this one has one of the cutest covers I’ve ever seen, so I immediately requested it!

as for the actual book, it was not my favorite, but it was very charming and had a really cute premise :) it’s a read that gives all the butterflies and makes your heart happy, but it doesn’t have a lot of drama or make you sad. the main character is genuinely one of the least interesting characters I’ve ever seen.

*2.5 stars

📱grumpy sunshine
📱worldle based?
📱small town
📱cute side characters

A book with WORDLE? Yes! I am hooked. PEI setting? I'm in! This was a great and entertaining book with words and feelings and relationships that drew me in until the end. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Five stars.

loved this romance about 2 co workers who both do wordle. she is figuring out her life and goals and he works in the shop. They slowly become friends and more over time. He helps her with the volunteer work and they figure out their relationship and their goals. Loved the family and the older people she meets along the way.

As a Wordle girlie, I was over the moon to get a freaking romance with it as a theme but as you can see, it didn’t work out. The heroine was very immature and I swear if I read one more insinuation of how dumb she thought the hero was, I would’ve died.

I was interested in this book a romance novel with Wordle as a central themed seemed so niche and fun! Unfortunately, this book fell a little flat for me. The main character Emily, tended to have a rambling inner monologue which was jarring at first. I did get used to it was I continued reading but I was worried it was going to bother me throughout the entire book. By the end I did find myself enjoying the way Emily's mind worked.
I did however like the way Emily and John would play off each other. During many of the scenes I would find myself laughing out loud. Amy James can write funny characters really well. Overall, I found A Five-Letter Word for Love to be a cute and quick read!

This made me giggle. Honestly I don’t know who I would’ve asked for an answer to a puzzle- but life does that.

Two words. Super cute!

I loved the concept of them bonding over Wordle! This is a mix of a finding-yourself story and a romance. And, no spoilers, but I even started bawling my eye out at one part, so it's a bit of an emotional punch too. You'll know the scene when you get there!

Although the story take a bit to find it's footing, once it does, it will sweep you away. The ending is a bit quick, but we get our HEA so all is well.

This is a great read if you are looking for a fun romance with great secondary characters to help round out the story, fun witty banter between the couple, and a whole lot of heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was surprisingly cute and moving. I enjoyed the romance, the characters, the growth, and the friendships. If you're in need of a feel-good romance, this is definitely for you. The main character was in her head a little more than I like, but still enjoyed it

you wouldn't think that a romance book built around the game, Wordle, would be that good but this book was phenomenal! I absolutely ADORED this book and found it to be such a good read! the characters were absolutely precious and i'm obsessed with the premise of this book. if you love grumpy/sunshine, character growth, Wordle, and small town vibes - you will LOVE this book.

thank you so much to NetGalley, as well as Avon and Harper Voyager for making my Wordle loving heart happy by sending me this arc! <3

This has to be the cutest thing I have ever read. I tried not finishing it because I didn’t want this to be over, but I had to know what happens. This book made me have physical reactions. I cried 5 times during this. 5 times! I love how romance wasn’t the only aspect of this and I love love love Em’s growth! When she finally figured out what she really wanted to do, it made me sob. I also appreciate how independent she is and that her entire focus isn’t just on John. Speaking of John, Emily and John were just so cute and the scene before she left, oh my gosh, don’t even get me started. I screamed so much during the last 50 pages of this book. I say that it’s so adorable but this really takes you on such a wild ride. I will definitely be rereading this and I think this is now one of my favorite romances!!

As a girl who's 27 and recently gotten into Wordle. I was curious about this book. Mainly how was Wordle going to be incorporated into a love story and be somewhat a main point to it. This book was surprisingly cute and moving. I enjoyed the romance, the characters, the growth, and the friendships. If you're in need of a feel-good romance, this is definitely for you.

What an adorable cover! I requested this book on the cover alone!

As someone who loves Wordle, this was such a fun read! There could have been a tad more romance and build up leading to the romance as it felt like they went from hating each other to loving each other in an unnatural amount of time.. I didn't believe it and this couple probably wouldn't have worked out in the long run.

That said, I did enjoy the character arcs of both our leads, especially our fmc. The final chapters were great and I loved seeing what she learned throughout her journey.

I absolutely and completely adored this book. I wasn't sure what a romance built around Wordle was going to be, but y'all, this exceeded any expectations I had, and it was just such a darn delight . Yes, there's the Wordle connection, but this is really about two people trying to figure out life out. That includes career, interests, and obviously, given it's a romance, relationships. I loved the smart writing in this one, and there was some great wit throughout. I'm a bit like a Wordle board as I want to just write sentences telling you how much I loved this in different ways. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this December 2024 release. The only bummer is I read it so early because I want other people to enjoy this reading experience and fall for this one like I did!

I thought this was cute. The only issue I had was that the fmc had a tendency to ramble. She became annoying with it. But the book in general was good.

I thought this book was really cute - like if a Hallmark movie had a touch of spice in it. The characters are super precious, the premise is adorable. I mean there's not much to not like.

For me, it was too sweet. Like... I got a cavity after reading it. And I also felt like John was... kind of mean? Like opposites attract yeah, but he's just a terrible communicator, and seems fairly unable to express his feelings, and I think for someone like Emily that would get really difficult over time.

This was a cute read. I loved how Emily found herself and started to appreciate those around her instead of constantly wanting more. butttttttt, there definitely could be more romance. There wasn't much romance or a plot around it. It went from them hating each other to in love without any explanation or leading up to it.

I really wanted to love this book. Love the title and the cover, it’s so eye catching. Love the premise and original idea of the bond this couple has with wordle, something I do personally each day etc.

But the book seemed to drag on at times and made me want to skim pages rather than sit and read it. It could use some better pacing and editing to fix these elements.

Overall the concept is there and I can see this being a hit for people in the romance department but it needs a bit more work to get there.

The development of the female lead was good and I enjoyed that. Same with the final chapter, the way it ended and life lessons were great. This is definitely a decent debut novel and can have success!

This book was really cute. It felt like reading real people with real dialogue. It was a slow fall that felt realistic. I wish we got a little bit more romance, at some points it felt a little forced, or random, like how did it cross from friends to full out love. There wasn’t a ton of romance for me there. The narration was also hard to get used to when the narrator is constantly breaking the fourth wall, which feels a little young adult. But it was a cute read, and as someone who also used Wordle to develop a crush with my boyfriend it was fun to read about that! Again it felt like a real story.

As a word-game obsessed (731 day Wordle streak going strong!) lover of the rom-com genre, who spends half her life in her head, I think this book was written precisely for me and me alone. I may have requested it on NetGalley just for the cover and the title, but this book did not disappoint. I loved watching Emily's evolution as a character even though it was fairly easy to see where this book was going from the beginning (with this rom com genre you KNOW what you are getting, and that you got with this book. If you're looking for a light easy read and you love word games, add this one to your list (although I will say, I think Emily's Wordle strategy needs some work!). Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I’m a huge fan of this overly specific niche of grumpy/sunshine auto shop romance, and I immediately thought of Under Locke (Mariana Zapata, if you haven’t read it, go give yourself a treat right now). This book had all the right pieces to be great, and I think the more this author continues to write, the better her books will continue to be.

Emily is the receptionist at an auto shop and is feeling unfulfilled in life. She has no close friends, wants to be liked, and is drifting without a purpose in a small town, while imagining herself as a “city girl”. John is a mechanic that works at the shop, and she can count on one hand the number of interactions they’ve had while they’ve been working together. The two finally bond when John helps Emily keep her Wordle streak alive.

What I liked: Emily shows huge growth as a character. John had all the potential to be a grumpy hero who is only soft and sweet for her.

Not my favorite: Emily is constantly thinking about Wordle..like maybe too much?? And for someone who spends this much time on it, you’d think she’d be better at it. Also, the romance aspect between these two just didn’t quite hit how I was hoping it would.

Overall a solid, cute romance, especially if you love:
🚘grumpy/sunshine
🔠FMC with huge character growth
🚘adorable side characters
🔠Wordle (duh)
🚘long, charged silences
🔠small town

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!