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.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐
SPICE: 🔥🔥

I wanted to love this book. The premise was perfection: Lark, a woman in a STEM industry poised for her big break, falls from grace and from her job. When her best friend suggested she breaks into sex work, she finds herself sending dirty texts for cash. At the same time, her other best friend Toby is newly single, and having crushed on him for so long, this is the opportunity she is looking for to move to the next level, but should she come clean with her current profession?

Like I said, it sounds like a promising story, but I just thought this book was ok. The pace was slow, and I could not find any of the characters relatable. Lark's character development felt incomplete and eventually rushed. Am I wrong for expecting this book to be spicier given Lark's new venture?

** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Amber Roberts, Alcove Press, and NetGalley for providing an ARC. **

This was so fun! It was not what I expected in a rom=com but this book was such a fun take on the genre! There were times when I wanted more depth from the novel, but I really liked this one!

I love a good friends to lovers romance, and this didn’t disappoint! Amber Robert’s nailed the slow burn romance that makes your toes curl, and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.

From the blurb, this book sounded great. I was left wanting after finishing the book. The romance could have been better. While the writing is good, given the context and genre of the book, it could have been a little more fun.

As the only woman coder in her firm, Lark is always overlooked and underappreciated. Every day she wants to quit, but being fired is a different story—especially for accidently projecting a risqué photo during a presentation. At the suggestion of her extrovert friend Teagan, she starts a job sexting complete strangers anonymously for money. After a few awkward encounters when she first starts, she actually starts to enjoy the work, especially with one sweet and nerdy client that keeps messaging. How will she explain her new job to her best friend Toby who she's secretly has a crush on for years?
I had high hopes for this book but it ended up just OK for me. With the arc copy, I had trouble with the format of the texts because they're pictures and wouldn't enlarge when I tried to adjust the font. Hopefully that's resolved in the final copy. The story was cute and I enjoyed Lark's closeness with her friends. I felt bad about her work situation and the men's attitude toward women in STEM. The sexting, especially her first attempts, was funny. But the plot felt a little flat halfway through the book and I really didn't feel the chemistry between Lark and Toby off the screen. Teagan was funny at first but after awhile I was starting to wonder why Lark didn't drop this toxic friendship. Overall just OK for me.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, engaging and cute, though I sometimes found the main character frustrating. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

I wish I had something good to say about this book. I’m so sad I don’t. This premise had the makings to be a five-star read for me. I found every single character deeply insufferable, immature and petty. There wasn’t a single not toxic relationship in this book. Was the sex positivity promised in the room with us? Because I found for a book about a sex worker, it was deeply puritanical. There was no chemistry between Lark and Toby. I didn’t like them as friends and didn’t root for them as lovers. I am truly devastated this book was as bad as it was.

I struggled with this story a bit. The premise felt a little extreme. Lark works at a company where she is constantly dealing with the boys club, but is convinced she will get a promotion soon. She loses her job under extreme circumstances and her best friend suggests sex work as a first option, which would be out of character for the FMC. It is a friends to lovers, but the interactions between the two are limited fairly far into the book. Things improve when there are more interactions, but it takes a while to get there.

3.75⭐️ | 2 🌶️

When I saw the adorable cover and read the blurb for this one, I was really intrigued so when NetGalley accepted my ARC request I was obviously thrilled!

It’s a quick read but not quite fast paced. It started off quite slow but ended perfectly! I did however wish I could love it more than I did.

I instantly fell in love with the FMC, Lark (such a cute and unique name btw!) and I really liked her character arc, she’s quirky and fun. The romance between the two MCs did feel a bit disconnected and disappointing, however their sexting interactions were quite fun.

This slow-burn, friends to lovers is a feel-good and LOL read. Overall it’s fun, flirty and mildly spicy.

While the premises of this book were amazing, it unfortunately missed the mark for me.

This book had such an interesting blurb and I was really looking forward to it… and it started out strong.

It ended up disappointing and was about, uh, “special” texting to make ends meet, after needing to find a job to fill in a gap, and trying to stay friends with a long-time guy friend that there were always one-sided feelings for who seemed to be pulling away.

It was very predictable and actually quite frustrating as the reader, the whole way…. So many ways this could have been tweaked and come out differently in the end to be a better storyline and experience. I was left wanting so much more from it. Hard to recommend but I’m sure it will have an audience that loves it - it’s just not for me.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Alcove Press, and this is my honest opinion.

I tried my hardest to get into this book but it was too slow for my liking so I unfortunately had to dnf

This adorable romance had me hooked from the start. It’s the perfect beach read, keeping you glued to the pages with its cute and witty banter. Amber Roberts is a new author to me, but after this delightful experience, I’ll definitely be on the lookout for their future works. This book ticks all the boxes for a rom-com with just the right amount of spice and relatable situations. An absolute gem for a sunny day at the beach!

I couldn’t really grasp the concept of this book. This is a friends-to-lovers story where the FMC is in STEM but her life gets chaotic. The plot sounded promising but the author did not deliver the story that was promised. Usually, I’m not a picky reader when it comes to romance but I just didn’t understand the plot. The dialogue didn’t make sense and there were too many text message graphics that took up the book. The pacing felt nonexistent and was often confused about what was happening in the story. This book is written from Lark’s pov.

Lark is the main character in this story and she wasn’t a bad character. Her story could have been written off better as she was amazing but boring at ties. She did have a development so that was good. Then there is Toby who is not a bad male character but we didn’t truly get to know him. There were many side characters and I enjoyed Lark’s BFF who was fun and supportive. The romance is friends to lovers but this book lacked the romantic chemistry I was hoping for. Usually, the book could be saved by the romance but it was not the case for this one.

The ending I didn’t care for as I was over with this book. I was really excited to read this book because the summary sounded great but I was disappointed. This book might be the cup of tea for someone else but it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Alcove Press & NetGalley for the eArc of this title!

This had a lot of potential at first, and there definitely was a lot to love regardless of the qualms I ultimately had. I loved the sex positivity, the queer representation as well as sex-worker representation, and the women in software engineering aspects of the story. The friends to lovers trope was cute, and I did believe that the MC and her LI wer4e well suited to one another.

However, there was a ton of mess with the execution. Sometimes entire conversations felt like they dropped or disappeared midway through the dialogue, and sometimes the way the author set the scene left me confused about where the characters were / who exactly was present. I also had an incredibly hard time with Teagan, and the role she ultimately played in a lot of Lark's problems in her job and ultimately in her relationship with the LI (who was ALSO near unforgivable in his role in things). It felt like Lark's feelings toward them both also changed really drastically in a short period of time without it being explored or explained for how she got there. I really liked Lark overall as well, but it also felt like her personality changed in ways that were hard to reconcile at different points in the story, and also in ways that really ended up being ultra-convenient for the plot.

I really did want to love this. This being a debut, I can see the author improving with a lot of this over time, so I won't write off reading her again. A lot just didn't end up working for me.

i really wanted to love this one cause the fmc is a nerdy self-taught coder and i was so excited to relate to her. but the friends to lovers just fell so flat and toby bless him was just not written well and felt boring to me. there was no tension or fun banter on the page at all for me.

i love the woman in STEM and sex/lgbt positivity but the story itself just left so much to be desired.

thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book, netgalley!