I loved this novel from Ellie Center! Sweet, romantic, and fun. "Come Here Often" will be the perfect beachside companion this summer.

as much as I wanted to like this book, the premise didn’t match the reality. the main character struggles with anxiety. and i mean Struggles. i kept hoping for any character growth where she would work on herself or take responsibility for her actions, but it never came. the romance in this was not really present. the book description and cover made me think this would be a rom-com… but it honestly was just heartache for the mc. i have a lot of empathy for her, but it would have been nice to see more character development and have her form actual, healthy relationships.

Come Here Often? Ellie Center

Kat Noad is ready to start anew, going to the gym for the first time on her Day of Change, and what a day of change it is. Instead of starting a new healthy lifestyle at Great Fitness, she actually gets fired and dumped within an hour. What follows is a examination into Kat's anxiety and panic disorder, as she can't seem to walk out of the door of the gym...for a WEEK!

While the concept was very interesting, I do feel that the book falls a bit flat. Unfortunately, Kat isn't a very likeable character. She seems to glorify drinking, didn't believe that she had an issue with "Peter Pan syndrome" and was truly selfish. I wish we would have gotten more character growth through the story, but it just wasn't that. I was entertaining at time, definitely wasn't a romance, but it did have an ending that was somewhat satisfying, although seemed to be abrupt.

The audiobook narrator did do a fantastic job of narrating the story, for what it is worth.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an advanced listening copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Definitely not what I was expecting. I received an audio ARC. The description described a rom-com and claimed "Perfect for fans of Beth O’Leary, Emily Henry and Jo Watson." Well, I read The No-Show by Beth O'Leary like three weeks ago and Book Lovers by Emily Henry just yesterday. This is not even in the same ballpark.

Instead of a rom-com, you listen to the inner monologue of Kat dealing with her anxiety. You can have both a rom-com and a main character with major anxiety issues, but this book has absolutely no "com" and just a tiny bit of the "rom". Honestly, tiny may be overselling it. On top of that, Kat is kind of awful and I had zero sympathy for her.

The narration, by Kate Handford, did not help matters. While she was fine, she paused at the end of each sentence- a pause longer than many narrators give between chapters. It was annoying. I typically start books off at 1.25 speed, but quickly changed this one to 1.5. The app I was using only goes in increments of 0.25. 1.75 was too fast for the actual narration, but 1.5 still left extremely long pauses after each sentence. It was frustrating.

I DNFed my last two ARCs, so feeling guilty, I stuck this one out. I wish I hadn't. Thank goodness for Book Lovers in the middle of my string of awful ARCs.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one looked so cute. A woman going through a midlife crisis gets trapped in a gym because of crippling anxiety. It seems like the perfect set up for some great funny, relatable and romantic moments. However, this was much more women's fiction and darker than I was expecting from the book cover and how it was marketed. All that would be fine but I wanted more lighter moments to help balance the heavier focus on anxiety. Mental health is so important and welcome in books and I love seeing more of it these days but this one was hard to connect with for me unfortunately. Much thanks to NetGalley and the author for an opportunity to listen to advance review copy of this book.

At first I thought I could like this book (I enjoy comeback stories) even though I was disappointed this wasn’t going to be a funny rom com like the title and cover suggests..: but this isn’t a comeback story or if it is, it happens so late in the book I am missing it because it’s too draining to read. I can’t grasp what the author was trying to accomplish here.

Kat isn’t someone I can relate to, not because she has anxiety but because she’s so… self-indulgent? Immature? Pathetic? I didn’t want to hang out with her at all. Never would have. Found it difficult to even have compassion for her and I usually have loads of compassion for people struggling with addiction or mental illness…. DNF around 30-40%

This is an author to know. Just when you think you understand the motives behind the characters and the way their story lines are being presented—bam!—It will hit you with twists you won’t see coming! Great version audiobook with fabulous narration.

This book has great comedic timing and some laugh out loud moments but I think it also does a great job at portraying how hard anxiety and other mental health issues are to deal with. I think the story has well rounded lovable characters. I just wish some of the stories were given more time. - Could there be a sequel
#ComeHereOften #netgalley

I really enjoyed this audiobook! It was super cute. The characters and the storyline were brilliant.

Listen if you like:
- fitness/gym talk
-humor
-trying to put the pieces together again
- talk of mental health

This audiobook was about a girl that gets dumped and loses her job and then the downfall that comes after that as she holed up in the gym.

I feel the book was marked incorrectly as really it wasn’t a romance unless you want to call it a very slow burn romance.

Also, I had concerns with the overall plot and movement of the story, but if you like books with gym plots and putting things together you might like this one!

This book had a cover that peaked my interest so much! A bike (like my peloton), working out…and of course romance. Unfortunately this book really only had the cover going for it. It wasn’t funny nor romantic and I almost didn’t finish (I was listening to the audiobook) - sadly I wasted time and finished it but wouldn’t recommend it

A long upset rant about how much I hate this below, includes potential spoilers. TWs for this book are bad anxiety rep and an alcoholic in denial about their addiction and shames people who don't drink.

Yk that millennial humor when they constantly joke about drinking and partying and laughing about how they're a lazy alcoholic. That's our MC here. (She's had DUI's but daddy's lawyer made those disappear.) This book just isn't good. As someone who has anxiety and panic attacks, honestly makes me feel worse about myself. Kate's boyfriend dumps her and her boss fires her to her answer to that is to camp out in the gym she's currently standing in. Hiding overnight in the gym while complaining about her life that isn't that bad. A high paying job she just lost, but a healthy saving account and a boss whos still paying her for the next month. A stable therapist she supposedly had a healthy relationship with until the beginning of this book who she's now lying to. Her dad who she knows who will support her but she refuses to contact him. The only person she's spoke to is her best friend whos giving her some hard truth about her life but now her best friend is apparently a big bitch. She has a place to stay. She can find a new job. etc, etc, but she continues to pout and complain about her life while sitting in a rich gym getting her hair and nails done, flirting with staff members. The owner of the club at one point tell she about they caught a guy living in their gym once and he was fined $10k and spent a week in jail, was happens then? she pouts about how that could happen to her but does she LEAVE THE GYM THAT SHE ISN'T STUCK IN?!?! NO. She goes to the bar to drink and socialize again. It's embarrassing and it makes people with anxiety looks so bad.

Still listening to the audiobook while typing this and i keep finding more to get angry about. DNF: 60% because it's not getting any better.

I appreciate the opportunity to listen to this book ahead of time via NetGalley in exchange for my completely honest review.