One of my favourite tropes is Friends to Lovers, so I was really looking forward to reading this book and I was not disappointed at all!
Fi and Max weren’t just friends, they were best friends and therefore had so much more riding on the change from friends to lovers ( a situation I could identify with 100% as I actually did this myself!)
I loved the steamy build up to their relationship change, and the way they both threw themselves into each other. Very spicy 🌶️ and entertaining too.
The setting was fabulous and I enjoyed the challenges they encountered, it allowed them to push their boundaries more and to discover their feelings for each other.
I loved this fun filled romance with added beer and comedy moments, it was a wonderful story that had me hooked from the beginning, and had me feeling extremely content at the end.

I absolutely adored this book. I read it within just a few hours and became quickly obsessed with Max x Fi. I loved the contest, I loved the memories of our two main characters from the past fifteen years, I loved the reunion of all the friends. There wasn’t anything about this book that I didn’t enjoy! The ending did leave me wanting me wanting more; I want to know what happens to our lovely friends-to-lovers couple in their future together.

This book is such a cute romance, a must read for any friends to lovers trope obsessed people. i loved the beer aspect and the beer industry being part of the book. the romance scenes were hot and the characters felt genuine. the setting was fantastic. even thought i don't usually read this level of spice it really worked well for this book. The two characters know each other really really well so they achieve true intmacy with each other and that was a beautiful thing!

Beer Fest by Lilo Moore
Rating: 4
Spicy: R; numerous descriptive scenes

Will you like this book? You might if you like:

Beer (duh)
Friends to Lovers
Complex MCs
Reality competitions
Snuggles (maybe not a ton but I’m sorry, Max was like the snuggliest to me for some reason)

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Beer Fest is a book about two best friends, reuniting with friends from their year abroad in college, at the Oktoberfest in Munich where they end up competing in a beer-fest competition for money. Fiona and Max met while in Freiburg fifteen years ago and became the closest of friends, but never more. They have traveled the world together and helped each other through bad dating experiences. Fiona never wanted to cross the line, because her friendship with Max is a cornerstone of her life and to mess that up, to screw up the relationship with the only person she feels really sees her, would destroy her. But now, after not being able to see each other for almost 4 years (Pandemic reasons), she is seeing him in a whole new light. Or is she finally allowing herself to give into feelings she has had for years?

Fi and Max are messy, they have complicated relationships with their families and it has made them question if they are worthy of love. And though each knows the other is deserving of happiness, and fights to show them, they are just not willing to believe it for themselves. That makes getting together hard! But with the help of their friends, a hashtag,and a crazy slide, they will work it out. But you know, not without tears. But also not without some steamy sex scenes. So you know, romance novel perfection.

I really enjoyed Moore’s writing and I am so glad I was able to read this ARC. I requested it because I a) love beer, b) spent my honeymoon in Germany drinking beer, and c) love a good friends-to-lovers to romance. What I wasn’t expecting, and really liked, was how Moore highlighted how Fi really struggled with being a woman in the beer industry. She loves her marketing job at the Beermouth (the stand in for AB Inbev) but she hates the culture at the company. There is so much toxicity at breweries, big and small, and I am glad that Moore focused on it. It is really hard to be a woman working in beer but I hope it is changing (if you are interested, check out @ratmagnet, the handle for Brienne Allan, who began reposting stories on her Instagram about the challenges faced by women in beer).

Beer Fest comes out this Friday and honestly, if you love a well-written, angsty, beer-soaked romance, pick this up. And beer from your local brewer.

Without wishing to re-hash the synopsis, and in the interest of spoiler avoidance, I can confirm that this is another steamy hit from Lilo Moore. I honestly loved this friends-to-lovers tale that was filled with hilarious moments and more than a couple of sexy scenes. Despite the risqué elements of the story, it was packed full of friendship and real romance.
Set immediately after the Covid lockdowns, I was able to completely identify with the feelings of disconnection that Fi experienced. Australia was definitely restricted for longer than the rest of the world, and I can only imagine the impact of being separated from my best friends for that long.
There’s an ensemble cast comprised of the friendship group from fifteen years earlier and a few token additions such as Max’s business partner and Fi’s misogynistic boss. Together, they help set the scene for this frankly, hilarious tale to unfurl
I absolutely adored everything about Max. His backstory was tinged with sadness as we learn about how his parents held no faith in his abilities, choosing to ignore his potential. Despite this, he is filled with love and kindness as well as being a remarkably considerate yet sexy lover. Fi, on the other hand, is a hot mess of insecurity and imposter syndrome, despite her track record and stella- career path. She is totally reliant on her friendship with Max to help her steer her way through an industry that is embedded in the patriarchy and not even a little bit forward-thinking.
Even if you’re not a fan of steamy storytelling, this is a book that’s well worth your consideration. I mean, you can always skip through the more graphic elements, if you really want to…

This book was recommended to me by a friend and I’m so happy I went for it.

There isn’t that much straight passing couples representation out there (at least that’s my impression), so having it so openly here was refreshing and made me feel more seen. Here, the love interest is bisexual and his sexuality and past relationships was brought up numerous times. Also, there was my queer rep from the side characters.

This is a best friends-to-lovers book with a lot of heart, sass, and spice. I can say that Lilo writes some damn good hot scenes. Max and Fiona’s friendship is beautiful and heartwarming. I loved how close and supportive they’re of each other. Their relationship developed in quite an organic way, and it was great seeing Fi’s relationship with her other friends developing too.

The Octoberfest and the competition they find themselves in brought a whole lot of fun to the book, and open up space for talks about women in the beer industry and how hard it still is.

A great romcom with queer representation, mental health topics, adulting, enjoying and figuring out life in your 30s, and a whole lot of German frases, beers, and fun.

*4.5

At first I was irritated because the book wasn't dual pov but it actually fits the book so well. You really need to go on the full journey of Fi realizing her feelings. It was cute to see her slowly see Max in a new light and question literally everything. I liked that they didn't have a breakup, they just had an argument but they made it work. I need more of them and want to know what married life for them is like, assuming they get married.

I received an arc through netgalley.

When I saw that that there was a spicy romance set in Germany that involved beer and Oktoberfest, I knew I had to read it! I also loved reading a book about geriatric millennials that are still trying to get their shit together. Overall, I saw this book as realistic, relatable, fun and really spicy.

This is the story about Max and Fiona, who initially met as international students at the University of Freiburg 15 years ago and quickly became best friends. Max and Fiona always managed to visit each other over the years despite their distance as Fiona lives in Australia and Max in Munich. Fiona works marketing for a Beer conglomerate and Max is a brewer who recently opened his own independent brewery. When Fiona announced that she had to schmooze at Oktoberfest for her job, the rest of their Freiburg group decided to have an unofficial reunion in Munich as well. Upon seeing Max, Fiona started feeling attracted to Max, which is something that was foreign to her. She also didn’t think of him in a romantic way as Max is bisexual and never thought of their friendship beyond anything else.

When Fiona, Max and the rest of the gang get together on the opening of Oktoberfest, something stirs in Fiona and goes on a tirade about her love of beer and how beer marketing. This tirade gets caught on social media, which lands Fiona in some hot water with her company. Who will let her tirade slide as long as she participates in a series of challenges. The whole group agrees to participate due to the prize money and Fi agrees tangentially to keep her company happy. As the challenges get introduced Fi and Max get more intimate with each other surrounded by ridiculous challenges. Overall, I loved this book! It was so fun, I loved the characters! They were so relatable, and it was so easy to love both Fiona and Max. This is honestly the perfect fall romance and can’t recommend it enough!

Thank you Lilo Moore and Xpesso Book Tours for the digital copy via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

DNFing at 31%

I don't think Lilo Moore is for me personally! There seems to be a lot of great things going on here but I am getting lost in the German setting, unfortunately. I think this would be great for someone that can appreciate the language used and the Oktoberfest setting but I've never seen a true Oktoberfest celebration so a lot of the German terms and festival processes don't make a lot of sense to me.

Even without the German setting, I am just not a fan of the main character Fiona. For someone in her 30s, she is still very set in a college kid mindset which is really frustrating to read. Maybe she improves as we get later in the book but her immaturity so far was not enjoyable. Things like refusing to acknowledge how her friends have changed since they graduated and the impossibility that people can have their own lives that they don't share with her.

First of all I would like to thank Netgalley and everyone involved in me receiving this arc..

I loved this book, It was fun, the couple had an amazing chemistry and their individual stories were chef's kiss as well. The story was well developed, The setting was new to me (how many books are there about Oktoberfest?). Everything just felt right and lovely and it melted my heart.
If you love friends to lovers romance read this.

This was not a good romance book. I felt like the main characters didn’t have a connection. Which is strange because this was a friends to lovers book. If you want a good romance don’t read this.

Beer Fest by Lilo Moore
3.5/5 stars

Expectations: Best buddies go to Germany for a specific beer fest and fall in love through a series of unexpected adventures. Minimal spice

Reality: Best friends to lovers, some adventures in Germany during Oktoberfest. Moderate levels of spice. I liked it, but it felt a little forced, if that makes sense? If I had an experience studying abroad or any connection to Germany, it may have been more enjoyable?

Overall, I didn't hate reading it, but I wanted it to be better.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CwajkJpuzVY/?img_index=1

Thank you to NetGalley and and LM Books for providing the ARC.

This book was a hard read for me. I wanted to like it more than I did, and I'm having trouble articulating what I didn't like about it. But it really just seems to be a mishmash of a bunch of different reasons that, by themselves, probably wouldn't affect anything, and were not egregious enough to really bring the book down. It was just a bunch of little things that occurred that made me not like it as much.

Friends to lovers is one of those tropes that really needs to be done well to work. It's hard for me to believe that a character pined for someone for 14 years without it ever coming to a head. And I get that they lived on two different continents, but it just doesn't seem believable that it was never discussed.

I liked the characters enough to not hate them, but there were parts of their personalities that grated a bit too much. Self-depracation is fine in doses, but not all the time in a book that gives off a lighthearted vibe. Additionally, I felt that there were two many supporting characters that none of them really felt fleshed out.

I felt like it took too long to get to the crux of the matter, and then it raced to the finish at that point. I felt like that the immediate attraction felt by Fiona was kind of forced and it didn't happen organically.

I don't know. I just wanted more than what I got.

This book was such a welcome surprise. I think Beer Fest is one of the best romcoms I have read this year. Maybe it is because I am in my 30’s myself and I was so happy to finally read about people my age instead of 20 somethings. Or was it the fact that I carry a soft spot for Germany in my heart. Who is to say. But the main reason was without any doubt that this book drew me in from the very first line and didn’t let me go until the very last page… and even then I didn’t feel ready to let go of Fiona and Max.
In this book we meet Max and Fiona, best friends since they studied a year abroad in Freiburg. Thanks to the pandemic they haven’t seen each other for 4 years. And this year their reunion is extra special because they are meeting in Max’s microbrewery in Munich together with their other friends from their year in Freiburg. And to top all that of its Oktoberfest and the group all has good reasons to join a competition with challenges set around the festivities.
Needless to say I absolutely adored this book. It has a wonderful romance and perfect steam. No really, these sexscenes are by far some of the best I have read in ages! But apart from that there are themes of friendship, life not turning out how you expected it to, adulating en how hard it can be. The friend group is very diverse and well thought trough. Mothers, LGBTQ characters, singles… it is all there, which gives you a very colorful image of live in your 30’s. Top that with good beer, soft pretzels, friends to lovers and I am your girl.
Would highly recommend and I am so grateful to netgalley, the publisher and the author that I got to read this story! I can’t wait to dive into Lilo Moores other book!

I really loved the diversity of the cast, and it was great to see a bisexual man. But the writing was incredibly immature and bad. The dialogue was so, so bad. I do not even know how to explain it but it was.

I was attracted to this book based on the fact that it was set during Oktoberfest. It did not disappoint. This ended up being a fairly spicy friends to lovers romance that had me smiling the whole time. It’s a cute easy read, great for those looking for fall themed books.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me this ARC for review! This book was a lot of fun once it picked up the pace. Max and Fi are very cute and their banter and chemistry flows easily. It's nice to read a friends to lovers romance where the two main characters actually make sense as friends. Their relationship is well fleshed out and very fun to watch develop. I'd recommend checking it out if you want a cute, spicy romance set against the backdrop of Oktoberfest!

Noone writes witty banters like LM! I was laughing so much at this book, especially because as a foreigner living in Germany, the "German jokes" and never-ending beer challenges resonated with me. To me the story is not plausible but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Leonie Mack for an ARC.

Fi is reuniting with her best friend Max at Oktoberfest, along with a number of college friends she hasn't seen in years. As the festival takes an unexpected turn into a series of madcap beer-fuelled challenges, she starts to question a lot of things about her life in general, and Max in particular.

This book is a lot of fun. The group of thirty-somethings reliving their student days - kind of - is very well done, and their drunken antics are juxtaposed nicely with the realities of their current lives. Both Fi and Max are complicated characters, their backgrounds fuelling understandable fears about the changes in their friendship. There's banter and conflict and nostalgia and soul-deep connection and oh yes, quite a bit of spice, all set against the excellently depicted German backdrop, lederhosen and all. I'd definitely recommend this as a great escapist read.

Fiona and Max met fifteen years ago during a study abroad program and became fast friends. When they see each other again after a few stressful years for a reunion with their old group of friends, their friendship turns into more.

Okay, some of this was a bit dorky, but I love the friendship between Fi and Max, and the spice is nice! A lot of times, friends-to-lovers feels awkward, but this one is really well done, and the humor just sweetens the pot!

I'm one of those millennials who hasn't figured everything out yet, so I always resonate with stories about people finding their way in life. ❤️

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