An adorable and swoony friends to lovers story with a side of steam, Beer Fest is the story of Fi and Max, two best friends who are reuniting along with a group of study abroad friends.

After a tired and tipsy Fi goes on a rant about women in the brewery industry goes viral, her and her friends are forced into a beer challenge and hilarity ensues. Yet neither Fi nor Max are laughing after one challenge--the kiss your teammate challenge.

The chemistry between Fi and Max heats up (and boy does that Max has a delightfully dirty mouth), leading them both to wonder where they go from here.

A quick and fun read, the setting of Beer Fest is super unique and you'll find yourself giggling AND swooning as you read the story of these two best friends who mean so much more to one another than they are willing to let on.

I loved the cover of this book and that's what really drew me in. I was so excited to read an oktoberfest type of book. But the beginning of the book mainly talked about sex and I love spice but this book was over the top. I ended up dnf this book at 10%. The word usage was a little extensive, I loved they wanted to incorporate German words that represent the festival but it came to a point it was way to many and I couldn't truly keep up with all the different words.

Thank you netgalley, the publisher, and the author for allowing me to read this book for an honest opinion. This review is my own opinion and will not be shared elsewhere.

I don't often read indie books, especially contemporary romance titles, but the premise of this one sounded really cute. I love a good friends-to-lovers romance, and the Oktoberfest setting seemed fun and unique. I ultimately didn't love the overall structure, however. The main couple was fun and I enjoyed their banter and intimate scenes, but the competition element and reasoning for the third act drama was frustrating and frankly kind of dumb. There was enough tension present with Fiona and Max confronting their evolving feelings and the prospect of a long-distance relationship, the arguing and miscommunication felt entirely unnecessary.

Also, Florian sucks. I kept waiting for some kind of come-uppance and there wasn't any.

The spice was pretty good, but otherwise I didn't love this one.

DNF. I tried several times to read this book, each time a few more pages and then I just gave up. The characters did not connect with me at all and there was an awful lot of snark in the dialogue. Just didn't do it for me...

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

Alright, buckle up, this will be a long one.
When I came across this, I thought, oh, a romance book set where I live, that's interesting, let's see how it plays out. And then I went to the Oktoberfest on Monday and the next day, I decided it would be the perfect time to start this.
Now, I want to say that I don't expect an author to get all the details right because culture is complicated and intricate. However, this book was not it, and it wasn't just because of the cultural portrayal.

Let's start with that though.
The author did a great job at including Bavarian figures of speech, and many details about Oktoberfest culture were correct, so that was really good.
But it also got some things very wrong, to the point where I'm genuinely confused about what sort of research went into this. I also found some of the aspects quite sexist, and it made me uncomfortable.

First up, the biggest issue: Dirndl, aka traditional Bavarian dresses for women. They are known to enhance your cleavage and many of them show off a lot, yes. And yes, some men in particular will definitely stare at your boobs and there are some uncomfortable encounters here and there.
BUT: The way it was written in this book made it seem like all women in dirndl are reduced to their cleavage only and that men don't care about the woman anymore because all they see are boobs, which is why the FMC refuses to wear one.
Dirndl are very common here to wear at weddings, to certain events, to fairs (like the smaller Oktoberfest we have in many many towns), so they're normal and so many women wear them, and contrary to what the author believes, men can in fact control themselves around women in dirndl. And they do not reduce women to their boobs only, there are many female politicians, businesswomen etc. wearing them to events and they still get taken seriously.
I just found it appalling to see the traditional clothing of my state to be represented in such a way, which made it seem like it's a sultry dress, when it's not.
I also want to add that it's common to have ones that are closed to the neck, it's a different style that's become very popular over the last 10 years in particular. So if you don't want to show off cleavage, there are great options there, and a quick Google search would show these options.

The FMC also held a very passionate (drunk) speech in a beer tent about how women can also love beer and it's not only for men to enjoy. I was very confused about that because I wasn't aware that certain types of alcohol can only be consumed by one gender? The speech then went viral because so many people resonated with it, and while I don't know about beer consumption in other countries, here it is definitely very common for women to also drink beer?

There were some more minor things and as I said, the author got some things right, but personally, I can't say I felt well-represented with this book.
Also, I cannot stress how unrealistic it is for these people to go to the Oktoberfest multiple times and not mention a single time how expensive that is, yet alone that they can afford it, even with their challenge going on. This is not a big thing, but it made me raise my eyebrows when I realized that this was not mentioned a single time because again, what was the research that went into this?

Now, let's look at the other aspects of the book.
The writing was not great and some of the dialogue felt stifled.
The characters were bland, apart from the main characters, they all seemed to have one defining character trait, and that's it. There also wasn't much chemistry between them, it didn't really feel like a group of friends reuniting.
The only thing the author did to add a nostalgic feeling was mentioning roughly 150 cities and places the characters visited, especially in the first few chapters, it's reference after reference to the point where it felt like the author wanted to show off their geography knowledge.

Then finally, let's get to the romance.
Much like the friendships, there also wasn't much chemistry in the romance. I didn't really find myself rooting for the couple, and in the end, I'm glad I didn't.
Now, I am going to try to say this without spoiling the plot: I can't believe that in the year 2023, I still had to read a book where a man thought he could heal a woman's depression and actually succeeded. I thought we knew by now that depression and mental health in general are complex and that a man lying to a woman is not usually the way to cure mental illness. Had I enjoyed up until that point, I would have felt so betrayed to get so far only to learn that the MMC lied. Did he have good intentions, yes, but in the context of the book, I found what he did to be unacceptable and it made me feel gross, both from a feminist point of view and a mental health one.

I'm sure the author only wanted to write a fun romantic comedy set at the Oktoberfest. And maybe other Germans or Bavarians in particular will enjoy this more than I did, but personally, I felt offended at times, and I also didn't enjoy the other aspects of the book.
This is my first 1 star rating of the year and I hoped I didn't have to give one, but I can't really find any saving grace here.

This was an interesting read. I liked the Oktoberfest setting and the friend group made of former international university students was unique. Even though they were older now, everyone was still figuring out life. Fi and Max were great together and I really loved how they loved and accepted each other through the good and the bad times. The spice was really good, too.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the book.

This was tough to read. There was so much dialogue amongst the storyline, but the punctuation didn’t allow me to see dialogue. It bounced between dialogue amongst the characters and then monologue amongst the character’s own self. Not only that, it was very much focused on the fact she was in Germany with her best, best friend who she all of a sudden sparked feelings for, despite being in his life for years. I also struggled with the immaturity of both characters and how they kept saying “they were bored.” It had premise and I loved the idea they’d rediscover themselves, but it’s highly unlikely they didn’t know each other well before this trip. I also didn’t ideally like the competition and how that “forced” them towards one another where they could discover each other - that could have been left out because it really didn’t have to do with the story. There were other organic ways to meet this story arc, but this was just not the one. Struggling through was not ideal, but I did it! Thanks again for the opportunity to try and relish in the storyline.

This was a light and fun read; heavy on the drinking that comes with Oktoberfest; and a true friends-to-lovers story with a little bit of spice thrown in.

I really enjoyed this friends to lover’s romance. It was a slow burn with a will they won’t they give in scenario. The main characters were likable and I appreciated most of the banter.


Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

DNF at 20%. I tried really hard to get into this book, but I just couldn't manage the internal dialogue.

This was a fun best friend to lover story that takes place during beer fest. With fun beer fest antics and growing friendships, this book is just simply a fun read. It is a slow burn but once it gets hot it gets spicy. The main characters attraction for each other starts from the very first chapter. It was definitely an enjoyable book.

This story had so much potential, but just wasn’t it for me. Despite being a friends to lovers story, the MCs lacked chemistry and the relationship wasn’t super believable.

I was given and ARC by NetGalley and XPresso Book Tours. All opinions are my own.

Beer Fest revealed itself in the first few pages. Why was it so difficult to follow the story, yet so obvious what the story would be? So much editing is needed, that maybe a total rewrite would be easier.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

What starts out as a friendship can it be something else? A traditional will they won’t they story but with a wonderfully modern take. I loved the other characters, the story was well written and kept me turning pages to find out what happens next.

Two best friends, a whole lot of Oktoberfest shenanigans, and a dare that changes everything. 🍻

Picked this one up because of the Oktoberfest setting since I was there last year, but didn’t have high hopes if I’m being honest. It started a bit slow for me, but once things got going I just loved it! The friend group! 🙌🏻 The Oktoberfest setting! 🙌🏻 The beerfest challenges! 🙌🏻 I had such a fun time with this one. ☺️ The friendship between our main characters, Fi and Max, was so lovely that you couldn’t help but really root for them. I also liked that we had an older cast of characters in their 30s who were still figuring life out in really realistic ways. I really hope this is the start of a series 🤞🏻, because there was a lot of potential within the friend group and I’d love to check in on Fi and Max down the road.

My thanks to NetGalley and LM Books for a complimentary copy of this newly released eBook, out now. (Also available on Kindle Unlimited at the time of this review.)

This storyline had loads of potential. Extremely unique and a great time to publish.
I struggled to get through this, unfortunately. The dialogue lacked flow and was cringey most of the time. It was hard to follow the dialogue with the choppy feeling. Also, the use of ' instead of " made it unclear whether it was a though or actual dialogue throughout.
I am glad this stuck with the theme the whole book. I am also glad our MMC & FMC got their HEA.

I want to start off thanking NetGalley for my ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinion. This book was just not for me. The main character was OBNOXIOUS, childish and incredibly immature? The books starts with her right off the bat being extremely sexual towards her male best friend who may not be into her? Like Naur, hard pass. At this point, I am not sure this author is for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advanced copy of Beer Fest by Lilo Moore.

I am personally not a big Oktoberfest person, and friends-to-lovers is one of my least favorite tropes, but Lilo Moore took me on a whirlwind adventure and I loved every second of it. Not only did Fi and Max slow-burn into one of the steamiest relationships, but their friend group felt so real and believable. It was sweet and nostalgic while also turning up the heat. I couldn't stop turning the pages. I highly recommend for anyone looking for a fun read with lots of spice.

Disclosure: I am online mutuals with the author

CW: Multiple open-door sex scenes, on-page descriptions of a medical emergency

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I loved reading Beer Fest.

Fiona and Max's friendship was a great start to the book. I loved the other characters, the story was well written and kept you hooked to find out what happens next.

There was a lot of funny moments and some serious ones.

Can’t wait to see what the author brings out next.

I highly recommend this book.

Fiona and Max have been best friends for 15 years but after 4 years apart, there is some new tension in their reunion at Munich's Oktoberfest. They are meeting up with the rest of their friend group who all met 15 years ago when they studied abroad. The group gets wrangled into doing a wild Oktoberfest challenge that could win them $10,000. But during the challenge, the tension between Fiona and Max builds until they both cave into a relationship they should have had all this time.
This book was super cute but not knowing a lot about Oktoberfest, I felt like I was trying to chug a liter of beer of information about the festival. It would have been nice to have a little dictionary/index to read a little more about each activity. And a prologue of the 7 friends meeting at their study abroad would have been cute. I give it 3 stars, the book seemed a bit fast.