Love in Tandem is a very cute, sweet and heartwarming love story. The story follows Zach and Charlotte as they go on a 500 mile bike ride to win money for Charlotte‘s school music program. The awkward part is that Zach is the brother of Charlotte’s ex fiancé and Charlotte is his brother‘s ex fiancé. The book has lots of cute and funny moments. Charlotte is pretty funny and so is her sister Sophia. Sophia also has her own cute little storyline as well. I wish there was more Sophia and Joshua in the book. I wouldn’t say this is my favorite romance book because at times the story does seem a bit juvenile for an adult romance book, even if it is Christian. I guess I would recommend it with the caveat that it can seem a bit juvenile at sometimes otherwise I’d give this 3 1/2 stars. I did enjoy all the different points of view that were involved in the book, not just the two main characters but you heard the thoughts from supporting characters as well. I haven't read many books like that and I really enjoyed that.

I received this book as an arc from NetGalley.

Charlotte Carter is a music teacher who is about to lose her job because of a lack of funding. So it’s up to her to figure out how to earn the money over the summer. She also wants to avoid her ex-fiancé … which becomes a little more difficult when she meets his brother in somewhat awkward circumstances.

Things go from bad to worse when Charlotte finds herself and Zach signed up to complete a five-hundred mile tandem bicycle ride which, if they can complete the ride in ten days, will earn hem enough to fund the music programme. The catch is that the cycle ride is for couples, so Charlotte and Zach have to pretend to be dating. Pretending should be harder than it is.

Given the title and book description, I’d expected the race to start earlier in the book. As it was, we were a third of the way through the story before the race was introduced, which meant I spent a good portion waiting for the “actual” story to start. As a result, I found the early chapters didn’t capture my interest.

Love in Tandem is a rom-com with an emphasis on the comedy, from Charlotte and Zach’s initial meeting to the tandem bicycle ride. Becca Kinzer says in her author’s note that many of these scenes were inspired by her own long-distance tandem bicycle ride with her then boyfriend (now husband) in 2010. All I can say is that she hasn’t convinced me to take up the sport.

This is the first novel I’ve read by Becca Kinzer, and I thought it was her debut. It’s not—she is also the author of Dear Henry, Love Edith, which got excellent reviews when it released last year. I guess it’s time I put that on my to-read list.

Thanks to Tyndale House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Dnf. I just couldn’t get into this one sadly.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me this arc in exchange for my honest review.

You will want to read this book! We all need some light-hearted humor as a break sometimes. Charlotte has not yet recovered from her fiancé's breakup two years ago, and neither has Zack from his. Who would have dreamed that their ex's would marry each other? Who would have dreamed that Charlotte and Zack would both be at the wedding and that Charlotte would agree at the last minute to be the fill-in maid of honor! What else could possibly go wrong? Except that it does! They are assumed to be a couple and before they know it, they are committed to doing a tandem bicycle ride to raise funds. They wonder how God can help and lead them. Somehow this zany book turns into something more meaningful, endearing and enduring! I'm so glad I did not miss out on this book, and highly recommend it!
I appreciate reading this advance reader copy and the thoughts expressed are my own.

I always want to start my reviews by thanking the author and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book early. A cute, easy, and quick beach read.

This story is such a cute rom-com! I enjoyed the premise of two people fake dating and setting out on a couples challenge to bike the Natchez trail.

I honestly have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, it was a cute, light story, a clean romance, with no hot scenes or major complications. We just follow two people who are going to face a challenge together and at the same time end up falling in love with each other.

On the other hand, I thought that certain parts of the plot would be very unlikely, such as the confusion of couples. Charlotte is Zach's brother's ex-fiancée. Zach is the person who goes with Charlotte to the challenge, who has always had a crush on her. Zach's ex-girlfriend is his brother Ben's current fiancée. Quite a mess, huh?

While things moved very slowly during the book, the next thing I knew we had the L word being spoken and I had to read the sentence twice to make sure it didn't come almost "out of the blue". I was expecting the love declaration to be more beautiful, honestly 😂

Now, if we're talking about Sophia, Charlotte's sister, and Joshua, then yes. The story was already very worth it. I wish the main story was about the two of them 🥹

Overall, it was a good book to read now in the summer, with cute characters full of history. And if you like a clean romance, this is the book for you!

This is the second novel by this author, and I knew, because I've read her other, that I would love this one too!
It's a hoot! I was giggling almost as soon as I started reading, and kept having to chuckle at times, throughout the book.
Charlotte is a character. She makes me laugh. It seems that disasters just follow her. I couldn't help but love her anyway.
And apparently, Zach also felt that way (oh wait.... I can't say more, I don't want to give away the story...)
Seeing how they fall in love was also quite humorous.
The main storyline is the fact that Zach and Charlotte go on a 500 mile bike trip together. (I would just like to insert here that I am pretty sure this is impossible - someone who is entirely out of shape to bike THAT many miles a day) It does make for a funny story.
In spite of all the humor, this book is not all about laughing. There are some serious moments where the author takes the time to show us that in spite of life not always turning out how we'd hoped, God is there in all the moments.
If you are looking to be entertained, then look no further!

Disclaimer: I receive complimentary books from various sources, including, publishers, publicists, authors, and/or NetGalley. I am not required to write a positive review, and have not received any compensation. The opinions shared here are my own entirely. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

This was such a sweet, heartwarming read! The characters were likeable and had plenty of cute moments and I love that it was a clean, Christian romance. I will be looking forward to any future releases by this author!

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the ARC.

I adored Love in Tandem! It was sweet and funny, and I love that it’s a clean romance.

Charlotte and Zach are a bit on the cheesy side, but their banter was playful and realistic. Their 10 day tandem bike ride adventures had me laughing so hard.

I loved the book so much that I had to buy a copy and recommend it to everyone.

Sweet and fun rom-com for lovers of outdoor adventure and happy love stories. I really enjoyed this book. Very swoony and interesting characters.

Expectativas são um negócio complicado. Às vezes são supridas, outras são superadas... mas infelizmente no caso de Love in Tandem foram decepcionadas. E de uma forma que eu ainda me vejo processando, mas vou tentar colocar em palavras mesmo assim.

Antes de tudo, esse foi meu primeiro contato com a autora, mas se não o tivesse feito por ele certamente teria sido com Dear Henry, Love Edith, o qual li muitos elogios. Porém a oportunidade de pegar esse lançamento da autora surgiu e pensei que seria uma boa também, mas eu fui frustrada. Num geral, como três estrelas, é um livro bacana, não me entendam mal. Só que eu esperava tão mais dele! A começar pelo romance que, verdade seja dita, não me convenceu, soou forçado demais e até me irritou em um momento ou outro. A forma como o plot se desenvolveu, com o tal desafio de pedalada em casal e tal também foi meio qualquer coisa pra mim.

Em certo ponto, eu me via rindo sim durante a leitura, uma ou outra descontração inesperada e bem-vinda, mas não foram muitas mesmo assim. E subentende-se que o livro seria um pouco de ficção cristã e falaria sobre família também, mas assim como o romance, esses dois pontos também não me envolveram ou pareceram se destacar de forma significativa na trama pra mim.

No fim das contas, foi uma leitura OK, que tinha potencial, mas pareceu se perder um pouco querendo falar sobre tudo e mais um pouco, ou pela forma rápida ou pouco cativante com que as coisas se dão. Uma pena, de verdade, mas isso tudo é pela minha ótica; tenho visto sim muitas pessoas gostando, então parece não ter funcionando muito é pra mim mesmo, de forma que vou ainda dar chance ao outro livro já citado da autora.

Cute, but I likely wouldn’t re-read. The formatting made it difficult to read and parts of it were just a bit “eh” making it easy to skip over. I think this needs some development to have a better flow for the reader, and make you want more.

I really wanted to love this book and it had a lot of great elements for it was trying to do too many things that it sacrificed doing any of them very well. There are 5 major plot points here and I feel like I got a bit cheated out of getting the full story of all of them. I still liked the book, but I don't feel like I can recommend it.

The pacing also is very odd in this book. We fly through certain scenes and miss any grounding details but then sit in scenes that don't add much to the plot.

Also, this book does touch on faith but in an abstract, non- descriptive way that left me wanting more. There was so much opportunity to handle crisises of faith in an honest God honoring way, but it just teased us with this plotline.

My major takeaway from this is I wish this would have been a series of books vs one book so I could have felt more connected to the character and their stories and there would have been more space to let their stories breathe.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tyndale House for the gifted copy.

We did a podcast episode where we talked about this book! I am enclosing the link!
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Q2VN8T0EO6fuxJ52s3e9X?si=5b993434647f4ea2

Thank you to NetGalley, Becca Kinzer, and Tyndale House Publishers for an arc of this book!

The cover really hooked me! I was expecting a cute fluffy romance which I did get. Aside from that, I got some elements that I was not expecting! I was not expecting the small side plot that we get with Sophia and Joshua. It was so outlandish but I didn’t care because it was endearing.

Another thing I did not expect was that it was a Christian romance! I know that it says it in the description but I didn’t know how much involvement faith would have in the story. It was really sweet seeing the characters change for the better and seeing their faith grow stronger.

Zach was a cute character. He definitely gets points for calming down an upset baby and buying Charlotte cheesecake, haha. Charlotte was such a hopeless romantic. Some of the things she thought made me laugh because it was so delulu. Overall, I enjoyed the characters and was glad I read the book.

This was a cute, sweet romcom! I wanted to love it, but I think it was more of a like/really like for me. Parts I really enjoyed included Sophie's story, some funny moments, and the premise. However, I felt like the book lacked a lot of depth, especially as a Christian romcom. The book referenced faith in a "have faith!" kind of way, but there was nothing more to it. There was a lot going on in the story, and I felt like it was wrapped up way too quickly in the end. That being said, I would definitely still recommend this book to someone depending on their reading tastes. I think this is one of those cases where it just wasn't for me. :)

A failed engagement. A music program that has suddenly lost funding. And a nagging feeling that her parents are not being completely honest with her about something big. You can say that Charlotte Carter has enough problems to handle. But through a strange set of circumstances, Charlotte ends up at her ex's rehearsal dinner that ends with everyone believing that she is dating the groom's brother, Zach...the bride's ex. So, what is the solution to this whole mess of a life? To bike 500 miles with your ex's brother for a chance to win enough money, and then some, to save her music program. This story details that journey and what occurs after the wheels stop turning.

This story was a doozy. The humor did illicit a few giggles. And I actually really enjoyed Sophia's character and wanted to read more from her. And I deeply empathized with the pregnant character craving copious amounts of a specific salsa. I also really loved reading about all the people the couple met on their journey - it added to the wholesomeness of the story.

Unfortunately, the parts I enjoyed pale in comparison to the parts I had issues with. To put it simply, the entire storyline seemed way too far-fetched. The competition, the prize, the parent's secret, even the pastor conveniently showing up to have a heart-to-heart with Zach, etc. And for adults, many of these characters just needed to learn how to speak up. As an example, no power on earth could make me be my ex's new bride's maid of honor. Absolutely not.

The conclusion was very rushed, as if the author was just trying to force every conclusion into a happily ever after. The characters lacked any real growth but made decisions as if they had. And the whole discussion surrounding faith lacked any real depth and seemed to be thrown in as an after-thought.

I did love, though, that the story was inspired by the author and her husband's actual biking trip! Such a valuable addition.

Genuine appreciation to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the advance copy. These were my honest opinions.

This was a great opposites attract, fake dating romantic comedy with a unique spin. Forget one bed or horse and say hello to one bicycle!! Funny and heartfelt. If you loved Dear Henry, Love Edith, you’ll enjoy Love in Tandem! 

I received an advanced reader copy by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was so cute!! Charlotte agrees to go on a 500 mile tandem bike ride with her ex fiancés brother… and it all spans from there. I loved the humor and the concept, but the ending didn’t keep me totally engaged

I received this book as an ARC from netgalley but all opinions are my own