Famous for a Living really captures the essence of working in a National Park! The characters’ have the earnest spirit and demeanor that you cannot help but root for. I fell I love with Kannery and its charm. Main character Cat Cranwell is all of us when confronted with real life vs. the perfect image of social media. Readers are sure to feel a little of Cat’s journey mirrored in their own experience, even if they aren’t influencers themselves!

I really enjoyed this book! This book constantly had me laughing out loud and smiling. I also lovee the side characters and how much they actually brought to the story! I loved getting read Cat’s character development and how she learned that she was more than the amount of likes and followers she has. I also enjoyed how this book brought up the very real issues of social media addiction while still letting you read about it in a fun and interesting way. I think the banter between the characters was good but I also feel like they were lacking a lot of chemistry and tension required for a slow burn. I think this book definitely isn’t very strong romantically. While Cat does end up in a relationship there wasn’t much buildup. I also think the writing style was not the best. Overall, I still enjoyed this book and it’s definitely a fun read! All opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson Publishing for sending me this ARC!

I really enjoyed this book because the content is not something you read about often, but I was a wee bit disappointed with the ending of the story. Insta-famous Cat Cranwell lives a life Zaiah Smith of Montana left years ago. He works with Cat's uncle and she is helping said uncle with some publicity while her life gets back on track. Sparks fly between the two and Cat has to decide whether the life she leads is how she wants to continue living. It's a good reminder to put down those devices and enjoy the world around us

I was over the moon to find this book on Net Galley. I loved Meet Me in the Margins and had great expectations for this one.

Famous for a Living was much hard for me to get into. The writing was good but the MC was very unrelatable to me and there was so much in it that I felt I didn't know/understand about both her and her world that I spend the first 1/3 of the book forcing myself to just keep reading. However once she went to MT, I was able to settle in and enjoy the story more without struggling to figure out all the influencer lingo.

In the end, I loved the development of both the MC and her LI and I enjoyed their story. They grew together and you end the story knowing they were meant to be.

I went into this book thinking it would be a romance novel however that was not the focal of the story. It was more so about the downsides of social media and being too dependent on it. That is obviously a part of society today but I was hoping there would be more to Cat and Zaiah. I did love reading about the National Park and what they had to offer though!

Cat is a successful influencer who is about to gain a huge sponsorship. When it all goes wrong, she decides to travel to a remote area of Montana to help her uncle build up the social media representation of a natural area for visitors. When she arrives, she makes a less than great impression on Zaiah, a coworker and friend of her uncle who seems to dislike everything about her. Will she be able to help her uncle and convince Zaiah that she’s not as shallow as he seems to think?

I had mixed feelings about this book. It seems to be marketed as a romcom, but it really wasn’t. There’s very little romance between the characters and there’s no build up of their romance in the story at all until a rushed epilogue concludes it. It came across a bit preachy at times and the reason for Zaiah’s dislike of social media seemed extreme. I would find it hard to believe that he’d fall for an influencer at all after his prior relationship. Cat is not very likable as a main character, and the book is a bit slow paced until the end. However, I liked the author’s writing style and I’m sure it would appeal to fans of women’s fiction, but it missed the mark for me as a romance.

Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, and Melissa Ferguson for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

FAMOUS FOR A LIVING would be great for readers of clean women's fiction. Those looking for a rom-com might be a little disappointed. So much comes down to expectations and how the book is marketed.

At times this novel feels a little preachy, e.g. with respect to the social media theme. I promise readers don't need to be beaten over the head -- we get it. The writing is a little choppy in places, and the hero is under-developed (handsome / has a flip phone -- wish we knew more about him....)

That being said, the story moves along at a nice pace, and I very much enjoyed the protagonist's journey toward self realization. Ferguson is clearly a talented author.

The setting of rural Montana is conveyed in a charming and descriptive way.

I will definitely look forward to more from this author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

As a work of literary fiction about a 30 year old phone-addicted woman discovering the life and its charms outside of social media, this book sort of holds up. As a romance... not so much.

Famous for a Living follows social media influencer Cat Cranwell who, after a partnership goes terribly wrong, moves to work for her uncle in Kannery national park. There she is expected to save the park by managing its social media pages and along the way, she falls for the rugged ranger Zaiah, who couldn't be opposed to her line of work and lifestyle more.

The good: the worldbuilding. I enjoyed the setting of this book, the small town life traditions and tidbits (tho they drink surprisingly large amounts of coffee and at odd hours), and especially the Parks and Recreation-esque crew of the national park. The whole picture really came together beautifully to save this book. The author also obviously has an established, clear voice and style which I'm sure her readers enjoy.

Me? Not as much.

There's a lot of this.

This.

Short sentences.

On their own.

In a paragraph.

That would all be fine and dandy had they been used for emphasis every once in a while to drive a point home. Instead, they were everywhere, making Cat sound extremely overdramatic and constantly interrupting the flow of the story.

There were also descriptions-written-in-long-hyphenated-sequences-like-this in amounts that made me wonder if they were placeholders for future edits. Not bad writing necessarily, but seems lazy after a while.

In two spots there are 15 minute scoldings happening, from Cat to Mina and from Mina to Cat. Where there could be meaningful, character building dialogue, there is none, and instead both are just described as 'lecturing' and end having left no impact.

The romance? To be honest, by the 50% mark I completely forgot Zaiah was supposed to be a love interest. I was fully invested in the rest of the plot going on and he was simply part of the cast, his defining characteristics being that he's handsome and hates phones. There was no chemistry and frankly, I didn't mind. They could've just ended as friends for all I care and Cat's character development would've been story enough.

And that was alright. The social media commentary was a bit preachy and her backstory begged for more but in the end it was satisfying enough.

If you can overlook these issues or even better, if they're non-issues to you, you'll find this a delightful story of a woman finding new meaning in a beautiful setting, but not much for the romance part of romcom.

Cat Cranwell, social media extraordinaire, had the whole world at her feet. An unfortunate business partnership takes it all from her. Where does a social media star go after she has been cancelled? Will a national park bring back Cat's name, or change her life forever?

This was my second Melissa Ferguson book, and I've come to expect the romance with a side of traumatic past, family secrets, and a swoon-worthy coming together of the two main characters. She certainly delivered on that here. I only wish some of the characters had been fleshed out more, such as Cat's Uncle Terry, and even Zaiah, the male protagonist here.

The writing flew here, and though we get that formula of romance novels' conclusion, the author does something to it that makes it less cheesy, and more meaningful.

Overall, this was a fun and light read, and I'm still looking forward to what the author writes next.

I give this 4 stars.

All the stars people!!!! Listen, I love me some Melissa Ferguson!!!!

All her books are like a COZY HUG to me. Her previous work Meet me in the Margins was a home run for me so I was a bit nervous going into this follow up. But Famous for a Living was just as cozy and fun to read!

Cat's growth in the book as she works through how social media is shaping her life was really well done and extremely relevant to today. It definitely has inspired me to think through boundaries with my social usage.

My favorite aspect of the book is the Cat's found family The romance was sweet, her uncle is endearing and the rest of the crew surrounding her are zany and loving.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an eARC copy of this book!

I stayed up way too late to finish Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson. This follows a social media influencer who escapes to a national park in Montana when her business partner is accused of serious crimes.

This is a slow burn, chaste romance. It also digs into the role social plays in our lives and mental health. I loved the peak into rural Montana life in the winter.

The found family she created throughout this book are very special. I enjoyed meeting them and probably related to Serena, the BFF, almost more than Cat. 😆

Her book, Meet Me in the Margins, has been on my TBR for awhile and now I’m more motivated to pick it up.

Thanks to @netgalley for providing the ARC. This was my honest review.

#FamousforaLiving #NetGalley

Cute story...a bit light on the romance, which isn't to the novel's detriment. The focus on self-love and evolution was refreshing in a rom com-ish book.

After reading Meet Me in the Margins earlier this year, I was excited to read another by Ferguson. Unfortunately it missed the mark for me. It wasn’t quite a romance but more of a women’s fiction. The relationship in the romance part of the story didn’t develop as a likely story. Because I have been pondering the effects of social media on myself and how I want to use it as a tool instead of it using me, I appreciated Cat’s, the main character, development in that area.

A fun rom-com between an influencer and a die-hard Park Ranger. Gives you all the cozy romance bibes ina luscious setting with two hooked on each other main characters. A fun read!

FAMOUS FOR A LIVING by Melissa Ferguson
rating: 4.5 STARS
genre: romance, women's fiction
steam: closed door, this is a kissing book

So let me start off by saying that it's hard to tell you what my FAVORITE thing about this book is without giving away the whole thing, so I'll just say this: I love the romance in this book and I love the romance conclusion. It's so real and I just absolutely adored how it worked out.

This book made me realize just how prominent social media is in our lives. We constantly have phones in our hands and we look at the world around us as what will look "good" online. That's no way to live. So if there's one takeaway from this novel, it's to unplug just a little bit and enjoy the work around you NOT through your phone's lens.

The characters in this book were top notch; every side character served a purpose and was a delight to read (even the "villains").

Highly recommend this book if you love the outdoors and a more mature coupling!

This one surprised me! I really enjoyed it. It was a cute, fun, summer read. Will be seeing this one a lot next sumemr!

I received a copy of Famous for a Living via NetGalley to read and review.

I’m giving 3.5 stars but rounding to 4 stars.

Famous for a Living is labeled as a romance most of the story is about Cat and her role on social media. The romance is very much slow burn and clean which I didn’t mind. I really enjoyed the story and *almost* makes me want to visit Montana (when it’s less cold of course). I like the small town with its own traditions and this poor girl being thrown into it all and enjoying it.

I really enjoyed this story. I think it's incredibly relatable to the average person, with social media taking over our lives. It would definitely benefit from another round of editing, I noticed a few places where the story changes.

Melissa Ferguson is a hit or miss for me as an athor and i wanted to give her another chance and im so happy that i did because this book was hands down the best one shes wver wrote. I love the plot. Loved the characters wittyness and was most definitely want a tomance book should be

Cat Cranwell is a social media influencer who leaves New York amid a scandal and heads to
Montana to live with her Uncle Terry while her lawyers try to do damage control. Cat works with her uncle and his coworker Zaiah who couldn’t be more different from Cat. He knows absolutely nothing about social media nor does he want to. The more Zaiah interacts with Cat, the more he realizes they are not that different. I found this book to be slow moving and couldn’t connect with the characters. I did appreciate Cat’s growth
throughout the book. I wouldn’t list this book in the romance category, I consider it women’s fiction.