Member Reviews
The Love Hack, a romcom story that starts with Lucy have a career switch after loosing her position in a magazine and ends up taking on a men advice page called 'Ask Adam'. She moves up a floor to the new magazine and is surrounded by the team of men, which is where she meets Ross.
At first she is doing ok with her replies asking her sister for advice at times too but the. When she moves to NY she turns to a AI Bot for help.
The storyline moves on at a steady pace, with a hitch in-between when she reads a 'ask Adam' email she thinks is from her Brother In Law and send her to NY to investigate, a surprise visit from a certain someone when things didn't go quite to plan!
The romance itself was obvious but I think it was a bit rushed and didn't make me feel like a connection for Lucy and Ross to be together.
Overall an enjoyable read
Thank you to NetGalley for the download
3.5 stars
This was a quick read for me! A clean romance featuring Lucy. She has a job pretending to be “Adam” and answering relationship questions for a guy’s magazine. Some of the submissions had me laughing out loud and her responses were good! It was refreshing to have a character who was constantly around men but didn’t make her appearance everything.
However, I felt like there was a lot going on, and Lucy’s story wasn’t the one I was most interested in. I felt like her romance was more of a crush and there wasn’t a ton of development in how the relationship grew. I was more intrigued by Lucy’s sister and what was going on with her.
Overall, a good, quick, clean romance. Thank you so much for letting me read an ARC of “ The Love Hack!”
I'm puzzled about how Ross and Lucy's relationship developed; they barely shared any scenes together. Ross has like 10% scene time in the book and mind you, he was supposed to be the MMC. Honestly Lucy's cat had more scene time than Ross itself.
The slow burn build-up wasn't worth it because once they got together, we hardly got to see them in a relationship.
For most part of the book Ross was in a relationship. Hence, this books mainly consisted of
• Astor ( the cat)
• Her sister's marriage
• Lucy being insecure
• Lucy reminding herself that Ross was off-limits.
• Lucy mentioning how bad she is at understanding men.
• Tiniest scene of Ross and Lucy together
.....and that's it
Lucy is the biggest delulu person I've ever read about. I mean if you talk to your crush and afterwards, he kisses another girl, that isn't his fault.
This book was supposed to be funny according to the genre, but where's the humor? If the commentary during the bomb scare was meant to be funny, then I must have a different definition of "funny".
Additionally, I didn't warm up to Ross much either. Why couldn't he just be honest about his feelings? In the end, he admits that he wasn't sure about his relationship with Bryony and liked Lucy, but still wouldn't end things with Bryony because it's okay if the girl you like thinks you're off-limits. Bravo!!
Thank you net galley, storm publishing and Sophie Randal for a copy of this arc.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC of The Love Hack.
I devoured this book. It was really fun and charming. I loved the connection that was forming between Lucy and Ross. It was really cute.
I wanted to love this book. I thought the premise was intriguing. Unfortunately, I didn't fully believe in the connection between the two main characters. It was too slow with not enough tension for me. The plot was also really predictable which is not always a bad thing but in this case there were too many places where I thought "Oh okay so this thing is going to happen now". There was also way too much exposition/back story about the FMC's previous relationship. I understand providing context for why a character is doing what they are doing (because of previous bad experiences) but it was so much and went on for so long. There was more "spice" between the FMC and her horrible manipulative ex then her and Ross. I didn't want to read about that, I wanted more scenes with her and Ross to build a connection.
Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an ARC of this novel.
3.5 stars for a cute, fun read that I would recommend to others that love a chick lit British romance.
The premise was really original with introverted Lucy writing a male advice column in a last ditch effort to save her job.
The story did a good job of weaving the advice column articles into the plot, and also kept the momentum through additional plot points such as a Lucy’s relationship with her sister and Lucy’s work crush.
There were a few place where the story did lag towards the end and I found myself flipping ahead. Overall though, it was a cozy romance!
Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an ARC.
The concept was interesting: a tech journalist finds herself writing an advice column for men with the help of AI, but I found the plot predictable and the protagonist a bit tiresome with her constant self-doubt and imperceptions. I would’ve appreciated some more focused attention on AI’s role. Overall, it was a fun but ultimately forgettable read.
This book was cute. It's your classic rom-com office love story, but with that extra sprinkle of charm. Your perfect feel good, relaxed read. 💖
It's the kind of book that puts a smile on your face and you go back to it when you’re feeling a bit down. 😊📚
If I had to nitpick, I'd say a clearer divide between past and present would've been chef's kiss. Didn’t like the sudden switches between Lucy’s present thoughts and her daydreaming of her past moments with Kieran for example. Had those moments had dedicated sections, I think they have made the book a much more fluid read overall. That’s why I had to knock off one star. ⭐️
But I found it cute.
I devoured this in one day! I just couldn’t get enough, the twist and turns throughout the story. The different themes touched upon through the book, it was phenomenal! Feel so lucky to have had the chance to read this before its publication in June! Truly beautiful, heartwarming and heart wrenching at times!
This was a quick and easy romance novel. I didn't like Lucy, the main character, in the beginning of the novel but her character development was really great to see throughout the novel and I loved her by the end. I feel like the dialogue could be cleaned up a bit before publication as Lucy repeats often that she "doesn't know men" throughout the novel.
Was an easy light hearted read. Was easy enough to read but not sure I bought into it all! Thanks for the early read net galley!
Thank you for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately I DNF this book; it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect with the character and felt like the story didn’t make much sense.
Lucy almost felt obsessive with Ross even though she barely knew him, I just couldn’t understand her reasoning to be upset or jealous at times. She felt quite childish and selfish.
I didn’t understand how she managed to get the role she did, she had no experience on the topic, she used other people and AI to answer the column articles. It just felt a little off, I just couldn’t see this happening in real life.
It’s a shame as the synopsis ticked all the boxes for me and I really wanted to love it.
"The Love Hack" proved to be a delightful and breezy read!
The tantalizing glimpses into Lucy and Ross's relationship are enough to make you want to shout, "please get a room already!" Their endearing interactions left me craving for more. This book is great for you if you are looking for an easy breezy read, like the office setting or simple need a “palate cleanser” after reading a book with heavier subject matter.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
If you're a romance fan, especially in an office setting, than this is a feel-good, easy read. I loved Lucy and Ross together - so much so that I wish they got together far sooner! Her 'Ask Adam' column was also a fun addition scattered throughout the chapters. Perfect for a chill evening in, it's worth giving a try.
To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Lucy. There’s times when I can completely relate and other times I wanted to be like “ girl, get it together!”
This book was ok for me but did fall flat a few places where it felt drawn out and other parts I was all about it! Def would still like to see more from this author!!
First off, Thank you Sophie Ranald, Storm Publishing, and Netgalley for giving the opportunity to read and review this ARC!
"The Love Hack" was a quick and easy read for me! The little snippets you get of Lucy and Ross relationship will really have you screaming, "JUST KISS ALREADY!". I found their interactions to be too cute, and it just left me wanting more! Ask Adam definitely added a lot to the storyline. Overall, I enjoyed this book, just wanted more of the romance with Lucy and Ross!
This was okay. Not the best. It was a little too all over for me. It was hard to tell if Lucy actually liked her co-worker or not and if that was the main story we should be following. Good effort just really missed the mark.
"The Love Hack" by Sophie Ranald is a delightful romantic comedy that explores the complexities of love in the digital age. Lucy, a rookie advice columnist, finds herself doling out relationship tips to men online while navigating her own romantic dilemmas. When she meets Ross, her charming office crush, sparks fly, but complications arise when she discovers he may not be single. As Lucy's advice column gains popularity, she turns to her AI assistant for help, leading to a series of hilarious and heartwarming moments. Ranald expertly weaves together humor, romance, and modern technology in a story that will keep readers hooked until the very end. "The Love Hack" is a must-read for anyone looking for a fun and uplifting romantic read.
Cute, light weight beach read. Lucy veered into unlikeable territory a couple of times, but the writing is good and flowed well.
Thank you NetGalley for the arc and the opportunity to review this book!
I wanted to like this book more than I did. On the plus side, the FMC had some relatable problems in her life that felt familiar to me, and likely will to other readers as well: a lack of feeling confidence/awareness of what to do with people of the opposite sex; a tricky relationship with her sister, and a past relationship that still haunts her... but it wasn't enough for me to enjoy the book, unfortunately.
I wanted to get Lucy some serious therapy most of the time. I wanted less of her sister's relationship, and more about Lucy herself. I wanted Lucy to be more confident and less of a 'pick me' girl. I felt like I kept waiting for it to be less about Lucy's prior relationship (which goodness, he should have been reported) and more about her and Ross, and I wanted her to act more her age and have more confidence with him.
Ultimately Lucy wasn't the kind of person I'd want to hang out with, and I had a really hard time connecting with this book.
*This was ARC I received from NetGalley and Storm Publishing*