Member Reviews

This book was good. I liked the characters and how it ended, the work enemies to lovers and the love story. The only problem is that the chapters are too long. It took me way too much time to get hooked to the book. This would have been one of the best if it wasn’t for this but I recommend it if you don’t mind it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this e-Arc

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I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Hottie on Her Shelf by Christi Barth. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for providing an ARC to review.

The setup of this rom=com sounded like it would be a lot of fun. But the actuality didn't make much sense. Halie and Fitz had tons of bantering with no serious emotional stakes. I didn't understand what either wanted out of life, and neither seemed interested in being mayor. In the end, it didn't seem like anyone won. Especially not me and I was happy when the book ended so I could start on something else. I give this book 2.5/5 stars

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Hottie on Her Shelf is a fun read with a unique storyline. By Christi Barth, this has a small town competition for mayor as the reason for Fitz Montgomery and Hallie Scott to even meet. Like many small towns there are not an abundance of names on the mayoral ballot. In fact, a Montgomery has always been the only name.

This story of friendship then more is also one of loyalty, being fearless and wanting to prove yourself. These are characters who try to be enemies since both are running for the same office but it is impossible. So instead of “enemies to love” it is more “couldn’t be enemies not matter how hard we tried” kind of story. Something we certainly need more of in our lives.

A great read anytime.

4.5 Stars
An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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The last thing that Hallie expected after a fun evening out with her friends is to find herself running for mayor. The town librarian up against the respected family who has always ruled the town is a recipe for disaster and all she wants to do is withdraw until her ire is raised and she is determined to win this fight.

Fitz wants to prove that there is much more to him than his family name and running for mayor comes from a desire to help improve the town. Rather than trying to derail Hallie’s campaign instead he wants to guide her however if there any way for this to end other than in heartbreak when two competitors develop feelings for each other?

Fitz is a wonderful man who always puts the needs of others first despite the consequences to him personally and although Hallie originally comes across as brash as we get to know her we understand why. The romance between them was endearing and the interactions between them are entertaining as they mix politics and love.

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This book was just okay in my opinion. I didn't dislike the characters, but I also didn't love them. I never had that heart clenching feeling when the characters break up and that moment when they get back together. I guess there wasn't enough angst for me, lol. Not a terrible book but definitely not on my list of favorite Rom-coms.

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This book was ok, but I did not connect with the main character and it missed the mark on saturating the atmosphere with romance for me.

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HOTTIE ON HER SHELF By Christi Barth

Hallie Scott expected only a Hangover after her thirtieth birthday, but she was in for a surprise because her BFF added her name for the mayoral election and she is now going head to head with the town's Prince Fitz Montgomery.

😊What i liked -

✔ Enemies to Lover's/Small Town.
✔ Let me appreciate The HOTTIE Fitz for a second. He is everything that one needs. Charming, Caring, Sensitive and did I mention Hot (wouldn't mind him on my shelf🙈)
✔ My new fictional best friend is Megan, I knew she and i are soul sisters when I read - "Megan's bathroom, painted in plate- sized fuchsia and lime polka dots " (and no I don't have such walls in my bathroom or my room)
✔ I absolutely loved Felicia's character.
✔ I loved the banter between Hallie and Fitz.
✔ It's a cute easy read.
✔ My absolute favourite line - "Hate is too strong a word. That would be saved for monsters who Dog-ear pages" (total feels)

🤔What could have been better -

✔ I liked Hallie but she felt a little blah in front of Fitz (For that matter even Megan)
✔ I would have liked a little more chemistry/slow burn/romance between the two.


📚Who Should read :
👶 beginner
💘Romance Lover's
💞Enemies to Lover's
🏝Small Town


📈My Rating : 3.85/5

P.s - I am really hoping for Megan's book now.

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I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This book is a fun enemies to lovers read. I found the banter between Hallie and Fitz very entertaining. Fitz is this suave and charming guy that everyone wishes to have as a beau. The beginning of the novel I found to be very boring but as I pushed further into the story it became a cute Rom Com.

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The mayor of Swan Cove has been a Montgomery for the past 200 years. The current mayor, Fitz, expects to run unopposed, as does everyone else in the town - especially his demanding and proud parents. But Hallie’s friends have other ideas. After she drunkenly proclaims she would make a better mayor, one of them puts her name on the ballot. When it becomes apparent no one expects her to win, Hallie’s stubbornness forces her to see it through. What she doesn’t expect is for Fitz to start making overtures of friendship, or that he’s not actually as bad as she expected him to be. Sparks fly between them as their campaigns get underway, but when it starts to feel like the whole town is against them, their fledgling romance will struggle to get off the ground.

I really enjoyed reading this. The writing is good, the chemistry between Hallie and Fitz is great and they had some really sexy, sweet scenes together. The romance element of this was very good, for the most part; there was a nice level of communication between them and their relationship felt very natural and genuine. The love scenes in this book were very hot and well-written as well.

The external plot was very interesting - it was slightly more complicated than I expected and for the most part I thought this worked very well alongside the romantic element. However, I did feel like the middle section of this book suffered from the political aspect overtaking the romance. There was a lot of focus on the campaigning, the struggles with the Montgomery family and so on, and I felt like the actual romance took a while to get going.

This was a shame, for when there was a hefty dose of romance and politics - as it was in the final 40% or so - this shaped up to be a really good book and was really fun to read. I also thought the ending let it down quite a lot - it was very blunt and whilst there were some good aspects - the way things resolved was quite neat and satisfying - the actual ending was very sudden and I wanted more time to see how the characters reacted to what happened. And an epilogue would have been nice to round things off.

Overall, though, I think this was a very solid book; even though I felt like the middle part was a bit slow it was still very well-written and engaging enough to keep my interest into the much more solid final half. A more well-rounded ending would have been nice, but as a whole this was a good book and I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a light, funny romance. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book.

Content Notes: Corruption, blackmail, classism, multiple sclerosis diagnosis (side character), hospital scenes, on-page sex.

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This book is a super cute Rom-Com that is sweet, spicy and the bantering between Hallie & Fitz was entertaining. While I grew to like Hallie as the book went on, Fitz was definitely the star of this book!

Hallie was your stereotypical librarian, often using large words (that I had to look up more than once) but you could really see her character relax once Fitz came into her life. She truly transformed (with the help of her friends)…changed her hair, changed her wardrobe and even toned down her extensive vocabulary(a bit). It was fun to learn some new words but she did seem to come across as a know-it-all which was annoying at times.

Fitz was my absolute favorite character! Honest, handsome, sweet and genuine. I love all of the volunteering and charity stuff that he does without anyone knowing. The only downfall to him is that he let his family manipulate him for far too long.

I was so frustrated by the snobby Montgomery parents doing anything & everything to keep their status and monopoly on their community! I did feel like there was too much emphasis on their family wealth and history in this book. It seemed repetitive and could have cut down the length of this book. It was also confusing to me why they felt the need to bring her parents' bankruptcy into the election - what does that have to do with her personally?

I loved the close, supportive friendships that both characters had. As an avid reader, I did love seeing Hallie use quotes from her favorite books. I would love to go on vacation to a place like themed cottages that they visited. And mostly, I loved how Fitz broke free the hold that his parents had on him!

I did feel at times the book went on longer than it truly needed to. The extensive vocabulary did get annoying too. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who love a sweet romance. I will definitely be reading more books by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley, Christi Barth & Entangled Publishing LLC, for letting me read an advanced copy of this book! I voluntarily read/reviewed this book & all opinions are my own.

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As the head librarian in Swan Cove, there are many changes that Hallie Scott would like to see implemented in the library and throughout town. After a wild night celebrating her thirtieth birthday she wakes to find that her well-meaning best friend has added her to the mayoral ballot. Her only competition is the current mayor, Fitz Montgomery, whose family has run the town of Swan Cove as long as anyone can remember.

Hottie on Her Shelf is an interesting take on an enemies to lovers romance. While they aren’t enemies for very long, there is conflict and miscommunication between Hallie and Fitz throughout the book. While the banter between them is good, their chemistry is kind of flat. Everything in the plot moved so quickly, their relationship seemed somewhat rushed. There is no epilogue so the ending is left as more of a HFN rather than a HEA.

This is the first book that I have read from author Christi Barth. While the storyline of this one was not for me, I did enjoy her style and plan on looking into some other other work.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC!

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Hallie is your local head librarian. She grew up being poor, from the wrong side of the tracks, a book nerd who couldn’t seem to make many friends. But now Hallie is living her dream job, in a nice town, and she has the best friend group. What will happen when she drunkenly tells her BFF she wants to run for the small town mayor job? Well she ends up on the ballot.

Fitz Montgomery is one mayor in a long line (200 years) of Montgomery mayors of Swan Cove. His family owns most of the town, no one ever runs against a Montgomery in the mayor election. Until now.

Hallie and Fitz confront each other and slowly realize they can be political opponents, but they can also be themselves. When they aren’t running for mayor they form a friendship that escalates very quickly and realize they have so much in common. By day they have debates and at night they spend time together praising each other for a good job, and doing other activities. Wink wink.

I loved all the book quotes, realizing that you may have prejudice against someone but once you get to know them they are not what you thought. Hallie and Fitz were so cute together and they made me so happy! I loved how they put the town first always because being mayor shouldn’t be a status position but one of true action to make swan cove the best town for their citizens.

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Ooh... I liked this one!! Enemies to lover trope with a lot of witty banters, steam and a bit of drama too!!

I liked both Hallie and Fitz - very well developed opposites attract characters. Few of the secondary characters did get on my nerve but the main ones were very much likable.

In between I kinda lost interest but I started enjoying again towards the end. Though
the story felt a bit predictable at times, it was refreshing.

Overall - an enjoyable read.


Note: Received an ARC in exchange of honest review.

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This was a cute romance. A slight enemies to lovers story, though a very mild one. The two MCs never really hated one another, they just simply started out their relationship with a series of misunderstandings. Hallie and Fitz both are running for mayor. This makes the fact that they have the hots for one another a little complicated, especially when the Mongomery family has been running the town for the last few hundred years or so. Hottie On Her shelf was a standard romance story that was a little wordy at times and the ending felt a little rushed, but was an overall enjoyable reading experience.

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I love a good enemies to loves story with great banter between the two love interests. This book was so good with well developed characters and solid character growth. Good competition with a fun newly forming relationship. This book was well written. A great summer read by Christi Barth. She’s quickly becoming an automatic buy author for me! Huge thanks to Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book!

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It was a fun read featuring two well developed characters, they're an unlikely couple and I rooted for them.
The book is very funny and I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

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I requested this book because I am a sucker for rivals to lovers, but this didn't have the kick to it that I expected. The antagonists felt like they were thrown in as an afterthought and there seemed no real conflict, chemistry, or respect between the love interest and main character. There were some cute scenes, but I wasn't a huge fan. However, I think honestly that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought it would because I knew what I was expecting and it wasn't that, so I'll chalk this one up to personal preference.

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I gotta say, I really enjoyed this book! Fitz and Hallie had all the sass, banter, humor and chemistry I need to keep me entertained in a book, not to mention the hot and steamy scenes these two created together. Loved the supporting cast of friends these two had, along with Aunt Felicia. Didn't care for Fitz's parents at all, but the situations that were created were interesting. Liked the ease of this author's writing, very much a page turner. Ending was very appropriate for this likeable couple.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC copy of this book.

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Arc Review‼️‼️ Hottie On her Shelf by: Christi Barth 42/50📚

⚜️My Summary

📚Thank you @entangled_publishing for sending me another awesome read. I truly enjoyed this book by Christi Barth. Thus book was everything bookish and very steamy. The love story of Hallie and Fitz. Hallie a librarian and loved of books and Fitz the town mayor if a prestigious family they met when Hallie made a drunken birthday wish to run for City Mayor. The rest was captivating. A must read.

⚜️Favorite/Least Favorite Part

📚My Favorite Part was when Fitz declared his love for Hallie despite his family.

📚My Least Favorite part was how self righteous and disrespectful Fitz's parentkes and associates were to Hallie.

⚜️Would I recommend?
📚Absolutely!

⚜️Can everyone read this book?

📚For sure!

⚜️Just Read Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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𝐃𝐍𝐅 𝐚𝐭 𝟐𝟑 %.


Aside from the cover that did not appeal to me att all, everything else this book gave so far was nothing but blandness.

Just a shame that the premise sounds interesting but the execution was terrible.

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝑵𝒆𝒕𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒚.

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