This book was like a warm hug! I thought that this was such a cute idea. If you love Dawson's Creek, you will love this book! Once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. Thanks so much Random House and NetGalley for this ARC!

Have you ever wanted to just hop into your favorite show and give it the ending it really deserves? Or wanted to give it an ending overall since it got cancelled?

Imagine being transported into your favorite television show and living out the main character's life. I adored this premise because I have felt the same way at one point in my life. This novel alternates between Brynn's and Josh's points of view. Both are characters that you can fall in love with. Brynn is struggling with her new life which means the loss of her best friend after her divorce and a roommate, Josh. Josh is a bartender struggling with the loss of his father and his family's bar. They both get transported into Brynn's favorite television show, which was canceled years ago. What follows is a magical rom-com that I adore.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this ARC. Prime Time Romance is a cute, easy, sexy read - perfect for a cozy weekend or little escape when you need one. Brynn has a slight obsession with her favorite old TV show Carson's Cove (which I basically assumed was similar to Dawson's Creek, not that I watched much of it) where high school kids fell in and out of love, did things they shouldn't have and learned the consequences, had some scary moments and some exhilarating moments. Throughout it all there was that one couple that seemed perfect and meant for each other. It was Brynn's comfort watch until she ended up actually in Carson's Cove with her hot, bartender plutonic roommate.

Being forced by a demented, and somehow magical, background character/actor to take the lead role in the show many years later - Brynn, now Sloane, is meant to find her happy ending with Spencer. But Brynn quickly finds out that the TV happy ending she's been longing for all these years isn't really what would make her happy anymore.

I liked the story and it was a bit fun to enter into the world of Carson's Cove but nearly everything was predictable. Again, it is a fun, easy read for when you want something to escape into. Ultimately, it just isn't one I'd rush to tell my friends that they had to read.

Dawsons creek coded
Make a wish and have the wish come true but it isn't what you wanted
Grand gesture

Wouldn't it be fun to wake up in a tv show? But what if it's not what you imagine and everything isn't as perfect as it is on tv? The town good girl falls for the town baddie

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

dnf'ed.

the premise sounded so cute but for some reason this did not hook me at all. i didn't enjoy the MC, the characters didn't really feel like real people and i couldn't believe the "i know nothing about my roommate" to now we're instantly flirty and into each other right at the beginning.

maybe i will try to revisit this in the future to get further in the plot, because it sounds SO cute, love the ode to the early 2000s movies/tv shows, but this just fell flat from the beginning to me :(

I was surprised by how enjoyable Prime Time Romance was, it is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year so far.. This story starts off quickly and just keeps going - there were no lulls where I found myself getting bored.

I've not watched Dawson's Creek or a lot of the other nostalgic shows that the author mentions at the end, but I could really feel and understand the connection that was intended with the comfort shows.

I really enjoyed the dual POVs of both Brynn and Josh - rather than feeling like we were re-hashing the same story, we really got to see their different takes and struggles with the world we were thrown into. Brynn wasn't my favorite at first, but I did enjoy her growth as a character throughout the book. Without spoiling the story, she really does become a great character to read while she see's things in a new light.

The "magic" that transports them is never really explains (and something feels a bit sinister) but that made me enjoy it more.

Rated 4 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ebook ARC.

Do you have a comfort show you always go back to? Bryn definitely has one since she was 16. Bryn is now recently divorced. She just turned 30 and no one really remembered her birthday except for her mom. At midnight, a mysterious birthday cake arrives. When she wishes to get “her perfectly ever after”, Bryn and her roommate Josh then wake up inside her favorite show where everything’s perfect. The show got cancelled with the biggest cliffhanger. Forced to impersonate the show’s main character, Bryn realizes the show’s main characters’ lives may not be as perfect as she thought.

I actually went in blind into reading this one. I received an email from the publisher with the suggestion, and decided to give it a try. The first three chapters got me intrigued. Then I got to uber guy / cake guy, and his “I’ll send you home once I get the ending I want”, and I’m not sure how I felt about it. I didn’t really feel much chemistry between Bryn and Josh. Often times I felt like there was a lot happening too fast with the plot and not enough at the same time. I didn’t really connect with the story, nor the characters. I’m sad to say this one didn’t work out for me.

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

2.25/5 stars
I really wanted to love this book. It started out with such promise, but very quickly turned… weird.

Brynn, a divorcee with no real friends, makes a wish on a candle for her 30th birthday and is transported to the world of her favorite teen drama from her childhood. With a sudden cancellation, the show never got the ending that the audience wanted, so she has been sent, along with her roommate, Josh, to live out the perfect ending for the main character of the show.

The “magic” is perpetrated by someone who is a real person in the real world somehow and isn’t explained at all. There isn’t any allowance for growth of the characters, since every time they experience growth, they are threatened since that isn’t the “happy ending” the characters are supposed to have. And there was too much time spent on the pageant and Spencer, the male lead from the show that the main character “should have ended up with”, which meant less time spent building the relationship between Brynn and Josh (or even between their “characters” on the show - Sloan and Fletch).

Overall this book had some good moments, and I liked Brynn and Josh. Unfortunately, for me several things just fell short, and I felt the focus was less on the romance and more on a fake character arc (i.e. Sloan’s rather than Brynn’s),

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC of this book!

3.75 ⭐️
Brynn makes a wish on the night of her thirtieth birthday for her happily ever after. But when she wakes up, she and her roommate Josh wake up in the small town her favorite show is based in. Brynn comes to realize the town isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and she and Josh need to get home as soon as possible.
This was a really quick and light read, and I enjoyed it. I feel like the romance between Brynn and Josh went from 0 to 100 real quick, with declarations of love appearing very quickly. But overall, it was a cute, fluffy read.
Thank you to NetGalley for sharing this arc with me.

2.5⭐️It was so refreshing to read a book where they were in their 30’s and it was normal to not have it figured all out! I thought the concept of the whole story was so original and a fun spin on a romcom. As a Dawson’s Creek fan this felt so nostalgic and even though I felt some parts were really slow and it didn’t do a great job of holding my attention. I liked the creativity and I did like main characters, even though I wasn’t overly invested in them, I think they could’ve used more development and more chemistry between the two of them.

title: Prime Time Romance

author: Kate Robb

publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback

publication date: September 3, 2024

pages: 336

peppers: 3 (on this scale)

warnings: vomit, drinking and binge drinking

summary: After her divorce, Brynn spends as much time as possible watching her favorite teen series, Carson's Cove, in which everything ends happily ever after, except the actual show, which ends without the two main characters ever getting together. On her thirtieth birthday, after a dud of a night out that ended with her roommate's having to bring her home, she makes a wish to live in the perfect life of the show. Of course, she wakes up there the next morning, as the star of the show, with her roommate, who plays the hapless bartender/town bad-boy. In order to get back to her real life, she has to win the heart and happily-ever-after of the show's teen heart throb, which shouldn't be hard, as he's just as good looking as he was fifteen years earlier.

tropes:

friends-to-lovers
magical wishes
teen tv
living in a tv show

what I liked:

both main characters
fun references to teen shows

what I didn’t like:

a little obvious

overall rating: 4 (of 5 stars)

I really enjoyed the millennial nostalgia of this book. I’m a sucker for dual POV. Growing up in a small town, I have a soft spot for small town romance. Can’t wait for more from the author.

"Prime Time Romance" caught my eye because of its cute cover and the fact that I follow the author on Instagram. This novel has an original premise: Brynn and Josh are roommates who are slowly becoming friends. One night, they sit down to watch a popular Netflix show, "Carson's Cove", which is a popular rom-com similar to "Dawson's Creek" and "One Tree Hill." When they wake up the next morning, they have somehow been transformed into the magical world of Carson's Cove. As they're trying to figure out what is happening, they rely on each other more and more, and their friendship begins to transform into something more.

I enjoyed how unique this storyline was, and that it was an original idea. Unfortunately, I didn't really feel any chemistry between Brynn and Josh. I think with some more edits, this could have been a really good book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Recently divorced and having no real friends, Brynn is spending her 30th birthday with her roommate, Josh, watching her favorite teen show, Carson’s Cove. After a birthday cake is delivered for her and she takes a bite, Brynn and Josh wake up as characters in the fictional Carson’s Cove.

Brynn believes they can find their way home if she can just reunite the main characters and give the show a happy ending. This was a charming romance with some funny situations and dialogue. I can't say I enjoyed Prime Time Romance as much as Robb's earlier book, This Spells Love, but it's a quick, sweet read with the magical elements I enjoy. 3.5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House, for this complimentary ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

OMG, you guys!! 📚✨ I seriously could NOT put this book down! Picture me kicking my feet in the air during those swoon-worthy moments—talk about getting my cardio in! 💖 This book had me hooked from page one with its whimsical charm. It gave me all the nostalgic feels of 90s/2000s sitcoms, where the town's sweetheart falls for the boy next door. But let me tell you, Kate Robb added her own unique twist, and I devoured every bit of it! 😍

I finished this gem in one sitting because I just couldn't get enough. If you loved the magic, romance, and wittiness of Ashley Poston's The Seven Year Slip and The Dead Romantics, then this book is a must-read! Trust me, you need this book in your life! 📖💕

I haven't read Kate Robb's debut book, but after reading Prime Time Romance, I am definitely getting my hands on her first book ASAP.

I love that Kate Robb puts a magical spin on her alternate universe story lines. They bring in the fun without wreaking havoc on the character's reality, making the stakes a bit lower than they would be otherwise; keeping it light despite the heavy topics and feelings discussed.

I loved the premise of this book with a 90's/00's teen drama backdrop, but I had a tough time connecting with the two main characters. I think if they had more contact before the shift into Carson's Cove it would have felt more like falling in love than base attraction, but with how little they interacted their feelings were sudden and out of place. The individual character development was steady outside of the romance, so even if their relationship felt too deep too quickly with limited interaction I could still see them bonding together and becoming more one day.

This was a quick happy read with a great message about taking chances in reality vs the perfect scripted dream and while I wouldn't re-read this book iteself I will definitely be picking up the next Kate Robb adventure - I love her style!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review

Review to come.

Love the cover✔️
Interesting description ✔️
New Author to me ✔️

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC ❤️

After reading the blurb I got ‘Pleasantville’ vibes and I loved movie so I was looking forward to this book. The writing is good, the overall story was fun, and it was a fairly quick read. I did struggle getting through the second half a bit, but I’m glad I kept going.

This book was SOOOOO adorable! I really enjoyed reading this new to me authors writing. While I went into the book blind, I was pleasantly surprised with the storyline and the development of the characters. I loved the magical realism and second chance elements. Although at first I wasn’t quite sure where the story was headed. I ended up really liking the ending and how it wrapped up!

Prime Time Romance was one of the cutest, and most endearing romances I have read in a long, long time! If you are a fan of Dawson's Creek, Gilmore Girls, Seventh Heaven, or any of the shows that fall along those lines, then you are going to EAT THIS BOOK UP. It was such a unique concept that I was sucked in immediately. I loved getting to experience Brynn and Josh's love story in a way that felt funny and unique, while also giving me the Pacey Whitter ending that my heart so longed for.

If you like magical realism, unique storylines, romantic comedies, and all of the tropes that make a small town rom com gold, you will love this one. I enjoyed it and flew through it!