The Rom-Com Agenda is a lovely and endearing book! It is the perfect combination of humor and warmth, and the witty and sharp banter between Eli and Leah made me so happy. What made me even happier were Leah and Eli themselves; they were delightful and charming, but there was an edge to them—especially Leah—that kept things from getting sappy. I laughed a lot, I fretted a bit, and I loved it all.

Thank you St Martin's press!!

The characterization in this book was on point! I love a funny romcom that references the best of the best romantic movies of the 80/90s. This was definitely a slow burn romance and if you're down for near misses this is book for you! Definitely a book to binge on the beach!!!

This is an adorable, albeit maybe a bit cliche, romance book. While it’s not a book that will make a lasting impression on the reader, it is a fun and enjoyable read. I recommend it for anyone who wants a fluffy friends to lovers story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

With that being said, this book just wasn't for me. The premise in the synopsis reminded me of a 90's-early 00's Rom-Com movie and sounded like fun, so I gave this a chance. Maybe the problem is me, or maybe it's the book, but this just didn't work for me.

The male lead here didn't feel realistic to me, and his moping for months and months after the girlfriend of his short-lived relationship refuses his marriage proposal was just sad. The way his friends suggested they make him over sounded fun in the synopsis, but felt so superficial and fake in the actual story.

I was too disappointed with the characters and the story so far to keep going, so I unfortunately need to DNF this book. A younger me would probably have kept going, and maybe would have enjoyed this more though.

A rom-com book about rom-com movies!

The premise of the book was nice but I feel like it could have been better executed. Individual parts of this book (especially those revolving the rom-com movies) were cute and worth reading, but the overall plot and pacing seemed off.

Some of the characters seemed immature. If this was a book about young adults (late teens or early 20s), this would have been more believable.


For most of the book, Eli pines over an ex-girlfriend who has dumped him. He only knew her for 4 months and tried to propose before she left on an oversees work-trip. Immediately, that seemed like a red flag. As the book continues, he is bling to see what is in front of him and accept that his past relationship was not perfect.

Leah is overworking herself and wishing to build up enough savings to move. She has past trauma that she works thought and an a**hole for a foster brother.



Read if you like:
- Friends to Lovers
- Found Family
- 80s and 90s romcoms

Thank you to Net galley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good friends to lovers book, but this book kind of fell flat to me. I felt like there wasn't really a "friends" part; from the moment they met there was mutual pining that was very frustrating to read because if they had just communicated with each other they wouldn't be having those problems.

I also found the pacing to be a little weird. For the first two-thirds of the book, the story kind of dragged on with them doing little activities and makeovers, which were fun to read, but then all of a sudden in the last third of the book, so many things were happening with Patrick coming to the house and Victoria returning. I kind of felt like I was reading a whole different book with the pacing shift.

Overall, I thought this book was cute and I definitely had fun and enjoyed reading it, but the execution fell a bit flat to me.

I typically eat up friends to lovers, and while this book was cute, it wasn't everything that I hoped it would be. It was cliché and I didn't love the characters, but the writing was great.

This was a super sweet and super cute lil friends to lovers story.

Eli wants to win his ex back. Leah is just trying to save up to get the hell out of Dodge. She accidentally gets roped into a Sandra Dee style makeover of Eli’s whole life so he can get his ex back.

I loved Leah and Eli’s relationship together. I love that this took place in North Country and made so many lil Upstate NY references that will be lost on anyone not from North Country/Central NY (I spotted that Dinosaur BBQ reference!).

It was a tiny bit frustrating to watch Eli be so freaking dense, but the payoff was well worth it. In general this wasn’t anything earth shattering, but was super fun to read.

I'm a huge fan of rom-coms so of course as soon as I saw the title I knew I had to read it. I wasn't *entirely* disappointed.

It was a fun read and I loved all the pop culture references in the book but that was all. I didn't really felt conected to the characters and the romance between the two mc was just off for me. I did like how the author wrote the friendship between the whole group even though it felt a little too much sometimes, and there was way too many side characters so it made a little hard to know who was who sometimes. Another bad thing was that the sideplots didn't really worked.

This was a fun read!
I really enjoyed the writing of the characters and how realistic they each felt. I've also never read a book with a character who was from the foster system so that was interesting for me.
The slow burn romance had me rooting for Eli & Leah the entire time.
The Gilmore Girls quotes made me very happy as well.
Overall, if you're looking for cute and cozy book to read next to a fire or in bed once it comes out in Janaury, this one is for you.

This book was exactly what I needed, a good rom com. It was so fun and endearing to read and i loved every part of it. I couldn’t recommend this book enough to people!! Can’t wait to get my own copy!!!

Your honour I love them!! Ahh it was one sweet and loving story with Eli and Leah as one adorable main characters! I loved their friendship and romance it was swoon-worthy to read about

Endearing and sweet and features one of my favorite tropes! Friends to lovers! I loved Eli (sigh) … and did anyone else get Schitt’s Creek vibes from the small town? Everything was adorable. You’ve been warned…. You won’t be able to put this one down once you start!

The Rom-Com Agenda by Jayne Denker is absurdly cute, and easy to get into!

This book was exactly what I needed — a fun read laced with humor.
The Rom-Com Agenda is a textured story of friendship and family
Being in the town of Willow Cove was inviting, welcoming and so delightful.
This book was a fun and very engaging story.
I loved the storyline and how easy it was to follow the story of these wonderful characters.
Which they were well developed and very relatable. Her character development was outstanding.
The uplifting story and the slow building chemistry between Leah and Eli is so charming and loving it will leaving feeling all the feels!
The author did an amazing job at making you feel like you were invited along for the journey.
Fair warning.... once you start reading, you won’t be able to put it down.
An irresistably fun, witty rom-com that was pure escapism… Exactly what you want from a romantic comedy.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

St. Martin's Griffin,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of The Rom-Com Agenda by Jayne Denker! 

What an adorable read! Set in a small town in upstate New York, it gave me all the Hallmark feels and would be the perfect cozy winter book. I loved watching Leah and Eli's relationship develop, and the slow burn was worth it! It's written closed-door, but still romantic with plenty of swoon-worthy moments. 

Tropes- Friends-to-lovers- Found family
What I liked:
- Small-town setting with lots of quirks. Super cozy and endearing!
- Fun, silly banter between MC's and side characters
- All the references to classic rom-coms. It definitely lived up to the title!
- Leah and Eli's relationship was just so sweet.
- I love the found family trope, and this book delivered. The side characters were so fun. I'd love to see more books written in this universe, but centered around different members of the existing cast!- Good pacing (I flew through this book!)

Overall, I really enjoyed The Rom-Com Agenda. It felt like a warm hug in a book and it would be perfect to read over the holiday season, or any time in winter!

I was having withdrawals from reading cute/uncomplicated romance novels and this one didn't disappoint.

Eli and Leah were so cute together and I loved all of the movies the group had Eli watch during his romantic hero transformation. I did agree with Leah though about how if you need to completely change everything about you for your potential partner to love you then maybe they're not the one for you.

The only thing I wish was different about this book is the pace of it. The storyline felt like it kinda dragged and then the ending was rushed. I wish there was more time for Leah and Eli and that Patrick really got what he deserved in the end. For being so awful throughout the whole book, I wasn't satisfied with how Leah dealt with Patrick. THAT part should have been a grand gesture (and not a good one for him).

Loved this exploration of what we've been taught to expect versus what we really need - how have classic romcoms set us up for success or failure? Jayne Denker perfectly balances hope and grief in this sweet story of finding love in all forms when we open ourselves up to the possibility. It's a great romance but also a story of finding your people, the friends who become family. If you've ever felt lonely, The Rom-Com Agenda will give you hope for a community, and love, waiting for you to find it.

The Rom-Com Agenda is a fun, and sweet read. I read this novel pretty quickly but I found the two main characters, Leah and Eli, to be endearing. I found this book to be very reliant on tropes and as both the name and description would suggest, it does take bits and pieces of popular rom-com movies and weave them into the story. However, I think the characters are strong enough to make this novel a solid read. Overall, I would rate this a 3.5/5 and I would recommend to someone that is looking for something fun and easy to read.

Things to like about this book (the reasons I would recommend it):
- friends-to-lovers - It was done well, without either of the characters falling hard too fast. The pacing for this was good, which made it believable.
- dual perspective (which, if you’ve read any of my other reviews, you know I love…. I don’t think I’ll ever stop liking this, unless someone really botches it)
- found family - Leah was a foster child and comes back to care for her foster mom when her son couldn’t be bothered to; points to her for being an awesome human being and putting up with her foster brother, who is definitely not a prize. The side characters made this book a lot of fun to read.
Things that I didn’t necessarily not like, but annoyed me a little bit:
- quite a few clichés
- Eli’s obsession with getting his ex back when she is so obviously not interested. He’s willing to change everything about him to get her back. How is that worth it? And after way too long, how can he still not move on - they barely spent two months together! This part was just not at all believable.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me a digital copy of the book. The opinions above are my own honest opinions.

Phew! Let’s begin with the fact that it was hard for me to get over the end of this book. I feel like I need more. This book definitely does justice to the title. You will relive the love for certain classic romcoms and it’s chef kiss. It has found family and it’s in the friends to lovers trope (also, small town!). It has it funny moments but it also has moments that leave you thinking about life. There are a couple of characters but is not hard to follow. Eli and Leah were perfect for each other since the beginning. However, it was kind of hard to see him so focused on his ex when Leah was there for him. A worth to read love story, my heart is full.

Like I said on the beginning I would have loved to read a little more of Eli and Leah’s happy ending.

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spicyness: 🌶🌶
Pub date: Jan. 4, 2023

P.S loved the references of Star Wars @jaynedenkerauthor