3.5 stars.
An enjoyable read with different than the norm characters, “My Kind of Trouble”, by L.A. Schwartz, is about a woman seeking revenge and a man protecting his family and also about the love of books and reading.
Preston is such a lovely hero. I loved having the “full-time worrier”’s perspective on things, how he felt the world differently and how he coped.
The protectiveness about Lacey and Harmony was also cute and endearing. The love for books, reading, libraries was also compelling.
I didn’t feel the same about Harmony, and sometimes the manipulation and deceit, despite the Robin Hood tendencies, were downright disagreeable.
Nevertheless it was interesting to watch a conwoman execute her plan in such an efficient fashion.
I felt the book dragged a bit and could have been shorter.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

After reading the blurb on this story I was looking forward to something a little different and I was not disappointed! I enjoyed all the characters, main and ancillary. I found the autism descriptions to be very realistic with what I have heard from friends with autism. I appreciate how Schwartz addressed the attempts at book banning, it is a cause near and dear to my heart! It was fun to see Harmony and Preston’s relationship evolve and I thoroughly enjoyed the closure in the epilogue.

I will definitely recommend this book to my friends.

This story was so unique for a romcom and I really enjoyed it! So much good representation and Robin Hood vibes. I loved the characters and the conclusion to the story. This was a fun one!

I am a huge fan of romance, but I’ve be ever enjoyed plots (in movies, or otherwise) featuring heists or conartistry. For that reason, I wasn’t enamored with the female main character in this novel. While she arguably had decent intentions, she dug herself in such a deep hole that I couldn’t connect with her character.

However, I fell in love with Preston. He is such a lovable character. Forgiving, understanding, inquisitive. He was really funny and brought a unique angle to this story that kept me hooked. His relationship with his little sister is so precious, and his personality is a breath of fresh air for a MMC.

Found it a little slow to get going but a cute story. Fun read. Would have liked more scenes of the main characters together, felt like there could have been more interaction with them.

Harmony is running a con to get vengeance for her deceased dad, by pretending to put on a music festival. She meets Preston an autistic librarian who she needs his land for the fake festival. I thought this book was funny and sweet. A must read!

I don't usually love books where lying is a major part of the plot/relationship development but the rest of the premise of this book intrigued me and I am so glad I gave it a chance. I loved the small town feel, with so many great minor characters and intersecting connections. I thought that was done really well. The romance was very cute, and I particularly enjoyed the focus on them figuring each other out and the gradual shift to understanding each other better and clearer communication rather than just one big miscommunication (though obviously there is Harmony's inital con/lies to overcome).
Props on well rounded representation as well. I appreciated that Harmony didn't have to experience too much fatphobia, without erasing the realities that exist. Also that there was a depth to the diversity in the town that showed a range of experiences. This was all very natural and background to the story, but used the plot of Library book banning attempts to highlight it's importance.

I did feel like it probably could have been a little longer, for a little more development in the second half of the book. I would have enjoyed more of Harmony trying to make things right but overall a really fun and enjoyable romance.

Thank you Netgalley, publisher Alcove Press, and author L.A. Scwartz for providing this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Plus size representation. Autism spectrum representation (twice!). LGBTQ representation. Robin Hood/vigilante vibes where we steal from the rich to right their wrongs. Steamy library scenes. What more could you want?! (I'll tell you later ;) )

Ms. Schwartz writes in a fun, easy way and if you like rom-com's, you'll love this. For the most part, this was a fairly predictable read which didn't detract, but rather added, to the experience since there's some comfort in predictability. There was one twist I didn't see coming that made my jaw drop, and another that just felt a little too convenient bordering on deus ex machina.

The side characters really shone in this story. Lacey, Alice, Dani, Jordan, Cheryl and her crew of mimosa drinking harpies, the mustache-twirling Travis and equally nefarious Zach were all fun to read about, and I got particularly attached to Lacey.

The chemistry between MMC Preston, our autistic librarian, and FMC Harmony, our blonde bombshell conwoman, was fun. Harmony pesters Preston with her presence until she gets what she wants from him, but she didn't plan on developing feelings. Not real ones, anyway. Watching her struggle through what's real and what's not, to me, helped illustrate her internal conflict and her constant justification that she was doing the right thing, the wrong way.

What didn't work for me though was with all the other representation in this book, did we only have one POC character? And one character claimed to be LGBTQ but it seemed to be only so she could say she was "an out lesbian in a small town" and played for levity. And of course we have a third act breakup because Harmony fails, repeatedly, to come clean to Preston even after she decides she wants to go legitimate, and he finds out from a third party source. His reaction is understandable: he tells her to leave, get out of town, go away, and he says this repeatedly. Even after he's no longer mad, he's like "Thanks for checking on me. Please leave." So when Alice, Harmony's bestie, tracks Preston down and is like "Naw, Harmony loves you, for real for real" Preston suddenly is like "Oh ok let me save the day then" (the deus ex machina I mentioned earlier) which felt like such a 180. He was furious. Let him be furious. Let him work through those intensely confusing feelings and figure out how to grapple with two difficult truths: he is in love with a conwoman, and the conwoman wants to go straight. I felt like Alice's intervening robbed Preston of his agency.

Despite the ending, I did like the epilogue, a lot. I feel like it did what it needed to do, and of course, ties the story up in a neat little happy-for-now.

This was still really enjoyable, and I absolutely will (and already have!) recommended this to readers. I just would have preferred to see the ending handled a bit differently, but that's my personal preference.

This is a 3.5 star read for me, and a 1 chili pepper for the spice (which was there, and was fairly light, but the steam and tension was quality)

So much fun. A modern day Music Man inspired tale that seems like a funny dream I might have had after watching the news and reminiscing about my senior year high school musical. Even without the story inspiration it's a sweet romance in a small town with current issues and good humor. With the story inspiration?! Game over, so good.

Harmony Hale, a seasoned con-woman with a vendetta, lands in Brookville, California, aiming to take down the man who shattered her family. But her scheme hits a detour when she crosses paths with Preston Jones, a nerdy librarian with a heart as big as his book collection. Their unlikely collision sparks a tale of love, trust, and unexpected twists in this small-town romance.

Schwartz's debut novel delivers a rollercoaster ride of emotions, weaving romance with revenge in a narrative that grips you from the outset. Harmony's sharp tongue and Preston's steadfastness create a captivating dynamic that draws you in, rooting for their unconventional love story.

What sets this book apart is its clever spin on the classic Music Man narrative, flipping the script with Harmony as the cunning con artist and Preston as the reluctant hero. It's a fresh take on a beloved trope, appealing to romance enthusiasts and musical aficionados alike.

My Kind of Trouble is a captivating journey through the unexpected twists of love and redemption. With its blend of charm, wit, and steamy romance, it's a must-read for anyone seeking an original and immersive literary escape. Bravo, L.A. Schwartz!

#BookReview #RomanceReads #MyKindofTrouble #MustRead #FreshFiction

What's not to love about this sweet and mildly spicy romance about a big-city conwoman coming to small-town Northern California to revenge-scam a man who ruined her father's career. If you're a fan of The Music Man, you'll chuckle at the homages large (names of people and places, librarian love interests) and small (aught-six! Balzac! sprinkled throughout the story. But even without that frame of reference, it's a charming story well told, and satisfyingly ended. My only critique is that I wish we could have spent more time with the protagonists together rather than following their separate plot lines quite so much.

This was the perfect blend of sweet and spicy with sparkling chemistry between the leads and fantastic rep. I read it in a single sitting, and I loved the very of-the-times plotline about the library. Even without knowing much about The Music Man, I thoroughly enjoyed it, so readers without a musical background should have no fear.

An introverted, nerdy librarian and an extroverted, bombshell conwoman? This is probably the best grumpy-sunshine pairing I've seen yet!

From start to finish, My Kind of Trouble was SO hard to put down. The romance is paced perfectly, and most of all, the conflict ACTUALLY makes sense! (I can only put up with so many easily unavoidable problems in books.)

I love most of all how L.A. Schwartz treats her characters' diversities as character traits and not plot devices. Yes, she writes the reality of what people like Harmony and Preston would face in real life, but they aren't introduced to us exclusively as "the fat girl" or "the autistic guy". They just are the way they are, and aren't any less for it.

Preston would so fight to keep a book like this on the shelves.

The music man is one of my favorite musicals. I could hear the songs in my head during certain parts of the book. They were cute together and Harmony researching autism to be as accommodating as possible was very sweet. Good amount of spice and sweetness.

MY KIND OF TROUBLE is exactly my kind of book!! This is a big-hearted romance featuring a fat conwoman looking to get revenge on a small town's mayor and the soft autistic librarian living in said town who is absolutely WHIPPED for her, and let me tell you one thing: it is brilliant.

*thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and auother for providing me with an E-ARC of "My Kind of Trouble" in exchange for a honest reveiw*
This was so cute! I loved the autistic and fat rep! Harmony is one of my new favorite characters.

Things I liked about this book: I really liked all of the side characters and seeing all of their relationships and interactions and I think that the small-town politics was really well done! I think that the autism representation was very good, and I liked that we could see the diverseness in the multiple autistic characters. I liked a lot of the insights into the communication between Preston and Harmony and how we could see them adjust as they found differences in their communication styles and worked to fix them. And finally, I thought that the steamy scenes were really well written!
What I missed: Overall, I kind of felt a disconnect between the plot and the characters. I really liked the focus on saving the library, but as a result, I didn’t feel very invested in Harmony’s con. It gave the feel of a small subplot to me even though it is something that should be the big part of the story. I think maybe a different scale con or a maybe a resolution that combined saving the library with saving the festival would have helped me connect better with that part of the story!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

God where do I start? I loved everything about this book. When I saw it available for request on Netgalley, and saw it had an autistic lead, I requested it so quickly, and just about died when I got approved for it. If work didn't get in the way, I would've read straight through this one in one go. I absolutely adored every facet of Preston and Harmony's story. Preston felt so real to me, and I loved how, when he'd do certain things, Harmony would go, "Autism thing?" and he'd reply yep. It really just solidified the joys of being autistic, as well as the downs of it, because let's be real, being autistic isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Preston struggled a lot with thinking, how could anyone love someone like him? And while it made my heart hurt, it felt so relatable to me, because I've oft wondered the same thing. I loved how his and Lacey's autism was something that just... was. I've read too many books that kind of explain autism to the reader as if they'd never even heard the word before, but in a way that was kind of as if the characters were explaining it to the readers, if that makes sense. This book didn't do that, but still amplified autistic voices and made me feel seen and heard as an autistic person, through the eyes of Preston and Lacey. I adored the fact that Preston is a librarian, because I can totally see him wearing a LeVar Burton Says Read Banned Books shirt, and I enjoyed the inclusion of advocating for banned books, and drag storytime. It was so cute how Harmony realized that what she was doing actually mattered to her this time. Here she was, about to pull off the biggest grift she had ever done, going out with a bang, and she ends up feeling terrible for doing it because she fell in love with a little rule loving autistic librarian with a penchant for tweed and classical music. The twist at the end was awesome too, and I loved how Harmony and Alice both got a happy ending they deserved.

Harmony and Preston were amazing together! The tension of the con combined with the quiet assurances of Preston made this super enjoyable and sexy. I had such a fun time reading! Super appreciate the representation of fat and autistic characters and hope we have more like this in the future. Schwartz is truly one to watch on the romance scene. Enthusiastic 5 stars!

Book review

Wow.
I loved this book so much. Thank you to NetGalley and L.A Schwartz for sending me the ARC of this book. I was hooked from the beginning and did not want it to end.
I thought the premise of the book was so unique and interesting and I was excited for how it would pan out. I was not disappointed!
I feel like it could have been a bit longer in place in terms of the development of the characters relationship. It felt a little quick but that isn’t always a bad thing!

The Austistic representation was great and I felt like it was a really realistic and genuine insight into how autistic people feel and go about daily life.
Preston and Harmony was so fun and cute together and I loved that Harmony was plus size but it wasn’t a big deal in the book. It was mentioned but there was not fatphobia (yay!) and Harmony was unapologetically herself and loved herself.

Overall I would recommend this book so much, it was a fun read and really enjoyable!

The ending was everything I hoped for and more!