This was the definition of a light and fluffy romance. There were no big traumatic events or anything crazy that happens. I really enjoyed Jack and Lizzy’s relationship and I thought they were very cute. However, childhood friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and it didn’t reach its potential in this book. We didn’t get any backstory on Jack and Lizzy growing up even though they met when they were 10. It made it more difficult for me to become invested. I would still recommend this if you like friends to lovers and stories about books, it’s just not something I’ll keep thinking about.

This is really cute! It was kind of hard for me to get into, but I think that’s more me than it was the book. The food descriptions in it were excellent, and I think that this book would be great for fans of Jasmine Guillory.

Lizzy Chung is a a successful lawyer in L.A. but it comes at a high price. To help relieve the burnout and anxiety that comes with her career, she decides to take a three week vacation in a small town a couple hours away where her best friend of 20 years Jack lives and works for his family brewery. Jack is elated that he gets to spend 3 whole weeks with his best friend, and the love of his life, but Lizzy doesn't know what feelings stir beneath the surface. As they spend more time together, the feelings become harder to ignore. Is Jack willing to risk their friendship for more?

This is SWOON WORTHY, full of romance and literary goodness. I loved all the interactions between Lizzy and Jack. Lizzy shows up in Weldon to get away from the bustling city. While she's there, she also volunteers to help out a failing bookstore. Jack also becomes part of this with his handyman skills to help fix up the store. A lot of their time is spent in the bookstore which I thought was adorable and easily my favorite parts of the book. I love books about books! Jack is constantly struggling with his feeling for Lizzy because he doesn't want to lose his friendship with her. And I loved how he valued her. Lizzy has never looked at Jack as anything other than her best friend. So when more feelings start to surface and she finds herself attracted to him, she too also has an internal struggle. The tension between these two was wild! Lizzy and Jack both have good character development as they try to figure out their own lives and how they can possibly fit into each other's. I loved the author's writing style. I liked the ending of the book though I thought the epilogue was a little flat for me. At first the dual POV in third person confused me, but it becomes vital to the story and doesn't take away from the events. All in all, I definitely recommend this.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of this book!

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pub Date: July 26, 2022

This book was fun, and quirky...and utterly forgettable. The writing was a little boring, and honestly, I found myself skimming at a lot of points just waiting for something to happen. I almost DNF'd this book honestly. The characters were fine, but nothing special. I might revisit this book down the road to see if my opinion still holds, but I was overall really disappointed in it. I had such high expectations, and it just did not live up to them. The plot and the writing really didn't pull me in, and the characters were not enough to save IMO. This is a weak three stars from me because I just wasn't compelled by anything in the story.

This is a cute, fluffy romcom. I love when the guy falls first, and I’m weary of friends to lovers, but this was adorably done. This is a sweet, easy read, low angst and lots of butterflies. It’s the perfect palette cleanser!

I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Booked on a Feeling!! I happened to stumble upon the first book in this series at my library a couple of months ago and am so glad I took a chance and got it! This entire series does not get the love and attention it deserves from the contemporary romance community!

I loved the way Lizzy and Jack’s friendship turned into a romance on the page. Their decades old friendship was believable and I found myself very invested in their future. In addition to their sweet romance, they each learned important lessons about self happiness and being “enough”.

Highly recommend and read the first 2 while you’re at it!

I received an arc in exchange for an honest review**
This book was such a feel good novel! The author really gave the characters life and personality. The author tackled so many different topics as well, ranging from anxiety and family issues, but in a way that wasn't cliche, but was well written and made you feel for the characters involved.

I also really enjoyed that the character's happiness wasn't dependant on another's. The MCs had to find themselves before they truly found each other. Definitely a feel good read all around.

If you like stories about friends turned lovers, bookish people and stories about finding yourself then you'll enjoy Booked on a Feeling. I enjoyed reading about Lizzy and Jack, their years of friendship, their contrasting family relationships and Lizzy's love of books and bookstores. It's a fun read with a few steamy scenes.

I'm not usually a friends-to-lovers fan, especially when one friend has been harboring a crush for YEARS. So I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I loved the balance between Lizzie and Jack. Jack is a PERFECT book boyfriend. He's supportive, loving, and a calming, touchstone presence for our lovely heroine, Lizzie.
Lizzie's story of stress and burnout and needing to be home and also needing a project is so relatable to me (and I think a lot of career-women).
The bookstore setting is also SO WONDERFUL AND CUTE AND DREAMY!! I LOVED every second they spent there.
I think my only gripes with this book is the friends to lovers aspect. I would have liked to see this done with new lovers getting to know each other, and having that spark and banter.
Otherwise, it's enjoyable, with amazing, deep characters and a charming setting.

Absolutely adored this friends to lovers story!

Lizzy and Jack are the type of character duo that make someone just want to squeal with delight. As friends, they are precious, and the pining they do for one another makes a reader want to just shove them in a room together until they admit their feelings. As a couple, they seem to bring out the best in each other.

Jack gives off the type of vibes that people think of when they mention a "book boyfriend." He's supportive, he's described as handsome and athletic, he cares about his family, and he's all around a funny and caring person to Lizzy and everyone he interacts with. It was no surprise that Lizzy fell in love with him because, while reading this book, I fell in love with him too!

Lizzy's issues are touched on in a way that makes them very prevalent to her character growth, but doesn't seem like this ridiculously impossible thing to overcome. She's an attorney who is struggling with the feeling of stress and burn out. As an attorney myself, I identified all too well with Lizzy's struggle. And, as most people know, it isn't something that a quick fix can be applied to. Lizzy has to learn that in the story and find the solution that works best for her. Watching her do that while enjoying her bookish nerd indulgence was delightful.

Overall, this was a great friends to lovers book and anyone considering giving this book a try should do so!

A cute contemporary romance that is also funny. This book gave me what I needed and it definitely gave me all the feels. The author included Korean culture from a perspective of one who immigrated to the country and another who was born here. You learn so much about expectations and not letting family down but you also learn about doing what makes you happy and follow your dreams. Although the characters frustrated me on “I don’t want them to think I love them which I do” but in the end it turned out perfect. I’m so glad I was able to read this book and I would surely recommend it!

Lizzy and Jack have been best friends for years. After Lizzy realizes she needs a break from her life, she decides to visit the small town that Jack is from. During Lizzy’s vacation, she decides to help out at a book store. Very quickly, Jack and Lizzy go from best friends to lovers. Unfortunately, there was something missing in this book for me. There was no spark or banter between Jack and Lizzy and I felt very bored while reading.

I went into this book expecting something completely different from what it gave me.

When I first read the description for this book, I imagined a woman forced to take a break from her job by a boss who cared about their employees. I imagined this woman would go to this small town, find a run down bookstore, and decide she was going to put time and effort into making it her own.

And then I read this book. And not only did the main character decide herself that she needed a vacation, but she also has nothing to do with the ownership of the bookstore.

With my dreams crushed, the rest of this book didn’t seem that great to me. I wasn’t into the writing style, which I found difficult to pay attention to. I didn’t care for Lizzy and Jack, which also made me not care for the romance brewing between them.

I also wasn’t too keen on how the main conflict of this book stemmed from the two not talking to each other. Throughout this book, the two make big, life-changing decisions involving the other, yet never take the time to clue the other in to these decisions. For people who are supposedly “best friends” before the events of this book, they sure don’t seem to know each other that well if they can’t have a conversation!

There is one more aspect of this book I didn’t care for, but I’m unsure of how to breach the topic with it’s slightly spoiler-y content. If you are someone who agonizes over whether or not every book will end in a happy ending, don’t continue on.

There is a trope in media, Babies Ever After, in which a story skips ahead to show a couple’s future and their eventual child. As someone who hates kids, this was the worst possible ending I could have ever read in a book. Nothing makes a book worse, in my opinion, than pregnancy.

Most of the negatives I found in this book is entirely my own fault, however. This was definitely a book that just wasn’t for me, but there will certainly be people out there who will enjoy this book.

⭐⭐⭐
Booked on a Feeling, Jayci Lee
July 26, 2022, St. Martin's Press

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Booked on a Feeling is the third book in a series, but totally works as a standalone. This romance is a classic best friends to lovers trope, but with the love of books thrown in. What's not to love!? I read this book on a quick getaway with my daughter and her friend and it was perfect for keeping one eye on them in the pool.

Lizzy and Jack have been friends since they were 10. He's carried a torch for 20 years, she has no idea. Lizzy and Jack are both unhappy in their careers -- her as a lawyer and him in his family business -- and have three short weeks to see if there's any chance for them to be more than friends. Of course there are ups and downs, but the power of love always wins out.

#BookedonaFeelingJayciLee #NetGalley @authorjaycilee @netgalley #arc #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #summeread #beachread #poolread #chicklit #romance

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stars!!!! Best friends to lovers trope >>> I loved this book. It was a
pretty fast read. I loved Lizzy and Jack so much. There wasn't too much spicy but UGH I could feel the chemistry between these 2 characters.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Ok this was such an awesome read. I loved that the heroine was a trial attorney because I want to go to law school and I have definitely thought about being a trial attorney. Her fainting during court made my anxiety spike for her because I totally understood the anxiety of public speaking but I couldn't begin to understand how it must have felt in court.
I love that Jack has always crushed on Lizzy. It makes me feel fuzzy on the inside.
Most of all though, I loved learning about Lizzy's self-discovery. I'm going into my fourth year of college and a lot of other pre-law students around me seem to be moving at a much faster pace than I am and I put so much pressure on myself to keep up. Sometimes it's easy to forget about what actually makes me happy. I spend every day stressing about grades and class work and feeling so much anxiety about my future that I forget to truly live. It was nice to see Lizzy come to that realization.
For most law students, once you begin law school, there isn't much of a break for the next 15 years. We clearly see the impact of that on Lizzy as she is forced to take a step back and realize how much she is missing out on.
Yes, we have ourcertain obligations to our parents for success, but they do not override our obligations to ourselves for health, happiness, and love. Sometimes our parents' obligations are forced on us so strongly, they become ingrained into who we are and it is so easy to forget our obligations to ourselves.
Great read!

Lizzy and Jack have been best friends for a long time. They've never crossed the line towards dating, but they've definitely thought about it. When Lizzy takes an extended break from work and life, she hads to Jack's small town and begins to figure out what she wants in life. With distance no longer between them, Jack and Lizzy begin to explore taking their friendship to the next level,

I wanted to love this book. I felt like it hit the right points in some areas, Asian-American protagonists that I could relate to. Lizzy, a book lover, realizing that her career-driven life wasn't for her. A right amount of steam. This book really could have worked for me, but I thouht the pacing was off.

There was conflict and a lot of room for character development, but the plot moved quickly so that things were resolved without much explanantion. I was missing some relationship development and conversations with side characters (e.g. Lizzy's mom) to really make this work for me.

If you want a fun friends-to-lovers romance that features a POC book lover, this could definitely be for you. Just know that the plot will jump quickly.

This book was freaking adorable! It took me a while to get used to the narration style but after a few chapters I was okay with it. The book starts really slow, in the first 3 chapters I was questioning myself if I should keep going, but once Lizzy gets to Weldon and gets to interact more with Jack, I was hooked. I loved how at the end they both realized that a person needs to think about what they want and who they are by themselves before adding someone to the equation. The spicy scenes were well written, not too raunchy and cringe. There were a lot swoony and funny moments. Definitely worth the read, I really enjoyed it!

Lizzy is on her way to making partner at her LA firm until a panic attack during an opening statement makes her take a real, off-work vacation. She decides to take three weeks and venture to where her best friend, Jack, lives and works for his family brewery. Jack has had a crush on Lizzy for years, but never will act on it since she is his best friend. Now that Lizzy is in town and she's no longer hours away what will that mean? Lizzy's escape from her high pressure job is escaping to bookstores to read her favorite book and not being the lawyer her mother has always pushed her to be. This isa story of Lizzy realizing what she really wants in her life for her career and in love, while also learning to stand up for herself. I enjoyed this book and it is not the typical romance book I expected halfway through. I applaud the author for not sugarcoating issues like dealing with paternal pressure and overcoming anxiety. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy.

There were a lot of things I really liked about this one. The story follows Lizzy, an overachieving lawyer with anxiety and her life long best friend Jack, a brilliant business minded co owner of a brewery with confidence problems. Jack has been in love with Lizzy since they were kids but has never been able to tell her. After Lizzy wins her first major trial and fails to feel any kind of joy, she decides to take a vacation in Jacks small home town. She stays in an apartment above a small bookstore and immediately sets to helping the proprietor fix it up. In the mean time, she and Jack discover their feelings for each other are deeper than they previously realized.

Things I liked: I always like a bookish setting. I loved the representation of Korean culture, both of the author and characters. I also loved that the main character dealt with real anxiety issues in a real way.

Things I didn't like: The banter between the two main characters felt kind of immature and unrealistic to me, especially for people who have known each other for their whole lives. I also thought the way the spicy scenes were handled was a bit odd. They were written pretty explicitly (and well) but then just kind of.. cut off? It felt a little disjointed.

All in all it was a good read, but just not perfectly suited for me. I'd still recommend it to a customer or friend. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.