What a fun read! I like Sora. She works from home and wears old tired clothes. I used to work from home and I totally understand the draw to being comfortable. Her life is such a mess. As the book progresses the messes seem to be her normal. I like how some of her messy men drop into the story. But she is a freelance writer and she begins writing an article empowering women to take a month off men, no dating, no hookups, nothing. But then she meets an old friend from elementary school. Now he is all sorts of fine. Can she really give up a chance to hook up? I thought the book was cute and fun. Fabulous ending too!

I was excited to start reading this book, but was quickly disappointed. The premise of the story was cute, but I felt like this story reads like a Kathy comic come to life—the over-the-top emphasis on eating chocolate or other silly “women things” that make me roll my eyes. I wanted to like this one, but it wasn’t my destiny.

I can tell how good a book is by how quickly I read it. I couldn't put this one down! The banter between characters had me laughing out loud. While a key storyline is swearing off men and dating, it doesn't bring the energy of the book down. Sometimes that storyline can feel very negative and boring for me, but this book managed it really well. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a light, fun, laugh out loud kind of read.

This book was so cute! I loved the idea of "Solo February" and how that can have a different meaning for everyone. I loved Jack and Sora's relationship and the friends-to-strangers-to-lovers trope played out. Jack was a cinnamon roll character for sure. Although both MCs had their flaws, I think they were written and dealt with in a way that was easy to follow development. I liked the side characters as well. I think Jack's niece played a large role in this cinnamon roll character trait. The only thing I was not a fan of was the "third act breakup". I feel like the resolution of the breakup happened too quickly. Overall, this was a great story about holding out for the one you truly want until they are ready.

2.5/5 Stars

Okay so I have many thoughts about this one and most of them are not good.

First and foremost being a mid-size girl myself I always love to see the representation but how it was played out and represented in this book rubbed me the wrong way in so many ways. The main character Sora had a very toxic attitude about other people weight and and eating habits and I think it was supposed to be that she was trying to normalize it but it came out the opposite. It made me feel almost uncomfortable reading all the off handed comments she constantly made.

Also there was no chemistry between the love interests from where I was sitting. But I do like a good friends to lovers trope so for that reason I did not hate their relationship completely.

The premise of this caught my eye and I was hoping for a fun, light rom-com featuring a romance-averse protagonist who meets "Mr. Right" when the timing is all wrong.

Sora's #gosolo plan to stay single during the month of February is compelling though not super high stakes. A month is not a long time to wait to be with the man of your dreams. And yet...

Ultimately, I could not get into the story and root for the romance between Sora and Jack due to how the plot was unfolding and the switching of POVs between Sora and Jack. I think their inner monologues were a bit awkward and stilted, Jack's more so than Sora's. I would have preferred to only have Sora's POV. Also, bacon was mentioned on almost every page. Loving bacon is not a character trait. There is a lot of focus on body image throughout.

Of course, reviewing is subjective and while I am sad this did not work out for me, I suspect other readers may be charmed by the plot and chemistry between Sora and Jack.

Many thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC via NetGalley.

Sora is having a bad time with love. She is divorced and finds her dog and bacon to be the only thing in her life she can count on. As a freelance writer, she pitches a series on being single in February called #GoSolo. The articles are super popular, but Sora reconnects with a childhood friend, Jack, who is also single, or is he? Sora is hesitant to start anther relationship and wants to finish her #GoSolo series. This book has a HEA, but there is a lot of drama to get there from both Sora and Jack. Being from Chicago, I enjoyed the references to the city, but the story was a bit flat. I didn’t quite believe them together.

This book was really cute and an easy read. I thought the premise of the book was great and would recommend this to others!

***I received an arc in exchange for an honest review
I thought that the concept of this book was good but the execution was very lacking. The body commentary was not necessary

I loved this book. I always like to think what I would do in these situations and the author nailed it. Thank you for this incredible novel.

This book chronicles the everyday frustrations of a single woman who has despaired of finding a decent partner and has resorted to taking a one month hiatus from dating and having any relations with the opposite sex. Sora's period of celibacy becomes public and is complicated by the arrival of Jack who presents all kinds of temptations and threatens her resolve. I found both main characters very relatable, the situations more realistic than other books of this genre, and could not resist rooting for them. This quick read kept a steady pace and required minimal effort to remain focused on the story. Would recommend freely.

Sora is a freelance writer and Jack is a talented chef. They were childhood friends and Jack had a crush on her. I do feel like Sora is pretty judgmental in her opinions on others bodies which I did not like very much.

DNF at 32%. I am honestly so triggered by the blatant fat phobia in this book. First of all, size 14 is not a bad size. The main female character is OBSESSED with bacon to the point it’s distracting, as well as being such a stupid cliche for a “fat” character. The male character is formerly fat and was called “Piggy Jack” by a bully. Honestly I cannot suffer through a book written this poorly with mean characters that criticize the MFC.

Really and truly incredibly disappointed by the blatant fat phobia and fat shaming obsession in this book. I don’t know how something like this gets published in 2022.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Truly disappointing!

I was granted instant access on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review…. To be honest, if I wasn’t reading this for NetGalley, I probably would have DNF this book. When I get early access, I feel like I owe it to them to give it a shot. But in the month it took me to get through this book, I read other more enjoyable books.

Let’s start with what I liked, which isn’t much… I enjoyed the self care/do what makes you happy. I’ve #gonesolo to focus on self love, and feel like it’s a good thing.

The banter between Jack and Sora was also enjoyable.

Okay so next up, dislikes… Sora’s articles are dull. I wound up skimming to get through. Her boss is toxic. She can’t even follow through with her pledge, yet she’s the one that created it. Like honey, why.

Characters are unlikeable. Body shaming sister/mom. Caring so much about people being perfect. The only character I really liked was Allie(I think that’s her name(the niece)). The others were blah and had no great qualities.

Bacon every 2.5 seconds. Don’t get me wrong, I love bacon as much as the next girl, but it was overdone. The book should have been called ode to bacon.

Overall, I’m going to give this book 2 stars, because I don’t like being too harsh… but at the same time this one was not for me.

Sora and Jack knew each other in elementary school, until Jack left after the fourth grade. Sora is coming out of another failed relationship, and starts the #GoSolo challenge, to spend February dateless and getting to know herself. Then they bump into each other at the grocery store and sparks (and exes!) fly. Will Sora break her pledge? Is Jack too good to be true? And what's up with his ex?

Overall, I enjoyed this book, with a few caveats. It was funny and flowed as you'd expect. Sora is a smart character but needed to undergo some growth. There are plenty of family dynamics, which we slightly get into but could have been a deeper dive. I love that she had a rescue dog. The biggest caveat is how they talk about food and weight. Sora and her mom's dynamic is very familiar but that doesn't make it healthy (not that the author is trying to say it's healthy). However, the thread continues throughout - with how Sora judges and thinks about others (and the words used, like "gross" bellies), how she thinks about food, Jack's focus on how he was a chubby kid. I know people are like this and have some of these thoughts myself but oof I wish there was more of a balance or at least realization about it. The other piece that was more confusing to me is how Jack thought of his ex, Mal. I don't see why he thought she has no heart when he also saw all the other pieces and felt empathy for her.

This is a no spice romance book, told from two POVs. Fair warning about the language used throughout regarding body sizes and food. Content warning also for pregnancy loss.

The premise of this book is the perfect rom com setup, a female writer swears to go solo for February and give up men writing about her solo journey for her job, only to meet the perfect man while doing it. I loved that they tried to include body positivity and have a size 14 character, but I wish they had talked about size, and dieting, and salads less, it didn’t add to the story and missed the mark on being body positive. I appreciated the representation of different ethnicities in this book. I wanted to love this book and give it 5 stars, but the falling in love in this book was a little too instant and lacked depth to me, and that is the backbone of any good rom com for me. The main characters were quirky and likable, and the premise was cute, a fun easy read. I received an ARC and this is my honest review.

Delightful rom-com with characters to love. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of Sora and Jack, rooting for them the whole way. The characters have great chemistry and banter and Jack's grand gesture makes the ending perfect. Also love the fact Sora adopted a disabled dog -- so many disabled dogs and cats wait a lifetime for forever homes.

Thanks NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.

Also reviewed on Goodreads

I wanted to like the book but I had a problem with the way Sora obsessed with what other people ate, their bodies, and weight. To me that was cringe-y as all get out. To me it was just body shaming people and well that is unacceptable even in fiction.

Okay... this book wasn't horrible but how many times did this author need to bring up bacon?? By the 10th mention I was annoyed. I did go ahead and finish it and I didn't hate it... but it definitely wasn't my favorite I've read this month. It was pretty predictable. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reading this book.

A cute laugh out loud romance perfect for lovers of the unhoneymooners.
Our Mc is a curvy bacon loving woman who has had bad luck in the dating department, she decides to write an article for solo February to boycott valentines day but the hits keep coming. She runs into a childhood friend at the grocery store who has had a serious glam up- think brawny paper towels guy. But also her ex husband and surprise surprise brawny hottie ex shows up too. They manage to reconnect and flirting and escapades continue. Also an adorable dog is involved!
This was a cute and fun story on growth, love, friendship and being happy with who you are-bacon lovers unite!