2.5⭐️

A couple of pages into this and I realized this was an insta-love and I just never like those. They don't seem real to me if that makes sense

I wish we got more details about the characters and had them slowly get together to draw out that tension. Which is what the FMC is always talking about because she loves smutty books and it just makes me laugh that her love story just happens

This had the potential to be a cute college sports romance but it fell short for me
Thank you to netgalley for giving me an advance copy for an honest review

This was such a fun spicy college sports romance. I loved the meet cute first interaction that Kendall and Vincent had at the library. I also enjoyed how the book tropes were discussed throughout the book. There was a bit of miscommunication but I liked how it was addressed and worked through.

I want to start by saying I was fairly shocked that this was a debut novel, it’s well read and articulated in such a way that I wouldn’t have guessed.

What I loved: ❤️
〰️The ability to reason through a lot of the romance genres weak point in a comedic way.
〰️The trope call outs that added humor.
〰️The main females back story and lack of connection, finding herself in college and her self happiness when finding a person.
〰️The apology from the best friend was well worded when often those parts stumble.
〰️The MMCs honest nature
〰️The smut writing was 👌🏽


What I didn’t love:🚫
〰️The lack of full character development, there’s still more to understanding who they are and why they do what they do.
〰️The instalove didn’t both me, but the ability for the FMC to go so far so fast wasn’t quite believable for me, maybe if she’d had the prior desire to find someone for good times I would have felt like it clicked more

All and all I am really excited to read the next thing from Annie Crown and she definitely has me as a fan!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC 4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Night Shift by Annie Crown was a fun romance about Kendall, a romance bookworm, who lives her life buried in books and working the night shift on Friday nights at the campus library. One Friday night, the popular captain of the basketball team, Vincent Knight shows up for some help finding poetry for class. Within 10 mins, Kendall and Vincent find themselves making out in the upstairs of the library. After their chance encounter, Kendall doesn't hear from him again for weeks when he asks for a tutor in poetry. Kendall and Vincent meet and continue to get closer. Kendall can't figure out Vincent's intentions and pushes him away as much as she gets closer to him.

I loved this book. The book itself is was an ode to romance readers and favorite/least favorite romance tropes. I enjoyed the meta feeling of the book where the main character, Kendall, would talk about the type of trope that is happening based on the situation. The story was very amusing and relatable for anyone who overthinks every aspect and motivation in their romantic life. It also took least favorite tropes such as miscommunication and turned it on it's head as the side characters would call out Kendall on falling into the trap.

Overall, I found the book very enjoyable. Kendall and Vincent's relationship was so sweet and relatable. There were so many times where you wanted to throttle Kendall for overthinking something while also thinking that you relate to that same way of thinking. It is also a tribute to book lovers and those who look for romance in their books, but find that romance outside of it as well. I am very much looking forward to seeing more from this author as I would love to read more of their work!

Annie Crowns debut novel was a hit out of the park, I was hooked from the first chapter to the last. Kendall’s and Vincent’s relationship might be strange to some around with her being the bookworm and him being the star athlete but the love they have for one either can push through anything. An amazing heart felt romance.

This was a classic contemporary rom-com sports romance. The characters are in college and they fall for each other super quickly. I had trouble connecting with the main characters because the FMC “was not like other girls” and the MMC was too perfect and could do no wrong. That being said the romance was written pretty well even though it could be cringey at times. It was overall enjoyable and fun.

Spice: 2.5🌶️
Rating: 3.5 ⭐️

This book was super cute! Am I the FMC? Hell yea - I too love smutty romance and am obsessed with the 2006 masterpiece of Pride & Prejudice. Also am a library kid, so the first part of the book was iconic. After that though it fell a little flat (for lack of better word). After their hot makeout, it just felt too easy. A quick Starbs date, a frat party, a misunderstanding, and a makeup. The book also just kinda ended. The epilogue came literally the chapter after they finally did *it*.

I feel like I could have had a little more dimension to the characters, she loves to read and he's a basketball player but what else? I also would have liked more of their friends - chiefly reactions after their weekend together. Would I read another book by this author, ideally about one of the other friends? Of course! But I definitely wish there was a little more in this one.

Thank you for this ARC, it was a super cute and quick read!

I’ll say this was a 3.75. I enjoyed it, enough to not be a 3, but something felt missing that would’ve elevated it to a 4.

I really did like how Vincent and Kendall worked through their insecurities & issues. I think this was a more or less accurate portrayal of what college kids are like, not like the usual contemporary romance novels with college kids who act like adults.

I wish there was a bit more of a storyline - the climax and resolution came waaaay too early, which made it really difficult to read the HEA for the last like, 20% (?) of the book.

Overall, short, sweet, and lighthearted read for anyone who is looking for that!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this one!

Hi thank you so much for the opportunity to read “Night Shift”

I thought the book was great! I loved that the story jumped right to the story line. I love that we don’t have chapters of a backstory on each character that ultimately has nothing to do with the story.

The one note I have I have is I felt the last half of the book dragged. Since the book began with the post of the story I felt the ending had a lot of details that didn’t fit the vibe of the storyline up till the midway point.

While I enjoyed the details of Kendall and Vincent first sexual encounter I just felt the last half of the book did not follow the same flow of the first half. After Vincent and Kendall made up it felt like the book was over. The last fall, in my opinion, did not need to be so detailed.

3.5/5⭐️
as a hopeless romantic with incredibly high standards because of fictional characters and someone who is constantly let down by men in real life. this book. was everything to me.

she works at a library. he’s the star of the basketball team. they don’t run in the same circles but they are perfect for each other. they work.

if you’re a fan of:
- books about book lovers for book lovers
- opposites attract
- main characters TALKING THROUGH THEIR PROBLEMS!!!
- a sweet, heart-felt romance
then you need to pick this book up asap!!!

thank you to netgalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for an e-arc!

Incredibly awkward but somehow also very endearing. This gave me Wattpad vibes and I ate it up. Adorable.

The description of this book sounded really intriguing: college romance between a bookworm and basketball star – say less. The beginning of the story caught my attention right away but didn’t quite keep it the whole way through. I enjoyed the FMC’s love for reading and thought the way the MMC found an appreciation for poetry because of the FMC was super cute. However, the miscommunication drove me crazy, and I didn’t feel like the characters were fully fleshed out. I didn’t mind the insta-love, but there wasn’t much of the characters connecting and getting to know each other after the first meeting. To me, the relationship was not fully believable in the end.

All in all, if you are looking for a super quick, spicy, college romance (I wouldn’t really call this sports romance), and don’t mind the miscommunication trope, you might enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for providing me with a digital review copy of the Night Shift in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and W by Wattpad for the eARC.

Overall rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice rating 🌶🌶

This is a college age romance between introverted bookworm, Kendall & star of the basketball team, Vincent. If you are a fan of the show One Tree Hill I think you'll love this one. Kendall & Vincent have Haley and Nathan vibes (except Vincent is a good guy from the start)

Things I loved about this book:

Friendships! The friendship between the girls was perfect. They loved ans supported each other and weren't afraid to call each other out when they were wrong. The male friendship was equally amazing, supportive and sweet.

All the nods to book tropes. Our girl Kendall is a romance & smut lover and I loved her calling out book tropes as they were happening to her. It felt like talking to your friend about a book you just read.

Virgin FMC trope that didn't give me the ick. Finally.

Things I didn't like.

The pacing was great. . . until the end when the final spicy scene was too detailed, not in a spicy way but in a realism way. Sometimes I wish this book was less realistic.

I wish we knew MORE about the characters. They were a little surface level. I like to know the nitty gritty about characters. I want to know WHY the characters are the way they are.

And my final gripe, which is very personal. . . The MMC had the same name as my brother. Little uncomfortable but thankfully my brother goes by a nickname. I just changed his name to Nathan and pretended it was Nathan Scott and I survived.

I LOVED THIS WHOLE BOOK.
There was not a dull moment in this book. I loved the characters, both main and side, and I really enjoyed the plot.
The spice was HOT 🥵
I loved the main character breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging tropes in books (I also hate miscommunication and pregnancy trope so I felt seen hahha)

I was really looking forward to reading this book - the description sounded so good & the cover is absolutely adorable. The first couple chapters were actually pretty good & I enjoyed getting to know Kendall & her roommates. The dynamic between herself & her roommates was actually my favourite part of the book; love a bit of female companionship.

But, as soon as I started actually getting into the novel, the fmc started to get so irritating. At first, I loved her relatability - she's a bookworm, who loves a good smutty romance, and makes it her entire personality. But, I swear, every other paragraph she was comparing her interactions to her books. I mean poor Vincent is being compared to Mafia bosses & dukes with every move he makes. And whenever Kendall said what he'd just done was "right out of a romance novel" I found myself cringing, because what he did was actually quite underwhelming. Like bar is set low.

Also, the spice was very clunky & felt unnecessarily dragged out. I was actually cringing at times because of the words "slick" & "warm c*nt" (among other cringe worthy vocab) being used during the scenes. It just wasn't good.

And, Vincent is so bland, I don't see the appeal.

Overall just a very underwhelming read. I'm so upset about it because it has such good foundations, but it just fell flat for me. The cover art is absolutely beautiful though!

Who doesn't love a romance book with the backdrop being the backdrop? What a great read "Night Shift" was!

An interesting and fun read. I haven’t read a lot like this but I enjoyed it and would like to read more as soon as possible.

college. librarian (read: book girly). basketball player. = yes yes and more yes.

Quote: "Normal people don't make out within ten minutes of meeting each other unless they're drunk off their asses..."

4 star - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3 steam - 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Synopsis: Night Shift is about a college librarian, Kendall, who always has her nose in a book, and a basketball player, Vincent who is also the team captain. The book starts with Vincent visiting the library (in a foul mood b/c of course!) and needing help with his poetry assignment. Kendall, the knower of all things lit, reluctantly helps him find the books he needs and this is wear the spice enters. lol!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ b/c:
- The banter is great.
- So much nostalgia for college - studying in the 24hour library, the house parties, running across campus, etc.
- Kendall's growth and bravery throughout the book is what I aspire to!!
- Vincent is a closet softieeeee
- a lil bit of a slower burn

🎥 my reading vlog: https://youtu.be/Pv3KN4ps_6Y

This is:
- single POV
- sports romance (that's not hockey!!!)
- college romance
- quick-ish read (took me ~6 hours)

More quotes:
"No more living every Friday night like it doesn't really belong to me, or like the only good adventure worth having is printed on pages. My TBR list isn't going anywhere..."

"The thing is, I don't read romance novels for the realism. I read them because they make me feel seen and heard as a woman. They let me explore my desires--both the ones I'm proud of and the ones I clear from my search history--and they've taught me who I am and what I want."

Thank you to NetGalley and W by Wattpad for the eARC!

Every once and awhile, a saucy book about first love comes along and sweeps you right off your feet. Annie Crown’s “Night Shift” is that book. With clever plot devices, flirty banter and downright spicy scenes, the best part of this romance is the genuine relationship that develops out of a meet-cute that suggests it is to be anything but that.


I’m not going to spend time critiquing the smattering of more unrealistic elements in “Night Shift” because, based on the premise, it’s clear a suspension of reality is exactly what you’re signing up for. And sure, the depth of the bond between Kendall and Victor could have been explored further. But at its core this is a story about two college kids, in a sea of peers who are notoriously commitment-adverse, who are finding they want more than that for the very first time. In that way, “Night Shift” sticks true to its subject material, and doesn’t overcomplicate or overburden the protagonist with the far less-believable I-discovered-my-soulmate-at-twenty trope.


There are some worthwhile messages enmeshed in this storyline, too. Themes of inclusivity, a meta analysis of problems in the genre and the reversal of traditional, heteronormative gender roles all allow for this budding love affair to feel modern and made better.

If you’re a fan of Ali Hazelwood or Hannah Grace’s gloriously smutty works, then “Night Shift”—in which Crown somehow manages to helm an even spicier story than her literary counterparts—is for you.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for an honest review.*

This was pretty silly. The FMC Kendall is an introvert who apparently lives in narrative, meaning she applies common romance tropes and structure to her actual life. While that sounds quirky, I quickly bored of it as her narratives led her to some pretty wild assumptions about every single thing Vincent did. All very negatively. It just got ridiculous seeing her strong together these whole assumptions based on so little.

The romance aspect was ok, the instant lust I understand, but the intimacy and actual feelings felt very surface level. This wasn’t a full length novel so maybe that’s why, but I still needed a bit more.

Overall very bingeworthy and easy to read, but could have used more character backstory and steam to feel worthwhile.

Rating: 2.5/3, rounding up to 3.