Okay, wow, huh. This was cute, relatable and enjoyable...

Tara is a NICU nurse and a bubbly bookish IG blogger who loves romance novels and their tropes. Trevor, her new roommate, is a brooding and closed off Boston firefighter. After a painful breakup, Tara embarks on a quest to win back one of her exes in a chance at her very own second chance romance. Trevor begrudgingly accompanies her in escapades while they both push aside their growing feelings for each other... until they can't. This forced proximity ROOMance is the epitome of strangers to friends to lovers.

This is a funny, cute romcom with a lot of fluff, and even a smidge of spice in the end! It even had some entertaining pop culture references to boot. Tara is constantly told she's "crazy", clingy, and too much by all of the guys she's dated but she owns it. Her character development and growth is pretty heartwarming. Trevor is nearly perfect but in a "we love to see it" sort of way. He's not too farfetched but just enough of a book boyfriend to make you swoon. Honestly, it's the slowest of burns with a sweeeet lil' epilogue.

Thanks to Netgalley, Berkley Pub, Penguin Random House for the eARC in exchange for my honest review <3

Exes and O’s is the second book in The Influencers series and can be read as a standalone which features Tara (Crystal’s older sister) and Trevor (Scott’s best friend/former roommate). This contemporary romance novel contains forced proximity room-ance. I enjoyed this one! I loved the storyline and loved how funny, tender hearted, and swoon worthy this was. It was wonderful to see Tara’s growth throughout the book. I also loved the depth of Trevor and why he acts the way he does. Tara and Trevor’s chemistry is a sweet slow burn and love how the author builds up their chemistry. Highly recommend picking this one up! Now I can’t wait for Mel’s story!

This has already been posted to GoodReads. I’ll be posting to Instagram this week. Blog post will be up on pub day.

This is romantic comedy gold, full of real characters who experience real problems. The two main characters are the opposites attract type and they find themselves falling for each other, in the most unlikely ways. At points it was hilarious and caused me to laugh out loud. Other times there were such sweet moments, that I may have teared up a bit. Main character female is a nurse and main character male is a fireman. Though this is the second book in a series, I didn't feel lost having not read the first book, so it's perfect as a standalone.

Recovering from a broken engagement and in search for her one true love, Tara decides to go through a list of exes as her potential new beau (versus having to dip into the Tinder pool). Enlisting her new roommate Trevor to help her, the one thing she didn’t account for was developing feelings for the emotionally unavailable firefighter. Almost every ex on the list has been crossed off and with the upcoming Valentine’s gala is fast-approaching, will Tara put all her eggs in one basket with the last and final ex, Daniel? Or would she pursue a relationship with someone who isn’t ready for one?

This was a SLOW BURN, y’all. But, it worked and I enjoyed it! It was so fun seeing Tara and Trevor’s ROOMance blossom, and despite Trevor’s reluctance to relationships, gah, you can’t help but fall for him. Such a sweetheart! Definitely recommend for those who are in the mood for a swoony friends to lovers story. Lea’s writing was absolutely effortless and the narration flowed rather seamlessly.

Trevor is the newest book boyfriend and I can’t wait for everyone to realize how great he is (but I call dibs).

Tara and Trevor stole the show from the get go. Their initial meet scene will have you laughing and you won’t stop the whole time. These two are very different and start to bring out the best in each other quickly. There is some big tension, sweet moments, and the build up is worth the spice 🌶️

Another part I loved of this book is that Tara is a bookstagrammer and let’s just say the grand gesture in the epilogue is now my dream! 😍😍 I enjoyed the consistent discussion around various book tropes and normalizing reading romance books with no embarrassment.

The only thing I wish had been different was how Crystal treats Tara. For being a book that pushed the idea of it being health to go to therapy and wanting strong communication I wish that Tara had mentioned to her sister that some of her comments were uncalled for.

All I know if that Trevor you have set the bar high for all the future book boyfriends.

I DEVOURED Exes and O's. The plot featured all of my favorites - romance, set in Boston (my home city!), book influencers and avid readers, and a slow-burn romance. A total win in my book (no pun intended!)

I haven't read Set on You, and wasn't familiar with the characters, but Exes and O's works totally fine as a standalone read. I can't wait to go back and read Set on You now and can tell Amy Lea is going to be an auto-buy author for me now.

What a fun, heartwarming story!

Thank you Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC!

EXES & O’S – Amy Lea
The Influencer, Book 3

Berkely

ISBN: 978-059336601

January 10, 2023

Romantic Comedy



Boston, Massachusetts – Present Day



Tara Chen loves reading romance books and is even an Instagram influencer where she discusses her books and her love life. While she is happy, the one thing that has eluded her is having her own true love. After ending her romance with guy #10, she is wondering if she’s made a mistake. Should she contact the former men she once dated—all ten of them—and see if the sparks are still there? Meanwhile, Tara is moving into her best friend’s fiancé’s old bedroom at an apartment that he shared with firefighter Trevor Metcalfe. Their relationship will be strictly platonic, and she was assured their schedules would allow them to rarely cross paths. However, on the day that she arrives at the apartment to move in, she discovers Trevor boinking a woman on the kitchen table. Eww.



Trevor thought Tara was supposed to arrive later, after he left for work, so he hadn’t gotten rid of his one-night stand yet. He’s amused by her reaction, though he did apologize. It also turns out that Trevor and Tara are opposites. He is neat and tidy, while she is messy. He soon discovers that she has made a list of ten men she once dated and is hoping to find out if one of them is her one true love. Trevor offers to help her, and soon she is realizing something she never expected…she is attracted to Trevor. But is it just something about their living together that makes him so attractive? As each man on her list is crossed off, it appears that maybe something wasn’t wrong with them. Is it her?



After believing that there was something wrong with the men she dated, Tara is soon learning a lot about herself in EXES & O’S. She holds Instagram chats where she talks about her quest to find the men and what happens with them. She loves the feedback and gets suggestions about what to do next. Of course, everyone wants to know if she’s “doing” her new roomie. Nah, they are just friends. But are they only just friends? Granted, Trevor is a good listener, and he offers sage advice, but is he someone that Tara would be interested in? News for Tara…cupid doesn’t care about how you think things should be. She is soon having dreams about having sex with Trevor. Will those dreams come true? She is looking for Mr. Forever, but is Trevor anywhere near being that guy?



In EXES & O’S, there are several cute and funny scenes involving Tara’s quest to find her ten men. Of course, her last failed relationship is nearby, and he is definitely not Mr. Right as he criticizes her too much. Trevor, however, turns out to be supportive. They continue to tease each other, yet it quickly becomes clear that they are at ease with each other. How long will Tara see that her Mr. Right is right in front of her? But how does Trevor feel? EXES & O’S only explores Tara’s point of view, so readers don’t know Trevor’s thoughts.



By the end of EXES & O’S, readers will be satisfied as Tara realizes what really is going on around her. Does she get together with Trevor? Find out in this truly entertaining tale.



Patti Fischer

Tara is our romance loving Bookstagrammer who is waiting for her knight in shining armour to sweep her off her feet. What better place to search than go through her list of exes? Meeting each one, she gets a bit disheartened as she crosses another off her list. Thankfully her new roommate, Trevor is there to pick up the pieces. 

Oh my heart....this was the sweetest book! And exactly what I love in a romance - our two main characters get to know each other for a decent amount of time before realizing how they feel and acting on it. I am not a fan of Insta love so I enjoyed the pace of this one. Hooked from page one, I guarantee you will be too when you read it!

Usually, I don’t rate RomComs 5 stars because I feel like I can’t connect deeply to the characters and I often don’t care very much about their journey.

This was different.

From the very first chapter I was hooked and couldn’t put this book down!!

Exes & O’s follows Tara as she tries to reconnect with various exes after a devastating breakup. With a supportive (and hilarious) best friend/roommate by her side the journey through her Ex List is nothing but entertaining. I found myself laughing and smiling so many times throughout this read and I was so excited for every twist and turn that came from Tara’a journey to true love.

I loved this book and will definitely have to pick up more books by Amy Lea!!

I seriously don’t think I could love Amy Lea’s books more than I do. I started 2022 by reading Set on You which was perfection and ended the year with Exes and O’s. If you are a romcom lover, enjoy laugh out loud humor, look forward to some spice, and just generally love reading books that make your heart happy, put Amy Lea on your list.

If you read Set on You, then you have been introduced to our love interests. Tara is Crystal’s sister who is pulling herself out of the deep, dark hole that she found herself in after her fiancé called off their wedding. Get ready for this! She is a romance obsessed BOOKSTAGRAMMER! And also, a NICU nurse (which I was for almost 10 years) so I knew I was going to love her. With Crystal and Scott’s recent engagement, Scott and Tara decided to switch apartments, so Tara finds herself with a new roommate: Scott’s friend and coworker at the fire station, Trevor. After everyone’s favorite Grandma Flo convinces Tara that second chance romances are the way to go, Tara starts a journey to reconnect with all her past Exes, destined to find her true love and romance story. But what is second chance romances aren’t her trope after all?

I DEVOURED every single word of this story. IT IS SO GOOD! I instantly fell in love with Tara. She is extra in the best possible way, and I love the journey she goes on in these pages to accept that it is ok to be herself. She feels her feelings strongly, loves Cheetos, and is obsessed with books. She’s perfect. Trevor is the steamy, slow burn, friends to lovers hottie of everyone’s dreams. Bring on all the tattooed, firefighter, slightly broken, heart of gold love interests. I am here for all of this.

Everything you love about Amy’s writing shines in Exes and O’s. It’s the perfect mix of hilarious, steamy, and hard topic issues that make romcom perfection.

Pick this one up if you love:

-Bookstagrammer main characters
-Room-ances
-Slow Burn
-Hot tubs
-The perfect banter
-Taylor Swift and The Bachelor
-Grandma Flo. She’s my favorite. I would 100% follow her on Instagram.

This book pulled me out of my reading slump! I love this series so much and LOVED that our heroine was a bookstagrammer 😱 I was curious how the ex reconnect was going to go (I just kept screaming, NO DONT DO IT) for Tara but I guess some sort of plan is better than nothing. Honestly the move-in scene had me 😂😂😂 can you imagine walking in on that?! Amazing. Love how Trevor and Tara came together eventually. I was actually super intrigued by her clingy side and would have maybe liked to dive into that a bit more. Like, is it a major problem that pops up elsewhere? Anywho, sidetracked. I enjoyed this a ton and hope there’s more of this series to come 💕

AHHH! Amy Lea does it again and absolutely stole my heart!! This one was so incredible and I mean, just knowing that Amy wrote Tara as a fellow bookstagrammer made me so excited to dive in! And it was perfect, it was a joy to read about Tara and get to know her more. Forced proximity is one of my fav tropes and Amy executed it spectacularly! I'm so excited to read anything and everything written by Amy Lea because she has such a way with words that makes me swoon!

This was such a cute book! This is for fans of grumpy-sunshine, opposites attract and forced proximity. Tara and Trevor were so cute together. Tara, a nurse and bookstagrammer, has a lot of feelings and not everyone understands that so they label her as "crazy". Trevor is a firefighter who is used to keeping to himself and doesn't do feelings and relationships. Everything changes when these two become roommates. Tara ropes him into helping her reconnect with her exes and he decides to do it. Along the way they realize they have caught feelings for each other! This was super funny, fun and a true rom-com. I also loved seeing Crystal and Grandma Flo again! This is a companion book to Set on You, but you don't have to read that to enjoy this one.

While I enjoyed Amy’s debut novel Set On You, I felt like this book really knocked it out of the park.

Tara Chen (Crystal’s sister) is down on her luck in the romance department. She is a social media influencer/bookstagrammer in her down time from being a nurse and has decided on her social media channel that she is going to start going back and reconnecting with some of her ex boyfriends in hopes of having her own second chance romance love story. A kink is thrown into her plans when she moves into Scott’s apartment while he moves into hers and she now has Scott’s fireman co-worker Asher new roommate. Enter the incredibly hunky Trevor Metcalf. Trevor and Tara are instantly drawn to each other but Trevor is the opposite of what Tara is looking for — he doesn’t want a long term, serious relationship and instead prefers the one night stands. Tara and Trevor become friends and he starts to help her on her quest to reconnect with her exes but soon they both realize the one person they want is each other.

This book was such a fun, forced proximity, grump/sunshine story. While I really liked Scott in Set On You, I LOVED Trevor. There was just something about his heartbreaking back story and all the ways he helped others that just tugged at my heartstrings. I really liked the connection between him and Tara. While Tara got almost annoying at times with her drive to find all of her ex boyfriends, she was a good character with fun banter between her and Trevor. I cheered when she finally gets the nerve to stand up for herself in the book but wished it had come earlier.

The first half of this book has some pacing issues for sure, and I wanted this to be dual POV so bad. Those few things kept me from giving this 5 stars but it is a solid 4.5 star read in my opinion and I would definitely recommend checking it out.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All. Opinions are my own.

Amy Lea does it again!! I adored this book! It was so swoony and steamy and cute. As a bookstagrammer, I really related to Tara :) Forced proximity is a fave trope of mine, so this was a treat to read! Loved the cameos from my fave characters from her debut too. So much fun!

This was a fairly lighthearted, easy, and charming romcom read. I felt it had strong 90s/00s style RomCom movie vibes, and is one of those books you could definitely easily envision as a movie.

This was a fast, fun read for me. I liked that Tara was a romance reader and the lean into the ‘tropes’ in life. The premise of tracking down exes in the hopes of a second chance romance was funny and interesting. I was happy things didn’t necessarily turn story or trope perfect.

I was a big fan of the tropes at play in the story:

Roommates
Forced Proximity
Slow Burn
Friends To Lovers

Overall, just an enjoyable read for me. I look forward to trying more from Amy Lea in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for the opportunity to read an early copy! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and freely offered.

This book was everything that I wanted and more! Slow burn, friends to lovers, room-ance. I was so excited when I saw that I got approved for an e-arc of this book! I haven’t read anything by Amy Lea before this one but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for anything else she writes.

Tara Chen is obsessed with romance novels and she’s also a social media influencer. She’s had her heart broken many times in the past but that still hasn’t made her completely give up on love. When she decides to revisit her exes in hope of finding her second change romance, her hot firefighter roommate Trevor Metacalfe joins along for the journey.

Y’all when I saw I devoured this book, I seriously mean I. DEVOURED. THIS. BOOK. I couldn’t put it down. I loved both Tara and Trevor so much. The first time they met was freaking hilarious! If you know, you know. I really enjoyed the slow burn romance. It was great to see how their relationship grew throughout the story.

I highly recommend picking this one up on January 10th when it’s released. I promise you will not regret it one bit!

Thank you so much to Berkley and NetGalley for the e-arc!

LOVE Amy Lea. This is her second and it has cemented her as someone that I will read every time. The story follows Tara, a romance novel obsessed social media influencer, and her new roommate Trevor. After having her heart broken by her ex-fiancé Seth, Tara embarks on a quest to find her own second chance romance by going through a list of her ten ex boyfriends and trying to rekindle something with one of them. Tara has been burned by past partners calling her "crazy" and a "stage five clinger." Meanwhile, Trevor is a serial non-monogamist and cringes at the idea of a relationship. He helps Tara on her quest/picks up the pieces when each date goes spectacularly awry. They develop feelings for each other with out the other realizing, but struggle to overcome their past struggles and traumas to admit their feelings.

Things I liked: Witty witty witty; I truly laughed out loud numerous times. I loved the characters and their chemistry. The exploration of how women are written off and invalidated as crazy or clingy. The spice. The romance genre references.

Things I didn't like: I felt like there could have been a little more accountability for how Trevor played into Tara's self doubt and self perception as a "crazy ex girlfriend," but that's it.

Would recommend to anyone!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this contemporary romcom and finished it in one sitting!

Tara is a bookstagrammer who loves to read romance novels, so there is plenty of book content. Trevor is a hunky firefighter who just happens to be Tara’s new roommate. They both have issues with relationships, but their close proximity causes Trevor to lower his guard and Tara to relax and be herself with him.

I think I enjoyed this one so much because the hero falls for the heroine because she is being her authentic self.

It takes a while for the steamy scenes to build between the couple, but when it does it is sufficiently steamy!

I recommend you give this steamy contemporary romcom a try!

4.5 rounded up

I read Exes and O's by Amy Lea without knowing it was part of a series. However, I did find that it could be read as a standalone. I enjoyed the story well enough to finish it which surprised me because I usually do not gravitate towards close proximity tropes and slow burn romances. The character development was well done, although I wish that we got more insight to each "date" or "reconnection" with the men from Tara's list of exes. Overall, it was an enjoyable read.