Too much happening here. Too much. It’s hard when an author tries to cram too many elements into a book, it gets tangled and nothing is resolved properly. They’re seeemed to be several decent books here but not combined.

ARC REVIEW

Let's Get Quizzical
By Kelly Ohlert

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Publishing date: 10/17/2023

Charlotte and Eli have the shock of their lives when they realize they have been paired up as contestants on a GameShow. They were high-school sweethearts, and after their devastating breakup, they haven't talked since.

However, they both need the prize money VERY badly, so they decide to suck it up and play on!

It turns out... they are a KILLER team and have won numerous shows in a row! The ratings are through the roof, and when the network offers a deal they can't refuse, it causes a riff in EVERY aspect of their lives.

Can Charlie and Eli reconnect, keep winning (honestly), and keep their families out of harms way?

REVIEW
This was cute! The game show aspect was super fun and one I've never encountered before.

I really enjoy second chance romance. I think it was fast-paced enough that it didn't drag and got to the point.

I do think a couple of the story lines weren't needed and didn't add to the story, but it wasn't enough to derail how I felt about the book.

Did I find the reason for their initial breakup to be ridiculous?! Absolutely! Lol but it's a rom com so whatevs 🤣

Surprisingly, the couple of spicy scenes were good!

Overall, decent book! It won't be a memorable read, but I didn't hate it!

Thanks to @netgalley and @alcovepress for the chance to read this early!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for this Advanced Readers Copy of Let's get Quizzical by Kelly Ohlert!

Many thanks to Alcove Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What I Liked

Honestly, the beginning section of the book was really engaging for me. I liked the setup of how Charlotte and Eli both wanted to go on the gameshow to win money to support their families, and the tension of knowing they had some bad history that would come up when they reunited on the show.

The game show element to the story was compelling. As a plot device, it served its purpose, at least at first, and it was fun to see them navigate balancing the show with their relationship.

Charlotte's family has a fun dynamic with how they watch game shows together, which both helped frame her motivation for going on the show and let us understand why family is so important to her. I loved spending time with them on the page.

The random tidbits of trivia throughout were also really fun, and I enjoyed getting to see the world through Charlotte's vast game show knowledge.

What I Didn't Like

This book is just trying to do too much. There are a lot of elements competing for space on the page, what with each character having their own complicated family dramas to attend to. At first this felt well balanced, but as time went on and the gameshow situation gets more complicated, the different elements seemed to get away from the author a bit. There was so much to focus on that I ultimately had trouble investing at all.

The motivations for both characters felt a little one-note. Much like in Ohlert's first book, both characters seemed to have one main driving characteristic/backstory that served as the explanation for many of their behaviors. This got a bit repetitive and made it hard to feel connected to the characters, though I will say this was a lot less obvious and frustrating than in To Get to the Other Side, so there's some real improvement there.

The relationship didn't feel that believable. I had trouble seeing and feeling the connection between our romantic couple. We know they fell in love in high school, but we don't get too much of that on the page, so it feels a little abrupt when they connect again as adults. There's some definite attempts to help us see why they have feelings for each other, but it's competing with so much else that I had trouble buying in.

In all, Let's Get Quizzical had a lot of potential and some good moments, but it was a bit bogged down with too may competing conflicts in the plot that took away from the development of the characters and the romance.

This book might be a good fit for you if you're a bit game show fan, and if you like a second-chance romance with a good serving of life drama on the side.

3.5 stars

Charlotte and Eli dated in high school. Eli betrayed her trust and the two never spoke again. 13 years go by and the two are reunited again on their favorite game show. Charlotte has been trying to become a contestant for years and she finally became one when she needed it most—her gran is sick and her family needs money. Eli also needs money to support him and his father. The two are paired on the show and sparks fly. The ratings for the show are skyrocketing because of these two and they get closer as they continue on the show. Can Charlotte forgive Eli for his past mistakes and will one of the producers ruin the progress they’ve made in their relationship?

I absolutely loved the game show portion of the plot! And the romance was cute too! That being said…a lot happened—there was a second chance romance, a long held grudge since high school, a game show, a shady producer, a long lost grandfather appears, a formal criminal father, and more. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the premise and the game show plot was something I had never read before, but there was a lot going on that I had to keep track of. Overall, I would recommend if you don’t mind multiple subplots!

This book was cute and easy to read. There were lots of fun trivia tidbits and the setting was really unique. My biggest issue with the book was the heroine. She was incredibly self righteous and narrow-minded and I found it really hard to root for her. I couldn't really understand why the hero was in love with her, and why he kept apologizing for something pretty much anyone in his position would do.

Enemies to Friends to Lovers
Forced Proximity
Teammates
Never stopped loving you
High school lovers
Trivia and Game Shows

If the above troops are your favourites you will enjoy this book 😉.

Charlotte and Eli reunite together 12 years later at the set of Brain Battle show. Brain Battle has always been Charlotte's ultimate dream she has been applying since she was old enough but never made it to the live shows and finally her dream came true. Eli has been applying too hoping that one day he will see her cuz he knows how much she loved these shows since she was young. Finally there are together on the same show and to their luck they are teammates and won the first round and they have to put aside all their  problems and what happened between them 12 years ago in order to win because they desperately need the money.
Will Charlotte forgive Eli? Will Eli gain Charlotte's back?
Read and find out 😉.

When I was young I used to watch these kind of shows , so reading a book that takes place in them while exploring the behind scenes and how things work was pretty cool.
As for the characters, I wasn't a fan of Charlotte but I loved Eli so much.
Their relationship wasn't easy they've been through so much especially Eli and both have a lot on their backs and Charlotte trust issues didn't make this easy.
All in all, it was a good book and I would recommend it.
Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for granting me an ARC of #LetsGetQuizzical in exchange for my honest review.

Xoxo💋

Charlotte has dreamed about participating in a game show her whole life. When she's invited to go to Brain Battle, her favorite, she can't believe it. And exactly when her family needs money to pay for her grandmother's health treatment bills.
But nothing is perfect and the program gets her paired with Eli, the one who got away after breaking her heart. And meeting onstage after 13 years apart is a shock. How will it go?

This was an enjoyable reading. I loved that we could learn fun facts while reading the story.

There's the romance between the two main characters, the game show that turns into more than they were waiting for, and the drama from both families.

I definitely wasn't expecting all that drama around the game show, but was a good idea!

The characters are great, especially the grandma - she was my favorite.

4.25*

For family-focused Charlotte, the chance to compete on her favorite trivia game show is a dream come true—the prize money could ensure the best care for her aging grandmother. But when she arrives on set, who does she see among the other contestants? Eli, her high school first love, at least until their shattering breakup. He has his own reasons for competing, not least of which is the stress of multiple jobs, college courses, and a father who has had multiple run-ins with the law.

This book was fun! I loved the game show aspect of it as an avid game show lover myself, it was so interesting to see.
Charlotte wasn't the best main character for me, I found her quite aggravating at certain parts in the book but I did like Eli.

I rated this 3 stars!

As many people know, I really, really love reality/game show romances. Plus, I very much enjoyed Kelly Ohlert's debut, TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE. So when I saw her sophomore novel, LET'S GET QUIZZICAL, I knew I had to request it. And I was not disappointed! It's such a fun and cute story, and I loved the relationship between the main characters! I maybe would've liked a few more game show scenes, but overall, it's a great book!

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

As a trivia nerd, I was so excited to dive into Let's Get Quizzical, a second-chance romance about high school exes in need of cash who end up as partners on a game show.

And as much as I enjoyed the concept of this book, the central issue these characters face is rooted in moral righteousness. Charlotte has grown up in a family that is nearly fanatical about honesty – and as the story progress, you learn to understand why that is, but, Charlotte believes it in a way that is rigid and inflexible. And though that means there is room for lots of character growth here (for both characters – not that Eli is a compulsive liar, but compared to Charlotte, he's practically morally grey), Charlotte is often at odds with even her own feelings because of her insistence on honesty and truthfulness – she can't even go along with a "lie" for the greater good or for the sake of people she loves. Because of this, I found myself very frustrated with her, and considered putting it down on several occasions.

But! I continued on, and though I wasn't in love with the humor and writing style for the first 40% of the book or so, it did finally find its stride and pick up after that. Ultimately, this is a quick and sweet second-chance romance with a bit of kicky spice and a happy ending. And hey, if you're into trivia, then you'll have a blast with all the random facts that pepper the story.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had a hard time getting into this book. But it did end up being cute and fun in the end.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars, It was a cute story idea,

I did feel the lead in of the book was a bit short and choppy. It was hard to understand who these characters were before it jumped straight into the gameshow angle. The other part that was less convincing was how quickly Charlotte was willing to forgive Eli for a wrong she had been holding onto for 10+ years.

I really enjoyed the dual perspective, getting to see what was happening in both Charlotte and Eli's head and better understand their motivations, concerns, and goals. I also really enjoyed how their rekindled romance was a somewhat slow burn and allowed them to not just remember what they knew of each other from their high school romance, but also learn the new things about each other as the grew into their adult versions of themselves.

Thank you for the eARC!

I have never read a book with romance at a game show which made this one so exciting for me. I absolutely adored the characters and, overall just really loved the book.

Kelly Ohlert charms me once more with her ability to not annoy me while doing things in books that generally annoy me. Most of the romance books have a bit of miscommunication trope to make their books exciting which I absolutely hate but surprise I didn't hate it at all in this book.

They were so cute together and their chemistry was just bursting, and I loved the scenes during the shows. Overall, I think this was a great read, and I would recommend it to everyone!

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Charlotte has been dreaming of a chance on her favourite trivia show, Brain Battle. Her opportunity comes at a perfect time, as her family is facing financial troubles due to her beloved Grandmother’s health problems.

Eli is facing struggles of his own, as his dad just got out of jail and they are trying to keep up on their bills and make a better life for themselves. He sees his appearance on Brain Battle as the hail mary they need.

It isn’t until Charlotte and Eli come face-to-face on their episode do old feelings come to the surface. Charlotte was hurt in the past by Eli, and Eli has been looking for the chance to make it right - he just didn’t realize it would be on tv.

Eli is offered a chance to go further on the show, but he’s not sure what to do - do the right thing to earn back Charlotte’s respect and, hopefully, love or do what helps his family the most.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I thought the premise was interesting, and the pacing was well done. I just found Charlotte and her inability to see the grey between the black and white of life unbearable. And that’s totally fine! She was just 2-note character (truth and trivia, babyyyyy).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publiser for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was excited about the game show premise as someone who's always loved trivia and grew up watching Jeopardy! with my family. However, this story and I unfortunately just didn't click. I wasn't convinced by the relationship between Eli and Charlotte, especially considering how quickly they reconciled. I also found their chemistry to be lacking, possibly because the plot felt so all over the place that their romance and characterization weren't given enough space to flesh out fully. I do think there are individual scenes that worked well, but the overall story just wasn't for me.

When Charlotte finally fulfils her lifelong dream of appearing on her favourite Game Show the last thing she expects is to come face to face with Eli. . . .
With memories of the past coming back around, emotions run high as they embark on the journey of game show TV together. . . . Will they be able to overcome the past to work as a team and win the money they both need?

This was super cute and enjoyable story (as someone who enjoys watching game shows - especially quiz and trivia - it was great to dive in a little bit with a behind the scenes look!). Charlotte and Eli are both interesting characters with good background stories and a lovely chemistry between them which translated well onto written page. The side characters were also interesting and I thought it was all very cleverly applied within the game show setting.

Overall was a sweet , heartwarming and easy read :) which I can only say could have used a touch more substance but nothing major as it was perfectly enjoyable and relatable as is.

Thank YOU to NetGalley, Kelly Ohlert and Alcove Publishing for the opportunity to experience this book as an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Let's Get Quizzical by Kelly Ohlert is a delightful and heartwarming second-chance romance that offers a truly unique premise and an undeniable spark of chemistry.

This wasn't a bad book, I just wasn't a fan. In contemporary romance the characters are what drive the story and I didn't really care about Charlie or Eli. I also didn't think the two of them together were particularly romantic. The plot behind the romance was a little too predictable too.

Blah! This book jumped straight into the plot without giving us any sort of background on the characters and expected us to catch up! For a rom com it also dives into weirdly heavy stuff and also weirdly light stuff (there is prison/bribery but also the reason they broke up in the first place is because he did not ditch high school with her??) it feels flimsy and stupid and I was the opposite of invested. Thank you to the author, Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC