3.5 stars – Til There Was You by Lindsay Hameroff is a really good rom-com. Lexi and Jake meet in NY and spend a glorious weekend together. Jake then travels to LA and becomes a famous singer with songs about Lexi. The story is funny, cute and has a whole lot of insta-love. It’s a quick read that moves very fast. I would have liked to see more character development as the MMC and MFC seemed a bit surface and inconsistent with their behaviors at times. Overall it was a fun read!

A big “Thank You” to NetGalley and Lindsay Hameroff and St. Martins Press for allowing me to read an advance copy in return for an independent, honest review.

THIS BOOK WAS SO CUTE!! oh my goodness my heart

I was feeling slumped after a stressful week & decided to pick this book up. Turns out, it was everything I needed and more. Sweet, swoony, fast, and packed full of romance.

I have always been a fan of second chance romance, and Til There Was You is now one of my favorite examples of this trope. The characters had incredible chemistry from the start. I loved watching them grow individually and together. I loved the mature take on a celebrity X normal person trope and watching the two main characters trying to make their relationship work. Jake was so sweet, like a cinnamon roll. Lexi was full of beautiful and silent grief and ambition. They were both lovely.

If you enjoy books about food (think blueberry pancakes), second chance romance, celebrity X normal person, forced proximity, he writes songs about her, New York City background, and laugh out loud humor... this book is for you!

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book via Netgalley! It was such a joy to read :)

I Was drooling over the impeccable food descriptions within the first chapter and was swooning shortly thereafter. From the adorable meet cute all the way to the fantastic rom-com movie worthy ending, was cheering these characters along! What an incredible debut novel from Lindsay Hameroff. The angst and longing in this romance is just top notch, you can really truly feel that Lexi and Jake are meant for each other.
Through their ups and downs, navigating a celebrity relationship, both Lexi and Jake (along with a cast of hilarious side characters) learn what it truly means to follow vour passions, no matter what everyone else is saying.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Lexi loves cooking and wants to work at a high end restaurant. She meets Jake who is a singer before he goes out of town. When Jake becomes a celebrity, lexi does not let on that she knows him. When he comes to see her, their chemistry is of the charts. This was a quick read.

Thoroughly enjoyable romance where Music and Food make a great combination. Because really you are joining two things I really enjoy, the inner workings of the food and music scheme. Add in a third, its set in New York! The Meet cute between Lexi and Jake is one for the ages, come on don't we all want to have a song be inspired on us? Also Jake is book boyfriend dreams, quite a wonderful character. Not perfect in any sort of way, but perfectly flawed and relatable. This is a great quick romantic read that I highly recommend.

Loads of fun! Lexi Berman is chasing her dreams of becoming an executive chef at a Michelin-star restaurant, and doesn't have time for love. Jake Taylor is a musician, chasing his dreams, and can't afford to be tied down. A passionate weekend between the two leaves both of them with the feels ❤️ but they are chasing their own dreams, and those dreams aren't compatible. Are they?

Lexi is so relatable. I love the evolution of her relationship with Jake. Spice 🌶️ and blueberry pancakes 🥞. Wonderful writing, hilarious, yet emotional. I loved the ending! Quick, fun, and satisfying read!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I liked everything about this book. I was wary it would be insta-love, but was pleasantly surprised by the way the relationship developed. I really appreciated how well the main characters communicated most of the time, even when confronted with difficult feelings and emotions. What would it be like to be involved with someone famous and what insecurities would that bring out? What happens when you get everything you wished for but it’s not what you imagined it would be like? Lexi and Jake navigate it all and the reader gets a HEA. 4 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This should have been written in first-person-past-tense. First person present is supposed to be "I'm here in the moment feeling these things." There were multiple occasions time-pass narration and of "I didn't notice..." within the narration and every time, I was kicked out of book and questioning if this was a debut author. Yes, she is. Also, so much of the writing is cliches. Look, you have to start somewhere.

The first 30% of the book had me questioning, "where is the romance?" with the one-night-stand-turned-magical weekend-turned-ghosting-for-a-year. Then it felt like "why are we immediately in love and living together?" There was not any major conflict in the book, which is okay, but it was made obvious when the author tried to knee-jerk add it into places and quickly resolved.

I liked it, but there were substantial problems with the story itself. It needed a serious developmental edit.

The ONLY thing that made this feel like an Emily Henry book was the way both MCs had their own lives outside of each other. Refreshing in a romance, of course, but not enough to warrant the comparison.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Till There Was You, Lindsay Hameroff’s debut novel, is a pleasant contemporary romance told from the MFC POV. Alexa Berman, aspiring chef, and Jake Taylor, aspiring musician, first meet in a New York bar where Jake is performing. They spend a memorable weekend together before Jake has to leave for an audition with a record label, with promises to be in touch after his trip. Jake signs a record deal and things between he and Lexi fall apart shortly after that when he stops returning her phone calls and texts.

Lexi moves on, finishing culinary school and getting her first-entry level job in a kitchen in a well-known NYC restaurant. In the meantime, Jake’s star has been rising rapidly, thanks in no small part to a couple of songs that he wrote based on his relationship with Lexi.

In due course, Jake shows up again at Lexi’s door, apologizing for his ghosting her and wanting to reconnect. Although wary of giving Jake another chance in light of the celebrity world he now moves in, Lexi is unable to deny her feelings for Jake and eventually she relents. The rest of the story is about how two creative people try to balance their careers—neither of which is entirely as they anticipated---with their relationship. Do they need to readjust their professional aspirations or personal expectations to make it work as a couple?

Jake and Lexi are a likeable couple. Jake is especially charming with his consistent emphasis on the importance of communication, once he and Lexi are back together. Lexi is somewhat less mature, holding on to a grudge with her father and being extremely gullible when Jake’s manager and another artist try to create a wedge between her and Jake.

3.5 rounded up to 4 for the potential shown by this promising first-time author!

Thanks to #NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

Roses: I was on a hunt for a celebrity romance that gave me those daydream worthy emotions. This story did that. The characters were all relatable and the author includes so many current references in regards to pop culture and the celebrity gossip world which I’m super familiar with so I loved that. The characters were super relatable and you found yourself being able to believe what they were feeling towards each other and their own problems. So I really liked them all for their respected parts in the story. The romance was pretty instant but not in the super creepy way like many instalove stories go. It felt like it could actually happen in a way. The spice was nice and not over the top and it was super believable. Which is so nice and a great change of pace then what is typically written in romance. And you know sometimes I want to read sex scenes that are more like real life and not so exaggerated. Overall, I was really happy with the story!

Thorns:
The two things that bugged me was that Jake would always say he would do something that would help him and Lexi stay together but instead of just choosing to do it, we always had Lexi saying to not give up his career cause she wouldn’t want someone to not have their dream. I was always hoping that he would show his love for her with his actions more than just his words. However those words he says to her also felt a lot like gaslighting when she was having doubts that were completely valid for her have.

This book was super cute!! The storyline of Lexi meeting Jake before he was famous was very real. Their relationship felt genuine. Their off the charts chemistry was really fun to read as well.

Can’t wait to share this title with romance readers!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I loved this book. The cutest rom-com.

I loved the early part of TTWY. Jake and Lexi made me believe in their insta-love, their chemistry and obvious soul mate connection pulling me right into the story. I was excited to dive into Lexi's career as a chef and shared her heartache at the loss of her mother. While predictable, the story was engaging, even after Jake disappears from Lexi's life.

Fast forward a year and Lexi and Jake get a second chance. I loved that they had such a connection that they chose to be friends just to be in each other's lives, but after crossing the line back into romance TTWY falls victim to a heroine that allows insecurities to ruin her life. Lexi quickly becomes unlikable as she allows outside influences to question her relationship with Jake without even talking to him about it. It brought my rating down to a 3.5.

Til There Was You by Lindsay Hameroff

Release Date: February 20, 2024

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lexi is a hard-working culinary student who has sworn off dating so she can work towards her dream of becoming an executive chef. That is until she meets Jake, a dreamy dive bar musician, who swoons her with show-tunes. After spending an entire weekend together, filled with romance and lots of home-made blueberry pancakes, Jake leaves for LA to record a demo album. Lexi assumes she will never hear from him again and returns to focus on her own dreams. Little does she know that Jake will become an overnight success after recording a song about blueberry pancakes. Several months later Jake returns to find Lexi, to continue what they had previously started. But how can a normal person fit into the life of a rockstar? Lexi isn't so sure she wants to give up her dreams for some guy, even if she still has feelings for him.

Til There Was You was a cute, quick read! I really enjoyed the character development and friendships within it. It even had me wishing I had besties like Chloe and Ali in my own friend circle. And Jake will definitely be making it on my list of favorite book boyfriends! Tropes included insta-love, meet cute, second chance romance and celebrity drama!

thank you NetGalley for the ARC

the things I liked:
that cover!!! SO gorgeous and would look amazing on any bookshelf. their career choices were actually pretty unique for a romcom which I appreciated. the foodie elements was also really nice to read about.

the things I didn't like:
the pacing was extremely off. this is a insta lust turned insta love trope. i didn't expect them to already hook up at 9% and 11% with a sweet cover like this lol. then by the time it was 27%, it was their first fight already. you two don't even know each other's last name so why is Lexi so "hurt" by him? Unfortunately, I didn't feel any connection to the characters or have any desire to root for them. Us as the readers don't have time to root for them before they get into a relationship with each other that's how quick it is.

overall, this story was entertaining but not what I was expecting.

Though I liked the premise, unfortunately it took me a long time to get through this romance. I liked the idea of Lexi and Jake more than the execution, probably because the story leaned so heavily on miscommunication in a way that rang false for a couple of supposed adults. It's as if the author had to paint over the fact that there really wasn't much of a conflict--not enough for an entire novel. Also, it didn't help that the characters, especially Jake, kept reacting in overused ways: shadows or clouds pass over Jake's face; when he's happy his eyes have their own personal LED lamps and light up. Lexi feels "something" twist or shift or whatever inside her. Add in a two-dimensional villain, and nothing really quite meshed, though there were some good lines, and some promising side characters, making me feel that this author has promise.

4.5 stars. What a delight!

This book was so unexpectedly good - I couldn’t put it down and read it in 3 days!

I’m a sucker for any romance book featuring a musician and/or set in NYC, and this book has both. It’s an intriguing story about an aspiring chef (Lexi) who crosses paths with an up-and-coming musician (Jake), and what happens with their friendship/relationship as time goes on.

Their whirlwind romance is accented by quirky side characters (Ali was my favorite, although Chad was so funny he was up there too). It was romantic but also emotional and had depth as Lexi and Jake each navigated their own personal growth.

Highly recommend it! 💗 I can totally see this as a movie too.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. It was just what I needed for my mood. If you love a famous/normal person story I think you'll love this one. It was the perfect blend of sweet rom/com with enough angst to it to not be boring. My only complaint is that I didn't get the pancake recipe!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a cute romantic comedy! It had so many charming and funny moments, but also deep and heartfelt ones. Highly recommend for a quick and cozy read. I thought the characters could use a little more development, but overall fun debut from the author!

Til There Was You is cute, but not deep. The characters are likable, but I never felt like I totally knew either of the main characters. “Misunderstandings” throughout the book (that seemed to be pretty easily resolvable) served as the main source of conflict. It was hard to watch them just not communicate- there wasn’t enough actual conflict. Also there is a two dimensional villain which I hate. Other than that, it was a fun book- the secondary characters were more interesting to me than the primary ones, and there was a good amount of humor. I would try this author again! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc.