I thought the cover of the book was beautiful and made me curious to read the story. The book follows the cliché of teenagers, one popular and the other not so much, who meet again years later with a mutual romantic interest. It's a cute read and might appeal to Sophie Kinsella fans.

I enjoyed this book to an extent, but struggled slightly. Props to KJ with it being the debut novel. Everybody starts somewhere. I found it easy to read in some places, but more difficult in others. I'll definitely be reading more works from KJ in future, but this one wasn't my favourite.

After a night out with friends, Gracie drunk emailed her teenage crush, Colin, who she hasn’t spoken to since high school. Reconnecting over email, the two begin to form a friendship that might be mutually beneficial; Colin gets to air his grievances about his ex wife, and Gracie gets material to help her with writing her next manuscript. But the story has a lot more pieces, and has the potential to be disastrous for both of them.

I thought the premise of the two of them pairing up to work on Gracie’s book was a cute idea, but overall the execution wasn’t there for me. I didn’t really feel a ton of chemistry other than a little flirting between the two characters, and some of the side pieces about other parts in their lives didn’t really hold my attention as much. It just kinda all came off as ok to me, but not something I’d really revisit. I’d recommend it for someone looking for a more wholesome rom-com, with closed door scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an ARC of this book.

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Book Proposal by KJ Micciche

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy of The Book Proposal. This was such a cute little romance book. I love seeing books about books that makes me so happy as a book seller.

The heroine is a romance author who is having writer's block. After a night of drinking, the heroine sent an email to the hero...and the hero replied back. The two continued corresponding with each other, with both of them confessing a lot about their lives. As their relationship deepens, they made a life-altering decision that changed everything for them.

The premise of this book piqued my interest, but the execution brought disappointment. First of, I didn't connect with the couple. I found certain details about these two characters that I found unlikable. I did appreciate the dual viewpoints, which does help make the couple become wholesome characters. I also would have liked more details in the book, which may have helped with the likability of the main characters. Alas, I found a few of the secondary characters more likable than the main characters. Overall, an okay read.


** Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in the review are my own. **

I have to admit that i have mixed feelings, there were times that it was so cute and hilarious and there were times that the story was all over the place and i couldn't connect with the characters!
I'm intrigued to read KJs next stories!!

Thank you NetGalley , KJ and the publisher for providing me with this ARC 🙏🏻

A sweet contemporary romance that will set your heart racing. The book theme makes it so much more sweeter.

I enjoyed this new release by an author that is new to me. It is sassy, smart, and charming. I could have used less bathroom humor (just not my jam) and the pacing felt a bit uneven, but the characters were sparkling and full of life and kept me reading. I look forward to more by Micciche.

Unfortunately, this was not the book for me…

I initially tried to look passed the instant ‘reconnection’ that these two characters had (despite never really knowing each other in the first place), but the female main character was super overly caricatured. I’m every scene she was getting herself into some wild situation that was then just ignored and I’m assuming went away?

I hit the 50% mark and had to DNF because I found myself dreading picking this book back up :(

The Book Proposal is a debut novel from author K.J. Micciche. I was excited to read this book based on it's synopsis, which sounded like it would be a fun, light-hearted rom-com. Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me and was neither funny enough or romantic enough for me.

The protagonist, Gracie, is a down on her luck romance author who is working hard to secure a book deal. Honestly, she was a bit of a hot mess and wasn't always very likeable. It felt like she didn't truly learn from her mistakes; she did however have some decent supporting characters by her side who helped her with her happily ever after. As a romance author herself, it almost seemed like Gracie was writing a parody of the genre with her manuscript.

The male lead, Colin, who Gracie had secretly poked after in high school, wasn't in a great place either. He and Gracie quickly reconnected after a drunken mishap on her part, and their whirlwind romance happened so quickly that it felt very surface-level. I'm not even really sure what they liked about one another other than the fact that they aren't at all similar to each other's exes.

What was most disappointing to me was the premise of Gracie having written secret love letters to Colin in high school, and how this wasn't brought back up when they reconnected. I kept expecting this ball to drop, and it never did.

Their problems took a long time to all fall apart, but were resolved very quickly at the end.

I also found myself skimming through it towards the end, especially during the frequent inner monologues the characters had, many of which seemed barely relevant and hardly drove the story further. Overall, I was disappointed by this book and unfortunately wouldn't recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Book Proposal by KJ Micciche

This is a great beach read to add to your summer list. It’s funny and easy to read. I liked the history the characters had, even though they barely talked in high school. I’m always a sucker for books about the plight of the writer and this one was a fun read.

Thanks to @netgalley and @sourcebookscasa for this advanced reader!

#BookReview #Bookstagram #KJMicciche #TheBookProposal #SourcebooksCasablanca #BookishLife #Reading #Bibliophile #BookPhotography #BookRecommendations #InstaBooks #BookNerd #RomanceBooks #RomanceBookstagram

The Book Proposal by K.J. Micciche

Gracie finds herself newly single after her fiancé sleeps with their wedding planner. After a drunken night with her friends, she emails her old high school crush, and shockingly, they continue their correspondence, leading to him helping her resolve her writer’s block based on his recent divorce. Chaos ensues.

I’m left with mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, I liked the chaos. The plot builds to a Shakespearean-style mix-up that I thought was pretty entertaining (though I think that’s in part because I didn’t really care about the characters that much). On the other hand, I have several critiques.

I think a lot of the intended humor and comic relief in this book didn’t quite land. There’s a shocking amount of potty humor that doesn’t add anything to the story except some major cringe. Relatedly, I felt like it unfortunately misses a lot of the charm from little moments because so much attention is paid to the plot. The whole thing happens in a short period of time, and it feels like we’re being told what’s happening instead of being shown.

Lastly, there is a noticeable tension between the characters’ ages and how the book reads. It feels like reading a YA novel about characters in their 30s. This felt especially noticeable in the context of the relationship dialogue. I often forgot that these were whole ass adults who had been engaged/married before.

All that said, I was still entertained by this one! I can’t figure out the best way to describe it—it’s just slightly unhinged and unbelievable in a really fun way. It’s a fine read if you want to just sit back and be entertained—but you’ll likely feel underwhelmed if you’re reading with too critical an eye.

Thanks to @netgalley and @sourcebookscasa for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This one is out now!

📖: (3.5/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Grace grew up as a wallflower, she didn't have many friends and she definitely was not popular. She had a huge crush on a boy named Colin in high school who was popular and a jock. In present times Grace is a mildly successful romance author and after a drunken night with friends she goes home and looks up Colin and writes him a mean email. Colin is a successful attorney, and when he reads the email he politely responds and it sparks them exchanging emails back and forth for a while. The email thread may spark some romantic interest between them, but they both have a lot of baggage that might complicate something really special between them.

Honestly this idea was fun, and I really enjoyed the male love interest. But Gracie was not likeable in my opinion. She felt overly quirky to the point It felt like she was written to overly relatable. I cringed at a lot of the dialogue, and everything felt too over the top. Also this being a closed door romance when Gracie was an author who writes smutty romance was a questionable choice. A lot of the side characters felt like caricatures and made the story feel superficial. Over all I had an okay time, and I think as the author grows, her writing may improve.

Thank you netgalley , sourcebooks Casablanca and KJ Micciche for giving me an eARC.

It took me back to high school days. Where you have that undying crush on your high school crush. That crush you write secret love notes. But instead of confessing your love you basically tell them what you want to do with them. Yeah you heard that right.

I just didn’t love it. Like truly loved it. It was good. But not love good.

The characters were 30 year olds but acted like teenagers.

This was cute, witty, and sweet but didn't really hold my interest. These two were kind of all over the place at times but they were fun... just wish there was more to their dynamic than just superficial, surface-level "crush" vibes.

This was cute and easy but nothing I’ll remember in the long term. I liked the authors writing and the style but wish the characters had a little more depth in the end.

I would like to thank netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable high school nerd and jock as adults romance.

I loved everything about this book!!!
The pleasant surprise in this book was the humour. The book had me laughing out loud at times. The romance was cute and sometimes steamy but it's not your ordinary spicy romance.
In the story I liked that Gracie was a secret admirer of Colin and that she sent him in high school many many steamy love letters. The two of them together were like a power couple.
I hope the author will continue writing romance books because I'm looking forward for her future works.
If you are looking for a quick, funny, second chance romance then you should read this book.
I wanted to thank the Netgalley and the publisher who granted me such a wonderful book 🫶
(Ps.: I'm soory about spelling and grammar mistakes)

There were aspects of this book that I loved and then others that I absolutely did not. I laughed and I cringed.
The felt the storyline was fun and it was definitely a short read, but I couldn’t make a connection with the characters. I did like the authors writing and hope to read another of hers in the future.

I might not have connected with this book, but I believe others will.

I want to thank NetGalley, KJ Micciche and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca, Sourcebooks Casablanca the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.