This book is a sweet and quick read. Of the romance tropes, the enemies to lovers tends to be my favorite - especially with a grumpy character who has growth during the book. Overall, a very tame and modest - Hallmark movie type of romance. Perfect for fans of the K.A. Tucker The Simple Wild series.

I was fortunate enough to have access to the digital ARC and the audio ARC. The narrator of the audiobook was great at bringing tone and inflection, with a properly paced read.

Overall another great summer read.

Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for providing access to the ARCs in exchange for my honest review.

This book gave me major The Simple Wild vibes with the city girl Cat who finds herself in the wildness of Montana after her influencer career took a hit. While making a new short-term life, till she can return to her city living, at her uncle's small town national park company, she finds Zaiah.  

Would suggest reading if you enjoy a turnaround story and smalltown romances.

"𝘈 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯, 𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦. 𝘈 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵... 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥?"

There is so much to love about this book! And honestly, it also really makes you... self-reflect... on a lot of things.

Let's be real... we all want that influencer life, right? LOL we look at it and think "hey, I could totally do that if I didn't have a normal 9-5 job in the way". But we sometimes fail to see how much time and effort goes into very little content... and the people who get disregarded in the pursuit of the perfect profile.

And of course, great job narrating by @talondavidvoices ❤

Thank you Melissa, @thomasnelson and @netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for this review!
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#bookstagram #booksta #books #booksbooksbooks #avidreader #ilovereading #thetwistedlibrarian #professionalbookworm #famousforaliving #melissaferguson #audiobookreview #netgalleyaudio #audiobook #thomasnelson #whatsnikkilisteningto #book26of2023 #catandzaiah #oppositesattract #forcedproximity #smalltownromance #grumpysunshine #celebrityfallfromgrace

Generally, this was an interesting concept, but I didn’t love this book overall. I found it to be less of a romance, and more of a women’s fiction about reinventing yourself and changing your views on life. I honestly wish the story had more “meat” to it and found it a bit lacking. I liked the pieces involving the natural aspect of the park and the few glimpses into Cat and Zaiah’s personal lives, but I found the rest severely lacking in substance.

The narrator generally did a good job bringing this story to life. She provided different tones and inflections for each character which helped to establish the story even more.

I was given this Advanced Listening Copy by NetGalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Audio. All opinions are my own.

Thank you bet galley for letting me review this book! I listened to this on audio and enjoyed the narrator. Overall the story was cute, would not consider this spicey and def a slow burn. I didn't hate it nor love it.

Famous for a Living comes out May 16.

If you’re looking for a novel about a woman finding herself in a National Park setting with good supporting characters and a clean romance, this may be the book for you.

Rounded up to 3 stars.

I received a complimentary copy of this book and audiobook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Things I liked:
- The National Park setting.
- The side characters. Ferguson creates lovable people who are often featured on the sidelines of her books. I especially liked Mina and Serena.
- The cover! It definitely made me want to read the book.
- A FMC who isn’t in her twenties.
- Cat’s dedication to helping save Kannery.
- Cat’s willingness to help Mina, and their friendship that developed.
- The audiobook narrator was good and kept me entertained.
- I did enjoy the social media illustrations at the start of certain chapters in the book. They helped me see Cat’s personality.

Things I didn’t like:
- I don’t necessarily see this as a romcom because the romance doesn’t happen until about 80% or so into the book. It’s more of women’s lit with Cat discovering more about herself with a hint of clean romance. Very sweet and Hallmark movie-esque.
- The book takes place in Montana winter, but the cover was summery so I thought it’d be based in warm weather.
- There were some tirades I didn’t love. The evils of social media commentary I found to be preachy. Yes, there are issues with influencer culture and being hooked up to social media too much, but it may be the way that someone, like Cat, makes their living.

This was such a fun fiction book. I loved how the story just wasnt mainly focussed on romance but also on the personal growth of the FMC.

I listened to the audio book while doing other stuff and could follow the storyline perfectly.

The cover really drew me into listening to the book, it’s so pretty!

The narrator was also very nice to listen to.

Really recommend this one!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I reeaalllyyy enjoyed this book and I am sooo glad that I did 😍 It was a great mix of cute and funny, while also building relationships and discussing some hard yet important topics.

In the story, we follow Cat who is a 30 year old Instagram influencer. She's on her way to huge success when she gets into some legal trouble because of her manager and is now being cancelled by everyone on the Internet. To take a mental health break from all this, her uncle Terry invites her to Kannery National Park, Montana, where he works. Here, she's tasked with social media responsibilities of the park and gets to meet the amazing crew and the grumpy brooding mmc - Zaiah.

"We're rangers Cat. You may have had some good security in the city. But here? Here you've got a team who's got your back."

I really enjoyed reading about the park and the crew there... Mina is sooo precious to me and the way Cat's relationship grew with her, Jacks, Kevin and everyone else at the park was just so sweet.
The banter between Cat and Zaiah was great too. There were so many moments where I had a smile pasted on my face and my heart was warming up because of all the feels this book was giving me.
I loved Cat's character and how she grew to be even better.

This book makes you sit back and reflect on a lot of things too, like the insecurity that comes with aging... Cat at the age of 30, works through her insecurity about her skin, her crow's feet around the eyes, as she looks at the younger influencers. The book also talks about how social media can have positive and negative impact in a person's life and ways in which you can use it without being addicted to it... It talks about how everything you see on the Internet is mostly crafted to look perfect so, you can't believe everything you see.
It just had so much to give and I loved the book for that.

I think if you read this book as a general fiction rather than considering it as a pure romance, you'll enjoy it more ❤️

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Audio for an audio ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.

This was a light-hearted, cute read! I agree so much with the moral of the story, and trying to focus less on technology and more on relationships! I also loved that the epilogue really didn’t leave any questions unanswered! It was a perfect way to end a stand alone book!

Cute romcom. Social butterfly meets a gruff park ranger and their worlds change forever. I appreciate the work in about how you should be more present vs behind the phone.

The narration was fun and an excellent pick to bring this story to life.

A delightful coming of age story with a little romance sprinkled in. Great women's fiction for a beach read.

Cat is an influencer whose business partner got them into hot water when he was basically mining data on their new social network. No one believes she wasn't involved so her social capital is zilch.

Enter her nice uncle, who's the only family she's ever really known. He lives a life completely opposite. Off the grid in nature. Her best friend talks her into renting her penthouse out for a while and going to stay with him.

Along the way there's a cute guy with a flip phone and a chance to discover herself off of Instagram and sometimes that's all you need.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen and review! The narration was great.

Thank you NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review. This book was a quirky read about a women who is famous who loses everything to finally find herself. It is marketed as a romance but there is very little romance in it if that’s what you’re looking for. It is more about the main character finding herself as an individual.

👠I really liked all of the characters in the book, and the setting sounds quite cozy. I like that Melissa didn't go the expected route with typical character traits, but instead, she mixed in a variety of believable people. There are some great lessons to be learned from this book as well!

👠This book had "It Happened One Summer" by Tessa Bailey vibes, except completely clean/ closed door. Read this if you like opposites attract romance and getting out in nature.
It would be a perfect book to read by the campfire♡

Audiobooks pair perfectly with spring walks. 👌 The flowers are just starting to bloom in my neighbourhood and I love admiring them while listening to a good book.

‘Famous For A Living’ was a fun, light read. Social media mogul Cat has gotten herself into some legal trouble and decides to lay low at a National Park her uncle works at until things blow over. Roughing it in a mountain cabin is a far cry from the New York penthouse she’s used to, and Cat is in for more adventure than she’s bargained for.

Perfect for fans of:
☀️Grumpy vs Sunshine
💕Enemies to lovers
🏘️City girl meets small-town boy
🏔️Mountain vibes (and rugged outdoorsy leading men)
🧼Clean romance

I also appreciated some of the commentary on how social media can be an addiction, and healthy ways to manage its role in our lives.

And the narration was top notch.

Thanks to @netgalley and @thomasnelson for the complimentary audiobook. This one hits shelves May 16.

I feel like I keep saying this, but once again, this is being marketed as a romance and it’s ✨not✨

As women’s fiction, it also fails for me. I have to be honest; I did not care whatsoever about these characters. I would zone out within a page or two, and for a relatively light book, that’s a danger sign. The characters were shallow, the romance was minimal and boring, and the plot often didn’t add up. I truly don’t expect much in lighthearted romance, but I just couldn’t buy into this.

2⭐️

3.75

I did really like this! It had all the cozy cute small town found family vibes but I just feel like it was really rushed. If it was longer and she spent more time with the characters, it would make more sense for the main character to connect to them, especially with the love interest. I feel like they had one moment together then all of a sudden they were in love? Then she left and they were over? They didn’t even seem to have a conversation about it.

I did love the characters though! How they all protected her all the time was so cute and how she formed such a bond with the side characters, but yeah, it was just rushed. If it had more detail, then it for sure would have easily been a 4-4.5.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers fro allowing me to read this arc in exchange of my honest review.

Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson is a sweet closed-door romance featuring a social media it girl who has fallen from grace, wrapped up in a lawsuit scandal and a grumpy park ranger who eschews all things social media.

It's an opposites-attract romance right from the start, and I loved watching them figure out how to makes things work. Needing a place to escape to after a disastrous deal loses her millions, Cat Cranwell ends up working with her uncle at Kannery National Park in Montana, trying to breathe life into their lackluster social media account. That's also where she meets Zaiah--perhaps the only man in the world who still uses a flip-phone.

Famous for a Living also delves into the damage social media can cause--actual addiction to the high you get from social media. It was refreshing to watch Cat develop a healthier relationship with her social media presence without walking away or demonizing it completely. She found a healthy balance, and Zaiah has a lot to do with that (as do her friends, both in New York and Montana).

Talon David did a great job narrating the book, her "masculine" voice not distracting from the narration or the flow of the story. Some narrators are too nasally or fake sounding. She did a good job.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for my ALC.

I listened to the audiobook when I was doing things around the house and when I had some downtime, I read the book interchangeably.

I am not really an audiobook fan mostly because for some reason the narrator’s voices always bother me. Especially when it’s a female doing a male voice and vice versa. I was pleasantly surprised that this narrator’s voice wasn’t annoying to me at all. I thought she did a great job.

This was a fun, sweet Hallmark-esque story about Cat Cranwell, a very famous social media influencer trying to escape from a partnership gone wrong by working with her uncle at Kannery National Park in Montana.

I love all the national parks, so I was intrigued by that, the social media plot point, and because it was published by a Christian publisher.

It’s not a Christian-themed book or plot, so if you don’t necessarily want that but do want a clean book without bad language or any spicy romance scenes, this is a good book to try out.

I wouldn’t really consider it a rom-com like it’s labeled, but more of Cat’s journey in realizing that there’s more to life than social media, being on your phone, and the dangers that come with being extremely absorbed in online life/presence than a romance or rom-com. It was a book with a little romance, but not a book where romance was the main feature. It was definitely endearing and the people were interesting and funny, but rom-com…maybe not.

This would also be a great book if you enjoy small-town plotlines (which I’m always a sucker for). The little Instagram posts at the beginning of each chapter were cute and a nice touch.

I enjoyed all of the characters. They each brought something great to the story. I’d have loved to see a little more with Uncle Terry and maybe a little more background for Cat and Zaiah both, but nothing to make me take down my rating.

While Cat was super famous and pretty rich, she wasn’t shallow or stuck up. She was open to the experiences and people she met at the park, she was willing to grow as a person. I really appreciated that.

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot!

If you want a clean read with a small-town feel in a national park, personal growth, and a touch of romance, you might like this one!

Famous for a Living comes out May 16th, but you can preorder it on Amazon now!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson, and Melissa Ferguson for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book gets a point for the traveling but that’s about it. There was no character development. I thought Cat would have used her experience and change her ways but she didn’t.

Okay so I am so on the fence with this one! On one hand, I loved the underlying idea and theme - it truly is important, especially in today's world, to manage your social media life vs. your real life... there were a lot of important pieces here... and on the other hand - I did go into this thinking it was a romance and it really wasn't. The slow burn of a date took almost the entire book to get to, and it was pretty bland. Sitting in the middle with 3/5 stars.