I have to admit, I am a sucker for anything that has a tech-y vibe. With the phone being on the cover, it was what I was expecting and I was not too disappointed. It was cute, but I had a hard time relating to the characters and therefore was not as invested as I like to be. I do think that it was a cute read, but I likely would not read this book twice.

This was a sweet quick read, it was hard to get into but once I did it felt like the pages just flew by- the only note I would make is developing the characters connecting earlier.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book started off slow for me and it was hard for me to get into.

This was a cute story. Little rough around the edges and found it hard to connect with the characters.
Was an ok read.
Great cover

I really, really enjoyed the fact that our two characters were mid-30s. They were both at different crossroads in their lives which happens just before you hit 40. They weren't at a mid-life crisis point, but they were both missing "something" to make their lives more fulfilling.

Having said that, I think the plot went off course often, which lead to a bit of confusion.

Spoiler alert, spoiler alert, spoiler alert:

I could never figure out what was the reasoning behind Louise and her "fiance" starting IVF treatments. It was never established why they wanted to become pregnant before getting married. I'm not making a case on why people should or shouldn't have a baby before being married, but it was never really explained WHY they wanted a baby so badly they had treatments before being married.

We find out later about Louise's fiance and who he was really in love with, but it was odd how that all went down.

I liked the chemistry between Louise and Blake. However sometimes the romance became a subplot to the water foundation and Goldies.

While this story didn't totally click for me as a romance book (it read more like Women's Fiction), I'd love to read something else from the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Escape Publishing for providing me an e-copy of UNDER THE INFLUENCE to review.

I rate UNDER THE INFLUENCE three out of five stars.

I wanted to read this book mostly because I thought the cover was super cute. I wanted to like this one so bad. It just wasn’t there for me. I didn’t like any of the characters, nor the plot or writing style. I had to power my way through it because it was all over the place. I ended up scanning through the last half of the book instead of thoroughly reading it because I had lost interest. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Escape Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beer at 9am? Yes!
I really enjoyed this story. I think it had a bit lack of romance development, but still I liked the story and how the characters found their way through rough times.
It was a funny, bright, short romcom.
Love all the superman references.

Louise and Blake are both struggling in their lives. Blake with his family as well as keeping his business afloat. Louise, on the other hand, with her relationship, her job, and her fertility. The two end up meeting and continuing to bump into each other serendipitously over and over.

I enjoyed this book and the major personal growth that we saw throughout the story in both Blake and Louise. However, I felt that the first 50% was a bit slow to get going, while the last 50% was kind of jam-packed in an effort to wrap things up. That being said, I did really like the last half of the book and the author definitely left me wanting to see more romance between Blake and Louise!!

This book was cute! It was a little rough around the edges - the plot was a bit clunky at times - but I read it on vacation and it was the perfect light summer read :).

Thank you NetGalley and Escape Publishing for the earc!

I’m not going to lie, the cover really made me wanting to read this book.

I thought this was going to be some sort of a romance book with the main characters travelling around Peru and developing feelings for each other. In a way it is but, to my disappointment, I did not enjoy much of it.

The characters didn’t get to me, the plot was okay and the development too, but the characters… I wasn’t able to like any of them, and I don’t know if it’s because of the type of writing or what, but this made me enjoy this book much less.

When some ‘important’ sides of the plot are mentioned, you would think they would appear later on, but they did not, so the most appealing part (for me) of this book was missing.

To my biggest disappointment, the romance and the enemies to lovers parts weren’t well portrayed, so… Yes, this was not a book for me.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review *

2.5 stars

Somehow, the pacing of this book just didn't sit well with me - and it didn't really feel like the romance aspect was particularly developed. I didn't really end up relating to either of our MCs either, but I definitely feel like that was a me problem rather than a book problem.

1 star
I made it just over 10%, so maybe that's not a fair shake but the storyline jumped about 394 times in that small sample.
There are or no less than a dozen references in that time to Lois lane when the main character's name is Louise lane which I felt was completely unnecessary unfunny and probably irrelevant..
The stereotypical you're a typical rich Bad boy didn't seem to have any substance and of course there's already a broken engagement twist...
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not going to lie, this one wasn't for me. I tried so hard to like this one, but it just did not hit the mark in my opinion. I wasn't a fan of any of the characters really, and it started out so slow that I found that I was forcing myself to pick up my Kindle to finish it. I thing I was at 62% of the way in before I was able to just sit and power through the rest of it. I'm sure that this book will be enjoyed by others, but I just couldn't seem to get into it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Escape Publishing for providing me with an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Okay so I really liked this book because it was set in Sydney, and that's always a bonus. Because for once I can actually identify where the book is set. I also liked the characters, they felt very real and relatable. I also really liked the way Karina May wrote this.

Overall it was a good read, and I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

I really enjoyed this story! I was sucked in by the cover, title and book blurb, It definitely kept my attention and I really enjoyed this. I felt like this enemies to lovers story kept me engaged and excited to continue reading!

I really wanted to get into this book, but the style and characters were hard to like. Nothing drew me in, and they definitely needed more chemistry. I see lots of positive reviews so I’m guessing it just wasn’t the perfect fit for my taste— I will try the author’s next book for sure. This one just didn’t do it for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely loved this book! It was a feel good romance book, but the characters were so fleshed out and had great substance. Louise Lane is a career woman at a crossroads in her life, Blake is local bar owner and water philanthropist in Peru. Though a series of events then end up running into each other over and over and grow into their true selves together.

• 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 •

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Under the Influence
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Karina May
𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ☆☆☆ 3/5

𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

This cover is super cute and I enjoyed this story… it was just not what I expected! It takes some time for the characters to really spend time together and get to know each other. I wished they had more meaningful moments together, because they were so perfect for each other. I feel like the author put more emphasis on the personal character development of the two main characters. Which I thing was done very well, they both overcome some struggles and change for the better. It is told in dual point of view so you get both their views which was nice. I feel like some questions stay unanswered though and I was missing some depth at times. The writing was good and the pacing was OK as well. The most magical part of the book was spend in Peru. It was described beautifully and makes you want to travel there. It was the best part of the story if you ask me. What I also loved about the story is how it talks about important topics. I haven’t read a book before that goes so deep into this topic and how it felt for the character (not saying what exactly because I don’t want to spoil anything).

A lot of my reviews are also available with photo at my Bookstagram: @justmyfantasyworld

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t get into it. That is incredibly rare for me and I’m a person who loves stories and can get into most of them. The writing style was not for me, and I found the chemistry between Blake and Louise sorely lacking. The cover and blurb of this book definitely drew me in, but then the actual story just fell short. However, I do understand that this is a debut novel so I’m not opposed to reading more from this author in the future if the story is more engaging next time.

This book was super fun and cute to read and I really enjoyed reading it! It was witty and compelling and kept me hooked.