I loved the slow burn romance in this. The character development along with the slow burn romance was just absolutely precious. I was so engaged with this book, and I especially loved all the little moments that led up to the two main characters getting together as a couple. I adored the setting and the supporting characters, as well. It is such a cute, and quintessential romance that is so easy to devour.

The Rom-Com Agenda is a closed door, slow burn romance full of pop culture references. In the beginning, my heart ached for the heroine who seemed to pine more for friends and family than the hero! But Eli helping Leah clean is my love language and these two eventually figured it out. I loved the cockatiel and Blanche the cat's judging looks.

This was a super cute romance! I really liked both Eli and Leah’s characters and the storyline of finding love when you least expect it!

This was a cute, closed door book. It was an easy read that felt like I was reading the script from my favorite rom-com movie. From the beginning, I was rooting for Eli and Leah. It was great to read a book about New York that wasn’t centered around the City. At points, the book felt a little long and I was yelling at Eli to get his act together. But I’m pretty sure that was the point. Overall, this book was worth a read and I would recommend.

I was given an Advanced Reader Copy by NetGalley for an honest review.

The Rom-Com Agenda is Eli’s plan to win back his girlfriend, that ditched him and his small hometown for Rome. Eli’s friends, an eclectic group, agree to help him from makeovers to movie lists; they're setting out to make Eli the “perfect catch,” even if they don’t agree that his ex-girlfriend Victoria is the perfect woman for Eli. Simultaneously, Leah finds herself back in the picturesque town of Willow Cove. Leah has a tumultuous past, mostly leaving her with no real place to call home. When she’s roped into helping Eli, she can’t deny how great it feels to be part of a community, a group of friends and to fall in love. Jayne Denke nailed the dialogue and the friendships throughout The Rom-Com Agenda and I appreciated that this wasn’t just a romance story. Love is being accepted, for who you are, in a place where you can be yourself and I adored watching Leah find this for the first time. The Rom-Com Agenda is out in early January 2023 and will be the perfect winter read for cozy days!

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this book!! It had everything that makes a rom com great—unrequited and unexpected love, lovable characters, crazy, well meaning friends and a HEA—I was sold. Highly recommend!!

I absolutely adored this sweet gem of a novel. It had heart, characters that were distinct and wonderful, each with their own voice, and witty banter. I love novels that show so much of the falling in love process and we don’t have to spend all of that time in the protagonists’ heads hearing about it. The conversations were excellent and definitely felt like a callback to the oft-referenced When Harry Met Sally romance, which, to me, is a definite plus. This was a cozy romcom that made me want to seek out more of this author.

This is a perfect cozy snowy weekend read! The characters are all so sweet and caring and the story will give you all the heart warming feels.

Not at all steamy, just a sweet enjoyable read that teaches you about friends who become family.

For the most part I found this story to be without complex conflicts or dilemma, but a nice escape.

Leah and Eli are adorable! I love a good rom-com that is in on the joke of the tropes in its own story. If you love a good clean slow burn, this is the read for you. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I requested to read and review this book for free from St. Martin Publishing Company. This is a story of love, forgiveness, acceptance and self worth. It was so good I didn't want to put it down. You will meet Leah someone that doesn't know what real love is and has had to learn to stand on her own two feet and get herself through. Eli who loves with his whole heart even though he may not make sometimes the best choices. And the Willow Cove gang will keep you guessing where they are going to pop up next. This book is for a mature audience and can be read anywhere.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Rom-Com Agenda. I love a small-town, found-family closed door romance for a lazy weekend read. Leah and Eli are engaging, well-drawn characters and I enjoyed seeing their feelings for each other grow over time, and that Eli’s affections were able to slowly switch to Leah without making his ex into a villain. I would love to read other books focusing on the colorful supporting cast as well, The little glimpses we saw of their personalities were really fun. I thought the author did an excellent job of dealing with grief without overwhelming the light, fun feel of the book. The rom-com framing had enough allusions yo great rom-coms and what to learn from them without becoming gimmicky or relying too heavily on them to drive the story forward. Really enjoyable.

I really enjoyed this book! Eli’s makeover - with all of his friends helping him - was hilarious, and I loved how Leah kept getting dragged into their schemes. Her endless jobs both amused me and horrified me, and the side plot with Victoria worked perfectly and was a satisfying conclusion to their beginning breakup/fight. Please tell me there’s a sequel!!

Great slow burn romance with fully developed characters and a wonderful ending.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC. I truly enjoyed the story which I felt was an elevated Rom Com. Sure there are tropes, but I felt like they weren't as infuriating as they can be. I felt like the author really fleshed out the characters and it felt like a full story not just a romance. And I would absolutely watch this as a movie as well!

This is book was really cute. Although Eli bothered me at times I overall enjoyed all the characters. Loved the movie references, overall I really enjoyed this book!

I really enjoyed Jayne Denker’s, The Rom-Com Agenda. I am rating this book 4 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Leah Keegan is a foster child who ends up in Willow Cove, a beautiful town in Upstate NY. She loves with her foster mom, Cathy who is the most steady parent she’s ever had. After leaving to go away to college, she returns to help tend to Cathy’s health in the last months of her life as she has cancer.

Leah works multiple jobs to be able to save up enough to leave Willow Cove, but before she can, ends up finding friends who become family and a deep and true love in Eli.

I loved the premise of Leah helping Eli’s family to get him all fixed up for his sort of girlfriend Victoria. Having Leah involved was a cute plot line. I really enjoyed the slow burn of Leah and Eli’s relationship and how deeply connected they were.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an eARC in exchange for a review of this title.

I will preface this by admitting I read mostly contemporary romance books. There are some things I did not like about this book but that could be more that I'm tired of reading books that have so many similarities.

Let's start with our two main characters: Leah and Eli.

Leah is an independent woman with mommy issues (a trope I am incredibly exhausted from in the contemporary romance genre... if I never read a book with a dead mom (or two) again it will be too soon). I think it was fresh and great visibility to have Leah be brought up in the foster care system but I think that aspect could have been delved into a little more especially considering that's her entire personality in the book. Leah has never felt settled anywhere because of her tumultuous upbringing. Besides that, there really isn't much to her. She really has no personality.

Eli is a man in love with love... and it's frustrating... in a bad way. Having to read more than half of this book before Eli realizes he's being the biggest idiot in the world is not good angst. If he were like 22 it would be more forgivable but he's 31 and so obtuse it's aggravating. I liked his comparison to Romeo but also he has no personality.

I enjoyed the cast of secondary characters. I will admit thought I did not realize Ben was black until the third to last page. It could have been my fault and I just missed it but no part of this book did I realize Ben and Jenna were a multiracial couple until literally the third to last page. I think there's a story between Delia and Gray that was built up well and I would like to read.

Overall, this book was just okay. I think both main characters were incredibly flat. The dialogue was good and the writing was good. I just wish we got more about who the characters are. I also wish we would have seen Leah maybe go to therapy? Like she admits that she's traumatized by her upbringing but I think it would have been beneficial to see her seek professional help as well as finally find the family she's been wanting her whole life.

The Rom-Com Agenda by Jayne Denker is a quick, fun, cute read. I did feel that the makeover scenes lasted a bit too long. Great secondary characters as well, I hope this isn't going to be a stand-alone.

The Rom-Com Agenda by Jayne Denker was a cutesy feel good novel about Leah, who came back home to take care of her foster mother as she battled cancer. She overheard an awkward proposal from Eli to his girlfriend, who was leaving to spend a year abroad. When she turned him down, his friends try a makeover to make her love him, and Leah gets swept up in helping when they venture into the store she works at.

Overall it was a cute story that clicked all the boxes, although I felt that they dragged the makeover on for far too long, (could Eli really have been that dense?) and throwing in the foster mother's biological son just to make a few waves could have added so much more to the story...but it didn't.

Thanks to the author,St. Martin's Griffin. and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This was an easy, fun read. Loved the nod to romantic comedies and what we can learn from them. Fans of rom com movies will love that element of how they tie in the key components of romance in movies to real life.

Leah is back "home" after having left school to come care for her foster mother as she passed away from cancer. Having experienced a lot of loss including the death of her birth parents and the foster care system as an older child, she doesn't actually feel like she has a home or family. She finds herself pulled into a makeover plan for Eli who is determined to win back Victoria (the woman of his dreams that turned down his marriage proposal before leaving for Europe for a year).

Eli's sister and friends decide that if he is determined to win Victoria back, he needs a makeover from his clothes to his hobbies and everything in between.

This makeover is what pulls Leah (who has jobs everywhere all over town) into the group of friends, experiencing belonging for what might be the first time. If only Eli could see that he doesn't need a makeover to win the true woman of his dreams, Leah.

Cute, sweet.

Triggers: Adoption, Loss of Parent(s), Foster Care,