This was such a cute novel! I loved the inclusion of pride and prejudice! I think any fans of the friends-to-lovers trope would really love this, it was so sweet!

This book was cute, but slow and poorly paced. I cared about their relationship, but all the legal talk at the beginning really turned me off from reading it. Also, the miscommunication trope in this story is so frustrating. They’ve been best friends for almost their entire lives and still can’t communicate clearly? I felt like some parts were unfinished, while others were overly developed. Not a bad story, but definitely subpar

If your parents have ever swayed you to pursue a career that you did not particularly enjoy, well this book is for you. It touches on topics such as career burnout & following a career path that your parents set out for you.

Now let’s talk about the two main characters, Jack & Lizzy who are childhood friends. Jack and Lizzy had a cute slow-burn romance. I was seriously gushing over the subtle physical contact. These two have been PINING over each other for some time now. I found myself yelling “OK JUST KISS!”

But this is not solely a romance novel… It touches on the family dynamic in an Asian-American household. Jayci Lee writes about the feeling of being in a career that’s not making you happy, which I’m sure many of us can relate to.

“Lizzy wasn’t sure what she wanted, but she knew what she didn’t want” spoke volumes to me. Lizzy is strong-willed and I admired her courage to take risks in her life. She stopped living to please other people and only lived to please herself. Both she and Jack realized that they needed to love themselves before they could love each other.

💗 What I liked 💗
* Strongly resonating with Lizzy’s situation - being so burnt out in your job with no time to recharge, so you start questioning if this career is meant for you
* Asian representation! I found myself relating to Jack and Lizzy’s upbringing
* The many ways in which a person can show their love for you
* Lizzy stands up to her mother and chooses to put her dreams and aspirations above others
* Discussions on mental health (panic attacks, anxiety & the feeling of not being good enough)

What I disliked
* The first half of the book put me in a reading slump. Combination of slow pacing & too much detail (personally not a fan)
* Cringy dialogue at times 🙁

Rating: 3/5 ✨

Recommended for those that like the friends to lovers and the small-town romance trope.

Thank you to @netgalley & @stmartinspress for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Booked on a Feeling comes out on July 26th 💖

Wow this book was so cute and fun! I'm a sucker for a friends to lovers trope and this sure did deliver. Throw in a book lover and some book stores, mixed with small town charm? Just what I needed to crack my reading slump.

I recommend this to anyone looking for a light hearted, fun read with a beautiful ending.

A huge thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!
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A book about a bookstore with a main character that loves romances? Yeah, sign me up every time. Lizzy and Jack have been best friends for twenty years, and he has been in love with her the entire time. It's a good thing they only see each other a few times a year because he can't handle his attraction to her at all. Yet, he still comes to her first court case just to see her pass out during opening remarks due to anxiety. A need for vacation sends her back to his hometown and fixing up a local bookstore because to-do lists are the ultimate relaxation tool. The chemistry between Jack and Lizzy is mentioned on basically every page, but for two people who have known each other for twenty years they seem pretty terrible at reading each other's body language and tells. There is continuous miscommunication, that to a point felt like it was overdone. You are fully grown people, so just speak, rather than telling the same lies over and over again to yourself and others.
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The pacing is slow at the start and picks up in the final 25% of the novel. I wish there were more outside circumstances halting their romance, so their internal struggles weren't the only reason they have a will they, won't they back and forth for so long. I did really enjoy the representation of Korean-American culture throughout the book. There was some exposition around the dishes being made and customs that I'm sure natives would not need, but to an outsider this was so helpful and brought me into the fold of the households. Overall, it was a cute pairing that I wanted to succeed, and just wish that the plot unfolded faster.

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Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee
Booked on a Feeling
by Jayci Lee (Goodreads Author)
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3.5 stars = I liked it

Two life long friends take it to the next level but finding love isn't easy when you are still finding yourself.

I liked this for the most part. Friends to lovers is a favorite trope for me and I love stories set around bookstores. The road to the HEA was a bit bumpy with the leads both trying to figure out what they want from life and whether that includes the other. I did appreciate that that they both figured that out separately before trying to figure out what a life together would look like. This is the third book in this series so past players have cameos and the leading man here is brother to the leading lady in the previous book.


ARC courtesy the publisher via NetGalley - release date 7/26/22 -this is an unpaid review

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee 📚

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub date: July 26, 2022

Such a cute best friends to lovers story! This is the 3rd book in the A Sweet Mess series. I didn’t realize it when I picked it up, so now I’ll have to go back and read books 1 and 2!

-Dual POV
-Charming characters
-Best friends to lovers
-Mutual pining
-Spice
-HEA <3

Our main gal, Lizzy, works as an attorney at a big law firm in LA. She decides to take a 3 week vacay from work and visit the town where her best friend Jack (our main guy) lives. She stays in a cutesy loft above a run down bookstore and she becomes friends with the store owner and decides to help the store owner renovate her bookstore. Lizzy is a super relatable character for me because she loves romance books, to-do lists, and also struggles with anxiety and panic. During her renos with the bookshop she and Jack realize that they are in love w/ each other, but don't want to ruin the friendship. The chemistry between the two of them is off the charts and I really loved reading their love story!

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for this ARC <3

Lizzy is, quite simply, an overachiever. She’s almost partner at her law firm, quickly rising up the ranks. Jack, on the other hand, does not quite have the same aspirations. He’s a bookkeeper at his family’s brewery. While they’ve always been best friends, things may change after Lizzy has a panic attack and takes time off to be in their hometown with Jack.

I thought this was a fun read. I enjoyed learning about Lizzy and Jack, and their similarities and differences. I think that both of them needed a dose of each other to help them understand their lives, and what they need and want to be happy and successful by their own definitions. I would have liked a bit more backstory on Lizzy, as I didn’t feel I got a lot about her lawyer job, other than about one case that was wrapping up. However, I did appreciate that it gave more time in the book to learn and experience Lizzy and Jack. Overall, I would recommend this to those who enjoy romance and some lighthearted reads.

Considering this was friends to lovers, I didn't really understand why or how they were friends. Not a lot of background was given, so that also made it unclear why he was so obsessed with Lizzy. I sensed that gift of the magi- like twist, not to mention her final decision coming for at least 100 pages. My favorite scenes were the ones with Jack's family which gave a sense of the culture and their personalities.

I am not really sure what it is about this book, but I just didn’t connect with it. We don’t really get any background on the characters, so I never felt a connection or spark between them. The inner dialogue from both characters, but especially Jack, was very childish. Nothing really happens in this book. You keep reading thinking it is going to pick up, and it never really does. I appreciate that it covers some anxiety and self-doubt issues.

Bottom Line: I really wanted to love this book, as I have enjoyed others from Jayci Lee…but it was very underwhelming. Maybe it would work for others.

** I received a copy of Booked on a Feeling from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Booked on a Feeling follows Lizzy Chung and Jack Park, childhood friends as they navigate their lives and the ambitions and dreams they want.

After suffering from a panic attack at her first trial and questioning if being a lawyer makes her happy, Lizzy takes time off to visit her childhood summer town where she spent numerous summers with Jack. Throughout the novel, you follow them as they navigate their long history of friendship with a mix of feelings for each other. You also get to see them discover and navigate what they want and learn to live for themselves and not for others,

Reading this book was an absolute squeal of a good time. Whenever I saw Lizzy and Jack together, I couldn't help but awe at how much Jack loves Lizzy. This man literally drove hours to ensure he didn't miss her first trial. Never have I read about someone so smitten by their childhood crush until I met and read about Jack. Nothing makes me love a romance novel more than childhood friends to lovers. I will eat that troupe up until I die.

Overall, this was a wholesome and sweet book to read during AAPI month. Jayci Lee does an amazing job writing characters who go through debates and issues that can be seen in the Asian community. The debate on whether to give up your dreams for your family or follow your dreams but risk losing your family is one that is rarely written about. I can't wait to read more of her work and hopefully see another novel set in this universe.

I always love contemporary romance novels! Add on friends-to-lovers and I'm sold. That's exactly what this book delivered. A classic friends-to-lovers story featuring Lizzy and Jack, that takes place in small-town California and heavily features a local indie bookstore. A book that takes place within a bookstore? Yes, please! Jayci Lee did a beautiful job describing and letting me visualize this setting. I finished this book wanting to go browse in the Sparrow bookshop.

The introduction did take me a few chapters to get into it. I found myself getting frustrated with Jack at times as he wanted to “take things slow”. However, it is a slow-burn friends to lovers romance. I loved Lizzy’s growth throughout this novel and I also loved the author's approach about anxiety. It made the characters more relatable.

This was an adorable contemporary romance novel. I would recommend this book if you're wanting a cheesy romance and a light read.

“Booked on a Feeling” is a must read! A sweet and steamy romance with a lovely representation of Korean tradition and culture sprinkled throughout. The love of books and bookstores that Lizzy has is so comforting and wholesome, a perfect read for a bookworm. This book didn’t disappoint.

This was a light, fun read with great character development. Watching both Lizzie and Jack reflect and realize what they truly wanted out of life felt very natural and relatable. I loved the way that the author allowed them to separate to truly feel established on their own. We all love a book about bookish people, so the bookstore element was a fun plot point. While I was a little unsure based on the first few chapters how I was going to feel about this book, overall it was an enjoyable bookish romance that I would definitely recommend for summer!

Super cute romance based on lifelong friends. I am always a fan of mentioning the trope the couple is falling under. Makes it more fun that way. As a reader and a lover of all things book related, I enjoyed the renovation and plans for the bookstore, probably as much or more than the romance. The romance is a slow burn and the payoff is hot. For lovers of romance, this is a good one. For people who want to renovate bookstores, this one will do fairly well.

This book was sweet, easy to read, and it had the perfect amount of angst. While the book centers on Jack and Lizzy’s romance, I really loved how the author tackled anxiety, self-doubt, and the uncertainty one experiences while switching careers.

Overall this book was cute, fluffy, and a delight to read! If you enjoy a good friends to lovers where the boy falls first, then this is the book for you! 3.5 stars.

I was a bit disappointed by this romcom. I was expecting all the cute tension and will they/won’t they of most romcoms but I didn’t find that here.

Ok. This book was sweet. Friends to lovers is growing on me!

This book starts off with our girl Lizzy, an LA lawyer who is pushing herself so she can be made a partner at her firm. She’s just come off of her first major case and won! Huzzah! But she’s not feeling that spark of satisfaction that she thought she’d feel. She’s definitely feeling burnt out. So, she takes some time off and visits her childhood best friend’s hometown of Weldon. Jack, the best friend, is head over heels for Lizzy and has been for years, but has been relegated to the friend zone. He’s the bookkeeper for his family’s brewery and is feeling unhappy with his career. He’s looking for something else and has applied for a job in LA. Our pair join together to help save a local bookstore from closing and sparks fly.

The chemistry between Jack and Lizzy was great. Their banter was cute and their scenes together were almost always a delight. The dual POV was definitely well used in this book. I do wish we got a bit more information about their mutual past. Beyond knowing they’re childhood besties that’s about it. It wasn’t like a huge problem, but I just wish we got a bit more of a sense of the shared history, you know?

The book was a bit slow to start but once it got going (after a few chapters) it was great. It was a relatively quick read so I’d say this would be a good beach or pool read this summer. Particularly because you can take a dip to cool off when it gets spicy. And trust me, it does ;)

It’s not a genre-smashing book but it is a comfy type read. If you like sweet and spicy friends to lovers books then this might be for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Thank you NETGALLEY and ST. MARTINS for the arc!

Booked on a Feeling is a romcom about two childhood friends who have gone their separate ways in life but are still very close. Lizzy is in LA pursuing her… “dream” of becoming an attorney. She’s on track to make a partner and after winning her first case, she starts to realize that maybe this profession isn’t quite for her. Blaming it on “burnout,” she moves to the small town of Weldon where her best friend since childhood lives with his family, Jack.

Lizzy rents a small apartment above a bookstore owned by a single mother and she takes it upon herself to help the bookstore out. Jack, of course, gets dragged in because how could he say “no” to the girl that he’s been in love with since he was 10? Jack is a sweet book-boyfriend who valued his friendship too much to make a move. Lizzy (who is also very sweet) is productive and always busy. Before this trip, she never really thought of Jack in a romantic light.

I liked Lizzy’s and Jack’s characters most of the time. They both weren’t awkward throughout the book, their relationship was adorable, and they were the cutest nerds. Besides that, I just had irks with the writing and how the story was executed. These things just really prevented me from enjoying this book more than I did. Yes, it was fun at times, but it didn’t stand out that much.

I did like how realistic their own problems were. Lizzy felt the need to please her mother who wanted her to be an attorney, so she pushed everything away. She forgot about her own dreams and felt overwhelmed with the thought of tackling them since she had worked so hard for her job. Meanwhile, Jack worked at his family’s brewery as the “numbers man,” handyman, and a waiter. He just felt like he wasn’t contributing as much as everyone else since his siblings brewed, his mom cooked, and his dad helped around everywhere. (Jack was contributing a lot.)

Anywho, they were still cute but I've read quite a few romance books that I enjoyed a lot more.

In Booked on a Feeling, Lizzy is an attorney in LA who is on track to become partner in a few years. But she has a panic attack during a court case and it makes her realize how burnt out she is. So she takes a three-week hiatus in a small town in California where she used to spend summers with her best friend Jack and his family.

Jack is ecstatic because he’s been in love with Lizzy for decades and now he has three weeks to spend with her. But he doesn’t want to risk their friendship so he doesn’t intend to change anything between them. Plus he has his own future plans that he’s keeping to himself for the time being.

While in town, Lizzy starts helping the local bookstore owner with renovating her shop, bringing back to life her own childhood dream of owning a bookstore. It definitely made for an enjoyable setting for much of the book because I love bookstores (don’t we all? 😂).

I really loved the quick funny exchanges between the main characters and enjoyed watching Lizzy’s realization of her feelings unfold. There was also great tension with what felt like bazillion interrupted almost first kisses! Lizzy and Jack are both Korean-American (Lizzy’s parents are currently living in Korea) and it was fun to see all of the authentic foods, to see how Jack’s family all interacted with one another and how Lizzy interacted with his family.

There was a legitimate conflict in the book that kept them apart for a time but it was blown out of proportion because they wouldn’t just talk to one another. I will admit I might have been more agitated than usual by the miscommunication/non-communication trope because this was the third book in a row that had it be prevalent in the story. I did enjoy the way it all eventually resolved and the way the story ended (even though it was fairly predictable - still enjoyed seeing it happen).