I thought this was a cute story about starting over in a complicated situation. Overall I did like the book but I did feel like the plot dragged in certain parts.

What a FANTASTIC book. I want to scream from the rooftops to tell everyone to read this book! That's how good it is! My patrons will absolutely ADORE this one and I cannot wait to share it with them!

This book gave me all the feels. I loved Zoe and Jack. Textbook Romance has Kristen's trademark wit and storytelling (this one being rather spicy, I approve). It was lovely to see Mia and Ed again. The ending of the book is the stuff of chick lit dreams. I'd like to see Frank get his own story. I developed a bit of a soft spot for him. Textbook Romance will have you believing in love and possibly craving a Nando's. I'm impatiently waiting for Kristen's next release.

This was a really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed & will recommend to others.
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it

4.5 stars. I really really liked this book, I loved the dynamic between the two MCs and the way the MMC healed and brought the FMC out of her shell was so special and lovely to watch. The author has a really good way of writing a more serious storyline into a witty and light hearted book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of the arc

This was an enjoyable summer read. Lots of laugh out loud moments and a few twists and turns on the way to a HEA ending.

I have read a lot of romances over the years, and this one has something really refreshing: a middle aged main female character with two teens. As someone who is a (happily married) middle aged woman with two teens, I enjoy reading about a woman at my stage in life, even if I don’t have the same dating issues. All the young ingenues were getting a bit boring tbh.

Zoe is a teacher and works with teens all day. She clearly loves her job and works hard to understand and connect with her students. She meets a much younger man, Jack, at a wedding where she also discovers her husband has been cheating on her with her best friend. He helps her home like a gentleman but they meet again when he gets hired as a substitute teacher at her school. Of course things progress from there in a very romcom way.

The author has a deft touch with comedy, dropping bits into scenes to give it hilarious color. For example, Jack has a video call with his nephews one day while they are grocery shopping and he keeps seeing up their noses as they carry the phone face up through the store. And the raucous interactions between all the players in a game of laser tag at a birthday party. The younger characters, both students and family members, have an appropriate amount of snark without being annoying. There’s another example I could add, but I don’t want to accidentally spoil the story. It's near the end and involves a suitcase.

The ending was rather predictable yet still very satisfying. The way they got there could have been easily fixed, but then it wouldn’t be dramatic enough for a book so I get it. It was still a satisfying ending, and a very enjoyable read.

Zoe meets Jack when she is completely unavailable, only to have her life upended in front of him. A chance opportunity brings them back together and they give each other a shot.

I thought this was cute overall - Bailey wrote her characters well, but I could have done without the big focus on the age difference.

This wasn’t my favorite book by this author but I finished the book satisfied! I just didn’t feel like there was a huge plot to this book and I kept waiting for something big to happen. But at the end of the day, it was a cute and happy ending!

Brilliant!

I raced through this book. It just has everything a romance novel requires. Excellent characters and a story I'd love to spend more time in.

Haven't read a romance in a very long time and this one did it for me. The banter had me giggling like a teenager, loved every single character, loved the amazing friendships and love they shared and how they were there for each other in every moment. Zoes relationship with her kids were amazing and Lottie was everything. Going to add a few more of Kristen Bailey books to my tbr.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

Textbook Romance is about a 43 year old teacher and mum of two teenagers, Zoe, who finds out her husband is having an affair with her friend. Jack, a 29 year old, who hasn't quite found what he wants to do with his life is there when she discovers the affair and they soon become friends and more.

I liked the main characters but I wasn't a huge fan of the book. It didn't seem like they could realistically make a relationship work. It mainly seemed to be based around sex. Her ex took up a lot of time that could have been focused on her relationship with Jack. I wish the book had been set around a year or so after her husband left so she would have been in a different place in her life. I did think a few moments were funny.

Kristen Bailey's "Textbook Romance" is a delightful and heartwarming read that seamlessly blends humor and romance. The engaging storyline, combined with Bailey's witty writing style, makes it impossible to put down. The characters are well-developed and relatable, each bringing their unique charm to the narrative. Bailey expertly balances laugh-out-loud moments with heartfelt scenes, creating a book that is both entertaining and deeply touching. "Textbook Romance" is a must-read for anyone looking for a feel-good romance that will leave them smiling long after the last page is turned.

I read this book as ARC. Thanks Storm Publishing and Kristin Bailey.
I enjoyed reading this book. I did find it a bit slow at times but it always drew me back in. I didn’t mind the age gap between Zoe and Jack but that seemed to be the main focus. I really enjoyed the other characters. I would have liked to have more details on what happened when she confronted Brian. Zoe needed to put Brian and Liz in their place but she was really passive when it came to dealing with them. (I would have changed the locks to the house the minute I threw him out!) When she sees Liz, Liz apologizes and all Zoe says is- ‘No you’re not’!
I did love how her kids were so loyal to her and her friends too.
There were a few spicy 🌶️ scenes but the age gap references were repetitive and in my opinion, not needed. It was refreshing to see an older woman and a younger man for a change! The dual POV was good too.
I did feel the ending was rushed. She goes to the airport to confess how she feels then it jumps to she and the kids going to visit Jack. I wanted to see their relationship develop once they reconciled.
Overall it was a good story and I would recommend reading it.

What a lovely romance! The MCs are so easy to get into and you really root for them. The whole cast of characters was enjoyable (aside from sleazy Brian of course), and the dialogue was wonderful typical British humour.

Textbook Romance by Kristen Bailey

Textbook Romance follows Zoe and Jack who meet at a wedding where Zoe finds out her husband has been cheating on her with her best friend. Jack helps her get home to her kids and it is months before they see each other again. This time Jack is now a substitute teacher at the school where Zoe teaches. There is definitely a spark between the two of them from the start. Oh, and Jack is 29 and Zoe is 43. Is the age gap too much? Should they take a chance and see what happens?

This was a fun book. I liked the reverse age gap and the school setting. Jack's character is SO swoony. The banter between Zoe and Jack is flirty and fun, and the side characters are a compliment to the main storyline. While not super spicy, there are a few short scenes that give some heat. There is a third act break-up I saw coming. I didn't love that, but I didn't hate it either. I wanted a little more from the ending, but overall I really enjoyed Textbook Romance and look forward to Kristen Bailey's next book.

My sincere thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book and give my unbiased opinion of it in this review.

This book was nice enough, and enjoyable to read - but not something that will stay with me.
I loved the idea of a love story with a teacher as protagonist as a teacher myself and I did like reading about this - but nothing was too heartfelt or meaningful in my opinion. It just was a bit too 'fluffy' for me.

It was a nice enough read, but just OK.

This was such a sweet read! Funny, romantic, and heartwarming from start to finish. I am usually not a huge fan of insta-love or age gap romances, but I thought Kristen Bailey did a great job of tackling both tropes, and I felt so invested in Zoe and Jack's relationship. I also really liked the way Bailey develops the relationships aside from the romance, like the friendships and Zoe's bond with her children. The London setting was another definite highlight for me, too! If you're in search of a cute, compulsively readable romcom, definitely give TEXTBOOK ROMANCE a try. Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC.

lovely romance novel!! this had me smiling the entire book. finished it one single sitting!!! would love to read more from kristen bailey.

Solid RomCom in Shared World With Other Books From Author. This is one of those books where characters other than our main couple play crucial roles and while it isn't *completely* obvious that they are pre-existing characters from other books... it also kinda is, or at least was for me. In part because I *did* read Sex Ed, Mia and Ed's story, and remembered them so distinctly. As it turns out, the other couple that plays crucial roles here, Beth and Will, had their story told in one of Bailey's other works in another series, Did My Love Life Shrink In The Wash? - book 3 of 5 in the Callaghan Sisters series.

But don't get me wrong, this book can completely be read as a standalone with no knowledge of the other two books, and the only blatant spoilers aren't really spoilers... gee, the main couple in a romance novel wound up together... hmmm... *BREAKING NEWS!!!!!* (/sarcasm :D).

As to this tale itself, I thought it worked quite well in showing the difficulties of an age gap romance, if in a slightly more socially acceptable way than the somewhat more common older man- younger woman, instead we get here a bit of a cougar, with an older woman - younger man dynamic... except that it isn't really cougar so much as friend to lover. The opening prologue sets the scene, with our eventual couple meeting right as our female lead learns devastating news, and the tall proceeds in an almost Gilmore Girls - meets - 2020s manner, with a lot of banter and texting (and sexting, and confusion/ hilarity around the confusion regarding both forms), and, since this *is* set in the UK... soccer. (*NOT* football, no matter what those crazy Brits claim. There are *reasons* we in the US were the first of many to kick them out of our country, and this is just another (more modern) reason they continue to be wrong. :D) (To be clear, 99% of the prior parenthetical statement was a joke. Though they *are* wrong in calling soccer "football". :D)

If you prefer "clean" / "sweet" romances with the spice level of a warm bowl of oatmeal... this ain't your thing, as this is closer to jalapeno at least, *maybe* habanero. As in, at 41 years old myself, there are things in this book that I've both never done and have lost the flexibility to do. So kudos to our female main character for being so nimble. :D

Overall a fun, solid romcom with the usual expectations and perhaps a bit more heart than most that manages to take some typical tropes in at least slightly different directions.

Very much recommended.