I had a difficult time connecting with the main character, Bella, but it was a fun rom-com read. Not my usual preference, but I am glad I read it. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley.

I got to about 31% of this book and stopped reading. I didn’t like the characters. Didn’t really connect with the plot. I just thought this one was not for me.

So many things to unpack in this one, but the one that stood out the most is I couldnt stand the female MC.
She was soooo selfish and honestly every time she realized how awful she was being she went ahead and became more awful.
Ugh I dont know also I felt like she was super clueless and I hate female MCs that are dummies.
So that was that.
To say that this book didnt make me laugh would be a lie bc it did, make me laugh, but it also brought out some rage, Im lying not some but a whole lot.

Mare~Slitsread

I think I knew from the first line of the book, that it wasn't going to be for me...but I trudged on, and indeed found that it was not for me. I'm not sure if it was the humor or something else that I didn't "get" but this book missed the mark for me. I ended up DNF'ing the book and would not recommend reading it.

All opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to be an early reader!

Bella Marble's life is not what she imagined it to be. She's a receptionist at a small press instead of an author, and single instead of happily married. Her best friend is getting married to a boring man named Mark. Bella spends time with Ellie's hot brother Marty, who tells her she should have fun and not look for "the one". This leads to her posting a fairy tale style retelling of a bad one night stand on an app, which goes viral.
I didn't really care much for this book. It seemed promising from the description but the actual book was a bit of a letdown. A lot of the issues the main characters faces are ones of her own making. It wasn't terrible but it could have been better. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

I DNFed this novel, I tried on more than one occasion to pick it up and read it only to find myself needing to put it back down after reading two or three chapters. The elements of the story definitely seem like ones I should be able to connect to, yet for some reason I found that I could not. The beginning had what felt like an attempt at a satirical edge, but for me came off more as flippant and a bit depressing.

It gave me some chuckle moments. It felt very cute and light, but also had some sulking moments from the FMC, which wasnt to bad. It was almost like an inside peek into how some authors get started, but it also gave me some repeat vibes (but not bad enough that I didnt want to continue reading)
It was my first book from Luci Adams, and the ARC read was fun.
It felt very much like a novella even though the length was more full book.

Not that kind of ever after is an adorable romance book. I love that this was a book where the parents had this incredible romance. I also love the fact that the protagonist is in her twenties. She’s disappointed that she’s about to marry a boring guy and that she won’t get the swoon-worthy romance her parents have. This book is adorable and funny!! I read this while recovering from knee surgery and it was the perfect distraction.

Not That Kind of Ever After is the story of Bella, a woman stuck in a rut who decides that she wants to meet her "Prince Charming" so she goes on a journey to change her life and meet the man of her dreams. Yikes... this one was a DNF for me. While I enjoy reading Romance books, I was absolutely not expecting the massive amounts of sex scenes that were in this, starting from page 1. Bella was a character that I could not get on board with. She was just like a character from "Mean Girl." Rude, snobby, self absorbed, and apparently became a sex crazed maniac on her journey to self discovery to find her soul mate.
The writing style was very hard for me as well. The sentences were a bit choppy and the book (the parts that I did read) had no flow to them, so it was very hard to get transported into the story. I realize this was the authors first book, and while I think the idea was cute the execution fell very short for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my review and honest opinions.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Do you want a cheesy rom-com with Disney and fairytale references? Do you not mind a cliche quirky and immature main character? Do you like friend drama in your rom-coms?

Pre-reading:
I wanted something shorter than the 500-page fantasy on my TBR, so I picked this, and then I looked and it was 400 pages so buckle up. I smell a bucket romance.

Thick of it:
You know, you can tell me you don’t like romcoms, but no other genre makes me almost do a spit-take every single opener.

Always with the karaoke in romcoms. (Only mentioned, no horrible singing scene included.)

She's typically #quirky and relatable

So much Harry Potter in rom-coms.

And there are so many bookish rom-com leading ladies.

Bitch needs to grow the fuck up. How old is she? (29.) She's behaving like an 18-year-old and an immature 18 at that. (Middle school. This book has middle school drama.)

Aw, is it gonna be beauty and the beast? (Never acknowledged.)

I would read the hell out of that book.

Oh, Wattpad.

I also morbidly love bad writing.

It’s a little heavy-handed and obvious about who the fairytales are gonna be. And I can’t decide if I hate it or if it’s just like an acceptable level of romcom cheese. (I’ve decided it’s cheesy, but fine.)

This bitch is supposed to be 29. 29. Major Disney adult vibes.

I might be a little in love with Marty

No, Mark should definitely be the one to apologize. He shouldn’t have even been in that conversation to begin with. Fuck that guy.

No, you don’t have to wait to talk to your friend because her partner is rude and judgemental towards you. Your bestie should recognize that and not want a partner that sees her friends as the enemy or looks down on them. Major red flag.

No wait, I’m sorry, how can you not be a feminist? That’s literally just wanting equality. Fuck that line.

No, that’s a valid criticism. You’re 29 and at work and you play games on your phone all day instead of doing your job. You’re not always the victim here, love.

This date is literally like reading a different character. Where has this girl been this entire book? This is who I want to read about. (You will never see her again.)

This scene is even more annoying to me because someone doesn’t grow up this much in the span of a few days and the girl in chapter 1 is not the girl we’re seeing now. This book should’ve just been about this girl from the start.

It makes me want to read Book Lovers again. I miss my sharky blonde.

How on earth are her extensions so cheap?

Maybe it’s the Capricorn, or Scorpio, or Virgo- whichever, pick your poison, in me but under no circumstances, would I apologize to a man who told me how to live my life and tried to control my sex life, nor would I ever let my friend be a partner with someone like that. Fuck this guy.

She’s reverted in character again, and I dislike her. She’s not consistent this whole novel.

Scorpio season everyone fuckingggg. (Infallible trope.)

Post-reading:
This book is fun but wildly inconsistent with its main character. In no way does she read like a 29-year-old. She has the emotional maturity of a middle schooler. This girl goes from being delusional and naive, to sassing a man into changing his fuckboy ways, to a threesome participant, and back to being codependent with her best friend. That’s going to turn plenty of people off of it. If you want just a cheesy romp of a romcom with fairytale and Disney references, this is fine. The love interest is a good boy. If you were a fan of Wattpad growing up, you might enjoy this.

Who should read this:
Cheesy rom-com lovers
Disney and fairytale fans

Do I want to reread this:
No

Similar books:
* Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee-bookish friends to lovers romance
* Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson-bookish romance with family drama
* Too Wrong to Be Right by Melonie Johnson-bucket rom-com with family dynamics, friends to lovers
* Ten Rules for Faking It by Sophie Sullivan-dating around to find herself only to end up with the friend that’s been helping her rom-com
* Book Lovers by Emily Henry-bookish romance with family dynamics
* The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang-practice dating and family drama romance
* The Hating Game by Sally Thorne-bookish enemies to lovers romance with family drama

Sometimes the most obvious answer to your disaster of a dating life is directly under your nose, or standing on the side lines poking fun. A quirky banter between friends can be the best blessing in disguise.

This book has some really fun side characters that I really enjoyed. Bella is someone who needs to take more charge in her life. Bella is convinced by another character to just LIVE, so she finally takes a shot in the dark and little did she know how much things might change. This was an upbeat, rom-com style book and it was pretty easy to read. I don't think it would be my favorite by any means, but it was enjoyable for the most part.
Thank you NetGalley and the Publishers for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I will be posting a review on my instagram page as well within the next week.

DNF @ 3%! Honestly, I considered dnfing after the Irish sentence, but decided I should read at least a little further. I’m all for spice, but that was just icky in more ways than one. The main character seems dumb and oblivious. Any woman in her right mind would know the stranger she just decided to sleep with is a sleazeball. I’m not going to waste my life on terrible books when there are so many great ones.

Bella is an obnoxious main character. The side characters are more interesting and the whole modern fairy tale element gets grating. I found myself skimming at parts. She does change but it was too little too late for me.

I really enjoyed this book. I will say throughout the book there were some slow spots & you could tell how it was gonna end, but the book kept me wanting to know more about Bella. I laughed & smiled quite often at the banter between characters. For it being a debut novel-I think it’s awesome!

What is your favorite fairytale?

Not That Kind of Ever After by Luci Adams
Available on March 14th.

Not That Kind of Ever After is fun, flirtatious and relatable. It was a witty read that kept me smiling throughout. The main character is Bella, a spunky and sometimes a bit ditsy, single author who is looking for her happily ever after. She and her friends are sarcastic and witty, and they have lots of enjoyable banter. Heart-wrenching scenes are interspersed with "get your head-on straight girl" moments. I had a great time with the book and recommend it to those looking for a sweet story.

Thank you NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press, for sharing this incredible book with me. Your kindness is appreciated. 4/5

Not that kind of Ever After is a Cinderella type story. It is set in London. I struggled to stay interested because there was too much drama and randomness. Lots of sex scenes.. nothing over the top but when the book opens with one, it's just weird. It is on the longer side and seems it will never end. On the plus side most of the chapters are relatively short.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

Ok, so I received this through netgalley and was excited because the plot seemed like it would be my type of story. But, I think this book just wasn't for me. In the end I just could not stand the main character and that ruined the book for me. She was immature, judgmental, and so selfish and the way she talked about her best friends fiancee was just so awful. I did like that at the end because she realized her actions (helllo she is the villian) and started changing for the better, but I wish it happened sooner and we got more of Marty because he was obviously my favorite character and I would have loved it if he was featured more in the story!

There are several chuckle-out-loud moments in this novel, which is about a woman in her late twenties who aspires to be a novelist but has been stuck as a receptionist for a literary agency for years.

Her other goal besides being a writer is the traditional happily ever after resulting in a ring and a white wedding dress. Along the way, through bars, parties, and online dating apps, she meets her share of guys who fall short of Prince Charming. There’s the hairy guy who she turns into a story that harkens the big-bad wolf. From there she continues dating and writing about her experiences and posting them in an online forum. As her followers, comments, and “likes” increase, she gets a little heady with the power of being liked by strangers, which leads her behaving pretty terribly to people who actually know and care about her.

Parts of this got really redundant, and it’s one thing to read a novel in which the protagonist has to face challenges like an actual bad guy, a disease, a terrible circumstance, but it’s much harder to commiserate with someone whose problems are entirely self-created.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES FEBRUARY 16, 2022.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I'm not totally sure why. It felt a little raunchy. I like romance but this just didn't appeal to me.