Oy vey. I tried to get into this book. I really, really did. And that's such a bummer for me to write, truly, because I am a huge fan of Falon Ballard's first novel, "Lease on Love"- and have recommended that book to pretty much everyone I know.

Maybe it's because I had such high expectations going into her sophomore novel, but... I just... wasn't a fan. The two character leads were just kind of "meh". There were no defining characteristics that caused me to become invested in their journey right away, or made me want to root for either of them. In fact, the lead female character was just kind of mean, and even though there was some hinting of a backstory between her and her mom, it just wasn't enough to support her immature behavior throughout the first half of the book. Again, I hate to be so negative! It's just really hard for me to become invested in a book, or even want to keep reading, when the characters are so "blah" or just plain rude and spiteful without a strong or compelling enough reason to back it up.

That being said, I still loved "Lease on Love" so very much, and I look forward to the author's third novel whenever it's released.

This is a sweet story about Lana. She is living the dream life , living in LA and actually has a home! (Home prices are 📈), she’s writing for her career as a journalist and some of the best friends. Although she feels abandoned from her mom and she just got out of a relationship, her boss created a competition for self growth. And her competition- her ex and first love!
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There’s some snark and anger about Seth and how he hurt her but Lana has drive and is playing to win with this competition. There’s lots of forced proximity, some annoying lingering feelings and of course Seth is gorgeous.
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I liked the growth of Lana. A satisfying story and end. I also appreciated the awareness of therapy and it’s perks. This should be made into a movie! 🎉 I haven’t read Falon’s first book but I’ve heard good things about it and after this book, I’m eager to read it.
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This book comes out in 2 weeks. I received an e-arc copy from the publisher and Net Galley. These are my own thoughts and opinions.
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Content: abandonment issues, language and several F bombs, few open door scenes, adults drinking

Rating: Loved It, 4.5 stars

I was honestly surprised how much I loved this book. I thought it would be fun because it has tropes that I enjoy, but I was honestly very impressed by the way that this was written. I will definitely be checking out more of Falon Ballard's work in the future!

Just My Type is a second chance romance for Lana and Seth, high school sweethearts who wind up back in the same city. Lana is a relationship columnist who really wants to break into pop culture, and Seth is a freelance journalist who has been traveling the country and is ready to put down roots in one place. One thing leads to another and they are pitted against each other for a contest in which Lana has to learn to be single and Seth has to learn to be ready for a long-term relationship, and the winner gets their choice of columns.

It was a really fun story with lots of longing and sadness over past miscommunications. I read the bulk of it when sick, but I think I would have cried at the end, no matter what. I really liked the characters. I was rooting for them as a couple.

I think though that the reason this isn't a full 5 stars is because as enjoyable as it was, it also made me sad. I felt like there was so much lost opportunity and even the happy ending didn't really erase the melancholy it evoked.

I appreciated the journey that Lana went on, but I think that it would have been fun to also get Seth's POV. I definitely prefer the dual POVs. But I did like Lana's exploration of herself and the recognition of her strengths.

Overall, this was a fun read, even if it wasn't as light and fluffy as I had hoped. I definitely recommend, especially if you like second chance romances. Thank you to NetGalley and GP Putnam's Sons for an eARC. Just My Type by Falon Ballard releases on February 7,2023.

3.5/5 this was one of my most anticipated reads and im not quite sure how i feel about it yet.

what i thought promised me a cute second chance romance from the description was actually a weirdly immature fmc who was very privileged (and made sure you knew she knew this) and some…interesting romantic moments sadly.

now the plotline between lana and her mother was pretty interesting and seth was a precious lil soul <3

overall not the worst thing i’ve read but i had a couple gripes

3.5 stars

Lana Parker has not been single for most of her life, so after a recent breakup, she's taking on a new challenge of staying single. In comes Seth Carlson, Lana's ex and fellow writer, and the two compete with each other for a prominent column. I'm a sucker for romances that prioritize learning self-love! This was an excellent second-chance romance where you hear about where the characters started and see how they work to better themselves, which causes their relationship grows again. Lana was a strong, relatable main character, and I loved her personal and professional growth, but I wish we had gotten more depth from Seth. His challenge is to work towards settling down with a single person, but I wish we saw more of his growth other than the IKEA trip. The banter between the two was just so good, and I enjoyed the addition of the Slack chats with their coworkers and their response to the two of them. If you're not a fan of miscommunication as a trope, beware because there's a good amount of it in this book. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I can't wait to get to Lease on Love sometime soon!

Thank you to Putnam for an advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for this Advanced Reader’s Copy! I was so excited to receive Fallon Ballard’s follow up to her stunning debut Lease on Love.

Serial monogamist, Lana Parker is going through yet another breakup. She hasn’t been single for much of her life- which makes sense why she’s a relationship columnist for a popular LA website. Enter Seth, her high school sweetheart who happened to break her heart 12 years ago. We then follow an in-house competition between Lana and Seth as they compete to win a columnist position they have both dreamed of.

I really enjoy Ballard’s writing style throughout her stories. However, I did struggle to feel the chemistry and connection between these two characters until really the very end. I still really enjoyed the banter and interactions between Lana and her friends! I have to give this one 3.5 stars. However I would still recommend to romance readers! I think I’m biased because Lease on Love was probably one of my top romances of last year.

Just My Type by Falon Ballard was pretty adorable and such a joy to read!

If you enjoy a good second chance romance, this one is for you! Lana and Seth were high school sweethearts, and find themselves back in the same city working for the same publication and paired up in a competition against one another to see who will get a job at a larger publication in town. As part of the competition, Lana, a serial monogamist, and Seth, a serial dater/someone who never settles down, make a list of what the other person must do and write about weekly for 10 weeks. The list is meant to get them each out of their comfort zone when it comes to relationships.

I loved seeing how their relationship would unravel once they were reunited and found absolute joy in the ending!

4.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and Falon Ballard for my ARC!

4/5⭐️

Lana is a serial monogamist that works as a dating and relationship columnist. After her boyfriend breaks up with her instead of proposing, she finds out that her first love from high school will now be working with her. Her boss puts them into a competition against each other with Lana writing a series of articles about staying single while Seth writes articles about becoming a guy that settles down into a relationship. The winner will get a writing position that Lana has been dreaming of for years.

This is a second chance romance for the main characters, Lana and Seth. It’s all from Lana’s first person POV and I’d say it’s more on the slow burn side of things. I thought that both main characters were well written and we see a lot of growth from Lana in her personal and professional life. This one was sweet!

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the advanced reader copy and to PRH Audio for the complimentary audiobook. These opinions are my own.

Lana and Seth were high school sweethearts, but their relationship ended badly. Now he's moved to her city and is working for the same magazine. Her boss pits them against each other for their own column writing whatever they choose. But to win the competition, they have to grow. For Lana, that means learning to be single, and for Seth, that means preparing for a long-term relationship.

The characters are fantastic! Lana loves reading, writes a blog with book reviews, and regularly refers to bookish subscriptions and TBR. So you know I'm going to enjoy here. The book is first person perspective from Lana's point of view. We get inklings of Seth's feelings through his facial expressions and nonverbal, but only as interpreted by Lana. I wanted to know more from him, but I felt I understood him more and more as the book continued.

The storytelling was highly amusing, especially with the inclusion of the office Slack chats. Like Lana and Seth's co-workers, I wanted to grab popcorn and watch the fireworks between them.

The audiobook was so well acted by Tegan Ashton Cohan. And I do mean acted. She didn't simply narrate but truly conveyed the emotion throughout. Ellipses became sighs, and tone of voice varied perfectly.

I love second chance romances, and this book is a great example of why.

4.5 stars rounded up

Lana is heartbroken when she expects her boyfriend to propose and instead he dumps her. The next day she realizes how much worse life can get when her ex, also her first love, shows up at her job. This is her happy place, why is he here. Then her boss drops the bomb, she and Seth are in competition for their own column. Seth will come up with a list for Lana to complete to learn how to be single. Lana will create one for Seth for how to settle down. Then they will write about their experiences weekly. Being stuck working with her ex who she cannot stand can only end badly, right?

Just my type….of book! I got into bed around 9:30 and started reading this one. Well, I ended up finishing this one that same night. I just could not stop reading. I loved the “I hate you but really I love you” banter between Lana and Seth. I also really loved seeing Lana come into her own as she learned how to be single. The competition aspect was fun, but also caused so much more miscommunication between Lana and Seth. I wanted to yell at them they obviously both wanted the same thing! Enemies to lovers, second chance romance, this book contained all the best tropes and I loved it so much!

Lana is a serial monogamist who doesn’t stay single for long. Ever since her high school sweetheart broke her heart, she’s had a string of long-term relationships with mediocre men. She has also been stuck writing the dating and relationships column for an online magazine since graduating college. She longs to write about pop culture and things she loves. When her high school boyfriend, Seth, unexpectedly shows up at her office, her boss offers an opportunity to have her own column if she can stay single and write about it.

I enjoyed Falon’s first book, Lease on Love, and knew I wanted to read more from her. I really enjoyed this one. It was fun and sweet, with lots of amusing and heartwarming moments. As someone who struggles with being alone, I loved reading about Lana’s journey to feeling content with herself. Allowing yourself the time and space to truly be by yourself is hard, but so worth it and I feel like Falon captured that so well in this book. The second chance romance was cute. Even though it started off with tension, I could tell from the start that Seth truly cared about Lana despite their rocky past. I love a right person, wrong time becoming right person, right time. Lana’s friend group was amazing and supportive; I want more of them! There was also an emphasis on the benefits of therapy and I loved that. I felt the ending was a bit rushed and Lana’s love of “nerdy” things was dwelled on too much, but otherwise I really enjoyed this one.

CW: parental abandonment, toxic relationships

Just My Type was another cute romance from Falon Ballard! I loved the characters so much. When I found out that Seth's looks was based of Sebastian Stan, I knew this would be the book for me and it did not disappoint!

omg I never cry to books but this was so cute and it tugged on my heartstrings. I loved Lana and Seth and they were so cute with their competition. Definitely recommend this one if you like romances!

I read Lease on Love and LOVED it! Fallon Ballard did not miss with Just My Type. Bighearted, funny, steamy, plus all the banter worthy of a workplace rivalry rom-com!

Just My Type is a charming second chance romance, set in the LA journalism scene. I liked the element of competition between Lana and Seth and I always enjoy a good "I've been in love with you the whole time" trope. The side characters were also entertaining and made it fun to see the two of them at work and battling out their competition. I really enjoyed the multi-media portions of the book and as someone who lives in LA, it was exciting to see places I know and go to pop up within the story.

(thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Penguin Group Putnam for allowing me to read this ARC in return for a review!)

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
second chance romance is starting to become one of my top tropes. when I tell you I INHALED this book.

pick up if you enjoy:
💗second chance romance
😈childhood friends —> lovers —> enemies —> lovers
🤓fandom moments! (for the peeps who love them some Marvel and Star Wars especially)
✍️workplace tension
🧠 therapy/mental health positivity!

Lana Parker just got dumped when she thought she was getting proposed to and she has to go back to work…where she writes an online relationship and dating column. and if that ain’t enough…the company is merging with another and bringing on a new writer — Lana’s first love/high school sweetheart/now enemy, Seth Carson. AND they’re assigned a challenge to work on ~together~ over the next set of weeks — targeted at their dating habits — leading to an ultimate grand prize column after the company is absorbed.

y’all. It’s the childhood friends to lovers to ENEMIES (with forced proximity???) to lovers competing in a workplace competition for me. this book features almost every romance trope and honestly I think it was done SO beautifully. such a quick read — I couldn’t wait longer than a few hours before I needed to know what Lana and Seth’s next tasks to complete were. the characters are super lovable, and Lana and Seth’s chemistry is so palpable that when it finally comes to a climax it is,,,unearthly. add in a sprinkle of mental health representation (the importance of therapy, mainly) and Lana’s fandom references to the Star Wars and Marvel universes, and it truly is just so yummy. very much recommend for a fun and romantic read!

First of all if you haven't read Falon Ballard's debut novel, Lease on Love, shame on you. It's so so good! And this was just as delightful!

One key feature for both of these books is found family. I want to be in these group chats. And I want a story for ALL of them.

I found myself really breezing through this book. I had the day off yesterday and finished most of it.

I want to point out that this was a second chance romance and I'm not crazy about these typically. BUT I thought this one was very well done and the reason they broke up didn't make me want to pull my hair out.

5/5

4.5 stars

I had high hopes for this one after reading & enjoying Fallon Ballard’s first book, Lease on Love, and this did not disappoint!

This book offers a second-chance romance with a healthy dose of competition between ex-high school sweethearts turned workplace rivals. I enjoyed every second of it and found myself so wrapped up in this story and these characters that I couldn't put this book down.

The book follows Lana, a writer aspiring to branch out from her dating & relationships column, as she finds herself in a competition for her dream job. The catch is that her opponent is her ex-high school sweetheart, and new coworker, Seth. The competition is based on a series of tasks, created by their opponent, targeting each of their respective relationship *flaws*, shall we say. For Seth, with a history of being a serial dater, the tasks are designed to help him finally settle down in a long-term relationship. For Lana, with a reputation as a serial monogamist, the tasks are focused on her learning to be happy being single. As they each complete the tasks on their lists, they write an article each week and reader engagement translates to points that ultimately determine who wins the competition and therefore the job they're both vying for. These tasks prove to teach them more about themselves and each other than they could have imagined, and force them to take a look back at their past.

I really loved Lana as a narrator; with her quirky (sometimes nerdy) sayings, not-so witty comebacks, love for iced hazelnut lattes (me too!) and her honest reflections on her mistakes and flaws (for the most part). I also really loved the inclusion of quotes from Lana and Seth's articles at the start of each chapter.

Many thanks to NetGalley & Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC!

Lana Parker has never been single for long. After a disastrous break-up with her high school boyfriend, Seth Carson, Lana's bounced from long-term relationship to long-term relationship. Lana suddenly finds herself single again, and she's determined to stay that way, no matter how challenging.

That is, until her high school ex, Seth, now a journalist in his own right, takes an assignment at Lana's site. For Lana, that means writing about staying single and embracing it. For Seth, it's learning to settle down and become boyfriend material. Whoever's is most popular wins a highly coveted columnist spot that either could only dream of. But when the two square off against one another, it's not only their careers on the line--it's also their hearts.

I am a sucker for this trope - enemies to lovers, with a side of second chance romance. This book was sweet and such an easy read. I enjoyed from beginning to end. The characters and story all flowed very easily and I enjoyed the ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️ 3/5

Who doesn’t love a second chance, enemies-to-lovers romance, especially when the two leads, Lana and Seth, are pitted against one another for the opportunity to write their own column about whatever they want? Just My Type gave me some serious How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days vibes! Anyone else have a deep love for Andie Anderson and Benjamin Berry and the QoL of their love fern?

From the beginning, I was excited to see where this story was going to go!

I think Just My Type dealt with some serious issues: parental neglect and its effect on one as an adult, as well as being taken advantage of in the workplace. Seeing Lana deal with and find the strength to overcome these issues was really moving and as a reader, I couldn’t help but cheer for her as she triumphed!

There was one theme that irked me throughout the story, something that threw off the flow for me when I was reading, and that was the constant Marvel-isms - the “oh my Loki”, or “thank Thor”. I understand that the main character was a fan of the MCU, but for me, it came off as a little cheesy.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to those who love a fun, tension-building rom-com!