This was a very cute and very fast read from Jayne Denker. I didn't love this book and the characters a whole ton but I did like how it wrapped up.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

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

My first romance of the year and it was not as I had hoped it would be, sadly.

Leah is an adult child (and caregiver) of foster mom who has recently died and Eli is a universally liked dude who likes teaching kids sports. Leah witnesses Eli proposing to his girlfriend of four months who is temporarily moving overseas. He's rejected, of course, and spends the next several months wallowing over a woman he thinks is "The One."

Fast forward a few months and Eli's friends (a group of individuals I couldn't tell you anything about except for maybe the bisexual Gray and his sister), convinces Eli to get a "makeover" to get his not-fiance to take him back when she comes home. At every turn of the makeover, Leah is there and eventually they become friends. Much of the makeover requires the viewing of rom-coms to "change his personality."

After a while, Eli realizes he is in love with Leah. Because DUH.

Sigh.

First, the characters are pretty darn bland. The MCs are cute and have some interesting backstories, but their motivations are spelled out to us. I'm not a dumb reader, I can absolutely understand that Leah's fear of settling down and being vulnerable is because of the losses she has had in her life. I need it SHOWN to me, not written out. Eli is painted as this awesome guy, but he leads Leah on for a very large portion of the book! The secondary characters are not fleshed out to the point it feels like there are too many of them.

Second, this book is the result of someone wanting to write about a lot of pop culture references. And it's not done particularly well, either. In fact, it was downright boring. It leans so heavily into the "I had no idea I was in love with you" trope, which I don't really understand to begin with, that it drags. There is so little pushing this plot ahead that I literally fell asleep reading.

Yikes, sorry. I feel mean. It did have some sweet parts to it and I didn't HATE all of it. They're just not sticking out to me right now.

Anyway, this is the equivalent of a bowl of generic vanilla ice cream. Sweet, but pretty boring, yet I am sure there are plenty of people out there who enjoy under-seasoned and spice-less romances like this one.

3 stars ☆ I liked the tropes in here which are found family, friends to lovers and even a slowburn.

I really liked Leah, I was more invested in her as a person cause she's just so sweet, kind and ambitious. She's amazing.

Ethan on the other hand... I wasn't really fond of him especially him pinning or just mentioning his ex gf all the time- like we get it. But I just couldn't stand it.

I think Leah and Ethan were perfect for each other despite what I mentioned about him. I just need him to focus more on what's happening to him at that moment that still pinning/can't let go from the past.

Overall, it was okay. It just didn't really hit for me. I still enjoyed most parts from this book

From a distance, Leah sees a man proposing to a beautiful woman and then sees that woman destroy his heart by saying no. Eli is now on a mission to win his girl Victoria back by turning into a man straight from a romantic comedy. But like a romantic comedy, it’s never the cold hearted girl who gets the guy, is it?

REVIEW:
This book for me was 3/5 stars. This book was a slow burn. As slow as molasses. And the male interest only comes to terms that he loves the girl after he finds out that his ex has moved on? It’s a no from me, girl. I would have liked for him to figure that out on his own, without his ex having anything to do with it. & what does he do when he finally gets the girl? Goes to the airport to pick up his ex and fix her relationship with another guy.. I felt like this story would have been fine without the ex showing up in the end. The found family trope was great, the female love interest’s back story was beautiful and showed her strength. So it was disappointing to me that in the end it still seemed like she was the second choice. This wasn’t a bad book, but it just didn’t scratch that itch for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this in exchange for a review :)

So when you ask me what my fave trope is, I will always say friends to lovers or small town romance. And here, I GOT BOTH! It's just too good! There were a couple bits of just "cliche" romantic comedy content but thats what I signed up for with a book called the Rom-Com Agenda. And honestly, I LOVED IT. Now Eli on the other hand will not be making it to my top lists of book boyfriends. But I can get over that because of Leah and how cute the vibes were. DEF a book to read in Winter! I also love the found family aspects of this story. For sure hope that the author continues these characters because I would die for a book on Delia and Gray! Overall, a solid 4 stars!!

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute read! I am big into rom coms these days and it definitely scratched that itch for me. I'm looking forward to reading future titles by this author! Thank you for the ARC copy!

There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with this book but for some reason I had a hard time getting into it. I did really like some of the tropes used and the found family element was cute. Definitely a good book, but not really for me. I’d recommend to someone who wanted this type of read though.

Cute story for fans of found family, and friends to lovers tropes!

Leah spent a year taking care of her sick foster mom, before her death, and now works several odd jobs to scrape up enough cash so she can leave town. Eli was dumped by his girlfriend Victoria before she moved to Rome, and he’s willing to do anything to get her back. His sister and friends decide to make him over into someone Victoria would love, and the makeover includes watching a lot of rom coms to up his romantic game. Leah gets roped into helping out, even tho she thinks the whole thing is silly, and that Eli doesn’t need to change who he is for anyone else.

The story had a ton of potential. I loved Leah and the strength of her character, I loved her and Eli’s friendship, and I loved the friend group so much. I wish Eli’s storyline with Victoria wouldn’t have been dragged out for as long as it was, his blindness to the situation grew to be a little cumbersome, and I wanted to smack some sense into him. I also felt like one of the situations left us hanging in the end, instead of resolving with a bit more of the story. Overall I really enjoyed the story and their blossoming relationship, I just wanted a bit more from it!

Thank you NetGalley and st. Martins press for my arc in exchange for my honest feedback!

I wish I had loved this book. I really do. I love 90s rom coms and was excited to see a book focused on movies but it… wasnt that? There wasn’t much “rom com agenda” at all. And the characters felt very one dimensional. It felt like Leah’s only personality trait was being an orphan and Eli’s only personality trait was trying to win back his ex. The premise was good it just wasn’t for me unfortunately

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of this book!

This story follows Eli, who has just been broken up with by his dream girl, and Leah, who is content being alone and wants to get out of this small town.

Eli is on a mission to win back his ex. His friends are helping him by giving him a complete makeover - both outer appearance and doing some inner work. Leah gets roped into this as she continues to have run ins with the gang around town. She even starts to befriend Eli and his friend group. That is, until she starts to develop feelings for Eli... and possibly Eli the same.

I was instantly hooked on this one from the opening chapter. Eli getting broken up with, and Leah being witness to it all, it was a good amount of drama to draw me in. I wanted to know who the girlfriend was and how she could be so mean - and what about her had Eli head over heels?

As I got to know the characters more, they started to bother me. Eli was hung up on someone who did not seem to reciprocate at all and the way everyone around him wanted him to change everything about himself just rubbed me the wrong way. I suppose it is my own fault I didn't like this one as it is the whole premise of the book.

None the less, it made for great character development and a feel-good friends to lovers story. Despite my dislikes I decided to rate this one high because it did draw me in and was a feel good story that I would recommend to all of my rom-com lovers.

DNF @ 42%

Unfortunately, this story bored me. I kept holding out to feel some sort of connection to the characters and the romance but that feeling never came to be.

The Rom-Com Agenda is a classic "makeover" story. Leah and Eli and are such a sweet pairing, and even though Eli spends the book trying to win back his ex, it is fun to watch his relationship with Leah blossom!

I really liked this book except for the fact that Eli pines for his ex for so much of this novel! Like I'm trying to read about a current romance not the one in the past! I enjoyed all the rom com references throughout! 3.25 stars

**3.5 stars**

The Rom-Com Agenda was a super-cute small-town romance that focused on Eli and Leah. Eli has plans to get the love of his life back, and Leah is reluctantly dragged into the situation. I loved Leah as a character. She was sarcastic and witty, but relatable. I also liked Eli and his dynamic with Leah. However, there were so many times I wanted to slap him upside the head and be like "look at what is in front of you!!!" 🤬🤬 I really liked the found family trope that was present in this one and a lot of the references to the 80s and 90s for a little nostalgic feel. Overall, a cute romance read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an e-ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

This one was cute, but was a little toooo slow for me. We follow Leah and Eli, who live in a small town. After accidentally overhearing Eli getting dumped while proposing to his girlfriend of 4 months before leaving to study abroad, Leah tries to make sure she doesn’t run into him. Eli doesn’t know she overheard - so to him, the only person who knows what really happened at the breakup is his ex girlfriend across the world. Instead, Eli’s friends and family determines that if he really wants to win his ex back when she returns, he needs a full makeover. Leah, trying to stay afloat financially after helping take care of her foster mother before her passing, has a bunch of random side jobs as any way to make money.

She gets roped into helping with Eli’s makeover. The makeover consists of more than just clothing, they have him watching movies to learn how romantic he should be, down to even learning grand gestures. Throughout this time, Leah and Eli become pretty great friends and Leah finds herself wanting to stay in town because she loves this little group.

So lowkey, we get friends to lovers, which always manages to melt my heart. ALSO, it happens to just end. No warning. No epilogue. And I’m still salty about it because WHAT HAPPENS? It left a ton of room to probably come up with your own happily ever after for them, but that ain’t for me - I need details and confirmation.

This had a really cute premise and a not very cute execution. Boy gets dumped by girl and spends the time she's away trying to transform into a "better" version of himself via rom-coms and help from his friends. Cute, right?

He spends the whole book trying to win back a girl he dated for four months that doesn't want anything to do with him. He is thoughtless and cruel to the gal who ended up being his girlfriend by the end. I don't have the exact page count but it was over halfway and he hadn't moved on from Girl #1 yet but was kissing girl #2. Girl #2, Leah, only deserves good things.

The writing was find but if this is a series, I'm probably not going to continue. Some of the side characters were cute but I can't deal with a clueless hero like this a second time.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Jayne Decker for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

This an adorable rom-com read, perfect for the Valentines Day season of love. What starts as a friendship between Eli and Leah, with the goal of Eli winning back his ex, Victoria quickly seems to turn deeper (maybe before either Leah and definitely Eli realize it). With a cast of fabulous characters in the friend group and fun nods to 80s and 90s rom-com movies, this becomes a delightful read that one could quickly fly through. Now, I hope there will be a book to follow this so we can learn the fate of Gray and Delia's story!

I always love a good rom-com and this book is one that I easily fell for. It easily checks off the list of cliches of romcom like a meet cute, slow burn friends to lovers, a make over and a found family too! It really is the best of best when it comes to the genre.

Synopsis:
"Inadvertently drawn into the makeover scheme, Leah ends up being Eli's guide through the wild world of meet-cutes and grand gestures. Even though she believes Eli doesn't need to change a thing about himself. Even though she just might be falling for Eli and Eli falling for her"
Review:
Firstly, I'd like to thank @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this #gifted ebook.
The premise was really cute: help a guy with a makeover, using classic romcoms, so he can win back his lady.
I just think the delivery was a little lacking. It had all the bones of a great story, just didn't quite get there for me. I think this could actually make an excellent movie.
1 do like the references to all the great romcoms from the 80s, but I really wish that more time had been spent on diving into those and seeing how he made changes based on the information. It was there, but maybe not as much time spent as I would have liked.
Again, as I was reading, I could see this playing out on a big screen and I think it would be fantastic!

DNF @ 37%. My interest waned from the first 5%, which is never a good sign. I found (what I read of) this book to be frustratingly written and full of too many immature, annoying, uncharismatic, unnecessary characters. Unfortunately, it's boring as hell. Eli grated on my last nerve! I wanted to climb through my Kindle and smack some sense into him! Even though Leah is good character with a seemingly solid head on her shoulders, I just couldn't get over my seething dislike of Eli long enough to finish this book. He was so hung up on his very short-term ex that it raised a host of red flags and icks for me. Leah deserves better than Eli. I love the friends-to-lovers trope, but I did not believe for one second that Leah and Eli were friends, nor could they be lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jayne Denker, and St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.