Give me a hollywood sapphic romance and I'm all over it. I received an e-arc from netgalley and I am writing this unbiased review.
I was very excited to read Amy Spalding's At Her Service which exists in the same world as her previous book For Her Consideration with some pop-ins from a few characters (not a pre=required reading though).

I identify so much with Max (she/her), a lesbian from Kentucky who thought that LA would be her magical queer awakening that would kickstart her life into motion. She goes through a few messy situations until an opportunity to upgrade her life through her roommate's influencer page and she has too little shame not to accept anymore, and it's not like her hot bartender will ever know how she feels after spraying her butt with queso.

Despite all of the ways that I identify with the queer LA/hollywood transplant feels, I don't think I can really articulate how/why this didn't completely do it for me. I think some parts felt stagnant, some plot lines hung in the air for a while, some of the angst felt kinda annoying (i'm not anti angst!), and some of the sentences required double and triple takes. There was also 1 suspected typo/error later in the book where the name Johnny was used instead of Billy (as Johnny is really only used in reference to the bar).

I think I would have enjoyed this book more as an audiobook to sit back and have an actor read me the words (to be fair, I enjoyed For Her Consideration as an audiobook). Is this book bad? No. Is it my favorite book ever ever? No. It's a perfectly valid f/f LA/hollywood sort of romance. I was torn between 3 and 4 stars. Because I tend to be overly critical, I bumped it to 4 because I want more sapphic hollywood trope-y fun.

Congrats to the author for publishing it!

At Her Service was a cute, sapphic romance about Max, a girl who needs a lot of self-help. The storyline was well thought out and the characters were loveable. Max’s plight of needing to find self-actualization was relatable, but the pacing was a little off. The whole book could have used just a little more paring down, and a smaller cast of characters - there were too many to keep track of for the length of the book.

An homage to modern-day love in Hollywood, "At Her Service" celebrates queerness and relationships in the face of challenges that are all too human.

Enjoyed this but the title still doesn’t make much sense to me in light of the story itself. The romance was cute and the spicy bits worked well, just enough not overload and not overdone. The growth of the main character was handled well and I enjoyed all of the peripheral relationships and friendships. A very easy read.

would like to thank netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this awesome book

its a slow burner and sometimes feels like a therapy book but the actual storyline about max and her life is very interesting and compelling

max arrived in LA hoping to change her life around, coming out and making friends and meeting her forever partner, but she felt she sucked at it all

she has a massive crush on sadie the bar tender at her favourite bar and a job that was going nowhere right now

so after a crushing nightmare of a date with someone else she ended up agreeing to her flatmates and for 30 days her life could change...

it helped that her flat mate was an influencer and before long max did find that her life changed and with the help of the app giving her goals to maintain ...things were on the up

until....

have to say at times i felt like i was in therapy but the draw was max and sadie to see if they could work through the issues they encountered... interesting read and cant wait to see what else this author brings out

Shy and lovable Max from For Her Consideration is back with her own book. Max has big ambitions, but isn't sure how to get the job or relationship she wants. She's also smitten with bartender Sadie, who may be interested in more than friendship with Max. This was a sweet book and had a great sense of place in West Hollywood.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

okay i dnf this at chapter 18( roughly 60%+of the book) this author really not me.
first of all this feel for lack of better wording writing wise really harsh especially in first few chapter.
This is also self actualization journey of one Mc's Mac and romance book second and as of now we barely know about other Mc Sadie.While self actualization part is good and isn't outstretched and actually moved surprisingly fast in each section and budding roommates relantaship/friendship seemed great.There wasn't enough of grip to make me finish this. i might finish someday when if audiobook might get made someday.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Solid 4 out of 5. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I feel like the author is trying to tell two different stories at once here, and overall I enjoyed the read, there were definitely times where things got a bit muddled.

On the one hand you have Max, who takes on this massive and very public challenge to find "self-actualization" in all aspects of her life. Watching her take the wheel with her career and find a community in a queer kickball league was amazing. I love this kind of quarter life crisis period of discovery for queer adults (speaking as one of those post queer quarter life crisis adults myself).

At the end of the day I do think the romance between Max and Sadie is good for both of them as they each encourage the other and help challenge them. But getting there was a bit rough to read at times.

Tbh... I want a companion novel from Sadie's POV so we can get a deeper understanding of her.

This book was more than a romance. It was a journey of self-discovery and finding your true self. I loved reading about Max finding herself, love and new found family. One thing I do wish was we got more time with Sadie! Sadie was everything and I'm not saying that because we share the same name lol.

Thank you Amy Spalding and Net Galley for an arc copy for an honest review.

What could have been a really sweet story between two different but ambitious girls turned out a very confused, surface level attempt at romance. Wish the two characters had better conversations and the whole introvert with a list and bar keeper with a minimalist attitude didn't vibe with me. Well, it's still a good read. The writing was good and ofcourse the whole Game (read to know more) was a fun "how do you do". It felt the main characters and their love for each other felt a bit forced and surface level.

Amy Spalding truly knows how to write the trials and tribulations of a queer quarter life character. I recall feeling like Max so many times while reading this story. I couldn't ask for more than that. But then Spalding added Sadie and the romance floated me away. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to Kensington Books and Netgalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

A funny and relatable tale about figuring out life and creating chances for yourself.

I received an advance copy for free from Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Mousy, awkward and not dealing with life in a way she expected to be. Max is 26. Somehow she would have thought she would have had her life on target right now, but nothing is further from the truth. Yes, she is living in L.A. working an assistants job for a Hollywood talent agency. A job she actually loves. But still, Max is the same tiny queer girl that no one expects anything from. Oh and she has the biggest crush on bartender Sadie. A girl way too cool to actually notice her. When her successful influencer roommate convinces her to try out a self-actualization app, Max has no idea what she signed up for. Maybe, just maybe, all she needed was a kick up the behind to make her dream life a reality. Hopefully Bartender Sadie will be part of it.

Everyone that has once doubted their own abilities will recognize themselves in this book. It’s written from Max’s POV and you get an intimate look into her self talk and the way, essentially, she is holding herself back in accomplishing her dreams. I loved reading about the connection Max and Sadie build. They are in the same boat, looking for someone who actually sees them and believes in them.

Max is hilarious but not in a forced way. The dialogue flows easily from funny banter to sensitive subjects. It’s a very smooth read. The backdrop of L.A. is wonderful. Especially as it’s not focused on the well known hotspots but more on the casual vibe that both Max and Sadie have. The bar Sadie works at is one of those important places that helps build the story because of its history and nature.

What I loved most about this story is that, although Max sets out to change herself, at her core she stays exactly the same. She only learns to unlock her potential. And that is something we all hope to do.

At Her Service is a great reminder that anything can happen, once you set your heart and mind to it.

*thank you for the ARC*

This book was already dated from the time it was conceived. While the premise is standard enough, the average of one pop culture reference per page is kind of exhausting. In between the Apple Watch, postmates, Levi’s jeans, Yaris, TikTok, keurig, yeti mug, and whatever else came up, you can piece together the story of oddly average Max and her crush in the local bartender. As she undergoes a self actualization course for her influencer roommate, she grows more confident and life starts turning. The stakes are never high and the characters never get a ton of depth to them. While I was hoping for standard rom com levels of quality this just didn’t hit the mark for me.

While dropping in random pop culture moments that were clearly just author preferences and do nothing but distract is annoying at best, the lack of interesting plot was also hard to get around. Now listen. I’ve read my fair share of these books. I know a thing or two about rom coms. My bar is accurately calibrated. But when you throw so much into the plot that it becomes a trudge and at the same time doesn’t accomplish anything, then I have a problem.

I think it’s been accurately described as lacking romance.

I am also firmly rooted in the idea that authors think they are more clever than they are. Myself included. Giving a character the nickname “BBQ” is just hard to read and takes away any semblance of flow.

Unrelated but a personal pet peeve is the historical commission to save a building plot line only because I work in this field and can promise that it is not like this. It is insanely hard to get in the register for good reason.

This is a very cute coming of age story. Max is deeply awkward, but very likeable. Sadie is quietly insecure but otherwise very perfect. This is basically two awkward, just starting their lives people realizing that being a grown up is hard and that everyone kinda sucks at it. Very sweet RomCom. Loved the whole process of going out to discover your own found family.

My favorite romance I’ve read so far in 2024. Which is no surprise, since Amy Spalding never disappoints.

I related to Max on so many levels: short person woes, never being taken seriously at work despite being a dependable and dedicated employee, having trouble making friends, being too shy and insecure to successfully woo anyone, and needing to cocoon alone at home to recharge the introverted batteries.

Sadie had me smitten from the get-go and is my newest book girlfriend. She’s so fun and sexy, and I was amused by her aversion to smartphones and “robot watches.”

Max and Sadie had excellent chemistry. Their romance was slow burn, but the spicy scenes were worth the wait.

I also was excited to see Nina and Ari from For Her Consideration again. And I enjoyed the camaraderie of the kickball team.

This was very much a coming of age story, even though it’s about someone in their late twenties. Which honestly was super refreshing because some of us well past our twenties are still desperately trying to figure out how to be an adult. I’m not sure that journey ever truly is over.

Honestly, I’m feeling kind of inspired after reading this, as cheesy as that sounds. Maybe I should take some of the advice Max received from her journey to heart.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

This is a cute book with a new adult vibe and lots of angst. I wouldn’t really call it a rom com because Max’s anxiety is pretty over-the-top. Her perspective on the world is so skewed that she should really be in therapy or on medication or both. I’d call the book chick lit more than romance.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

One thing I find when I read a Spalding book - she writes about just existing as a queer person in the world in a way that really resonates with me. There's a lot of honesty in it that I find really enjoyable to read. Max van Doren feels like her life isn't going anywhere because no one else believes in her ability to be more than she is - so after a very bad day she agrees to team up with her influencer roommate to work with app start up You Point Oh to turn her life around. I really like Max's journey toward realizing that part of being an adult is taking responsibility for the things in your life you don't like. To realize that the world isn't going to give you anything you aren't working toward or asking for. I think the romance takes a backseat in this to Max's personal journey, and I did really want to shake her a few times (but that's because I recognized a lot of my mid twenties self in some of her struggles). While I didn't love this one as much as For Her Consideration, I am looking forward to the next installment of Out in Hollywood (maybe about Paige??)

I had mixed feelings about book 1, but I loved Max and was still really interested in reading her book. But I ended up with mixed feelings again. I did still like Max as a character, but this barely felt like a romance for most of the book. So much of it was about Max's job and the self-actualization program she was following, and these things were frankly making me more anxious in an already stressful time.

I think this author’s writing isn’t my style. It’s very flat and unengaging, and the characters just don’t come to life for me.

amy spalding’s writing style is so fresh and relatable. i was rooting for max and sadie the whole time and i loved that they were messy gays!! the spice was very good and the whole book was swoon-worthy. i overall had a great time reading this one and i would recommend it to anyone in search of a sapphic, bartender, queer kickball league, found family, off-the-grid, saving a queer bar, romcom!!