Member Reviews
I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.
This book kicks off the Glam Fam series. It is the first book I have read by this author and I had a lovely time reading it. Casey is a celebrity fashion stylist and loves her job. When she gets a big hit from one of her clients, she's desperate to find a new one. She manages to land a new one, and a big one at that, tech giant Evan Chen. Only problem is he never agreed to hire her, and that makes her job next to impossible to do. But Casey doesn't give up and kept trying to do her job. As she does so, she becomes aware of other dangers to his company, and Evan and Casey team up to try and save his start up. As they do so, sparks inevitably fly between them and even though Evan kept trying to push Casey away, he can no longer deny his feelings for her.
The banter between Casey and Evan was witty and had me laughing so many times. The chemistry between them was strong, and I enjoyed seeing their relationship blossom into something more. An adorable, entertaining story with a lot of heart. Really enjoyed it!
I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.
Thank you to NetGalley, Geek Chic Publishing, and Alyssa Jarrett for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
This was an enjoyable debut novel from Alyssa that featured two magnetic main characters and a quirky cast of supporting characters working together with fashion and technology to create a dynamo upper management team working together to save the company of the MMC, called EC.
The FMC, Casey, and the MMC, EC have instant dislike towards each other, but they have a very captivating pull towards each other that cannot be denied. The dislike to lovers was a fun journey to read about. I was not expecting some of the twists about the main characters, but I enjoyed each of their arcs individually and together as a team. The only downside is that they ran very hot and very cold towards each other in equal measure, which at times was a lot to process and remember throughout the book. The detail was well described, however, and I could truly visualize both the luxury goods and the city of San Fran, where the story was set, which brought the book to life.
This book had nice representation of a variety of characters of different backgrounds, genders, sexualities, and more, although most everyone is from very comfortable socio-economic backgrounds or at least dabble in the world of luxury goods. There is spice in this book, with several open door scenes with the two main characters.
This book was a quick, fun read that brought a lot of laughter.
The book overall felt like a dud to me… Casey and Evan’s relationship went from hating each other one moment to being in love and in a full-blown relationship at the flip of a dime.
The storyline was fun and interesting, but I felt like more development could have been put in to make it flow better.
What an amazing book. I liked how they had the app. I love the characters. This book is one I would definitely recommend. This is the first book I've read by the author, and I'll definitely be reading more books.
Love Apptually tells the story of a celebrity stylist who takes on a new job of styling a tech CEO who is extremely resistant to the idea - until he’s betrayed by someone everyone trusted and she has to help him rescue his company.
This was a lot of fun, especially if you work in the tech industry - so much of this book felt very familiar to me. I loved the parody “articles” about the industry between chapters - they felt like something you might actually come across on social media.
"Love Apptually" is Alyssa Jarrett's debut novel. I see a lot of promise in her writing but I don't think that this book was its best showcase. FMC Casey is a stylist who has built her career styling her childhood bestie until her bestie decides to go in a new, boyfriend-influenced direction. MMC Evan is a tech wunderkind and CEO of a company on the brink of making it big. Casey is hired to style Evan and ends up helping him save his company and fall in love.
The focus on the clothes worn by Evan and others in this book is really over the top. It is hard to find chemistry between Casey and Evan when she constantly complains about his wardrobe choices. The glam squad is a little vacuous and the method of corporate sabotage unrealistic. The tech bro vignettes don't really add to the story, even if they are somewhat amusing. I did enjoy the discussion of women in the tech field and the AAPI representation.
2 stars. I am curious to see what Jarrett does next. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. These opinions are my own.
Summary:
Casey Holbright is a fashion stylist for her famous best friend, but soon she's in search of a new job. She ends up working for Evan, the CEO of a tech start up. Unfortunately he wants nothing to do with her style tips and would like to keep wearing his gym attire to meetings and around the office. Will Casey be able to convince him to ditch his cargo shorts for suits or is she embarking on an impossible mission? Soon Evan's business is in jeopardy and they have to team up in order to save it.
Review:
I really enjoyed this book! I read it in a day or two because I needed to know what was going to happen between Casey and Evan. I loved their banter and Casey's go get em attitude. There is also some found family aspects with the side characters that I really enjoyed. It's such a cute romance with some mystery involved. If you love enemies to lovers and grumpy/sunshinw tropes like I do, you'll love this book! There's also some mystery solving and saving Evan's business where you don't really know what's going to happen next, which was exciting and kept me reading.
this is a cute, fun, sweet story! I had a bit of a hard time getting into this one, with a lot of technical terms I didn't really get that led me to skim some of this story, but the characters and romance were so cute and fun to read. I love Casey's determination, despite all the setbacks, she refuses to give up or back down in achieving her dreams. This is especially true in her relationship with Evan, once they fall for each other. Her and Evan have such a snarky and fun (to read) start, getting on each others wrongs sides, but eventually can't help but fall for the other in such a sweet and tender way. I absolutely loved the way Casey and Evan stick up for each other and be such a strength for the other.
Overall, this was a sweet and fun story, and I look forward to reading more from this author!
Thank you for the ARC :)
Stylist Casey has a new job with Evan. but all is not as it seems, and together will they unravel what is happening before it is too late? I liked that their is an epilogue from Evan's point of view.
I received an advanced copy of this ebook from the publisher for my honest opinion. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This is a fast paced and will keep you turning pages wanting to read more. I absolutely loved this authors writing style. It is set in California mentioning Paris, France, Texas, and New York. This ebook is going to be in stores on May 21, 2024 for $4.99 (USD).
I thought there was a lot to like about Love, Apptually - a very promising premise, all the start up vibes for better or worse, and two characters that I enjoyed getting to know along with a cast of fun side characters. The story itself had all the hi-jinks of an early 2000's rom-com. I appreciated seeing Casey's growth through her experiences at Habituall and I loved the balance + tension of fashion, tech, and matching up your insides and outsides in the pressure cooker of silicon valley. It's clear that Alyssa Jarrett gets what that tech life is all about.
The book is not without it's hiccups - the chemistry between our main characters is a little lacking in some key moments, the plot twists get a little extreme toward the end, and we don't get quite enough depth to giuve Evan and Casey's relationship verisimilitude, but honestly, these didn't prevent the book from being a good time! The book is an extremely good debut and I'm excited to see what Jarrett puts out next!
I really enjoyed the storyline, as it was a bit different to other out at the moment, plus the characters were all very likeable. It was a bit weird having magazine or book excerpts at the end of each chapter as they didn’t add anything to the story, but were just an unnecessary distraction. There are 2 graphic sex scenes in this book, but the reader could skip these without losing any of the story, if so desired. Overall a very enjoyable and original read
3.5 stars rounded up.
Casey Holbright is a stylist for her socialite best friend, until her friend decides to try another direction. Scrambling for a new line of income, Casey lands herself a job updating the style of a start up’s entire executive team, particularly the founder and CEO, Evan, who is content to live in his frat boy gym bro lounge style at all times. Among contentious battles over style and spicy tension breakers, a plot to run Evan out of the company is uncovered that forces a different kind of teamwork.
I liked Casey as a professional. She really seemed to know her stuff when it came to the importance of a stylist. I’ve always been fascinated by fashion and styling and how it can be used to express multiple layers of an idea and direction for a person and setting. It can obviously be very surface level, but when elements are cultivated with purpose fashion and stylistic choices can speak volumes. I was impressed with how well Casey shifted gears from the socialite lifestyle to the Silicon Valley tech world. It was more proof that she knew the depths of styling. She was a bit extreme on the prickly side at times when it came to Evan, but it did show that she believed passionately in her work.
I enjoyed the corporate takedown/espionage/hostile takeover part of the plot a lot. It was fun, it was witty, and it helped establish a bond between Casey and multiple characters, including Evan. As for the romance part of the plot, I didn’t fully buy into their relationship development. It felt disjointed at times with lots of back and forth from 0-100. I eventually felt more of a connection between them as they tried to save Evan’s spot in the company, but not as strong as I would have liked.
Overall, for a debut this was very promising. I feel like Alyssa Jarrett has a unique voice and style to her writing. It’s clear she is familiar with or did significant research into the topics she worked into her plot, and that is something I’ll always appreciate from an author. Thank you to NetGalley and Geek Chic Press LLC for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this light and fluffy rom com read. The main characters are all likeable, the writing flows well and I was quickly immersed in the story. While definitely having a lot of comedy, this book deals with real life issues of racism and sexism in a well thought out way. The story is captivating and I did not expect all the twists it would have. An excellent debut novel and I am excited to read what the author writes next.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this eArc in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly I loved the concept of this book and enjoyed many parts of the story. For me there was just a lack of filler that made the story feel a bit rushed in the beginning and to the point where I was getting insta love vibes in some parts. I still enjoyed the story tho!
This was a very cute, fun book! I loved the differences between the main characters and how that really made them stronger in their relationship. The title is what drew me in initially and I wasn't sure at first, but after the couple of chapters, I really fell in love with the characters!
Thank you to NetGalley and to Geek Chic Press for my digital ARC!
I tried so hard but at 67% it was a DNF. Casey and Evan are disjointed and have ZERO chemistry. Casey is all about what the person is wearing and only seems to think of Evan as good looking when he is wearing the right clothes which comes through as shallow and vain.
There is a constant element in the book about sexism and racism and doesn’t feel as though it is woven into the story properly.
I couldn’t understand why the random articles were at the end of the chapters they were irrelevant and not interesting, they didn’t seem to add anything to the story.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, this is my honest review.
Celebrity stylist Casey Holbright & glam fam go separate ways for the summer and she scores a gig styling the executive team of Habituall, namely the founder and CEO, Evan Chen. He's her worst nightmare, wearing cargo shorts and basketball jerseys to the office and stubborn to change.
There's tension, friendship, work/life balance, deep thoughts, doing the right thing, racism, sexism.
The San Francisco tech scene and place descriptions are SO SO good.
This book was cute! I honestly did have a hard time focusing at times, but the ending was perfect! I really loved Evan as a character. I’m glad everything worked out in the end!