This was a cute book that had some steamy scenes between the main characters V or Doc and Dave.
V is a pediatric psychiatrist on a girls weekend with her best friends when she meets Dave a bartender in the bar they are at. V has never been one for a one night stand or even a fling, but she feels you only live once and she takes the chance.
It was only supposed to be the weekend, but turned into so much more.

My only complaint was I prefered V's full first name Vivian over the nickname V.

Uncomfortably bad writing. Hard to slog through. The descriptions were very odd and felt off. The characters were abysmal. Just not for me I guess

I have a big smile on my face after finishing and I’m giving this book a big hug! I’m in my happy place. Great read. I loved the romance and intimacy between these two. From the very first minute they had chemistry. The kisses, touches and breath taking moments were swoon worthy. There is nothing better than being able to feel and see the chemistry. The author brought a wonderful, satisfying romance that I just didn’t want to end. What was special was how absolutely crazy they were about each other. Dave was everything I want to see in a relationship and he was scared yes, but always told V how much he wanted her. **Sigh**
I Loved it!
Thanks Sugar Beaver Books via NetGalley.

This warm and charming romance worked for me! Dave and Vivian - he's a bartender, she's a doctor, can they make it work around family and societal expectations? What do they each really need? This is swoony, and steamy, with lots of consent, and care. They are both insecure, long distance is tricky, the road is rocky but it's so satisfying how they grow for each other, and learn to navigate their feelings and trust each other - and themselves.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for the ARC!

Not a fan of thus writing style too much Dave said and Dave did, the tense or whatever was really annoying and hard to read. Also the chemistry and pairing wasn’t great sadly this wasn’t my cup of tea.

*ARC Read*
Thank you to Netgalley and Sugar Beaver Books for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I have decided to DNF this book. I originally picked it up to read early this month, and I found myself reaching for other books instead. I wasn't compelled to complete this story because as simple and cute as it was it was just very generic. I didn’t mind the characters but I found V annoying, and I was annoyed to constantly hear about their jobs and parent approval. I also felt he called her Doc too many times. Even though their connection was instant, I didn’t feel that as a reader, it felt almost fake. The story didn’t include enough Christmas for what the cover showed. I’m not a fan of a third-act breakup either.

Dave has never expected to be back in his hometown, taking a bartending job. That's what he did, and that's what he's been doing for 2 years. Buy when, one night, Vivian walked into his bar, things definitely started looking up. But she is a pragmatic list-maker, and she does have a checklist for the perfect man, that Dave does not fit in at all. On top of that, she is only there for one week. Can she throw it all away for a steamy weekend fling?
This is an insta lust, opposites attract, long distance relationship, spicy romance. It is marketed as a "cozy Holiday vibes romance", which I do not agree with. Although Halloween and Thanksgiving are considered Holidays, the cover screams Christmas, and December only happens in the last 50 pages and the book literally ends 5 days before Christmas, so that part was a bit disappointing because I am 100% a Christmas girlie. I thought the FMC was very stubborn and somewhat uptight. But I loved the MMC, Dave, and his golden retriever attitude. Of course, I was not a fan of the third act to break up, that was based on mostly lies, miscommunication and, frankly, overreaction. I would've liked to go more in depth with both the main characters and both of them together, their relationship. And even if I would've liked to see them together more in the book, it was fun to see how they dealt with this long distance relationship; the chemistry between them is real... I liked all of the side characters (at least all of the likable ones). Overall, it was a fun, entertaining, quick read!
"I'm in simply because you are."
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and of course the author for gifting me this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really loving all the festive books on Netgalley, even though it's only October, and this was another great one! This was the perfect christmas holiday romance book and I loved the total opposite personalities of Dave and Vivian 'V' and how they both sparked that initially attraction which led to them ultimately learning a lot about themselves (and each other).

Loved that it was a super quick read with a nice amount of spice and romance

Don’t let this innocent cover fool you. This was one spicy holiday romance! We got V and Dave for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. First of all, V and Dave are the definition of opposites attract. They are drawn to each other from the start and honestly I just loved them. V being an over-thinker was her one downfall and Dave not wanting to fail had my heart breaking for him. He is an incredible man though. Their chemistry was off the charts.

How can you not fall for a love story set around the holidays? Maybe the one tough spot for this one was the long distance relationship aspect but it didn’t take away from the characters stories. I was hooked from Dave and V first seeing each other in the bar. I binged this book especially when the spice kicks in so quickly. I really really enjoyed this one and if you want a perfectly spicy, holiday romance then this one is for you!

I enjoyed "A Higher Standard" by this author, so I figured this book would also be great. The Christmas cover also drew me to it. But Christmas plays no part in the book until the very end where there's a scene close to Christmas, so the cover is VERY misleading and not really a holiday romance. Despite that, this book was just okay for me. It honestly took me forever to read and was a bit boring. It just kept dragging because nothing was really happening with the plot. Dave and Vivian live in different states so most of the book focuses on their long distance relationship. I had a kinda long-distance once with my husband (2.5 hours apart), so I appreciate that the author wrote a book that involved one. But outside of the chemistry in the bedroom, I just wasn't feeling the love between these characters.

I did like Dave and how cute and vulnerable he was oftentimes. He was pretty insecure when it came to his job, so I get why he didn't tell Viv he was looking for another job. But she completely blew things way out of proportion and that just made me dislike her even more. She was a nice enough character, but I didn't like how she treated Dave's job. She knew what job he had when they met and she voiced how he could be doing something more productive with his life. So I didn't get her being so mad at him for holding in his search when he didn't want to disappoint her. Even her friends told her she was being an idiot.

The ending of the book was the biggest letdown. They make up, Dave makes some weird public profession of his regret for being an idiot and expressed his love for Vivian. And that was it. No epilogue to show how things worked for them after he noted he was getting a job closer to her in the coming months. No resolution with the bar job he hated. No life actually living together. It was just a very boring ending with nothing to make reading this book worth it.

That said, I'll still read more from the author because I know the last book I read really was great and even though this one was a letdown, I know the author can do better.

E.F. Dodd has nailed the humanity of these characters. This book was a refreshing and relateable story. I love a good escape novel, but this author does such a good job connecting with the real world and to breathe life into the characters and situations that it was such a good read.

V felt like any of my girlfriends, living this out. Did I find myself yelling at the characters to communicate? Yes. Absolutely. Who doesn't yell at their friends in their stupid moments? I've never felt that urge quite as much as in this book, because the situations and emotions were so real.

Adding more from this author to my TBR immediately!

Thanks to Netgally for giving me early access to an
ARC in exchange of an honest review! DNF at like 1%, the writing was bad and i thought it was a sweet fluffy hallmark type christmas book 😭 when i searched abt it i was disappointed to found out it was actually a spicy book, spicy books are not for me. I HATE spicy books with all my heart lol. So i couldn’t bring myself to read it 🫠

Really easy book spicy romance to read. I did think the couple were unlikely though.
Nice and quick. Very good to read as a filler book in between very heavy dark reads. One thing I did not particularly like is how quickly the two characters fell for each other, kinda insta lovey and you didn't get to bond with the characters as much as I would've liked to. Otherwise I recommend if you want a spicy romance like this for in between heavier and longer reads! Thank you very much for the Arc and thank you NetGalley

This book was just simply okay for me. I struggled to get through it and finish it. It was good, but nothing grabbed at me and it wasn’t a book I had a hard time putting down to read something else.

This book I just couldn’t get into. I tried so much, but the characters and the plot were exhausting. The MMC and FMC are actually decent people and their relationship trajectory is panned out pretty well. However, every other character was just too much, too on the face for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC of this!!

Book Review

Almost Perfect

By: E.F. Dodd

Pub Date: October 31, 2023



V was in Rochester with girlfriends when she walked into a bar and saw Dave for the first time. She was only supposed to be away from Wednesday-Sunday, but all plans changed once Dave got her number. They flirted for a bit at the bar, and then spent the rest of her stay together. Vivian had already changed her flight twice, she had to get back home. V and Dave wanted more than just their long weekend. Could they make a long-distance relationship work? Even if they did make it work, her parents would never approve of Dave.

My thoughts: This was a super quick read and good from beginning to end. I loved the main characters and felt bad for Dave in his work situation. I thought V was a great strong character that didn’t ignore her needs or wants for whatever Dave needed. V had always experienced success in everything she did, Dave never did. He was smart and went to a prestigious school but had never experienced career success. The characters are relatable, and their chemistry cannot be ignored. The only question is can sparks last forever in this opposites attract romance.

QOTD: What is your favorite holiday?

⭐️⭐️/5

thank you netgalley for the ARC of almost perfect in exchange for an honest review.

i don’t typically gravitate towards this kind of romance, but i decided to give this one a shot. it wasn’t an immediate love for me, nor did i ever find myself in love or captivated with this story. i don’t feel like the characters were really even in love & it started with such a strong sexual connection that it felt almost forced.

i am also NOT a fan of the third act break up & felt as if this one was way over dramatized.

i also feel like the cover was a tad misleading, could just be me.

Perfect for fans of one night stand to lovers.

Vivian meets Dave, a bartender, when she is on a trip with her friends. They decide to have a night of fun, but one night becomes more.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. There was no slow burn to this book and the relationship was long distance most of the time, so I didn’t really like it. There was also like no conflict, which kind of made the book a little boring. The characters were good though, and I like how it spread out the sections of the book based on holiday. Overall, I didn’t really like the book and I probably wouldn’t recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

My first E.L. Todd book but definitely not my last. I loved this book! The characters were so well written. Love at first sight is one of my favorite tropes and it was done so well on this book. It hit all the things, fun, spice, witty, respect and love.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

I enjoyed Almost Perfect almost as much as I enjoyed E.F. Dodd's "A Higher Standard." I didn't know it was part of a series of companion books, so I'll definitely be looking for the others!

Almost Perfect is a meet cute of V and Dave. They are the stereotypical high-brow/low-brow couple. But they make it work, despite the distance between them - both physically and emotionally. Weirdly, my only complaint about this book was that I wished I had more background on the other characters - but I believe those are probably the companion novels. I desperately wanted to know more about Kez and why she was stalking her ex's reunion!

To sum up, if you need some light and fluffy to escape your family during the holidays, this book is a perfect read.