3.5 stars!

There were several times when I almost gave up on finishing Neely Tubati-Alexander's "Love Buzz." Something about main character Serena's attitude rubbed me the wrong way. But, as the book progressed, I came to understand her more as her journey unfolds. *SPOILERS* I think she went about starting her pilgrimage of self-discovery in a callous, brash way, especially where her boyfriend Danny was concerned. It's as if she was looking for excuses to break up with him after her cousin's bachelorette party in New Orleans where she met Julian, a total stranger, and built a fantasy life with him in her head after only knowing him for a grand total of 30 minutes. I'm not saying you should stay in an unhappy relationship just because you're comfortable, but Serena is sort of ruthless and gutless about breaking up with Danny, then has the audacity to get upset when she reads his Instagram comments about how he's better off? You can't have it both ways! Up until the trip to New Orleans, Serena has had her life figured out but comes to realize that she has essentially been living out the wishes of her deceased mother in an effort to get all of the opportunities her mom was not afforded as a single parent and immigrant. She has worked hard to be able to get relatively financially stable... and blows all of that up for a chance to reconnect with someone she barely knows. Serena repeatedly talks about how she has trauma from her mom never having enough money while she was growing up, even for her doctor's visits, and let me tell you, as someone with severe money trauma, Serena would NEVER quit her job without a backup plan if she was really traumatized by her childhood situation! It's not all bad. I think Neely Tubati-Alexander's writing style is fabulous, and I can't wait to read her next book. She has a good handle on banter and also scribes excellent side characters. I loved reading a book with an Indian main character! There are not enough Indian MCs in fiction! I loved Serena's eventual journey to finding herself and what makes her truly happy... but the back of my mind kept niggling with annoyance about Julian and her obsession with a stranger! But hey, if we can believe books about aliens and shape-shifters and fantasy realms, we can believe that a nearly 30-year-old woman would drop her boyfriend, quit her job, work for a chic boutique, and dedicate her life to finding some random dude she met in New Orleans, right?........right????

Thank you to NetGalley, Neely Tubati-Alexander, and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I was immediately sucked into this book but unfortunately I ended up disappointed. I was first sad to learn that she had a boyfriend. I understand that they weren’t quite compatible but the almost cheating was sad in retrospect. The second was the fact that she ended up working at this unrealistic clothing store. It was such a weird trajectory.

Serena Khan is, by all accounts, successful: her long-term boyfriend is about to propose, she's got a great job at an accounting firm, and she has an apartment in Seattle she loves. Still, a question has nagged her since her mother's death years earlier: "What if I don't want this life I've built?" It's a question likely to be familiar to anyone who's ever defined success based on someone else's expectations--and forms the heart of Neely Tubati Alexander's heartwarming debut novel, Love Buzz.

Serena is at an over-the-top bachelorette party in New Orleans when she meets Julian. The "like, serious, instantaneous chemistry" she feels with him is the polar opposite of the "calm at first sight" feeling she has with her boyfriend, and that spark of passion sets off a chain of events that includes quitting her job, breaking up with her boyfriend, and, for the first time ever, living without a plan. "There are no set paths, Serena. Only choices," advises Odette, the "potty-mouthed, Southern white lady fairy godmother" she meets on her flight back from New Orleans. There's a "Cinderella"-esque quality to Love Buzz (a chance meeting upends a woman's life, a fairy godmother offers guidance, etc.), but unlike the fairy tale, Alexander's debut is more than the romance at its center, and offers no neat and tidy happily-ever-after. Love Buzz offers readers a delightful story sure to spark moments of thoughtfulness and joy as Serena seeks a life crafted for--and by--herself, which just might include the very charming man she must find again. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer

What a wonderful journey we get to take with Serena both literally and emotionally! Beginning at the bachelorette party from hell for her only cousin at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Serena doesn't feel like she quite belongs. Despite being in the bridal party, she's been estranged from her cousin so is kind of participating from the sidelines. It's on those sidelines, that she meets Julian, who by chance lives near her in Seattle. Sparks seem to ignite but the evening ends abruptly before they can exchange contact information.
As Serena approaches her thirtieth birthday, she feels like that's when her life is supposed to all fall into place. But on a quest to find Julian again, Serena ends up finding out more about herself and her life than she expected. And maybe the road being travelled, isn't necessarily the one she has to stay on! So yes, this is a romance but that is almost secondary to Serena's self discovery and second chances.
This was an easy and quick read with some really fun characters (Clarence and Odette!!), cringy bachelorette scenes and romantic suspense!

I wanted to love this so bad! We read this for bookclub and while it was good, it felt like it was trying to do a bit too much within the plot. I hate cheating tropes so this was a litttttle but on the edge for me! The romance could’ve been a little more descriptive, but overall a good debut

I just couldn't relate to this one. Serena meets a mystery man during a debaucherous weekend in New Orleans and becomes obsessed with finding him when she returns to her home in Seattle, based on very few details.

There’s a lot happening in this book, and I’m not sure how I feel about any of it. It’s well-written and has great dialogue, and there’s an interesting idea here, but I had all sorts of minor annoyances that made me happy to be done reading it.

Despite the title and plot summary, this isn’t a romance book, because the potential male love interest is only there for a handful of pages. And despite the emotion and themes of self-discovery, this isn’t a women’s fiction story, because the main character, Serena, spends basically the entire book hung up on some dude she talked to for a few minutes at her cousin’s bachelorette party. (Oh, and she was very much dating another dude at the time she decided bachelorette party guy was her soulmate, so…) The lengths she went to to find the guy, Julian, just felt odd.

Serena doesn't feel like a real person; it felt like Neely Alexander had a list of bullet points of characteristics she wanted to assign to her character and just hoped they’d ring true to readers. I liked the idea that perfectly put-together Serena takes a sledgehammer to her life and then has to figure out how to put it together again. But I didn’t love how the impetus for this seemed to be a random guy she talked to for 20 minutes. Because Serena’s going to be the final subject of her mentor’s alumni magazine, a 10-year retrospective, she wants to make it seem like she has her life in order: husband, job, etc. But she’s not happy with key aspects of her life, and the profile triggers a reevaluation of her priorities and goals.

That’s the part I liked: Serena’s journey of self-discovery. I think if the romance-lite angle hadn’t been here, I’d have liked this book more. Instead, I got lost in a story about a woman falling head over heels in love with a guy she just met and changing everything about her life because of him. And I didn’t need to read all that. There’s something to be said about self-love and putting yourself first. That could have been its own kind of romance book. And it’s one I would have liked to read.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Who doesn’t love a good “comeback” story after our main character experiences a tough bout of luck?

This book gave me butterflies and HUGE smiles and I’m so happy to have read it!

I was very intrigued by the premise of this book, so I was very excited when I received an advanced copy from the publisher and Netgalley.

I'm a sucker for a modern-day rom com, and while I appreciated the overall premise, this book fell fairly flat for me. I didn't particularly feel invested in any of the characters. and I was not a fan of the "instant love" trope this book is based on. I did enjoy the New Orleans setting for parts of the book - always fun!

Maybe it was the speed I listened to the audiobook on (I borrower a library copy to listen along as I read), but the narration was not great and distracted from the story. The narrator sounded very robot-like.

If you're a fan of "instant love" stories, this might be for you. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me.

thank you to Harper and NetGalley for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loved loved loved this book! Indian MC? Yes! New Orleans magic? Yes! Awesome song references? Yes!!

Serena is at the bachelorette party of her nightmares in New Orleans when she has a very brief encounter with Julian. Just by talking for a short time, Serene starts to question all of her life choices, as nothing before has made her feel like Julian has. Julian and his friends get kicked out of the bar, but luckily, they did share that they both live in Seattle. Will they ever see each other again?

Thank you to Netgalley for this Advanced Copy of Love Buzz by Neely Tubati-Alexander. I really thought that this concept had potential but didn't think the Author had enough meat to let the story flow well.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this fun contemporary debut novel.
This was a great and insightful book. It's hard to describe the genre. It doesn't fully feel like a romance or a comedy. It's a fun blend of different themes and messages. Serena was a great lead character and I rooted for her. I loved the Mardi Gras bachelorette party idea. It was a heartwarming book and I can't wait to read more by this author.

Love Buzz by Neely Tubati Alexander is an impressive debut that instantly hooked me. Serena's journey of self-discovery kept me engaged throughout. Her relationships with Odette and Clarence were a delight, and the single POV worked well. A solid 5-star read! Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Perennial, and Neely Tubati Alexander for the advanced copy. My honest review.

I liked Love Buzz. I incorrectly assumed based on the title that this would be a romance, it's not (and it does say it's women's fiction, so that's on me). Love Buzz is really about Serena coming to terms with the unhappiness she feels in her own life, and then doing something about it. Some of her decisions may be considered a little rash, but they also led her down the paths she probably needed to go on to find something that she truly wanted to do with her life.

There is a lot of focus on Julian and how he made her feel, but he doesn't really appear till the last 1/4 of the book or so (besides their opening encounter). And even that is still about Serena and her growth as a person.

Love Buzz was so so so wonderful, I loved this special debut from Neely Tubati-Alexander. Serena Khan is at a bachelorette party in New Orleans for her cousin, who she isn't really speaking to, when she meets a really handsome stranger that feels kind of perfect in every way? The only issue is that she lives in Seattle, has a boyfriend, and was whisked away by the wedding party before she even got a chance to ask for his number. Back in Seattle Serena feels unmoored by the recent encounter and it challenges her to assess her life. While she has made the "safe" choice in every aspect of her life to honor her late mother, she questions if that is really the best way to honor her and live her life. What follows is a quest to find herself, while she finds this handsome stranger.

I loved! Serena was so dynamic and nuanced and reflected so many of the true anxieties that people turning 30 face. I loved that this book was not a straightforward romance and it contained many elements around work and value and connection. Don't miss this one!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks, Harper Perennial for the ARC - Love Buzz is out now!

Serena is slugging her way through her cousin’s raunchy bachelorette party on Mardi Gras, in New Orleans, when she’s suddenly face-to-face with a stranger that makes her heart skip a beat. Their chance encounter leaves her with only four small facts about him: His name is Julian, he lives nearby her in Seattle (what are the chances), his job and his music preferences. When she’s back home, Serena tries to settle back into her job (accounting) and her boyfriend (that should be her fiance). But ever since the buzz she felt from Julian, Serena can’t shake the habit that maybe there’s more to life, to her life, than what she’s doing now. I loved that it took a chance encounter for Serena to take a long hard look at her life and question if it was everything she wanted or not? Life can’t be only about the big moments, but sometimes we all need a “take your breath away” moment to remind us that life should be anything but boring or predictable. Love Buzz was one of my favorite reads this Spring and should be added to your TBR pile immediately!

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a warm hug! I loved how funny this story was and it still managed to have meaning and give a message about life, grief and love.


I received an ARC of this title from netgalley in exchange for my honest review and all opinions are my own!

Serena meets Julian while at a bachelorette party in New Orleans. They have an immediate connection and discover they are both from Seattle. Fate drags them apart from the bar before they are able to exchange information. When Serena returns home she is overwhelmed by the need to find Julian and while trying different tactics she learns a lot about herself and makes some major life changes.

I absolutely loved this book. It was such a sweet romcom. I am always extra drawn into stories that take place in settings that I am familiar with so I loved that this was in Seattle. It added an extra amount of connection for me. I really liked how there was this overarching theme of Serena trying to find Julian but the amount of time that they are actually reconnected is fairly minimal. The real meat of the story focuses on Serena figuring out what she really wants in life and what makes her happy. She has a major careers shift and meets some amazing people in the process. This book felt like a romcom without being totally focused on the romantic relationship and it absolutely worked! I was still routing for Serena to find Julian the whole time, but even more I was routing for Serena to succeed in life. There is definitely a big miscommunication moment in the story (which many people don’t like), but like I always say, how can you have a romcom without the miscommunication moment 😆.

I loved this book. Even though the fmc and mmc spent very little time together over the course of the book, their chemistry is tangible. The ongoing missed connections are the best kind of torture. I loved getting to go along on the ride as Serena figures out what she really wants out of life and gives herself permission to actually reach for it. I was NOT prepared for the storyline about grief and the ripple effects that loss has on a family after loss. The author clearly knows what she's talking about. The only thing keeping it from being a five star read were a couple of characterizations/actions that I felt were a little cringey and uncomfortable, but the rest of the book was so lovely I chose to overlook them.

Thanks to Harper Perennial and Paperbacks and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved LOVE BUZZ, and am so excited to have "discovered" a debut author who I will truly commit to reading every book she writes! Neely Tubati Alexander perfectly blends humor with heart, romance with realistic characters who have depth and complete backstories that make you root for love and a happily ever after with intensity
The cousin's wedding, the loss of her mom, the upcoming big 3-0, the pressure of a perfect editorial profile opportunity, expectations, expectations, expectations. Pressure to be perfect doesn't leave much room for an authentic life, and our protagonist wrestles with so many relatable and memorable stresses of the time in your life when you're not sure life will ever be what you dreamed of.
Funny, smart engaging. Alexander is an author to watch. ,