A romcom that takes place in the UK. I liked the banter and humor in this book. She is very insecure about herself and relations to men – friend or more – because of previous encounters. At her new job, she finds a friend in Ross – a colleague. Massive crush – she tries to deny it since he is taken. He has a massive crush on her but thinks she doesn’t. Overall, it was a totally ok book. I liked that the plot was over several months. Other than that, the FMC was quite annoying and immature. A lot of pages dedicated throughout the book for her inner monologue – arguing back and forth with herself which went nowhere. I wish there were more paged dedicated to her actual relationship with Ross – and maybe some from Ross’ perspective.

I did not really like this book. There were so many side stories and a lot was happening throughout the book. Although I couldn’t even finish the book. The writing of the author is not very fast forward.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I’m new to this author so was able to go into this read with a clean slate and zero expectations! This book reminded me of the Bridget Jones series a little, the dreary London office romance vibes were very present and I found Lucy quite un-relatable at first, in the sense that she seemed quite flat as a character and didn’t really jump off the page.

However, I did warm up to her slightly as the book went on, I could relate to her more as she seemed to find her feet and backbone. Generally, I found the pacing a little slow and the plot kind of lacking, slow burns usually have a build up of tension but I felt a real lack of chemistry between Lucy and Ross so the slow burn just kind of never took off for me and I couldn’t imagine these characters having a happy ending or existing in the real world.

A good, easy read for the holiday I was on and I’d definitely read the author again, but this one fell a little flat for me as it lacked that excitement or real romantic spark.

Missed the mark.

I didn’t love this book, it fell a little flat for me and couldn’t really connect with any of the characters.
I will give another book by this author a go because it might just be this book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you for the ARC!

It was an okay book; nothing really memorable but enjoyable. The only thing that got me was how quickly Lucy decided she liked Ross and how little romance there actually was in this book.

this wasn’t bad…it just wasn’t memorable. it really felt like the romance wasn’t the central part of the plot which i wouldn’t mind if there was other character development happening but there just wasn’t. poor poor ross maybe made up 10% of the novel and the rest? well, amelie’s extremely questionable relationship with zack that just goes up in absolute flames, even though it was obviously bad from the beginning and flashbacks from Lucy’s last office relationship that went on throughout the whole book when they a) didn’t need to and b) i just didn’t care. also, the whole ai plot was just weird and resolved way to quickly and just ??? wasn’t necessary ??? oh well, there was a cute cat

I like Lucy. She is sweet. Lucy is quite relatable, too. Sometimes I felt like Lucy is delusional and irrational. I love her relationship with her sister, Amelia. I love how Lucy is always there for her sister.  I liked Lucy's character development. She became confident about her job at the end of the book. I loved that. I like Ross too. He is sweet, kind, and adorable.

The romance between Lucy and Ross is not the main focus. The story is more about Lucy dealing with her feelings for Ross, her relationship with her sister and Lucy trying to save her job.

I wish there were more Ross scenes in the book. I felt like the details about Lucy's ‘relationship’ with her ex were a little bit extra. The fact that Lucy doesn't understand men is mentioned two to three times in the book. I found this repetitive.

Last but not least, I love Astro, Lucy's pet cat.

Overall, I liked the book. I enjoyed the writing. If you want to read a lighthearted, relaxing, and cute romance, then definitely give this book a try.

Traditional format 📕 (digital). In an effort to protect herself from a lay-off, Lucy takes a job as an online advice columnist where she posts as a male. Overwhelmed by dishing out advice from the male perspective she uses AI to help her write her responses. This plot of the book was pretty entertaining. Along with this plot there is a budding romance with one of her coworkers and and another subplot of Lucy’s relationship with her sister.

This mishmash of plots is where the book lacked identify for me: there just wasn’t really a main focus in my opinion. The main romance plot with the coworker was long and drawn out and pretty dull. So after getting through this book and thinking about my rating and review I struggled with how to describe this book. i think it had the potential to be a good rom com but with all the parallel plots it didn’t come together for me and was a little all over the place.

While I enjoyed parts of this book it was just an average read to me and I was happy for the ending to come. An average 3/5 read.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and Net Galley for a digital copy of this nBook in exchange for an honest review

Unfortunately I couldn’t make it through this one. Not hate to the writer I just couldn’t get into it at all!

Thank you to Sophie, the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book, I’m so grateful. I loved this book! It is the perfect holiday read as it wasn’t too tricky to read and I was really blown away by how well this was written.

Unfortunately this book missed the mark for me. It started off with great potential, and I loved the unique concept! However, I felt that some of the plot points were all over the place, and the main character Lucy had a lot of qualities that I did not particularly enjoy.

The writing style in this was pretty good, which is why I found myself wanting to continue reading, even when I was confused about what was happening. One of the main things that I struggled with was the way the plot escalated very quickly with what felt like no explanation or lead up. We started the book with Lucy describing Ross as "middling" aka very run-of-the-mill, ordinary, etc, and very quickly after that she was absolutely gone for him. I felt like there was no build up or realization of feelings, and it left me wondering how we got to that point so immediately.

I also just was not a fan of Lucy's inner monologue throughout the book. There is something to be said for characters who overthink, come up with worst case scenarios, etc. but this felt like she was constantly hanging by a thread to almost... delusions? (I hate that word but cannot think of another emulating how I feel)

I was quite disappointed with this book sadly! I really wanted to love it. I did enjoy the slow burn of Ross and Lucy a lot actually! It was a nice will-they-won't-they pattern in my opinion. However, there were just too many other things that felt random. The entire plot point of the sister's husband cheating on her and writing to Adam, and then her being pregnant and leaving him, was a lot in addition to the main plotline.

This was a 2 star read for me, because I enjoyed the writing style and that led me to continue reading, but overall it just didn't work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this eARC!

The Love Hack by Sophie Ranald is the story of Lucy and Ross who become colleagues and tentative friends. It also tells the somewhat hard to believe story of Lucy's sister. I hope it doesn't sound dismissive to describe the book as a great holiday read; I genuinely men that. It didn't challenge me, but it did keep me reading and I had a great time doing so.

Summary: the story revolves around Lucy, who loses her job as a tech writer at Fab! magazine and joins Max! as an "Ask Adam!" columnist, offering relationship advice to men. Amidst her new role, she encounters Ross, who she starts to crush on, but her past experience with workplace romance stops her from expressing her feelings to him.

Review: I was in the hope for a good workplace romance with this book and while it did have that and a good premise, the execution fell short in some aspects. I initially found it difficult to connect with the characters, but l gradually got there. The development of Lucy and Ross's relationship, albeit slow-paced, allowed for moments of genuine connection.
But then the ending felt rushed and left much to be desired. I especially wished for more romantic scenes between Lucy and Ross instead of having Ross be with someone else for 70% of the book. I did however love the whole office dynamic Lucy had with her coworkers. Although she was the only woman in the group of men, they all made a good team and I instantly liked all of them.

Recommendation: the book offered an engaging read with moments of intrigue and charm, but it ultimately fell short of delivering the emotional depth I had hoped for.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

The Love Hack instantly jumped out at me as my kind of book. As both a fan of romance novels and a bit of a geek I figured that this would be right up my street, however, the book I found myself reading had little to do with love and much less to do with hacking.

The protagonist, Lucy, is a journalist for a women's magazine tech column who finds herself in a bind when her magazine decides to downsize. To save her job, she pitches an 'agony uncle' column and finds herself navigating a new office environment with a group of male colleagues. Settling into her new role Lucy grapples with an avalanche of readers' dilemmas with no idea how to deal with either them or her new co-workers.

Sophie Ranald has a great writing style and this book reflects that, although there are a few quirks. Lucy appears to be written as a stereotypical 'geek'—glasses, a penchant for technology, video gaming, and somewhat terrible interpersonal skills, which border on social anxiety all tied with a lack of relationship experience. Although it's not abundantly clear that this is actually the intention and the lack of clarity often makes her come across as immature rather than just awkward. Her counterpart, Ross, doesn’t fare much better being, at best, emotionally stunted.

The interactions between Lucy and Ross resemble a comedy of errors largely due to their disastrously poor communication skills. This dynamic, while frustrating, does add a relatable and humorous touch to the story. The lack of close friends would normally feel off but in the case of these two characters, actually feels like it tracks.

However, the title The Love Hack suggests to me a fusion of romance and clever technological twists, something which the book doesn’t fully deliver. The actual 'hack' element involves using an AI chatbot to help write answers for Lucy's column—a premise ripe for hilarity that sadly wasn’t fully explored. Moreover, the romantic element is extremely thin, mostly focusing on non-romantic relationships such as family and pets.

A side note that might concern some readers is the casual and occasionally comedic mention of terrorism, which might feel out of place for those who prefer to keep real-life events out of their reading escapades.

Overall, The Love Hack is an easy read, though it falls short of its promising premise. It might aim for a slice-of-life feel—though Lucy managing on a single journalist's salary in London is a stretch even for fiction. Tech enthusiasts might also find certain portrayals anywhere from a bit oversimplified to downright inaccurate, yet it still offers some enjoyable moments for those looking for a story of personal growth amidst workplace challenges or a downright awkward protagonist.

"The Love Hack" is a charming slow-burn romance that effortlessly draws readers in and keeps them engaged until the very end. Lucy Hack finds herself on the brink of losing her job at a magazine, prompting her to take on the unexpected role of the voice behind "Ask Adam," a men's advice column. Despite her lack of expertise in the male perspective, Lucy, with the support of her quirky friends and AI technology, dives into the challenge.

As Lucy navigates her new role, she also grapples with her own romantic misfortunes and insecurities, particularly in comparison to her seemingly perfect sister. Enter Ross, a funny and intriguing presence in Lucy's life who sparks butterflies in her stomach – if only he were available.

While the plot follows familiar tropes of office romance and the will-they-won't-they dynamic, Lucy's column writing steals the show, offering witty insights and posing thought-provoking questions that resonate with readers.

With its relatable characters and engaging storyline, "The Love Hack" is perfect light summer read! Many thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this delightful novel.

his book was a cute British workplace romance.

Lucy is a columnist whose job is about to be downsized. Her employer is giving her 3 days to pitch an idea so that she can keep her job. With the help of her sister she comes up with an advice column for men called “Ask Adam”. The only problem….Lucy knows very little about men. With the promise of help from her sister she makes the pitch and she gets to keep her job. Things go well until her sister gets married and tells her she can no longer help. Add in the huge crush that she has on her co-worker Ross, and you have a cute story of growth, and understanding.

As Lucy woks with her male co-workers she starts to better understand her “Ask Adam” audience. With the help from AI she becomes more comfortable responding. That is until she gets a letter from a newly married man who is not happy and thinking of cheating on his new wife that sounds achingly familiar to her sisters new husband. With the help of Ross she navigates this horribly difficult position.

The author did a great job making Lucy relatable. I felt every heartache and disappointment that she faced right along with her. I liked Ross but I wanted to shake him at times. The author gave you great clues to let you know he was interested in Lucy but due to her inexperience she didn’t recognize them.

Overall this was a good read. The characters had great banter. If you like a good workplace romance you will love this book.

2.75⭐️ out of 5
I didn’t love this book. The book is centered around the FMC Lucy who gets laid off from her magazine Fab! as a tech writer and joins the brother publication Max! as an Ask Adam! writer, providing relationships advice to men . Lucy is incredibly immature and inexperienced for her age and vibes with someone in her very early 20s, not someone who is nearly 30. She was burned by a prior office romance aka office hookup, and now has significant insecurities with men and essentially plans to be the single cat lady. Older but not wiser, she’s again crushing on a new coworker and all the awkward moments that follow. She’s uses AI to help with writing the column since she has nearly no experience with men- romantically or platonically. The book premise has promise but was not well executed. Lucy is written to be that awkward inexperienced woman who slowly learns about herself and gains confidence, and I felt myself eye rolling often; she is not a likeable FMC and was cringy at times. My favorite character was her cat Astro, and I did like Ross. I thought I would really enjoy this book but it didn’t deliver. I liked the last 25% the most, the writing and story telling did improve some. I would have liked some chapters from Ross perspective, or at least less pages of Ross and his ex and more of the progression with Lucy

TW: 9/11, bombings

Tags: Office romance, slow burn, clean romance

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and Storm publishing- thank you!

Such a well written book. I could not put the book down once I began reading it. I cannot wait for it to be released. It will be a perfect summer read.

This book fell right in the middle when I view the category of romance books.
I liked the idea and how the characters interacted with each other. The author is great at building tension and that kept me reading. But I had a hard time connecting to Lucy and Ross. I can’t point out a certain thing or moment but it didn’t click. The story was good yet predictable.

Easy read and I liked the interspersing of the letters to Adam. It was an interesting story although the idea that she didn't know it was the anniversary of 9/11 whilst in New York was a *bit* far fetched. I liked the resolution of the story and how the characters grew in confidence across the book.