I love Lana. I love Seth. I love how the story unfolded, and *all the heart eyes* for the epilogue!

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well this was absoutely delicious and I think I may have even found my new favorite romance book! This one had it all and when it comes out on February 7, 2023 you should RUN to purchase‼!

Second chances, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, childhood friends, and slow burn tropes can all be found in this book and it is all executed perfectly under the LA setting.

I loved the characters - especially Lana. Her humor was relatable and the fact that she is a Marvel fan made me love her even more. Also, Ballard really knows how to write a man and wow did Seth have me swooning.

I had so much fun reading this book and I really enjoyed that Lana and Seth completed some tasks together since we only got Lana's POV. This was such a beautiful love story and an excellent example of personal growth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Falon Ballard has done it again!

"Just My Type" is a journey of love and growth that I needed in my life. With an amazing cast of main and side characters, humor, banter, and deep conversations, Falon gives us a masterpiece we should all read.

I loved watching Lana grow and become more confident in her own skin. And Seth? Seth stole my heart and took my breath away.

There are not enough words to describe this book, so you'll have to read it and see for yourself. But it's official, if Falon Ballard writes it, I MUST read it!

I love second chance romances, exes to lovers, so much. I love some miscommunication. This had it all. I think Fallon is becoming a new autobuy author for me. I can't wait to see what she writes next and everyone should check this out.

Just My Type follows Lana and Seth’s contentions relationship competition for their lifestyle blog. After 12 years apart, high school sweethearts turned strangers, Seth comes barreling back into Lana’s life AND workplace. The blog puts them against each other in a competition: can Lana be okay single, and can Seth end his womanizing tendencies?

What follows is a sizzling enemies/rivals to lovers, second chance romance that will make you SWOON. The speed dating scene? My heart was a puddle.

Lana’s journey of finding her inner strength through various tasks was so heartwarming to experience. The tension between Seth and Lana during their joint tasks was so much fun to read. And the love confession!! I’m a sucker for great love confessions in contemporary romances, and theirs was perfect.

Enemies to lovers, say no more! <3

The idea that a couple from high school can go through time spent apart, not even thinking about each other but can reconnect years down the road, absolutely relatable. Also, when they both have a career that means the world to them, they "square-off" to not let the other influence their work.

Falon Ballard, you MUST give us a sequel with this couple!! We need to see more of their lives together!!

It’s rare for me to read romance books, but it’s becoming more and more frequent as they bring a certain lightness to life. I first requested this book because I saw it was about a duel between two journalists. Loving all things journalism-related, I knew this was the romance book I should give a chance. The tension between exes Lana and Seth is palpable throughout the entire book. As these two battle for their dream job, they have to work toward what scares them most. Lana has to stay single and become more independent, and Seth has to work on his commitment issues and strive for a long-term relationship. Along the way, they each have a set of tasks they have to complete that are supposed to help them reach their ultimate goals. Their boss spins their to-do lists into a publicity stunt, and whoever brings in the most traffic in wins bragging rights and their own column. This story is How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days meets The Hating Game meets all your other favorite “will they, won’t they” early 2000s rom-coms. You’ll be rooting for them to take each other down and for them to just admit they love each other already, all at the same time.

A cute read with a great leading couple, but the plot didn't sit right with me.

The character growth for our FMC Lana was great. She starts out very co-dependent, always trying to fill the voids left by her first love and her mother with people who aren't right for her. I didn't like her at first though, so it did take a while for me to really root for her.

I liked Seth and don't think he deserved a majority of the hate he got from characters throughout the book.

The plot seemed unrealistic. I don't read too many online journals, blogs, etc, but I don't think any would have the type of competition that these two participate in. If they do, I'm not sure the lists were realistic given the time constraints (or even what they were supposed to accomplish, at least from Lana's side?) The boss made me very uncomfortable. Everyone is so mean to Seth. I mean, it's been like 12 years, come on. But also, if he's in love with her and she (drunkenly) confesses at their reunion that she is still in love with him, why would he not reach out at any point? I thought the incident at the reunion would be a lot worse than what it actually was, and I felt a little let down.

Overall, it was cute if you can get over Lana's attitude in the beginning. I would read other books by Falon

Loved it! Thank you net galley for this ARC! It was such a great beach read. It was a light-hearted read with lovable characters. I am always a sucker for the enemies to lovers trope.

A second chance romance that was flipped upside down, spun around, and set to find its way. AND IT WORKS!!! Unique and enjoyable read!

I like how much Lana grows so much through this story. She is vulnerable and not just willing, but wanting to change. My only wish would be to see Seth’s POV. Would have liked to connect witch him more. However, it did not take away how much I enjoyed reading this book!!

I hope there is another story with May in the future!!!

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and Falon Ballard for the ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this book!!!! I could not put it down.
The pacing was perfect, the characters were likable and I loved how it all came together in the end.
I loved seeing how Seth and Lana came into their own and their second chance. Lana’s transformation and self awareness was just a beautiful journey to witness.
I really loved this! One of my most recent favorites!

I read this ARC (thanks to Netgalley) and have mixed feelings about it. Really enjoyed the premise and storyline. Characters were enjoyable and some of the format elements (like texting threads) were well done. What I didn't love was the extraneous swearing and focus on sex. There were small things that I think were meant to be endearing but I found annoying, like how she swears using Loki or Thor. Funny once or twice but dumb going through the whole book.

Is it weird to not really like the beginning of a book, but think it had a pretty solid ending?

When I first started Just My Type, I wasn’t all that into both Lana and Seth as characters. Everything felt a bit too Hallmark-y for me, and I didn’t enjoy how much this book focused on their past relationship without ever showing details of their past together. It just felt like the book was telling me “these two have a really complex history together you will never understand. Now love them,” and I couldn’t deliver.

And then, as I got further into this book, I started enjoying it a little more.

This book focuses a lot on Lana’s development as she realizes that she forces herself to never be alone and how her past has shaped who she is as an adult. Throughout the book, Lana realizes she has the tools she needs to be her own person, and that she doesn’t have to rush into relationships that aren’t perfect for her just because she is single.

I really liked the plot of Lana and Seth competing for the same column, especially toward the end when we learned a secret about one of the side characters that completely changed the game. However, because this detail didn’t appear until very close to the ending of the entire book, the first 75% of the book or so was very slow and difficult to read.

Also, a large part of the plot focuses on miscommunication, which some readers may not enjoy.

However, I really feel like it had a solid ending. Once I got into the plot, I found myself enjoying this book a lot more than I had before. It’s just a shame it didn’t happen until I was already at the end.

This book had every trope I could’ve asked for! Second chance romance (my favorite!!!), workplace romance, enemies to lovers - eek! Rom-coms often over deliver on the romance and under deliver on the comedy but this one was hilarious. Seriously. It also had so many added elements that made it insanely readable — I love mixed media/format books, it has some great bits for plant lovers, open door romance. Fallon Ballard did fantastically well with Lease on Love but she’s proving that she’s only just getting into her stride.

Unfortunately this book did not work for me at all. It started strong and then just fizzled out. I do have two disclaimers, one I read this while I had the flu so that definitely impacted my reading experience and I don't like second chance romances.

Despite being a second change romance, I was so excited for this one because I loved LEASE ON LOVE. But, this one started strong, but by the end I just did not care anymore which is the worst thing that can happen in a romance.

I really did not like the second chance element here. Seth and Lana dated all through high school (bleg) and then at their 10 year reunion Seth rejected her again. Which pissed Lana off (even though she had a BF and was drunk). I know Lana's pride was hurt, but really, they could've talked this out via a single text message to resolved this two years prior to the book? Would've saved us a lot!

This book thrives on these two characters just not talking to each other and I am THE QUEEN OF NOT TALKING TO PEOPLE and yet I felt like this was over the top. Seth literally does a ton of stuff and then does not explain himself so Lana get mad (in the slack channel too *cries*) which whatever, he was a dumb teenage boy for some of those actions, but still as an adult keeps doing stuff and then not explaining it. And it's never resolved in a meaningful way so I fully expect these two to implode together because they don't communicate well.

The list le sigh. This was fine? But didn't really do much for me and I know the ethics of the whole thing were brought up, but it still felt too weird to be believable.

The detail in this book don't make sense. I will give a lot of this grace and assume they will be fixed in the finished copy or it was my flu brain, but I was legit confused at times. They would say "we only have one task left" but have more? Or specific details just did not match up.

ALSO WHAT HAPPENED TO TESSA AND ROB? Do they get a book??

Seth was such a boring love interest. Do you know how hard it is to be a boring love interest when you've traveled the world as a journalist? I wish he got a POV (even though this entire book does not work if he had one) because then he would've been less boring. Also, this is the second book that I've read this year where the MMC has a tattoo on his hip related to the heroine and I don't hate it, but it's weird.

I did like the LA setting. As a SoCal resident, I've been to a lot of these places which was fun.

mini synopsis: seth and lana were high school sweethearts, but went through a horrible breakup during college. years later, they reconnect in the worst possible way... they're both vying for the same job! these two journalists are tasked with writing rival blog pieces and whosever goes most viral will win the job. lana, who is a serial monogamist, is tasked with staying single. meanwhile ,seth is tasked with finally becoming boyfriend material and settling down. however, the more time they're forced to spend together, the more they realize there might still be something between them.

the vibes:
- how to lose a guy in 10 days vibes
- second chance romance
- high school sweethearts
- workplace romance
- fmc is a major pop culture nerd
- a little slow burn
- come from different backgrounds
- set in la
- both characters are journalists

this book is perfect if you're in the mood for a contemporary romance.

I throughly enjoyed this novel. In fact, it’s one of the few lately that has held my attention throughout the entire story. While I could see a few things coming, I never felt like rushing though it. I would definitely recommend it to friends.

YOU GUYSSSS this book 😍😍

Just My Type by Falon Ballard was literally everything i adore in a romance book. Workplace romance? Check. Enemies/rivals to lovers?? Check. SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE??? CHECCKKKK. And you guys, the second chance romance in this book was just 🤌🤌 SO GOOD!! ((Swipe for the description!))

Lana Parker is one of us. She’s a FMC for my fangirls and my bookish girlies. And for all my girlies who are feeling a little lost and aren’t quite sure who they are. Lana’s healing journey through this book is so beautiful and inspiring, but you know me. I’m a sucker for any romance book where the romance ✨almost ✨ takes a back seat to the characters self discovery. And sweet, sweet, Seth. He’s giving major golden retriever, it’s always been you energy that you just love to see.

I said this about Lease on Love too but Falon Ballard has a way of writing the MOST FUN friend groups that you just wish you were a part of. We love an author who thrives on found family 🙌

This is 4.5⭐️ from me!! Knocked .5 just for the walking HR harassment claim of a boss but tbh that was the whole point of the character. The corporate girlie in me tho just can’t let that slide 😂😂

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to preorder this book for myself because a book this wonderful needs a permanent space on my shelf 🫶🏼💗

READ IF YOU LIKE
- second chance romance
- rivals to lovers
- workplace romance
- slooowwww burn
- how to lose a guy in 10 days
- hilarious group slack messages
- swoony love confessions ((speed dating?? I DIED))
- mcu & starwars
- bookish main characters

ALSO if you read and loved The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon you will LOOVEEEEE this book!!

Biggest thank you to @netgalley for this eARC! Just My Type is available February 7, 2023!!

3.5 stars

Lana is having a bit of a rough time. Her boyfriend of 4 years broke up with her when she was expecting a proposal (a la Legally Blonde), her profession development has stalled, and *the* ex of all exes shows up to threaten just about everything. And wouldn’t you know it? There’s some forced proximity, a bet/competition, TONS OF MISCOMMUNICATION (🙄), and discovering long repressed feelings.

I loved Lease of Love, so had high hopes for Ballard’s second book. I felt the story and chemistry just weren’t as good, but she set the bar so high with the first so it’s her own damn fault.

Give it a read if you like:
🌻 slow burn romance
🌻 sentimental tattoos
🌻 second chance romance
🌻 found family
🌻millennial culture

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

CW/TW: abandonment, toxic relationship, strained mother-daughter relationship

I absolutely loved Ballard’s first novel Lease on Love, so had high hopes for this one, and it did not disappoint! I loved all the characters and the chemistry and dynamics between them all. I especially enjoyed seeing the evolution of Lana and Seth’s relationship over the course of the book. The writing felt very modern and written for millennials which I liked, with a lot of pop culture and book/reading references. I think the actual plot of the story was a fun concept, and it was great following along on Seth and Lana’s tasks. Friendships and mental health played a big role in the story, which was nice to see and I thought it was done well. I was tearing up and smiling the whole time reading the last few pages, and thought it ended perfectly.