This was a fun read filled to the brim with moments that made me swoon from the epic representation. I look forward to checking out other books by the author if they have the same caliber of writing!!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, & publisher for allowing me early access to read this book!

As an autistic human myself, I was expecting a lot from this book. I did love Preston, he is the sweetest. All characters are likable. But I felt it too bland at times. It does have a lot of rep and that's awesome, we get plus size rep, autism, lgbtqa+... it also has steam, not much, but it does. The plot was good but it dragged at points.
I can only explain how I felt by saying that this book is good but, personally, not enough to make me want to read nonstop or to be excited for the characters or to know more. It was just good, a plain just good.

Thank you Alcove Press and author for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion ✨️
Publication Day Oct 08 2024

Harmony Hale comes to River City—oops, Brookville—for revenge in this modern, gender-swapped reimagining of one of my favorite musicals, The Music Man. She’s planning her most ambitious con yet—a music festival—and she definitely knows the territory.

But what she hasn’t planned on is the warm welcome she gets from many of the townspeople. And then there’s the town librarian. It’s not long before Harmony knows she’s got Trouble, with a capital T, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for Preston Jones.

You don’t have to be familiar with The Music Man to enjoy this fun and thoughtful romance, but if you are, you’ll spot the many Easter eggs and homages to the original musical.

Steaminess level: Mrs. Shinn would never let Zaneeta borrow this book from the library. Ye gods!

a contemporary romance with plus size conwoman and an autistic librarian. (18+ scenes)

romances like that are to die for! harmony hale, our mc, might be controversial but she does what she feels she has to. our love interest, preston jones, is an incredible older brother who is nerdy, loves working as a librarian, and is a strong believer in human rights.

once our main characters start having encounters the plot starts to get good. in the end, it was so entertaining I couldn't put the book down. I'd consider this relationship as a healthy one although she is conning the city, but believe me I haven't read a romance story as good as this one in a while.

this book is perfect for everyone who loves books with plus-size characters, powerful women, nerdy men, and cons. get this book once it comes out and read it PLEASE!

This book is like a weird cross between Robin Hood and the Fyre Festival. I liked the characters well enough but I always get nervous with books where one MC is keeping a huge secret from the other MC because that can only turn out badly. Harmony is a conwoman but she's not a regular conwoman, she only cons those who deserve it. This time her target is rather personal, a wealthy tech guy who made his wealth off of a stolen idea from Harmony's late father. The con she's running is a bit weird and frankly I'm a little shocked she's made it this far without getting caught. I really liked the hero and while I'm not an expert in autism rep, I think it was handled pretty well. I liked the romance too but I just didn't love the side plot and the whole running a con thing and I wish the people she was trying to get revenge on did get what's coming to them because they were really terrible people.

Totally loved this.
My friends told em to read it and she was not wrong

Loved the story
The characters such a fast and easy read

I absolutely loved this book! Representing not only a main character that had extra weight as well as the other being autistic was not only an unexpected but heart touching duo.
Harmony being a con woman but only going after targets who "deserve it" falling for autistic Preston, who is raising his little sister, was really tugging on my heart.
It took me about 1/4 of the way to really get into the story.. it was well written. I just wasn't sure I was truly interested in reading this. 1/2 way through the book, though I was hooked and needed to read the rest. This romantic story is unlike anything I've ever read, and I loved it. The ending was perfection and made me so happy. The spicy scenes.. um.. WOW 🌶

My kind of trouble is a romcom style novel focusing on curvaceous conwoman Harmony and Autistic librarian Preston. Harmony has arrived in the small town of Brookville looking to exact revenge on the towns mayor for his part in her father’s downfall when Harmony was just a teen. Librarian Preston is raising his younger sister solo and dealing with complaints from the mayors wife about his library programs and diverse books. The story’s main focus is the relationship between Harmony and Preston but the author also shows how diverse library programs benefit those in the community, and the many facets of someone who is autistic like Preston and his sister Lacey.
This is a fun, enjoyable read with a little spice and alot of heart.

unfortunately this was a dnf for me. i made it a couple chapters in but couldn't get into it. something about the characters i couldn't relate too. the FMC being a grifter was a little off putting for me personally.

In "My Kind of Trouble," conwoman Harmony Hale goes to a small California town to track down the businessman/mayor who ripped off her father years earlier. She plans to rally the townspeople into planning a music festival with promises of community-building and money raking, to then back out later and force the mayor to give up his money to save face. Can she get the locals on her side, including the local autistic librarian to loan his land for the fake festival? Will she get her revenge in the end?

I DNF'd this book at the 50% mark. I would've done it sooner, but I wanted to have a little more to base my review off. The FMC, Harmony, is godawful from the start. She's the main character in the story, but she's an antihero-villain, who considers herself a Robin Hood of sorts. She reminds me of Billy McFarland of Fyre Festival fame (The Party that Never Happened), out to rip people off. The author paints Harmony as having good intentions of only taking money away from other con artists, however, she's using two autistic people to get ahead, as well as countless townspeople. Even if these people get paid back in the end, they will have learned they can't trust anyone and feel used/abused/ripped off. If this had been the only time Harmony had ever tried a con, I might've been able to overlook it, but she makes a life doing this and I just couldn't get on board with her as the main character. I couldn't stand to read more to watch her eventual redemption arc. It's a NO for me.

*** I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. ***

I had a great time reading this title. I loved the body positivity without it being the main plot, just part of her character. As a librarian, I also want the space I'm in to be a safe space for all and have discussed challenged titles in length. I found this to be an easy read and really enjoyed it. Wish the resolution was a bit different but no surprise.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I love how so many authors are making a point for their books to inclusive and showcase characters of all different kinds. In this book, there is plus-size rep, autism rep, LGBTQIA+ rep, and more. Outside of the love story (this is a romance story after all), the author speaks to the importance of libraries existing for EVERYONE and serving all races, genders, abilities, etc. This message seemed especially fitting as it's Banned Books Week.

I quite enjoyed this story. The love story was *chef's kiss*, the small town atmosphere was immaculate, and I loved the underlying con of the whole thing. Preston & Harmony were a great balance for each other. They see each other for exactly who they are and don't try to mask themselves in order to fit in better. Plus their chemistry was combustive.

This was a fun, quick read. The pacing was great, and I loved how the author wrote Harmony ingratiating herself into the small town. I would read more by this author.

This book was just so much fun. I also found the autism representation to be phenomenal. I am an autistic parent with an autistic child and Preston’s struggle with the school system and avoiding ABA was so incredibly relatable. This romance felt so fresh and I would highly recommend it!

This book is perfection. An absolute delight and one of my new favorites moving forward. It's been a while since I've seen a character that is a hopeless romantic because honestly, we always see the same type Of characters that are barely different & Preston's Chapters were my favorite ones. All in all, so glad I pre-ordered my copy!!

This was such a fun book. Musical theater fans will love this twisty take on The Music Man. It’s light, sweet, spicy, and neurodivergent - what’s not to love?

“He refused to spend any more time worrying about how it would feel when it all eventually ended”

My kind of trouble is a pretty cozy book, funny and very easy to read. Yet, it lights up some deep and important themes, like book bans, especially in small towns/communities. I truly enjoyed how that problematic was written, and how Preston dedicates himself to avoiding “his” library stop being a safe place for kids, no matter who they are. That aspect truly kept me inside the story, making me turn the pages faster.
I loved that Preston is autistic, and so is his sister. Their experience felt right to me, as a fellow Au(HD). I think I would have liked a more “internal” experience of this character, but every autistic person is different, so that’s completely OK. Choosing Harmony, a Robin-Wood-like scammer, as his love interest was just perfect to make both characters grow. She is an amazing character too (major bonus for her plus size body, without any self shame), even though I found the resolution a bit too easy for her. I think I would have liked a true redemption arc at the end of the book –but that’s probably autistic me talking. In any case, I spent a great time with both characters and their romance with an expiry date. I would love to read more books from this author in the future.

Thank you Net Galley, Alcove Press and LA Schartz for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

My Kind of Trouble was a fantastic read; it is cute, funny, hot, and swoon-worthy. The romance was top tier, and the theater nerd me loved it! I needed more of this in the best way. I can't wait to read more from L.A. Schwartz!

Excellent pacing, will definitely be recommending this one for our romance readers - many complain about specific verbiage “ruining” the love scenes, and My Kind of Trouble hit the mark perfectly. Our library already owns To a Darker Shore, and this will be a great addition to our collection

My Kind of Trouble by L.A. Schwartz 3.5⭐️

Harmony Greene is an orphan turned conwoman who’s come to Brookville to get revenge on the man who drove her father to drink himself to death. There she meets Preston Jones,the world’s hottest librarian, and key part of her next con. Watching Harmony slowly win over dedicated but grumpy Preston was my favorite part of this book! I loved his relationship with his sister and thought the author did a good job of portraying neurodivergence without making it a huge burden. Harmony is effortlessly funny and extremely confident. It was a joy to watch her make a home for herself in Brookville. The side characters in this one really shown through and elevated everything. I’m always a sucker for a found family. I will say, I thought that Preston got over being deceived far too quickly, especially as someone who has been described to only think in black and white. Overall I enjoyed this fun read and the library scene will live rent free in my head for a while!!

My Kind of Trouble comes out 10/8!!


Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.