so in love with scott and crystal.
set on you delivers in every way it could. it has the perfect combo of spice yet slowburn and romcom moments. the grandparents were a light in the story too they were perfect background characters that every book needs <3

This was a very fun romance that was a quick read, in fact i read it in one sitting. I wasnt really hooked it was just a fun time. At first i didnt know if i was going to be make it all the way through due to the love interest. The whole gym enemies situation make me rather uncomfortable. I did however, really enjoy the gym and instagram situation. I loved the representation of a curvy girl enjoying the gym, i fall into this situation myself but have never seen the representation. I loved the relationship between Scott and crystal, they were very cute. There was also a good amount of smut which i love. It was rather cringe at points but still enjoyable.

Crystal Chen is a curvy fitness influencer who loves all things gym related. Crystal’s squat rack is rudely taken by the ‘new guy’ Scott and she confronts him. Fast forward a few weeks and Crystal finds out she knows Scott another way… their grandparents have just got engaged!

Firstly, this book was exactly what I was expecting. A light-hearted, fun romance which was super easy to read and I flew through it in a few days. I loved the interactions and relationship between Crystal and Scott and really liked them both as characters.

However, there were a few comments made in the book which I found slightly problematic. For example, describing someone as having “split personality disorder” because they were acting moody or “semi-authentic” didn’t really sit right with me.

In saying that, overall, I thought this was a sweet, lighthearted romance and I really loved the focus on self-love and self-acceptance.

3.5⭐️

Started this book and immediately I think that it's a bit cringey but I'm willing to give it a go. WOOOO BOYYY I was wrong this wasn't totally cringey it was a super cute and fun book to read🤪
The way they interact with each other from the start of the book to the end (hello character development 🤩) was so wonderful and I feel like we got to see their vulnerable sides too.
Overall 4 stars. I'm just sad that it ended (plus the initial cringe I'm sorry!)👁️👄👁️

[3.5 stars]

This was enemies-to-lovers, but I do wish Crystal and Scott had been enemies for longer, it just felt a bit too insta-lovey for me.

I loved the growth from self-love to self-respect, it’s so unrealistic to love yourself and your body all the time, but you definitely can learn to respect yourself all the time.

One bug bear of mine, Crystal dealt with trolls judging her based on her IG feed and not actually knowing her, I felt like Crystal pre-judged Scott A LOT which felt super hypocritical to me.

Overall, I did like it, but it didn’t really wow me.

A modern love story for the current generation.
Role over Pride and Prejudice, this is a romance for today. All round american girl Crystal Chen is a full time Instagram influencer.
She has built her career smashing stereotypes in the gym, showing her followers that curvy girls can bet fit. She's single and happy in her skin having been heartbroken by her former relationship when her rebound boyfriend goes back to his former girlfriend. A mistake she doesn't want to repeat, so she's now extra cautious.
Then along comes Scott Ritchie who is taken her favourite place in the gym at the window squat rack. She's mad, but oh he's also very hot. The two become each others nemesis. Her to him when she moves's his mobile phone in the gym and him to her when she wrongly accuses him of taking her phone which leads to a showdown in the gyms male changing room that ends up in a very steamy make out.
Things become a little awkward when she realises her family and his family are about to joined by marriage! The romcom ticks along nicely until her Instagram post goes viral and the trolls completely brings her into collapse.
This romcom is bang up to date and her imperfect image is relatable to so many especially when .society dictates looking a particular way and the self confidence you need to stand up to that.
It is romantic with a little bit of hot too.
A good general adult fiction/romance book.
Many thanks to #NetGalley, Penguin General UK=Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business for the advanced preview in exchange for a review. This is also published to Amazon, Waterstones, https://m.facebook.com/helen.pickett.5, Goodreads, @helenpickett7 #SetOnYou

I was so pumped to hear about a romance with a plus size main character, and I loved her and her views so much! I absolutely flew through this book and would definitely read more by this author.

A body-positive fitness influencer gets into a gym feud with a hot guy, who just happens to be the grandson of her grandmother's fiancé. Doomed to spend time together, Crystal and Scott start to fall for each other. But with their grandparents' wedding approaching, they decide to hold off on dating until after the wedding, so they don't complicate things. Easier said than done, though.

It took enormous strength to read this book as quickly as I did. Crystal and Scott's childish behaviour at the gym really got on my nerves and I nearly DNF'd the book because of it. But I pushed through the childishness until I found myself enjoying a rather nice contemporary romance. Crystal and Scott definitely have chemistry between them, and once they start behaving like the actual adults they are, it's not hard to root for them.

The one major problem I have with this book, however, is how long it took for Crystal to realise her extreme "love yourself" body-positivity wellness message was actually nonsense. She got there in the end, eventually, but it did mean having to sit through annoying instagram posts reinforcing the idea that you have to love yourself completely every single second of every single day.

The author used a lot (A LOT) of pop culture references throughout, to the point where you could probably turn spotting them into a drinking game if you've got a high tolerance for alcohol. It didn't necessarily bother me, but I did definitely pick up on it and maybe almost rolled my eyes a few times when I could feel another reference coming. Same goes for the very high fanfiction-y feeling this novel has. Maybe having a love interest that's basically 'Captain America with a cute dog' is a bit too on the nose. But it did work, so no complaints here.

I was so looking forward to this one as it has all my fave things but sadly it just didn’t work for me. I didn’t really believe the main characters had any chemistry or connection so it was hard for me to feel invested.
As the story went on I found it just pulled itself in too many directions (the gym almost got forgotten about). I did like the body positive story arc but again just feel it wasn’t done in the best way so she ended up seeming a bit hypocritical.
It lacked the fun and banter that I look for in a contemporary romance sadly.

Set On You by Amy Lea is a delightful romance featuring plus-size Chinese American fitness influencer Crystal and hunky fireman Chris. I knew just from reading the dedication that I would fall in love with this one. The message of being worth it just for being you is so heartfelt and clearly felt throughout the book. The fact that Crystal doesn't have to learn to embrace her body and respect herself because she already does from the beginning is wonderful. Plus the idea that she works out regularly and is still plus sized is so realistic because this is true! You can train daily and still be curvy and I loved that this is shown here. I adored Crystal and her positivity, her messages on her Instagram where she promotes ditching the scales and just learning to embrace yourself were some of my favourite parts.

One of my other favourite parts was Scott, our amazing love interest. I will admit I started out a bit rocky with him (how DARE he steal her equipment!) but I soon warmed up. Their rivalry is adorable and the way their relationship formed was wonderful. The development of rivals, to friends, to lovers was brilliantly done and I adored how they were friends first before taking that next step.

This is definitely a book that will fill you with warmth and just all round good vibes. The perfect one to reach for if you're feeling low or down about yourself. I highly recommend this one to any romance reader out there and I'll be eagerly awaiting Lea's next novel!

This was a cute and fun romance with plenty of drama, sarcasm and spice thrown into the mix.

I enjoyed the romance although it did come about pretty quickly.

The characters could've also done with a bit more depth to them other than being family oriented gym bunnies who are there to break the stereotypes.

“I can't say I love every roll and all my cellulite all day, every day. At the same time, I don't need to self-loathe and hate myself either. It's about accepting and respecting yourself, while realizing there is so much more to you than just your body.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book had me hooked right from the dedication. As somebody who is wheelchair bound and wanted to be a personal trainer, I felt included for once and it almost brought me to tears.

In this book we follow Crystal and Scott, Crystal is a fitness influencer with a big following on instagram and Scott is a firefighter, Crystal has a favourite squat rack in the gym, but when Scott “steals” it from her, Crystal nicknames him her “gym nemesis” with a “punch-worthy” face.

We all know that I am a sucker for enemies to lovers, I have read so many books with this trope that they will sometimes become repetitive or forgettable, but this one really stuck out to me. Crystal and Scott had so much chemistry and the banter was A+. Crystal is such a badass and Scott has big golden retriever energy which I think I have come to love more than the “bad boy” trope.

Crystal was such a relatable character for me, the way she struggled to keep her confidence up felt very real, and she will definitely be one that I think of often.

(Also, as someone who is a MEGA Jillian Michaels fan and bought a M&G for her show, the mention of her made me ecstatic!)

I will be reading EVERYTHING that Amy Lea writes, Set On You has only just been released but I am so excited for her next book. 🥹

(Thank you so much to Viking Books and Netgalley for the ARC 💙

Fabulously witty and utterly brilliant. I really enjoyed this book. It’s the first of Amy’s that I have read and it was like a breath of fresh air. The plot was a little predictable as is often the case with this genre but this book stood out with the sheer genius of the witty narrative style. I absolutely adored Crystal as a character, she was such a strong woman but her vulnerability and softer side was also shown to be very real. Just perfection in a book, I highly recommend this.

This was so refreshing to read, and really looked into the fitness industry specifically online. We follow Crystal who is a curvy fitstagrammer sharing her story online. She then meets Scott at the gym one day, and they constantly wind each other up. Things get complicated when she arrives to her grandmother's engagement to find that her grandmother's finance's grandson is no other than Scott. They both fall hard for each other, and spend all of their time together, until Crystal announces to her followers that she is dating him. She receives a lot of hateful comments and direct messages, and causes tension within the relationship. The book really explores Crystals relationship with exercise, her body, and her mentality to the fitness industry.
The book does a wonderful job of looking at the fitness industry, and how set it is on portraying a certain image. This book delved into the nuances of body positivity and the true effects of it. All of the characters were well fleshed out, and its very hard to not love Crystal and Scott.

When I requested Set On You I hadn't realised how much hype I would see around this book before I even had the chance to read the ARC. I started seing this talked about everywhere so it quickly moved up my tbr and I'm so glad it did. I have recently really started to find my niche when it comes to the books I like to read and this definitely fits right in.

Set On You is the debut novel by Amy Lea and is a romance following a plus-size Chinese American fitness instagrammer. Need I say more? For me this had the perfect level of familiarity that I like in a romance book, I could relate to Crytal, our main character, enough that I was invested but there was also enough differences to give me the escapism I want from a book.

I loved that Crystal is a plus-sized woman but she is also a gym goer and a fitness instagrammer. I loved that protrayal of a plus-sized woman as often when they do feature in romance novels there is no mention of working out, as if the two are mutually exclusive.. Funnily enough, they're not. People can work out every day and still be curvy and that totally okay.

Then of course we have Scott Ritchie, our wonderful love interest. I mean, I have no complaints, he is exactly what you want when it comes to a book boyfriend and I always love to see a friends to lovers development, it makes my heart sing.

I had a smile on my face the entire time I was reading Set On You and I can't begin to express how excited I at to read about Tara in Ex's and Ohs!

As someone who has recently fallen in love with weight lifting, the setting of this book including the gym brought me so much joy! Crystal is such a good main character and I love everything that she stands for, and the relationship between her and Scott was EVERYTHING.
There is so much tension between them and honestly it was such an easy book to read and would highly recommend for a chill summer read!
Seeing a book directly discuss fatphobia was incredible and I cannot wait to read more of Amy Lea's work!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This rom-com ticks all the boxes - likeable main characters, good chemistry, stream and drama. I really liked the message of body respect and healthy exercise culture as well. My only critique would be that I felt like the story tapered off a bit - it started really fun and exciting and then slowed down during the second half of the book. I still really enjoyed reading this though and would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a nice escape from reality.

"To everyone who rarely sees themselves represented in books and movies. To everyone who doesn’t conform to mainstream beauty standards. You are worthy of an epic love story. We all are."

This was a DELIGHT! Set on You follows Crystal, a plus-sized, Chinese-American fitness influencer, and her relationship with her firefighting, Chris Evans-lookalike gym nemesis.

The story was fresh and fun, and I’ve decided I'm going to refer to it as ✨spicy cheese✨ because it had the perfect amount of both.

Amy Lea did a great job of representing underrepresented communities, and spreading an important message of self-acceptance and believing in your own worth.

I really enjoyed seeing the strong relationships with everyone in Crystal’s life, and I appreciated that none of the major conflicts revolved around her friends or family ties being broken.

As a Chris Evans #stan I loved the subtle references to him via Scotty that you probably wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking out for them.

That being said, every time Trevor popped up my predictable little brain was like, “okay but… what if Trevor had a bigger storyline…” and LO AND BEHOLD, he is the male lead in Amy Lea’s next book Exes and O’s — I absolutely cannot wait. 💛

Released on 12th May 2022.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Crystal Chen is a fitness influencer. She quit her day job to dedicate herself completely to what she loves and she creates videos in which she promotes fitness and inspires her followers to accept and love themselves. Of course, there are haters who try to body-shame her, but she tries her best to ignore them.

Enter Squat Rack Thief, later known as Scott Ritchie, who steals her equipment and doesn’t clean it after using it, who cuts the line at the fountain water, who distracts her from her work out at the gym. Handsome, hot, and smug, he really gets on her nerves. Until, after a steamy encounter in the gym locker rooms, she finds out that there is more to Scott than what it appears and that sometimes the line between hate and love can be very thin, if only Crystal can learn to trust again.

I adored these two characters. Crystal and Scott are amazing. I loved their chemistry and their easy and sexy banter. Crystal is genuine, relatable, kind, and honest. Scott is caring, sweet, and authentic, and I couldn’t get enough of them together. I also adored their families, especially Tara, Crystal sister (who, I just found out, is the protagonist of the author’s next book and I can’t wait to read it!) and Crystal’s grandmother and Scott’s grandfather who make an adorable couple.

Set On You is an immersive, steamy, entertaining novel. There is slow-burn romance, friendship, and family, but also themes of cyber bullying, body-shaming, acceptance, and forgiveness, as well as a bi-racial component. If you love the enemies to lovers trope, if you adore a grumpy hot male protagonist, or if you are simply looking for a well-written enjoyable novel, then I can’t but recommend Set On You!

I flew through this book in one day - what a great, funny read about Crystal, a Fitstagrammer, and Scott a.k.a. Squat Rack Thief as they navigate new love, family and social media fame.

I really liked the main setting of their love story, which was the gym - it's refreshing to see a confident young woman in what is stereotypically a man's domain - and the overall message behind Crystal's Instagram account. I thought the chemistry between the two main characters was really good and I also enjoyed all of the supporting cast.

Overall I thought the pacing was really good, everything flowed really well and there was never a point at which I was bored. There were pop culture references sprinkled throughout, which was fun. I'm already looking forward to the next book in this series!