Kay Marie's The Love Rematch is an entertaining, second chance romance that will make you feel allll the feels. This book has such a fun plot and it was well executed too. Emily is still single in her early twenties, and as a result her mother tries to get her cast on a Bachelorette style reality tv show to find her Perfect Match. Jake, her former love from 7 years ago when they were teens, is the producer of this reality tv show - queue the drama, the tension, the hilarity, and Jake's inevitable torture as he has to watch his former love date multiple men to try and find "the one."

There's honestly so much to love about this book. The main character, Emily, is so unapologetically herself and will make the best of any situation she's thrown into. And Jake, he's so damaged it's heartbreaking. This sweet man deserves all the love in the world after everything he's been through. Everything they've BOTH been through - these characters have faced their struggles, and they're both so strong for dealing with everything, as we learn through bits and pieces and flashbacks throughout the book. The flashbacks themselves set up the story really well, and only make you root for Emily and Jake even more.

One thing that made me hesitate at the start of this book was the fact that, although we do have dual POV, it is written in third person. Typically, I struggle to connect with characters when novels are written like this, but Kay Marie did such a fantastic job with this narrative perspective. By the time I got to the end of the first chapter I was so hooked.

Which leads me to the writing in general. From the first chapter I was immediately invested and so curious where the story was going to go! The way each chapter ended only made me want to keep reading to see what would happen next. There's drama, there's suspense, and loads of tension. So many lines from this story are genuinely funny, it was so entertaining.

The dialogue flows so well, and is incredibly realistic. Especially any flirting between Emily and Jake. It's written like there's real history there, you're constantly reminded of the fact that they truly know each other so well - Jake especially loves to play into that, which only makes him more swoony.

The tropes in this book are fantastic and include some of my all time favourites!
* forced proximity
* jealousy
* scheming
* grovelling
* mutual pining

And another bonus! We get to learn all about Sam and Cooper's relationship in the second book! Sam is such a wild card, and Cooper is such a sweetheart, I can't wait to read about how they clash and have fun together.

I loved this book, and it's a really nice, fast paced, easy read. Easy in the sense that it draws you in and it's fun to keep reading - it's definitely not lacking in plot or emotional depth! I loved it and I hope readers love it too when it releases on October 16th, 2023!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For those interested in pre-ordering The Love Rematch, the author will be giving away two post cards - one with a “before” image of Emily/Jake and one with an “after” image - to anyone who preorders a copy of The Love Rematch!

This was extremely enjoyable.
I love love love a good second chance romance and this was it. There was jealousy, protectiveness and swoon-worthiness from our hero. I completely adored the heroine. She was stubborn, decisive and firm. And very smart.
I really liked their love story and their chemistry. I adored her dynamic with her sister.
I liked the dynamic with the team producing the show and how the two figured out their way to trick things to work in their favor. It had a good amount of angst as well, even if I always want more.
I do feel the way flashbacks were woven in the story was a bit confusing and might need work. But I liked the style of writing of the author.
I am not obsessed with the book or feel it's memorable enough to be excited for the sequel. And that's just the way it is. I can see how others will, though.

The Bachelorette meets second chance romance? I was sold from the very first page.

This is the type of energy that you want when you pick up a second-chance romance. You want angst, you want slow pining and you want the urge to bang the two character’s heads together so they finally get back together. I loved this. I’m not afraid to admit that I enjoyed how messy and chaotic it was.

Emily is a character that you couldn’t help but fall in love with. She’s been through so much and I instantly felt a connection to her. I wanted to hug her and erase any of her suffering but her strength was unmatched and I was just wishing for her deserved happy ending throughout the entire book.

Jake’s fear of breaking everything he touches and the trauma of his childhood continuing to follow him into his adulthood resonated with me deeply. It was truly heartbreaking to read about his struggle with his past but I loved reading about his growth and journey to self-acceptance and forgiveness.

I am so excited to read Sam and Cooper’s story. I knew from the minute they both appeared in the story that I would love them and want more of them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kay Marie for providing me with this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really really enjoyed this book. It’s a second chance trope book. It’s about Emily who’s mom goes on tv and gives her chance to move on from her ex jake and find real love on the hit love show Love match. But when she gets there she finds out Jake works for the production crew. I really loved how they bother were dealing with so much in life. I really loved the concept of the reality show and how everyone played a part. The love story is really cute and fun.

The Love Match by Kay Marie is a contemporary, second-chance romance about a young woman that is forced onto a dating reality show akin to The Bachelor by her mother, only for her ex-boyfriend to be the producer of the show.

I thought the premise of the book was good, and I generally like second-chance romances but something that drove me insane the entire time was that I was going “WHY is this book in the present tense?” I really feel like having the book in the past tense would have made the prose much less clunky and awkward.

Another issue I had is that I felt like the book reeked of the stench of anti-choice rhetoric. I didn’t look the author or her views up, and honestly it might just be my being sensitive, but that said, I think it’s really suspicious that when describing a possible teen pregnancy, the author writes about how “tragic” it is that the teenage girl in question wasn’t actually pregnant and it was a false positive, which is a sentiment shared by her also teenage boyfriend. Sorry but I categorically don’t support teen pregnancy and I think that abortion is good and there should be more of it because there are quite frankly way too many unwanted children in the world.

An quite frankly, there were WAY too many mentions of the reality show “appealing to a conservative audience” like okay, I understand that Republicans have a 47% floor nationwide but I read romance novels in hope of imagining a better world, and I’d love it if this author didn’t seem to be intentionally normalizing it. I don’t know if that makes sense but it’s how I feel.

That said, the book was entertaining enough and I’ll probably pick up the sequel.

**Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.

This was a lot of fun!
Kay Marie has a really great pacing in this book. There was a lot going on, lot of players, lot of scenes, and it all flowed really nicely to give just the right amount of information without getting too bogged down in the details of any one scene. It is clear that the author has a cheeky fondness for reality TV and the hijinks that go in to making it. Reasons this didn’t quite hit 5 stars for me: The movement back and forth in time within the same scene threw me off a bit. Also, I felt a little uncomfortable with the descriptions of spice with the past MCs. They are described as being in high school, around 17 years old, and I just don’t want to read about underage spicy times.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for the chance to read this before its release. Definitely one to check out!

This was a fun, well-written read and I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys romantic comedies similar to Katherine Center. The best part of this book for me was the plotting, which felt fast paced. I applaud the author for her attention to detail and backstory, though at times it felt like the revelations aired slightly on the side of too much.

Overall, a fun read that kept me engaged and I recommend you pick this one up in stead of turning on the TV!

Thank you for the ARC!

I had a lot of fun with this story. It was light, easy, had great pacing, and the characters were lovably flawed.

Thank you to the author Kay Marie for the ARC.

Sometimes dating show type romances aren’t my favorite but I tbink this one was really well done and not too corny, like some are.

I absolutely adored this book! I’m a glutton for a second chance romance and the premise of this was too good to pass up when I read the description. Bachelor Nation will devour this sweet rom com!! What happens when the star of the show is still in love with her ex boyfriend who is the producer of the show? Read this book if you’re as intrigued as I was. I honestly couldn’t put it done and contemporary romances are typically not my go to but this one was so swoony!

Emily Ann Peters is a jewelry designer who works for her mom’s florist shop in Georgia. She is still not over Jake, her ex boyfriend who left her seven years ago breaking her heart, so her mom decides to go on a national television morning show with a bedazzled sign that says “Emily Ann Needs A Man” and inside dirt on The Perfect Match’s newest lead. Mom spills the beans on TV and the network scramble to find a replacement bachelorette and they look no further than sweet Emily. She is now the star of this book’s equivalent of the bachelorette!

Jake Moore can’t forget the love of his life who he left in the dead of night seven years ago to move to LA with no explanation…and all of the sudden she’s on the reality dating TV show he produces and he’s in charge of setting her up on dates with suitors. He’s in hell watching her kiss other men on camera knowing none of them love her like he does.

Forced proximity and no connection to the world outside of their bachelor bubble for weeks forces them back together and their romance immediately rekindles, all the what ifs and what might have beens come rushing back, and the things that kept them apart before seem to fall away, old secrets resurface and of course there is all that good ole bachelor drama. Themed group dates, naked bunji jumping, fist fights, helicopter rides, villains, manipulation, tears, fantasy suites, and riding off into sunsets. It’s been a few years since I’ve watched the bachelor but after reading this I may want to get back into it!

There are some fun plot twists along the way, oh and did I mention Emily was a twin? Her sister comes in at the end and shakes things up!

Definitely recommend!! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. What a fun read!

This was a super fun read! I love reality show books. They are just so entertaining to me and I feel like I’m actually watching a show when I read. Duel pov will forever hold my heart too.

It’s a cute take on some classic tropes, but doesn’t really bring anything new to the genre. However, if you are looking for a fluffy good time, look no further. It’s get the job done!

I loved this books, the writing style, the characters and the plot. However, at times it did feel a little rushed and was confusing at times. I still really enjoyed and it was such a fun read. would recommend.

A producer under a new identity, but a love that left her without even a goodbye 7 years earlier.

The love you feel between them and the flashbacks of the memories they shared in high school. Sneaking around behind cast members and shared glances across set. The sister/twin who’s her biggest defender and 30 men competing for her love on reality TV. It’s cute. It’s love. It’s routing for a second chance while not wanting to risk his career. It’s miscommunication and insecurities brought to the surface.

Read the book.

Thank you to NETGALLEY for this ARC :)

I enjoyed the reality TV setting of The Love Rematch; it’s not one I read much of, other than The Charm Offensive, but I do like it. Emily ends up on The Love Match after her mum shows a bedazzled poster of her on live morning television with the catchphrase ‘Emily Ann needs a Man’.

With the opportunity to promote or online jewellery brand and maybe finally get over her ex, Emily agrees to go on the show, only for her ex, Jake, to be one of the producers. The forced proximity created a whole load of tension between Emily and Jake, as neither is quite as over the other as previously thought, but with 30 single men all fighting for Emily’s hand, along with emotional baggage, miscommunication, and revenge between them, will the two ever clear the air?

Like I said, I enjoyed the setting and most of The Love Rematch's plot, but I couldn’t stand that neither Emily nor Jake would speak to the other. There was no communication on their past or what really mattered, and miscommunication was piled on top, along with random men that Emily didn’t have a problem making out with. While this book was an easy and quick read, it wasn’t the best, but I did enjoy it.

3.5 stars

cute romance on a reality show and between a sister and a camera man. loved seeing the sisters and finding love to someone. . I would really like to read about cooper and the sister.

don't we all have those embarrassing moments that we replay over and over again in our head... try having it go viral! Poor Emily. Book boyfriend - check, romantic rivals - check, cute funny moments - check, love story you wish would happen to you - check. I absolutely devoured this book, the plot was fresh and characters ADORABLE.

The Love Rematch follows the story of Jake and Emily. Thanks to her Mum, Emily finds herself the star of popular dating show “The Love Match”, only issue is, Jake, the show producer, is her high school ex boyfriend who left without saying goodbye and now they are thrust back into each others lives.

This was an enjoyable book. The characters of Emily and Jake were likeable and their story was interesting. However, I felt the pace of this book was completely off. It randomly kept jumping back in time to flashbacks without any real structure.
The story also moved very fast with no real exploration of anything and nothing that really added to the story.

So, whilst enjoyable, it all felt very rushed.

Imagine this: you're jewelry designer Emily Peters. One morning, your twin sister Sam calls you because your mom appears on a national morning show (think: Good Morning America) to essentially bully the producers to put you on a Bachelor-esque dating show as the single lady all the men compete for. It sounds crazy, but you know what? Your life could use a little jazzing up, and the exposure for your business is something you never could have dreamed of. The whole thing is nuts, and you think you can manage the next six weeks just fine, until you meet one of the producers. His name is Jake, and he's the one who broke your heart. He's the one who got away. He's the one who ruined relationships for you seven years. So now, you have to date, reality-show style, 30 men while Jake literally supervises all of it.



Not only is the premise so clever and the main character Emily so lovable, but the balls-t0-the-walls world of reality dating shows makes such a fun backdrop for what turns out to be a rather serious storyline between Jake and Emily.

What I liked:
- totally fun and insane premise. Emily's ability to dive right in without being self-conscious was what made it all work.
- Jake's character arc
- Samantha. How lucky is Emily to have a sister like her?
- The producers. They're horrible and cutthroat and it's so great to see that in real life. In particular Nina, who seems to have a sixth sense for bullshit and shenanigans.
- Emily!! She's so earnest and true to herself, even in these strange reality-tv-dating situations <The scene at the jousting date.... OMG I was practically cheering aloud>
- the men, and seeing how they're pitted against each other but they're just stereotypes in the storytelling arc of the dating show. Some turned out to be real people underneath the bluster but in general they were just templates



What I didn't:
- there were some time jump thoughts/conversations/memories that were way too confusing. This was between Emily and Jake as they're reminiscing and rehashing their past relationship. I mean - deeply confusing. It was hard to know where the recollection began and ended.
- Some of the character's backstories were a little too vague. They're from Georgia but reference being at the beach, and it's with some regularity. So is this coastal Georgia? Small town, posh town, island? Some of the town vibes would for sure infiltrate the high school, which is where a lot of the 'past' action took place. I think building this part up, even with just a few info points, would help.
- Is Jake's dad dead, in jail, left, other? He plays such a big psychic role in the story that it would make sense to know where he is now



Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

The minute I realised this was a bachelorette show premise book I was like “yesss finally” - why hasn’t this been explored before?!

The thing I liked so much about this book was that I was let guessing how this would turn out and resolve up until the third act. So many books are predictable in their plot but this was a breath of fresh air. It captured everything we love and hate about that kind of show whilst unearthing the past relationship of the two MC’s.

This was a unique take on a second chance romance and I found the authors style of writing really easy to read and follow and it did not skip out on the character development.

I love how she’s set us up for the next book in the series, I won’t give away any spoilers but I think it’s super clever.

Thank you netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.