I read 34% of this and it was fine, but I just haven't been motivated to continue reading, so I think I will DNF. I'm not sure if the book itself wasn't great, or if it was a question of right book, wrong reader.

Feminist, funny, with a dash of romance on the side! What’s not to love? I would categorize this book as more general fiction and less of a romance, as the focus was on the lead character's struggle to be taken seriously in the tech world. This book was a perfect mix of both serious and fun, and I am excited to read more by this author.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

A fun mix of feminism and romance, this novel kept me smiling and laughing throughout. Indiana "Ana" Aaron is a female coder who lets it be known that she's upset to be passed over for a promotion. She ends up getting moved to a remote team, where her new boss, Melvin, assumes she's a male. As such, she starts getting the most praise she's ever gotten, even if Melvin does take credit for some of her work.

As Ana and her friends concoct increasingly ludicrous stories for why the ace new male coder isn't available to meet, Ana starts to fall for Melvin's minder, the dreamy Shane. He knows of Ana's ruse and gets a kick out of helping her hide--while also starting to see the struggles women in the field of tech have to deal with daily.

I enjoyed Ana and Shane's romance--having him know about her machinations made things even more fun. They were absolutely cute together, but they didn't have the chemistry to make them memorable. Instead, I was more enamored with the commentary on feminism and women working in male-dominated worlds--and the micro aggressions they have to navigate. That aspect of the novel absolutely enhanced the romance, but it also dominated the romance for me. Ana's friends were a hoot, too!

All in all, I enjoyed this serious-yet-sweet romance novel. A nice mix of escapism romance and real-life issues.

This wasn’t as much of a romcom as I thought it was going to be! The romance played a smaller role than I expected from the cover. Think women’s fiction with a dash of romance. And I’m not sure the romance element was as strong as it could have been. They met and fell in love!

Wanted to love this one because the premise sounded so good. But it ended up being a nope for me. Mainly because the heroine who we spend the whole book in her head and her point of view got on my nerves from page one.

First thought: I really enjoyed this book. I felt seen and heard to have a character that represents a true issue a lot of us women face today in the working world. I loved how outspoken Indiana was and how she took on the patriarchy. This is a must read if you want Girl Powers vibes.

Indiana has always loved all things STEM since a young age, so when she decided to become a coder she knew it was entering a world where being a woman was a minority. But what she didn’t take into account was the bs patriarchy and being passed on for promotions even when she was the best candidate.

One thing Indiana was not good out was filtering her thoughts, she was punished when she spoke out. So that’s how she’s ended up on a last chance assignment with a remote team. The good thing was now she could work from home. The issue is the manager of this team was on his last chance, he didn’t know what he was doing and if he went down everyone would lose their jobs.

So after a few weeks working on this team, Indiana receives an email berating their work. But when she looks at the data she realizes he’s just an idiot who can’t use an excel file. So she sends him an email pointing out his mistake. But here’s the thing, her boss has never met her and when he sees her correction he assumes she is a man!

For the first time she isn’t belittled and she feels respected, she has a seat at the boys table. But things quickly spiral out of control as Indiana tries to figure out how to break it to him she’s a woman. All while trying to save the team and ensure her own future in the industry.

Literally Themes you’ll find:

* Mistaken Identity
* Women in STEM
* No Filter
* LOL Moments
* Remote Work
* Taking on Patriarchy
* Girl Power

🐟📱👩‍💻🐟📱👩‍💻🐟📱👩‍💻🐟📱👩‍💻🐟

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

Not Bad for a Girl is the first book that has made me laugh out loud in 2024. The characters are fun and well-written.

I'm going to be buying this one for my home library.

I have to admit that I thought that this book would be more of a rom-com but I think that's definitely why covers are important. while i feel that this cover is misleading and that there should have been more thought into it, i do like the story. it felt more womens fiction and you know it was good writing because of the range of emotions that you can't help but feel reading it. i wish she would have shown us more (the writer) vs. telling us, but overall, loved it enough to overlook that.

I really enjoyed the perspective of a female working in the tech industry. I also really enjoyed Ana's moments with Shane, and her work friends. The banter between each of them was well written and had me laughing. An honorary mention also needs to be made for Ana's dad, he was hilarious. The pace of the plot took a bit for me to get into, as it seemed like it was dragged out a little bit. With this, some of the "legends of Indiana" made the story seem a more unrealistic with the very realistic notions of women in work places they typically are not seen in. Overall, the premise of the book was great and the characters were fun to follow!

omg! anatasia ryan has done it again.

there's not much I can talk about other than the fact I love the writing style of anastasia so much I could read anything written by her!! when I read her debut novel you should smile more I wasn't able to put the book down.. well it happened again.

once again we are met with a strong main female character that lives in a man's world.
once again we met in an office/workplace.
once again we are met with a beautiful cast of strong women.

this book, just like the other one, is perfect in the sense that
- you can't put it away
- you love the MC
- you love the side romance happening

anastasia ryan, you're my queen, please continue writing, I'll read anything by you, seriously.

Anastasia Ryan's "Not Bad for a Girl!" is worth the 5 stars. She created a story that every woman can can relate to, no matter where you work. It tackles dealing with misogny within the work place. Granted it is a little over the top but you understand and sympathize with Indiana Aaron! As someone who works in a male dominated environment, navigating it is hard, complicated, and political. Anastasia does a great job by balancing humor and the severity of the topic. I couldn't stop smiling! There is a sprinkle of romance that just make you swoon! This is about self-love and self worth in the work place and in life. Don't forget ladies you are more and don't let others dictate your life. Overall this is a refreshing voice and rom-com at it's finest.

Rating : 3.75/5

Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca for my complimentary copy and all opinions expressed are mine.

If you work in a male-dominated field then this book is for you. It tells the story of Indiana (not to be confused with Indiana Jones) an exceptional coder (yay for STEM girls) who one day speaks up and is unfortunately transferred to a remote team. So she sets out to become better but her boss one day assumes she is a man and she doesn't correct him and becomes the famous Mr Aaron. Things become complicated when she has to be both and of course there is a piece of romance in the book. I liked the premise, the plot and the discussions this invoked mentally with self. I look forward to reading her other books.

Well written and enjoyable office rom-com. This was laugh out loud funny. The scenarios presented in the story were realistic and relatable to experiences of working women.

Ana is a woman in a men's world. When you're an IT and 95% of your collegues are men, you look way too young to be working, what can happen?, can they take her seriously?, can they see her as their peer? What will Ana do to be seen the way she wants to be seen?
This is such an entertaining book, I was laughing, getting nervous with the character, and of course rooting for her. It describes exactly what happens nowadays with gender enequaility in different areas.
I'd really recommend reading this if you'd like a relaxed, good time with a fun book.

Indiana Aaron is a manly, guys-guy and physically built professional who in his spare time delivers babies in burning buildings, fills in on professional hockey teams and is always coming to save the day…or at least that’s what everyone believes. In reality Indiana Aaron is a skilled coder who gets placed on a remote work team after speaking her mind during a work meeting in front of a higher-up.

On her new remote team, Indiana (who goes by Ana) corrects the boss in an email and gets the whole team the afternoon off with “his” great find. Though when she meets her boss in person he immediately dismissed her as an intern sent to fetch coffee orders so she continues the deception that she is a man and it really snowballs out of control.

The side-plot romance was the perfect balance between Ana and Shane though I think I would’ve lost my mind at all those fish!

Anastasia Ryan has an unmatched talent for taking issues that are very prevalent and very real to women in the workplace, especially those that are male dominated, and making them into fun, interesting and also poignant stories.

I really enjoyed this one!

4 stars

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not Bad for a Girl has a fresh & unique premise and from the little I've read so far - I'm hooked! I didn't want to stop but I'm going to put the book down and treat it like the dessert I get to eat after I finish dinner.

Updated:

I finished Not Bad for a Girl and it was a unputdownable and quirky read. I loved the plot and the MC Ana. This is my first workplace romance and I just loved the way the story unfolds. I found myself laughing and smiling throughout. Great banter and and writing.

Indiana (aka Ana) is her company’s best coder but is always passed over for promotions, because she is outspoken and a woman. Due to speaking her mind in a meeting in front of one of the higher-up’s, she is demoted to a remote team. Her new boss assumes she is a man because of her first name and she does not bother to correct him because she is starting to get some respect.

I love how the author calls attention to the real struggles that women can have in the corporate world. Indiana needs this job and may not have made the best decision to hide her identity, but these are desperate times.

She recruits her friends and they get involved in keeping her secret and the next thing you know Indiana’s reputation takes on a whole new life! What ensues is highly entertaining!

I can tell you I have never had so many laugh out loud moments from a book than I did with this one!

Superb writing, crazy antics and good friends make this book a must read!

The narration is also excellent!

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca and Dreamscape Media for this fantastic ARC!

This was such a good story and so relatable for any woman in the workforce, especially a male-dominated one. Indiana was the girl you rooted for the whole story. The misconception that she was male just spiraled into hilarity. I loved her circle of friends who fed the rumors. The background romance was just swoon-worthy. Ana's family made the story even more real. It was so easy to be invested in these characters. If you love a character-driven story with moments of humor, check this out. I'll be looking for more from this author.

So lovely story!
I really enjoyed this book so much, the story is so funny 💕✨
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for my book!

Indiana Aaron is a small woman in a male dominated tech field. After getting transferred to a remote access team for speaking her mind (the horror!) Ana decides to keep her camera turned off and try to fly under the radar. When Ana points out a mistake to her boss over e-mail, he quickly thanks "Mr. Indiana Aaron" for his good work. Suddenly, Ana sees what life could be like if she were part of the boy's club, and she decides not to correct her gender. The myth of Indiana Aaron grows out of control, but when Ana decides to come clean her boss mistakes her for the coffee girl and dismisses her out of hand.

Anastasia Ryan is the master of taking the frustration of being a woman in the workplaces, exaggerating it to hilarious proportions, and still managing you leave you saying- "yeah, I've totally worked for that guy." Ryan is a gift to the publishing world- I wish more women were writing this kind of fiction. It's funny, empowering, and brings up some really important issues without sounding preachy. I really hope the cheesy cover doesn't cause too many people to mistake this for a rom-com, because while there is a touch of romance, this book is SO MUCH MORE.