The Quit List by Katie Bailey
4/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

A little silly and very fun, Katie Bailey’s books always leave me grinning. This rom com is no exception with a swoony MMC and lovable FMC who is just trying to find her way. I highly recommend giving this one a try for your next romance read of the summer!

Read this book if you like:
-friends to lovers
-no third act breakup
-grumpy x sunshine
-dual POV
-one tent
-she recognizes her worth
-he gains confidence
-outdoorsy setting

The Quit List is OUT NOW and if it’s not already on your tbr, it should be! Special thanks to Dreamscape Media for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Great tension as this two take on dating and the wilderness

“You flirt in your sleep”
“It’s the only language I’m fluent in”

📚 only one tent
📚 friends to lovers
📚 dating coach
📚 opposites attract
📚 dual POV

🚫 close door romance

|Thoughts|
Having previously read Season Scheamings, which follows Sebastian & Maddie exploring fake dating, I knew I’d enjoy this story to. It follows Maddie’s jadded brother, Jax, and looking for the perfect man, Holly.

“This night come as a shock, but if you’re missing is to find the ‘perfect man’, you may be looking for awhile. Because they’re no such thing”

“He’s way too charming for his own good…And since I told him in no uncertain terms that I don’t want to date him, this doesn’t exempt me from being flirted with”

Their friendship and banter was such a joy to read. And although it was fairly predictable, sometimes those are just the perfect reads.

“I spent all this time helping you tackle your quit list but it turns out I can’t quit you Holly”

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an eARC in exchange for this honest review.

Please don’t tell me that you’re one of those hopeless romantic types. Who thinks some shirtless, harlequin hero is going to ride up on his horse and whisk you away for a perfect happily every after”“Definitely not. But I do know Henry Cavill exists”

looking forward to reading more by this author.

I loved this book! Holly and Jax's friendship was so sweet and honestly so enjoyable to read. Jax helping Holly find true love while being in love with her himself had me giggling at them while also yelling at them to get it together. Seeing Holly gain confidence and Jax grow while they both follow their dreams showed how perfect these two were. The plot of this book flowed well; I love how there were multiple aspects to this story, from Holly and her dream job to Jax working at the bar, and the two of them supporting each other as Jax becomes a guide.

Such a fun flirty and cute book/audio. A perfect chores day listen. The narrators were great and new to me but I really enjoyed them and their pacing and tones. The story was perfection.

*♡Thank you to NetGalley and Katie Bailey for the ARC of this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion♡*

Friends to Lovers✔️
Dating Coach✔️
No Third Act Break Up✔️
Slow Burn✔️
Chemistry/Tension✔️

The Quit List is a perfect romantic comedy that reads as easy as watching a movie. A closed door romance that will hit the spot for anyone looking for a nice, easy read with plenty innuendos and suggestive humour to them entertained.
The characters are loveable and I felt myself rooting for them both the whole time.
Don't get me wrong, I was shouting at Jax near enough the whole time to wake up and snatch up Holly before its too late!! But thats half the fun!

A definite must read and now a future insta-buy author for me :D

Story Review: Holly’s looking for “the one” and Jax isn’t looking for ANY one. When he saves her from a horrible date at the restaurant where he’s a bartender, she asks him to help her figure out what she’s doing wrong that keeps attracting losers. He agrees to help her in his last few weeks at the restaurant before striking out to start up his wilderness guide business out in the middle of nowhere. As Jax helps Holly finetune her online dating profile and narrow down what she’s really looking for in a partner, he begins experiencing some pesky feelings he wasn’t prepared for…

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. I laughed out loud, swooned, smiled while reading in public (how creepy must I have looked to other people?), cheered Holly on as she found her voice, and teared up at the ending. Katie Bailey can do no wrong. She’s the queen of witty banter and I will read anything she writes. If she wrote a cooking blog, I would spend the time to read the entire page instead of using the “jump to recipe” button. 🙃

Read The Quit List if you like:
❤️‍🔥Strangers to Friends to Lovers
❤️‍🔥Dating coach
❤️‍🔥Scorching kisses
❤️‍🔥Witty Banter
❤️‍🔥Sasquatch sightings (iykyk)
❤️‍🔥Protective MMCs
❤️‍🔥No Third Act Breakup

🌶️ Intimacy: Closed door with tons of tension & sizzling makeouts
Content Considerations: Definitely a PG-13 rating. Moderate language (no f-words), moderate sexual innuendo & suggestive humor, nudity (non-sexual and hilarious)

Audiobook Review: I had the opportunity to receive an ALC of The Quit List audiobook, and jumped at the chance. Often times when there’s a book I’ve loved reading, I’ll reread it by listening to the audiobook. It seems to bring a newness to a story I’ve already enjoyed, and I love hearing the narrators bring the story alive. With audiobooks I’m picky about the narrators – the wrong ones can really take me out of the story. But with The Quit List, the narrators were spot on how I imagined Holly and Jax. I love when an author uses dual narrators for the male and female parts – it just makes the listening experience more immersive and realistic! I’m definitely going to be looking for more audiobooks with Abigail Reno and David Bendena. They were excellent!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced listener copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

I loved this one! The characters were both likable and had well fleshed out backstories. I liked the narrators of the audiobook and the story flows nicely. I went in with no expectations since it was a new to me author and I ended up becoming a fan! The budding relationship was so fun to watch from the beginning and I loved the denial both characters had until it was too hard to contain it anymore. A super cute strangers to friends to lovers between two fun characters.

I received an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to everyone involved in ALC distribution.

⭐⭐⭐⭐. 5 / 🌶️❌

General information:
- Contemporary romcom.
- Double POV, 1st person, single timeline.
- Part of a duet of standalone books.

Tropes/Hooks:
- Slow-burn
- Clean romance
- Opposites attract
- Stranger to friends to lovers
- Dating coaching
- Camping/kayaking/hiking
- No third-act break up (they are not even technically together at that point)

Synopsis:
Jax is a bartender, who is about to leave his job to move to his new cabin and become a wilderness guide. He is also very much not interested in romantic relationships. Holly is a hospitality expert, who desperately wants (and kind of fails) to try to find the one, and every week she goes on a date to the restaurant/bar where Jax works. Once Jax, being a very skillful people reader, saved Holly from a bad date and that's how they started communicating and understanding that they can help each other.

My opinion:
- General feeling: fun, cute, wholesome, heart-warming, gigging and kicking my feet. The romcom part worked well for me.
- The romance. Holly and Jax are extremely cute and wholesome. I love how they become friends first and how organic their relationship is. They are so different, but they complement each other perfectly. Their banter is delicious.
- As separate characters, they have depth and are down to earth and their struggles/doubts are relatable: opening a new business, becoming an uncle, shitty dating life, and family drama.
- This book is on a slower pace side, we just follow Jax and Holly's everyday life. That's not to say nothing was happening. In this case, I personally didn't mind it.
- Jax has the cutest dog
- Audiobook. I do believe the audiobook enhanced my experience with this book. I had no problems with any of the narrators. For reference, I usually listen to books in 2x speed.
- I'm definitely a city girl and hiking/camping are not very high on my personal favorite things to do list but I enjoyed reading about it in this book.
- If you are a stickler for reading books in order you should read Season's Scheming first, it's Jax's sister's story. Unfortunately, nowhere it is explicitly stated that these books are related, but they are.
- This book didn't have spice, and I personally didn't mind it or felt like it was really necessary.

This was an adorable romance with a slow burn that had me listening to this audiobook for hours straight. The couple is so different at first and through their odd situation in the beginning of the book, they fell in love. The male protagonist was the standard outdoorsy, funny, and charming bartender while the female was desperately searching t for love through serial dating. Their story was adorable and captivating. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

Quit List, The
by Katie Bailey
Narrated by Abigail Reno; David Bendena

I received an ARC of this audiobook from Netgalley.

Fair warning, there are some slow parts, but overall the flow is great. I listened to this in one day!

This is a love story about two people who seem like they could never work. She’s a bit high strung, is searching for her forever man, and she wants kids. He, on the other hand, has no interest in being tied down, and has no marriage aspirations.

Holly is obsessed with finding the right guy, and she’s spent the past 8 Saturday nights at the same table in the same restaurant trying to find him, and has failed dismally. Jax, the bartender, has watched her week after week and wonders what this girl’s deal is. Is she a player? Out for fun?

Jax is determined to be curious and to keep his nose out of her business. That is, until, a rage filled testosterone flinging roid rage having jerk gets into her face and intimidates the poor woman. Jax’s instinct is to swoop in and save her.

During his saving her from mr. Intimidation tactics - he gives her some free advice. After another advice run-in with Jax, Holly is forced to realize that she’s got a serious failing: failure to make a good dating app bio and failure to easily ditch jerks like roid rage guy. The solution: Use Jax as a dating coach. She doesn’t need advice on how to keep a man, she does need advice on how to try and find a man worth keeping.

What does Jax get out of it? He gets help on getting his new wilderness guide business up and running.

The rest is pure rom-com revelry. If you love friends-to-lovers and opposites-attract - this book is for you!

I recommend this book. It is a quick and easy listen and there are some great advice gems sprinkled throughout!

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape, and Katie Bailey for this audiobook.

I loved the narration for this audiobook. Both voice actors fit the characters perfectly, which made it even more enjoyable. The narrators did a great job with both tone and speed as well as voicing a variety of other characters.
I love the relationship between Jax and Holly, a very genuine slow burn, that allowed them to know each other as friends before progressing to lovers. I loved that it was a great love story with low stakes, a nice easy beach read RomCom for the summer!

I love a romance that keeps me on edge, giving me all the feels and this one delivers. This is my first Katie Bailey book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Jax and Holly have so much chemistry and the slow burn is perfectly paced. I enjoyed the hiking and outdoorsy aspects of the story and loved that Jax helped Holly find her inner voice and the confidence to go after what she really wants. He also has a rescue dog with the best name ever. You don't want to miss this one!

Loved both voices for the audiobook. Both voices fit each character perfectly. It was so enjoyable to listen to! The narrators did a great job with tone, speed, and consistency.

What a cute book! I love the relationship between Jax and Holly. A slow burn, friends to lovers. I loved the banter, the nicknames, and the little lead up pieces to make up the love story. It was a modern love story with not a lot of drama—which was great as it was entirely not needed for this book.

Really enjoyed this one as it was a quick and happy/cute read! Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape, and Katie Bailey for the ARC.

Another great Katie Bailey book. This is a stand alone novel, but there are references to Season’s Schemings.. This is a book that I could read more than one time. I highly recommend.

Holly is ready to settle down with the man of her dreams but after every new date, no one seems to fit her criteria. During one of her dates, Jax a bartender, saves her and decides to help her find the one. He's the total opposite of Holly in every way but you know what they say, opposites attract.

I loved this book so much. They start as friends who resist being together because their goals don't align. The time they spend together makes them realize how much they miss seeing each other when they're apart. Jax was perfect and 10000x better than Holly's ex in every way. I love the banter between the two of them and the little moments they share.

4.25

I love this story more every time I read it! Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the ALC of the audio, and Katie and her team for the ARC when it was released in April! These are my honest thoughts!

We meet Holly at such an important transitional time in her life. She's realized that her multi-year crush/former ex-boyfriend is never going to love her the way she deserves, so she signs up for online dating and is trying her best to meet THE ONE.

In the meantime, Jax is chasing his dreams, becoming a certified outdoor guide and renovating his cabin to make it a destination for his outdoor guiding business. He's ready to give his two weeks notice where he bartends, when who should he meet? That's right, Holly. He's watching her desperate attempts at dating, and when one particular date goes wrong, he rescues her (the fluffer scene is the BEST one audio!).

Then, they happen to bump into each other a park days later, where he finds an emotional Holly who has just been stood up. Jax decides then and there that all of his dating history and desire to stay single forever could help Holly find the one. While she wants to follow her list of things she wants out of a relationship, he helps her form a smaller list of things she needs to quit in order to be her most authentic self in a new relationship - enter The Quit List.

From there, we see Holly and Jax bond over: former high school bullies, jerk ex's who are stringing people along, jobs that aren't fulfilling, Holly going on a "real date" and Jax supporting her through it, and outdoor adventures (forced proximity... yes!).

The transformation of both of these characters is *chefs kiss* awesome. Jax helps Holly, but on the way, Jax finds her helping him, too, in these subtle and small ways that change how Jax views all the protection he's built around himself because of his dad's poor behavior.

We also get glimpses of Maddie and Seb from Season's Schemings, which I love! Jax is Maddie's stepsister, but they're close. I love their relationship as step siblings, and I love the glimpse into what's happening after the HEA for Maddie + Seb!

I loved the narrators! This was my first listen with both narrators, but they did an amazing job! I thought they really embodied the characters and brought to life some truly fun, funny, and emotional scenes between the two. The fluffer line at the beginning had me cackling, and I just loved some of the parts at the end when Hollywood and Wolf Man were out in the woods on an adventure together... coming across some LARPers in the middle of nowhere! LOL. Big fan! 5 stars!

ARC - these are my own thoughts and opinions. Thanks for the ARC, Katie!

I read this when it first came out as an ebook ARC & immediately requested the audio ARC when it released & loved it even more the second time! I. Love. Jax.

This has now gone to the top of my Katie Bailey list. It was perfection. As you may know by now, forced proximity is my favorite trope. And it's basically one bed as well?? Sold. It was so swoony & fun! I related to Holly in a deep way, and the way that Katie portrayed how it feels to be single in your late 20s/early 30s was perfect. She's also just as clumsy as me, which I also appreciated. As someone who is currently in her "do it for the plot" era, this book was perfect. Add in a tattooed MMC & I never stood a chance!

Tropes: opposites attract, dating coach, forced proximity, closed door, one bed, he takes care of her, dual pov, slow burn

Quotes:
"Her face is red and wispy hairs are stuck to her sweaty forehead and honestly...she looks prettier than I've ever seen her."
"Freefalling, indeed...but with a parachute to catch me. Safe and dangerous, all at once."

Posting to instagram stories 6/13 & updating goodreads to add audio reaction.

“Love gives, not take, builds, not destroys, adds not takes away. Someone to complement you not complete you” For a guy not looking for love, Jax checks all the boxes for Holly, who is looking for The One. But Jax stop believing in love a long time ago. Can help Holly find her perfect man, make them realise that the perfect match do not exist but that love help you find your person? Holly and Jax’s love story is full of sweet and funny moments but also deep ones. The audiobook with Abigail Reno and David Bendena makes a great story even better.

Thanks to Katie Bailey, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Holly's on the hunt for her perfect partner but only finds jackholes on dating apps. Doesn't help that she's stuck on her boss, who's also her ex. Tending bar where she often has her dates, Jax has a front row seat to the loser parade. When one date looks to turn nasty, he steps in and somehow ends up agreeing to be Holly's dating coach. Sparks fly and yada yada.

This was a pretty good book. Funny, relatable. Well-paced, but I got a bit impatient around the time Holly and Jax both knew they wanted each other and hooking up was inevitable, yet he was still resisting and she was still looking for dates. It was also a little annoying how this was very clearly a sequel to Season's Schemings, which I did not know going in or I probably wouldn't have requested this book. Quit List can be read alone, but starting with book one could only help.

Overall, a good if cliche romance.

After having some difficulty with the NetGalley app, I decided to wait for the publication date to dive into this intriguing read from Amazon. Uncovering closed-door romcoms that exude a blend of maturity and sizzling tension is akin to stumbling upon a hidden gem. Holly Greene, a hopeful romantic weathering a storm of disastrous dates, finds herself seeking guidance in the realm of true love. Enter Jax Grainger, the enigmatic bartender whose charm and elusive nature make him an alluring source of dating wisdom.
The blossoming friendship between Holly and Jax, brimming with witty banter, not only warms the heart but also paints a smile on one's face. Jax's genuine kindness shines through as he stands steadfastly by Holly's side, offering unwavering support. Witnessing his reluctance towards commitment being tested as he unravels the mysteries of true love is a truly captivating journey. Holly embarks on a self-discovery journey, realizing that perhaps Jax fits perfectly into the tapestry of her life. From charming humor to scorching romantic moments, this book is a delightful experience that I highly recommend to those intrigued by the allure of closed-door romances.