I really tried to like this one! It felt like there was so much potential and yet it was very rushed & confusing for me especially at the end. I will still be intrigued to see what Siedler does next because there was genuine humor here.

An enjoyable and fun read with celebrities, fitness, romance, health challenges, and healing from past traumas.

When a celebrity (Jake) has to shed pounds for a new role, while dealing with a secret health condition, he returns to his home town to stay at a fancy all-included multimillion dollar sports complex where his buddy works. He struggles to hide his health condition from the business' owner/trainer (Rayah) who has her own struggles (financial and past trauma) that she is trying to overcome. Rayah and Jake quickly dive into flirtatious territory and become more than just workout friends.

This book does a good job talking about what it means to be healthy, prioritizing your medical conditions and working with them, and how to embrace found family. It’s full of cutesy nicknames, small town characters and charm, and even a baby pig! Highly enjoyed, would recommend.

Overall, I thought this was a cute read!

I was hooked immediately from the beginning, and then sadly lost momentum during the middle of the book. I did feel a little disconnected because it felt too insta-lovey for me.

However, i felt that the humor was so fantastic throughout the book. Eva truly delivered with her witty writing and it made for an enjoyable reading experience.

I loved the POTS representation throughout the book. It was real, educational, and I loved that people who pick up the book will be able to learn about POTS.

Overall, there was a lot of potential, but fell a little bit flat for me. I am very excited to see where Eva's work goes from here!

Thank you NetGalley, Eva Siedler, and Entangled Publishing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really loved this book! The premise was new and cute, and I loved the main characters, side characters, and even the goofy supporting characters. The found family Rayah has is so beautiful, and I loved how easily Jake/Chris was incorporated into that. I want books on all the Explosion family!!!

My only gripe with this book was that it was in third person. It was really hard to follow at first with the Jake/Chris name debacle, and I really have a hard time with third person POV. I’ll never understand why authors choose that route, but other than that, I really loved this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for providing the ARC.

I was initially drawn into this book based on the premise, but the more I read of it, the more I realized how much I disliked it.

I felt like the plot for this book was happening too quickly and so disjointedly that I had a hard time keeping things on track. Rayah seems a bit insufferable and naive about the people around her. Jake/Chris moved in way too fast for my liking and it felt almost like an instant love connection, just not as apparent.

Overall, not my favorite book.

Work It Out by Eva Siedler was such a delightful read!
I absolutely loved this book. It hooked me and kept me turning pages until I was done. Finished it in two days! The character development was strong, and the premise was unique. They were well written and the plot moved along at a great pace.
I loved the characters, setting and how it dealt with real life issues.
The romance was entirely addicting. I couldn’t get enough of Rayah and Jake’s interactions. The cuteness and yearning was all impeccable.
The writing was also so enjoyable in this book. Eva Siedler's writing style just flowed for me, and I loved every second.

Thank You NetGalley and Entangled: Amara for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book on #NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Work It Out is a cute RomCom story with lots of drama, passion, friendship, & some hilarious characters. There are actually so many different characters in this story it was hard to remember them all & their connection to the storyline.
Relationship goals are how I would describe this story. Overcoming obstacles & being able to lead a meaningful life on your own terms is what we all strive for, as well as finding a significant other that brings out the best in you, even when you thought there was nothing left to love.
This was my first Eva Siedler story & it definitely won't be the last.

I liked a lot about this romance between a B-List actor and a feisty woman running a fitness center in a small town who agrees to (hopefully) get him ready for a film role as a superhero. There are plenty of issues in the way: he has a medical condition that makes traditional training more difficult, she has family and past issues that keep catching up with her, his agent is a jerk, plus...they don't want to fall for each other but absolutely do. There were a lot of characters to keep track of - employees at the fitness center, townspeople who visited, friends - but overall it was a good read that tackled some tough topics.

This was open door, but not too spicy. Note that there is mention of past sexual assault of our main female character, so some readers may want to skip this one.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and netglley for letting me read and review.

Man, what a good book. Finally some disability representation in the male protagonist.
Here is a list of the things that I absolutely loved: the pig, Zandar, the accurate representation of getting in shape, the Hunt and of course CUPCAKE!

Also, I really want to read a book about Samuel and Vicky, they look so cute together. Samuel literally has my heart, he deserves the world.

This book is for the fans of Set on You by Amy Lea, and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you netgalley and Entagled for the opportunity to read this book.
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I loved the premise of this book but unfortunately the execution fell short.
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The romance between Rayah and Jake just didn’t feel authentic. And by 37% I was completely over cupcake. 😬
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This unfortunately was a miss for me.

I enjoyed the POTS expect, as someone who works in cardiology, it was nice to see it depicted in a book in the right way.

I found the story slow and a little dull. I wasn’t invested in the characters or the relationships. I didn’t care for the town or the gym enough to hope Rayah didn’t go under. I was missing the connections.

3.25 stars

Work it Out has witty banter, disability rep, and a whole lot of heart. It also has a bit of a pacing issue (primarily in the back third), which is reflected in my rating.

The writing is sharp and the main characters definitely have chemistry, and they both are dealing with real-life problems. I found myself laughing out loud multiple times; others, I teared up. And the small-town elements will delight anyone who likes a small-town romance.

Overall, I’m happy I read it and appreciated the witty dialogue. And I’d be delighted to revisit this world to read about other characters this author has created.

Thanks to Entangled and NetGalley for the ARC.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

This is my first Eva Siedler book and I look forward to more books by her. It's a perfect read for those whose goals is to get fit and strong or holding their breath that they will marry a famous person. The book follows Jake Newman who has to get into shape for a new movie role. So he goes home to get fit and his trainer happens to be cutest , witty and former gymnast Rayah . It's a romance book with so many layers as it also deals with imposter syndrome, family bonds and perseverance. Quite a well written book.

Rating: 3.75

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice level: 🌶️🌶️

Read if you like:
▫️dual POV
▫️short and sassy heroine
▫️great banter
▫️found family

This book started off strong with a quirky small town, a cute nickname, and forced proximity that lead to a nice slow burn. In addition, I love sports romances, and this was a take on it that I haven’t seen before: a female trainer has to get a male celebrity in shape for an action role.

Rayah is small but mighty. I loved her spunk and determination. She is so strong, but also damaged and slow to trust. That was a nice reversal of the usually grumpy x sunshine trope.

Jake was a cinnamon roll hero with the personality of a golden retriever. But, he also struggled with a chronic illness and had to work really hard to overcome that mentally, physically, and emotionally. I hadn’t heard of POTS before reading this book, and I love the representation!

I wasn’t expecting the exploration of really deep and traumatic issues that Rayah faces, but I’m glad it was there because I feel like it’s not talked about enough.

Overall, I liked the book, but I didn’t love it. It felt like there was too much shoved into it for a contemporary romance, which led to some pacing issues.

Thank you to Entangled Publishing, NetGalley, and Eva Siedler for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Things to love about this book - Rayah and Jake have great chemistry, flirty at first and deepening gracefully. Jake’s POTS is great representation and adds an interesting layer to him trying to get into superhero shape. Rayah’s found family is big and loud and wild and so much fun.

The cons - a little bit of instalust/instalove. Each of the characters at the gym is interesting enough for their own story, and there were moments I was more interested in them than the leads. Hopefully, we see more of this gym and this weird little Arizona town. But because there were so many fun and funny characters, there were times I felt a little out of the loop, as if the world had been built but the pieces weren’t Always shown to the readers. Maybe that was an issue of pacing? It’s certainly not an issue of the characters being likable, because they are.

Readers should absolutely check out any content warnings for the book. Some very heavy topics such a sexual assault, PTSD, verbal and physical abuse, and blackmail are very prominent parts of the plot. I do think the author handles the topics well and with sensitivity, but they could still be very difficult for readers who find them all too familiar.

I really wanted to like this more than I did, but I think it will be a hit for a lot of people.

I loved the premise, the setting, and even the framework for our main characters, but so many things felt disjointed for me and at times. For me, there were too many plots trying to come together and they conflicted with the tone of the book. I enjoyed some of the bater and humor, but overall I just couldn't connect with this story.

At times our MMC felt like 2 different people and it made it hard for me to believe the romantic element of this book. With all that being said, I appreciated the representation of POTS with our MMC and some of the darker issues that we were able to get glimpses into with our FMC.

Okay yeah I’m DNFing this at 5%

I was a little apprehensive to pick this up because the premise of an actor needing to workout to get a role felt like it could toe the line of fatphobia but I heard that this was going to have POTS rep so I figured I’d give it a try.

Then we have the mc Jake calling the fmc Rayah “tiny and feminine” so he wants to put her in his pocket to protect her and comparing her to Keebler elves (which felt so weird).

Then we also get Jake’s best friend talking to Rayah about Jake and saying the line that ended it all for me. Rayah asks if he’s serious about something and Jake responds “As the early-onset heart disease we’re saving him from” which was an instant ick and i noped out of there.

Thank you for gifting me a copy of Work it Out for an honest review.

From someone who is an active and an avid gym enthusiast, I don’t think I enjoyed this book. There was a lot of talk about diet culture that I don’t think was needed or could have been avoided. I found that the characters fell for each other fast and I was confused as to how they connected so fast. The chemistry between the two characters was not something I enjoyed.

There were some quotes that were deeper that I enjoyed and connected with.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled publishing for an e-arc of this book. all thoughts are my own and not influenced in any way.

This was a romantic comedy with a not-so-slow (more like medium) burn between a rising actor and a young owner of a fitness training club. The actor is up for a role in an action movie and heads to this studio, to work out with a friend of his who works there, to bulk up for the role. This book starts out very light-hearted, with the common rom-com tropes of secrets, which severely impact both the main characters and does cause the book to take a heavier tone toward the last third of the book. This is the part of the “boy loses girl’ part of stereotypical rom-coms. As a previous writer noted, there was a lot packed in the book, which is relatively short and moves the book away toward a different feel and style. Although both characters needed to have their secrets to drive the story forward, it does and can catch the reader off-guard. Overall though, there are charming parts of the book including the quirky small-town characters engaging in a fun annual community event. The book is worth a read, just be prepared for a bit of clunkiness.

I really wanted to like this book but I couldn’t get into it. I’m an avid reader that can normally get though a 400 page book in less than 2 days, but I felt every second of this book. The perspective made it a little hard to follow and I stumbled a few times wondering whose thought process we were in.

My initial thoughts were that there were far too many characters to keep track of. I kept getting the guys mixed up and found myself frustrated that I didn’t know what was going on. Especially because a few of them had similar names. They felt very generic, but they all had a sweetness to them that was endearing.

While I loved the concept of the book. I was struggling with how long the plot dragged on. I love a slow burn as much as the next person, so it wasn’t a matter of there not being enough romance for me. The entire plot just felt like it took a long time to get rolling. And then by the time everything is happening, there’s so much going on that it’s hard to follow.

I wanted Rayah to find out Jake’s big “secret” much quicker. The entire time he spent hiding it I was dragging myself through the book. Especially because it’s revealed right away to the reader what’s wrong with him and his close friends spend a lot of time whispering about it. I think the storyline would have benefited from a little secrecy. Instead I just found myself being frustrated that he was putting his life in danger for a movie.

I don’t really know how I feel about the conflict at the end. I wish there had been a little bit more to the resolution. All in all the book is okay. I’m so very grateful that I had to opportunity to read this book. It just wasn’t for me