Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy. Someone Just Like You follows two timelines with different endings. Written in the contemporary sense, a good “airplane book.”

This one was cute enough, but it felt like something I had already read. I needed more banter between the main characters. Maybe a little more steam.

First thought: It was a fun childhood rivals hate to love romance set in NYC, I enjoyed it.

Molly is the perfect child she does everything right, she always has a plan and she is reliable. Her dream was to be a lawyer and she did that but after a year in a toxic workplace she moved to a recruiting position where she wants to help other fulfill their goals.

Jude always gets what he wants and it comes easy for him, he can get in trouble but then charms his way out of it. He wanted to play professional baseball but that dream fell short when he was involved in an accident. Now he’s bartending and one day hopes to open his own place if he ever gets around to it.

Their family have been best friends with the each other for over 25years and the kids of the families have always been thrown together. This time is no different as the set of 6 kids work together to plan a surprise anniversary for both parents. Only issue for Molly is the son of the other family Jude is her arch nemesis.

Since they were 6 they have hated each other and constantly go at it through pranks. But now she has to team up with him to help plan a party. Can Jude and Holly call a truce long enough to do their part in this big party for their families. Will they discover there is a fine line between hate and love?

This is a great summer read that it well written. It kept me engaged as I navigated through past and present with Molly. I really enjoyed the relationships she held and the importance family had in her life. I would recommend if you’re looking for a feel good story with a bit rivalry, a few good pranks, fun banter and some romance.

I really loved the authors last book so I was really looking forward to read this one. I enjoyed parts, but not all. I liked the Jewish representation and how close the two families were. But I really didn't like Jude and Mollys relationship. I liked the enemies to lovers back and forth, but after awhile I wanted it to end. I didn't like the pranks they played on one another. It seemed a bit childish for characters nearly thirty years old to do to one another.

Title: Someone Just Like You (standalone)
Release date: 7/25/23, read 7/15/23
.Author: Meredith Schorr-1st time author for me
Page Count: 353
POV: h Molly
Setting: NY
Genre: Rom-Com, Contemporary Romance
Tropes: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, family saga, opposites attract
 Representation: Jewish rep
Source: Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-ARC. I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions are my own.
Steam factor: 3

Quick summary: Molly and Jude have been enemies since they were seven years old. Unfortunately, their parents are extremely close, and their siblings have decided to have a combined wedding anniversary celebration for their parents. Molly and Jude are forced to work together which brings up old hurts they caused each other. 

Content warnings/triggers: misogynistic boss, parents' separation
Characters: Main and Minor
Molly-27, a legal recruiter. Type A personality, "a good girl," became a lawyer, but quit because of her horrible boss.
Jude-27, bartender, laid back, and played baseball w/ full scholarship to college until he tore his ACL in a bike accident.
Esther- Molly's bff and was her college roommate.
Jerry and Alex-Jude's roommates
Michael-Molly's new boss Yogi-Jude's dog

Review: Molly and Jude were really crushing on each other which made them bully each other all those years ago. I thought it was just their twisted version of foreplay, especially as they got older. I read some reviews and some folks hated all the pranks, but I didn't mind them so much. They become misunderstandings when Molly and Jude talk about them. I enjoyed their sparring as it added to their HEA.

Rating:4****

I started this book so incredibly nervous. When Jude and Molly were super prank heavy right from the start, I almost quit. Pranks almost always hurt my feelings and ruin a book. But I am SO glad that I stuck it out. Jude and Molly's families have been best friends their whole life. But something happened when the two of them were kids to make them hate each other. Deeply. Planning a family surprise party has the two of them working together and slowly but surely realizing that maybe they aren't as bad as they thought. The family, the friends, the work situations all come together to create a story that I read in a hurry.

If you're looking for a fun, light, summer read and enemies to lovers is your thing, this might be the book for you.

Someone Just Like You had all the ingredients for a fun, laugh-out=loud romcom. Childhood friends turned enemies? Check. Prank war? Check. Cute dog? Check.

That being said...unfortunately it fell flat to me. While all the pieces were there, the connections just weren't. Molly and Jude loved to prank each other, but I didn't find the pranks to be very inventive or creative. I did like their dynamic once they got together but I didn't fully buy into the lead up.

There definitely were things I liked about this book. NYC has my heart so the setting was *chefs kiss*. I also really appreciated the conversation around changing career paths and how it's okay to change your plan, even if it's been your plan forever. As a chronic planner who doesn't like to rock the boat, I could really relate to Molly's feelings around this.

Overall, this is a good book to read if you want something quick and fun, but if you're looking for something to give you allllll the feels, maybe skip it. I do own a copy of Meredith Schorr's debut, As Seen on TV, and still plan on reading because I did enjoy her writing style quite a bit.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

. A slow-burn, enemies to lovers?!?!? I was already hooked before it started. I read this as a part of an arc and it was adorable. Molly and Jude were adorable and totally meant to be.

I was a little conflicted on this one! The writing is good and it was an easy read but I found the plot to be a bit immature.

The behavior of the characters seemed younger than they actually were (late 20’s) which turned me off a bit. But I did enjoy the latter bit of the book. This is one of those books that grows as you go along so if you can push through the begging a bit, in my opinion it becomes worth it!

I also loved the Jewish representation and all the NY references (this was particularly fun!).

I loved the storyline and the timeline of Jude and Molly from childhood friends to enemies to possibly adult friends to more... they had so many feuding moments that made me laugh and so much built up tension and angst between them. The book was funny and romantic, and also spoke about the pressures of family expectations, work, and finding that balance of planning for the future and living in the moment. I loved that Molly and Jude kept dating each others look-a-likes without initially realising, and that they were referred to as the 'Juniors' by their siblings in the group calls. Their nicknames for each other and their pranks and rivalry was entertaining too. A very enjoyable read!

Molly is type A

Jude is not.

They grew up living next door and their families became really close. So close that the kids get together to throw the parents a joint wedding anniversary party.

I like the enemies to lovers and banter. But this felt more like, he’s picking on you because he likes you. Can we just end that? I get that this might be lighthearted and “not that serious” but it felt icky especially bc the mc are almost 30.

Looking past that though I did enjoy the second half of the book more. Overall it’s a cute book and I was rooting for Jude and Molly.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for the eArc in exchange for my honest review

We meet Molly Blum and Jude Stark - childhood friends (turned enemies) over several years of pranks as neighbours. Suddenly, they're tasked with coordinating a location for their parents surprise anniversary dinner. Can they work together?

I loved their banter at the start, they are quick to pull punches and spar and I'm all for some enemies to lovers banter. Unfortunately, there was something about this book that felt very hand holdy and almost unnatural. It felt like it explained everything more times than necessary and it got kind of hard to stomach. I felt like the banter became rather childish and it didn't quite redeem itself. I had a bit of a hard time with the FMC's motivations at times.

I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately it just didn't quite hit the mark for me. I do think it resolved well at the end. I just don't think this book was for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

I enjoyed this one even though I had a bit of a rough start with this book. Jude and Molly have known each other for their whole lives and are sworn enemies. They are put together on an assignment by their older siblings and immediately start pranking each other. The pranks felt more mean than funny to me but they eventually started acting like adults which made the book much more enjoyable. I do think that these two were great together once they stopped playing games.

I liked Jude and Molly and thought that they had fantastic chemistry together. They knew each other so well but there were still a lot of things that they had to learn about one another. I thought the fact that they have each spent the past few years dating people that were just like the other. There were several situations where it was very obvious just how much they cared about each other. Once they worked through a few things, I knew that these two would be great together.

I would recommend this book to others. Jude and Molly were both flawed characters that were perfect for each other in the end. I would not hesitate to read more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Forever.

Jude and Molly!

I love a good best friends to enemies to lover book to ?!?. These two will have you laughing, annoyed, swoon, nervous, and everything in between.

But I need to know, what happened to Alex! He definitely needed a life update in the epilogue 😂

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

2.5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Molly and Jude are childhood neighbors and rivals, and they have a messy history of pranks and fighting. When the pair must team up in order to help plan a joint anniversary party for both of their parents, the two discover they might not hate each other after all.

I can’t help but be slightly disappointed by this story. I never connected to Molly and Jude. They were unbelievably childish for characters in their late 20s, but the main issue was I didn’t see much character development. Ultimately, I was interested enough to finish the story and see how it ended though. I’m sure plenty of people will love this one though! Someone Just Like You is out July 25th, if you want to check it out!

Someone Just Like You Meredith Schorr

I liked Someone Just Like You but it was a bit hard of a read for me. The enemies to lovers trope is always a good one but I felt like they were kind of like Okay. We date others who look like us so let's date each other." I was waiting for a sort of hey we kind of liked each other growing up but they really hated each other.

I wanted to like Molly as she is the MC but she stressed me out initially. It all made sense later on when she explained her childhood. Jude was nice enough but kind of an unlikeable character. He was immature and did not have a ton of redeeming qualities. I was waiting for him to hold the knowledge of what Molly did over her head more.

That said, I did really like the book. Meredith Schorr can write very realistic characters and she is wonderful at describing the people all around and it really sets the scene. Someone Just Like You is a cute read.

Read if you like:
😡 Enemies to Lovers
😂 Banter
🔀 Opposites Attract
♥️ Romances
😛 Pranks

This was a book with so much promise with the enemies to lovers but then the writing just didn’t quite work for me with the way the characters were written and the lack of maturity on both ends and how utterly mean Jude was to Molly, and Molly truly wasn’t much better….

This one does have some witty banter in it but it also had a lot to be desired as well.

If you are looking for a prank heavy enemies to lovers with some vibes similar to The Hating Game I would recommend checking this one out.

Thanks to the publisher, Forever Books for my ARC copy!

A romance with Jewish rep, sign me up! This was a lighthearted, fun read. It was a challenge to connect with Molly and Jude. I didn’t find them mature or their pranks to be entertaining. I didn’t find this to be a slow burn romance. I enjoyed how the book took place in NYC! Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

Jude and Molly’s families have been life-long neighbors and friends; however somewhere around the age of seven, Jude and Molly went from being best friends to enemies. Over the years, each tried to outdo the other with pranks that became increasingly devious the older they got. As adults, Jude and Molly rarely have the occasion to see one another until their older siblings plan a joint party for both families, pairing the youngest siblings for the task of finding a venue. As painful memories and old habits resurface, Molly also feels a strange attraction to Jude.

Someone Just Like You does enemies-to-lovers right! Schorr creates two characters that are meant to be, despite their differences and history. I will admit that I was contemplating a DNF around the 20% mark because I didn’t enjoy their cruel pranks. While they aren’t hurting one another, their joking is mean. However, just as I was thinking “enough already,” there is a solid turning point in Molly and Jude’s relationship. The author creates a lovely transition from enemies to friends to lovers, and the way they come together is perfect for this couple.

Another potential downfall for their relationship is a secret Molly has harbored since high school, one that altered Jude’s life permanently. This is another trope I don’t love, but once again, Schorr handles the entire situation perfectly. The author doesn’t let the horrible secret fester until the end of the book, but rather allows Molly to out herself midway through the story and then gives Jude the time he needs to process it and move forward. There is no “insta-fix,” but rather real thought and effort goes into forgiveness.

Despite their through-the-roof chemistry, the pair finds it hard to give up old habits when fighting, able to hurt each other with words even more now because they do love one another. I appreciate that the author allows the couple space to argue and figure out if they are meant to be. Molly does a lot of self-reflection about her life and career, about her family and her need to fix everything. Since the story is shared solely from Molly’s POV, I do miss out on knowing where Jude’s head is at and why he does what he does. But the absence of his POV makes his declarations all the more powerful, bringing me to tears when he breaks Molly’s heart and grinning when he surprises her with love. The addition of a doppelgänger fixation that lasts years without either Jude or Molly figuring it out is a brilliant tool used to show the MCs how each always sought out the other.

In the end, I thoroughly adored Someone Just Like You, despite its use of tropes I usually don’t enjoy. I’m glad I took a chance on Molly and Jude, and I highly recommend you do, too.

My Rating: A-