…well. i thought i was going to love this but sadly i didn’t. first and foremost i think this book should’ve been a dual pov. through out the book we didn’t really learn about the love interest all that much which i thought was annoying. what was also annoying was the mcs internal monologue. i really liked the masc representation though.

thank you netgalley for the e arc!

A delightfully fun read with sweet characters, good dialogue, and a highly plausible story line. I will likely go back to read book 1 and would be interested in any other books in this series.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This title was published on February 20, 2024.

This book was disappointing and since I’ve given both of this author’s books two stars, I probably won’t be reading more from her.

This is Amy Spalding’s second adult f/f romance book after publishing For Her Consideration last year. This book is similar to her first one because it follows a main character who is an assistant for a Hollywood talent agency.

Our MC is trying to get her life together while pining after a bartender. MC also has an influencer roommate who convinces her to try a self-actualization program to improve her life professionally, socially, and romantically.

What I liked:
-Masc for masc representation
-The influencer roommate side plot line was more entertaining than the romance storyline

What I didn’t:
-The non stop self-loathing internal monologue from our main character was incredibly tedious to read
-We barely got to know the love interest. This would have been stronger if we had a dual POV book instead of being in the MC’s self deprecating head for the whole book.
-Felt like I was reading from our main character’s stream of consciousness whiny journal rather than a fully developed romance book

Not the best start to sapphic romances in 2024. Will not be reading more from this author any time soon.

I loved For Her Consideration, so I was very excited for the follow up, At Her Service, and it didn’t disappoint! Like Nina, Max was very relatable and likable. I didn’t love the romance, but I was definitely rooting for Max and Sadie as individuals, so the book still had plenty to keep me reading. I typically don’t love the miscommunication trope, but in this case, it fit Max’s character. The community building may have been my favorite part, and even inspired me to take a step out of my comfort zone myself. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Ar Her Service got off to a little bit of a slow start for me - I was really having trouble rooting for Max at the beginning; she was a little bit too far on the boring, soul sucking job disaster scale and we spent a little too much time there, but I did appreciate that it laid a foundation for some excellent character growth. Once this book hit its stride, it was fun to see Max lean in and the chemistry picked up along with the pacing to create a book that was fun even if not perfectly balanced!

4 stars!

I just *love* Amy Spalding's writing! Her books always feel relatable and enjoyable, like a warm hug and a pat on the back with a "there, there" for good measure. And the spice doesn't hurt, either! "At Her Service" is not entirely a romance, but romance does play a big part in the main female character Max's story. Rather, this book boasts a journey of self-improvement and betterment for someone who has otherwise been lonely, pessimistic about the future, and unsure of their place in life. Max is a queer kid from a small town trying to make her way in Los Angeles. She is often self-deprecating, makes jokes to cover their unsureness, and is not entirely confident in themselves. Still, it's obvious she has a wonderful heart, a dedicated work ethic, and a lot of love to give... she needs a little push in the right direction so she can stop wandering aimlessly and being stuck with doubt all the time. Max's roommate Chelsey, who is also queer and is a plus-sized influencer with a big following, offers Max the opportunity to try out a new self-actualization app called You Point Oh, which will help guide her through the things she wants to accomplish in life. With some hesitation, she eventually agrees, but quickly finds the app changing her life for the better at work, with friends, when standing up for what she wants, and potentially in love. Before Max got hooked up with the You Point Oh app and agreed to share her journey online as sponsored content, she had met a bartender named Sadie. She has had a crush on her for quite some time but hasn't followed through on her feelings. Sadie is also plagued with self-doubt and aimless wandering as she wants to buy her deceased uncle's bar and liven it up to make it a more modern space for folx who are queer and otherwise. Whereas Max can be abrasive in her approach to life, Sadie is much more pleasant to deal with. Sadie asks Max for help, and the two of them get closer the more time they spend with each other. I thought it was fun how Sadie is "off the grid," so to speak, using only an old flip phone as her source of communication. I also loved watching Max and Sadie's love story unfold. SO CUTE!! The more self-assured they become, the more confident and engaged with each other they become. I also loved Max's newfound friendships with the people at her work and those on her new queer non-competitive kickball team. It was also fun to see Nina and Ari pop up in this book! Spalding really has her finger on the pulse of how to mix serious topics with laughter, levity, and sexiness. I think this book has a lot to say about what "growing up" is. People in their 20s and 30s no longer have a "proper" "timeline" for "growing up" anymore, not like people did decades ago before our huge technological advancements, multiple recessions, 9/11, a shift away from the middle class via income inequality, a shift in values, and vastly increased housing costs. If I had one critique, it would be that this story feels just a touch too long. It's a character-driven story, so since Max is going through the same things over and over, it felt a little repetitive here and there, but it didn't detract away from how good this book is!

Thank you to NetGalley, Amy Spalding, and Kensington Books for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

*ARC in exchange for an honest review*
Actual rating: 3,5 ⭐️

"At Her Service" is about Max and her quite boring and lonely life, until one night she decides to try the 'self-actualization app' named "You Point Oh" after being convinced by her roommate Chelsea. The app creates new opportunities and puts her through personal challenges. One of the chosen checkpoints is getting and staying in a serious relationship, and this is where Sadie comes into the game.

I finished "At Her Service" quite a while ago, but I had to sit and sift through my thoughts with this one. I'm still very conflicted, and this has a lot to do with the advertisement of this book. I thought I would be reading a cute f/f romcom, and that's simply not the case. This is more like a fiction about self-improvement, where romance only plays a small part. Don't get me wrong, this is by all means not a bad book, and I actually quite enjoyed it. It's just that I initially didn't sign up for such a story. I am a little bit concerned that others will start reading this book with the same mindset I had, and will not give this book the chance it deserves.

Max is a character whom I'm certain many people can relate to. She moved away from home two years ago and neither on the jobfront, nor on the friendship- or love departement has she been really successful. Max is very insecure and needs to learn to stand up for herself and ask for what she wants, which makes her very relatable in my opinion. I mean, who hasn't had a moment when they were scared to ask their crush out on a date, or to ask their boss for a promotion even though they thought they deserved it? The app gives her the push she needs to advance jobwise and create meaningful relationships.

Chelsea, her roommate, is the super popular influencer everyone seems to know. But do they really? She is determined to give Max the push she needs to try something new and getting her (chosen) life in check. I will let you form your own opions about her while reading.

Sadie is the bartender Max has a huge crush on, but doesn't have the gutts to ask out. I found Sadie to be a very interesting character, and I would have loved to get to know her better. I missed the moments which shaped her to the woman she is and that explain her behaviour. The connection between her and Max is very sweet, and you see it flourishing while continuing on in the story. As already stated, their relationship is not in the spotlight of the story but rather Max learning from experiences and mistakes to become a better version of herself.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but I think it's important to go in with the mindset that, yes there is romance, but it isn't in the forefront. That being said, this is an easy and fun read that may be perfect for people who want to read a not so romance-focused book but have the light and fluffy feeling from reading a romcom.

At Her Service by Amy Spalding centers around Max Van Doren who is fed up with feeling stuck in almost every aspect of her life. She hides in her room while her influencer roommate hangs out with cool friends. Even though she is a great assistant to a big talent agent in Hollywood, she feels uncertain about her future career. Also, Max is deeply in love with her favorite bartender, Sadie, but thinks it’s impossible that she will ever get to actually be with her. Even though Max feels like she knows exactly what she wants, she has no idea how to get it all. So, when her roommate offers her the opportunity to change her life for free by using a new self-actualization app, Max feels it could be the tool she needs to help her achieve her goals. The only problem is, Max has to share everything she goes through online. While it seems like the app actually helps her a first, a misleading post quickly derails her progress and leaves Max wondering: will she be able to make everything right again or will her job, relationship with Sadie, and relationship with her friends be ruined forever?

I was looking forward to reading this book when I read the premise and after it was recommended to me by a friend, but unfortunately the whole thing fell flat for me. I very quickly realized I was sadly not a fan of Max as a narrator, as I found her frequent self-deprecation exhausting. Additionally, I found it difficult to get into the storyline because I was not hooked by the writing style. I therefore found myself lacking any sort of emotional connection with the story and its characters. While there is some semblance of a romance throughout this book, I found it to be more of a coming of age story rather than a traditional contemporary romance novel. One last personal note: I tend to struggle with sapphic novels where the main character is constantly bringing up the fact that they are queer. Obviously I know the main character is queer, but I do not need a constant reminder throughout the book, either during an internal monologue or in a conversation. Personally, I enjoy reading sapphic novels where it doesn’t seem like the main character’s whole identity is the fact that they are queer, and At Her Service leaned into that narrative in my opinion.

The GoodReads summary states, “Fans of Casey McQuiston, Alexis Hall, and Maryl Wilsner will fall for this [book]”… and while I have not read any novels by Alexis Hall, I am not the biggest fan of Casey McQuiston or Maryl Wilsner’s sapphic contemporary novels so maybe I should have been better prepared for how I was going to feel. If you like those authors, then it’s possible you will also enjoy this book but unfortunately it was just not for me.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an electronic ARC of At Her Service in return for my honest review.

The usual, Max?”
“The usual, Sadie.”

This was such a cute book! I loved how cute and awkward Max was but then seeing her grow bolder and being able to go after what she wanted! Max and Sadie make SUCH a cute pair and I loved watching them fall in love throughout the story😩 Absolutely recommend this story if you’re looking for a cute lil WLW read with main character growth! Reading about how max became more self actualized gave me motivation and made me want to make life changes! It seemed so relieving for her to become a better version of herself! She got the girl and the job and I love that for her🥰

I enjoyed at her service. If you liked the authors last book, you will enjoy this too. They have a very similar vibe. Lots of Hollywood content. The main character works at the same place and for the same person as the last book. Solid read.

Book Reviews

At her service
First of all thank you for approving this Arc NetGalley, in return these are my honest thoughts.

I love a good queer love story, I think there is so much beautiful representation all around in this book, it is handled with care and love. Max is on a journey of self actualization, and if you're willing to wait the result is great.

I did however find myself struggling to get through this book, and maybe that is because I found myself relating to how insecure Max was, and how that used to be once upon a time. I think the other part might be that I didn't realize this was a companion story, so I was missing a little bit from that story. My other complaint was the whole fight that happened at the end, I don't feel like it was necessary and honestly made me care less for the romance.

That being said I think that the author handled a lot of these topics very well. I mean who hasn't related to feeling like a child in an adult body once in their life? Max takes a while to get to where she is, but you can't help but root for her to succeed the entire time.

So if you are looking for a story that is more about the journey of believing in yourself and coming out of your shell then it is about love, this this is a book for you.

This was good! This was a very solid romcom and I did really enjoy the characters and the story was very enjoyable to read. I don't have a ton to say about it because I feel like it was pretty middle of the road, nothing really wrong with it but also wasn't amazing or groundbreaking.

Would still recommend as a solid romcom read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this advanced readers copy.

There’s something about For Her Consideration that stayed on my mind even though I didn’t love the book. When I reviewed it, I rated it 3.5⭐️, and yet I never forgot Nina and Ari. Or Max. So when I realised Max would be getting her own book, I had to check it out. I’m very glad I did, since I enjoyed it a whole lot, and I now hope to read many more books by Amy Spalding.

Max feels constantly 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-actualisation app, Max refuses at first but after a catastrophic date, decides to give it a go, even if it means sharing her feelings and awkwardness with Chelsey’s numerous followers. And finds that it’s actually helping.

Romances in which one of the MCs has a huge, unflattering secret that is bound to come out and ruin the fledgling relationship usually make me very uncomfortable. In this case however, perhaps because Max is so relatable, or because I trusted Sadie, I was actually looking forward to seeing how they would deal with the situation. It’s still not my favourite trope, but I didn’t cringe once. And I found myself reading well into the night twice in a row when I really should have been sleeping.

As in For Her Consideration, L.A. is almost a character in itself, or at least the love of one of the MCs for the city is, and reading about it makes me want to go discover all these places by myself.

Lori Prince narrates the audiobook and I’m looking forward to listening to it in the near future.

I would like to thank netgalley and Kensington Books for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved how relatable this felt and the sense of community.

This was a cute and easy read. I loved the sense of community and the way that was written in this book.

At Her Service was marketed as a romance, however, this felt more like a book about personal growth and figuring out your life in your twenties. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that, I even enjoyed reading about Max's journey, but it wasn't what I expected from this book. The romance felt more as a story on the side than that it had a lot of standing on its own and that's why it felt a bit off. The conflict between the love interests was quite stupid and I couldn't really feel the spark between them during the story.

All in all, it definitely was not a bad book at all, it was quite an enjoyable read, though you might want to go in with different expectations.

5*

I was really looking forward to At Her Service, especially since my favorite character from the first book in the series would be the main character. Max van Doren is a quirky, sweet girl, whose innocence and insecurities are highly relatable. Despite being pretty good at her job, she had goals and expectations of moving to LA, and they're not happening. That is until her influencer roommate Chelsey offers Max free access to a self-actualization app, in turn for video content. Max' starts actively working on her goals, but along the way realizes the app is crazily expensive and money DOES make the world go round.

While this book is marketed as a rom-com, I appreciated that this wasn't the main topic of the book. I loved going on this journey with Max to see how she'd improve herself and become more confident in all aspects of her life. I also appreciated the representation of queerness, without it revolving around coming-out or having a harder life. However the queer millennial struggle of "being behind" was definitely there and something very relatable.

All in all, I LOVED reading this new book by Amy Spalding and am already looking forward to the next one.

Thanks NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

This was so swoony and funny and lovely from start to finish. Amy has such a way of drawing the reader into the story. I couldn’t put my kindle down.

I enjoyed this sequel about the assistant from the first book well enough but did feel a bit like it didn't match my expectations. It felt a little like it started out of nowhere but I'm not sure if there was a teaser in the first book I'm forgetting about to set it up? The lead's journey from insecure, self-doubtful and isolated to more confidently taking chances to work for the life she wanted via an app that her influencer roomie has her tet was interesting and felt fresh and relatable. Also, there are a few spicy scenes but it's primarily a slow burn. Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC, it came out last week so you can read it now!

I really wanted to fall in love with this book after reading the synopsis! Sadly it just didn't excite me as much as I had hoped!

Max is somewhat new to LA and has big dreams that she hasn't really put a ton of effort into until her roommate catches her off guard and convinces her to be a part of a campaign she's doing with You Point Oh. She has to get out of her comfort zone and start making strides in her life.

I really liked Max and Sadie but just felt the book fell flat. Seemed pretty predictable for the most part which was really disappointing!

I feel like the beginning was very similar to the first book in the series, but it quickly found its own voice. Max was a character that I ended up really liking even though she was very frustrating. She just has all of these thoughts that she keeps inside instead of telling anyone. The program helps her with that and I enjoyed her character arc.

I received an arc through netgalley.