Lucy is a tech journalist on the brink of risking her job. With the help of her sister she presents a new job opportunity to the brother magazine upstairs. She will become a agony uncle answering problems sent men from a male prespective. Does she know enough about the male species to pull this off or will she become lost in the male world searching for the answers?

I really enjoyed the story, main character Lucy is not the regular girl main character. She's different and introverted. As the story progresses the reader gets to experience the changes Lucy goes through to keep her job whilst also falling for her romantic interest.

It gave me some insight of the technical world as it is today. The use of AI and how this will impact on our lives regularly in the future. Lucy uses a AI program to answer some of the questions sent in by readers and the more she argues with it, the more the AI changes it's answers which was interesting.

The story delved into a strong sister relationship as well as a romantic one simultaneously. Eventually the two story lines collided and captivates the reader to see what happens next.

Sophie Ranald is a talented author is able to keep the reader engaged with her stories. She presents great character development to enable the reader to follow the plot easily.

The Love Hack by Sophie Ranald is a cute and enjoyable read. Lucy lands a new job as "Ask Adam," an online agony uncle giving relationship tips to men, but when it comes to her own love life, she'd rather spend Friday nights curled up on her sofa with Netflix and her cat, Astro. The story is filled with humor and relatable moments, making it a delightful pick for a lighthearted romance. I liked it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

The Love Hack is the story of dating advice columnist, Lucy, her newly married sister, Amelie, and Lucy's office crush, Ross. Lucy takes on a position giving dating/life advice to men through a column in an online men's magazine called "Ask Adam." Unfortunately, she not only doesn't know how to respond to incoming queries. In fact, she needs advice of her own as she tries to navigate her secret office crush and help her sister out of an unhealthy relationship. With the help of generative AI, about 95% of her advice is purely plagiarized from a chatbot and the other 5% comes from her sister. (What happened to AI taking our jobs? And why do so many people in this book claim the protagonist is a talented writer? On what grounds??)

For starters, this is not a romance. If I had to classify it, it would be somewhere between women's fiction and literary fiction. Romance doesn't just mean a book where a couple ends up together. It means an escape from the world of Real Men™ into the fantasy world of Book Boyfriends™. Unlike in the real world, Book Boyfriends™ aren't "objectively middling" and they don't date your friend for three-fourths of the book. Their brave heroism extends beyond not asking women to get coffee for them. (I was going to give another example, but the love interest is so absent from this book, that about sums it up.) Bottom line: this book brings misogyny to the forefront through *almost* every male character and our hero is literally only better by comparison to creeps, adulterers, and commitment-phobic d*cks (to use Lucy/Adam's favorite word).

Fortunately, I'm not a romance reader. I only require a unique plot, interesting writing, or strong characters (preferably all three). Read like that, I thought this was okay. I thought the FMC was a little pathetic and the MMC was passable. I liked the sister relationship for the most part. And I thought it was somewhat heartwarming re:life/dating advice.

This was a really cute, easy, romcom read. I enjoyed how she was the "ask Adam" guy giving advice that all of us women want to give men.

The Love Hack by Sophie Ranald is a slow-burn romance but picks up halfway into the book and ends quite well. I liked the lessons on discovering yourself and not settling for less. Thank you, Netgalley and Storm Publishing for giving me the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In this fun modern romance novel, readers follow Lucy, who has just landed a new job as an agony uncle for a men’s magazine, in the midst of a romantic situation. With her sister marrying soon and her own romantic prospects deteriorating, Lucy has no time for a crush on coworker Ross -- especially when he sends an email to “Ask Adam”’s inbox. As “Ask Adam” takes off and the romantic relationships in her life go all over the place, Lucy must juggle all these romantic troubles on her own and with her AI assistant, and this time, “Ask Adam” might not have the answers she needs for her own happily-ever-after. Lucy is an awkward, endearing, and charming heroine whose realistic real-world problems are just realistic enough for readers to feel a kinship with her situation. The minor characters in this novel, from her last work boyfriend to Ross and her sister and brother-in-law, are hilarious and human with complicated personalities and problems that need the “Ask Adam” input. A nice and fun escapist romance, readers of the genre are sure to find comfort in Lucy’s chaotic romantic life and enjoy discovering whether or not she receives her own happy ending.

Such a great premise on this one but I just wanted more from the chemistry between the two main characters. I will admit, workplace rom-coms are a little hit or miss for me, so if you're a hardcore fan of them, this might be a great pick for you!

3.5 Stars "The Love Hack" by Sophie Ranald is a nice read that takes some time to get interesting. The story follows a main character with relatable problems, but she tends to complain more than take action, which can be a bit annoying at times.

One great thing about the book is how the author makes you feel strong emotions. The miscommunications between characters can be frustrating, but it adds to the story's depth, making you feel the awkward moments and misunderstandings just like the characters do. This shows how well Ranald writes these scenes.

However, some conflicts in the story feel incomplete. There are times when the main character's issues aren’t fully resolved, leaving you wanting more action instead of just thoughts. The romance is mild, so don’t expect any intense scenes, but rather a sweet and gentle love story.

The book doesn’t quite fit as a rom-com since it didn’t make me laugh much. Still, the story has a charm that makes it easy to imagine as a cute, feel-good movie. The characters are likable, but they could use more development to really draw you in.

In summary, "The Love Hack" is a pleasant read with emotional moments and relatable frustrations. It’s perfect for those who enjoy gentle romances and don’t mind a slower start. While it might not be as funny as some expect, it still offers a sweet escape into a world of love and misunderstandings. I would recommend it to friends looking for a nice, emotional read.

I so badly wanted to love this book, but it just didn't do it for me. The concept was great but it just fell flat in the end, sadly.

Thank you Storm Publishing and Netgalley for this eARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Love Hack was frustrating for me. I wanted to like it, the premise is great, the writing is good, but it's not a romance novel. Ross and Lucy have the chemistry of a wet box of matches and this was just an incredibly frustrating novel.

Ahhh this was a miss for me unfortunately

I wish I was short into it but I wasn’t, I had high hopes going in but sadly it just wasn’t it

Lucy is such a relatable character. She is clueless when it comes to men, lacks confidence and is really hyper-focused.

There is a bit of a workplace romance , but that doesn’t feel like the actual theme of the book. There is more to this book such as sisterhood and self-acceptance.

Overall, it id a wholesome book with adorable main characters. It is a perfect beach or weekend read.

Thank you so much Sophie Ranald, Storm Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC copy!

The cover really grabbed me on this one along with the note about it being great for Emily Henry fans. Unfortunately, this one fell flat. I was hoping for a work place romance but I got a lot more about Lucy, her cat, her past relationship, and her sister’s relationship. I enjoyed the male character, Ross, and the bit of banter with Lucy. I think more of that would have grabbed me and I would have enjoyed the book more.

Thank you NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and Sophie Randal for giving me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. This book was not up my alley and a bit of a tedious read for a romance novel.

The love hack is one of the best reads for me this month. It had everything, the banter, the understanding between the characters, the funny moments, the oops moments...what not.
I love how quickly Lucy and Ross become friends, how quickly they actually start to fall for each other and finally get their happy ending.
Lucy is such a relatable character, the way she loves her cat, Astro. The way she's a bit clueless when it comes to guys, the way she doesn't trust easily, the way she has a heart so beautiful, the way she hypes up her friend to the guy she likes just because her friend also likes him. The way she actually dishes out such good advice, the way she's a little clueless when it comes to her love life. I love how she easily settles into her new work routine, how quickly she becomes comfortable working there and starts to open up. How she's a real mastermind at solving puzzles, how she does things and then overthink them later. I just really love her so much.
Ross is the guy who likes Lucy but doesn't know how to tell her. He falls for her first and so damn hard, it makes me crave the same type of love. The way he blushes whenever they make eye contact, the way he stumbles over his words when he's with her. The way he just knowss, that it's her >>>
I love their fun convos, the way she trusts him to look after Astro, the way he helps plan a whole trip with her, the way he keeps on calling her to check in, the way he just gets her.
I love Lucy's sister's side story, the way she actually takes such a big and hard step. I love how Lucy went after Zack, though I wished there was a scene where Lucy or maybe her sister confronted him.
The book is so damn relatable and so beautiful...but oh c'mon, where am I gonna find a guy like him?
I definitely recommend reading The Love Hack whenever you need a book to life your spirits up.


xoxo
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A decent workplace romance and the banter between the two characters was well written and I thoroughly enjoyed that

Even though I'm not a huge fan of workplace rom coms. I did enjoy this one. Because I'm a sucker for good banter between the hero and the heroine and this one gave me that.

There were so many entertaining components to this book that make it so enjoyable. I loved how clueless Lucy was when it came to men and even her own self esteem. Over time, Ask Adam helped her grow into a positive and self confident person who was slowly learning what it took to be a good partner and be supportive, all the while standing up for and maintaining your own boundaries. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Ross and Lucy and the chemistry they very clearly had as well as Lucy's relationship with her younger sister. The Love Hack is an adorably wholesome book that actually has some pretty great relationship take away's built in. Perfect weekend read for this summer!

A decent rom com style book that took me a bit longer to get into than I would’ve liked. But I ultimately found the work romance a fun storyline and the comparison to Emily Henry was not far off. I would suggest this as a beach read, I just wish it had more spice to it.

To avoid being laid off, Lucy just got a new job working as an advice columnist at a men's magazine. The only problem - she hasn't been on a date for years and she has little to no understanding of the male mind. With the help of her sister, Amelie, and her trusty AI sidekick, Lucy's "Ask Adam" column starts to succeed, and Lucy begins to feel more comfortable in her all-male office, especially with her co-worker, Ross. However, when everything starts to go wrong, Lucy has to start figuring out the answers to all of her reader's (and her own) problems for herself.

This was a pretty traditional office romance, with a few quirks thrown in. I thought the use of the "Chat GPT" model was a cute way for Lucy to show off her background in technology, and it gave the book a modern, but not too sci-fi feel. The mystery of Amelie and her husband Zach's relationship was definitely giving more sinister, almost thriller vibes, and at times it overshadowed the other question of what went wrong in Lucy's relationship with Kieren, It was pretty obvious early on in the book that Lucy and Ross were going end up together, but I did enjoy the realistic conflicts they encountered along the way, and I was happy with the sweet ending.