I enjoyed this very unusual premise book. Brynn and Josh are roommates. She obsessed with a TV show set in Carson’s Cove where the show ended without the main characters, Sloan and Spencer, getting together. When a surprise birthday cake comes, Brynn wishes for a HEA for her show.
The next day, she and Josh wake up in Carson’s Cove. Brynn is Sloan and Josh is another character. They can’t go back to their lives until the show ends with an HEA; Spencer needs to declare his love for Sloan. Brynn and Josh develop feelings for each other which puts the plan in jeopardy. Can they figure out a way to end the story with an HEA and get their own happy ending at the same time?

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

First I want to say thank you to the author and publisher for an ARC of this book!

This one was more of a miss than a hit for me. I really loved the premise, but the execution fell a little short in my opinion. The plot was awesome - Brynn's life is a disaster. Her “friend” group forgot her birthday and she’s a recent divorcee. She feels like her life is falling apart and that she's a total wreck. She finds a lot of comfort in binging her favorite show, Carson's Cove, to make believe that she has the perfect life. So on her 30th birthday, that everyone seems to have forgotten about, her roommate Josh asks her to make a wish on a candle from a "magical cake" delivered by an Uber Eats driver. She wishes to "finally get the perfect ever after"

The story then follows Brynn and Josh as they are sucked into the world of Carson Cove and the plot twist? They cannot leave because they have to make the perfect happy ending happen for the characters of the show.

Like I said, I think this is a great premise, but the way the book flowed it just missed the mark a little bit for me. It was also longer than it needed to be in my opinion and I would have loved a little more "romance" with that word being in the title. Basically it just came off as two people who found each other attractive. Most of the "romantic" scenes felt forced.

3/5 stars for this one!

I really have enjoyed Kate Robb; she is an auto-buy author. This book gave me 2000s TV WB vibes, and I fell in love with it. A divorcee finds herself in the ideal world of her favorite soap, letting us know if love on the small screen is better than the real thing. I read this super fast and its perfect for this fall.

Tropes:
-Slow Burn
-Second Chance
- Dual POV
-Spicy

Arc received from the publisher; all thoughts and opinions are my own. I have purchased my own copy.

Prime Time Romance by Kate Robb is a low stakes magical-realism romance for all the people who can't stop binge watching their favorite shows from high school. I like how the main characters expectations were subverted, showing the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Though I sometimes found the pacing off and the mental gymnastics of the main character dizzying, it was a really fun read!

Prime Time Romance is a charming rom-com following Brynn and her roommate Josh who are transported into a world based on her favorite teenage drama show, Carson's Cove. They will not be able to leave until the two give the main characters the happily ever after they deserve, However, as Brynn gets close to her love match, she finds that all she wants is to stick by Josh's side instead.

On the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Brynn is recently divorced and living with a roommate to make ends meet. She spends most nights binging Carson’s Cove, her beloved 2000s teenage soap that unexpectedly ended on a cliffhanger. To her, the show is an escape where everything works out in the end - unlike her own life. When a mysterious birthday cake shows up on her doorstep, she makes a wish, and wakes up in Carson’s Cove (along with her roommate, Josh.) Brynn and Josh quickly find that they’re characters in the show, except Carson’s Cove isn’t as perfect as she’s always thought. But to get home, they’ll need to give their characters the happily ever after the fans have always hoped for.

Okay initially I wasn’t super sure about this concept, but I ended up loving this unique twist on a rom com! When Brynn and Josh entered the world of Carson’s Cove, they become two of the main characters in a ploy by Sheldon (a frequently featured extra) to create a happy ending viewers never got to see. Brynn becomes the female protagonist, Sloane, whereas Josh becomes Fletcher, the bad boy of the group. Sheldon really wants to see Sloane declare her love for Spencer, the male protagonist and her best friend. Initially Brynn is all in on fulfilling that expectation that never became a reality thanks to that cliffhanger ending. But up close, the facade of this perfect town starts to fade. Meanwhile, living in Fletcher’s shoes, Josh begins to work out some issues of his own.

The whole time I was reading this I could swear it was a cross between the teen angst of Dawson’s Creek, the small town of Gilmore Girls’ Stars Hallow, and the movie Pleasantville, where two teens get sucked into a tv show and cracks begin to form in the perfect 50s world! I was so pleased when I read the author’s notes at the end to discover the author took inspiration from all of those, plus some other early 2000s favorites.

This was seriously so fun and I loved the message in the story. Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

4.5⭐️

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚! 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬). 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐫𝐲𝐧𝐧’𝐬 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰, 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 “𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐲”—𝐁𝐫𝐲𝐧𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭” 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒦𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝒷𝒷, 𝑅𝒶𝓃𝒹𝑜𝓂 𝐻𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Kate Robb for allowing me to review this adorable romance. I love Kate Robb’s writing style. Her last book was 5 stars and my favorite romance of the year, and this book is just as wonderful if not better. It will for sure be my favorite romance of the year! I love how sweet and cute her books are. They are wholesome and make you feel good when you read them. They also have a bit of a magical realism twist to them which I love! I can’t wait to read more from this author to see what she comes up with next! Thank you so much for allowing me to review this book. Everyone who loves romance and magical realism needs to read this one!

Who hasn't wanted to go back and "fix" one of their favorite shows? This book gives you that set up, with the FMC and MMC stepping into the "lives" of two of the main characters of said show. I wasn't one for teen dramas but I'd absolutely like to go back into a drama show and fix things, so this book gave me the warm fuzzies!

I really enjoyed the author's first book <i>This Spells Love</i> and couldn't wait to read this one. As someone who grew up watching a lot of the classic 2000s primetime teen dramas, I loved the premise of the book and was sold the second I read the name of the show Brynn was obsessed with. To be fair, I was already interested after reading the author's dedication.

The first part of the book sets up the characters' backstory and is super promising:
-Brynn is picking up the pieces of her life after her divorce and finds comfort in binge-watching her favorite teen drama, Carson's Cove.
-Josh is Brynn's roommate who has his own heartbreak to work through.
-A wish is made and they are stuck being characters in Carson's Cove 15 years after the show aired.

The magical realism the author creates in her stories is wonderful. There's a bit of magic, but the characters are usually very capable of being logical and rational. It works for me and I'm able to set aside the unrealistic magical timeline to focus on how the characters work their way through their problems. They act their age and learn a bit more about themselves and what they want in life as the story progresses.

We get this in <i>Prime Time Romance</i>, but the characters' development was unfortunately overshadowed at times by the Carson's Cove storyline. I would've loved to see more about the characters outside of Carson's Cove, but it was still an enjoyable book and I read the last third in practically one sitting.

3.5 stars rounded up, though I can't say for certain which of the author's current titles ranks higher for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book a lot! I am absolutely a pop culture girly and all the little references to other shows/movies, I died for! This was definitely a cozy romance to me and I did feel like I was watching something like Dawson's Creek. The vibe of this book was exactly what I was looking for.

However, I was not a huge fan of Brynn. In the end there was definitely some character development which I was happy to see. Specifically I didn't think it felt realistic for her to be so wrapped up in falling in love with Spencer the whooollleee book. There were quite a few times where she was like "I don't think I even like this guy." Then don't try to be with him!!! Long story short, I feel like for being a 30 year old divorcee, her need for a relationship with Spencer felt very high school. And maybe that was on purpose because she was in Carson's Cove and things are meant to feel that way.

I. Loved. Josh. He honestly might be my favorite male main character that I've read in a while! No notes.

This book was all around a fun read! It gave me everything I usually look for in a TV show and I loved that it had a little bit of mystery to it!

I really enjoyed this book. Very lovely story and cute characters.
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for my copy

I really liked this book. It was very entertaining to read. I really like the dynamic between the two characters. It felt very nostalgic to me.. overall, it’s a very cute fun read.

Dawson’s Creek was literally my guilty pleasure growing up! That, Saved By The Bell, and Gilmore Girls! I am a sucker for magical realism and this book did not disappoint! I connected with Brynn in so many levels and that’s something I search for in a book right off rip! Carson’s Cove filled me with the best nostalgia! I read This Spells Love by the same author last year and loved it so I went into this with such high expectations and it definitely pulled through for me! Any 90’s kid would love this book! If I could wake up in Dawson’s Creek, Saved By The Bell, or Gilmore Girls I would have a stroke! I definitely recommend this to all my girls! You’re in for a treat!

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is honest, unbiased, and completely my own.

i loved this so much. it’s like reading your fav 90s/2000s sitcom and being in it just like you probably always wished. i got so many vibes from dawsons creek, the OC and i loved the reality spin on it - i LOVED the ending and brynn so much. she made a little home in my heart, and i absolutely adore her and josh’s growth/ relationship.

This probably won’t be a popular opinion out there - but I did not enjoy this one at all, and it took me a lot of putting it down and picking it up again to eventually get through it… yes, it’s compaired to the beloved classic movie pleasantville, but I’d also say some awful, cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies, where characters make a wish and wind up inside, either the show, snowglobe, etc.

The storyline has been done before, and done much better (pleasantville, most definitely, did it the best)… and while the plot tries to mimic what would happen when a superfan is trapped inside a show that was suddenly ended on a cliffhanger, and how she, the fan, might end it on a better note, 10+ years later (a la a reboot or similar), it just wasn’t executed very well.

Characters had very little depth, there was zero chemistry, across the board, and it wasn’t interesting or exciting or giving much to hold onto to get to the end. I had a hard time finding a reason to finish, other than it was an arc. If it wasn’t, I would have returned it. If you desperately still want to read this one, skip the $16 Zon price tag (it’s not even KU!), and get it from the library! I give it 2.5-stars, generously rounded up to 3… and I was looking forward to it, with this blurb!!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, and this is my honest feedback.

3.5 rounded up

This was a pretty cute read. I love magical realism and the idea of the MCs being trapped in an old teenage drama show setting essentially because of an obsessed extra from the show was pretty humorous.

I liked the separate growth that each MC went through, but when it came to the romance it didn't so much hit the spot for me. They basically went from strangers who were roommates who never talked, to professing their love after spending just a little bit of time together in Carson's Cove - the relationship development just wasn't there for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Rating: 4/5
Spice Level: 3/5

Brynn is not doing well as an almost 30 divorcee who has selfish superficial friends and spends most of her time watching reruns of her favorite show. So when a cake is delivered on the eve of her birthday, she makes a wish for everything to be perfect, to live in a world where everything works out eventually and true love really exists. And bam, she wakes up inside her favorite tv show Carson's Cove. But Josh, her roommate, is also there and they are told they must play their parts as Sloan (the girl next door main character in love with her best friend Spencer) and Fletcher (the lovable screw up bad boy) and give the show a happy ending where Sloan and Spencer finally end up together. Only slowly Brynn realizes that this perfect world isn't so great.

This is a fun book where the two main characters both have their own stuff to work through but support each other along the way. I wish the book was longer because their romance did feel kinda rushed and there weren't as many relationship building scenes so it was a lil abrupt. However, the ending was super satisfying for all parties which is rare. I think this book demostrated that people aren't always as we remember and that can be good or bad.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this arc! All thoughts in this review are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Prime Time Romance" is a delightful blend of cozy magical realism and nostalgic nods to the teen dramas that shaped our youth—hello, Joshua Jackson! Kate Robb's concept is fun and engaging, celebrating the TV romances we all swooned over. However, the inclusion of multiple teen dramas ultimately overshadows the main premise and leads to some plot inconsistencies.

Focusing on just one of the shows would have created a more immersive experience, allowing readers to fully dive into the world of "Carson's Cove," which pays homage to "Dawson's Creek." It would have been wonderful to truly feel the nostalgia of Capeside.

The conflicts presented are very much in line with classic teen drama tropes, prompting readers to wonder, "Is this really a conflict?" This playful approach adds a nice touch. Interestingly, there are some spicy scenes that occur about three-quarters through the novel. While they seem aimed at shock value, they ultimately come off as rather mediocre—though I suspect this may have been an intentional choice by the author.

Overall, I’d rate this around 2.5 to 2.75, rounding up to a 3. The premise sparked great conversations and was genuinely enjoyable, but it fell a bit short of its potential.

Brynn thought she had found her happily ever after, but as she nears 30 and finds herself divorced and living with a roommate to make ends meet, Brynn realizes she’s only really happy these days when she’s binging her favorite 2000s teen drama series, Carson’s Cove. Even though a lot of fans are frustrated that the series ended on a cliffhanger, Brynn still loves it. When a birthday cake unexpectedly shows up at her door, Brynn wishes for a happily ever after of her own and is beyond shocked when she wakes up the next morning in the world of Carson’s Cove. Not only is she there, but her roommate Josh is there as well, and even stranger, they aren’t just themselves. Instead, they’re also Sloan and Fletch, two of the leads in Carson’s Cove, and they are tasked with giving the show its long awaited happily ever after.

I thought the premise of this book was so fun and unique, and it was very entertaining to follow Brynn and Josh as they try to make sense of this fictional world they have been plopped into, while at the same time, trying to figure out why both of them were sent to Carson’s Cove. I really enjoyed their chemistry and seeing them work through their own feelings (including feelings for one another) against this Dawson’s Creek-like fictional backdrop.

I loved all of the nostalgic vibes of this story, especially the 90s and 2000s pop culture references. I would have liked a little more spice in the romance, but that’s just personal preference, and I still really enjoyed the story as is.

If you like magical realism, teen drama shows like Dawson’s Creek, and small town romances, I think you’ll enjoy Prime Time Romance.