I thought this was a romance but it wasn't unfortunately. A great idea for the synopsis but marketing it as what it is very important too. Most of the online sites market it as a romance. Back to the story, we have a good representation on how women are still treated in workplaces. An okay read but just didn't work out for me.

Not Bad for a Girl is a single POV stand-alone RomCom. I found the ARC in the Romance category but really it read more like a workplace comedy with a romantic subplot. Indiana (Ana) is working remotely as a coder when her boss makes the assumption that she’s a man and praises her work. She doesn’t bother to correct his assumption and it spins wildly out of control in this quirky story of mistaken identity.

I’m torn on my rating on this one. I liked the characters Ana and Shane, found the insufferable boss funny and believable and the writing was hilarious and well done- all great things! But I thought the miscommunication went on too long and I hated the character Heidi (Ana’s best friend)- which was unfortunate because I’m pretty sure she was meant to be likable 🤷🏻‍♀️

Normally I split the difference and go with three stars but the things I liked were really well done so I settled on 3.5 and rounded up to 4 on review sites!

Read dates: 12/04/2023- 12/07/2023
Goodreads review: 12/07/2023
Instagram review: 12/07/2023
Blog review: 01/30/2024

I genuinely have so many thoughts on this book that it might actually be hard to put them all in one review.

First off: holy sh*t, do I love Ana. She’s hilarious, snarky, determined, and just all around awesome. There were a few things in the first 2 chapters that I didn’t like that she has said but honestly, once I got past that, everything was fine.

I loved that the romance wasn’t the main focus. I definitely would consider this more of a woman’s fiction than a romance. Don’t get me wrong, the stuff Shane did when he was actually there was absolutely swoon worthy but I felt like he was such a small part of the book.

I loved Ana’s friends. Absolutely adored both Heidi and Patrick.

I also loved that it really gets into what it’s like for a woman trying to make it in a male dominated job field. It was almost heart breaking to read some of the stuff that she went through knowing that stuff like that happens everyday in real life.

The think i think I loved and adored the most though? How much this book made me laugh. I laughed so hard so many times at some of the comments that Ana made through out the book. She was so funny and witty. I totally was able to understand her feelings on people and connect with them.

I think this is going to be one of my favorite books to come out in 2024. I really hope this gains some steam and does well. I’ll definitely be recommending this to all my friends.

.:. 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 .:.
𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥
𝐁𝐲: 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐑𝐲𝐚𝐧
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟑𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 𝟓

Do you ever choose to read a book just by what the cover looks like? I do all the time and to me this book looked like a rom-com, but it was so much more than that! When identity gets mistaken through an email, all gender discrimination in the tech industry becomes uncovered.

Indiana “Ana” works as a coder in IT, a male dominated field. When transferred to a new team, she is now working remotely from home. Her first day with the new team she corrects her boss on an error through email and he mistakes her for being a man. As she tries to hide her true identity, her best friends come up with all these crazy, hilarious scenarios Indiana gets “himself” into just to avoid meeting her boss. All she wants is to be herself and be recognized for the work she does. As much as gender discrimination and misogyny is a serious topic, Anastasia Ryan writes about it with care. Her writing was incredibly witty, smart, and she grabbed my attention from the first page. I finished this book in a day!

If you are looking for a hilarious binge worthy book, Not Bad for a Girl is the book for you!

👩‍💻 Not Bad For A Girl by Anastasia Ryan 👩‍💻

Indiana Aaron knows she’s good at her job in IT, but has trouble being taken seriously by her male bosses. When she asserts herself a bit too loudly in a meeting, she’s transferred to a remote team where her new boss loves her work. The only catch is that he’s mistaken her for a man, and Indiana doesn’t race to correct him once she realizes he is valuing her more than anyone has before in her career. Keeping up the gender swap ruse gets complicated quickly for Indiana, but thankfully she has a whole host of people in her corner, including corporate hottie Shane.

This was so funny and so spot on about corporate culture! I think most women who have worked anywhere in the corporate world have had a boss like Melvin at times, a man who clearly takes credit for your hard work simply because he can. It was so vindicating to see Indiana come out on top and get the credit she was owed.

The romance element is definitely secondary to the workplace high jinks, but I still enjoyed Indiana and Shane! The scenes with the guppies were so unexpectedly hilarious. I also loved how much Shane was in her corner.

Recommended if you love: 📈 workplace shenanigans 🐠 overly fertile fish 🥸 mistaken identity 👯‍♀️ coworkers who become close friends 👩‍💼 strong and talented female leaders 🥰 romance subplots (not the main focus) 🏺 overpriced pottery

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the advanced copy to read and review. All opinions are my own!

Firstly, I'd like to congratulate the author, Anastasia Ryan, and thank her and Negalley for allowing me to be an ARC reader in exchange for my honest review.

My rating: 3⭐
Read if you like:
- Work shenanigans
- Women in computer science representation
- Important and necessary conversations about feminism, mysogyny in the workplace and prejudice
- Light comedic moments
- Lord of the Rings references

My review:
I'd like to start by stating this isn't a workplace romance, as the cute cartoony cover might suggest, but more of a light comedy about something as serious as mysogyny in the workplace and, especially, in areas that traditionally have been only male dominated, such as computer science and sports.

The 'romantic' side of the story is but a tiny drop and plays no significant role in the development of the novel. So if you were looking forward to reading a romcom, this isn't it.

Regardless of this, and once I understood what I should expect of this book, I was able to enjoy the mess Indiana gets herself tangled into and pleased to find several fine-structured speeches around feminism and the whole ordeal of being a woman in science.

However, and though I still appreciated the comedic part of it, I found myself skimming through entire pages that, in my opinion of course, added nothing of true relevance and sadly became a bit tedious. (IE: I'm one of the biggest fans of Lord of the Rings, so the first couple of times I laughed out loud when the author managed to give us some funny references, but then... I don't know why she kept going at it but they got out of hand and started to feel forced and cringy.)

Lastly, let's talk about the fish. I know this one is possibly going to sound absurd to many of you but bear with me.
Why, if Indiana loves fish so so so much, isn't she more appalled when those animals are treated like attractions instead of living and breathing beings?
It really makes me uncomfortable when she casually mentions how there's a koi pond in the middle of a building in Las Vegas, or a shark tank besides the pool so the hotel guests can feel like they are swimming with them.
And it grates on my nerves that she doesn't even bats an eye or alludes to the sad reality of those captives lives and is instead delighted by it.
But again, this is just me.

Overall, it was quite a nice book and I can't say I didn't enjoy it, although I didn't love it. Solid 3 stars.

Thank you, Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley, for the advanced copy of Not Bad for a Girl.

What a breath of fresh air! This was a super fun read that I devoured in one sitting. Not an easy task as a WFH mom with a sick kiddo. Great character development, awesome plot, and profoundly meaningful. This book was laugh-out-loud funny in so many spots. Brava, Anastasia Ryan! #TeamDiana

Ana is a talented coder and IT specialist, but she speaks her mind, and she’s a woman. When things go a little too far, she’s transferred to a remote team as a last resort.

Ana does her best to fit in at her new role. She initially starts by keeping her camera off, which leads to her new boss as referring to her as Mr. Aaron. Ana doesn’t see a reason to correct him so things carry on. But as time goes on things get a little complicated and her persona takes on a life of its own.

I love a good woman in STEM book and this one delivered. The writing reminded me of Ali Hazelwood without the spice, but it was still enjoyable. This one was less of a romance, and more women’s fiction, which I knew going in so that helped. The main character, Ana, was very relatable, which is quite sad really. Tech is not exactly a welcoming environment for women, and this book highlighted that reality. This book was a wonderful personal journey that we got to go on with Ana. Ana was such a quirky character in the best way possible. There were also plenty of laugh out loud moments that helped keep me engaged throughout the way.

I found this book even more enjoyable because the author, Anastasia Ryan, is such a fun and delightful person. I really felt her personality coming through as I read each page. She’s such an amazing part of the Instagram community and I’m happy I’ve gotten to know her. =

If you are looking for a cute and light read that tackles some heavy topics, then I hope you’ll check this one out.

This enjoyable book took the very serious subjects of misogyny and discrimination in the workplace and lightened it up with a relatable, audacious main character, an interesting plot, and a wonderful supporting cast. I think a lot of women are going to identify with Ana (and that’s really such a shame). The love story between Ana and Shane did take a backseat to Ana’s personal journey, but it worked for me.

This book about a female coder was a bit of a slow start for me. I loved Anastasia Ryan’s YOU SHOULD SMILE MORE, so I stuck with it, and I was not disappointed!

Ana's work storyline was unfortunately close to home for so many of us. This made her relatable to me and I thought her character was just quirky enough to be funny and loveable. There were so many laugh-out-loud moments in this book, I’m chuckling just remembering some of them. Indiana’s dad’s character was a hilarious standout.

Overall, it was just a joy to read. Look for this one to be published in January of 2024. 4⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for this complimentary ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

If you’re looking for a lighter laugh out loud book I absolutely recommend this book or the author’s others book You Should Smile More. This book follows Indiana after a case of mistaken gender after her boss assumes she’s a he. She’s a remote employee so none of her coworkers have met her. When a work conference threatens to expose that her misogynist boss assumed wrong, her friends come up with more and more outlandish stories as to why he keeps just missing Indiana. This book highlights the way workers are mistreated by companies, the toxicity of the “work family”, and how many industries are still lead by the boys club. There is a love story but it is not the focus of the story, Indiana is.

A cute and light read that takes on the heavy topic of misogyny and sexism in the workplace. Follow along as Ana (aka Indiana) fights the patriarchy while aided by loyal friends and a series of increasingly outlandish tales about Indiana’s heroism and fortitude. The romance takes a back seat to the workplace plot though the interactions between Ana and Shane are sweet and they are adorable together. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

This is an interesting quirky read that I really enjoyed, The characters were interesting and well-thought-out. It is hard to be a woman in a male-driven world particularly if you are short and curvy to boot. The romance was lacklustre but it was everything else that made this a good read.
I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review

Indie struggles to find her place in the working tech world; As a woman in tech myself, I found this story relatable while being funny, having enough plot twists to keep me wanting to read it and enough sweet moments to really appreciate it. This book is a cute story of someone struggling in a man’s world who, like many of us, has to take the if you can’t beat them join them mentality only to discover that sometimes we just want to be ourselves and still have all the things too.

Not Bad for a Girl is a workplace romantic comedy and talks about gender in a workplace l issues where its male dominated and the female main character her obstacles within that job field. This book had all the feel good twists and turns with finding herself along with loving what she does. I enjoyed indiana's outspoken personality and standing up for what she believes in. I enjoyed reading this and can’t wait to read more of Anastasia Ryan’s books.

I adored this book and I adore this author. She has such a unique voice and imagination and it really shows through the stories she creates and message of female empowerment that are in each one. I loved You Should Smile More, but I think I may have liked this one even more. I loved that Indiana had a romance but it wasn’t the centerpiece of the plot. But it was enough to make you feel like you were getting the best of both worlds. The humor is unique and witty, and if you know Stassie, then it makes sense, but if you don’t… well you definitely should get to know her :)

Thank you NetGalley and Stassie for the early copy!

This is a cute and sweet workplace romance that goes heavy on the feminism and light on the romance.

We’ve all experienced workplace zoom calls and the comedy that always ensues. This book was laugh out loud funny, and I really enjoyed it.

the romance wasnt the main serve of this book but i loved it regardless. this was a great workplace romance with growth and I highly recommend!

Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

I was excited to read this book because the premise was incredibly interesting to me. My spouse is a programmer and I’ve dabbled in code myself. Being a woman in a professional career, I have seen glimpses of what it's like for women in general, let alone in male-dominated field like Ana is in.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I was excited to see Ana become confident in her abilities and rely on her own skills to get her through the situations she ended up in. However, my one qualm is that there were so many “situations” she gets into (with the help of her friends) that were so unbelievably realistic that it took me out of the story. I wish that the plot was a bit more believable; I would have given it more stars if it weren’t so outlandish. If you enjoy lighthearted plots with humor and a bit of romance, I think you’ll enjoy this one!