This was such a fun read! I adored Lizzy and Jack! They were just two loveable characters that I enjoyed watching their lives come together and dreams come true. Also any book with multiple bookstores in the focus is a huge win in my book! This is a fun friends to lovers story that grabs you by the heart. I will be recommending this title.

Booked on a Feeling is a nice and easy childhood best friends-to-lovers romance read for the summer (or any time, really). It's dual POV, which is always something I look forward to. You've got lovable characters who read or love to read, and that always make me go, "OMG, me too!"

The main character Lizzie had me wanting to be like her, and I'd say that's the definition of a good character-- when I start wanting to rewire my life to match hers. Totally kidding! Kind of.

It was a bit slow paced, so keep that it mind when you pick it up, but overall it wasn't a bad read.

Overall a cute story, but the pacing could use some work. There was a lot of drag in the middle where my attention started to wane. Lizzy is a very typical high strung lawyer who after a panic attack decides to seek solace in her childhood town leading to her reuniting with jack. I loved the way this was set in a bookstore and the two of them both loved to read. I thought that added such an adorable background to the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: anxiety, panic attack

I loved The Dating Dare, so I jumped on the chance to read this one, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Lee has created a whole new cast of characters, and one of my favorite things about series is getting to see cameos of the characters I loved from earlier books popping in and making an appearance.

It’s hard not to love the MCs in this story. Lizzy is a focused, determined, brilliant woman who is an overachiever working hard to make her goals into reality. She also struggles with anxiety, and I loved the emphasis on her use of coping skills as well as medication to manage her anxiety. And Jack is a total cinnamon roll, stuffed into the sexiest body ever. I especially loved that they’re both book lovers, and that so much of the story takes place in a book shop.

The story spends a lot of time talking about figuring out what you really want, which is a huge decision that every one of us faces, and was so easy to identify. There’s so much pressure on us to decide what we want to do with our life right after high school, and then if you aren’t one of the lucky few, there’s this awkward period of reassessment and that’s exactly where the story was set. I could completely identify with where the characters were at, and loved that this was when the story was set. One of my favorite parts is the way that the characters gave each other space to figure out what they wanted before chasing each other down.

At parts, it felt like the story dragged and was a little repetitive, but once it got going, boy it was steamy. The connection between the characters was really good, and I loved how emotionally and sexually charged it was. There’s some mild spice in the story, and I really enjoyed their relationship developing from friends to lovers. In addition, there’s great Korean-American representation, as well as beautifully portrayal of the difficulty of being the child of immigrants, especially when Lizzy’s parents returned to Korea and she stayed in America. It added a new layer of tension to her relationship with them, placing additional stress on her relationship with them, and pressure on her to fulfill the expectation they had for her.

I’m a huge fan of Jayci Lee’s writing, and I’m even more motivated to circle back and check out A Sweet Mess, the first book in this series. This is a story about chasing your dreams, and that’s definitely something I can get down with.

It was a cute book. I really liked the characters and were pulling for them the whole time.

I felt it drag a bit in the middle, but it all worked out and had a very happy ending.

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this ARC!

Lizzy is your typical over achieving lawyer, whose major goal is to become a partner in her law firm as quickly as possible. After she has a panic attack during her first trial, she decides that she needs to take a break. She heads to the town where she spent summers with her best friend, Jack Park. Jack still lives and works in Weldon and has harbored a crush for Lizzy since they were 10 years old. Lizzy decides to help the local bookstore owner revamp her space while in Weldon and convinces Jack to help her which leads to the two of them spending a lot of time together, which makes it hard for both of them to ignore their feelings.

This one started out a bit rough for me - the writing style was a little choppy and the changing of POVs within chapters did not help the choppiness. I did like that it was dual POV, though! It added a lot to the story. I loved Jack's character - I found Lizzy a bit naiive at times. I will say that about 50% though it did get a lot better for me...up until the 3rd act breakup and sort of out of the blue time jump.

This was still a cute read! While this did have some spice, the descriptions ended during foreplay, just FYI. So if you're not into detailed sex scenes but still like romance, you might like this!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee is a beautiful feel-good book complete with carefully crafted characters. The passionate and quirky novel features hilarious banter that makes it fun to read. Booked on a Feeling is the third book in the A Sweet Mess series, but can be read independently.

Synopsis:
As a lawyer, Lizzy Chung feels stressed out by her high-pressure job. She takes a vacation to Weldon, her hometown. In Weldon, Lizzy spends time with her childhood best friend Jack Park. Despite being secretly in love with Lizzy for over twenty years Jack has never told her how he feels. Could Jack risk his friendship with Lizzy for love?

Booked on a Feeling is set in a bookshop. Romance and books are two of my favorite topics. Combined they make a delightful story. I was captivated by the plot after two chapters. The slow burn quickly becomes a page-turner. Romance fans won't want to miss this delicious must-read. This book contains some sexual content so check the trigger warning before starting.

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee is available on July 26th. (4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫)

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for allowing me to review this heartwarming novel. Jayci Lee's writing is a pleasure to read.

We all love a protective simp of a man and jack was no exception. I really enjoyed their relationship and their weirdness. This is one of my more favorite friends to lovers books I have read. I still feel like there was something missing and I believe It is missing the final impact and the emotion that makes a romance novel a complete 5 stars. Will this book be memorable among the other romance books I have read, probably not. But did I enjoy myself while reading this, I sure did!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins press for the early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am kind of sad that I didn't love this book more. I was really looking forward to it but it was just a basic romcom. When I say it was a basic romcom I am not saying it was a bad book; not at all! I have just read a lot of romcom lately and every time I read one, I am hoping for something new and interesting. I also think that after reading this book, I am realizing that I don't care for the friends to lover trope. It is just not my thing.

Even though this book was an average read for me, it might be your new favorite read! Definitely still give this book a try!

A very very slow burner.

Follows the trope of friends to lovers, but boy does it really drag it out. At 30% I was ready to throw in the towel on this one. Realistically, it’s more of a 1-1.5 for me.

Jack and Lizzy were overwhelmingly complicated. The back and forth was extremely unnecessary. I felt the story could have easily been shorter and we wouldn’t have had to read through so much repetitiveness.

There wasn’t anything significant throughout the entire story that kept you wanting to read. The friends to lovers trope was the only storyline. There were no other subplots to add depth to the story. Yes, there were a few internal battles with each individual, but those were dragged out and should have been resolved earlier.

After more than an month I was able to finish it, but the struggle to DNF started at 30% and continued until about 91% of the book. By that point the story picked up a little and I was able to power through.

I received an ARC through NetGalley thanks to St. Martin's Press.

I thought this book so cute!! Absolutely loved it and i think you killed it! Will definitely be recommending to everyone

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a 2 star read for me. There were things I liked and disliked that led to this rating.

Things I liked:
- Cute plotline
- Friends to lovers trope
- Representation of mental health in this case anxiety
- Jack!

Things I disliked:
- Repetitive/ describing everything
- Thrown into the friends/lover trope. The very beginning we are introduced to Jack as a friend (though by description I thought he was the boyfriend)
- Predictable
- Reads like a YA romance novel even though the MCs are in their 30's

Overall, it's a cute read but I personally am not a fan of YA romance books. This would be perfect for fans of: friends to lover trope, YA romance, predictable plot

Lizzy, a stresses out lawyer, is back home and attempting to relax. Jack, her childhood best friend and the man who has been secretly in love with her for a decade, is overjoyed. He is also not entirely happy with his job helping in the family business and these two reunited is what they didn’t know they needed.

This book has cute moments, realistic issues, fun characters, and some of my favorite tropes. It was an easy, quick read for me and overall enjoyable.

Although this book is obviously focused on romance, there are so many other aspects that add to the story. I loved the realistic life changes and problems both Lizzy and Jack faced. Lizzy dealing with anxiety is something many people, myself included, can relate to. The author wrote it in an accurate and validating way. Having a partner like Jack that can help calm the storms or support you while they inevitably happen is the dream. I love when romance books can be both focused on love/relationships, but also real life.

This book is wrote in third person which I do struggle to read/enjoy at times, and the writing style was just a bit different for me in general. This is my first book from the author as well, so with every new author comes some new adjustments. Regardless, Booked on a Feeling was a funny, cute, easy to read story about childhood friends to lovers - one of my favorite tropes!

Tropes: rom-com, childhood best friends to lovers, small town romance, secret pining, boy falls first

Thank you to St. Martin’s and NetGalley for the ARC!

You've got Friends to Lovers, you've got Hero Falls First, you've got Second Chance Romance, you've got dual POV... and it (mostly) all happens in a bookstore.
Lizzy suffers from anxiety and panic attacks in her high stress-trying to impress her mom- life while Jack is full of self doubt and wanting to chase his dreams. As much as I hate a miscommunication (or lack of communication, just talk about your feelings!!), I liked that these characters had to figure things out on their own and then were sure. 
I thought some of the inner dialogue felt repetitive and the epilogue was extra cheesy, but overall liked it. Going to give my inner-Lizzy some love when I can check off Jayci Lee's other books off of my to-read list!
Thank you Net Galley &  St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I didn’t enjoy this. Lizzy was a strange character and I found the friends to lovers thing didn’t work for these two. Jack seemed uncomfortable the whole time. I’m still unsure why his brother was rocking back and forth in a chair at the end. The relationship between Lizzy and her mom was awkward and off putting.

The sex scenes in the book made me cringe at times. Everything just felt fake and unnatural. For instance in the beginning of the book Lizzy goes on about how she hates coffee, especially black coffee, but is drinking black coffee instead of her preferred tea because she felt like she had to. Why? What a weird thing to say. Why not just drink the tea you like? I feel like some of this could have made at least a little more sense if Lizzy and Jack were 21 and not 31.

Lizzie is a lawyer who needs to take a break after winning her first court case. She heads to her best friend Jack's hometown for a short break. He has been in love with her forever. Will she fall for him as well? While she is in town, she takes an interest in the local bookstore. Where will this go

I LOVE a friends to lovers story! I also love these stories where the main character finds out what they wanted isn't what they thought they really wanted. I didn't know this was part of a series, so now I want to go and find out more about Lizzie and Jack's backstory!

Thanks to NetGally and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A very sweet story. I felt like there could’ve been a slight but more buildup but it was worth it in the end irregardless. Cant wait to read more by this author.

Ugh I really wanted to like this one- a cute cover, friends to lovers, big-shot lawyer moves to her small town. All the Hallmark vibes! But if I’m being honest, it missed the mark for me. There was hardly any backstory and minimal depth to the characters, and while this isn’t an earth shattering revelation for a romance novel, the plot line was easy to predict. I struggled to get through this one, and I kept putting it down and picking it back up for almost two weeks. I didn’t DNF (I could NEVER), but I do feel like I maybe I could have used my time more wisely if I had 🫣 Lizzy and Jack were, in a word, fine. I did like Lizzy’s growth through out the book and appreciated what a supportive friend and partner Jack was, but most of the book dragged for me and at times, felt repetitive. There was room for more growth, more depth, and more conflict, but the entire thing felt very surface level for me.

this book was a really cute story. i found myself really rooting for the characters the whole time and i loved how close both jack and lizzy were with jacks family. i really wanted them both to get their happy endings and i’m extremely satisfied with how this story ended!!!

i think it would’ve been nice to have a bit more backstory to jack and lizzy but i also didn’t know this was apart of a stand-alone series until after i read it so maybe if i go back and read the first two it would give me more about the characters!

overall, it was definitely a really fun read and i loved the little bookstore setting and i could picture it so well which made it a lot more enjoyable!

Friends to lovers is my favorite romance trope, and while this one was friends-to-lovers, it left me wanting a little more from the story and characters. It was a quick read that has lots of references to food & and book/bookstores which were all fun to read about. However the disconnect between the light/juvenile and then the super steamy moments was kind of jarring.

I wanted to like this one more, I've seen that the author's other books are very well loved. This one just wasn't my favorite.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the e-galley in exchange for an honest review!