I really tried to enjoy Not That Kind of Ever After but it seemed so disjointed and I kept almost hoping it would end soon. I didn't like the MC, I didn't care if she found anyone... I was disappointed.

I don't always need a likeable character but the protagonist in this novel really bugged me for the majority of the novel. I didn't think she was particularly well developed so it was a challenge to watch her make really big mistakes and treat people poorly throughout the entire novel. I thought some of the writing stuff was interesting but generally got frustrated that she was unable to use her imagination and had to do destructive things and use people to get material for her writing. I'm glad it wrapped on a positive note but I'm not quite sure that the protagonist grew at all during the book.

An interesting story about one woman's search for a happy ever after through her attempts to live out various fairy tales and write about it. From Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella to Rumplestiltskin and Snow White, she finds herself in these dating situations and recounts everything on an online writing site. Will she find her happy ever after, or will she keep finding only duds?

I kind of didn't like the main character. She was so hung up on needing to find her Prince Charming, the future father of her children, that she didn't notice everything else happening around her and ended up blindsided when big changes came up. She is very selfish and self-centered. I guess that's what it's like being a single twenty-something? I never was that, so maybe I just don't relate well to her. She does redeem herself in the end, so I guess that's what matters. At any rate, I did enjoy her trip through the fairy tales, and was happy with how things ended up.

*I received a digital ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of Not That Kind Of Ever After. All thoughts are my own.

Not That Kind of Ever After is aptly titled as it did not feel like a normal romance. I enjoyed the difference I felt while reading this book.

When you start this adventure with Bella Marble, you’re instantly thrown in to her headspace as she is trying out her latest date in bed. Immediately, I did not like our main character. She’s vapid and really hung up on body hair and looks.

We continue on with Bella as she tries to find the mysterious and ever allusive “one”. She’s using a dating app called Mirror Mirror and most of her dates are loosely based on fairy tales. Also - the fairy tale theme is done on purpose by the main character as she is also writing a fan fiction chapter by chapter based on her dates. All the while this is going on, her best friend just moved out and is getting married soon to a guy that Bella doesn’t like.

I was kind of sucked into this book despite not liking the main character for so much of the book. I really liked Marty and the shenanigans of the flat mates. It was a fun quick read that followed a very flawed main character who eventually kinda sees the light about her own behavior and then tries to make amends. The patch up scene between the two main love interests was a bit clunky and could have used a little more polish but at the same time kinda feels par for the course for the main character.

Tropes : slow burn, best friends brother, best friend conflict, misunderstanding,

One more thing that did kind of bother me about the side characters is all the stereotypes. They were all kind of hammered home way to much. The gay couple, the fitness woman, the stoners, Marty even were all really big stereotypes that you couldn’t get away from.


Overall, I did enjoy this quick, fun read and a couple of changes could have made this a four star for me.

I liked this book more than I expected to based on other reviews. Some parts were predictable but the different dairy tale chapters were entertaining and at the heart of it, Bella grows up and owns that life has to change if you want to be happy and achieve your dreams. A quick fun read for a lazy weekend or poolside.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins for the arc.

This was entertaining, but not a favorite for me. I give it 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC.

Not That Kind of Ever After is a fun and quick read that I really enjoyed. Bella's someone I can absolutely see most people being friends with and someone with whom you belly laugh about her dating adventures over a lazy Sunday brunch. She grows a lot as a person and with her life goals throughout the book and it was something relatable, not a world tour that changes her soul, but honest to goodness, real life growth.

I'm recommending this to my book club so that I have a "real" reason to re-read it!

4 STARS

This is my first book that I have read by the author Luci Adams and it won't be my last.

The female main character, Bella, seems to be standing in place relationship wise, while everyone around her is finding their happily ever after. So Bella decides to go after what she wants by serial dating anyone and everyone. Bella is one of those characters that you love to hate and hate to love, but still want to root for even what it was hard. This was definitely a lot more smutty than I expected it to be!

If you are looking for a cute, rom-com with some definite spice, look no further!

This book was really cute. The author did a great job of really bringing you in and I felt all the emotions Bella was going through. I loved the dynamic between Marty and Bella. Their banter and friendship was perfectly done. I initially found the book hard to get into but once the story got going I couldn’t put it down. I liked the ending of the book but I almost feel like a bit was missing as I would have like to know a bit more about Bella’s current status (trying not to give spoilers, sorry!).

This was a really nice, fun and clean romance read. Bella was a great character and I loved that she wore her emotions on her sleeves. Who doesn’t love figuring out your own personal fairytale?

Tropes
-found family
-friends to lovers

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ .5 / 5
🌶 /5

Thank you thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to read this book before publication date. I read a lot, but it has been a while since I've read a book that captured my attention so fully. I was unable to put it down. I laughed. I cried. I cheered for Bella every step of the way.

I really tried, but I couldn’t get into it… might try again if I get a chance. I was intrigued with the concept, and grateful for instant approval.

Bella is in a snit that her best friend and roommate Ellie is marrying Mark, who Bella thinks is boring and unlikeable. She says it out loud one too many times and creates a rift. She finds some solace in posting about a date gone bad on a confessional creative writing website, giving her story of woe a fairy tale theme, and B.Enchanted is born. At the encouragement of Ellie’s serial dater brother Marty, she tries to take his advice and just have fun instead of looking for the one, but tries to fit subsequent dates to the fairy tale theme as well. The reworkings are very clever and the stories entertaining.

While there is a lot of hilarity, there is a lot of immaturity as well (for starters, straight out hating the man who makes her best friend happy because she thinks he’s dull), and Bella’s stream of conscious narrative can be too minutely detailed. Still, she experiences character growth and makes appropriate apologies and reparations, and the happily ever after is sweet and fitting.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #NotThatKindofEverAfter from #NetGalley.

As we all know, not every book is for every reader – and in this case, this was a mismatch for me. I was intrigued by the cover art and book blurb, it sounded cute and I was hopeful.

Unfortunately, this one was not working for me – the pacing and writing style were not to my preference, and I really did not find any characters (especially our main) particularly compelling or ones I could or wanted to connect to, and I was having trouble attending to the story or wanting to continue to read.

Thank you to St Martins Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to try an early copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and freely offered.

The descriptor 'fairytale meets feminism' immediately made me want to read this book. I love the duplicity between encouraging females to own their sexuality while also expressing the negative feelings that can sometimes go along with promiscuity. I found the Bella engaging and relatable, however at about 3/4 through I feel like it had yet to reach a climax. When that climax does finally come it is somewhat anticlimactic. The reason that I almost exclusively read romance novels is because of the fairytale and somewhat predictable manor in which they are written. Categorizing this as a romance does seem somewhat misleading and may attract an audience that may be disappointment with the lack of the typical happily ever after. In general the book was enjoyable to read.

Absolute Fire! From the beginning in reverse cowgirl to the ending that completely had me entrantsed. I could totally see this story in real life and it makes it so much better. I read this in one setting and was wishing for more. I can't wait to read more by Luci Adams
I just reviewed Not That Kind of Ever After by Luci Adams. #NetGalley
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Thank you Netgally and St Martin's Press for inviting me to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Gosh, I really wanted to like this book.

Not That Kind of Ever After is about Bella, a head-in-the-clouds 20-30 something year old woman who wants to be swept off her feet by Prince Charming but keeps finding toads on online dating apps. With the help of her best friend's infuriating brother, Marty, she tries to learn about not finding "the One" and go about dating in a more casual style while also going viral for a story she wrote.

First off, I love the cover design. Not That Kind of Ever After has one of the cutest romance covers I've seen in a while and it is definitely what drew me in. Secondly, the summary sounded okay and I was curious enough to jump right

This one was not for me.

I liked the fairytale references. I thought that was a sweet tie-in to the cover and the whole story. There were not very many positives that I could find while trying to sludge my way through this book. The writing style was hard to get passed and Bella is one of the most annoying characters I've read about in a long time. She was grating and selfish and whiny. I do normally like unlikable characters but this was way over the line of just being unlikable.

The writing, the story itself, and the characters were not fleshed out enough to keep me interested and almost nothing happens for a majority of the book. I was curious for the first couple of short chapters but I lost focus very quickly.

2 stars

ｂｏｏｋ • ｒｅｖｉｅｗ

📚 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿
🖊️ @luciejadams
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

If you know me at all, you know that I do NOT read much romance. But you’ll also know that I absolutely love fairytales, and this novel about an aspiring writer struggling to find her Prince Charming among an army of frogs and some major life changes drew me in.

The main character, Bella, is the 20-something friend stuck in a rut as those around her move forward in their relationships and careers. While this felt relatable and her inner monologue contributed to some very funny parts, she is nevertheless quite selfish, childish, and even downright unlikable at times as she clings to seemingly impossible ideals regarding the perfect marriage and finding her Prince Charming.

Elements of the plot were definitely predictable, but I did enjoy the inclusion of pop culture references and modern-day add-ins like the dating app Mirror Mirror, and B Reader, a website for unpublished authors which Bella makes use of, posting chapters about her twisted fairytale sexcapade adventures in love.

I do feel that Bella’s growth seemed somewhat superficial because of her complete lack of self-awareness and justification of her questionable actions, and this made it difficult to feel sympathetic to her plight. Bella’s interactions with Marty, her best friend’s brother, were some of her most real and entertaining moments, and I could’ve read much more about them.

Overall, I found this debut novel to be an enjoyable 3.5 star romcom and would recommend it as a quick, cute read. Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and @stmartinspress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun, witty rom-com that literally started out with a bang and maintained a rhythm throughout the entire story.

I enjoyed this one, it was a fun and really quick read with a premise that kept me interested throughout. I appreciated the raw humor and realistic perspective this book provided on the dating scene, as well as the added benefit of the fairy tale romance aspect that added something unique to the story. Overall a very fun rom-com for those looking for a little something different.

I found myself frustrated with the main character, at times wanting to ask her what she is thinking?? I appreciated how the protagonist speaks her mind and stands up for herself, however there were times she was downright frustrating! Someone recently said this about a frustrating character - it's her journey, not mine. And embracing that makes it all that much better, truly just allowing the story to play out as it's meant to.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

If you're looking for something fun and fluffy, this rom-com is for you. Bella is a 29 year old aspiring writer stuck in a dead end job as a receptionist at a publishing house. Determined to find her own fairytale and her "Happily Ever After" before it's too late, Bella starts on a journey which turns into more of a journey of self discovery which is where the fun begins.

The characters are well written, Bella is a delight and you can't help but root for her. The author doesn't shy away from showing that she's far from perfect, and while she definitely grows through the course of the book, she recognizes that there is still room to grow. I didn't want the story to end! I hope that there is more to come from this author, I certainly look forward to it.

When I read that opening line I thought "oh man this is going to be good" but it didn't take long to realize that it wasn't going to live up to my expectations. Bella is one of the most selfish and unlikable characters I've read in a long time, maybe ever.

The level of dependency she has when it comes to her best friend can not be healthy. I was like "yes Ellie move out while you still can your bestie is one bad date away from going full Swimfan on you."

Another let down for me was that I thought this would be more of a romance. There is no build up and nothing even happens until after 80%.