I wanted to love this book but I really couldn't;.. it wasn't for me but it was good to pass the time

Like any good romance - meet cute, wrecked lives, complicated relationships and a little cheesy.
A quick, easy read of found family, melting moments and just a great queer book.
Lizzie is recovering from a difficult childhood - a mother unable to provide stability or care, low self esteem and a need to feel "seen". Still covering her mom's bills, Lizzie is struggling. Determined to open her own gym one day - with the intention of providing a safe space for all, Lizzie struggles to submit her resume for a promotion at her job.
Her bestie, James, and his sister Cara shake up her life.
Loved it!
1 like

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I hate the miscommunication trope. It’s the worst. So that, coupled with the fact that I didn’t like Lizzie and wasn’t super invested in Cara or James either, just didn’t leave me feeling very excited about the book. I had a hard time believing that Lizzie and Cara were even right for each other to begin with. Overall it was a cute romance but didn’t excite me.

An atypical sapphic romance that is sweet and salty with two loveable leads whose chemistry sparks immediately and yet also have a believable buildup from first moment to fake relationship to actual relationship.

Lizzie has big aspirations of owning her own gym. For the moment, she is broke trying to support her alcoholic mom and herself, so she has to settle for just working at a gym. Here, she meets her bestie James, who is also the owner’s son. James talks her into going to his sister’s wedding as a plus one. At the wedding, she finds a girl crying in the bathroom. She gives her some awesome advice that she doesn’t deserve her boyfriend since he isn’t making her happy. It turns out, that was really Cara, Jame’s sister, and she ends up cancelling the wedding from the advice Lizzie gives her. They end up connecting and falling for eachother.

I don’t read enough LGBTQ+ reads and I enjoyed this one enough. There was nothing spectacular about it and it probably won’t stick with me forever. I enjoyed our main character, but not James or our love interest. Both of them were rude, to be frank. The plot was okay— lots of lies and drama. The writing was good enough.

You can’t convince me that Lizzie had never seen Cara before. I get that James and Cara lost touch, but you’d think Lizzie would have at least seen a photo of Cara SOMEWHERE. Or even a simple mention of her name? Especially since Lizzie and James spend so much time together AND Lizzie works for their family. This was kinda outlandish.

I do feel like some things weren’t hashed out like they should have been. Specifically, Lizzie’s situation with her mom. Her mom’s character wasn’t redeemed at all. Lizzie also never stood up to her draining mother either. Another thing that wasn’t completely hashed out was how awful James, Cara, and their family treated Lizzie during the 3rd act breakup. I felt like Lizzie deserved a bigger apology for the hateful things they all said to her. Frankly, Lizzie deserves better than everyone who has been placed in her life.

Such an enjoyable read!! I really liked this book and was so happy I was given the opportunity to read it here at netgalley. Made me laugh out loud multiple times.

I absolutely ADORED this book! It was so much fun. I laughed so much. I cried. It gave me all the feels. And it's the best romcom I read last year!

Lizzie is desperate for a promotion to gym manager, which is the only reason she agrees to go with her BFF to his sister's wedding. His parents own the gym, and a full weekend of activities should provide some prime time for schmoozing. But when Lizzie meets the most bountiful woman she's ever seen in the hotel hallway, gets drunk in front of his parents, convinces the woman in the bathroom she should dump her boyfriend, and later finds out the woman is the bride... well, things don't go according to plan.

I didn't finish this book. It wasn't bad, per se, but it wasn't drawing me in. It was taking too long to get going, and none of the characters were particularly likable. Lizzie was a bit of a hot mess with a depressing life and wasn't very fun to read about. I like to think the book would have improved had I continued, which is why it gets three stars, but it either wasn't the book for me or wasn't the right time to read it. Life is too short to keep reading when you don't want to.

Thanks to Avon for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 stars -6/10

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

Overall, I don't regret reading this book. However, I will say that it felt repetitive at times. I also think that the romantic feelings between the MCs here was a little too instant for me, but that may work for other readers!

Some real Meryl Wilsner Mistakes Were Made vibes with this one (on account of mistakes being made leading to a romance that is socially perilous, not the whole falling for your bestie's mom thing). I liked it quite a bit.

What happens when your dream job complicates matters of the heart? Lizzie is about to find out. She goes with her best friend as a plus one to his sister’s wedding. After she gives some advice to a woman in the bathroom, too late she realizes it was his sister and the bride to be who ditches her fiancé. Chaos ensues, but I rooted for everyone to find their HEA.
Thank you #avon and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

This was Jennifer Dugans first adult novel I believe and I can say she is just as good at writing this genre as she is YA. 11/10

This book was lovely and fun to read. Jennifer Dugan has such a particular voice for sapphic main characters and Love at First Set is no different. I will say, all of the secrets made me so nervous and filled with so much anxiety that I had to put the book down a few times (even though I didn't want to!) just to collect myself to keep going. I admired how the characters played off of each other and how none of them let the others get away with their BS. Will definitely be adding this one to my personal collection!

The book had a compelling beginning, yet my engagement waned after reaching the midpoint. Initially, there were plenty of moments that made me laugh, but eventually, the storyline delved into dramatic territory.

The breakup in the latter part of the book felt somewhat exaggerated, with both women appearing to avoid communication and evading their issues.

However, I appreciated the exploration of various relationships beyond Lizzie and Cara's, particularly their challenging dynamics with their mothers.

Overall, it was an endearing read, likely to be adored by many other readers.

Unfortunately, this book was a total miss for me. I didn’t love any of the characters and felt they were missing depth. It felt very YA to me with the messiness of the characters and the deals they kept making with one another. The book is told in single POV from Lizzie’s perspective, and I think we really needed Cara’s side in this one. Siblings James and Cara are both privileged beyond measure but don’t realize it. Despite being Lizzie’s best friend, James doesn’t provide very much support for her and uses her to constantly cover for him and mislead Cara. It really bothered me that neither Cara nor James listened to Lizzie when she described how crappy their mom was to her. I also felt that there were some toxic fitness habits described in some of the conversations between James and Lizzie. Overall, this one was just not for me.

This book opened strong, and overall, I really liked Lizzie, one of the two MCs. Her overcoming a rough situation, love of helping others improve, and self-education, self-supporting, and self-motivating attitudes shone through and made me root for her. The novel is written from her first person POV, and her reactions (internal and external) were great.

Unfortunately, no one else in the book was fleshed out as well, including her romantic interest, Cara. Their meeting at the beginning of the book was fun and had some chemistry – but the rest of the book is miscommunication and deception “for the plot” when, honestly, just watching the two of them fall in love while Lizzie struggles to apply for her dream job (and the two navigate their different forms of toxic parenting) would have been much more enjoyable.

Absolutely love this messy meeting that's just a disaster waiting to happen and the very strong, very beautiful found family that forms along the way. Absolutely brilliant.

I was really excited about this one but sadly, it fell a bit flat! I felt like most of the characters, and especially their parents, were incredibly immature. The book felt a little too chaotic for me and I couldn't get passed all the secrets and manipulation.

I'll definitely read more by this author but this wasn't a personal favorite.

Rating: 4/5
Steam: 3/5
Tropes: best friend's sibling, it's just a hookup, grumpy/sunshine

Thank you to Avon for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Lizzie is a character you find yourself rooting for, wanting to give her a hug and cheering her on all at once. The book presented a more serious tone than I initially expected, delving into some harsh life realities and messy family drama, all while delivering the love story we were hoping for.

At its core, Lizzie struggles with low self-esteem and has rarely experienced genuine support in her life. She tends to give a lot of herself, often neglecting her own needs. I appreciated how the story portrayed this, and witnessing Lizzie's growth by the end was truly rewarding. Cara, facing similar issues, navigates through them alongside Lizzie, making their journey relatable and heartfelt. It's clear these characters could all benefit from some therapy.

While the ending felt a bit rushed and the third act breakup was intense, I managed to absorb it all over a few days, which helped me process the emotions.