My first 5 star read of 2023! Huge TY to @putnam @falon for my e-ARC - this gem comes out Feb 7th!

What I LOVED ❤️
- LANA was an incredible MC - her strength, self-discovery, growth, independence, confidence throughout the book was everything. I often found myself seeing a bit in me in her and felt proud
- The PREMISE - a perfect first-love, high school sweethearts, forced proximity, could claim a little enemies to lovers vibes romance, oh and the steam
- The CHARACTERS - Lana, Seth, May, Corey, Tessa…all of these characters were perfect and I loved that each played an integral role in the story

This is my second Fallon Ballard read and I thoroughly enjoyed myself as much, if not more, the second time around! A voicey second chance romcom between Lana and Seth who are high school sweethearts exes now thrown back together during a friendly workplace competition with a winner takes the job element.

Sometimes narratives with a list-element don’t always do it for me but I found this one to really work! Not only did I appreciate the slow-burn rekindling romance, which got satisfyingly steamy once the burn began, I absolutely loved the mental health representation and focus on therapy as a sub-plot. I truly believed they were improving themselves so they could be their best in order to be together.

This book is perfect if you’re looking for something to take your mind off the world for a bit and relax into a delightful escapist read that will keep you smiling and blushing the whole way through. Fans of Marvel and Disney will appreciate Lana’s character especially!

A wonderful follow up to Lease on Love. Will be a great addition to our “Spring Break” reads shelf. Will be including both titles on our display.

Unfortunately I dnf this book at 10%!

Thank you to netgalley & penguin group Putnam for an arc!

I honestly believed I was going to enjoy this so much. The description caught my attention and I was like ohh enemies to lovers sounds good! However, I could not stand the writing let alone the character Lana. She is very annoying and honestly I do not want to read about all the guys she has dated and how she complains about it. Her own boss tells her she has been in so many relationships she can’t even be single for 5 minutes. Everything is just so cringe. I wish it was a better outcome but unfortunately I couldn’t continue reading it.

Lana Parker is a 30 year old relationship & dating journalist has been jumping from one long term relationship to the next over the last decade. The day after her boyfriend of four years breaks up with her on the night she thought he was going to propose, she is stunned to see her ex-high school sweetheart, Seth, show up at her work. It turns out, the two of them will be fighting for a column of their own at the LA Chronicles. The catch is they each have to complete ten things the other chooses for them to help each other find themself. Will this competition push Lana and Seth farther apart, or bring them back to each other?

I really enjoyed this book! I was hooked from the beginning scene where Lana was dumped.

I kept reading cause I was so invested in the competition and how it would end up. I loved the laugh out loud banter and how everyone in the workplace was also invested in the competition.

There was a lot of tension and angst between the two, but I loved the scenes where they were friendly (or more than friendly 😉).

I wish we would have seen more scenes with Lana and Seth when they weren’t at each others throats.

Overall I gave Just My Type 4 stars! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes:
Second chance romance
Rivals to lovers
Workplace romance
*Friendly* competition
LOL banter
Lots of angst

Well this was cute. I devoured it in one sitting.
I loved the friendships in this book.
Fun pop culture reference throughout.
Unique, bookish FMC. Loved her quirkiness.

My only struggle was some miscommunication between the MCs as they found their way to their second chance… but it was explained well… I just found myself saying “just tell him / her” more than I liked, which kept it from being a 5 star.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for an advance copy.

This book was a romance trope fest in the best way. Second-chance, enemies to lovers is maybe the best combo I've seen. I loved how real all of the characters felt. They really felt like people I could know if my real life. The Marvel element threw my just a drop and felt a bit cartoonish, but I loved Lana as a character and her push and pull with Seth was so fun to read.

Just My Type is such a perfect rom-com.
Lana is a writer; she’s successful, funny, loves to lose herself in Marvel movies and fantasy novels, and is a perfect representation of so many bookstagrammers today.
Seth is a writer; he’s hoping to switch from a wandering freelancer to a steady columnist in LA…
Oh and they were high school sweethearts who broke each others hearts and now are pitted in a “friendly” writing competition for the same column job- he has to prove he’s long term relationship material and she has to find contentment with being solo. Let the sexy tension and hilarious inner dialogue begin!

This book was so funny and different but classic. I loved that our characters were both flawed but so deserving of love. Their companionship with each other and their coworkers really made this book shine. Loved it!

I’m going to admit this book got off to a bit of a slow start for me, but holy moly, the journey.

I just adored the female MC Lana, and the path she walked in this book. There were parts that really spoke to me personally, and just gave me all the feels. I can’t say that will be the experience for everyone, but I almost want to pick this one up and read it again right now. 🥰

Read this if you love…
- second chance romance
- self-discovery
- a fantastic female lead
- strong character development
- you’ve ever had a complicated relationship with a parent
- if you liked @falonballard’s first book, Lease On Love

I know some of you are skeptical of second-chance romance, but this one works, I promise.

Thank you Penguin Random House International and Putnam for my e-ARC in exchange for the honest review #partner #sponsored #PRHInternationalPartner

Lana thinks that her boyfriend will propose to her but then Evan’s told her that they should break up. After they’ve been together for four years. Lana writes a dating articles and now all her coworkers knows that she got dumped. Natasha (her boss) wants Lana to write about being single and to do that Lana needs to stay single. After she got dumped she now discovered that her ex boyfriend is her new coworker who she still loves.

Seth and Lana was put into a dating competition by their boss. And then they both make list for each other for what they’re going to do separately. But then Natasha told them to do that list together but they both hate it, because they hate each other. Lana was his ex, but then he told her that he still loves her, he always did. And everything is a mess after that.

First and foremost, I will say this book had a five star ending.

Now onto my thoughts…

I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved the premise, and the author delivered a five star ending, however there was much to be desired throughout the book. Not including Seth’s POV did the story a disservice. I also felt like the author was using parts of the book as her personal soapbox to prove she is progressive. The comments did not add to the story, but they took away from the focus. It took awhile to get used to the flow, and I did not fully engage with the story until the halfway point.
I still recommend this book because the story in itself is a different second chance romance than I usually read.

This book was so chaotic, but I really did enjoy myself.

Lana and Seth are both very flawed main characters, which I liked and did not like.
That said, I was of course rooting for them despite their major communication issues.

The book moved quickly and was an excellent rom com! Highly recommend if you liked Lease on Love.

Content warnings include abandonment, a lot of alcohol use, and a toxic workplace/boss.

READ IF YOU LIKE: second chance romance, high school sweethearts, books about writers, a little competition

PRELUDE: this was one of my most anticipated reads bc i absolutely loved lease on love last year (ballard’s debut novel) so when i got this eARC, i couldn’t WAIT to read it. unfortunately, it fell really flat for me :/

LIKES: the self-growth by our female main character was really great, the slack messages were super chaotic and fun to read, their LA outing day that was like a date that’s not a date, the competition had fun (if not predictable) aspects, their day volunteering with teen writers was cute.

DISLIKES: this was single pov told from lana’s perspective and i find that in second chance romance i NEEEEED dual pov to really understand both sides so i never felt like i really had a handle on Seth, i kinda wanted to punch lana several times throughout the book for acting intentionally daft/clueless?, lana’s relationship with her mom is tenuous and their conversation felt veryyyy underwhelming and lacking.

IN CONCLUSION: this one didn’t quite work for me, but it was a quick, second chance romance that was sweet at times and funny in others. just because it didn’t do it for me doesn’t mean it won’t for you!! AND, i absolutely recommend lease on love to any and everyone!

Just My Type by Falon Ballard is a second chance at love rom-com with two ex high school sweethearts both single and meeting twelve years later during an assignment meeting at Lana's workplace (a magazine website). Lana is completely blindsided when her high school ex and "the one who got away"; Seth is present for the assignment meeting, (he doesn't work there), but she is quickly told he will be freelancing at the magazine and that soon there will be an amazing job opening available at the website that they both will be competing for - thus begins the copycat like version of "How to meet a guy in ten days."
I struggled with the character of Lana in this book quite a lot and often found myself rooting for Seth to just run for the hills. Lana was entitled and snobby, she was very rude and honestly this made her hard to root for or connect with. Later in the book we learn some of the reasons she behaves this way, but by that time I am not invested in her character and have lost interest.
I normally enjoy these kinds of books, but found that while the writing and story flowed well it just was not anywhere near as fantastic as her last book, "Lease on love." I think a lot of my feelings of meh-ness for the book came from my dislike for Lana. I still was very charmed by the writing though and laughed out loud several times. I would recommend this book to my rom-com loving friends, and I will definitely continue to read this author. Thank you #NetGalley and #PenguinRandomHouse and #Putnam for this complimentary Advance reading copy for exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

#JUSTMYTYPE
#FALONBALLARD
#NETGALLEY
#PUTNAMBOOKS
#PENGUINRANDOMHOUSE

Falon Ballard's Lease On Love was an absolute favorite read of mine last year, so when I saw this available to read early I did what any logical person would do: requested it. From the first line of the book, which is iconic, to the epilogue I was enthralled. This book hits so many good notes. I love a good found family situation, improving yourself, growth, pining, tender moments, excitement, and this book had all of them. Plus it's a second chance romance (my fave) dealing with a couple that were together in high school (another fave trope), so OBVIOUSLY I'm going to love it.

Loves:

Lana's journey in this book is excellent. Where she starts and where she finishes are vastly far apart and I love that for her. All of the tasks were great steps to help her find herself and I especially loved the therapy parts. The friend group that she had was also so endearing. Ballard has a special talent in creating the best friend groups that I wish I were apart of .

The challenge of learning to be single/in a relationship was also really great. The tasks that they created for each other were great on the surface level, but then the two of them being force to do some of that together? Excellent. The way that the challenge is concluded made me so ridiculously happy. It could have gone several ways, but I'm glad it went way it did.

Seth was well written and I liked that we only had Lana's perspective. I thought that a lot of his back and forth on things was handled well within the constraints of everything. And my word, the steamy bits of this book? Excellent. I loved the way that Ballard handled it.

This book is definitely a messy book in the relationships and everything, but it was sooooo funny. Like an actual rom-com of a book with heavier pieces to give it some depth. A great read that I finished in two days only because I couldn't keep my eyes open any later!

Meh:

My biggest "meh" piece was that I wish there had been a little less back and forth on the changing relationship between Lana and Seth. I get the first bit of their exes and then become friendly then remembering, but it felt like it went on too long? Also some more background and depth on Seth would have been particularly great. There was some, but I just wanted more from him and their past relationship.

Long Story Short

Do I recommend this book? YES!! Despite some of my little grievances, this book is so worth picking up. The emotional pull with the characters? Or the small movements from ex to more? Ugh. I wish I could scrape this book from my memory and read it again because it was so good. Plus I am an absolute sucker for second chance romance for childhood relationships. Read this book, I promise you won't regret it.

If You Liked This One...

Another excellent childhood relationship to estranged/exes/enemies to lovers is Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. It's almost a perfect match in emotion although set up a bit differently. HIGHLY recommend that one. Otherwise, People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry is another near perfect match as well.

I will read anything Falon Ballard writes. Lease on Love was one of my top five books of 2022 and I also adored this one!!! I was rooting for Lana and Seth the whole way and the ending brought me to tears (happy tears)! Definitely recommend if you like second chance romances, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and/or Marvel and other fandoms! (Lana is a huge nerd and blogs about pop culture and books!)

Just My Type was a cute romcom story, if you suspend all disbelief and really don't think about it too much.

I recently read Ten Rules For Faking It by Sophie Sullivan, and this book reminded me so much of that that I almost DNF'd (workplace romance/dating competition with ten rules being a huge part of the plot - but radio station instead of newspaper/journalists). I actually got the Sophie Sullivan book out a few times just to confirm how similar they were.

The characters all seemed pretty boring, and I don't really remember any of their names off the top of my head. It seemed super weird to me that almost all of her friends were just work colleagues, but I suppose the point is that her partner is her only friend, hence the need to be single for a while.

Also, that boss was horrible, and I don't believe that Lana wouldn't have considered quitting from the beginning of this book. (SPOILERS this paragraph) Here, do this competition where you have to stay single and your ex has to find a partner, oh and your ex is going to write your single to-do list, and you have to do as much of the list together because the viewers love your chemistry, and I don't care that you are clearly in destress because your long term boyfriend just dumped you at a dinner where you thought he was going to propose and the next day you have to work with your high school sweetheart who should be on the other side of the country, and your prize is this column writing whatever you want which I could have given you before we were bought out because I was/am the boss. Just no. Red flags all around. Leave that work environment Lana (glad they finally did!).

I wish we could have seen more of what Seth was thinking and feeling from the beginning, because, I guess like a real Hallmark movie, they don't interact much (Lana actively avoids him when she doesn't need to be with him for work). I want to see what he was like when she wasn't around. Also, I was not a fan of the fact that this very adult woman kept thinking about the amazing sex she had with this man when they were teenagers (only dated in high school). I get it, but the way it was explained was just icky and uncomfortable.

Loved the ending of the book, it was absolutely adorable. Just some points throughout were questionable, and you really need to suspend reality.

Overall it was a cute book, I'm sure a lot of people would love it. Ps: the Marvel references were great!

I LOVED this book!! What a refreshing, fun story! Lana and Seth were high school sweethearts who never really got over their love for each other. Twelve years later, they find themselves surprisingly pitted against each other for a job competition across the country where Lana has made a new life for herself, tucking away her old unresolved issues with Seth (and her mother).

I loved this. Loved it. It had the cutest banter, the sweetest communication, a beautiful way to show Lana working through her issues (and was very mental health friendly encouraging counseling!). It was just wonderful. Thank you to NetGalley for this copy. I highly recommend!

A sweet second-chance romance by Fallon Ballard! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Lana and Seth are well-drawn characters, forced to reconcile their romantic past (and potentially, present) with a career battle at their newspaper.

Second chance romance, forced proximity in the workplace, and amazing banter?? SIGN ME UP! If you're looking for something similar to Emily Henry's "Beach Read", this is the book for you.!!

In this book you follow Lana Parker who is a journalist for a trendy LA website in which she writes about dating & relationships. Then the one who got away, her high school sweetheart, Seth Carson, who is also a journalist, shows up at her work and finds out that she will be competing in a competition against him! Lana has a habit of constantly being in relationships so she is never alone versus Seth who has trouble settling down. So for the competition they have curate a list for each other to complete (and write about their experiences) in hopes that Lana will learn to be single and embrace it and for Seth to find the one and settle down. Will Lana and Seth be able to get along?

I absolutely loved this book! The writing was so addicting and easy to follow! I was able to read it in a little less than 2 days! The whole plot line was just so fun! I am a huge sucker for second chance romance in which you have to wait to find out the full story. As for the characters, there was a great amount of them in which I never got overwhelmed or lost trying to figure out who's who again. Lana and Seth will have my heart. They are truly the cutest human beings and you can really see the chemistry between them from the very beginning. There was never a time in which I wasn't rooting for them. The hint of marvel references also really made my day!! HIGHLY recommend checking out this book!