A few months ago, I downloaded an electronic ARC of this book. I kept looking at it and thinking, "not now, maybe later." The book never really got my interest, and it did not keep my interest. It was.... fine. I didn't love it, but it wasn't the best book I've read this month. 2.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for the free electronic Advanced Reader.

When a hot weekend between an aspiring chef and a dive bar musician ends up with said musician becoming an overnight sensation due to the song he wrote about her... things take a turn especially since he ghosts her afterwards and now a year later he shows up in the middle of the night asking for her help. Lexi Berman has one goal and it is to become an executive chef in a michelin-star restaurant. Lexi has a firm no dating rule and when she meets Jake Taylor, a hot dive bar musician who instantly charms her, they spend a weekend together. Yet she never expects him to become an overnight sensation with a breakout single about her. When she doesn't hear back from him Lexi thinks it's the last time she'll see him.... and the more famous he becomes the more she keeps the fact that he wrote a song about her to herself. Lexi is determined to get over Jake and focus on her job at a new restaurant and potential new romance with her coworker... but to her surprise, Jake shows up at her doorsteps, drunk, a year after their one weekend stand and he says he needs her. Lexi decides to try being friends with Jake but he's determined to prove to her he's serious about not letting her go and that he wants a second chance with her. Yet the pressure of working in a job that is high stress and all the problems that come with Jake being famous from a meddling manager, paps after her, and another singer who wants Jake... can Lexi handle the pressure or are they just too different? This was an overall cute second chance romance. Jake really was a bit naive at certain parts but overall he really only had eyes for Lexi. Lexi was determined to make her dreams come true and have a relationship, but buckling under the pressure of juggling one too many things and dealing with the stress of it. The relationship between Lexi and Jake was push and pull, and I did appreciate how much Jake wanted to communicate with her about issues. I did enjoy the ending as it wrapped everything up nicely and overall if you enjoy second chance romances then I'd say you'd have a fun time with this one.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A sweet second chance romance with music and food. Jake and Lexi had one magic night in a bar singing songs and enjoying life and then Jake disappears. He's become a big deal, in part due to a song he wrote about her. Lexi, meanwhile, finished culinary school and is working as a cook, starting a relationship, and living her life. And now he's back in her life. Can these two overcome the misunderstandings? Of course they can but it's the journey that makes this a good read.

Lexi, an aspiring chef, meets Jake, an aspiring singer one night at a bar. They spend an amazing weekend together before Jake heads to LA to make a demo. He's signed right away and has a hit single with a song her wrote about Lexi. After texting a few more times, he goes silent. I wasn't a fan of Lexi letting her friend reply to his last text and then deleting his info from her phone. Lexi graduates culinary school and gets an entry level kitchen position in a restaurant. She's stayed off social media to avoid knowing about Jake since he's made it big. She allows herself a look one night and sees he's working with a charity that supports endometrial cancer, which is how Lexi's mother died. She likes his comment and that sets in motion his return to her life after a year apart. The scene in Florida, cue the tissues for me. Such a good story!

A cute read but over all not memorable. I liked the synopsis of this book but in the end it felt strained in some areas.

Till There Was You follows the love story between Alexa and Jake, who met at a dive bar after bonding over Broadway showtunes. Jake spends the entire weekend with Lexi before leaving to record his demo album out in LA. They’re both inexplicably drawn to each other and feel like the other is their safe haven. However, Jake blows up into an overnight sensation and essentially ghosts Lexi, leaving her heartbroken and bereft. Over a year passes, and Lexi has graduated culinary school, is working on her achieving her dream, and exploring a new romance with someone. However, Jake shows up unannounced late one night, upset and begging for a second chance. Will Lexi potentially derail her entire career and private life just to chase the feelings she can’t seem to turn off around Jake?

This was an adorable contemporary romance that had some fantastic hurt/comfort going on. I could literally feel in my chest the sharp pain from having your heart broken when Lexi is struggling to cope with Jake leaving. I think the advertised new romance Lexi’s supposedly exploring when Jake shows back up is a little exaggerated, as in the book, she goes on one date with a coworker and is completely upfront with him when she says things are getting complicated. I did appreciate Lexi mending her relationship with her father, as well as finally processing her grief over her mom’s death. I just hated how she didn’t do any growing until the third act break up, which felt unnecessary seeing as they essentially already did that so early in the book. Overall though, I did enjoy this and absolutely devoured it. I could not get enough, and that being said, I would’ve killed for an epilogue.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an early copy, I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

This book centers around Lexi Herman, who meets Jake Taylor mere days before he becomes a big music star. They spend a weekend together and promise to be in touch, but then Jake never follows up until over a year later when he shows up at her door. Jake is now a famous singer and Lexi has just graduated culinary school and is pursuing her dream of becoming a head chef.

I liked this book well enough, but I feel like the author could have done more with certain plot points. For example, Jake promises to stay in touch, and then for seemingly no good reason, doesn't. This is a couple who had a serious *connection*...I would have liked for his return to Lexi to have been more drawn out and tension filled, with a better reason for ghosting her. Also, once he returns Jake is all in, and Lexi is pretty forgiving right away. I would have liked to see them both work for it a little more.

Lastly, both characters seems so sad with their chosen paths. I wish we would have gotten more of a glimpse into their future with an epilogue where they show us they are making it work successfully, and they are both so happy with their choices. I give this book 3.5 stars.

All in all, a good read, but I think it could have been even better.

Till There Was You by Lindsay Hameroff

The Idea of You fans, this one’s for you! There’s less drama because there’s no age gap and no one has kids, but we still get the celebrity/normal person dynamic! Yay!!

Lexi is about to graduate culinary school when she meets a sweet southern boy at a bar that’s trying his best to get his big music break in NYC! After an amazing weekend together and a promise to see each other again soon, Jake takes a meeting in LA and doesn’t return for a year. When he returns Lexi has her dream job as a chef, and he has everything he said he ever wanted, but are either of them even happy? And is having a private relationship again even possible?

Genre: romance
Pages: 320
Read if you like: celebrity/normie relationships, nyc setting, strong female friendships, cinnamon roll MMC
Pub date: February 20th, 2024

I loved the concept of this book: the New York setting, with a side of celebrity, and restaurant settings. I struggled with the instalove between Lexi and Jake. They met and shared a great weekend together. When they meet up again, they seem to still have feelings for each other. Things felt rushed, and I didn't like the third act drama. I feel like there were times where things were dragging and other times where things felt rushed or skipped over. I think that there was some good ideas in this one, but not enough for me for it to be memorable or something that I would reread.

Til There Was You was a cute read about a chef who is just trying to make it on her own in NYC and a music superstar who just wants to make music. After they spend a glorious weekend together - prior to his ascent to fame - things fizzle out when he goes to LA. But, when Jake shows up on her doorstep almost a year later, there’s the chance they might just be able to make it work.

I thought this was a cute read. Was it my favorite romance read? Not really. But, I thought it was cute enough that I’d recommend it to anyone who loves a light and fluffy romance. I found Lexi to be relatable in a lot of ways - just trying to navigate who she wants to be and build a career she thinks she wants, and I have to say how she handled Jakes rise to stardom was pretty similar to how I think I would handle it. And Jake was a sweet cinnamon roll character, and I thought the idea of him actually hating fame was a really interesting twist on this “rockstar” lifestyle.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the e-ARC for Till There Was You. I won't be writing a review or posting on bookstagram due to St.Martins Press not responding or taking action about the racist remarks made by an employee on twitter. I will rate the book, as to not hurt an authors new release. I hope that SMP speaks up soon so that I can share about new releases that I've enjoyed. Until then, SMP will not get free advertising through social media creators.

I loved this story. I was so invested in not only Jake and Lexi but also all the side characters... except Ethan and his fragile ego😑 lol.. I am hoping Ali and Chloe get they HEA as well!
Honestly the only reason it's not a 5 star is because of the sex scenes.... they weren't great, fade to black would have almost been better. Other than that, loved it!!

Till There Was You is the debut novel of Lindsay Hameroff. Lexi, a culinary student and Jack, an aspiring musician merry one evening in a bar and hit it one. They have one magical weekend then Jake all but disappears as he rises to fame. Then a year later, everything else may be different, but together Lexi and Jake are the still the same. But is it enough?

This book was okay. It felt predictable, and felt both rushed and slow at times. I loved the premise, and the second chance romance but don’t love the third act conflict, and it really wasn’t needed. I liked Jake as a character and felt he had potential but Lexi I just felt was missing some depth. Overall it was good debut, closed door, HEA. I would be open to reading Hameroff’s next novel.

Thank you St Martins Press and St Martins Griffin for this eARC copy to read and review.

This was such a cute, funny and at times nostalgic (loved the 10 Things I Hate About You reference) rom com! I loved both the main characters, Jake and Lexi, and the supporting characters who had so many different personalities to help the story come together. The backdrop of NYC, but from two completely different lifestyles (chef and famous singer/songwriter), was so unique and I enjoyed learning about Jake and Lexi’s experiences separately as well as their efforts to make their different lifestyles mesh while together.
My only complaint was the over the top ending, but with humor, emotions, and lovable characters, this book checked all of the boxes for a near perfect rom com!

“I like the way you feel like home”

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Lindsay Hameroff for a gifted ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

There was a lot to like with this one – cute couple, Broadway references, food/cooking content, and NYC setting.

Jake is a newly minted pop star and Lexie is a culinary student. Jake is sweet and definitely cares for Lexie, but he doesn’t treat her very well at a certain point in the story. I don’t feel like he had a good reason for the way he treated her. In my opinion, there needed to be more of a reckoning.

Read if you like romcoms with instalove and miscommunication tropes.

3.5 rounded up

Lexi Berman is on the path to achieving her dream of becoming an executive chef at a Michelin Star restaurant. This was her plan until Jake Taylor, a celebrity musician with whom she had a romantic weekend before he was famous, re-enters her life.

I thought the premise of the story was great. I love the idea of two people from very different professions falling in love. However, I do think that the story could have been so much better if there were some structural changes. I felt as if the entire first act lacked tension—we didn’t need to see Lexi and Jake’s first weekend together to understand the relationship when they meet again later. The romance between them would have been more interesting if it was slowly unraveled from their second meeting instead of laid out step by step. It was great to see both Lexi and Jake’s passion for their dreams. So much so that I found myself caring more for their career goals than the relationship despite them having some very sweet moments. Still, this was a fun, breezy read.

This is a good pick for light, fluffy second-chance romance lovers. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

TILL THERE WAS YOU is a sweet romance, not a YA, but simple without much plot or character development. There are many popular culture references that will date this tale in a couple of years and make it a rocky read. But for now, it’s a good fast book for 20-somethings to read instead of other easy entertainment. And sometimes, that’s just exactly what is needed from a rom com. It’s brain candy of the no calorie kind. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Jake and Lexi ...... oh my ...... it's a love story we all hope will be ours one day.
Lexi and Jake are 2 kids trying to follow their dreams and then realize maybe what they thought their dreams were aren't what they really want anymore. This book was great. Gave me all the feels as they went through their stages of relationship.
I feel like it truly gave an insight on a "famous" person's life and how perception of how amazing it is, isn't full reality. And sometimes relationships need some give and take.
Just really loved Lexi and Jake in this book and loved the writing style as well.

Jake and Lexi have a great weekend romance when Jake ghosts her as he pursues his music career. After a time he reaches out because he still has feelings for her. Chef Lexi decides to give him a second chance but her insecurities flare and she questions the relationship.

This novel is quite sweet, romantic and mostly realistic. Lindsay Hameroff has written a fun novel. It's well written and the characters and plot are wonderful The only note I'd make is that it fluctuates speed and that makes sections harder to read. That being said it's well worth it..

This was really fun! I loved the beginning and I loved the New Years Eve ending. The middle kind of dragged a bit. Overall, I enjoyed this debut!