Not That Kind of Ever After
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance
Author: Luci Adams
GR: 3.26

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: The premise of this book was cute, I just felt it was redundant in places and dragged a little in other places. I wanted something a little different for this book. Not a bad book per say, I just wanted more. Bella engages in behavior in multiple ways, her dating life, her best friend, and her roommates. I did stick it through until the end. I would definitely give this author another look as there were parts of the book that I really enjoyed.

The story is narrated by Bella, in her POV. I had a really hard time connecting with Bella due to her behaviors. Yes, I understand this is fiction, I just wanted more for Bella. She engages in unhealthy sexual relationships, she pushes her best friend away with her deep resentment with her best friend’s boyfriend, however, I loved the premise of her writing, if it was fiction and not the result of her sleeping around. She really was outright nasty to her best friend’s boyfriend, when he did nothing necessarily to provoke the nastiness. I did like the ending, just wish there was a different direction to get there. There was romance in the last 20% of the book, the rest just felt like aimless drifting. The characters had witty banter, sarcasm, however, it lacked connection until the last part of the book. The author’s writing was crisp, steamy, and flowed well.

I would say read the reviews, all of the reviews out there, and then make a decision on whether to read this book. I will say that I would absolutely give the author another try as I liked the writing structure.

I wanted to like this book. I was drawn in by the premise and when I learned Bella believes she owns more books than the rest of London combined I was all in! But then I couldn’t get past how immature she is. On her first date - all she could focus on was how hairy her date was. Okay - I could handle hearing about that once. But it was over and over and over again - to the point where it became so much that I’m tapping out - this one is a DNF for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

This book was kind of all over the place for me. It was way too long and I felt that there were areas that could have been cut out to make the story flow faster. The idea for the story was cute and I think it had good bones, but the execution just wasn't that great because of Bella. Bella was such a hard character to like. I felt like she kept messing up and not learning from her mistakes. She didn't treat her roommates very well and it sounded like she wasn't the best house mate either. I did not understand why she hated Mark so much. Like I get being very attached to your best friend, but unless Mark actually did something bad to Ellie I did not understand why Bella HATED him so much. It took too long for Bella and Marty to get together and the weird misunderstanding that they had after the first time they slept together just showed how little Bella learned from all the mistakes she'd be making. I did enjoy some parts of the book but Bella really made it hard for me to give it more than 3 stars.

It was kind of cute but I wasn’t into it. The main character, Bella drove me bonkers. Everything she does, she was doing it negatively. I was really disappointed in it. I expected more from it. Too many one night stands, crazy roommates especially her new roommates (I’ve had my share of wild and wacky roommates and my neighbors but none has come remotely close to hers) I’m not understanding how she turned into this person who put up with her attitude for so many years from her parents, her best friend, and her other friends. The world evolves around her. The stunt she pulled on her new man….boy. If I was that man, I would’ve dumped her ass long ago! Her personality just doesn’t change overnight. Improvements takes time especially with therapy.
Maybe it’s me or maybe it’s the way world is and time is changing. I could be wrong. Just too much negativity for me.
I’m giving it two and half stars for writing, and cool cover.

Thank you St. Martin’s and netgalley for letting me read ARC ebook.
As usual, all of my reviews are purely my own opinions without any influence from any publishers.

Rating: DNF

This book was just not for me. It felt all over the place and I just couldn't get into the characters or the plot. The main character was incredibly annoying. I kept trying multiple times to finish this book, but it inevitably put me into a one-month reading slump because it was just not for me.

I had a little bit of a tough time getting into the story. Maybe it was because the main characters life is nothing like mine but I'm not sure. I just had a hard time relating to her in any way. That being said, I thought the journey part and finding herself was sweet even if I couldn't get into it. I liked her relationship with her best friend and how she had to expand herself to find herself.

i was really interested in the sexy spin off of disney classics and i thought it was such a fun idea. i think, though, inasmuch as i found the story really funny; i found bella to be impossibly annoying. it was incredibly frustrating to read her stumble through the plot the way she did and i wanted to shake sense into her so many times.

This was a fun and quick read. It was a different kind of Romance than I was expecting to read. It was a little redundant for my preference but besides for that the story line was good.

Not That Kind of Ever After is a great love story. But it's not a love story between two people, rather it's a love story about one person learning to love themselves. It's about the love of friends and family and the relationships we choose to find with those around us. Equally parts hysterical and reflective, I could not put this one down!

This was an enjoyable romance that I didn't want to put down. I loved the main characters and the story was well developed.

This was a fun quick read! Bella is in her late 20's, an aspiring writer, and a hopeless romantic looking for her happily ever after. After her BFF gets engaged to her least favorite person, Bella vows she is going to find herself a Prince, and profit off her journey by writing anonymously about her entanglements. Add to this some bad news from her family, and she begins an incredibly quick downward spiral.

Overall I liked this book, but for as many things that I liked, there were things that I didn't.

I'll start with what I liked:
-Several laugh out loud moments
-Writing was funny and clever, and kept me entertained
-I LOVED Marty's character

What I didn't like:
-Bella's character - she was only likeable for about 25% of the book, the rest she was annoying, selfish and extreme in her behaviour
-Bella's downward spiral was extremely quick and predictable
-The real romance didn't start until 75% in

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read this ARC for an honest review.

This book surprised me in multiple ways, but honestly, I was a bit disappointed in the end because it seems that the MC did not learn from her journey. I'm glad she fixed her relationship with her friend and friend's fiance by the end, but it all seemed a bit forced by the narrative arc and not natural to what a real person would do. Also, I see the friendship chemistry between her and the love interest, but there were not enough early sings that there was anything romantic developing for them to end up together. I'm glad that was secondary, but it still felt very much random and not well constructed.

I definitely wasn't sure about this book when I first started reading it but then I ended up loving Bella's journey. I love how she discovered herself and how she fixed her mistakes. I wish her and Marty's relationship was talked about more and I didn't like how weird the roommates were and just found that part of the story unnecessary for the plot.

Well, the cover is pretty 😁.

To start off, this book was far too long. There was way too much going on, way too many characters we didn’t need and I kept trying to figure out if someone we were being introduced to was someone that I needed to remember, because the number of faceless guys, friends, roommates, was too much.

The main character was a mess. Normally I don’t mind messy characters, it makes them realistic. But this was just, again, too much. Like I’m amazed Bella had so many people who stuck with her for so long, because she’s exhausting. And they’re always so quick to forgive her? Like, she’s so awful to Marty near the end, and he just sort of forgives her? Like, no ma’am.

Overall, I normally love rom-coms, but this one just wasn’t for me. If you love super messy characters, friends to lovers rom-coms and fairytale tie-ins, you may love it!

Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I liked the cover and the description it had so much potential.. Bella was quirky and kept putting herself out there just for fun. But she had no chemistry with the people she tried to date. Oh my goodness with the commentary during the dates. I know what the author was going for but with me unable to relate to Bella. After trying to hide behind my screen I finally gave in and put this in the didn't finish pile. I'm sure other readers will enjoy it but this one just wasn't for me.

Very grateful to St. Martin's Press for my review copy.

Quick fun read
But quite different take on romance

A Perfect example of how sometimes what we're looking for has always been around & we haven't really been seeing at the right places!

Like the narration of the book though I have a love hate relationship with the main character Bella

Unfortunately I DNF this one around 20% in. It just felt like it wasnt really going anywhere and I felt confused, may give it another chance at some point.

Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This one was 3 stars for me. It was a quick read, cute at times, but also made me feel embarrassed for Bella well throughout the first three quarters of the book.

Her desperate, agonizingly terrible choices in sleeping around, for the sake of a good story, was really hard to take. The best friend theme that interwove itself between all of these horrible life choices, was what made me keep reading. I felt the author did something a little unique in that friendship reigned top theme in the end, rather than romance, and I appreciated that.

Thank you to Net Galley for this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! I thought it was hilarious and at parts relatable if you’ve ever joined the dating world. I also really enjoyed seeing the transformation of the MC and how her priorities and things changed in her life. I highly recommend this book to romance readers or girls ready to give up on dating.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, Luci Adams, and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️

The ending wrapped up nice. The FMC was just not for me in the first half. If you can get past her desperate antics and selfishness, she's kinda lovable. The FMC just stayed messing up, but by the end, her self growth redeemed her. It's not bad, more raunchy than spicy. Not too bad.