DNF at 14% the characters were not interesting enough to make me want to continue. I think this might be a story that I could return to at another time.

This book was gifted to me by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange, for my honest review.

I’m always a little hesitant going into hyped books because they’ve let me down before. In this book, we are following a bookworm and a basketball player. Kendall is usually reading that’s where you can find her most nights and she’s content with this. She could join what the group is doing but that’s not really her scene. She’d rather stay in with her spicy books. However, things get a little spicy when Vincent, the captain of the basketball team turns up with an injury, and because of this, he’s extra grumpy but also, he needs poetry recommendations, but he doesn’t want the poetry recommendations, but he needs them you know? This begins into falling in love.

This is only told from one POV, and very much feels like a college romance. I’m being honest, just doesn’t work for me anymore and it’s my fault for going into this book with the expectations. I had knowing that I don’t like a lot of the tropes in this book. So for me, this was a huge letdown, but I think it can be a really big success given it lands in the hands of the right audience.

OMG this was just what I needed after a major book hangover!

The characters were SO REAL. The miscommunication was so relatable and real and not at all rom-com-y in the too far from believable realm.

The spice was also realistic.

I loved it so much!

I read this book in one sitting, i was completed absorbed in it!

I loved the chemistry between Kendall and Vincent

If you are a fan of Sex lives of college girls i would recommend this book! This book gave the perfect mix of romance/fun funny moments.

I received this book as an ARC from Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group through NetGalley and this review is based on my own opinion.

An encounter between the girl who loves books and the star basketball player turns steamy between the bookshelves.

Kendall Holiday spends her Friday nights reading romance novels between the walls of the college library working the night shift.
Handsome, tall and popular Vincent's the star on the basketball court, he has an assignment due and doesn't have a clue where to start.

When their meet cute turns into a steamy make-out session neither of them are prepared for what will come next.


The way that the pov is written as if the main character is in her own story with all the book and trope references is sooo cute, I really think that's such an original aspect.

The writing is fast paced and I liked the story so much that I read the book in one sitting.

Night Shift is your perfect book if you liked Icebreaker and if you love new adult, contemporary romance with doses of humor, amazing spicy scenes and the he falls first and he falls harder trope.

4.5⭐️

Don’t let this sweet cover fool you…it is spicy! This is a cute and quick read about a book loving introvert and sports jock and their insta love romance. I really found this to be a sweet story and felt that the insta love really worked well in the storyline. I loved Kendall and really felt a connection with her. The story kept me interested all the way through and the best was that there was no third act break up! For this being a debut novel I think it was excellent!

Bookwork Kendall wanted to keep her head in her book while working the night shift at the university library. But star of the basketball team Vincent has other plans.

This was my first NA college basketball book and it was good! I liked Kendall a lot. She is vey hesitant with her feelings and you wait patently for her to really open up. I also liked Vincent. He's just as reserved and that battles with his big man on campus image.

The pacing of this was a little off for me, but I still really liked the love story and was rooting for these two. The spice, while only really in one scene, was a VERY decently long scene and well done.

All in all, a good spicy NA read!

-NA
-College basketball
-Quiet girl and popular boy

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the gifted copy. My reviews are always honest.

Some funny writing here and there, but the constant comparisons to tropes and romance novels were overkill and became cringey fast. I didn’t care for the main character as much as I did her friends/roommates. The drama during the party scene felt really forced and unnecessary.

Overall, I wish this was more of a slow burn because I felt so disconnected from the main characters and their romance. This took me a long time to finish because I just couldn’t get into them.

Read If You Enjoy
📚 College Sports Romance
📚 Virgin FMC
📚 Miscommunication Trope

This story follows Kendall, an introverted, smutty romance reader who prefers to spend her Friday nights working the night shift at the library instead of partying like her roommates. Vincent, the star of the basketball team, seeks out her help finding poetry books at the library one night.

Kendall is a super retable FMC. She narrates and compares the events in her life to the tropes in the books that she reads. I loved the relationships she had with her roommates. They lift each other up and dole out tough love when needed. The smart banter and steamy chemistry between Kendall and Vincent will give you all the butterflies.

The number of miscommunications between the MCs really pulled me out of the story. I generally do not enjoy miscommunication tropes, but someone who enjoys them will probably love this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for the ARC copy of Night Shift. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I loved this book for many reasons!
First of all, Night Shift has the cutest cover. I’m with Kendall and am not a big fan of reading romance with half naked men on the front cover. Don’t let this cover fool you though because it has its share of spice! 🌶️
Second, I loved the way the author wove poetry into the story and how Kendall and Vincent connect.
Finally, its perfect for a quick afternoon read that will leave you feeling over the moon and wanting more. The touch of sarcasm is charming.

Can I just say - reading this while on the treadmill may or may not have been a good idea. Not sure I was hot from the workout or from the book! 🤣🌶️🤣🥵

Great job, Annie Crown!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub date: 14 Nov 2023

This is cute college romance between the ultimate bookworm and the college basketball star. It’s a refreshing story with real life problems and two realistic MCs with typical college kid insecurities. I can honestly say, I’ve never related to an FMC more as she compares everything to her romance novels, even if subconsciously. It’s definitely on the lighthearted side but there are also a couple spicy scenes if that’s something you like.

I loved this book. I feel like it read like a very light fluffy romance. Was a super quick read for me.The MMC and FMC have such good banter and I love the fact that the FMC is an avid reader. I really appreciated how the tropes from the books she was reading were brought into this book and she sort of analyzed her relationship against those tropes. It was a unique and cute addition. Would definitely recommend this one.

2.5 rounded to 3 ⭐️

Thank you Annie Crown & Netgalley for the e-arc! All opinions are my own.

This book started off so cute & I adore the cover. It was a really fast read, but I didn’t enjoy all the miscommunication & sex. I feel like the last 25% was just sex, and it’s just not really my thing!

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I’m going to be honest, I got off to a rocky start with the book, but as I got into it I found it a very fun, very sweet novel. Vincent was a surprisingly sweet main character, and it was very clear, even though we never get his POV, that he had strong feelings towards Kendall from very early on in the book.

The focus on this book is entirely the romance, which was really nice. Neither character has any deep and dark backstory to explore; Kendall has some internalised issues (sort of bordering on internalised misogyny) and a lot of insecurities to work through and both characters are a little shy, but that’s about it. The two of them have really good chemistry, in my opinion, and the sexual tension in this book is really high. I thought it was actually endearing how hot the characters were for each other – neither of them are smooth about it. Kendall literally spends every scene with Vincent lusting after him and it was really amusing.

One big thing I really liked was that, for me, this book really got across that feeling of first love. I liked that you could feel their age, that they were both learning (even Vincent!) and that their sex scenes weren’t all perfect and choreographed. They were clumsy, they laughed and teased each other, and overall it felt very realistic to me. I thought Kendall’s first time having sex in particular was very well-done.

I did have some issues with the book. A big part of Kendall’s character is her love of romance books, but I felt like the way this love came across was very mixed. Overall it was positive, but the first couple of chapters had some pretty judgemental bits in it (especially about covers) that felt jarring – as did repeatedly referring to romance novels as porn. This might not bother some people, but it felt like the book generally was trying to focus on the positives of romance as a genre – so these occasional bits of depreciating language just felt a little weird to me.

I also sometimes found Kendall’s character a bit hard work – generally, she’s a very insecure character, and I understood a lot of those insecurities but sometimes it became a bit much. But I did like that Vincent was also allowed to have insecurities – and him actually being quite shy was a nice change.

Also – one thing to note – if you aren’t a fan of miscommunication, I would give this book a miss, as most of the drama relies very heavily on it. The main conflict between both characters is that they don’t know how to communicate. They get better at it as the book goes on, but if you find this trope annoying, this probably isn’t the book for you.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s super sexy, very sweet, the chemistry is good and the sexual tension is honestly delicious. This was the sort of book that had me kicking my legs with how cute I was finding it. It might not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it, and I would recommend it if you’re looking for a new adult romance book with a lot of mutual pining. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book.

Content Notes: Mild injuries, violence (off-page, mostly on video recordings), on-page sex, virgin FMC, oral sex, public sexual acts.

I read this book straight through, I could not put it down. I think the fact that I also worked in a library during undergrad really added to my enjoyment of the book. It was the perfect amount of intrigue and spice.

It is a perfect palette cleansing book that is joyful and interesting. I highly recommend.

Night Shift is your classic bookworm/wallflower girly + the star college athlete, and I’m totally here for it!

📖 Night Shift
📝 Annie Crown
🗓️ 11/14/2023
💜 College Sports Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Spice: 🌶️🌶️

This book gave me all the giddy feels.
It reminded me of being young and full of crushes 🙃 innocent and just daydreaming away. I found myself smiling through most of the book.

I definitely was a lot like Kendall in my younger, single days. I would have definitely loved for the hot popular athlete to be secretly a shy sweetheart.
As a trope-obsessed romance girlie I LOVED all the trope references.

Tropes + Topics:
📚 College sports/new adult
🏀 Basketball team captain
📚 Bookworm
🏀 Insta-connection
📚 Cinnamon roll hero
🏀 Tutoring
📚 Friends to lovers
🏀 Single POV/first person

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Webtoon Book Group for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

DNF @ 10%. I never, ever stop reading books before getting at least 25% into them, but I can already tell I am going to hate "Night Shift." This book is so amateurish, and I am only 10% in. I do not see it getting better, but I do see myself getting increasingly more mad. These two idiot main characters are going to fall in love with each other after making out in a library minutes after meeting each other, I just know it. There is no spark between them. There will be no build-up to their relationship, there will be no pining, there will be no depth, there will be no emotion (other than lust), there will be no chemistry, only insta-love. I can't and won't do it.

Thank you to Annie Crown, NetGalley, and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my review.

This reads very much as a new adult college romance which it is, so that's fine. The characterization was very realistic for some people in college so I think that will make the main characters really relatable to readers but it didn't necessarily work for me. It felt more young adult than new adult when the love interests would interact and even with the secondary characters too. I did really like the FMC's best friends and the banter they had. There was a bit too much miscommunication for me while also emphasizing how much the main character hates that in the books she reads. I liked the FMC in theory: a romance reader, introverted college student, library worker and witty friend but I didn't end up really liking her as I was reading. Overall, this was an average book for me; I don't have strong feelings either way. I loved the cover and there are some clever lines throughout.

Thanks NetGalley & Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for the e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This review is posted on Goodreads as of 11/10/23.

Thanks for the ARC! Bummed that it was published sooner than listed on here though. Onto the review:

It was a good fluff read! A quick romance to follow up a heavy fantasy book. I did feel like it was insta love, which I’m not a fan of, and the FMC annoyed me a lot as an anxious, introverted girly. Overall, it was still a solid 3.5 stars. I laughed a lot, and that’s all I really want in a romcom.

Posting on Goodreads and Instagram stories. Story will also be saved to a highlight on my profile.

This was really cute. I liked that they took the time to understand how the other person communicates. They had some issues in the beginning but they worked them out. Cute is really the only word I have to describe this book.