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!

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

At Her Service by Amy Spalding had well-developed characters and a plot that was engaging. This book was a great read. I highly recommend!

**Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the e-ARC. All opinions expressed are voluntary and my own.**

I didn't know this wasn't a standalone and I do wish I read the first book, well, first, but this was still very good and can easily be read as a standalone! I love a good sapphic romance, and this one WAS good, but it didn't feel as romantic as I wanted. To me this felt like a mix between an Emily Henry book and a contemporary fiction book, which I like, but wasn't expecting. Overall, I still enjoyed Max and her journey and the overall arcing plot of the book, but the romance did admittedly feel on the back burner.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.25 ⭐️ (rounded to 4⭐️)

"I was just a girl, standing in front of a girl, shaking an email printout at her."

Oh how I missed reading about Hollywood girl-failures! Max and Sadie, you have my heart! Insecure queer women? They're so painful... give me more! I definitely read this at the right time. I saw so much of myself in Max; her smallness, and how we tend to shape our fears and insecurities around that, as well as just generally being a gay disaster, both personally and professionally! I loved the antics with the app, I loved the old bar, I loved Billy and I loved Chelsey even if she kinda sucked! I believe this was a far superior book to 'For Her Consideration', but as vaguely referenced above, I may be biased.

Read this if you enjoy lesbian, Hollywood girl-failures figuring stuff out and falling in love!

The second book in Amy Spaulding’s Out in Hollywood series, this one focuses on an assistant who feels like she’s stuck in her job, her love life, and her place in LA.

And that was, I think, the thing I enjoyed most about At Her Service, that it takes place in LA. I found myself really struggling with both the characters and the story.

In this, Max Van Doren agrees to be a part of this new app for which her influencer-roommate is going to sponsor her. The catch is that she needs to make actual life changes in order to reach self-actualization. And part of this is to finally reach out to Sadie, the hot bartender who Max has always harbored deep crush for.

This book didn’t feel or read like a romance book to me. We barely learn anything about Sadie other than the fact that they’re hot… and a bartender. Honestly, so much of this book felt like conflict on conflict on conflict that when everything in the third act happened, none of it was surprising. What was surprising was how quickly it all just… fixed itself.

When I finished this book, I gave it three stars, so I must have felt more favorably towards it when I read it initially, but it has since diminished in my memory. I’ll keep the three star rating in fairness. Also because I really love Los Angeles.

I really enjoyed For Her Consideration so I was very excited to read the next in the series. It didn’t disappoint I really loved it. For a lot of the same reasons I enjoyed the first one, the focus on the queer friend group, being true to yourself, etc. Can’t wait to read more by Amy Spalding!

I got this arc a few months ago and took a long time getting into it. Only because the beginning wasn't a good hook for me. Nevertheless, I did get back to it, but the story still didn't flow well with me. It was a bit slow, maybe a little on the edge, but I would still recommend it since it might just have been because of my preferences. You might like it, since it's still a great story, just too slow for me.

Ich weiß ehrlich gesagt nicht, wie ich dieses Buch bewerten soll, da ich es aufgrund relativ kurzer Ausleihdauer (ohne Verlängerung) nicht lesen konnte.

This was just okay. It wasn't really for me. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. I did think that the writing was good though.

Amy Spalding always hits it out of the park. Loved the humor, heart, and friendships, and feel like this is an easy recommend for fans of LA/Hollywood straight romance as well.

After finding out her coworkers don't take her seriously, a disastrous date, and a crush on bartender Sadie that's going nowhere, Max is ready for some big changes. When her influencer roommate offers Max the chance to try out a self improvement app, that seems like a perfect opportunity.

I loved the journey Max went on figuring out how to get what she wanted out of her life, and I loved that part of the romance with Sadie was about exploring Los Angeles together.

i received an arc of this book from netgalley - thank you so much!
i LOVED "for her consideration" so i was so excited to read this one. the author‘s writing style is super nice to read and very relatable, and i love diving into the world of talent agencies and celebrities. also, this is an adult sapphic romance with some really nice spicy scenes! 🔥
however, compared to the first book, i couldn’t really connect with the characters as well in this one. i liked the characters, but i didn‘t really care about them as much as i wanted to. i still enjoyed the story though and i think it made some very good points about being in your twenties and trying to figure out your life, which i could really relate to!