“Sweet dreams are made of cheese”

“What?”

“What?”

“Why would sweet dreams be made of cheese?”

“Because cheese is delicious!”

Allison Winn Scotch really introduced me to romance in May of 2012 when I read The One That I Want and got to meet Tilly. Ever since I always chomp at the bit to get my hands on her new releases. I love her characters, her settings, her plots, and always find myself clutching my heart and laughing out loud at her stories. I have to say that Take Two, Birdie Maxwell is my favorite book she has ever written!

This book made me want to make a mix tape of 80s ballads, grab a bag of doritos, and call my best friend! There are vibes of the movie Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, but in reverse and themes of sisterhood, chasing your dreams, and finding true and honest love not just for someone else but for yourself too. I love the way the story is told in dual POV and also has snippets of newspaper articles. There are so many layers to this amazing read and I really could not wait to see what happened to Birdie.

Birdie is definitely up there as one of my favorite main characters of all time. She is honest and incredibly stubborn, quirky, and a celebrity you are rooting for. I love that one of the lines in the book is, “No one puts Birdie in a corner, “ and that is the truth! Despite the unfortunate position she finds herself in, Birdie is still willing to put herself out there for America to see and is still trying. I love perseverance in a character and one that so many can relate to. I also love that the readers get a glimpse into what it is like being a celebrity and living out their lives with so much judgment.

With cancel culture being very much in the forefront these days it was nice to see that explored in the story and how the characters handle it. I also really loved how Eliott gets involved and the exploration of his character. Elliot is a writer that is completely and utterly married to his work. He really avoids long term relationships and commitment of any kind because then he never gets hurt, but what kind of life is that? Honestly I think more and more people are doing that in the age of online dating and the inability to feel like people are really giving others a fair shot. Why bother putting yourself out there when you can get hurt so easily. I love Elliot’s character and the way he is with Birdie. I also really love Elliot’s sister and Birdie’s best friend Mona. She is such a fun and insightful character!

This story really touched my heart and made me laugh. I missed the characters when I wasn’t reading and I think you will too. Also, who can I talk to about this being adapted into a movie because that would be so fun and DEFINITELY needs to happen! I highly recommend this story and all of Allison’s back list as well!

I really enjoyed Take Two, Birdie Maxwell. It's a fun story that makes me glad I am not a celebrity. I loved the dual perspectives and the journey that Birdie and Elliot took throughout the novel. I found myself cringing at times and grinning a lot. I also loved the flashbacks to their high school days.

I really liked the feel of adventure in this novel. So many different challenges came up for Birdie and Elliot and sometimes they ended up being on the run from paparazzi. There were also some misunderstandings that led to more bumps in the road. Both characters were entertaining and I enjoyed their banter.

This novel made me think about how I handled some past relationships and what I maybe should have done better, but the past is in the past. I'm just glad I never received a letter like the one Birdie got, which led her on this wild goose chase in the first place. I was also frustrated that everyone believed the director over Birdie so easily, especially in the era of #MeToo. I don't blame her for speaking up either, even though it came at such a high cost to her career. And as I said before, I am glad I am not a celebrity because I wouldn't want people in my business like that all the time. This was emphasized even more when I recently watched The Princess Diaries for the first time in many years.

Overall, this is a charming story to add to your TBR in early March!

Movie casting suggestions:
Birdie: Lyndsy Fonseca
Elliot: Skylar Astin
Mona: Anna Hopkins

Actress Birdie Maxwell returns back to her small hometown after a PR disaster. She finds a mysterious love letter sent a few years prior and recruits her best friend’s brother Elliot (and the boy she’s loved unrequitedly) to help her find her past loves and see who sent it. This is a win-win for Elliot too as he is a journalist and needs a story like this to save his career.

There is a lot of depth packed into this rom com but at its core, I loved how it centered on Birdie’s self discovery alongside her second chance romance with Elliot. The witty banter and laughable drama, especially with the RV, gave this story the lighthearted vibe I was looking for and the audiobook, narrated by Helen Laser and Andrew Eiden and Dan Bittner, as a great listen. Of note, as someone who is very direct with their feelings, some of the lack of communication pulled me away from the story.

Read if you like:
-Best friend’s brother
-Road trip
-Hollywood romance
-Actress x journalist
-Only one bed

Thanks to Berkley for an advanced copy of Take Two, Birdie Maxwell by Allison Winn Scotch.

I love a good Hollywood and second-chance romance but unfortunately, this wasn't the book for me. I couldn't stand Birdie and I couldn't believe she was 35. So much miscommunication. The road trip was the best part.

Take Two, Birdie Maxwell is a beautiful story that is much more than a rom-com. It’s an insightful story of Birdie Maxwell’s journey to connect with her authentic self rather than the actress who tries to be what other people want her to be. I loved witnessing her transformation as it felt authentically traveled and completely relatable.

I loved the witty banter. It’s intelligent and funny and helped create a fast pace. I also loved the pairing of Birdie and her best friend’s brother, Elliot. It provided a forbidden-type love (at least in their minds) that came with a lot of delightfully natural tension and felt more realistic than the typical barrier that suddenly pops up near the end, which often happens in this genre. They are a fun pair that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I also got loads of laughs from the real journey that went along with the symbolic one. Just imagining the RV had me laughing out loud. Even though deeper storylines are the most prominent, the romcom-ness of it thoroughly entertained me. The situation created an enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity story, two tropes I enjoy that made the story wholly irresistible and addictive.

Thank you PRH Audio and Berkley Romance for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own.

I’ve been a fan of Allison Winn Scotch for awhile, but this might be a new favorite! I absolutely binged this and never wanted to put it down.

Birdie’s world has absolutely imploded when she returns home and finds a love letter someone sent her. She decides to track down the sender alongside her best friend’s brother, Elliot, who is a well known journalist. Elliot is having some career struggles so decides that telling Birdie’s story could give him just the boost he needs. Birdie and Elliot travel in an old RV to try and track down which of her exes may have sent the letter while battling their lifelong attraction to each other. Birdie has some not so pleasant reunions and learns about herself in the process. The sender of the letter took me by surprise and I loved the ending. It was great to see Birdie regain her career and her place as America’s sweetheart. I absolutely adored this and can’t wait for more books from Allison Winn Scotch!

After a disastrous public relations fail actress Birdie Maxwell heads home to pick her wounds when she finds an anonymous love note. With the help of her best friends twin Elliot, Birdie embarks on an adventure to revisit her former boyfriends and discover the author of the note. Along the way she just might find her true love.

“I think that whoever that first love is, I think you spend the rest of your life chasing that sensation of the thrill of falling. Because it’s before you’ve been hurt, you know? Before your heart has been obliterated and you’ve spiraled into barely functioning and you don't want to eat and you can't sleep either, and you call them a million times and hang up.”

THAT. PART.

Birdie is America’s sweetheart, known for playing out unrealistic romance tropes on the big screen that, of course, always have a fairytale ending. Her actual love life? In absolute despair. When an on-set feud pushes her out of Hollywood, she flees to her hometown to get her life back on track. That’s when she discovers an unsigned love letter from an ex, which sparks a walk down memory (exes) lane to track down the anonymous admirer to help redeem her reputation and career.

Elliot is a star reporter covering the front lines and knows that life isn’t a romcom. How could love be real when he’s festered on his feelings for his sister’s BFF, Birdie, for decades, watching her happy ending play out in dozens of rom coms? With his career in the pits, he returns to his hometown to find that Birdie is also back under similar circumstances. He helps her on her quest to find the letter writer – both for his career – but also as an opportunity to right some wrongs.

First off, if I got an unsigned letter from one of my exes confessing that they still loved me, that shit would stay in the envelope where it rightly belongs!! Anyways. If you’re looking for a second chance romance set in Hollywood with a classic case of right person, wrong time, you gotta add this one to your list.

TAKE TWO, BIRDIE MAXWELL is out March 5! Thanks @forever for the digital ARC.

A perfect anecdote in these difficult times, this story is the rom com that makes you smile. Birdie Maxwell is the sweetheart of the rom com movie scene, until she is filmed berating a director for his misogynistic ways. The public turns on Birdie, and she attempts to clear her image by finding the author of an anonymous love letter sent to her, reviving her image as America’s sweetheart. Enter Elliot, the man she has loved since a teen, her best friend’s twin and famous newspaper writer, and the story really ramps up. A totally enjoyable read, recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Birdie is a much loved actress until she falls from grace in public opinion. Now she is on a road trip to find an ex-boyfriend and also hopefully find redemption in the public's eye. This is a cute second chance romance between Birdie and Elliot. The story uses the lack of communication trope, and if this is something that bothers you, beware. The writing, the characters, and the pacing make for a lovely story. I liked how Birdie is forced to reflect and assess her part in her past relationship issues. It is nice when characters grow throughout the story. Overall, my only complaint was the couple's communication issues and this did affect my enjoyment of the book.

Thank you Berkley Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

A mysterious love letter sends a movie star and her first love from childhood on a road trip? Count. Me. In! This book was so sweet and I really enjoyed reading it. It’s a love story where you journey with the characters as they unfold their past in order to truly understand themselves at present.

I really wanted to like this book, but everything about it made it so hard. I would give it 2.5 stars. I'm definitely in the minority and I'm sure people will be rooting for Birdie's happily ever after. I was hoping the RV would explode and all the fighting would end. Elliot and Birdie both had the same feelings for each other and both were too stubborn to talk about them. They refused to discuss what actually happened seven years ago. I wanted to love Birdie but she was so annoying. She wasn't actually America's Sweetheart. She wasn't that nice of a person to the people she cared about the most. She never visited her parents or best friend and seemed to actually hate her sister. The constant back and forth between Birdie and Elliot was exhausting. Birdie really twisted what happened between her and Elliot seven years ago. She always brought up that he left and that really wasn't what happened. She concocted some other story in her head and believed it. It was her fault, but has the audacity to blame him. He didn't fight hard enough to stay, meanwhile she invited another guy over before the bed was even cold. Throughout the whole book it was hard to believe Birdie and Elliot were thirty-five, because they acted so immature. Was I surprised by who wrote the anonymous love letter? Yes and no. I was surprised by the reasons behind writing the letter. I honestly thought this person might be confessing their love for Birdie. I really donk think people would have taken Sebastian Carol's side over Birdie's accusations about him. My favorite character ended up being Andie. She actually told Birdie the truth and didn't sugar coat it. She was funny and no-nonsense. She would do anything for her sister. I'm not sure how the two made it to Vegas in one piece after all the 7-Eleven vodka.

Definitely recommend giving the book a try. It just wasn't for me. I didn't hate the book and there were some funny parts. Sweet dreams are made of cheese. I look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Take Two, Birdie Maxwell by Allison Winn Scotch is a captivating, heartwarming, and pleasantly surprising romantic comedy that will keep you hooked from start to finish. This delightful novel explores the timeless enchantment of first love and the unpredictable journeys that often lead us back to where we began. I found myself completely engrossed in the story, unable to put it down, and secretly hoping it would never end.

Such an enjoyable Rom Com!

The now famous, Birdie Maxwell, is on the outskirts of Hollywood after a feud with a well known director. The no longer America’s sweetheart decides in order to win the public back, she needs to orchestrate her own comeback.

Heading back home has her finding an old love letter that sends her on a quest to find who wrote it, while simultaneously endearing herself to the American public, once again.

Who will be joining her on this journey, but Elliot, her long lost but never forgotten first love.

If you dig:

- First Loves
- Second Chance Romances
- Road Trips
- Mixed Signals
- Hollywood Vibes

Then this book is meant for you. Super cute and it will keep you in it to win it, all the way to the last page.

Thank you to Berkley for the free book in exchange for my honest review!

A modern day retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion? Yes please!

Anne and Ben's story is one as old as time - young love, first love, outside influences tearing them apart. And when they get a second chance, *sigh*

I enjoyed the setting, all the players. I liked the way that the characters we have known and loved (and hated) for years are given a new twist, yet we still know their motives and can love and hate them the same.

It has been a while since I read Persuasion (time to remedy that!), however ugh I had forgotten how much I dislike her father and sister, and this telling amplified that so much hahaha

Get swept away with Ms Elliot and her Wentworth as they reconnect and fall more in love than ever.

I look forward to reading more by this author in the future

I have been reading Allison Winn Scotch for ten years and I think this is my all-time favorite! I was invested in Birdie and just adored Elliot. Told in alternate POVs I love that they both had their own journeys/arcs and that neither of them was just there to serve the other person's growth. And of course their suppressed chemistry was irresistible. And the ending?!? Tears of happiness.

Take Two, Birdie Maxwell is angsty, romantic and full of heart and second chances. Birdie Maxwell is America’s Sweetheart, but after an on-set feud gets her under fire, she returns home—only to find a love letter from a past lover looking for a second chance. So with her first love (and best friend’s brother) Elliot who is a journalist covering the story, she sets out to find a happy ending. This book is witty and beautifully written. Right off the bat, it’s smart and engaging. But I did have some trouble connecting with the characters. So much would be resolved if people just talked, but I think that communication got lost in just about of introspection and dense paragraphs. I wanted to really fall for Elliot and Birdie, but both just let their lives happen to them instead of actually making pushes for positive changes. They pine so beautifully for each other but never do anything so it was hard to really connect with them. Birdie too felt kind of selfish, but I did like her development and how she changed and I loved the development of her relationship with her sister. I wish that had had more time. The love letter mystery did get a little lost too; this is a very character driven novel, which I did enjoy, but the mystery of it just felt like a way to move things along. Still, the writing is lovely, and these characters have so much love. It’s a book that I stayed up til 2 in the morning to finish, I really wanted to know where this story landed.

Birdie Maxwell was the rom-com queen until a video of her berating the director of her next film for inappropriate behavior goes viral. Overnight, she goes from being America’s sweetheart to teetering on the edge of losing all she’s spent nearly 20 years of hard work building. With nowhere to hide, she runs away to the small California town she escaped at 18. The last thing she expects to find is a love letter in her childhood bedroom. When she shows it to her best friend, Mona, they realize that it might be the key to salvaging her career. What she doesn’t expect is for Elliot O’Brien, Mona’s twin, renowned journalist, and the man she’s loved unrequitedly since age 12, to walk into the bar and for Mona to suggest they work together to hunt down and interview all her past loves. The ensuing road trip in Mona’s rickety old RV is road trip rom-com heaven.

There’s a lot going on in this story: a journey of self-discovery and growth for Birdie, a second-chance romance for Birdie and Elliot if they can learn to be open and honest about their true feelings for each other, a nod to the #MeToo movement and how Hollywood so easily forgives and defends abusive men, the challenges in sibling relationships, the price of fame and putting one’s career above all else, and how two people in a relationship can have vastly different perspectives both during and after it ends. Scotch does a great job of balancing emotional plot points with humorous banter, garnering sympathy for characters who often make choices that hurt those they care about, and building up to a resolution that brings both surprises and satisfaction. Recommended read for rom-com lovers.

RATING: 3/5 STARS

This book unfortunately fell flat for me, despite the incredibly cute sounding premise. I couldn't connect to Birdie or Elliot so overall this was not memorable, but perhaps fans of the celebrity, best friend's brother, and road trip romance tropes will like this one.

I really enjoyed this hot mess, reflecting on past loves rom com. Great humor, reality and loved the banter between Elliot and Birdie. The highlight for me was the growth for both Elliot and Birdie; Birdie - totally clueless and unplugged from real life is forced to evaluate herself and her hurtful interactions. Elliot's job is on the line - due to his believe he does it best and is the best.
A very well done review the past and how can I grow from this plot.