This book was really cute, and certainly unique! I liked that it was different, but felt very relevant.
I have to say that I did not like the main characters best friend, Teagan. As a character she was great, but I would never be her friend if she was an actual person. I thought she was a bit toxic and manipulative, and everyone just kept making excuses for her. It seemed a lot like she was trying to force Lark to do the things she wanted her to do, and not necessarily the things that Lark wanted. It helped the plot along and I understood where Teagan was coming from, but I really liked Lark as a character so I didn't like seeing her being treated that way.
I LOVED Lark's journey to discover her confidence and sexuality, and Toby was adorable and wonderfully nerdy. I would absolutely recommend the book, especially if you're looking for a cute romcom that calls out some misogynistic bullshit.

While the premise of this book originally appealed to me, I found it lacking in the execution. I couldn't connect with the characters, the story was too repetitive, and I found myself getting annoyed with everyone more than rooting for them. While I appreciate the bi representation, women in STEM, and the sex positivity of it all, Text Appeal just wasn't for me.

Very sex positive. The best part of this were the online chats with Kismet. I was invested in who it was. The rest of the chemistry in person lacked and the crush felt unbelievable. I also didn’t understand all of the anger if it’s supposedly someone she’s been pining after for years.

I received an advance review copy for free via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book drew me in due to the female STEM representation in it. I didn’t really do a deep dive into what it’s about and I was unpleasantly surprised to find out that the FMC ends up fired from her tech job rather quickly for something that wasn’t her fault and then takes on a job “late night texting”, if you get my drift.

The book is supposed to be about female empowerment and embracing sexuality but it just fell a little short for me. I loved the idea, and it even reminded me a little bit of a show on the CW, but I think it could have been better written.

I found the blurb interesting but the entirety of the story was quite boring and paced very slowly. This kind of ruined my favorite trope as the main characters' romance felt forced and lacked chemistry.

This was a DNF for me. I really liked the overall message of pro LGBT, sex positivity, and feminism, but unfortunately for me it was just really boring otherwise. I didn’t connect well with the characters and didn’t care for what happened with them.

I DNFed this one around 20%. I gave it an honest attempt but I feel like as a person in my 40's, I'm just not the intended target audience. I could not relate to the characters and found myself wanting to skim through. Perhaps if you are in your 20's or so this may appeal more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I hate writing negative reviews, but this book just didn’t do it for my. DNF about halfway through. The plot was weak, the MC was difficulty to enjoy, and the overall premise didn’t hook me. It’s a pass. :(

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

4ish stars

Unlike some of the recent reviews, I actually enjoyed this book quite a bit. I liked the plot, appreciated some of the identities being represented, and felt that many of the reactions to conflict were understandable. Some of them were a bit overdramatic, perhaps, but I enjoyed seeing the protagonist ultimately succeed both personally and professionally. And, as a side note, I love the cover art!

i really wanted to love this book and i had a good time reading it but i just couldnt connect to the characters. it wasnt a bad book i just dont think it was the book for me personally. i had many moments where i was laughing and enjoying the story i just couldnt connect to it to keep me drawn into it

When Lark finds herself out of work, she takes up a job as a “sexter”, hiding her new sex based job from her best friends Toby. But when her feelings for Toby become too hard to hide, Lark has to decide whether or not to come clean about her new career.

This book was not for me.
The writing, the story, the characters, everything fell flat.
Like most stories of this genre it followed the same pattern.
Girl pines for boy, girl gets boy, has a falling out, gets back together- stronger than ever. The “falling out” was so ridiculous and irritating, that I was almost hoping for poor Toby to dodge the Lark bullet and for everyone to end up alone.

I just finished reading Text Appeal by Amber Roberts, and I have to say, it's a daring debut novel that I highly recommend. This book is perfect for fans of Olivia Dade and Kate Stayman-London.

The story follows Lark, the only woman programmer at her firm, as she lands an account for a huge client. But things quickly go wrong when she accidentally projects a scandalous picture from her phone onto the screen during a presentation. Her coworkers jump in to steal the account, leaving Lark jobless and broke.

Desperate for money, Lark turns to text message-based sex work. At first, she's skeptical about carrying out sexual fantasies with strangers. But after a few false starts, she starts to enjoy it--especially with one nerdy client who keeps popping up in her DMs. As she continues on this journey, she has to figure out how to balance her work with her personal life, including her feelings for her longtime friend and hopeless crush, Toby.

This book is a celebration of women in STEM, friends becoming lovers, and finding lasting love in the digital age. I loved how the author portrayed Lark's struggles and growth throughout the book. The characters were well-developed, and the storyline was engaging and kept me hooked until the end.

What I appreciate most about Text Appeal is the way it tackles sex positivity. It's refreshing to see a book that embraces the idea that women can enjoy sex and explore their sexuality without shame or judgment. The author does a great job of showing how Lark's experiences in sex work help her become more confident and comfortable in her own skin.

Overall, I would highly recommend Text Appeal to anyone looking for a fun and steamy read. It's a great debut novel from Amber Roberts, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

The story itself was okay, but unfortunately I couldn't really conncet with Lark's at all. Partly, the story was a bit cringe and somehow I just expected more from it.

I am a big fan of Ali Hazelwood and her books and thought that this could be similar and that I would love it. Unfortunately, this was not the case. It really wasn't a bad book, it was just not for me I guess. I did like some parts but overall it fell flat for me.

At times I had trouble reading the text bubbles on my Kindle. I hope that's not the case in the published digital version, because otherwise that would be really annoying when you can barely read/ not read at all large parts of the story.

Thank you and NetGalley and Alcove Press for this EARC!

The book itself isn't bad, the problem is that there is a moment in the story that it feels like the romance connection between them was left behind and it wasn't as big as it supposed to be.

DNF @ 42%

I thought a lot of the sexting was funny, but I didn't feel any connect to Lark or Toby. Their few interactions at this point in the book have not shown that they have any interest in each other.

This book was a bit difficult to rate because there were things I enjoyed and things I really disliked. I did like that we got to see a woman in STEM, and how rampant misogyny is in that field. Readers also were given insight to a female sex worker's daily life and what she has to deal with during client interaction (spoiler: men are pigs). Those aspects of the story were unique and fun.

However, the main plot of this story, the romance, fell a little flat. The two characters didn't seem especially enamored with one another until late in the book. Apparently they've had feelings for one another for a while, but that didn't really come through. The romance was bland and uninteresting, for the most part. The other factor that I heavily disliked (maybe even hated?) was the best friend, Teagan. She was unbearable. Full stop. Throughout the story, she was condescending and tried way too hard to be "quirkyyyyy" and "not like other girls" and "blunt/honest" when really she just came across as annoying and an asshole. And I really did not like how, during one of the climactic scenes, Teagan turned everything around and made it seem like SHE was the victim and that she had it so hard, etc. etc. I'm sorry, but I did not feel sympathy for her at all because of her behavior towards pretty much everyone throughout this book.

Thanks to NetGalley & Alcove press for the eARC. Being behind on book reviews, I decided to buy the audiobook with one of my credits.

Text Appeal
By Amber Roberts

Narrated by C.J. Bloom

New Release (August 8th)! Available now in all forms!!

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 3.5/5
Audiobook Rating: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5)
Overall Rating: 4.25/5
Steam: My notes don’t say, yikes. I think 🔥🔥🔥 or 4 (0-5) I usually bump up for self-pleasure.

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 C.J. Bloom saved me on this one. I’m behind on ARC reads and stressed and exhausted from the start of the school year, so physically reading books has been a struggle. Audiobook for the win.
🤩 Laugh-out-loud funny and all the smirks you can imagine.
🤩 Adorable and fun friends-to-lovers.
🤩 The blurb, or just know it’s good romcom fun.
🤩 Bisexual MC representation & ARO side character.
🤩 All the texting fun.
🤩 The steam—how much they enjoy each other.
🤩 The self-pleasure representation.

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 Comic Sans ribbing—my youngest kid does that, and I love comic sans. 
💫 The secrets. I still love Toby and Lark. Just be ready.
💫 I wish there was steam at the end with the cuteness and sweetness.

When Harry met Sally for the digital age!! This friends to lovers, secret identity sexting romance sees two besties falling in love when one starts an online sex work job and the other slides into her DMs anonymously.

Full of heart, humor and all sorts of millennial angst, this was perfect for fans of You've got mail with great bisexual rep, and aspec side character rep. It was also good on audio read by CJ Bloom - a fav narrator! I love how strong the romance debuts have been this year! Amber Roberts' Text Appeal will definitely be a standout for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! I will be first in line for whatever this author writes next. Recommended for anyone who loved You, again by Kate Goldbeck.

Interesting concept in a rom com. Heroine gets laid off, decides to try her hand at “Sexting” for money, similar to an Only Fans account. Her long time best friend and secret crush decides to make a move and she has to decide which route to take.
Something I didn’t love about the book is that there’s very explicit scenes involving banter and dialogue but when it comes to our couple, it’s pg-13.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amber Roberts for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review.