*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher; the review is my own.*

If I hadn't felt obligated to finish this book and leave a review, I wouldn't have finished it. But I'm not sure which option the publisher would prefer, to be honest: a "will not leave feedback" or an unfavorable review. So here I am.

This book was very, very British. I'm not saying that in itself is a problem or the reason I rated it 2 stars (it's not). I've read other British books and enjoyed them. But this one was absolutely full of British slang, which reduces its readability for someone who may not be familiar with it. (I prefer it when books don't rely on slang in general, whether it's British, American, or from anywhere else. Aside from diminishing readability for audiences outside of that particular region, it ages poorly. Dialect is a different story.)

Despite Lucy (29) developing in an interest in Ross (early 30s?) fairly early in the book, any relationship between the took a backseat to everything else in the story. Instead, what the book focused on was Lucy's obsession with her sister's life, her inability to perform the job she created for herself, and a failed relationship with a former coworker a few years prior. Oh, and her cat. What romance the book contained was very focused on sex, so it didn't even really feel like romance--just physical gratification.

I didn't find Lucy to be particularly likable, and her attitude towards men was rather sad. In fact, it appeared that most of the women in this book shared the same view on men: that they're all awful and can't help it. Although her attitude about some men changes by the end of the book, it's obvious that she still views them as less than women. At one point, Lucy "smiled indulgently" as her boss and coworker had a "man moment together," like they're some type of children and she knows better. She also came across to me as somewhat desperate and incompetent. Not only did she rely heavily on her sister and then AI to help her write her new column (one she obviously wasn't qualified for), but for someone who was supposed to have been a tech writer, she frequently knew nothing about technology. Romantically, she grasped for something, anything--did she not see all the red flags waving in front of her face with Kieran? Even with Ross, it wasn't much better; she just got luckier with how that turned out.

Obviously, this book just wasn't for me.

Note: Language, including f words. Crude language, including lots of use of "d*ck" in reference to men who are jerks. A few cringy sex scenes.

I liked the concept of this book and the use of AI in the writing world. I also liked that Lucy was writing an agony uncle, giving advice to men.

I couldn’t get on board with how Lucy didn’t know anything about men and really struggled to write the advice. It felt just a bit too unrealistic. I think most of the problems just needed a bit of logic, even if she hadn’t had much experience with men.

I did like the interactions with her and the Ross. I thought they were really cute and the ending was quite adorable. I also loved her relationship with her sister Amelie. Amelie is one of my favourites in this book, I liked how layered her character was.

Overall the book is enjoyable and I would recommend it to others.

A slow burn office romance. Some triggering behaviour but still an enjoyable story. An ideal beach read!

I wish we could rate .5 stars as I would give it 3.5 stars. It wasn't quite a 4 star for me.

Lucy has a an advice column called Ask Adam and so everyone thinks she is a man except her coworkers know and one of them she has a crush on but he is dating someone.
Lucy uses AI to answer some of the questions and even has one who she believes is from Ross, her crush.
Then once comes in that sounds exactly like what is going on with her sister and BIL. She sets out to prove if it is right or wrong.
I liked Lucy and Ross. They were cute and you could tell they liked each other but it took awhile for them. It's a cute romance.
Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the arc to review.

"The Love Hack" by Sophie Ranald, narrated by Harrie Dobby, is a clever and relatable exploration of relationships and human nature story.
Lucy, the protagonist, is a rookie advice columnist who's struggling to navigate her own love life after a past heartbreak. She's convinced that she'll never fall for someone in the office again, but then she meets Ross, her charming and hilarious new co-worker. As she gets to know him better, she finds herself drawn to his quirky humour and kind heart.
But things take a complicated turn when Lucy discovers that Ross is most definitely not single. And to make matters worse, she's convinced that an email in her inbox is from him, which throws her whole world into chaos. As she tries to decode the romantic troubles plaguing her life, she turns to her trusty AI assistant for help.
I admit that I was a bit sceptical about the whole AI assistant thing at first, but it ended up being a clever and insightful addition to the story. It added a layer of depth and realism to the characters' experiences and helped to illustrate the complexities of modern relationships.
One of the things that stood out to me about this book was its portrayal of women as strong, capable individuals who are worthy of love and respect. Lucy is a fantastic protagonist - she's smart, funny, and relatable, and she's not afraid to speak her mind. I loved watching her grow and evolve throughout the story, and I found myself cheering her on as she navigated the ups and downs of her love life.
"The Love Hack" is a great choice for anyone who loves romance novels with a twist. It's a fun, relatable read that will keep you laughing and crying in equal measure. Just be prepared for a little bit of cringe - some of the moments can be a bit awkward, but hey, that's just part of the charm!

Thank you for this early copy of this cute read! This book was overall a pretty light and fluffy romance, with a couple of storylines that were a bit more serious and heartfelt, but overall lighthearted. There were definitely parts of this Book that made me laugh out loud, but other parts seemed to drag on and be somewhat unnecessary? Overall, I still really enjoyed the plot line, the characters, and the overall themes. Cute if you need a quick fun read.

Here’s what I had been expecting:
A cutesy office romance.

Here’s what I got:
A cutesy office romance but with a heavy dose of a truly heartwarming story about sisterhood.

Lucy has officially been told her job is about to become redundant at the magazine she works at, as some guy named Ross started right before her, unless she can come up with an idea as to why they should keep her. After strategizing with her sister, they come up with the idea of “Ask Adam”, where guys can write in with their questions, and “Adam” would reply with advice. It doesn’t start off with overwhelming success – no one is even sending in questions – but her coworkers aren’t too bad, especially Ross. While she was set on hating the guy who took her job, he is actually sweet, and kind, and blushes at her all the time, and is dating her sister’s friend. Based on the description of the book, I assumed the story would be focused on their relationship, and to some degree, it was. But a big driving force is Lucy’s relationship with her sister Amelie, which I loved.

A sweet romance with a sweeter sister bond… wait… did I just describe Frozen? And if that’s not enough to get you interested, just read it anyway to prove me wrong.

Went in completely blind and I must say - I'm not sure I'm a big fan of this one. I had a difficult time enjoying the characters. This story seemed to really process Lucy's healing from bad past experiences. This book focused less on the potential romantic partners but more on Lucy's other ongoings - her sister, her ex. For a romcom, I didnt find myself laughing or smiling to myself as much as I would expect. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The story line and idea for this was something I really enjoyed. However, I feel as though the book was longer than it needed to be. I loved the personality of the characters and the letters in it for the blog posts but I felt as though it went on a bit.

I wanted to love this, I really did. I expected more rom-com, but it's more just regular fiction with some romance in the background. Unfortunately it just fell flat for me, as the premise was so promising.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book, these views are completely my own.

After reading some of the other reviews I was a tad worried that I wasn't going to enjoy this book but wow was I so wrong!! It isn't a 'traditional' romance book by any means but more of I would say 'British' romance. It was very much like watching a good British romcom or television program, it's demure and the story was so interesting I was hooked from the beginning! It's a slow burn and takes a while to build up but it's worth it.

If you enjoy British movies and television I think you'll love this book!

I’m going to preface this by saying that this book is not a romance. So, if that’s what you were looking for, then you were disappointed. Why do I say this? When I picked up the book and started my currently reading on goodreads, I saw that it had such a low rating and looked at a few comments. Most were disappointed. As far as romance books go, this wasn’t really a romance, therefore being pitched as such throws people off - as does comparing it to some of the biggest authors’ books out there. This is a fail on the part of the marketing team, not the author.
Now my turn. I tend not to hold too many expectations when picking up a book and between the time I have selected my arcs and picked up the book I have pretty much forgotten what the book is supposed to be about. Therefore, I am going in blind.
I enjoyed my reading experience. The story was enjoyable and I liked the characters. There isn’t much in the way of romance, but there is pining, Lucy is struggling with even the thought of a potential relationship, especially with a guy at work. She is back and forth on this, but to no surprise, her past experience was not great in this regard. As the story unfolds you learn more about why she has these reservations. This book showcased Lucy’s healing process - that’s what I am going to call it. She is insecure, having felt like she was in her sister’s shadow, in terms of beauty and “getting the guys”. This book is about family and friends. I would have loved to have been a fly on Ross’s wall. This book was missing his perspective, that would have made it even more enjoyable and tempered a bit of Lucy’s inner monologue. This is a 3.5 star read that I will round up to 4.
If you are looking for a contemporary novel with some pining and a teeny tiny touch of roman ce, then this one could be for you.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an e-arc of the book. The opinions expressed are honest and my own.

I enjoyed this read and following along with Lucy's life and thoughts. She is a technology editor that gets creative when she's made redundant - starting an advice column for men, Ask Adam. The column allows her to grow her skills and acts as a bit of therapy from her past trauma.

Ross was a lovely MMC and enjoyed every aspect of his character.

I was really looking forward to this story but unfortunately It fell a bit short, i just couldn't see the connection between Ross and Lucy.

So. I genuinely liked the book as a whole but obviously have some things I didn’t enjoy.
I don’t mind a fast falling in love but it was a bit annoying that Lucy was upset right away after like a week or so that Ross still has a fling with others. I also feel like the use of an AI writing bot was too glorified here. And last, where was the actual romance? Only the last few pages actually focused on it.

Now not all was bad. I liked the whole Adam thing a lot. It was really fun to read. Ross was a very loveable character and Lucy had her moments. Like go her for immediately helping her sister!

It’s definitely a quick light read for when you want something chill. Just don’t expect a lot of romance.

After all, I do recommend it because it feels like a nice simple read.

Thanks for the ARC Sophie! This is a short quick read that is a perfect palette cleanser.
It didn’t take a lot of brainpower to go through this one, which is just what I needed.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinion are completely my own.

The Love Hack was okay, but not memorable. There was nothing that stood out at me, which is disappointing, since the build up at the beginning showed promise.

This book tells us the story about Lucy, an intelligent but shy kind of girl, and Ross her new workmate.
After losing her previous job and developing a new line in a magazzine, she has to be Adam, the men counselor. But that turns out a bit tricky since she is innexperienced and shy.
In this new workplace she falls for Ross, but he starts seeing a friend of her sister and things get tricky.
Although it was a good story, in my opinion there's not enough romance in this rom-com. The story revolves around Lucy's life but she barely interacts with Ross. He barely is a main character until later in the book. I kind of got to know her sister and husband dynamics better than hers. It was a shame though, because it had some good funny moments.

This was painful. Lucy was clearly still wounded from her previous relationship but couldn't help but be upset when Ross had his eye on someone else. She also decided not to date workmates but at the same time got into her head about how Ross was way out of her league and she didn't deserve him.

There was also so much going on and at the same time nothing going on. Lucy and her sister's relationship, her sister's new marriage to the questionable Zach, the barely there romance between her and Ross, and her previous relationship in flashbacks.

The only thing that kept me going was that it was on audio so it became a sort of white noise. I received a complimentary copy, all opinions are my own.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one. I hate doing that, but I sadly couldn't get into it. Thank you so much though for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.