"Not Here to Stay Friends" by Kaitlyn Hill offers a fun and light-hearted Young Adult read. This spin on "The Bachelor" for teens is a familiar read for anyone who watches the show; the excitement, the drama, and the betrayal are real. The "friends to lovers" trope is spot-on in this quick read! Recommend!

This book was a lot of fun! For a moment there, I thought it was going to go a more epistolary modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac route, but I didn't see the actual twist coming. For fans of The Charm Offensive, Never Ever Getting Back Together, or tv shows like The Bachelor or The OC.

Another reality television show themed novel from Hill. Sloane’s bestie from way back, Liam, moved from Tennessee to Hollywood when his parents got divorced, and the two friends have kept in touch over the passing years and finally get to spend some time together again and bond over stuff like their favorite teen dramas when he invites her to visit for the summer. It turns out that Liam is going to be interning on his dad’s latest project: a Bachelor-style show to find the next leading lady for heartthrob Aspen Wood, and the only way to hope to spend some time together is for Sloane to participate in the show by filling in the abandoned slot left by a no show contestant. An aspiring writer, Liam’s dad sweetens the pot by promising connections if Sloane can make it to the final four. Sloane’s parents are disappointingly quick to sign her over to this TV gig without even a check in, much to her chagrin.

The instant attraction at the airport pickup that neither Sloane or Liam has the guts to discuss, much less act on, throws a monkey wrench into the plot when Aspen asks Liam to help him win Sloane over–her low opinion of his shallowness is no secret. He agrees, and when Sloane finds out, she’s pretty upset. Will they work things out?

Lots of drama ensues, but it’s pretty watered down for tween readers. Like in Love from Scratch, the romantic parts are mostly longing, a sweet kiss or two, and overall pretty tame. The title is a very clever play on words–does it refer to Liam and Sloane’s relationship, or her spot on AWFLL (Aspen Woods Future Leading Lady)? Liam’s woodworking hobby that he wants to turn into a career is a nice side story that allows him to confront his dad, find a mentor, and make a beautiful grand gesture to Sloane.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #NotHeretoStayFriends from #NetGalley.

Who can resist a best friends to love relationship. This story is set behind the scenes of a reality television show so what could go wrong? Sloane is going to spend the summer in California with her best friend Liam.. His family moved to California a few years go and Sloane just wants to spend time with Liam like they used to. Things get complicated when Liam’s dad needs Sloane’s help on a dating show he is producing. Sloane agrees so that she can get a good recommendation into a university to study screenwriting which has always been her passion. Both Liam and Sloane realize that this friendship maybe more after working closely on the show together. Should they risk their friendship for love? Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In this friends to lovers story, we have childhood best friends Sloane and Liam. Liam had moved away from Tennessee to go to California, so while the two keep in touch via text and phone calls, when Sloane shows up for the summer, it had been a while since they had seen each other. And the sparks fly a bit.

Told from both perspectives, we see that Sloane and Liam feel the same way about each other, but aren't sure what to do about it. And, instead of spending the summer together as they'd planned, Liam has gotten roped into working for his dad on the set of a new tv program based on the bachelor, but for teens.

Of course, there is a last minute cancellationb and Sloane is chosen as the fill-in on the show to compete for the heart of Aspen Woods, a teen show heartthrob. And Sloane only has one guy on her mind.

A cute story that I think students will enjoy. No sex and no cursing either.

This book is such a fun story! Best friends to lovers also happens to be my favorite trope, so maybe I'm a little biased. Salone's experiences on and off the screen are so much fun to read about! She literally gets to live every girls dream, in more ways than one! This is a sweet and fun story! I enjoyed every second I got to read it!
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's books for this fun story!


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4964215337?book_show_action=false

Charming book with a teen rom-com feel. I enjoyed the character's journeys and the ending! This book has a little bit of everything for readers who are fans of friends to lovers, drama, and light-hearted romance novels.

Thank you NetGalley and Kaitlyn Hill for letting me read an advanced copy of this book!

I really, really loved this! It was such a fun, dramatic, romantic romp. Big fan, it felt like a warm hug and everything I needed right now.

Sloane and Liam have been BFFs since their early childhood but they were physically separated after Liam's parents got divorced and he was forced to move from Tennessee to Los Angeles. Even with the miles between them, they have still been super close. They talk/text/Facetime daily and live for the teen soap, The Cove.

Five years after their physical separation, Sloane is invited to spend the summer with Liam and his dad in Los Angeles and she has plans to do the whole touristy thing while there.

When Liam picks her up from the airport, they both realize the difference that five years can make on their besties. While trying to adjust to their new realities in that sense, they must also adjust to the fact that Liam has been roped into working as a production assistant (PA) for a reality show based on The Cove.

What's worse is that one of the girls scheduled to be one of the dates on this reality show has dropped out and Liam's dad bribes Sloane to be the replacement.

Now Liam and Sloane must not only deal with their own changing views of each other, but also with the fact that Sloane seems to be the one person that star Aspen Woods wants to see win at the end.

Final thoughts: There are some cute moments here and it's full of tropes but it doesn't always come together well. The thoughts of the characters end up being repeated on a loop as if the author has almost copy/pasted them and then changed the order of the sentences. Some of the ideas are good but they never come off as great.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Enjoyed the premise of the novel. I like how Sloane went against the grain and never really entertained Aspen. She knew what she wanted and stuck with her guy. I’d love to see a sequel where Riley or one of the finalists (even Peyton) get their own happy ending. All around cute book!

This book is perfect for fans of The Bachelor/Bachelorette, The Selection, and classic YA dramas. I loved everything about it - it was fun, fasted paced, romantic. The only thing that I didn’t love was the fact that the dual P.O.V. with Liam and Sloan kind of spoiled the ending, which I realize is a given with romances and the dual points of view did push the plot along but I knew they were going to end up together in the end. Which I’m glad they did!

I enjoyed this book. The plot was well paced and the characters were well developed. I would recommend this book to others.

This book is a five star read for me. It has all the sweetness of young love, combined with the greatest drama from reality tv. With an ending that is so good, the bachelor will forever be disappointing. The characters are so perfectly lovable and the story makes you want to keep reading. This is a joyful book that I recommend to anyone who wants to smile and laugh.

This was a very cute romance for young adult readers! I loved the unique storyline and Liam and Sloane were precious together. I can see some of my high school students really loving this book, and I look forward to promoting it when it comes out!

How FUN was this book! I am a huge reality tv competition show girl so anything book that includes a Bachelor spin-off type show is right up my alley. That being said, I did wonder while I was reading if the book would have worked better with adult characters instead of teenagers. In many ways, it feels unrealistic for this plot to involve teenage characters and I think some of the Bachelor-esque elements would have worked better with adults. That being said, this was still a very fun read and I definitely recommend!

NOT HERE TO STAY FRIENDS by Kaitlyn Hill
⭐️ rating: 4 STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 genre: young adult, romance
💕 tropes: friends-t0-lovers, reality tv dating

When you hear "The Bachelor for Teens," you're not really sure what to expect. Does the concept of going on reality TV to find love even make sense if you're in high school (or honestly, if you're barely legal like on the actual show - but that's a topic for another day)? What could the outcome even be - "will you go to prom with me?"

Seems a little tame for a reality TV dating show.

So I was THRILLED to see that Hill's novel took a fun twist on the classic Bachelor trope. The winner gets to be the "bachelor's" date to an upcoming premiere & have a guest spot on a teen drama! Color me intrigued.

Now, it is well known to my followers that "friends-to-lovers" is one of my least favorite tropes.
JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER ALREADY.
However! When you add in that the friends are also teens, you can forgive a lot more miscommunication than you could if they were adults with several grown-up relationships under their belts.

That being said, this was a truly adorable novel. Liam & Sloane are super funny as they slowly discover that their childhood friendship has developed into something more serious without either of them realizing (though, not having been in the same state for years probably assisted that). I absolutely LOVE Hill's humor, and you can find that in spades here!

I think most of my highlights in this book were of jokes or internal monologues that had me cackling.
So safe to say - I enjoyed this one. And Kaitlyn Hill remains on my list of auto-buy authors.

Thank you, NetGalley for this advanced copy.

This book has teenage Bachelor feels. Sloane and her best friend Liam are meeting after 5 years apart. They are childhood besties, who have done their best to keep their friendships going thru texts, calls, and facetime. What they couldn't see through the phone is they have both grown up into adorable young adults.

When Sloane arrives in sunny California, she is taken aback by how much Liam has grown up in a good way. The same thing is said about Sloane. There are definitely some sparks going on, what Sloane doesn't know is that Liam took a job with his dad doing a dating reality show with the famous Ashton Woods. By a stroke of luck, Sloane is thrown into the dating show when they don't have enough women for the cast.

This was a super cute book and I smiled the whole way through it. It's going to be bought for our library.

A delightful, perfect romance novel all told in the setting of a reality show where boundaries of friendship transforms into love. Charming in every way.

For fans of the Bachelor this YA romcom is a must read. Sloan thinks she is going to LA to visit her best friend Liam and ends up on Aspen Woods’s Future Leading Lady, acronym: AWFL reality show.
The book alternates between Sloan and Liam’s perspectives of life on reality TV. The book is full of fun adventures and great characters. I highly recommend the book.
Thanks NetGallery for my ARC.

I really enjoyed this romp of a YA rom-com that centers around a celebrity reality dating show and two friends that find themselves with a very different summer together than they expected. I thought that the characters were easy to fall in love with and it was a quick read for me!