Member Reviews
I was super excited to read this book! I wasn't able to finish it in time, but I enjoyed the part that I read. It was quite what I was hoping for, but it was still good.
"Text Appeal" by Amber Roberts is a fun and flirty romantic comedy that had me laughing and rooting for the characters' romance. This novel is a delightful blend of humor, chemistry, and the modern-day challenges of digital communication.
Roberts' writing style is witty and engaging, immersing readers in a world of playful banter and endearing interactions. The chemistry between the main characters is electric, and their exchanges via text messages add a contemporary twist to their budding romance.
At the heart of the narrative is a lighthearted exploration of modern dating dynamics and the ups and downs of getting to know someone through technology. The author skillfully navigates the challenges and joys of building a connection in the digital age.
"Text Appeal" successfully balances humor with moments of genuine emotion, resulting in a narrative that is both entertaining and heartwarming. The themes of love, miscommunication, and the power of taking chances add depth to the story.
In conclusion, "Text Appeal" is a delightful and entertaining read that delivers a perfect mix of laughter and romance. If you're looking for a book that offers a feel-good escape with characters you can't help but root for, this novel is a fantastic choice that will leave you with a smile on your face.
This was a case of perfect on paper, but not quite hitting the mark in actuality. It had all the elements that I'm all for in real life, with sex positive characters and women in technology, but after reading a few books with these themes, I've found that I just don't connect and relate to them as much as I think I would.
Lark is a self-taught junior developer at a dude-bro infested tech form, where she is always looked over for promotions and generally harassed. When her chaotic best friend Teagan sets forth a chain of events at a night out at the bar that ultimately results in her being fired, she finds herself freelancing as a sexter on a pay by the minute app to make ends meet. Despite her lack of relationship experience, she slowly finds her nerdy niche by using her love of fantasy and role playing games. She soon makes a connection with a regular texter as more of a friend, and has to weigh her growing feelings for the mystery man against her long term pining for her college friend, Toby. With a predictable and lackluster ending, Text Appeal had great potential for me but just couldn't quite hit the spot.
This book did not at all live up to the blurb. I wanted so much more, but alas. I felt absolutely zero connection between Toby and Lark, to the point that even the sex scenes were boring and felt forced. I don't hav much more to say. I wished for better.
"my deep-rooted wish to be respected despite my gender , rather than objectified because of it."
After Lark finds herself jobless and broke, with bills and rental looming she knows she needs to find a way to accumulate funds. Thanks to her over eager best friends she ventures into the world of becoming a professional sexter (to her detriment it's the only option she has to making a quick buck). With some advice, exploration and a little copy and paste, Lark soon becomes familiar with the ropes. There's one problem though, she doesn't want her best friend and ultimate crush, Toby finding her secret out. .
A funny, witty and light read that will have you cringing with embarrassment on Larks behalf.
Firstly I’d like the thank the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!! 🥰😘
I really enjoyed the sex positive and female positive feel to Text Appeal ❤️❤️ Lark really is a badass!! The book is brilliant at showing the sexism in the industry she works in versus how she takes control of her life after they shame her horribly (not that they don’t already take the complete advantage of her at any opportunity).
It’s a super cute read as well, Toby is lovely and their friendship is adorable but I did find it frustrating on the romance side…I wanted them to be…well spicier. They were just not quite naughty enough for me. I’m not taking actually smut, I’m talking them as people together. They just seemed a little lacking somehow even though they were perfect? She had spicer conversations with her friends than with him?
Over all I did enjoy the book and would recommend it 🥰❤️ Larks brilliant and the storyline is a great one 3.5✨
I liked this book but had a hard time getting into it. Once the story picked up, I liked it. The concept of the book was super cute. It was spicy and funny which I definitely can appreciate.
The cover is so cute for this book. Unfortunately the book falls flat. I didn't really connect with the characters or the plot. I didn't hate it but I didn't enjoy reading it.
Great debut novel.
The writing is quirky and very inviting. I love the premise and felt it was executed well.
I think it could have used the tiniest bit of swoon factor a bit more, since it was very "admire from afar" but overall a great debut!
I've never seen a rating that's genuinely so low on Goodreads, so I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail - clearly I'm not alone in saying that I did not love the book. I liked the concept and the cover, so I was excited to dig into this one. I'm a sucker for texting in books, and I liked the idea of her falling in an unexpected way with someone she already has feelings for. Unfortunately, the writing style didn't work for me - from the start - and the friendships felt toxic. I didn't really like any of the characters. So it was tough to get emotionally invested in the romance, and I ended up doing some skimming before ultimately leaving it unfinished.
Lark’s efforts are never enough in the tech bro culture she works in - her ideas aren’t taken seriously unless repeated louder by a man who will ultimately take credit for it ( and believe her, he will). When she unexpectedly loses her job, however, she’s forced to find a new way to pay rent. Despite how uncomfortable she is with the whole thing, her friends convince her to start sexting for cash. And sure, the app is filled with pervs, but the cash starts flowing in. As does a connection with the guy who simply wants to chat - no sexting needed.
This is objectively a fun concept, and I love it when books or media legitimize sex work as real work! I really liked how Lark went from kind of clueless about how to sext, to being mostly good at it(even if she was still copy and pasting her friend group sourced material most of the time). Her strong connection with her nerdy client is definitely a different experience, because she was comfortable just being herself.
I love friends to lovers, so I was rooting for Toby and Lark for the whole book - these two could not be cuter!! Their chemistry was so sweet, and the stigma that Lark faces when grappling with when to tell Toby that she was a sex worker was such great tension.
There were laugh out loud moments, and really sweet ones. I enjoyed this book a lot! I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a spicy little treat.
Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the eArc
This was fine, pretty cringey because of the sexting, which is easy to have go really wrong really quick. The friendship was toxic and I was just waiting for her to stand up for herself. Pro: very sex positive! Not too much to say, honestly it will probably be forgotten in my brain quite quickly.
Text Appeal by Amber Roberts was a cute read but I feel like the marketing and blurb missed the mark a bit. Amber Roberts writes friends-to-lovers well, building in and developing the emotional connection and tension between Lark and Toby in a natural progression. The pieces that fall short are the sexting -- we're "told" Lark is uncomfortable, but the writing doesn't really show that until we get to Lark's only real conversations with Toby in disguise. Added to that is the disingenuous behavior of the best friend and friend group. The first half of the story felt more like Literary Fiction than Romance, and while I do think that there is a market for that, Text Appeal might not land with those looking for a STEM-forward, steamy or spicy friends to lovers. That being said, I enjoyed seeing Lark build herself up from nothing and start a new business, showing that women can be strong and empowered and don't need to rely on men or get stuck under the glass ceiling to make themselves successful.
This was a really fun read. If you are a fan of friends to lovers, slow burn and STEM, then this book will be for you!
Lark's journey is one that you will immediately be sucked into and from the start you will be rooting for her. After loosing her job, Lark takes up sexting, as expected their are a more than a few weird people she encounters but after some time she starts to enjoy it. Whilst she has this going on, she is trying to hide her crush on her friend Toby. She also thinks she is doing a good job of hiding her sexting job from him.....
Some of the messages and interactions were funny to read and did provide a comedy element to the book. Whilst the Toby/Lark relationship was nice to see develop, I just felt it missed the mark slightly. I didn't really catch on to any real chemistry between the two. It wasn't very exciting and because of this, the book lost be just over half way through.
I am giving it 3 stars as I did enjoy the story line, the romance element just wasn't there for me.
I was really excited to read this book. With all the STEM related rom coms hitting the shelves, I was ready to read a new to me author. This book has great potential but it just moved too slow for me. Maybe slow burn was the idea, but I struggled to finish. I did love the concept though and I’m always a sucker for friends to enemies type books.
I was really excited for this one, but it was a miss for me. In a romance, you need chemistry between your main characters, and I wasn't feeling it. It was actually kind of cringy. We had great tropes/plot points, like STEMinists and friends to lovers with a slow burn. I loved the sex worker positivity too. The idea of the book overall was interesting. The romance just fell short for me.
The blurb of this book sounded so promising but it didn't live up to it. I thought this was supposed to be sex positive which it definitely isn't. There wasn't really a likable character. They were all pretty immature and Taegan is a horrible friend. There wasn't any chemistry between Lark & Toby as friends let alone as love interests and the pace was so slow I lost interest.
2 stars.
I really wanted to like Amber Roberts' "Text Appeal." Unfortunately, I found myself wanting so much more from this book. I was annoyed by what we got in this final product. Readers were promised a sex-positive story, but it didn't feel like it was. Lark, the main female character, is fired from her STEM job because she was sexually harassed by a man online and accidentally cast an inappropriate photo of him in front of everybody during a business meeting. Ummmmm, what???!!! While she flounders trying to find a new job, and just before she hits "rock bottom," she decides to take up a side gig sending sexy texts for money. This transition doesn't feel natural at all. It also implies that people only turn to s3x work as a last resort or when they are desperate for cash (which isn't always the case and is a huge misconception about that line of work!). Even though I fully support her decision to do this work, she doesn't actually WANT to do this job, which is not empowering, it's conversion! Her choice to do this felt icky to me under the guise of being "sex-positive." No no no. I wouldn't say I liked any of the characters, especially Teagan. With friends like her, ehh? What a horrible "best friend." If you identified with her in any way, RUN. Lark and the main male character, Toby, also got on my nerves. Neither of them will make a move! It's like, let's get a move on here! It is supposed to be a friends-to-lovers story, but I saw almost no chemistry between Lark and Toby. They hem and haw for most of the book until they hook up. Booooring. This book is painfully slow to unfold. I will read whatever this writer writers next, but this was a disappointing, grating bust for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, Amber Roberts, and Alcove for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
This book is so cute, I enjoyed reading the story, nice RomCom
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the book
Text Appeal by Amber Roberts is a delightful friends-to-lovers romance, infused with a captivating You've Got Mail twist. This novel promises an enjoyable and flirtatious journey, brimming with excitement and charm.