Member Reviews

Can fake dating really lead to a real relationship? Our main characters are about to find out! She's broken up with her ex, lost her job and is barely making ends meet trying to get her event planning business off the ground. He's a hot astronaut that has a mother breathing down his neck about how much she hates his job and he needs to be in a relationship. What started out as fake dating that came with room and board for her is turning into so much more, but will it work out or will it flame out like a shooting star? Great characters, fun plot and witty banter for days. This is the fun read you are looking for to let go of the real world and sink into someone else's angst and laughter! I'm totally a series kind of girl and this book lends itself beautifully to a series set up so I am hoping we will see more of the characters in future books as the best friend needs her story told, at least one sister needs her story told and so many more of the characters could shine in a book. Hint, hint, darling author....we want more!

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A solid debut with a fun and unique premise but some unfortunate holes in the plot that made it hard for me to fully enjoy myself.

The Kiss Countdown follows Amerie, a former successful event planner who is down on her luck after an unfortunate month of losing her job, breaking up with her longtime partner, and having her rent raised to where she can no longer afford her apartment. When she runs into her ex partner with his new girlfriend, she convinces them that she's dating Vincent, a near stranger who she ran into previously. Vincent and her strike up a deal: a fake partnership with the end date of when Vincent ships off to the moon for his latest NASA mission.

I wanted to really like this book but unfortunately, there were just too many shenanigans to the point where I felt like I couldn't fully immerse myself into the book. I struggled to find any chemistry between the two leads besides their physical attraction to each other. Vincent had some red flags (if you ask me) and I could not understand his family and their feelings on his job at NASA. I also felt like the pacing was a bit off and this book could have really benefitted from a dual POV. Towards the last 25% of the book, I felt myself skimming just to finish/see how it ended.

I think this was a somewhat decent debut, but there was definitely room for improvement. I do plan on checking out Etta's next project as I feel like she has a lot of potential to be a really great romance author!

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley (as part of the #BerkleyBesties program) for this advanced copy, all thoughts are my own.

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First thank you @prhaudio for this audio book and @berkleyromance for the free book!

The Kiss Countdown 🚀
(Swipe for summary)

Author: Etta Easton

Pub Date : April 9, 2024

Review: What a cute book! I absolutely adored this story. Usually im not a big fan of fake dating but i really enjoyed how it was written into this book. I loved the chemistry between Amerie and Vincent. I’m usually always want a dual POV for every book but i didn’t miss it in this one. I felt like i could tell how much he was pining after her. I loved that Amerie was kind of finding herself and footing after losing her job. It caused her to step out of her shell and try new things. I loved Vincent’s meddling family too: I thought all the characters were written well into this i can’t believe this was a debut novel. I definitely will be looking forward to more books being written by this author! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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I absolutely adored this book! I had an inkling that I would because the science/astronomy geek in me has a thing for astronauts (don't judge me!) I felt like it took forever for me to get approved for this e-ARC and as soon as I did I dropped everything to read it. Easton didn't disappoint either. I knew I would love it once I read that first line "Homeboy has ten seconds to divert his eyes from my ass before I lose it! Ten... nine..." (Also opening with a countdown? Cute and clever AF!) I'm not the biggest fan of fluffy romances but I ate this one right on up! Amerie was too relatable. Vincent is definitely my newest book bae! The plot was thoroughly entertaining. Amerie definitely had me yelling at her a few times! While Vincent also had me screaming and giggling in delight. LOL! This definitely a slow burn but it was well worth the wait. This will go down as one of my most favorite romances EVER! I even had to secure the special edition of this book because I love it so much. What are you waiting for? You should definitely read this right NOW!

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This book, while cliche, was very cute. I enjoyed the story quite a bit. It did feel like a book (or two) I've read before, but the fake dating trope tends to be like that.

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This is a low angst, slowish burn contemporary romance where starting over and navigating family dynamics are core themes. I really appreciated reading a child parenting her parents but framed as parents who loved their child rather than being absentee parents. Now, there's room to say they are traveling around the world but when you're living on borrowed time I think it was reasonable. Overall, a very sweet storyline with the anchor of an HEA.

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Overall, I really enjoyed this! While I knew this was a fake-dating story, there was one major element of their “deal” that really bothered me. But I kept going and I started to fall for Amerie and Vincent as they fell for each other.

What I liked:
-Amerie and Vincent's parents. The family scenes were lovely.
-Vincent makes science oh so sexy.
-Amerie's career as an event planner- and how passionate she was about it.
-Great music references.

What I didn't like:
-That part I already referred to but don't want to spoil. Luckily, I had a reading partner who helped me move on and focus more on the parts I appreciated.
- Some other communication choices that didn't align with what I believed about certain relationships.
 
Personal connections:
-Amerie is an only child, her parents are married, and her mom has had health issues that Amerie has observed since childhood. I related to this completely.
- Vincent has siblings and is the oldest. This matches my husband. Big family dinners and moments are delightful for me to experience as an only child, just as they were for Amerie.

Ratings
Quality of Writing 5/5
Pacing 5/5
Plot Development 3/5
Character Development 4/5
Overall Enjoyability 4.5/5

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A lovely black romance book ! It’s a fake dating slow burn romance that I highly recommend. I really liked this ! It felt unique in its pacing . Sometimes romance books can feel a little formulaic but that was not the case here. I really felt like this book did something different in the pacing of this book and it worked well for the story. While it was a bit insta lovey in how they were attracted to each other, the fact that they didn’t actually act on it for quite sometime made it so much more satisfying. Everyone around them believed in there romance and so did I. It was so romantic and a solid romance . I can’t wait to read more from this author 4.5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for this Arc

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The Kiss Countdown is a slow-burn, with a third act break-up. There wasn't enough romance especially with a built-in break-up. How about the male love interest was an astronaut, that was fun.

Thank you, Berkley

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This book had a lot of potential and I'll admit, the cover got me because it's adorable. As a debut novel, I think it did okay. It was my first astronaut plotted book so I went in unsure how I would feel about it. But I really struggled connecting to these two MCs. I'm not sure where it fell flat for me, but the fake dating an astronaut seemed out of this world (see what I did there? lol). In all seriousness, I think I had a hard time relating to Amerie. It frustrated me that she wasn't very supportive of the fact he was gone all the time. Um, hello? He's an astronaut. Vincent was hard to read as well and I think you could really see where where he struggled to open up to Amerie based off his past struggles. I just couldn't feel the chemistry and it seemed force for this one.

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Amerie has experienced quite a few, unexpected, set-backs lately. First she was fired from her job, then she was broken up with, then she discovers an unexpected hospital bill for her ailing mother. She has just enough to get by for a few months, if only she could get party planning business off the ground. Running into Vincent at the coffee shop was the last thing she was looking for. Using him spur of the moment while running into her ex, has unexpected outcomes for both of them.

Vincent wants Amerie to play his pretend girlfriend for his family, while giving Amerie a place to live, which helps Amerie save some more money. You see his mother is not so keep on his job, an Astronaut. She wants him to stay safely on the ground, and she thinks that a girlfriend/wife will help him see that. The opposite is true as Amerie whole heartedly supports his career choices. What neither anticipated was that while playing boyfriend and girlfriend, deep feelings start to develop. I mean the attraction was always there but now that they know each other on a deeper level, well maybe they can become the real deal.

I absolutely loved these two and would get frustrated when they couldn’t see what was right there all along. So what happens? You’ll have to one-click to find out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the opportunity to read this book.

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I really loved the premise of this one. I didn’t realize I needed a rom-com about an astronaut before finding this book, but I was wrong, I totally needed that. I liked Vincent’s character quite a bit, but Mimi’s character frequently drove me a little crazy. I found her reactions to be over the top most of the time (the dust, really?), but I did love her interactions with her best friend and parents and the slow burn with Vincent (fake relationship may be my favorite trope, so I could be a bit biased there). I thought the drama that led to their separation was weak and could have been better. I mean I’m ok with the formula but it just didn’t feel real for me. But overall this was a sweet, fun, romantic story that was also about family. I really liked the relationships and building communication within those familial relationship with both Mimi and Vincent’s families. Honestly that was my favorite part of this book, the supporting characters. I’ll definitely be on the look out for future books by this author.

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What a great debut novel. Amerie and Vincent made interesting characters and were easy to root for. I do think if we were able to get a point of view from hot astronaut, Vincent the book would have been fire. I think staying with only Amerie the entire novel made the pacing of the book lull at places. I missed the tension a dual pov can add to a rom com. I enjoyed the show burn to their romance though, in general the fake dating trope can feel forced but in The Kiss Countdown it felt authentic and natural. I'll be looking out for more books by Etta Easton.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.

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This is a fun fake dating, forced proximity, romance featuring an event planner and an actual astronaut. The first time they meet, Amerie spills coffee all over Vincent. The next time, Amerie’s ex is there and she rashly points Vincent out as her boyfriend.

Vincent realizes that having a fake girlfriend will keep his family from nagging him about dating, so they agree to date until his next launch. As they spend time together, especially during his vacation with his family, they get closer and closer as their fake romance turns real.

I really liked these characters, they’re well described and they both are dealing with their own issues. The romance flows naturally and doesn’t feel forced. I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to this debut author’s next release!

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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This was a lovely and fun debut romance, I really enjoyed it.

As someone who lives in Houston and has read many books set here that are wildly inaccurate, this one got the setting perfect.

I was giggling and swooning and kicking my feet!! BRB while I go hang out at the coffee shop across from NASA (there actually is one).

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I loved this book so much! It has everything I love in romance: humor, heart, and a swoon-worthy hero. I can always mark the sign of a good book by how many times it makes me squeal, and I was kicking my feet and squealing in glee a LOT. Vincent is the perfect hero, and fake dating never misses for me. I also felt so much both for Vincent and his mom and the friction they had over his job, especially after learning the cause of his mom's worries. Overall this was a fantastic read, and I'm looking forward to whatever Etta Easton comes up with next!

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When Amerie runs into her ex and his new girlfriend at her favorite coffee shop, she does what any stressed woman would do trying to make herself look better, she grabs the closest man she recognizes and pretends he’s her boyfriend. The man she grabbed? None other than Vincent, the very attractive guy she recently met when she spilled coffee all over him. Lucky for her, Vincent plays the part and actually wants to extend their fake relationship to get his family off his back until he leaves for his mission as an astronaut.

I loved this book! From the hot mess meet cute to the fake relationship, this book was filled with fun moments that often had me giggling to myself. All of that fun was also balanced with some deep moments as well. I loved Mimi and Vincent together, but even more, I loved their individual journeys. Mimi’s journey of starting her own business and building her success was so inspiring! Vincent’s story of dealing with his grief and learning how to navigate tensions with his family broke my heart and put it back together. I adored his mom and sisters and would love even more of them in the future! Even with some heavier themes, this book was a light and fun read that I flew through.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy.

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This was such a cute romance! I was expecting it to be way cheesier based on the premise and Vincent being an astronaut but it wasn’t at all! I loved Amerie and Vincent obviously but also loved their families and Gina. I hate that the main issue in fake dating tropes is usually a lack of communication so I liked that in this book, they were open about their feelings and the conflict instead was based on being scared to lose each other or hold each other back!

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A very fun storyline but I was hoping for more from it. I always want to pick up books that have a little bit of science in it so this one having the MMC be and astronaut had me intrigued. This was a very slow burn and there was a third act breakup so I didn’t feel like we saw them actually together enough. I love a slow burn because usually there’s all this build up and tension… I didn’t feel it here. It might have been because it was single POV. I think having his POV would have helped the story a lot. He was super sweet and I would have loved to get in his head. I still enjoyed it though and will pick up any future books from the author!

❤️‍🔥 slow burn
👩🏾‍🚀 he’s an astronaut
🤭 fake dating
👥 close proximity

single POV
3.5/5 stars ⭐️
1/5 spice level 🌶️

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This book was okay. I liked Vincent a lot more than Amerie and I WISH this book was dual POV. It would’ve made this book shine. I couldn’t really connect with Amerie. She puts everyone first until she’s drowning

I like the fake dating storyline but still I couldn’t connect with either of them

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC

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