This is a fun and light book which ultimately left me undecided on whether or not I actually liked it

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
This was a wonderful book and I'll be purchasing it for the library!

Book: Compared
Author: Kortney Keisel
Rating: 4.5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5

"I've decided there's nothing sexier than a man snuggling his son close."

This book was sooo good!

Was sweet, adorable, deep, had a good plot, flow, awesome characters, and amazing banter.

I loved the MMC so much and his relationship with his son. I couldn't imagine the struggles that he was going through/went through, and I find him very relatable and well thought out.

There were some awesome side characters (FMC'd dad) that I loved and I would definitely pick up another book by Kortney Keisel!

You get:
• Short Read
• Sweet Romance
• Single Dad
• Widow
• Forbidden Romance
• Forced Proximity
• He Falls First

I highly recommend this book and you can pick it up off Amazon! KU, ebook & paperback!

"You're right I don't need you. I see that now. But Meg, I want you. You're the person I want to be with. The person I want to turn to when I've just won the championship. When the entire team runs to the pitcher or to the kid who just hit the home run, I want to run to you. You make everything better. You make the losses bearable and the wins complete."

It was a good read but I found Meg annoying and felt bad for Anna Mae. Also Tyler honestly not caring if Meg lost her job was annoying as it was obvious how much she loved being a teacher.

https://theknittersbookshelf.com/books/compared/I’ve really been looking forward to reading Kortney Keisel’s work after seeing a lot of rave reviews. Compared is a sweet romance between Meg an elementary school teacher who was recently dumped by her boyfriend and whose mother just passed and Tyler a widowed single dad. I absolutely loved both of these characters, they are sweet, hard-working and lovable. Overall I did really enjoy this book and look forward to reading the others in the series. Meg is sweet and warm, it is easy to see why she is one of the favourite teachers at the school. I also loved her relationship with her siblings and found her feelings around her widowed father's new dating ventures to be very genuine.

Tyler is struggling to find the work/life balance after the death of his wife. I loved his relationship with his son as well as the friendship he developed with Paul. He really is a cinnamon roll. I did find it charming how he pursued Meg and made it clear he wanted to give their relationship a chance, they were adorable together.

** spoilers **
There were a couple of things I struggled with in this book. The school where Meg works has no fraternization policy when it comes to parents and educators which makes perfect sense. This causes some issues between Meg and Tyler who are obviously attracted to each other but due to the policy cannot act on their feelings. Knowing a violation of this policy is cause for immediate termination I feel Tyler especially is being careless. If he truly cares for Meg he shouldn’t have pushed her the way he did, especially with his family connection to the school his actions were highly reckless. I personally would have preferred them to petition the board for an exception and possibly have Tyler's son moved to another class. It really didn’t make sense how easily this “strict” rule was able to be bent with very little consequence.

👩‍🏫💐sweet and chill 30yo romance, it was cute but too cringe and red flagish for my taste

starts off with her assaulting him, quotes :

"I'm sorry about forcing myself on you."

"I'm the worst. Worse than the worst. I forced myself onto a grieving man."

and he just forgives her and brushes it aside bc she's hot 🚔 anyway moving on from this first offense, it went on pretty nicely with many interactions and dates but turns out too many bc for the following 2/3 of the book they're like a couple of teenagers flirting about, even with the kid and the secrecy, speaking of :

"You'd think I wouldn't feel this way with a seven year-old sitting next to me, but you'd be surprised."

😟 ooooook moving on we get a villain that's supposed to be an understandable, pitied villain as the mother-in-law acts like a bitch and constantly brings FMC down so that she won't get together with her son-in-law (since he was married to her deceased daughter). her "apology" and redemption is nowhere near enough to forgive how awful she was to both of them.

I did expect more spice but it's not even closed-door so the best you'll get is a kiss and an arm brushing, fair enough not everyone wants to read / write spicy books. it did get repetitive pretty quickly at least in their lovey dovey phase, kissing on the counter, kissing on the couch, kissing against the fridge, etc etc

and finally the cringe, I couldn't deal with the pass the apple scene because wdym you're rubbing yourself against each other in front of a whole class of kids and several parents 💀💀 I wouldn't have quit the game even if I was playing with my bf. and I can't forget the worse-than-Alex-Volkov-singing level of cringe with the public apology please-come-back speech she does in front of the whole school. quote :

"I only love two things : my students and Tyler Dixon."

oh, did I forget to mention she has a loving, adorable, supportive, wholesome family???? apparently so did she 😃 the family were the best side characters and brought a lot of fun and sweetness and emotion, especially the dad and I was very moved to read that his character is inspired by the author's own dad who passed away a month before being able to read the book. the whole grieving mourning aspect was a lot and very touching, I found it well depicted and I wanted to cry several times, feeling the FMC's pain and grief as if it was my own despite never having to grieve someone this close to me. quotes :

"No woman compares to my mom."

"She's not my competiton. She's my friend."

I loved this quote, it was really important for the story to address how people can feel differently when their loved one move on even though they don't.

anyway it was pretty nice, short enough to not be a big deal but definitely has its red flags..... last one for the road :

"If it means that we can be together, then yeah, I'm okay if she gets fired because of me."


[review posted on goodreads and will be posted on tiktok and instagram]

The cover is what made me want to read this, its bright, cute and colourful!

It was a fun read, with cute characters. Had a good mix of romance and comedy, if I had to say something I felt that was missing would be just a little bit of spice.

If you like these tropes, you will enjoy this book:
- romcom
- single-dad / single parent
- forbidden love
- closed door romance
- work-place romance

This closed door romance was absolutely perfect. It does deal with the loss of a spouse/parent so be warned. There are a few other complications as well but it is totally worth it. I loved this book so much! I thought that this is one of the best books I've read so far this year!
I just reviewed Compared by Kortney Keisel. #Compared #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Didn’t like this. Kinda whiny. Plot conflict was her trying to not compare herself to wife #1. Relationship wasn’t deep.
No spice. They make out once. Didn’t hook me. Really cringe-y.

I think this book is the epitome of what happens when you find a new romantic partner who is widowed. Meg and Tyler‘s story was not an easy one. Meg being Tyler’s son’s teacher with a no frazernization rule and Tyler being a widow was not an easy feast. Yet they couldn’t not act on their attraction. I was so sad for Meg when she was compared to Tyler’s wife who was ‘perfect’. I was glad when they fought through this. I also liked the friendship Tyler formed with Meg’s dad.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the book.

Before I start - TW: grief/loss of a parent or spouse & cheating

This book has many elements; one being a very easy to read book filled with love and banter and laughter and another being filled with loss and pain and grief

It’s really hard reading about loss so I could only imagine how hard it is to write about it and sound sensitive in the matter since it’s a very fragile topic. Kortney Keisel did a fantastic job portraying the two very different emotions in this book

I think it was great that both MCs had gone through something familiar and outrageously similar, that being in each others proximity was easy and it helped both of them.. They healed each other; they were the light in each others’ darkness and I just think that that’s beautiful

The depth in this book is mind-blowing. How everything intertwines.. It really is something

Tyler spoke volumes. The “great dad” award will definitely go to him and just the way he flirts and swoons over Meg literally made my heart tingle

The awkward meet and the fake proposal and the Lord of Darkness texts live rent free in my head!

What a great way to start the new year!

i had mixed feelings about this book, i enjoyed a lot of it but it was a little too much for me. I love Tyler he was the perfect book boyfriend! Meg was great but frustrating at times. Loved the real life struggles in this book with grief and how they were handled. The humor lightened the heavy plot and it was really enjoyable read! I just personally wasnt related to the characters - the writing was great i just dont think this one was for me!

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for allowing me to read this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

In Compared, we meet Meg and Tyler. Meg is a teacher who recently lost her mother and Tyler is the father of one of her students who recently lost his wife.

While there is an undertone of grief it does not dominate the story. While this is a cute story, I wasn’t blown away or hooked into the story. Being a second grade teacher, I thought I would connect with the main character but I had a hard time connecting with her. I didn’t always feel the chemistry between these two. I usually read a rom-com and find myself smiling or laughing out loud. This book didn’t have me do either. Again, there was nothing wrong with the book, it was just okay. This book is clean with no spice. I did like the side character of Meg’s dad though.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for letting voluntarily read this book and give an honest review.

Humorous and relatable as a teacher - hah! I mean relatable as a teacher as in I can see how her thoughts go from one to another to another in the span of .5 seconds, but toss in a single dad who is gorgeous and generous, and you have a sweet romcom! The banter between the two was wonderful, and the relationship development was pretty good. It could have used more, but overall, it was still a cute book! Thanks for the opportunity to read!

This one just wasn't for me at the time. Being a mood reader that happens. I will try again at a later date.

3.5 stars to Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op. I totally enjoyed Taylor if I was willing to date single fathers I totally would lol. This book was such a easy read it just flowed that I read it in one day. I cant wait to read the rest of the series.

•book review•
compared | kortney keisel

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

let me start this review by saying that we hate zak. do you hear me? we hate him.
if christopher ever drew diagrams as a way to explain our relationship to me???? like???
bye girl.
I’d split so stinkin quick there’d be skid marks.

on the flip side,
tyler is EVERYTHING. he’s adorable, such a great dad, and I mean.. that punch? 👊🏻😍 so happy tyler gave that dude the knuckle sandwich he deserved

I freakin adore meg’s dad. he’s the sweetest

this book reminded me of that movie with emma stone and ryan gosling. you know the one? the one with the lift? and steve carell?
anyone?
i definitely could have looked it up and it would have only taken .2 of a second but i mean, who’s got the time. ya know?

anyway,
if you’re looking for a swoony closed-door romcom filled with with banter, and your daily dose of cheese, this is the book for you.

thank you to kortney keisel, and netgalley for sending me an arc of this one 🤍

4.5 stars, rounded to 5

As a teacher myself, I absolutely loved this book and I want my life to become a romcom where I fall in love with someone at work.

TYLER. This guy is a big ass flirt! He falls first and HARD for his son's teacher, while also dealing with the grief of losing his wife. I also fell in love with him a little bit. I usually hate a third act break-up, but I could see this one coming from a mile away and it was completely necessary. Meg needed to get a handle on her emotions without being in such close proximity to Tyler. The secondary love story between Paul and Anna Mae perfectly complemented our mmc and mfc, and it helped paint a picture of how differently people handle losing a loved one and finding new love.

Gave a 4.5/5 only because (as a teacher) there a few things that were not realistic at all to teaching, but I loved the book any way!

Read if you love:
Teacher X Single Parent (and student's dad)
Widower romance
He falls first
Forced proximity
Crazy MILs
Grief/Loss
Clean romance (no spice)
Books under 300 pages

This is the first book in The Sweet Rom Com series and also my first by this author. It was just a sweet and cute story, and I had such a good time reading it. The story deals with death and grief, and moving on, but it wasn't all doom and gloom. There were a lot humorous as well as fun moments that brought a lightness to the story. Tyler was a great character, sweet, kind, and caring. His love for his son and the great relationship he had with Krew just melted my heart. I loved way he was patient with Meg and kept trying to gently convince her that they belong together. I didn't much care for Diane's attitude, though. I understand she missed and grieved the loss of her daughter, but it was unnecessary and insensitive of her to make Meg feel as if she would never measure up to her daughter. So glad she finally came to her senses!
The story pulled me in from the very start and kept my interest till the end. I wouldn't necessarily categorize it as a rom com, but it is a very sweet and clean contemporary romance with many humorous moments woven in that made me smile and laugh. An adorable and heartwarmingly sweet story that I am glad to have had the opportunity to read. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series!
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

I received the ARC eBook of this title from NetGalley & Victory Editing Co-op after it's release, so it has been available since January 2022. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

This was a quick forbidden romance read that touches on the loss of a spouse (Tyler's) and the loss of a parent (Meg's) and the grief that remains. Tyler is a single father who falls for his son's teacher Meg although there's a strict rule by the school stating that parent-teacher relationships are off limits and will result in immediate termination of employment. I thought this was a touching story but Tyler definitely has some red flags by the middle. The two didn't have crazy chemistry for me and even though it's a closed-door romance, I felt that the romantic aspects could have been stronger. However, the emotional journey the characters are on was well done. All in all, it was a nice romance story and a quick read!