This was a solid three star book for me. I didn’t dislike it and was able to sit and read huge chunks of it at a time, but it didn’t capture my heart enough to be a favorite that I’ll want to reread. I can see this being picked up by readers but not being as memorable as other queer romance books. It’s being marketed as adult romance, which feels a little misclassified. It’s certainly about love and dating, but at times it feels a lot more like a coming of age story and adult fiction. While there is explicit sexual content, making it appropriate for a mature audience, I feel like it’s a bit young for a lot of adult romance readers who usually read books about main characters in their late 20s to early 30s. In fact I’ve often seen romance readers comment that they would like to see stories told about people who find love later in life. This book is about a gen Z main character, which did throw me for a loop when I came across that information only a few pages into it. I would put Sizzle Reel firmly in a New Adult category if NA was a broadly recognized genre.

Diving into the story, again I feel like this is more about Luna’s coming of age as a baby gay than a typical rom com. I found her experience with her new-found bisexuality to be very relatable and I think readers will empathize with her journey, but I really didn’t like the narrative about her virginity. I appreciate that Romy consistently challenges the patriarchal ideas of virginity and points out how much it’s actually a social construct. But we never get a huge moment of revelation from Luna about what constitutes sex and loss of virginity. She spends SO MUCH of the book hyper-fixated on having sex and what sex is defined as, but when she has a moment with Val in which they talk about it, I feel like it was a missed opportunity to show a moment of enlightenment on Luna’s part. I would have loved to see her have more of a conversation about it with her therapist or even just a deeper internal thought process about it, and see her come to a healthier conclusion about all of it. Unfortunately we never really get that and I still don’t think Luna has a healthy view on sex and virginity. Her arc feels incomplete.

Wyatt’s character is a strange addition to me. He didn’t serve much purpose other than linking Luna up with Val and then outing Luna in the workplace (I don’t think this was handled as well as it could have been. I think we could have seen more remorse and responsibility on Wyatt’s part). I could never really get a read on him. Luna and Romy treat him like the typical straight cis male of their friend trio, but he came across so queer coded in all of his interactions with them. The way he would converse never felt genuine or like something a real life person like him would say. This is most apparent towards the middle of the book when Wyatt is talking to Luna about her karaoke date with Val. The advice he gives her is so much like the way Luna’s therapist gives advice, that it didn’t feel realistic to me and took me out of the story.

As for the romance, I enjoyed the slow burn of Luna and Val, and seeing their relationship evolve. I think their “breakup” is handled beautifully and it did make me emotional to see that they continue to be friends after determining they are better off not being romantically involved. I did like Luna and Romy together as a couple, but I think there could have been more development with them. We see so much tension between them throughout the book and then it feels like they get together very quickly at the end. Maybe because the book spends so much time developing Luna and Val (ultimately…for what purpose?? Since they don’t end up together) that it takes away from the development we could have seen between Luna and Romy on the page.

Overall, this book is consumable and I think readers will reach for it and like it well enough. But I do think it’ll appeal more to a younger audience than an older one.

Also as someone who has lived in Pasadena… who hurt this author??? Calling Pasadena the most objectively boring city in LA??? Oy!

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

A cute queer style rom com in a Hollywood setting? Sign me up!

A special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this e-arc!

Luna Roth is a twenty-something who recently came out as BI (we love bi girl representation) but its not exactly been a walk in the park. Her best friend Romy is in an abusive talent manager relationship and she too is queer, but soooo not going to come out to her parents. This book talks about the film industry and all the feelings of being queer. I really had a fun time with this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read a fun and fast paced queer book!

This was a fun and very delightfully messy new adult romance; overall, a super solid debut from an author to look out for, with a lot of really good bits, and just a few minor hiccups.

Let’s start with the good: this was overall just extremely charming. The plot was fun, the romance was fun, the queer found family was really, really fun. Luna’s struggles with her queerness and her mental health were dealt with realistically and frankly and compassionately, and everyone’s struggles as “young person in a horrible job” were deeply, deeply relatable. the conflict in the romance aspect was also handled SO well — without spoilers, it felt realistic and natural and was perfectly integrated into the plot, which is often hard to do in romance, and which I admire enormously. The main characters were super well developed and very human, and I loved loved *loved* the femme-non-binary rep in Romy (as a femme non-binary person myself)!

I did have a couple reservations, especially about the character development; some of the side characters, most notably Wyatt, felt to me a little underdeveloped, and I found myself having a hard time caring about them, or Luna’s relationship with them. I also felt like the pacing was a little uncertain at times; some parts felt like we were going at breakneck speed and others felt a little slow. Those things stopped this from being a five-star read, but don’t let them stop you from reading the book; at the end of the day they were relatively minor concerns in the face of a great story.

All in all, certainly recommended, especially if you like NA romance, stuff set in Hollywood, natural conflict in romance, and queer found family. I’m really glad I had the chance to read this early, and really excited to see what Carlyn Greenwald does next! Thank you so much to Netgalley and Vintage for the ARC!

3.5⭐️

I really enjoyed this book at first. I really liked the characters and the romance between Luna and Valeria. For the first third of the book I was super hopeful and was expecting it to end up being at least 4 stars. but it got kind of slow during the middle and I felt like there were
so many different storylines that none of them went super deep. maybe it’s just because I couldn’t relate to the stage and part of life that the mc was in, but I felt like her coming out and sexuality felt kind of surface level?? I vaguely remember her saying that she thought that she was queer a week before she came out? the book was also super focused on the sex part of her sexuality and didn’t really cover any of the other aspects of being queer. even the romance once you got into the middle of the book felt like she was just trying to check something off of her list. also, I felt like the love triangle was kind of thrown in just to change up the plot some more. I was super excited to read this book after reading the plot, but it was a little different than I though it would be. it was still a good book and i wouldn’t not recommend it, I think it just want what I was really expecting and looking for. Overall, this was a good debut book and it was fun to read!

thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this book. As a queer adult who's had a difficult time navigating her sexuality during adulthood, I really identified with Luna and I thought that her journey was portrayed so well.

Luna is unhappy at her job as an LA assistant while dreaming to be a cinematographer and her love life is almost non-existing. She’s also just come out as bisexual. The only parts of Luna’s life that she enjoys are around her best friend and roommate Romy and former boyfriend turned friend Wyatt.
And then comes Victoria, a Holywood movies star and the prospect for Luna’s career to take off…and to have her first sexual encounter with a woman.
The book has a significant amount of thoughtful discussions about sexuality and gender.
And what about that twist at the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this free ARC.

This book was not for me. It looked like a fun concept, but read like YA and not in a good way. The MC was very immature and never improves. She’s not a good friend and basically uses people. There is a lot of bi-panic that I didn’t think was handled well. It is well written though and the steamy scenes are 🔥. But, the beginning was too long, there wasn’t enough tension and the MC was too unlikeable.

Short summary: Luna wants to be a cinematographer but is stuck in a menial job with an abusive boss. When celebrity Valeria takes an interest in Luna, Luna sees an opportunity to work on a film and maybe get her first girlfriend. Will she get everything she wants?

Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the digestible conversations the characters had about sexuality and gender because, in my opinion, most literature about these topics use far too lofty language to be useful for the average person, and it was really nice to actually learn something and be apply it to my own self. In general, however, I think a lot of the writing outside of dialogue was almost too colloquial, using a lot of train-of-thought interjections and narration that felt unnatural to read even if it would sound normal said aloud.
Writing style aside, the storyline was very cute and the main characters all endearing, and I was rooting for the twist that did finally come in the last quarter, even if it was pretty obvious to me from the beginning.

3.5 stars. I loved the commentary on being bisexual, and found it similar to my own experience. I also LOVED the plot twist at the end! It was very refreshing to see!

First of all, i just wanna say how beautiful this book is. I got into it blind, like i always do, and i was blown away by the way the author portraits these characters and how true this story felt.

I don't think there's ever been a character in a romance book that i found myself relating so much to. what luna went though, her intrusive thoughts, her insecurities about her inexperience, her unwillingness to come out to her parents, everything she went through, every thought she had in her head, i felt it down to my bones. she's each and every one of us, scared and trying to figure everything out in such an uncertain world.

i liked val a lot, she was so nice from start to finish. she's a gay icon, i gotta say that.
and i loved romy! i love her so freaking much it's insane. she was nothing but supportive, helpful and was always there for luna, even when doing so hurt her. she's just such a hot mess, you know, with her rings and eyeliner and her tongue piercing. can she top me already????

this book was so good, I'm gonna make it my gay bible. it was the first book i read where the mc was genuinely lost trying to navigate her newly discovered bisexuality, where she didn't know everything and nothing became magically perfect once she met her someone. the first book that showed me you learn by trial and error, that you don't have to be scared to try new things but that also it's okay not to be ready and to take things slowly, that it's okay to be inexperienced.

i could go on and on about all the ways these book gave me comfort and peace, but I'll leave it to you to see for yourself once this gem comes out in April, 2023 ♥️

this was so fucking good, this is THEE year for sapphic romance! (Okay this is a 2023 release but still) didn't go where I was expecting it to go but it was SO good. I especially loved the atmosphere and the descriptions of LA - Id love Luna's guerrilla tour of Los Angeles!

I will update with a longer review soon, but for now, I just want to say that I read this book in a day and loved it! I loved the development of Luna's character and how she was really finding herself during the book. I enjoyed the character dynamics and the exploration of what working in Hollywood is like for those trying to rise through the ranks.

Sizzle Reel is a really cute read! I love Hollywood stories and the “behind the scenes” aspect of them. Sizzle Reel kind of covered everything! I’m not a fan of love triangles, but all of the relationships in this book were so solid that I actually enjoyed this one!

'Sizzle Reel' hooked me from the very beginning! I read this book in one afternoon. I couldn't put it down! The book's main character is Luna, an aspiring cinematographer working as an assistant in L.A. She lives with her roommate, Romy, and she works with her friend/former boyfriend (they dated for a few weeks) named Wyatt.

Luna is unhappy at her job and in her love life. When she decides to come out to Romy and Wyatt, she doesn't know what to expect. She tells them that she is bi, and they are very supportive. She still worries about telling her family and others.

I enjoyed the relationships between Luna, Romy, and Wyatt. I loved that no matter what happened, they still remained friends. Throughout the book, Luna goes on a journey of self-discovery to learn more about how she fits into the world. She meets actress/director, Valeria, She immediately has a crush on her, and she gets to work on a movie with her. Luna begins to wonder if Valeria has a romantic interest in her, but she is unsure how to approach this situation. Luna turns to her roommate, Romy, to seek her advice. Romy is there for her as a friend, but is she interested in Luna in a romantic way?

The book had a lot of thoughtful discussions about sexuality and gender. I loved the relationships in this book between friends and the romantic relationships.

The book had some surprises, and I was pleasantly surprised by the ending of the book. i would love a follow-up book to learn more about these characters.

Thanks to NetGalley, Knopf Doubleday Public Catalog, and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC of this amazing book! I would definitely recommend it!

Newly out as bi, Luna is determined to lose her virginity. With some help from her non-binary roommate, Romy, her friend Wyatt, and some shenanigans, Luna gets a PA job working on the directorial debut of her celebrity crush, Valeria. Luna wants her first time to be with Valeria, even though she’s starting to feel things when she’s around Romy.

I usually hate love triangles, but if it’s a queer love triangle? Give it to me. Luna has great chemistry with both Romy and Valeria, and I won’t lie, I was Team Romy from page 1. I mean friends-to-lovers is a weakness of mine AND they were roommates. Check! Plus Romy is so cool and sure of herself that you want her to find her happy ending, and if you’re like me, you want it to be with Luna, even though Luna is a clueless mess (we love her still). Romy was dropping hints left and right that Luna should be with her. Now don’t get me wrong, I also loved Valeria and loved her scenes with Luna. Their scene practicing for Valeria to be on Hot Ones is hilarious and had me dying.

Sizzle Reel is a really fun read. It reminds me of all the best coming of age movies from the 90s/early 2000s, but it’s queer, and about finding yourself a tad later in life. With that said, there were a couple things I didn’t like. I’m still annoyed that Wyatt outed Luna at her place of work. While he apologized, I didn’t feel like he actually understood why it was wrong and that made me anti-Wyatt for most of the book. Luna’s heteronormative idea of what sex is and what it means to lose ones virginity was tough to read, though the discussions she had with both Romy and Valeria explaining what sex means to them did make up for it.

With a dreamy LA backdrop, hilarious writing, and a great group of characters, Sizzle Reel is a fantastic read with complicated feelings we can all relate to.

I received an ARC from Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I will post my review on Amazon, my blog, and other platforms closer to publication date.

A sweet and steamy contemporary that does a wonderful job of showing a coming out experience in one's twenties. It has such a strong voice, fun moments, and realistic and messy characters that made for a great read. Especially for those familiar with LA culture, but just as enjoyable for those who aren't.

Luna has just determined that she's bisexual and has developed a crush on actress Valeria Sullivan. Luna works as an assistant at an entertainment management company where Valeria is represented so the two get to chat every so often. When Luna is suddenly unceremoniously fired from her assistant position Valeria gets her a job as a PA on the set of the new indie movie she's directing. With the help of her best friend/roommate, non-binary Romy, and friend Wyatt, Luna sets out to see if 1) Valeria is actually queer and 2) if the crush goes both ways.

This was a really fun book! I loved the LA setting and that Luna was interested in film making as a career. All of the characters - Luna, Valeria, Romy, and Wyatt - were wonderful and I loved their banter and interactions with each other. This book is also steamy as hell - Sizzle is a very fitting word to use in the title! I look forward to what Greenwald comes out with next.

This was okay.

I think I might have had high expectations for this book after reading the description. A bisexual story that revolves around filmmaking? There was so much I could relate to! But alas, it kind of underdelivered.

The writing was good and overall, it was a fine story. I just feel like there was too much happening all at the same time. Luna has just come out as a bisexual and is struggling with figuring out her identity and how she's going to let her family know. She's struggling with her career. She feels pressure because she's still a virgin at the age of 24 (and struggles with what that means as a bisexual). She struggles with where to draw lines with professional/personal relationships. Overall, it was just a lot to focus on.

I'm happy a book like this exists, though. I think the world needs more books with bisexuals.

This book is everything!! I'm so glad I picked this up because it was exactly what I needed. I loved the nuanced exploration of bisexuality (and sexuality in general). The characters were compelling and I think Greenwald is going to solidify herself as a romcom writer for a new generation.

This debut sizzles on all fronts! With such well developed and hilarious characters, and two romantic options with incredible banter, it was hard not to fly through this in one sitting. This is also the first time I've read something that focuses on the assistant side of the entertainment industry, and as someone who was in that track for several years out of college, I thought that was super fun! Even if it brought me back to those long, dreadful days.