3.75 rounded up. Lana Parker is a serial monogamist, who instead of being proposed to after four years with her current boyfriend, finds herself being dumped instead. Her job as a dating and relationship columnist at an internet lifestyle new website is in peril after an acquisition by a larger newspaper. As part of the merger, they need to take on a potential new hire for the larger paper on a trial basis, who just so happens to be Lana's high school boyfriend, Seth, the one who dumped her after she moved to LA for college and she never got over. Lana's boss comes up with a harebrained scheme to impress the new owners with a contest between the two of them, each writing dueling columns each week, with Lana's focusing on learning to love being single, and Seth's focusing on settling down and not being such a player. Some activities on their respective lists they're required to do together, forcing them to spend time getting to know each other again as adults. This one has workplace romance, second chance romance, and even a healthy dose of enemies to lovers. The writing was sharp and witty, and it stressed the importance of therapy and working through your past traumas to get the most out of your current situations, so theoretically I should have been into this one more than I was, but it fell just shy of hitting the mark for me. I couldn't quite bring myself to root for Lana and Seth as a couple and would rather have seen them just come to terms with their past and be able to be friends.

I loved Falon Ballard's debut Lease on Love, so I was really excited about this one. It did not disappoint! Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Just My Type is a hilarious ride with some emotional twists. I Something I enjoy about Ballard's work is how she flushes out the side characters and really makes them come to life. All of the characters in both of her books felt so real and relatable. I highly recommend this one!

The way I loved this book!! Second chance romance is my jam and Just My Type didn’t disappoint. I listened to the audio and enjoyed the narration. I will definitely be going back to read Ballard’s first book!

I thought this was cute and fun, even though the whole lack of communication was frustrating. Loved them chemistry and the location and it was a fun light read for me. Would recommend!

This book was everything I thought it would be, in both good and bad ways. The good: this was super cute and had characters that were to easy to connect to. This story idea was interesting and I liked seeing where it was leading. The bad: I knew where this was going the entire time. That's not super bad, but it was predictable. I'm not mad about the ending, and super glad it ended as it does, but something that was surprising would have been nice. This was a solid read.

A second chance, enemies to lovers, who are suddenly thrown into working together while competing for the same promotion?? Sign me up.

Omg this was such a fun and easy read. I found myself laughing out loud all the time. I loved the main characters, both of them so much and was routing for them from the beginning! I'm sometimes hesitant with second chance romance as things ended in the first place for a reason. However, I thought Falon Ballard did it perfectly! You can see the personal growth both characters went through that helped them fix their issues. Their first try was definitely right person, wrong time.

The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because it was full of pop culture references that will make the book feel very dated in a few years.

If you're looking for a quick, light read that leaves you laughing, READ THIS!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've always dreamed of being a writer for a big newspaper. I can envision what type of column I might give advice for. Lana is giving dating advice. But just like the movie, she's about to meet a secret enemy with the opposite goal in mind. Seth is working to settle down and create himself into the perfect boyfriend while Lana is fighting off his charm in an attempt to remain single.

Of course, as the movie played out - we know how this is going to end. However, we watched the movie a dozen times because it was fabulous and you'll find yourself feeling the same way about this book!

Such a cute contemporary romance.

12 years after a high school breakup Lana and Seth become coworkers and are pitted against each other in a competition for the lifestyle blog they work for,
Lana to stay single and Seth to stop being a womanizer. This is former lover turned enemies to lovers second chance romance and there were so many swoon moments.

There were a lot of Marvel references and I didn't mind most of them which is usually something that bothers me.
I think what lacked the most for me was chemistry between the two MCs. It, at times, did not feel believable. I prefered the hatred banter going on.

I did enjoy how self aware Lana was, she worked hard to break patterns even if a few times it was to get back at Seth.

3.5 stars.

Lana Parker thinks her boyfriend is going to propose to her, and she’s going to say yes. Instead, he breaks up with her, claiming they both know they aren’t right for each other. And she realizes that he’s right and that she was in a four-year relationship with a guy she knows she definitely doesn’t belong with. Babe, four years!?

Lana realizes she’s a serial monogamist, so here comes Seth Carson, a serial playboy and the one who got away (twice) and who Lana has sworn to hate for eternity. He’s back in town… and competing for the same columnist job Lana is. To drive clicks, their boss proposes a contest: They each get to make a list for the other person that essentially states Lana has to stay single for a time while Seth has to commit. And they have to write about their experiences for the website.

The book is just in Lana’s POV, which made it hard for me to ever like Seth. He seems like a bit of a jerk at first and then just a cardboard stand-in later. Lana is sweet and dedicated, but she too has her moments of unlikability (like how she’s mad he rejected her advances while she was dating someone else… the same guy she eventually thought was going to propose). I think a dual POV might have made both characters seem more real; Seth would have had actual thoughts, and we could have spent time outside of Lana’s sometimes exhausting mind. This was pitched as enemies to lovers, but the tension needed in that kind of relationship was never there, and I don’t think Fallon Ballard nailed either the enemies or the lovers aspect of the book. I liked the addition of the secondary characters, but they didn’t feel all that natural. And the ending felt a little rushed, with no comeuppance for the characters who probably deserved it.

Overall, this is still cute, and it’s an easy read. Ballard’s writing style is approachable, and the plot throughline is an engaging enough one. There are sweet moments. And the characters are distinct.

But maybe I was doomed to not vibe perfectly with this book from the start. Lana was in a four-year relationship with someone she didn’t like, and you can’t even get me to go on a second date with a guy whose vibes aren’t quite right.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Penguin/Putnam for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Falon Ballard's work reminds me a great deal of Emily Henry and Abbi Waxman's work, fans of theirs would so enjoy this book! Falon writes full-dimensional characters who you will fall in love with, her banter is absolutely excellent, and her stories are highly addictive! If you have no plans this weekend, and even if you do, perhaps you should plan to cancel all plans and binge this book-you won't regret it!

This book was absolutely amazing and everything I never knew I needed. It was not first love or a second chance romance but it was an absolutely beautiful love story. It is a story about unconditional love and personal growth with a mix family trauma. The competition set was so entertaining to read about and absolutely captured my attention. I don't know any ways that this book could improve, which is really saying a lot. I really connected with Lana, even though there are so many differences which is such an amazing quality this writer excelled at.

Just My Type

3.5/5 -

So I was super excited for his book, especially after having loved Falon's first book, Lease on Love. But this book just didn't hit the mark for me. It felt like a very slow plot for the romance aspect, and I've learned that I just didn't like a romance plot where the FMC is "learning how to be independent/ single" and magically finds independence and love together. This also was a third-chance romance, and the mystery for why the second chance didn't work out was obscurely vague for too long of the book, and the revelation of what happened just seemed odd.

Brief Plot: Lana has been a relationship writer for years and is ready for a chance to break out of this topic. When her copy creates a competition with her ex-boyfriend to learn to finally be single and independent, the two give each other tasks to complete. From tourist sites, buying IKEA furniture, and a one-night stand, Lana pushes herself to figure out why she is always desperate for a relationship, and why her ex, Seth, is a man who needs to learn to commit.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an eARC copy of Just My Type, written by Falon Ballard

4.5 - I loved this! Second chance romance is my weakness, and there’s something extra special when it includes high school sweethearts. I loved Lana and Seth and even though I knew how it would probably end, I still couldn’t wait to hear more of their story, both before they worked together and then as they reconnected. Falon Ballard is definitely an auto-buy author for me, and I can’t wait for her next one!

4.5 stars! This book was so fricken adorable😍

Lana is the funniest little book nerd and MCU fan! All the marvel references and romcom nods (legally blonde, how to lose a guy in 10 days, say anything, endless more) we’re such a treat!

I loved the text convos and slack group chats. The side characters added so much to the story and I loved that. Shout out to May who is the baddest bestie to ever exist! I loved her crude humor and loyalty for her girl Lana!

Seth was such a charmer from the beginning! I called it 21% in that he was still madly in love with Lana and I’m SO FRICKEN GLAD because you guys, there sooooo adorable!!

Okay so Seth. My dude. Move across the country and frenemies/compete with the love of your life for her dream job position in order to be with her? OKAY! Some men do the bare minimum but this was just cute.

They’re background love story could have been flushed out more and the Natasha shit bothered me so much. Like hello? Can we report her to higher ups?? This is the only reason I’m going with 4.5 over 5 stars.

I loved their regrowing friendship, all the hand touching/holding. The IKEA trip! The speed dating! The LA tourist day. Ugh. All of it was so adorable!

I now have to read her first book, lease on love because Fallon’s writing is SO GOOD!

Thank you Netgalley and Putnam Penguin Group for this incredible ARC!

The characters were underdeveloped and there could have been more chemistry between Lana & Seth. There wasn't anything that really set this book apart from other contemporary romances.

I love this one! Everything from the bright purple color to the journalism-themed second-chance love story felt like it was catered perfectly to my tastes, and once I made it into the story, I was excited to find out that I was right! The characters feel so real and authentic, down to their little quirks and cell phone ringtones in a way that made the story so incredibly immersive. The idea of a love story that's centered around staying single was unlike anything I've read before, and I loved watching Lana grow into herself as a person. Outside of the romance plotlines, there was just enough side plot about her life (her mom, her boss, her bestie, etc) that she felt like such a REAL person, not one half of a love story. The only thing I'd have liked to see in the ending was a bit of closure on her friend's relationship status (if you know, you know). Now I'm going to have to go back and read Lease on Love, and I can't wait to find out what stories come next!

Falon Ballard does it again! What a fun, and honest, second-chance romance story.

Lana and Seth, former high school sweethearts, had a tumultuous breakup 12 years ago and have had a rocky relationship since. When Seth shows up in LA and Lana finds herself in competition with him for a job she's wanted for a long time, they discover their feelings may not be as far in the past as they think.

This entire cast of characters was so easy to love. Lana, Seth, and their friends created this amazing found family dynamic, and I loved how they kept each other in line but also deeply supported each other.

This was a quick read for me; the writing style made it easy to fly through and become deeply immersed in every time I picked it up.

I also deeply appreciated the respect for therapy in this story; both Lana and Seth put that in their lists for each other, and I loved how that became an important moment for both of them.

The ending was a little rushed for my liking, which was really my only critique. Once both characters read their final articles, they seem able to put their hurt for each other aside immediately, when it didn't seem like it should've been that easy, given how deep their history goes. We spent the whole story building up to this moment of resolution between them, and I wish it hadn't all wrapped up quite so quickly.

Content warnings: neglectful parent (off-page), sexual harassment, alcohol consumption

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Didn’t love this one sadly. Part of this is probably due to the fact that second chance romance is not a trope I enjoy, thought enemies to lovers is, but the latter was not particularly well done here.
More so, the actual setting and premise of this one fell flat for me. I’m not sure the author really looked into the journalism industry in trying to emulate it. The excerpted pieces were straight up bad. So anyone with any knowledge of this industry or just a discerning reader could see right through this, and unfortunately it ruined the story for me.

This was a great first novel for me from this author. I enjoy this trope a lot and look forward to more.

This was a fun book. Lana is a serial monogamist reunited with her first love. They are tasked with challenges to work on themselves in a competition to win a job. But in the process of working on themselves, will they fall back for each other?