Such a fun book! I was immediately intrigued by the main male character being autistic, as I am also autistic. I was also intrigued because the plot gave me the same vibes as the tv show Leverage, which I love. The characters are loveable and I absolutely adored Harmony's character. I especially love Preston's little sister and how precocious she is. I am also obsessed with how fiercely Preston will fight for his sister. He is a quiet man, but he will fight to the ends of the earth for her.

Harmony is a conwoman who has come to this small town in California to finally get revenge on the man who stole her father's music-streaming algorithm and ruined his life. She is all set to take him down with a fake music festival, but the final piece she needs is the cooperation of the man who owns the property she wants to use for her fake music festival.

Enter Preston, autistic librarian and piano teacher who is overwhelmed with fighting book challenges while also raising his 4th grade sister. He doesn't have time for romance, and he definitely doesn't have time for the beautiful festival promotor who speeds into his life.

But when they start to work together, they learn they might be able to help each other. As they get closer, feelings begin to develop.

The MMC made me laugh, made me smile, gave me oh that reminds me of .. thoughts, I enjoyed this book very much, the way the story was written made me happy! :) will definitely reread this book

I liked the representation of so many different communities in the story, and I feel they were well portrayed.

I loved the interactions between Harmony and Preston, and I feel their chemistry is very obvious throughout the book. However, I didn’t connect well with Harmony, and I found myself detached from her story.

It was a fun read though, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun, light read that has a happy ending.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED AND ADORED THIS OMG
From the first pages, there is such a wit and warmth to this story and I love the rep so so much. I literally read this in one sitting, it brought back the easy joy of escaping into a romcom!

I'm sure that romance readers will absolutely love this story. A powerful plus sized woman and an autistic gent are your main characters here, and it's refreshing to see something other than a big and burly dude and a tiny blonde he can pick up with one arm.

But the story was formulaic, and I wandered away in the middle. Took me 2 weeks to read it because I just couldn't get into caring about either character.

DNF at 60 percent and skim read to the end.

This book was fine. I just don't think I was the target audience. I loved the autism rep in this book, found it to be very realistic. It's just that the story didn't grab my attention. Would definitely read more books by this author.

A solid 3 star

CUTE, FUNNY, AND SPICY. One of the most entertaining books I’ve read recently.

The story follows Harmony, a conwoman who, in revenge for her father, targets the mayor of Brookville, the cause for her father’s downfall. This time the scam requires her faking a music festival in town which, at last minute, will require a large sum of money to move forward. All she needs to set this plan in motion is the land where this potential festival will be in who belongs to the town’s librarian. Preston, the librarian, spends his days fighting people who want to ban books and make his life harder. Taking care of her selectively nonspeaking sister and having autism himself, he will defend the right to showcase books that talk about inclusion. Once these two meet, it’s all fireworks. They both experience a romance they never thought would have happened to them. Eventually, Harmony will have to decide between revenge or the happy and quiet life she secretly craved.

“It wasn’t just a kiss pushing toward anything more, or to forget everything but that moment, like so many. It felt like being known, and home, and belonging right there”

I love the characters. Harmony, Lacey, Preston… They are so sweet and deep and caring and deserving of all that’s good in the world. Harmony and Preston together are fire, they are funny and sweet and make the other so happy I was swooning throughout the whole book. The plot was so good also. I couldn’t stop reading.

This book deserves a 5/5 stars and if I could give it more I would. It was light, funny, spicy, deep.

I *really* enjoyed Preston's POV chapters. He was such an interesting and thoughtful character and I appreciated hearing his experiences with being on the spectrum and raising his sister who is also ASD. They had such a kind relationship and it kept me wanting to read more. I knew lying was going to be a big part of the book, but maaaaan Harmony was sometimes hard to read. I really struggled with the middle of the book because I was so fearful of the inevitable. But that's a personal bias. The two had some serious chemistry and the steamy scenes had steam! I could easily recommend this book to a variety of romance readers and I like how the representation felt integral to the character, and not some box to check off.

This is a cute role reversal update of the Music Man. The homage runs deep, starting with Preston's name (the two main actors in the movie musical).

What I loved:
Great, realistic portrayal of people diagnosed with autism. Who are just people. Living normal lives, with normal human wants.
Curvy FMC portrayed as beautiful and capable
Queer characters
Social justice issues woven throughout

What I didn't love:
The "bad guys" were one dimensional and Zach seemed unnecessary
Slow start
Con wasn't necessarily fully formed
I wanted more of Dani

A worthwhile easy read for anyone who loves movie musicals and likes diverse romance. 3.75 stars
Thanks to Net Galley and Alcove Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I want to start by thanking the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. I will be honest, I don’t know the best way to describe this book other than middle of the road. I genuinely can’t describe it any better. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t really love it.

This was a fun and cute story, focusing on a FMC of plus size and a MMC who has autism. I thought the story was cute.

This rom-com unexpectedly delighted my librarian heart. Not only does Schwartz realistically portray the challenges librarians are facing in regards to book banning, but also Schwartz portrays autism and childhood trauma in a compassionate, understanding way. When conwoman Harmony seeks revenge on the man who betrayed her father and cost him millions of dollars, she never anticipates that cute librarian Preston would be collateral damage. As Harmony starts to fall for Preston, she struggles to maintain the con and keep her revenge as a priority. Readers of Chloe Liese, Abby Jiminez, and Talia Hibbert will love this book!

Thank you Netgalley, the author, and publisher for the eARC.

This is a cute romance novel that has autism representation, plus size FMC, and fake dating trope. The banter and the chemistry between the two main characters is amazing and so sweet. The author shows communication and respecting boundaries; which is amazing for this cute, fluffy romance. Oh! And did I mention that he is a Librarian? Cause that made me swoon for him even more... especially the bookshelf scene *wink wink*

Overall, this is a cozy, quick read.

Harmony Hale is a lovable, if cynical, conwoman who only runs her cons against bad people who deserve it and gives all the proceeds to the people who deserve them. Preston Jones is an autistic librarian and piano teacher who doesn't know how wonderful he is. You will adore both characters from the onset, and even if the plot has predictable moments, they're predictable in that way beloved of romance readers. This one is a keeper.

I had never heard of this author but the synopsis of 'my kind of trouble' sounded promising. Own-Voices autism rep; Yes please!! I absolutely loved this story and can't wait for everyone to meet Preston and Harmony.

Preston and his little sister are both autistic but their autism presents in different ways. And I thought that was really well done. His sister is selectively non-speaking and he does not push her to speak. He gives her space, love, kindness and understanding. And he also has her back and fights for her accomodations at school for example. I love how conversations about the education system were included. It's flaws pointed out.

Preston is a librarian and is fighting bookbans. I love how the conversations about censure, bans and all that stuff were full of facts. Preston is really pissed, has a strong sense of justice and really hates how people are wanting to change a safe space and take away acces to authentic representation and validation. He really makes a good case! And eventhough he hates public speaking, he is willing to do it to keep the library a safe space for all!

Harmony has troubles of her own. As a conwoman she is always lying and getting people to slip up and do what she wants them to do. Preston however is not the easy mark she thought he would be and that makes for hilarious (internal) dialogue. I loved the chemistry between the two main characters. And I loved the dual POV. That way the reader really gets to know both the main characters!

Was the ending a bit dramatic, sappy and convenient? Yes. But I did not mind. It's a romcom!! Througout the story I genuinly did not know how the story would end. I had no clue if Harmony would go through with her con, and if she did how she would pull it all off. It kept me on my toes and it made me want to keep reading. A relaly fun experience!
The plot just was really well done! It was not predictable in the way most romcoms are. The con element really added some fun and surprising things!

The only downside for me that is was subtly hinted at that one of the main characters might be demisexual. In one of the authors posts on Instagram it said the book had demi rep. But it was never mentioned and that was a bit of a bummer. The sapphic side romance was really sweet tho!!

If you love autism rep, justice, fat rep, a queer (sapphic) side romance, music, books and a unprobable friendship turned romance, this is absolutely the book for you!

I really enjoyed the book, I felt like the romance progression between the two main characters came very naturally and was very sweet. The characters themselves were also well thought out, as the fmc had her own reasons for why she was doing the cons, and the mmc won me over with his protectiveness over his sister. Overall, I would definitely recommend giving it a read!

For years, conwoman Harmony Hale has sold lies and crafted scams throughout California. Now, she's in Brookville ready to take down it's mayor-the man who stole her father's music-streaming algorithm. Her plan? Sell the town a nonexistent music festival, but not without a venue. So, she approaches the local librarian, Preston Jones, who owns the potential festival site. But when things get steamy between her and Preston, she'll have to make a decision: revenge or happily ever after?

Autistic librarian and piano teacher Preston Jones spends his days fighting book challengers trying to shut down his youth programs, raising his little sister, and focusing on keeping his job. He has no time for romance nor entertaining a festival promoter who wants to use his land. To him, she's nothing but trouble. But when Harmony promises to help him win the public with his youth programs, he finds himself with a change of heart. She might just be the one he's waiting for.

It took me some time to finally pick-up this one, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. Harmony is crafty, confident, and yes she might be a conwoman, but she has a heart of gold (she's only ever really targeting the bad guys). Preston is ADORKABLE! He's passionate about his work, a great big brother, charming, and definitely has game. Preston might've found Harmony annoying at first, but he couldn't resist her charm and things certainly takes a steamy turn.

> Autistic representation
> Small-town
> Revenge
> Bookish references
> Gender-swapped homage to "Music Man"

It took me two tries and over a month to get through this book, which is bonkers for me. I was just bored, mostly. When I applied for this book I was pumped. A genderswapped retelling of the Music Man? Be still my theatre loving heart.

Where Harold Hill (played by Robert Preston) is charming and wins over the town, but doesn't have the Robin Hood mentality of Harmony, I didn't buy Harmony winning the small town over. As a plus size woman, I have nothing against Harmony's overall being, but her overbearing, butting in, and one note personality was exhausting. I was so bored by her.

The Marion the Librarian character of Preston is a delight, but his autism seemed mostly like a side note to make him different. He could have been described without the autism diagnosis and I would still have understood he was on the spectrum. He talked some about how he was as a kid and the reactions of his father made him change and be more masked at all times, but I never really got that. He was clearly on the spectrum and his few outbursts seemed like his autism diagnosis was just used to explain them away. I have many autistic friends on all levels of the spectrum and this felt dishonest.

The side characters were fun, but everyone was pretty one note. Even after Harmony had her epiphany about loving Preston she was exactly the same person. There was no devleopment arc for either main character.

This book was, unfortuantley, not it for me.

i adored this book! to be quite honest, con artists are one of my favourite character types—but i think it was the love interest that really stood out to me. i appreciated his personality and how he was super different from most rom-com leads. although i did find myself not caring much for the plotline outside our two leads, i appreciated that they both had really well-developed arcs and personalities.

Rating:
⭐⭐⭐.75 rounded to 4/5

Steam:
🌶️🌶️/5

Tropes:
-Neurodivergent MMC
-Plus size FMC
-Grumpy/sunshine
-Small town
-Librarian MMC
-Conwoman FMC

Harmony is a conwoman and her latest mark brings her to a small town in California where she plans to finally get revenge on the man who wronged her father, but the last thing she expects is to fall in love with the reserved librarian, Preston.

First, what I enjoyed about this book:
The relationship between Preston and Harmony is so healthy. They have so much open communication (mostly--I mean the main conflict is that he doesn't know she's a conwoman, etc.). There's a lot of mutual respect between the two of them. I also adored Prestons younger sister, Lacey. I think the representation for the both of them was written extremely well and accurately. I enjoyed the inclusion and representation this book sought to bring.

What I didn't love:
It was hard for me to really like Harmony. While I understand her motives, I just never have liked a conman or conwoman character.
Additionally, about 40% in, I could already figure the plot twist and how the book would end. Because of that, trying to finish the book was a bit of the drag because of the predictability for me.

When reading the summary for this book, as a plus size neurodivergent broadway lover, I don't think there could have been a book more targeted at me.