I thought this was okay, I didn't love or hate this book. I have read better romance books that I would suggest over this book. But I did not think this book was bad. I loved how it showed someone living with endometriosis. It helped me to get a better understanding of it. I loved Liam tried to understand Evie instead of judging her for it. I enjoyed overall romace between the two characters, and how they grew together. I am also a big Gene Kelly fan so I did enjoy the little easter eggs to him. Overall not a bad read.

Thank you NetGalley, Torie Jean, and Sunset and Camden Creative for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

As a lover of Gene Kelly, musicals, tap dancing, and French pastries, I should have expected how much I would enjoy this book. And yet, I somehow went in unprepared, leaving me open to the happiest of surprises. It’s sweet romance, snarky characters, emotional depth, and Nutella crepes all rolled into one entertaining package.

The story has everything: a more than healthy appreciation for Gene Kelly (particularly his forearms), a dreamy Parisian setting (our heroine is an American in Paris, because of course she is), and an utterly wonderful book boyfriend in Liam Kelly (no relation to Gene). Evie grew up thinking she was frenemies more than anything else with the boy next door, in spite of her growing crush on him, but when they reconnect in Paris as adults, she’s forced to reassess everything she thought she knew.

But this book is more than just fluffy romantic goodness, even if Liam gives us plenty of those moments. Evie’s mom is very critical of her, which might be hard for some readers, and she has to work past how much the comments affect her to grow as the story progresses. And the biggest, harshest reality found in these pages – Evie has endometriosis, and it’s not a passing detail. It’s very present in the novel, her pain captured in vivid detail, and it has an effect on every aspect of her life, romantic or otherwise. Evie has put her dreams on hold because her endo takes so much out of her, and though this is largely a story of her and Liam, it’s also the story of her learning that she can have a full, exciting, wonderful life in spite of her chronic pain.

Finding Gene Kelly is sort of code for finding your dreams, finding the thing that makes you happy in spite of the massive amounts of crap the world throws at you. It might take Evie a while to remember, but she deserves that. So do the rest of us.

So thankful to have been given the chance to read this debit novel from Torie Jean.

Was drawn to the book simply by the title but was not disappointed as I opened its pages. It contains lighter tropes such as fake dating and miscommunication but also addresses so tenderly the disease of endometriosis, familial discourse, and grief.
I love Gene Kelly and found Torie Jean to do an excellent job of balancing referencing him and her work throughout without it consuming the book or making you wonder why it is the title. The sentimental connection made me love the book more and I look forward to recommending this book to many.

This book is pretty cute, the setting is perfect for a good rom com, and it includes some pretty good tropes like fake dating, so if you're looking for a cute love story, this is a good pick!

so their love confessions happened abruptly if you ask me, i even thought she was having a dream so i don't like that part. because of the wedding mentioned so many times and their reason to fake date was the wedding i was expecting them to confess their feelings AFTER wedding but i guess since you wait for 22 years you can't wait another couple days 🙄

i have complicated thoughts about evie's condition i know she has endometriosis and it cause her serious problems but in general she was too much damsel in distress 😭 but still i adored evie and her life, i have only one argument against her that <b> ROMAN HOLIDAY ENDING WAS A MASTERPIECE</b> 🙄💅🏽 her nana knew better than her

liam was your ideal hero, he was in love with evie for years and pining after her, he was even ready to move across the world just to be with her(as he should) 💘

Sometimes all you want is a realistically swoony romance set in Paris, and that is exactly what “Finding Gene Kelly” delivers.

The story follows Evie, an American living in Paris, whose life goes sideways when her best friend surprises her by bringing Liam – the childhood boy next door, her brother’s best friend, and her high school bully – on an extended work trip to Paris immediately after Evie learns that her brother is getting married in three months and her (awful) mother expects her to come with a date. Liam is more than happy to agree to any and all fake dating terms, but it’s hard for Evie to trust him and believe he won’t publicly humiliate her (again).

On top of all that, Evie has endometriosis, a chronic illness that impacts her daily life in unpredictable ways and that makes having a sexual relationship difficult – to the point that Evie has basically given up any hope that she’ll ever have one.

Though Finding Gene Kelly does touch on heavy topics, this book is extremely sweet – Evie is funny and charming and understandably anxious while Liam is sarcastic and thoughtful and outrageously romantic. I do wish that there had been a more explicit moment in the book where the two of them really sat down and hashed things out – while Liam does get his moment to explain, I wanted Evie to have a moment where she made him understand exactly how he made her feel in high school.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Finding Gene Kelly, loved all the details about Paris, appreciated the unflinching look at life with endometriosis, and was rooting for both Liam and Evie to get their happily ever after.

“I like making your heart happy.”

💖

What you’ll find:
🇫🇷 Paris setting
😘 Childhood friends to enemies to lovers
🥵 So much tension and pining
🔥 Slow burn
💬 Excellent banter
💛 Endometriosis rep
😍 Fake dating
😬 They love each other, but they’re both oblivious
🧁 Evie making lots of delicious treats
💌 Secret admirer post cards
💒 Sweet childhood wedding
📺 Lots of old movie references
❤️‍🩹 Traumatic parental relationships

I absolutely love love loved this story! Evie is so precious and sweet and deserves all the love in the world, despite believing otherwise. Liam is incredibly caring and loving and cheeky. They’re perfect for each other! They overcome so much, from Evie’s painful relationship with her mother and her endo, to Liam’s uncertain relationship with his father and career path, as well as their own rocky past and their hopes for a future. Evie’s battle with endo is so heartbreaking, leaving her in physical and emotional pain. I love the realistic look at this condition and how it can affect a person’s life - jobs, social life, romantic relationships, dreams of the future. My favourite part was their wedding when they were 5 years old. Me heart!! Oh and when he dresses up as Gene Kelly and dances with her by the Seine. So sweet! I highly recommend this!!!

Finding Gene Kelly

I really, really, REALLY loved this book. I can't really begin to explain just how much I enjoyed Evie's story, from the way she talked about herself and her life, to her genuine interactions with her friends. From the moment that Liam came into the picture, I just felt all of her pent up frustration, and accompanying shame. I followed her to the ends of her torment through trying to figure him out, all the while just wishing she would give him a chance.... and I was so glad when she finally did.

I could relate to Evie's feelings of life passing by, and admired that the story was shared through a sometimes very funny lens. I found myself rooting not only for Evie and Liam, but for all the relationships that were shown throughout the book as well! I think that shows that this book was just fantastically written and the characters will for sure stick with me. My one hope now is that this would get turned into a movie!

Evie O’Shea has always loved Liam Kelly. From the age of 5 when they married, until she meets him again over twenty years later, in Pairs. Yet Liam has been the bane of her existence since he failed to appear as her partner at graduation. Since then she has struggled, not only with forgetting Liam, a man whose toned forearms and eye crinkles rival that of Gene Kelly himself, but with endometriosis. So when Evie has to return home for her brother’s weeding, Evie decides to seek out Liam, and ask him to be her fake date. However, Liam sets out conditions to fabricate an elaborate backstory whilst practicing fake dates. Soon their real feelings begin to show, and Evie must confront whether the dreams that she put away, could actually be realised.
This was a sweet romance, between two characters so obviously in love, but determined to hide their feelings behind past hurts. The pain felt by Evie, due to endometriosis and her felt failures are so raw and intense, that it was difficult not to become immersed in this story. The author has done an amazing job of integrating what many women suffer from yet battle through. How Liam treats Evie, shows the true hero that Liam is.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

🍑 ARC Review of Finding Gene Kelly By: Torie Jean 🍑
Release date : September 20 🍩

🪞A mirror into the most vulnerable parts of my life is what this book felt like to me. From the chronic pain struggles to the family dynamic to the pushing yourself past limits to the way I personally perceive love. I have never read something so raw and validating.
It also shows that while chronic illness / pain is a nightmare it’s not who YOU are it’s just a part of you & dreams come true .. it’s all in how you perceive it. ❤️‍🩹🎗

This story is written from the perspective of Evie O’Shea as she maneuvers a life with endometriosis in Paris as a blogger/baker by day and old Hollywood movie lover by night. Enter Liam Kelly , her childhood husband turned nemesis for 10 years . Brothers best friend . Cinnamon ROLL , Pink Donut with all the SPRINKLES Man . Who’s undeniably been swooning for Miss Evie girl since before he knew what love was . He randomly shows up in Paris and everything shifts . In Evie’s life and heart. From the pining , to the tension , to the tugging of the strings of your heart , to the dimples / belly laughs . The love that is showed between the two is undeniably one of a kind . It’s a heart felt read from start to finish . The representation is something that should be read by all and a reminder to others who suffer that they are worthy in every aspect of life . No matter the nightmare of chronic pain or illness . Dreams do come true .. you are worthy . It may need to be drilled into your head by a Determined Man 😉 or another factor , but it’s the truest of true. 🗼

“I just never imagined home would be a person.” 💐

Tropes : Childhood Bestfriends / Enemies to Lovers / Brothers Bestfriend
Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Big thanks to Net Galley , Torie Jean ( @authortoriejean ) and Sunset & Camden Creative Publishing for the opportunity to review this ARC !

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Finding Gene Kelly is an absolute masterpiece! I am here for it! I received an ARC, so no highlighting. This is a book that needs highlights! So many highlights! I will be purchasing it so that I can highlight it, that's how much I loved it.

Please read the author's content warning. They are honest and wonderful. Sometimes we want to escape our chronic illness. Sometimes we want to be seen. Finding Gene Kelly is for when you want to be seen in a story.

I do not have endometriosis. That is not my chronic illness. But I saw so much of my chronic illness in Evie's struggle. So many of us chronically fabulous humans share so many things with different diagnoses.

I am absolutely here for:
Turning the forest witch on when "helpers" mention the big 3.
Wearing the heating pad/hot water bottle everywhere.
Taking the big meds.
Being mad at bent penises for getting all the research money.
Licking a Monet.
Maybe as a society we should stop commenting on stuff like that!

I treasure this story and I'm so thankful that is exists!

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

DIDN'T GRAB ME AT FIRST, BUT IT GREW ON ME

Maybe not the most flowing review, but that was really what happened. At first I really struggled with the writing and Evie never really became my favourite, but around the 40% marker I actually started really getting into the book and blew through it quickly.

👍 What I Liked 👍

Liam: I think a lot of readers will be divided on what they make of Liam. Because he was almost too good to be true. Sweet, supportive, patient and understanding. All rolled up into one person. For me, it was just right. But I can understand if others find him slightly unbelievable.

Awareness: Endometriosis is a debilitating condition that what too many (roughly estimated 10% or 190 million women) suffer from. What's especially sad about this condition is how little we know about it, how hard it is to treat and how little we talk about. A friend of mine suffers from endometriosis and it took her years to get diagnosed simply because the (male) doctors didn't believe her and always said she was exaggerating - even though she literally fainted from the pain regularly. I hope that books like this can help raise awareness, especially for women, so they know that they are not alone and that their pain is not an exaggeration or a hysterical reaction on their part.

Growth: Again, I really liked how this book grew on me, slowly but surely. I can't really say what was cause, but all of a sudden I really wanted to see this story through to the end.

👎 What I Disliked 👎

Writing: At first I very nearly DNF'ed this book solely because of the writing. It was just all over the place. It felt very rambling and it really didn't sit well with me.

Evie: While I have great sympathy for the pain Evie goes through on a regular basis, I found her really unlikable. She was quite juvenile. She held grudges far longer than was necessary or warranted - especially when she never gave the object of her grudge any change to explain themselves. It was just really childish. And the saddest part was... I didn't see any real growth in her throughout the story...

Resolution: Evie has a very toxic and manipulative mother. I actually found their relationship interesting and relatable right up until the end. [When Catherine (the mom) finally explains to Evie why she acts like she does, the explanation is just way too easy. It was just too thin of a reason for someone to be so nasty to their own daughter.

I loved this Parisian inspired romance novel! I found myself transported to Paris, walking along the banks of the Seine right next to Liam and Evie. I loved the nods to old Hollywood and Gene Kelly. It made me want to watch An American in Paris and Singing in the Rain again!

Now, let’s get into the romance. Fake dating is always a good idea, right? To be honest, it’s one of my favorite tropes, and I felt like it was done well here. Liam surprises Evie in Paris and she is not pleased to see her high school tormenter in her favorite place. However, her brother’s wedding is coming up and she needs a date before her mom completely steamrolls her. Enter Liam Kelly. From the get go you know Liam is head over heels for Evie, but she absolutely refuses to see it!! While I found myself frustrated with Evie and her constant self doubt and insecurities, I did understand why she felt that way. When she finally set aside some of that doubt and started trusting Liam, oh it was so cute!! Liam Kelly is such a sweetheart!!! He takes care of Evie when she needs him, but doesn’t ever try to fix her illness like everyone else in her life, he’s just there to support her in whatever way she needs. It was really beautiful to see Evie lean into that trust and let herself fall in love.

I did take off one star due to the 🛑SPOILER 🛑third act breakup. I understand why the author made that decision, but I felt she could have resolved the issue without Evie and Liam breaking up. The epilogue was cute and provided some closure I felt was needed, but I would have loved to have seen a bit more of Evie and Liam’s life after the final resolution.

This book does cover some heavy topics, but the author put a wonderful note and content/trigger warning at the beginning of the book that lays it all out without giving away any of the story. Why don’t more authors do this?? It’s brilliant!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!! All opinions are my own.

There is a seed of something good here, however this book really needed another round (or a few) of edits. It is way too long, and absolutely drags. The total lack of any seed of self confidence in Evie is difficult as a woman to read. The writing is good, but honestly there are so many extraneous scenes and details. If this book were 25-30% shorter it would likely be a fun read.

to start off, this is quite possibly one of the cutest and most adorable covers i have ever seen !! i love the colors, the flowers, and just everything. the energy of this book is absolutely immaculate. i love the whole cute romance book set in paris w/ a main character who loves to bake and references to old movies w/ gene kelly and audrey hepburn. i love the representation in this book with the main character’s condition, especially because i’ve never seen endometriosis represented in any books at all. evie’s condition was a big part of the book alongside the romance which was the main focus (since it’s quite literally a romance book). i do, however, feel that evie irritated me at times and she came off as a sometimes usual quirky/clumsy/hard-on-self/that whole genre of character. liam was great but he didn’t entirely feel authentic. he almost seemed too perfect, and there was something about him that just made him seem like that typical perfect boyfriend in romance books/media (especially his dialogue and flirty remarks). regardless, i still really enjoyed him and evie. they worked so well as a couple. the enemies to lovers trope in this, which i’m not usually a fan of, seemed a bit off and rushed. it didn’t really feel like they were even enemies. it felt like more of a one-sided deal. i also feel as though the “redemption” of evie’s mom in her eyes was a bit rushed and should’ve been fleshed out and addressed more at the very end. also, i think this book could’ve been a bit shorter. this is definitely the type of book i could see a lottt of people really loving !!
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC for this book in exchange for a review <3

What an amazing read!! I absolutely fell in love with this Novel and have preordered a copy.

The author has done an amazing job in highlighting the nature of living with endometriosis and the effects it has on one’s life in all aspects. The story of was breath of was raw and emotional, funny and sad. You feel for the both the main characters, I had a smile on face reading some scenes and very emotional at the painful scenes.

I cannot wait to read future books written by Torie.

This was a good book, with a heavy background. I’m glad there were warnings ahead of time. I liked the characters.

3.5 stars.

One day read--I think that says it all. I put work to read. I read during dinner (making and eating). I stayed up late to read. If that's not the mark of a keeper, I dunno what is.

I think FGK's biggest strength is how Jean balances the humor and heart of a romance with the daily realities of a chronic illness. She doesn't shy away from the difficult, ugly parts of endo but also makes sure that the romance stays in focus throughout. Reminded me a bit of Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbett, in doing that dance well.

I also really loved Jean's descriptions of place--especially Paris. She has a knack for capturing the beautiful in her descriptions but making it accessible. While a bit more "setbuilding" would have been nice, she does a better job than other authors I've read at making her characters' Paris feel lived in.

Thanks to Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for the ebook ARC. All opinions are mine alone.

It's been a minute since a book has made me this level of happy upon finishing it.

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.

From the snarky banter, to the many Gene Kelly and Audrey Hepburn film references, to the punny chapter titles, to the tropes, this book had me wrapped around its precious little finger. I laughed, I swooned, I cried. This book was a great balance between fluffy and sweet, and heavy and serious.

A prominent part of this book is that our main character, Evie, lives with endometriosis. I appreciated that the author, who also lives with endo, was very forthcoming in her trigger/content warnings at the front of the book on what to expect as the reader watches Evie go about her life. Endo is brutal, it's inconvenient and interrupts everything. It's living in a constant state of various degrees of pain, and it's something that I will thank God every day that I don't have to live with it. I'm glad the author did not shy away from what living with this disease is like because it gives me insight not only into Evie's character, but for any I may come in contact with battling endo.

Yes, this book deals with the heavy topic of endometriosis, but it's also wickedly funny, incredibly angsty, and utterly romantic. Those three things make a perfect recipe for a romcom to me.

Can we take a minute (or a year) to talk about the divine, swoon-worthy heartthrob of a man that is Liam Kelly??? My goodness. He was everything. EV-ER-Y-THING. I loved his determination to get Evie to see him in a whole new light. I loved his patience and understanding. I loved his smooth talking. Also, chapters 15 & 16...I nearly highlighted the whole thing PINK because of cuteness overload.

I could probably ramble on and on about this book. It was nearly perfect to me. The only things I wish it had more of was some fleshing out of other relationships that Evie and Liam had with certain members of their friends and family. There were also some things about Liam that popped up that I was super curious about and would've loved more information on! And then there were a few times where I thought the humor went just a bit overboard and could've been reeled in. But I truly did love this book and all of those things listed were so minor to affecting my enjoyment of this novel.

If you love a good romcom, read this book for:
- Endometriosis rep
- Childhood Friends -to- Bane of My Existence -to- Lovers
- Secret Postcards
- So much angst and pining
- FAKE DATING!!
- Paris vibes
- Yummy baked goods
- Cutesy pet names

And finally, I just want to say to anyone who might be reading this and living with endo... I don't know what it's like to be in your shoes, but I hope you feel seen. I hope you know that you are more than your pain and more than your disease. And to reiterate what Liam once said to Evie, keep dreaming your dreams, even the silly ones, and I hope you someday find your Gene Kelly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author, Torie Jean, for an advanced copy of Finding Gene Kelly in exchange for my honest review! Finding Gene Kelly releases on September 20, 2022!

4.5/5 Stars

Finding Gene Kelly was a sobering yet beautiful romcom, tackling the realities of endometriosis and the effect it has on everyday living, and the challenges it brings to a romantic relationship.
Readers with any chronic illness will resonate with the female lead, Evie- however if they’re anything like me, they’ll also be very humbled by her strength.
I related to aspects of her condition, but also really appreciated being invited into such a vulnerable topic within a romance novel. It gave perspective.
Despite the serious discussions of debilitating pain, this book was also light hearted, punny, and very very sweet. The contrast between struggle and hope was something that breathed life into my lungs. The male lead, Liam, is a swoon worthy, pining, life long, friend to rival to lover, and he brought his light into the dark corners of Evie’s pain.
I am a better person after reading this book, and my heart is filled with hope for the future.