Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

This was not my cup of tea. I felt like nothing happened in the first 30% and I just got bored and uninterested. It felt hard to connect to characters and generic. I *think* I could’ve loved it- it had the makings for a good read. Unfortunately, it just didn’t do it for me today.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! This book will be published July 26, 2022.

Very Serious Disclaimer: This version of my review is missing all the italics, so I will be including a link to my Goodreads review, where you can see all the italicized words in all their glory.

Y’all, I wrote down so many thoughts about this book as I was reading it, and I will now attempt to represent these in a sensical, rational way. To be very honest, I’m not a huge friends-to-lovers fan to start with, especially with straight characters. Queer characters? Yes please, because we get all the tension with them. But this book had no LGBTQ+ rep or tension.

To put it simply, I found it boring. The storyline follows Lizzy Chung, an attorney who realizes she’s not happy after winning a trial. So she goes to her best friend’s town to visit him for a few weeks, which is when we meet Jack (AKA The Best Friend). And surprise, surprise! Jack has been in love with her for twenty years. The problem is, these can be cute, but that’s about it. I kept looking for the chemistry and coming up empty-handed.

Another thing that disappointed me was their lack of memories. These two have been best friends for at least twenty years and we don’t even get a little insight into their friendship? How did they meet? What did they do together as kids? When did Jack first fall in love with her? All of these things are crucial when setting up your characters, so that we can believe they have chemistry. In the end, Jack and Lizzy come across as half-baked characters who can be really immature.

I didn’t love the writing style, but again, that could just be me. I felt that even while the plot moved along at a normal pace, the author wrote things in a way that felt like we were moving too fast. Something would happen, and as the reader, you would want to savour the moment. But then bam, something else happens and you’re suddenly redirected. Not very fun.

Okay, now there were some parts that I found funny. It wasn’t like the book was all bad and just unbearable. But when I look at my list of notes and annotations, the bad things definitely outweigh the good. However, I didn’t end up hating the characters. (It was more like… I just didn’t care about them at all.) So that’s a good thing?

I could list out other things that I didn’t jam with in this book, but what’s the point? This is already turning into a mellow rant, so let’s stop before it turns into a raging one, yeah? (Although if you ask, I’ll definitely be able to rage.) At the end of the day, this is simply one person’s opinion. If this book sounds right up your alley, I say go for it! You may just love it as much as I… did not.

3 stars ⭐️ Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I had high expectations going into this book and it fell sort of flat for me. The concept was good, but the execution wasn’t where I needed it to be.

I enjoyed watching Lizzy and Jack discover their passions and seeing Lizzy deal with her anxiety about work.
The romance was nice but I didn’t feel the connection between them. I found myself not really caring if they ended up together. Also the conflict felt superficial especially if Lizzy and Jack just TALKED and communicated with each other. They both seemed childish to me.

I'm absolutely sorry that I couldn't love this book more. 😔 Overall, I enjoyed the book, I just wanted more.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press and Dreamscape Media, for my complimentary copies of Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrators were great. I would recommend it!

Lizzy decides she needs to take a break from her big lawyer job after experiencing a panic attack in the courtroom. She returns to Weldon, where she spent summers with her best friend, Jack. I appreciated Lizzy and her “overachiever” mindset and needing to check off all the items on her to-do list. I am the same way.

Jack and Lizzy are lovely characters, and I didn’t want their story to end. Jack and Lizzy have been friends for so long, and both try and push down their feelings. They decide to work together to help a local bookstore with some necessary revamping and remodeling while Lizzy is in town. Sparks start to ignite between the two once they realize they have the same feelings.

Super cute! Friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and this did not disappoint. I loved how the author allowed her characters to experience life and grow. People are allowed to change their minds, even with something as daunting as a career. Pretty decent level of spiciness, too.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

This book was perfectly fine and sweet. The conflict felt contrived to me, or overdone (I'm so tired of miscommunication tearing relationships apart) but the characters were lovable enough to merit 3 stars.

I think this is a really great romance. I personally really love romance books have multi-point of view and you get to see the story from both romantic interests. Because we got to see the story from both main characters it makes you a lot more invested in the story and their love.
The romance and tension in the story is amazing. You can steal them being attracted and falling for each other. I also like Violet isn't the main point of the story, the friends to lovers is a wonderful trope and I really like the execution of it here.
There is still a lot going on besides romance. They touch on mental health, family, and immigration.

Lizzy is working her way to her lifelong dream - partner at a prestigious law firm. But when she has a panic attack and passes out during opening statements she falls right into the arms of Jack, her BFF for the past 20 years. Lizzy decides to take a break to re-evaluate and falls in love with small town life....and a certain buff, handyman, best friend. Also unsatisfied with the life he has built, Jack is working towards making a name for himself, but it isn't easy to hide his 20 year crush on his best friend. As they work together to transform a small town bookstore, it is impossible to ignore the growing feelings between the two. But how will it work when their lives continue to change?

Friends to lovers romance will always be a favorite of mine. I loved that we got to see both POVs through the narration so we were just as invested in the feelings of both parties. This book was so sweet, even though the conflict and solution were glaringly obvious from the beginning (but it is romance - so duh! We read it anyway!) I liked how the characters' Korean culture was brought into the story through the use of food and family - even the family drama and disappointment trauma.

The only reason this book isn't 5 stars is because I feel like Jack's character arrived at his "aha" moment in a way that wasn't fully fleshed out. He struggled with his issues the whole book and then all of the sudden one conversation with his family helps him overcome all of that? I don't buy it. My personal friends to lovers romance story has a character with some of those issues and a decade later is still taking very proactive work and therapy to deal with.

Overall, this book was so sweet. I love books about books and bookstores so this one ranked high on the ones I wanted to read. There was palpable heat between the characters but wasn't super spicy. Great anytime book!

The best kind of friends to lovers. We having secret pining, friends since they were children, adults learning to search for their own dreams, and family dynamics. I especially enjoyed that both Lizzy and Jack needed to figure out their own stuff, and were mature enough to let the other do it. Yes, there's a black moment and it's sad and you want to shake them both. But they also both then stepped back and thought about how the other was not wrong and was doing their best to figure out their own dream. I really appreciated that. I loved the humor, the real conversations, and the chemistry that sizzled. The family dynamics include both the supportive and not so supportive varieties. Highly recommend.

CW for toxic parent, stressful work environment resulting in anxiety, anxiety attack on page

I don't know how to describe this book. It was set up to be so good, with all of the things that I liked. A hardworking and accomplished female lead (who's a lawyer no less), tons of time spent in bookstores and friends-to-lovers. However, the writing was just completely off for me. Some parts were so cringey, and I feel like there wasn't any compensation or balance between the cringe parts that were supposed to be relatable and sweet and genuinely good writing. My second and last criticism was that there were so many topics that were brought up but never explored, such as Lizzy's relationship with her mother, her professional life, Jack's feelings of inadequacy and being 'stuck' where he was, and Shannon's work as a small business owner. I just feel like the story had the potential to be so much more, and it was hyperfocused on the romance which left a lot to be desired. I wouldn't recommend this as a 'fun summer read' unless you solely want Romance with a capital R, with a side of absolutely nothing else. Nonetheless, I'm sure Jayci Lee and St. Martin's Publishing Group worked very hard to make this book a reality and I don't mean to undermine their work. I'm sure there's an audience for it, I just wasn't it. Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book, and look out for it in bookstores on July 26th 2022!

I had to stop reading this book because the writing style was difficult to get past. There were so many superfluous details that the scenes and plot would get lost in them. I was distracted from the actual events. I also didn’t feel like the relationship between the two main characters was well developed. Everything seemed to be described and it was hard to find it compelling. Unfortunately I found it to be overwritten.

This book was so incredibly adorable. I’m definitely a bit of a sucker for friends to lovers where the guy falls first as well as small town romances and this book checked both the boxes for those tropes. Just from the synopsis I loved the idea of this book and I thought the plot was excited extremely well.
There was a noticeable spark between Lizzie and her best friend Jack right from the beginning that had me hooked on their (friendly) relationship instantly. It was also noticeable that Lizzie’s heart wasn’t 100% in it with her job and that got me excited to see how her life was going to change over the course of the book. I definitely think Lizzie still needs to work on the real meaning of relaxing but I love that she spent her entire time off work helping save a failing bookstore. It did seem to help with her burnout and put lots of things into perspective for her so it definitely worked out in the end. I liked that both Lizzie and Jack had pop’s in the book, that is something I’ll always appreciate in books because it makes it easy to understand both sides of the story. Also having Jack’s pov was the absolute cutest. He’s so incredibly in love with Lizzie but terrified to ruin their friendship.
They both had to work through a bit of a struggle with the fear of disappointing their families because of what they wanted with their jobs. I thought that part was worked into the story well and didn’t become the main focus but wasn’t just an off-handed comment that only got mentioned once. Jack’s family was a lot more supportive just in general, and I love how they always treated Lizzie like family. Definitely fit into the small town storyline quite well.
There was the, what seems to be usual in romances, time jump at the end but it seemed to work into the story better than other romances I’ve read. It didn’t feel like I was missing a bunch of time and information about the characters. I thought the ending flowed easily and felt fairly natural. The hea was as adorable as ever and left me incredibly happy. I'll definitely be checking out Jayci's other books after this.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Ms. Lee is a new to me author. I could absolutely relate to the pressure that many ethnic minorities are under to succeed. I can totally relate to Lizzie's mother and the pressure that she puts on her daughter to succeed in a profession that is looked up to in the community. The fact that Lizzie might want to run a bookstore would be viewed as such a failure. I am happy that Lizzie is able to break out of the mold and buy some thinking time by going back home to the small town where she grew up and spend time with her childhood friend for whom she has romantic feelings.
What I have trouble with is the progression of the story. It just seems to spin in place with neither protagonist taking a step forward on the relationship front. How much running or sharing can a story take? Not my most favorite book of the summer but I did finish the story and happy to get to the epilogue etc.

I received an e-galley of Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee from St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

A friends-to-lovers story set in a bookstore featuring Korean American characters? Um, yes. Let's add that to my reading list right away please. I was intrigued by all of this in Booked on a Feeling from the get go and it didn't disappoint. It was just the love story that I needed in my life this summer and I enjoyed reading Lizzy and Jack's story. I thought that the romance between them read well and I also liked the way the story allowed them both to grow independently in order to make the relationship feel more healthy and less co-dependent.

This was just a really sweet, fun read. The author touches on some important issues like anxiety, family dynamics, and self-acceptance, and does it in a really lovely way.

I really liked the small-town setting, and the juxtaposition between it and what Lizzy has worked for makes for an interesting comparison. Lizzy is an admirable character; Jack is the perfect book boyfriend..

Overall, this was a really great reading experience.

I've enjoyed all books in this series and each one you can read as a standalone. This one was just a little bit slow to start but I did enjoy reading this one, just not quite as much as the first two. I'm really looking forward to Alex's story cause that one has to be next.

Best friends to lovers trope for the win!! This is my favorite trope and this book delivered. I especially love when books include bookish aspects and themes. It makes my heart so happy. I also adore any book that includes multicultural representation-it’s a definite win for me. Lizzy and Jack were perfection. Their chemistry was great, and even though it wasn’t super spicy-you could feel the connection between them.

This story deals with self-discovery, and has some anxiety representation as well. Overall it’s a sweet book with the perfect amount of angst.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I DNF’d this book. I couldn’t get into it at all. I tried and tried. There was too much lawyer jargon at the beginning in my opinion. It was hard to get hooked.

I loved Jayci Lee's The Dating Dare and jumped at the opportunity to read another book by her... Unfortunately Booked on a Feeling just wasn't for me. I found the pacing a bit too slow for my liking and never really felt invested in either of the main characters or their friends-to-lovers romance. It just wasn't my cup of tea!

Thank you to Netgalley and SMP for the arc!

This book was definitely a very cute read. I loved the representation of anxiety throughout the book. Seeing how Lizzie struggled with her anxiety and finding her purpose in life was one my favorite parts of the book. I was more into her life than the relationship she had with Jack. I was disappointed that this one is written in 3rd person. I typically prefer romance books written in 1st person, but that is just a personal preference. All in all a decent read, but nothing we haven’t seen before.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jayci Lee, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

Review posted to Goodreads & will be posting to Instagram today!