An ode to growing up and changing life plans, “I’ll Get Back to You” is a heartwarming and engaging story about a 21-year-old girl who is trying to find her way in the world. As her grand college plans start to crumble before her (along with plenty of other mishaps), our main character finds a beautiful girl needing her help. Scheme or no scheme, will the two stay together?

This almost felt like two different books. The first half takes place in a span of around 24 hours. Murphy meets Ellie the day before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day with Ellie’s family takes up a good portion of the first half of the book. You see them getting to know each other then you see them fake dating and then you see it all crumble.

The next half is Murphy struggling with her personal life. She is at the stage in her life where she’s no longer a kid but doesn’t quite feel like an adult yet. I feel like we can all relate to those feelings to an extent at least if you’re older than 21. It’s an awkward time.

The thing I enjoyed the most out of this book was how realistic it was. That awkward in between time where you still feel like a kid but you’re now an adult is so hard. The way this book depicted this time in Murphy’s life when your friendships are changing and even the relationship with your parents change felt so natural and real.

I really liked it. If you’re looking for a cozy coming of age sapphic romance then I’d recommend this one.

And now I really want a chaicoffski. ☕️

This is new adult, so I’m probably the wrong audience and if I was more patient with Kat and Elly’s angsty and kind of childish behavior, I’d probably rate it higher. It’s very sweet, with fake dating that happens fast, some friendship issues (again young and angsty), and both Thanksgiving and Christmas, which I loved (though I would be on board for even more Xmas spirit).

This premise was cute and I love the cover. I think I’m just not able to get into the fake dating trope. If you enjoy it - this will be for you! If you have ever gone home for Thanksgiving and saw everyone from high school the opening scene will totally resonate with you!

This is a sapphic holiday story that mainly takes place during Thanksgiving Break and the weeks leading up to Christmas. Two former high school acquaintances run into each other the night before Thanksgiving and decide to fake date in order to achieve their separate goals. I think this book was more than a romance though. It felt like the main focus was actually on the friendship "love story". Trying to figure out the transition of high school/college life to adulthood and navigating the complications and changes in friendships when you no longer see each other everyday and how painful growing apart can be once you leave school. The actual romance portion of the book was a little too "insta love" for me, but the best friend story-line really made it special and pulled it along.

Thank you Net Galley and Penguin books for the opportunity to read this book in advance in exchange for my honest review

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for the advanced copy!

3.5 stars rounded up- I’ll Get Back To You is a cozy, sapphic, coming of age, holiday book with touches of romance. I think it did lean more coming of age which I personally enjoyed, but is notable for someone looking to pickup a more traditional romance. That being said, the book was still fluffy, with some ‘fade to black’ steam in there.

This is such a great fall/beginning of winter read with the Thanksgiving to Christmas timeline and small town feel.

I thought it was cute, a classic case of attraction/turned love at first site. The characters were fun, the friendship was fun, the setting was great. It wasn't my favorite, but defiantly worth the read.

”I’ll Get Back to You” is a love letter to Chicago & its suburbs. Murphy, named after Murphy’s Bleachers, drops the ball on her transfer from community college to UIUC where her bestie, Kat, is waiting. During Thanksgiving break she runs into Ellie, fresh off a break-up and whose Mom just happens to have flunked Murph. They craft an unbelievable fake-dating plot to win Murph a passing grade and Ellie support for grad school in NYC. The Chicago & sports references are as thick as deep dish pizza. The stronger plot is between Kat & Murphy, who navigate that tension of besties who are growing, but not apart. Thumbs down to Murph’s jerk parents. Overall, it’s cute & perfect for a cozy day on the couch with a warm beverage.

2.25 ⭐️

ARC kindly provided by publisher via NetGally in exchange for an honest review.

This was supposed to be a cute holiday rom-com with fake dating/friends to lovers vibes. unfortunately it just wasnt for me. the story itself felt a bit rushed, while certain parts of the story felt slow. the sparks weren’t sparking. the MC was just a bit too whiny for me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I didn’t finish this book because it was giving serious biphobic energy. Can we please just acknowledge that BI PEOPLE EXIST and so do late in life lesbians and ditch this “gold star lesbian” attitude?
Sincerely,
A Bisexual reader

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! This was a cute holiday read. I loved the friendship between Murph and Kat and them working to maintain their friendship while going through life changes sending them in different directions. I enjoyed the romance between Murph and Ellie, but I wanted more from it. I wanted to see more moments between them and have their chemistry build more. However this is a fun read for the season!

This is so much fun! I love fake dating, I love holiday romance and I love the combo! The characters are cute and I love them both. I love the relationship. It’s absolutely a comfort reader for me!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I'll Get Back to You by Becca Grischow is a beautiful, fun, and heartfelt romance that hits all the right notes.
I just loved Murphy and Ellie!
I loved the writing. It was catchy, fast paced and full of wonderfully funny and touching scenes.

It's September and I can definitely feel myself falling into a holiday romance era with the ARCs I've gotten my hands on (and my own mild obsession with holiday romances anyway). At least this is less explicitly Christmas centered and just in the general holiday season that my brain mushes November and December into and the holiday isn't the main focus of everything.

I'd heard bits and pieces about this book from the author's TikTok over the several months (couple years? I don't even know anymore - what even is time?) and was SO excited to finally get to read it a few days early. I'm never sure if I'll actually finish the ARCs I get approved for a few days before publication before they're actually published, but this was so fun and easy to get invested in that it wasn't a problem at all - even during one of the busiest weeks I've had in awhile.

An easy 5/5 for me.

This was a cute Sapphic holiday fake dating romcom that sees two college aged queer girls teaming up over Thanksgiving to achieve mutual goals. A touch angsty and more new adulty than adult love story, this is definitely geared towards a younger audience and felt a bit too dramatic for my tastes. Recommended for fans of books like Kiss her once for me by Alison Cochrun. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Steam level: fade to black/closed door

I had a hard time reading this book. The age group of the main characters were difficult for me to connect with. This book was unfortunately not for me.

I'll Get Back to You perfectly captures the new adult feeling of uncertainty and being in the in between.

We follow Murphy, a 21-year-old who is living at home, going to community college and working as a marketing manager/barista at a local coffee shop. She is planning to transfer to a 4 year college to join her best friend Kat, if only she can just pass accounting. The night before Thanksgiving, Murphy is meeting Kat at a bar in their home town. The night takes a spin when Kat brings her boyfriend Daniel, and Murphy ends up re-meeting an old high school classmate Ellie and hitting it off with her.

I felt for Murphy through out the course of this book. Early 20s is a tricky time, where it is easy to feel behind or lost, especially if you aren't following the same path as everyone around you. I loved that this book centered around Thanksgiving, a perfect read for between spooky season and Christmas. I also really resonated with Murphy's friendship with Kat and the struggles they faced felt very real and genuine.

As far as the romance plot, I felt like it was bumpy and not fully developed. I like both Murphy and Ellie, but things felt very stop and go to the point of whiplash and the fake dating plot was very very contrived and shoe horned in. This definitely fits more as a coming of age story than a romance.

3.5 stars

Murphy is a 21-year-old living in parents’ home while attending community college. Her immediate goal is to transfer to the University of Illinois next semester. However, there is one small obstacle standing in her way - she failed her accounting class and is taking it again in hopes of a miracle. Standing in her way is Professor Meyers who doesn’t like her. As the book opens, it’s Thanksgiving week and Murphy’s best friend is coming back to their small hometown and they will be spending quality time together. Their girls-night-out plans go awry. There is a silver lining to the disastrous night - Murphy meets Ellie Meyers. Ellin convinces Murphy to pretend to be her girlfriend at her family’s Thanksgiving dinner. What could possibly go wrong with that plan?

Grischow has written a fake-romance novel that is sweet and full of angst. The story is told in the first person, however, and none of the characters, including Murphy, are really well developed. Murphy, for instance, comes off as an immature teenager for the first third of the book with too much self pity rather than the young adult the author wants her to be. Being written in the first person, this novel reads like a very long narrative with little to no character development, little to no plot development and too much angst. The ending is rather vague - both characters wants to see where their nascent romance can go, but the reader can’t be sure what they’re going to do to make that happen. The bottom line here is that the book lacks substance.

If you’re a fan of books written in the first person with lots of internal dialogue, and a goodly amount of angst, this book is for you.

My thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for an eARC.

Cute, fun & easy read. I really liked Murphy, she was relateable. Definitely felt like a YA read, which Im not used to but this book has left me interested in reading more sapphic romance, adult & ya!

This book felt less like a romance and more of a story of self discovery for our main character Murphy. The romance never really felt like it was properly developed. The fake dating trope had the potential to really up the tension and show the compatibility of Ellie and Murphy, but instead felt underwhelming. The cutest moment of romance in the book ended up being staged by Ellie's mother, which cheapened the impact for me. I think for me to really root for this romance it needed to start picking up well before 60%.

The best part of this story ended up being the relationship between Kat and Murphy. The conflict between them at the beginning and learning how to navigate a friendship when a significant other is added into the mix was a lovely story to explore. I did think this overwhelmed the romance and didn't give it the space to breathe. I didn't really feel the characters should be together until the last 5% and then it was over and I left feeling disappointed.