This was a very good Little Women-inspired friends to lovers small town romance. College professor Amy has been through a string of weird boyfriends, and when one dumps her days before the semester starts, she signs a lease for the second floor of a house without asking too many questions about the owner… only to find it’s her childhood friend Theo, who she had a falling out with six years ago and hasn’t had much contact with since. But Theo and Amy and his menagerie of cats and dogs waiting to be adopted quickly all become closer than ever. This story was a fun and interesting read, with interesting side characters and plenty of drama. Would recommend!

Wasn't the book for me was a dnf around 20% tried to come back to it a few times. I still would say give it try bit every book is for everyone but other people seemed to enjoy it. I want to thank NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is my second read from Sereno (I also read Blame it on the Brontes), so I’m familiar with her writing style and how she likes to write about classical literary characters.

While I quite enjoyed the storyline and plot (literary prof who would prefer to be an artist, leaves cheating boyfriend and moves on with her life), I found there were some spots in the book where the flow or pacing didn’t seem to work. Like two characters have a fight and with a five word conversation all is forgiven and let’s hop into bed - not realistic (I’ve found this is happening in too many books lately. The character in the wrong needs to work a lot harder than just saying “sorry” and prove it, to get to that point! I’m still, as the reader, holding onto my upset for the other character and can’t believe that all is forgiven and forgotten like that!).

Aside from unrealistic pacing in a few spots, the rest of it was great - she has a writing style I enjoy and I really like the shout outs to literary heroes of the past. The story of two former neighbors (and this being her sister’s former best friend) was a perfect storyline, especially with the twists and turns all over the place! A definite recommendation, just know going in that some parts are overly rushed.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and this is my honest feedback.

I tried this second novel by Annie Sereno on and I think we’re not compatible. The premise of both these books with characters based on famous literature looks good on paper, but the execution just doesn’t work for me. The pacing is so slow. Amy loves Theo, but there is.no banter or angst.
DNF.

In Leave It to the March Sisters, we get to see a story of a family inspired by the original March ladies, though focused on Amy as opposed to Jo. After a maddening break-up, she somehow winds up moving into a house with her estranged childhood friend (and crush), Theo. Her sister lives across the country and Amy is determined to get her to come work at her university, Amy and Theo are stuck in a kind of will-they-wont-they that seemed a bit excessive at times. Overall, I really did like all the characters, but the dialogue was a bit too Gilmore girl-y for my preference. This was a cute story but I had some trouble keeping my attention on it.

DNF- This was not great. The writing style was just a bit strange…trying too hard to be flippant and snarky, but in a really bad way. I was just not getting into it.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of this book!

I wanted to like it so much, but it just fell short for me. This writer's writing style does not pull me in. I didn't care for her last book, and I didn't care for this one much, either...although I did like it a bit more than her previous work.

Overall, I would only recommend this to a Little Women enthusiast. Otherwise, just hit the skip button.

Rating: 3⭐️

DNF at 18%

I originally requested this book because someone posted the cover of it on Twitter and it was described as Little Women inspired and a romance between Amy and Laurie. As a fan of Amy and Laurie from the Little Women movie I thought this arc would be fun to read but this book could not hold my attention. I found myself reading and rereading pages because I could not retain anything. Amy and Theo (for some reason the author did not keep the same name for Laurie here) are unexpectedly roommates after Amy's boyfriend cheats on her with a pizza girl and amy reluctantly moves. At the same time that they are living together, Theo is sleeping with someone else which I hate. Then there is another subplot of Amy's sister Jo who lives in another state and hasn't spoken to theo in months because of some fight they had. I stopped reading because the plot just is not entertaining me, the dialogue is cringey, the 10 cats Theo has is all the main characters talk about, and the story in general is just going nowhere. I will not be picking this back up.

I love how this story focused on Amy! I enjoyed both her and Theo’s relationship and them individually as characters. I do wish we had had a bit more character development/plot development. I enjoyed the characters, but I also feel like they both had so much potential that we barely tapped into. The ending felt a bit rushed to me. I loved the inclusion of Little Women quotes! Overall, a solid read.

Little Women will now and forever be one of my favorite books- and it's clearly one of Sereno's as well. But, if, perish the thought, you've never read it (so much better than all of the movies) you'll still enjoy this story because it's fun, Sereno has stripped away the serious stuff and focused on the romance and on Amy and Theo in particular. It's a fast read I suspect many fans of original will challenge but I liked seeing a different take. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC,

I enjoyed this story and I loved feeling this take on an Amy that felt familiar but was her own original character. The romance did well with its chemistry and compatibility between the characters, I really did enjoy the character development and also really enjoyed getting a few chapters from Theo’s character though I would have liked a few more. I think my biggest issue was how slow it was at the beginning and how it became kind of rushed towards the end. But overall, is an interesting take. If you are looking for a slow burn romance, with lots of great chemistry, then check this one out May 30th.

This book was a fun romance with nods to Little Women in the main characters - Amy and Jo, and the love interest, Theo. In a forced proximity situation, Amy and Theo are forced to face their past. The love story is definitely a slow burn and it is a bit predictable, but still an enjoyable read.

When it comes to disastrous relationships, Amy Marsden has pretty much seen everything. Which is exactly how Amy has ended up living in a house with the guy she’s been half in love with since she was a kid.Theo Sinclair has been her sister Jo’s best friend—and a commitment phobe—for as long as Amy can remember.

I have so many mixed feelings about this book. The romance kind of felt very flat to me & I ended up skimming through.

Amy & Theo were very childish to begin with. Rather than talking things out, they managed to say something mean or out of context, especially Theo.
And the conflict was definitely not my favorite.

I think by now it's like a "it's not you, it's me" kind of situation. I had high hopes for both this one & 'Blame it on the Brontes', but I didn't end up liking any.

Thank you Netgalley & Publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley & Forever/Grand Central Publishing for this early copy of this book.

This book turned out not to be my absolute favorite, but I also feel I must be in the proper mood for this type of read. It was hard for me to connect with the characters and grasp their connections as well. I think later on, I may come back to this and give it another chance. For now, it’s just not my cup of tea, but I could see many people I know really enjoying it.

Rating : 3/5 ⭐️

I was excited about this since I was a huge Little Women fan as a kid; but I quit reading at 25%. The characters were oddly juvenile for supposedly being in their thirties.

This book wasn't really for me. I went into this book very hopeful because I love Little Women but the characters in the story were all pretty unlikeable. I found the relationship between Amy and Jo to be a pretty toxic sisterhood and Theo just didn't have a clue most of the time about what he wanted. I read the entirety of the book but it was pretty difficult getting through the second half. All in all, I would rate this one 2.75 stars.

I’m really torn about this book because I love Little Women and I do wanted to love this as well. I did really enjoy that the author wasn’t afraid to show the little moments when all these characters could be flawed and selfish, because that’s true of Amy, Jo, and Laurie in the original as well. But I found all the secrets between the characters to be overly dramatic and a little dragged out, which hindered my enjoyment of the book overall.

I was totally rooting for Amy and Theo though. When they finally get it together, they’re quite cute together.

My biggest issue was the framing of the book. I would have rather read a true modern adaptation of Little Women, even if it didn’t include all the characters, rather than a story where their mother was obsessed with the book and named them after it and wanted them to fit the mold of it. It felt like a self fulfilling prophecy - you’re named after jo March, you must be a writer. Amy must be an artist. Of course there’s a Theo with a messy family background. I can buy all that in a true adaptation, but in this framework, it just felt a little too convenient and actually pulled me out of the story.

Anything Little Women adjacent is a must read for me, especially when it focuses on dear dear Amy. I self identify as an Amy, and this story felt very much FOR ME. I loved the banter and heartfelt content, 10/10 recommend.

I had high hopes for this one as I LOVE Little Women but it fell a bit flat. There were def some cute moments but as a whole I kind of struggled to care throughout the story.

Little Women is my favorite book of all time- so gimme all the books that are inspired by it! The Laurie/Amy love story in the OG Little Women always intrigued me, so this novel was a really cute deep dive into that. It's also an insightful look into about how brokenness affects our relationships, and how the secrets we keep can haunt us. For a Rom-Com I thought it was quite insightful in that way, but also has the sweet love stories we're looking for in this type of read. I enjoyed this one for a more lighthearted read, and the characters were nice nods to the originals. (Though, there is one love scene in this book that's over very quickly, but felt SO awkward that it was hard to read...) I kinda feel like if you're doing nods to historical characters, you have to keep it closed door- haha! The side characters were all also fun to get to know. I'll be looking out for more reads by Sereno!