Member Reviews
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for providing me this Digital Advanced Readers Copy of the book!
This is a slow burn Sapphic about Max, an assistant for a high powered Hollywood agent and her local bartender, Sadie. Max reluctantly gets roped into helping her social media influencer roommate with a self-actualization program. The program helps Max to build her community, ask to level up at work and ask out the girl of her dreams.
Overall, this book was fine. It had interesting parts but it also felt like it drug on at times. I really honestly don’t have much to say about it. Overall, not my favorite. 3/5 stars
I adored this one!
Max was such a fun main character to follow. Her character jumped off the page and it made for such an lovely read
Max's journey to self actualisation was chaotic, fun, and occasionally face-palm worthy, but aren't we all like that.
It was also nice seeing Nina and Ari pop up in this one, too. They were cute as heck.
I just had a really good time reading this one.
cuteeeeeeeeeeeee loved the vibes loved ethe plot LOVED the message A+++++++++++ thanks for the arc !!!!!!!!
Another great book by Amy Spalding!
This one following Max, who we briefly met in For Her Consideration as Nina's colleague, and Sadie, the hot bartender at Max's favourite bar.
I will admit that this one took me a little longer to get into than For Her Consideration. Nina was relatable to me in a "I must devour this to see her HEA", Max was relatable to me on a frustrating way. Like everything I do/did that I find frustrating is what Max was like. So whilst I did want to leap into my kindle and scream at Max "you do have friends!!!! Open your eyes not your overthinking brain" I also wanted to leap in there and give her a huge platonic cuddle and beer. It would have to be to a different tv show than Frasier though, sorry Max.
Sadie was fun and so similar but so opposite to Max. So self assured but so insecure. So outgoing but also so nervous. I really enjoy characters who have these personality differences within themselves portrayed in such a smooth and real way.
I really enjoyed their story together as well. Their friendship, their banter, their awkwardness with each other, their third act moment, it all felt so natural and real.
I loved the side characters too, and how they interact with each other. I wish I had a Johnny's to go to with friends!
I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.
I was excited to try out a book by Amy Spalding. I did not realize that this comes from the same world as For Your Consideration, which I own but have not yet read. While this book is a lovely sapphic read, I felt it centered more on the main character's career and less on the relationship. I was looking for more of a romance than a self-discovery journey, but I enjoyed the read nonetheless.
At her service was a cute sapphic romcom. Standard in the plot of a contemporary romance novel, but focusing light on important issues and events that have impacted the LGBTQIA+ community for decades. This story gives a new twist on a “coming of age” story, but the characters are late twenty’s and the coming of age is self-actualisation & confidence building. Our FMC goes through it while trying to improve her life, and I think the story is written well in the sense that it is relatable - who isn’t trying to figure themselves out, build their confidence and learn to just say yes? I did think their was a lot of big brand name dropping throughout, which personally I find a bit icky in a story - but it wasn’t so often on the same page that it turned me off the book. I did love the little homage to Mean Girls towards the end though. Ultimately I enjoyed this novel and I’m sure many other readers will too.
This was a decent love story.
My first book by this author, I didn't realize it was part of a series.
I felt a slump coming on while reading when the beginning felt like it was supposed to be a quick read for me.. it didn't give me much wow factor, like, everything seemed to be expected.
I found myself a little annoyed with the insecurities of the character.
It just wasn't my cup of tea.
But thank you for the free arc in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book was so wholesome and cute, I really enjoyed it, I’d have loved to see a Sadie POV personally.
‘That was what most of life felt like, when I thought about it: everyone else moving through it naturally while I was in a wild panic just to keep up.’ This was so relatable, I felt it so much
I really liked the first book in this series but this one fell flat for me. The voice of the Mc was very relatable and I liked her internal monologues. But I didn’t feel like there was any connection between the MC and the other characters. She didn’t seem to have real friends and the different dates and love interests just didn’t ever seem interesting.
There’s so much conversation and telling instead of showing it was hard to get into the storyline.
I would not categorize this book as romance.
Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to receive an eArc in exchange for an honest review
While the romance in At Her Service is a part of the storyline, there is also so much about friendship, finding yourself, navigating confrontation, and reflecting.
We get to know Max, who in the midst of trying to find themselves and figure out how to progress in their otherwise stalling career, is also living with an active and successful influence- Chelsey.
Max is given an opportunity through Chelsey’s content creation to try out a new service that boasts success, personally and professionally. Max at first begrudgingly agrees- feeling hesitant but also stuck both personally and professionally, the experience seems somewhat like a - what could possibly go wrong and I have nothing to loose- type situation.
As Max begins to go through the motions they begin to see changes, positive changes, they are given opportunities at work, their feeling more motivated to be physically active, and they are also having a blossoming relationship with Sadie- the neighborhood bartender.
I enjoyed getting to know Sadie- I would have loved to get her know her even better but I did love the sub plot in getting to know the history of the bar, Sadie’s family, and her goals to own the bar.
So as Max is fully immersed in this “glow up” she is also falling for Sadie though Sadie has no idea that Max is in the midst of this social media blitz.
So when a video is leaked and Sadie learns that their budding relationship very well could be just a pawn in the game of life, we dive deep into the plot twist where Max has to confront their intentions and regain Sadie’s trust.
Through it all I found myself rooting for them- for Max, for Sadie, for the bar, and for their relationship.
My growing distaste for being present on the internet did not falter.
I enjoyed the outcome in seeing Max and Sadie reconnect and I equally enjoyed seeing how the bar came into it’s next chapter.
This was a super relatable read and once again Amy Spalding doesn’t miss!
4 gooses
1.5 spicy peppers
This book is a single POV following Max, who is an assistant at a Hollywood agency and she loves her job, but she also wants to move up to being a Junior Agent. She's also "in love" with her bartender, Sadie. Unfortunately for Max, she can't seem to get people to take her seriously and she really does want that to stop. This results in her agreeing to her influencer roommate, Chelsey's sponsorship plan to promote an app that will help her become more self-actualized.
What I liked about this book was the self-actualization piece. I loved that Max is such a person of routine and comfort, while yearning for something more, and how this journey with the app makes her push herself out of her comfort zone, which results in her really starting to see some significant changes. What I didn't love about this book was also related to the self-actualization piece. One of the things that is the message of this book is that sometimes you get caught up on something that isn't actually what you want in life, but when you focus so much of your energy toward that thing, it can be hard to let it go. I think, for me, this book both really hit in a way that made me feel seen in a way I didn't want to be, but also, at times wound up being very frustrating.
Basically, this book is messy. The romance is definitely at the forefront even while this is a single POV book which is about self-actualizing. I really do like Amy Spalding's writing and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
I enjoyed this book and it was a nice read. However, it wasn’t quite a page turner for me. I understood Max, the main characters insecurities but I struggled with the way she dealt with things. This was a good romance story but nothing that made it stand out in my mind.
A quick and sweet read! While it wasn’t earth shattering, I still loved this book! It was a quick read, and great for when you’re looking for something romantic and easy to read!
So excited to be reading more by this author! It definitely lived up to my expectations and is going on my must read list for this year!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
Liked it more than the first book, cute romance and the queer bar saving arc was really cute, however it kinds of doesn't set itself apart from romances.
After reading *For Her Consideration*, I had very high expectations for this book. While it's not a bad book—in fact, it's a solid romance—it didn't quite meet those expectations.
Max constantly feels underestimated and not taken seriously, even at work, where she gives her all and knows she's appreciated. When her roommate Chelsey, an influencer, asks her to try a self-actualization app, Max initially refuses. But after a disastrous date, she decides to give it a shot, even though it means sharing her feelings and awkwardness with Chelsey’s numerous followers. To her surprise, it actually starts helping her.
Romances where one of the main characters harbors a huge, unflattering secret that’s bound to be revealed, potentially ruining the budding relationship, usually make me uncomfortable. However, in this case, perhaps because Max is so relatable or because I trusted Sadie, I was actually eager to see how they would handle the situation. It's not my favorite trope, but I didn't cringe once. And I found myself staying up late, reading well into the night, twice in a row when I really should have been sleeping.
Max is at that time in adulthood when there’s a pressure to already have everything figured out and yet rarely anyone does, which is very relatable. The book reads more like Max’s personal journey towards self-actualization than like a traditional romance but while the romance comes across more like a B plot, it is still very sweet. Overall, the story is well-written, thoughtful, and charming