A new f/f celebrity romance. Yay. The main character Nina is hard to like in the beginning. She has gone almost invisible for the last three years since the a bad breakup. She works for a talent agency managing celebrity email accounts which she can do from her condo in the suburbs of LA. She is good at her job but she wants to be a tv writer. She is called into meet a client Ari, an up and coming queer actress. Ari is said to be demanding by the agency (a couple of times) but she never appears that way in the book. Nina and Ari hit it off and go on outings together. Actually the getting to know each other is very wholesome with easy going talks. Nina in the mean time also reconnects with her core friend group. A really big deal in the story is “chosen family” but these people never reached out in three years. They even joke there was a rumor that she died. It didn’t fit the story well.

Obviously Nina and Ari become more to each other. And I like that the change is realistic and gradual. Everything is told from Nina’s POV and a lot of time you feel her anxiety and how poorly she thinks of herself. Of course she can’t change until she is ready. And the middle of the story seems to go very slowly. I did like the story over all but it has a few flaws I’ve mentioned. Ari is almost too good to be true other that her one action that causes a little drama.

If I get a chance to vote I like the newer cover with the blue background more than the original cover. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC in exchange for a review. (3.5 Stars)

I absolutely adored this book! It felt queer through and through, the romance was SO full of yearning. Great fat rep. Honestly the only thing that would have made it better would be dual POV. I wanted to see Nina from Ari's POV. but Nina was incredibly relatable, the plot was rich and enhanced the romance. I loved the full cast of friends and family 🥰 would definitely read again.

I really liked this book. I liked that it "follows" the standard romance formula BUT that it has a few hallmarks that make it it's own and distinguish it from all the other "romance novels" out there.

There's almost nothing "too fast" or "too anything" about this book. It takes a beautiful pace, which some may find slow when comparing with other novels on the market, but I think that if we think about romance novels as both about the development of a relationship and also as the individual's growth and development, we can see how this novel more equally prioritizes the two and I appreciate the attention given to that.

The friend group (plus Lorna) are a great complement to the star duo and it's a lovely way to showcase the diversity within the sub-genre as well as the full and successful lives of these women.

Tropes: Celebrity Romances; LGBTQ2+

If you are a fan of celebrity rom coms like Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald, it is highly likely you will enjoy reading For Her Consideration by Amy Spalding.
What is For Her Consideration about? The story revolves around Nina, a Hollywood agent's assistant whose dreams about becoming a screenwriter and being in a relationship shattered when her ex girlfriend broke up with her. However, a surprise meeting called by Ari Fox, a queer young actress on everyone's radar, stirs up all kinds of feelings Nina thought she'd deleted for good...
Even though the promise of the story is entertaining, it strikes me that it was badly executed. I am going to set forth my views in For Her Consideration and how it should have been improved.
Firstly, the narrative pacing was excruciatingly slow. Some chapters of the book could have been summarized in one paragraph and the author paid heed to scenes that were not relevant for the development of the plot. Were I the Author, I would have wrote the story concisely.
Secondly, the main character's narrative voice. Even though Nina is a complex character whose insecurities are worth to be explored, I believe it was repetetive and did not contribute to the plot development. To my mind, the author could have prevented this by adding Ari's narrative voice, turning the book into a dual POV one. By doing this, the reader could disconnect from Nina's negative thoughts while they keep enjoying the story.
Despite all this, I will give Amy Spalding credit for her prose. Thanks to her writing style, the book is easy to understand. Another aspect that is worth mentioning is the representation (lesbians, no binaries) throughout the book, which I consider important to be featured in every story. Even though I would not recommend the book overall, it’s important to mention that this novel highlights the importance of platonical and familial relationships, which may appeal to other readers.


Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange of an honest review.

For the past three years, thirty-two year-old Nina has put her life on pause following a toxic breakup. She doesn’t date, doesn’t pursue her career goal of writing for TV, and doesn’t even speak to her best friend from college. She’s essentially coasting through her days, while working an unfulfilling job and visiting her great aunt weekly. Thankfully, things are looking up.

Spalding’s main character is easy to relate to in times of heartache and lack of motivation; the true gravity of how many ties she cut at the end of her last relationship though, only becomes more and more apparent as the story goes on. It’s almost hard to understand how it could have progressed to that point, even if Nina lives all the way out in Santa Clarita.

For Her Consideration was an easy going read without too much drama or anxiety-inducing scenes; however, it was difficult at times to stay captivated by the story. Nina’s apprehension with moving forward in life was reciprocated by my own lack of desire to finish the novel. Once the main relationship began, I already felt a sense of completion and had to push myself to keep going for the remaining half of the story.

It was at no fault of the complex characters, their relationships, or the well-illustrated setting, but because of the low-stakes vibe. Of course I wanted Nina to get her life together and get back with her love interest, Ari. There was just a lack of imminent need for it to happen any time soon. I didn’t feel the heartache quite so deep, I didn’t feel the pain. The strongest emotion was apathetic indifference, which is very realistic, but not attention grabbing.

If you are looking for a cute Hollywood story with found family, good queer representation, and a happy ending, For Her Consideration will do just fine.

I received an ARC from Kensington Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This Sapphic celebrity romance started off soooo strong! I was truly rooting for the two MCs to find their HEA but then the story draaaaaaaaged so much in the middle I just kept wishing for the end to come. That said, it did have great found family relationships, amazing Fat rep and a believable and heartwarming slow burn romance. Good on audio and recommended for fans of I kissed a girl by Jennet Alexander or Something to talk about by Meryl Wilsner. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanna start with the positives, which is that I really loved the writing style, the character growth, and this gorgeous queer found family.

All of these characters that surrounded Nina were beautiful, wholesome people that I would 100% love to be friends with. They had such big hearts and loved Nina so, so much and all the moments with her friends were genuinely my favourite moments.

I also really loved Nina’s relationship with both her boss and Max, and the way these relationships grew over the course of the book. Max in particular was an absolutely adorable delight.

And Lorna and all of her retirement village friends were so much fun to be around. Honestly, this entire cast shone so vibrantly.

It was Nina that I couldn’t vibe with. I understood completely why she had the hangups she did and as someone with pretty bad anxiety and intrusive thoughts, I understood the conclusions she came to. I just found it frustrating to read about. I hated that she wouldn’t just use her words and I think, more than that, she felt weak as a character. I just couldn’t sympathise with her no matter how much I logically understood, and it really made this book difficult to get through at times.

And I think that despite how much I liked Ari, my dislike of Nina meant I felt no spark in their relationship. I genuinely didn’t feel invested in the outcome. I wasn’t rooting for them as much as I should have.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for providing me an ARC in exchange for this review!
For Her Consideration has been on my radar for awhile now. A plus sized woman and her hot celebrity crush? Sounds like a dream. But this was very flat for me. LA was the third main character. With no knowledge of the city, the heavy reliance on street names, neighborhoods, and restaurants made the book feel a bit like a map. I also wanted to love Nina, but she could be so insecure to the point of frustration. Ari was an okay as well, but the fast that she called Nina “Nina Rice” almost every sentence gave me the most intense ick. This was just not the book for me. I don’t have a ton to say beyond that it was okay.

Nina Rice has spent the last 3 years ghost writing celebrity emails for a talent agency. Back in the day she had been consumed with trying to be a screen writer. Her time management skills lacking (among other things) she was dumped by her girlfriend and dropped by mutual friends.....or so she assumed. She works from home and fiddles around with a screen-play sometimes.
Ari Fox is an up and coming celeb on the radar as someone to watch. Out and proud, Ari wants to ensure that any media drops containing her name are authentic. When the two women meet we are set off in a romance with humor, food - which made me hungry and doses of social media!
I liked that Spalding wrote Nina as a flawed but curvaceous woman comfortable with her plus-size. Ari pulls her out of her comfort zone. She begins to enjoy old friendships once again after misunderstanding are cleared up. Lorna was a stand out in the side cast - all nicely fleshed out. I hoped that Nina would finish her screen play since that would tie up the storyline nicely. A bit of angst then we have a happy ending.
This is my first read of the author's work and I look forward to more from her.

I really liked this book! There were several Ari/Nina interactions that had me smiling as I read. “Tell me you’re an option”….I died 😍 Ari was such a great character. Her vibe, her caring nature, her style…10/10! Obsessed! Nina was fine. It was so baffling to me that she would just ghost her entire life, solely based off the criticism received during a breakup…twice. How did her friends originally not come search her out?! How did she just never talk to them again?! Girl was wayyyy past due for some heavy therapy. I love a good celebrity romance set in LA, and this book made me wish I had a crew of besties livin’ it up together on the east side. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that had characters I wanted so badly to be friends with in real life. Also, I was living for the plus size character who was simply allowed to be a happy plus size person. The book didn’t do a deep dive into excessive body positivity, fat phobia, weight shame, etc. Nina was a normal girl who just happened to be in a plus size body. Love to see it! I gave this four out of five stars. Took a star off because I just found some of Nina’s insecurities to be too exaggerated and unrealistic. I definitely would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun and fresh romance! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed this book!

Nina was a really good main character. Other than the consistent need for therapy that she doesn't get until late in the book, I liked her and understood her motivations. Her relationships with the people around her were really realistic, I think sometimes books can get either too deep or too shallow when it comes to women and their friendships but this one really nailed it.

Speaking of the friendships, the found family energy in this book was strong. I like found family when it's done right, and this book really did it well. The whole group was strong as a unit, but they all had distinctive personalities and motivations that came together really well. And Aunt Lorna? One of the best characters. I love her. I feel like a vaguely parental but also kind of badass figure is a staple character in a lot of my favorite books, and this one was especially fun and well done.

The romance. Oh, the romance. I think Ari was one of my favorite love interests that I have read so far in 2023. She was funny, honest, and just so well written. The relationship between Ari and Nina made sense and was sweet and enjoyable to read, and Ari as her own person was such a strong character with depth and complexity that I really appreciated.

This was the first book I read by Amy Spalding, and I really liked it! If you want something cute and fun to read, this is definitely a good one to pick up.

Huge thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Setting: Los Angeles, California
Rep: sapphic fat FMC; sapphic love interest; multiple queer/POC side characters

This was ... eh. Okay. Fine. A bit basic. A bit boring. I didn't think the characters had much chemistry to be honest, and the writing left a lot to be desired - there was a lot of cringey unrealistic dialogue. I read a previous Spalding book several years ago and hated it but decided to give her another go, but this will be my last as the writing hasn't improved in 5 years.

This book had some really great, flirty moments, which I'm always eager for, but ultimately it didn't really work for me for a few reasons. One is that I don't know LA well, so I don't know what the implications are of something being in Larchmont Village, for example, without additional info. And then Nina was just not a terribly interesting character to me. You get to write any character in the world, and you write a bland wash of Starbucks and Diet Coke and Grey's Anatomy? I'm begging for something a little more imaginative. The tension in the book didn't draw me in because I didn't care that this relationship but Nina's job in danger because the job was obviously not the most important thing in her life? And then the pacing was off, like breakup came too early, Lastly, the prose was perfectly serviceable but I felt it relied overmuch on things like brands and places to stand in for character details, sensory experiences, etc., instead of using actual language and artistry to convey these things.

I had so much fun reading this book! I love a Hollywood romance, and the one between Nina and Ari was so lovely. I’ve read stories with writers before, but never one like Nina where she writes emails as different celebrities. I loved the “meet cute” of sorts that these two had — coming together for the sake of Nina getting to know Ari’s voice better for said emails.

The romance was lovely, but the thing that I kept going back to was Nina. She isolated herself and her mental health took a bit of a nosedive after a particularly bad breakup. Yes, this book is a romance, but it’s also a story of healing and growth as Nina starts to figure out what she wants her life to be as time has gone by after the breakup that broke her. I could relate to Nina in so many different ways, and watching her grow and struggle through challenges with her platonic and romantic relationships resonated with me so much. Amy Spalding did an incredible job with this one.

Oh my goodness. I loved this book so much. There were several lines where I actually laughed out loud, getting strange looks from strangers in public while doing so. The chemistry between Ari and Nina was so clear, and so infuriating. I often am bothered when the main problem is miscommunication, which Nina OBVIOUSLY needs some practice in, but it actually made sense in this story. I could absolutely see myself as Nina, convincing myself that my exes opinions were wholly true and changing aspects of myself because of it. Being scared to open up to others out of fear of being hurt like that again. And the way that they broke up was realistic for the way that Nina had been feeling - completely ghosting. What surprised me was that Ari didn’t show up at Nina’s house to fight for her.

The amount of unconditional friendship and love shown from the people that Nina had ignored for 3 years was incredible and aspirational. I wish I was as good a person as her friends seem to be. I would also write a TV show about them if I was Nina.

I would have LOVED to read Ari’s side of everything. This story would have changed drastically with her perspective in there.

4.5 stars, thank you for allowing me early access to this book. It is one that will stick with me for a long time to come.

Great sapphic romcom about a celebrity and her email ghost writer.

I love that this wasn’t just a story about Nina and Ari, but also Nina reconnecting with her friends and discovering more about herself along the way. Quirky and supportive secondary characters made the story even better.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for For Her Consideration to come out February 21, 2023!

This was a DNF for me, sadly! The writing and the characters did not engage me enough to want to finish the book and I had to try to convince myself to keep going. I felt like it was quite flat and not very interesting. Maybe people who really enjoy books in this setting will like it more. Thank you for the ARC in exchange for this review.

Fun, romantic story. L.A. is a great setting and nice backdrop. Main characters and friend group are interesting.

A sweet love story about Nina, who shut herself away after a breakup and Ari, the actress she works for. Nina tells her truth- that she's conflicted, confused, unhappy, and in some ways bored but she's got a decent gig working for celebrities. Ari, who is out and proud, takes her breath away but it takes time for the two of them to advance past the work and friendship. Can they be happy together? You bet. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A fun read.

I really really loved this book, the story and the characters!

I found myself really identifying with Nina, and it reminded me of the importance of reading books with characters who aren't exactly like me. Thank you, Amy Spalding for a beautiful love story that included space and time for both characters to grow and change. And not only did I love Nina and Ari, but also their extended friend groups, and of course Lorna and her friends!

Thank you to NetGalley, Amy Spalding and Kensington for the ARC