This book unfortunately missed the mark for me. With such an adorable cover, I was hoping it would be fabulous. Unfortunately, it was just ok. As with other books that i get conflicted with, I am putting this back on my tbr to read another day when I can hopefully enjoy it better.

I wanted to give Rodkey another chance - I wasn't a fan of her debut, and completely missed her sophomore release, and this honestly sounded really cute.

I wasn't expecting the FMC to be unbearably unlikable. I don't know if the author intended for her to be unlikable, or just a bit messy, but I could not stand her. She honestly felt like a chronically online character who expected the world to cater to their every whim. She was terrible to her friends and family, and honestly, Hot Boy Next Door deserved WAY better than her. She needed more of a personality than "The World Revolves Around Me".

And spoiler, when she hurts her BFF, and in turn ends up scraping her arm up, and freaking shows the wound to her emotionally distraught BFF, I wanted to throat punch her. She wanted SYMPATHY for something that was 100% her fault, and that was pretty much the last straw. If I wasn't already not a fan, that would hav cinched it for me.

Her groveling at the end didn't even come close to making amends for her absolutely terrible, self-absorbed behavior.

I have to be honest, I added this to my TBR and forgot it existed. I knew I wanted to read it, but I didn’t know when it was supposed to come out or any of that. Well joke’s on me because once I did check it out from work, I binge read it in one day lol

So the main thing about this that I liked was the characters. I loved them all. Even the one that was toxic to her. But I liked them because they were all fleshed out. All had their own personalities and they all had different voices. They all stood out, no matter if they were the main character or not. Enough for me to wonder what a story from their POV might have been too. Especially after we found out the reason why her cousin was the way she was.

The plot itself was good. I don’t know what it is about this niche, but a matchmaker who can’t match their self is just like candy to me. I will eat it up every time. Granted it was a bit slow, but it was HILARIOUS along the way. It was an actual rom-com where I was actually laughing out loud. It had been a long time since I’d done that. And the fact that she was like THE matchmaker but she couldn’t see the perfect match for herself was so good. I don’t know what it was, but I was hooked. I can’t believe I binged it in one day. I don’t think I’ve binged anything that fast in a long time.

There is still some type of a struggle even though this is a light and fluffy rom-com. And it involves her cousin. Her cousin was nasty to her, but Lahey went overboard at the party. Neither one of them deserved what the other was doing. I was glad they both finally talked. They were both carrying so much trauma, they both deserved to just let that baggage go.

This book was so cute and so good. I haven’t laughed so hard from a book in a long time. That accidental group date had me almost waking up my kid from laughing lmao I hope you all read it so you can see what I mean!

Plus One is a cute romcom with a main character that frustrated me throughout the book.
It was fun seeing how everything came together at the end,
Overall, a ok read but not a favorite of mine.
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

great body positivity and laugh out loud funny

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the review copy.

This was a nice quick contemporary romance to jump into. It had a cute premise and I appreciated that the main character was plus size and totally owned her body and style.

Lahey starts off as a sweet girl who's well-intentioned, even if things sometimes go too far or are over the top. She wants to help her friends find love (or at least dates), yet never really focuses on her own romantic life. I actually liked her less as the book progressed, she just became obsessed with finding a date to the party and didn't care if she hurt people's feelings or treated them poorly. She is sort of redeemed at the end, but it wasn't enough to fully recover for me.

It's easy to see where the story is heading and the main romance was just kind of pushed onto us. I would have liked more time for Lahey to really learn some lessons, as well as show her actually falling for the main love interest.

This was an easy one to binge through and I liked the different dates each day and humorous parts.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to HarperTeen and NetGalley.

This book was a good read. Definitely a cute little rom-com. The cover is what pulled me to the book of course. The main character is a great match-maker for everyone else except herself. She is having a hard time finding her person. The book also has some hate to love. Kept me smiling throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review,

This was a very cute rom-com and would honestly make an excellent Netflix original movie or something along those lines. I'm always here for the body positivity, and this book does it nicely - it's subtle, but definitely present. The relationships between the major players all felt believable, and the characters were fun. I did cringe at a lot of Lahey's actions, but had to remind myself that I was 17 and stupid once, too.

The side characters that Lahey goes on her dates with, though, all seemed a little one note, and I'm not necessarily a huge fan of the "that guy who antagonizes you all the time? well, he does that because he likes you!" shtick. I'll give this one a pass because they have known each other so long and it seems to be mutually antagonistic, but still... it's a fine line.

Cute storyline with some very funny banter. Adler was great and I wish we had more time with Adler and Lahey. She was pretty insufferable without him.

All opinions are my own, I want to thank HarperTeen, NetGalley, and Kelsey Rodkey for giving me an advanced copy of this for an honest review.

I found myself really relating to Lahey on her journey to find a date for her cousin's sweet sixteen. What I foundmsyelf so angry with was her behavior to everyone else along the way.

Lahey is everything someone who is terminally single, and curvy wishes to be-Confident, stylish, and well liked. Those things come with their own set of problems. As the middle child she's overlooked often, she's never gotten the guys attention, and she has felt as if she was just there. When she receives an invitation to her cousin's party, she promises to have a date even though her cousin says she was doing her a favor and not embarrassing her. This was the point where some of my issues came up. She's talking about how her cousin is so mean and hateful but in reality, if she paid attention to anyone else, she would have realized why. I realized why right there in the beginning, so it just felt like she was a super blind main lead who didn't want to see what was in front of her.

I found her woes as being single, over looked, and generally catching feelings for the uninterested and unavailable so relatable. I too have been terminally single and it gets frustrating not getting the plus one to events, not being the person asked on dates etc. I found her reaction to that problem relatable and realistic. Her reaction I did not find relatable.

Overall, It was a good book, taking place over a week in Lahey's life so we quickly learn about who she is as a sister, neighbor, and friend. I found myself crying at the end because I was so frustrated with Lahey but so proud of her finally pulling her head out of the clouds to realize her mistakes. Another great read from Rodkey.

A cute summer romcom about a plus-size teen who's great at matchmaking for everyone else but is having the worst time finding a date to her sister's sweet sixteen party. What follows is a series of first date disasters when the boy of her dreams might have been right next door all along. Good on audio and perfect for fans of Julie Murphy or Lynn Painter. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

You've got mail is one of my favorite classic movies, and this book had all those vibes! This was an excellent enemies to lovers read, and I can't wait for more from this author!

There’s competitive then there’s Lahey in Plus One by Kelsey Rodkey. Lahey’s prowess at matchmaking fails when it comes to finding her own match and happily ever after. But when she’s challenged by her cousin to bring a date to the cousin’s sweet sixteen, Lahey makes every step, and misstep, to find a date. This was a page turner, but because Lahey is such a train wreck that I needed to know what hijinks she would undertake next. Luckily for Lahey, she had Adler to help clean up after her messes. All the while, Adler was pining for Lahey’s affections, which is noble that he helped her so often, but after a while, he had to call her on her BS. Thankfully, he did, which made for Lahey’s redemption arc. However, I felt a lot of it was too little too late. She was a mess, and it was more in the spoiled brat who can get away with anything because she’s cute and charming kind of mess. But after a while that was grating. And I wasn’t sure if she deserved Adler’s care and attention. This had a touch of Jane Austen’s Emma, a matchmaker gone wrong who couldn’t see the man that was best for her that was right there all along. It was an interesting read but I would have preferred more chemistry between Lahey and Alder and know of their happily ever after.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lahey can match couples up like no one's business but when it comes down to finding a date for herself, she's riding the struggle bus. Her cousin, who Lahey has a rivalry with, has invited Lahey to her birthday party. Unlike the other invitations, Lahey's does not have a "plus one" because her cousin does not believe she can get one. So Lahey makes it her goal to get a date within the week.
Opinion
Kelsey Rodkey is quickly becoming one of my favorite young adult authors. Her books offer entertaining stories that are good to read for middle school and higher. (She did mention a character in this book had previously had sex but there were no sex scenes whatsoever.)
This story offers an interesting week for a teen who is plus sized. (The world needs more plus sized main characters, because lets face it, there are a lot of plus sized people that need to be represented.) I was thrilled to watch as Lahey went out with different boys all week and sad for her when they didn't work out. (Though I did call who would be "the one" about halfway through the book.)
This book is a great romance for young adults just entering in to the genre or even for adults who want a change of pace.
Many thanks to Net Galley and to HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperTeen for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Lahey is an excellent matchmaker for everyone but herself. After a spat with her cousin, she’s tasked with finding her very first date and she only has a week to do it. Cute but very predictable. No earth shattering storyline here but still an enjoyable read.

I loved Kelsey Rodkey’s first two books, Last Chance Books and A Disaster in Three Acts, and I was very excited for Plus One. It did not disappoint.

First of all, I love that the cover art of Plus One includes a depiction of Lahey that is not stick thin. The reader learns that Lahey is not skinny, and she does address that it can sometimes be hard to find clothes in thrift shops that fit her. However, I never got the sense that she is eager to change her body. This kind of representation is important, especially in young adult literature.

Lahey is obssessed with finding a date for her cousin’s party, and it does get grating towards the end. She ends up burning a lot of bridges, including with her best friend and sisters, in the process. However, she takes responsibility for her actions and apologizes sincerely to those she hurt. I was glad to see that she put in the work to try to fix her mistakes.

I really liked Lahey and Adler’s relationship. Even early in the book when Lahey claims to hate Adler, it is always clear that he cares about her and is willing to go above and beyond help her. He makes sure she’s okay when a date goes wrong, he helps her get her sister’s car fixed when she gets into an accident, and he drives her to the cat cafe when her little sister brings home a stray cat. It’s almost surprising it takes Lahey so long to realize that Adler likes her.

As someone who is also the middle of three sisters, I appreciated the focus on Lahey’s relationships with her sisters. They get frustrated with one another and fight (see above about Lahey getting into an accident in her sister’s car), but it always is clear they care about each other and see each other as a part of the same team. It feels like such a real portrayal of sibling relationships.

There is a sense of fun that runs through Plus One. Lahey doesn’t just go to dinner and a movie her potential dates; she goes to a robot fighting competion, an axe-throwing space, and even to an ice rink in the summer. The way Lahey analyzes her dates by going through how she knows them and their likes and dislikes adds the book’s sense of humor.

Plus One is a fun and quick read that is perfect for the summer. I also recommend you pick up Rodkey’s other books if you haven’t read them yet.

This one was hard for me to get through. There were lots of fun aspects to it, but in the end, it missed the mark.

There was something about the writing that I didn't love. There was lots of telling, especially during scenes with strong emotions involved, that I felt took away from the power of the scene. I wanted to feel the romance, but instead I was being told how bad or wonderful it was.

Our FMC, Lahay, was a mildly unlikable character. But I liked that she had room to grow. There were some things that she did throughout the book that made her a teenager and made her have to come to terms with changing and becoming better.

Adler, our love interest, wasn't as swoony as I was hoping. All of his romantic lines and actions didn't come off well. I could feel the good intentions behind them, but they didn't quite land.

Overall, I didn't enjoy this one. I thought it was a nice idea, but wasn't written quite as I would have liked.

This is my first time Reading a book from Kelsey Rodkey and I really enjoyed it.

Lahey is great at matchmaking just as long as it doesn't involve her love life, which is non-existent. Queue her cousin Summer's birthday and Lahey not getting a plus one, but her little sister getting one. As you read the book you discover that Summer and Lahey don't have the greatest relationship and they pick and prod at each other. Summer is wealthy, skinny, beautiful, and has a boyfriend that Lahey helped her get. Lahey in her own eyes is plus sized, doesn't have a lot of disposable money, and unlovable.

Throughout the story Lahey tries to find herself a date for Summer's party. A ton of hijinks ensue and one person always seems to be around. Her older sister Liberty's best friend Adler (also the boy next door). Some of the dates she goes on are funny and you just want to shake her and tell her to open her eyes. In the end, I liked how everything was handled between the main players in the book. It did seem a bit rushed, but maybe that means a second book?

I enjoyed reading this contemporary YA novel! The plot was fun, and the characters were good. And I always love plus-size rep in books! Overall, I would recommend!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Reviews Posted: June 18, 2023
Goodreads
Storygraph

I thought that this was a fun and quick read, one that wasn’t bad, but also nothing really stood out to me as great either.

There were times I wanted to yell at the main character to stop ruining her own life, but then I remembered that she was 17, and when I was that age, I was also a little self-destructive. In the end, though, I like how her character learned from all her mistakes.

Honestly, I loved the side characters and what they added to the overall story, and they all had something to teach the main character.

The main romance was fine, I just felt like it was underdevelopment. I felt like the build-up was too short, and I wanted more moments together to solidify the dynamic.

Overall I had a good time reading this one. I thought the very many dates were fun and added a nice layer of humor while also showcasing the struggles that the main character was going through. I just wanted more from the main romance.