still lives in Weldon, CA, the small town where they first met, keeping the books for his family's business. Jack has been in love with Lizzy for as long as he can remember but has never told Lizzy how he feels for fear of ruining their friendship. Lizzy, on the other hand, has never thought of Jack in that way before.

When Lizzy has a panic attack and faints while giving an opening statement at a very important moment in her career, she decides she needs a break and takes time off from work and go spend time with Jack back in Weldon. This trip becomes way more than just recharging though. It really makes her stop and re-evaluate everything about her life, including her feelings about Jack.

I really enjoyed this story overall, particularly Lizzy and Jack's relationship as they spend more time together and discover those new feelings. I also very much enjoyed Lizzy's journey to figure out what she wants out of her life and career. Some of my favorite scenes involved her befriending the local bookstore owner and volunteering her time to completely revamp the entire store. It was so fun to see Lizzy in action and of course to learn she's a book lover like me. There are lots of sweet moments between Lizzy and Jack too as she persuades him to help her with this project.

I did have a couple of issues though. I got off to a rough start with the book and almost considered DNFing because of how many sentences like "and that's why we're best friends" popped up every few pages at the beginning of the book. After the first couple of mentions, I was just like "Okay, I get it. This is a friends to lovers story. You don't have to keep saying it." I'm sure that's just a me thing though so I wouldn't let it deter you.

I also guessed wtihin the first couple of chapters exactly what direction Lizzy was going to take her career in. The predictability didn't ruin the story for me because I was definitely invested in wanting to know what ultimately makes her decide to do what she does, but it did surprise me how soon it was apparent exactly what she would choose.

Even with those couple of issues, I still enjoyed the story overall and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet friends-to-lovers romance.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It took a few chapters for me to get into this book, but once I did I really enjoyed it!

What a fun summer romance read! A sweet friends-to-lovers following high-strung, overachiever lawyer Lizzy and her childhood best friend Jack who's trying to find his way in this life. The two set out to fix up their hometown bookstore together & hopefully find a way to fix up their plans for the future, too.

I related most to Lee's representation of anxiety through Lizzy. I really connected with her character's mental health journey; I felt it was insightfully written! Jack & Lizzy's romance really takes you away once you get into the story, even if it was a bit of a slow starter for me. Their witty exchanges and the tension between the two kept the story moving, even if I felt the end turned out to be a bit predictable.

Definitely pick this one up if you're a friends-to-lovers fan!

This book was absolutely adorable! I love the friends to lovers trope and this book has become my new go to! this book had me in my feels from beginning to end! I read this one outside of the series because I got it from Netgalley without realizing it was book 3 but I still enjoyed it so much and I can't wait to read the rest of them! I had been in a romance slump and this pulled me straight out of it! I highly recommend it and can not wait to reread it when I read the whole series!

I think that I just need to stop reading any of Jayci Lee's titles. I always want to try her books because some people really enjoy her romance books. Every time I tried reading them, I always feel so bored or distracted. I never can invest myself in her romance books. But I really wanted to try one more time with Booked on a Feeling, and yet, I was disappointed again. Booked on a Feeling felt too slow paced for me. I kept getting distracted while reading this book.