This was a fun slow-burn small-town grumpy-sunshine romance. There were a few moments when I thought the situations the characters got into were a bit too cute or convenient, but I was happy to go along for the ride, and I'm sure many others will be, too.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read a digital ARC in advance of publication!

The Fundamentals in Flirting was a fun, charming, and warm small town romance.

I loved the flipped take on grumpy sunshine, with Hannah the Hedgehog and Teddy the Labrador. Hannah was smart, motivated and resilient and she and Teddy were so sweet in their care for their elderly neighbour. I really appreciated the fact the characters were in their 30’s, though their insecurities felt a little abrupt sometimes.

The small town setting was so quaint, and I particularly enjoyed the way Hannah’s relationship with the other residents changed over time. Teddy’s renovated house was such a warm and homey setting for sparks to fly, and the goats were just the cherry on top.

A great read for anyone looking for a cosy, amusing and engaging romance. I’m looking forward to picking up the first in the series now.

Thankyou HarperCollins UK for a copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

Mein Leseerlebnis

Den Schreibstil der Autorin fand ich vom ersten Satz an sehr angenehm und locker. Darauf aufbauend konnte ich mich gut auf die Geschichte einlassen und fand vor allem die ersten Kapitel auch sehr unterhaltsam. So rund um Kapitel sechs war ich mir sicher, dass mir auch der Rest der Liebesgeschichte gut gefallen würde. Doch ganz so ist es leider nicht gekommen.

Umso länger die Geschichte andauerte, umso weniger Faszination empfand ich für die Hauptcharaktere. Ich hatte ganz generell Probleme damit, sie mir als richtige Personen vorzustellen.

Auch hatte ich das Gefühl, dass es nach dem Einstieg in den Roman hier und da ein paar Längen gab. Als kürzeres Buch hätte mir der Liebesroman unter Umständen besser gefallen.

Das Happy End fand ich dann wiederum schön, emotional mitgerissen hat es mich aber nur bedingt.

Blicke ich auf mein Leseerlebnis zurück, so würde ich den Roman als kurzweilig und nett beschreiben. Und auch wenn das Buch mein Interesse nicht immer halten konnte, so kann ich mir doch gut vorstellen, dass andere Leser:innen das Buch toll finden könnten.

🖤🖤🖤 1/4

PS: So “spicy” wie im Klappentext erwähnt, fand ich den Roman über weite Strecken übrigens nicht.

PPS: Ist das Buchcover nicht wunderschön und einladend?

Für wen?

Wer lockere Liebesromane mag, in denen der Neuanfang der Heldin und ihr neuer Nachbar (ein alter Bekannter) ihr Leben ganz schön auf den Kopf stellen, für den könnte “Fundamentals in flirting” ein schönes Buch sein.

I enjoyed reading Fundamentals in Flirting by Lucy Chalice. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

Hannah and Teddy had a great story. I loved the grumpy/sunshine, with Hannah being the grumpy one. This book was better than I anticipated. Such a cute and fun read. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to a fan of Ali Hazelwood. This book gave off similar vibes.

This was a great follow up to Chalice’s debut novel The Hot Henry Effect. MMC Teddy Fraser is the twin brother of Henry Fraser, book 1 MMC, however, these can be read as standalones.

What I liked about the book:
1. It’s always fun to read a FMC Black Cat x MMC Golden Retriever romance book! Especially when the golden retriever is a bit of a flirt and isn’t dumb.

Teddy was a big flirt (at least with Hannah), and he definitely always put a smile on everyone’s face, but he also hid a depth that he didn’t let a lot of people see. I feel when we get the Golden Retriever MMC it usually comes with a side of Himbo personality, which was not the case with Teddy. I loved him and just wanted to squeeze him so much!

Hannah was an awkward, non-nonsense and blunt individual, but oh how I loved her! She hated “peopling” but pushed herself to do so, which was both hilarious and full of character development for her. Hannah’s humor and feminist undertones were so fun to watch play out as well. As an awkward, black cat FMC myself, I’m a Hannah fan for sure!

2. I also really love when an MMC falls first, which boy oh boy did Teddy!! In love with her since high school, Teddy did not hide the fact that he was going to woo her ass one day!

3. I loved how supportive Teddy was of Hannah taking what she wanted in all aspects of her life as well as standing up against her ex. Even when she didn’t believe in herself, he always did.

I also liked the surprise person who stood up for Hannah towards the end of the book. I wasn’t expecting it, but I was totally hollering “You go, [redacted]!”

4. I loved how Hannah had insecurities that aren’t ones touched on too much in romance books. To her, her freckles were her ultimate downfall, often using her hair as a shield against the world (which I’ve definitely done as well!). I loved how Teddy went about showing her, multiple times, that he loved everything about her and her looks. And that mirror scene????

5. Lastly this was flirty and funny. There were so many interactions that were just pure gold, from “devil sheep” to a series of terrible accents, this book definitely had me cracking up! And the flirting was perfect and just enough to get us by until the intimate collision at the end of the book.

What I wasn’t a fan of:
1. For people in their 30s, there were definitely interactions that came across younger, which was a little cringe at times.

2. Hannah made a lot of assumptions…like a lot even for a romance book, and it got a little old.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and Lucy Chalice for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

What a cute, funny, romantic story. Lovely characters with relatable worries/fears/insecurities.
A bad situation puts a vet in a small town veterinary clinic and her life changes when she finds out the boy she liked as a teenager is a neighbour… read the book to find out what happens!

This book is absolutely delightful and I was completely charmed from the very first page. It’s full of witty banter, relatable characters and undeniable chemistry.

Dr. Hannah Havens is a superstar Vet, who, after an enlightening (and honestly so funny) encounter, decides to move back to her home town. It isn’t long until she runs (literally, while on a horse) into an old high school acquaintance, Teddy Fraser, who just bought The Old Rectory beside her vet office, which she lives above.

This book is incredibly well written. It takes place in Britain and it is so delightfully British. The setting is so beautiful detailed, I felt like I was there. Lucy has crafted characters that feel real, flawed, and entirely lovable. I loved their flirty exchanges and authentic moments. This book is equal parts sweet and laugh-out-loud funny. Plus the spice was just perfection.

Read if you like:
💜 STEM romances
💜 He’s sunshine, she’s serious
💜 Flirting lessons
💜 A Pride and Prejudice inspired scene(the Colin Firth one)
💜He falls first
💜 A devil sheep that is actually actually a blind elderly goat

Cute story. Hannah and Teddy were fun. I liked that Hannah was the grumpy one. That was a nice surprise. I would recommend it to someone who likes books by Ali Hazelwood. There were similarities in tone and I liked that a lot.

This was cute, loved that she was a vet. Sometimes the female scientist jobs are so big that it was nice to read about a regular scientist job. But she was also the most self doubting and deprecating person, it got to be very annoying. And Teddy was fine, also very quick to give in at hard times, but still so nice to Agnes.
I did lol at times and loved the ex boyfriend revenge. But I liked her first novel more.

Read from October 30th, 2024 to November 2nd, 2024. Written on November 3rd, 2024.

This is going to be a quick one:

Full, full of slowburn like OMG-when-will-they-properly-kiss and how-can-you-both-be-so-blind levels of slowburn. There is spice so careful if that's not your thing (though it is not a lot)

I loved it. It's quirky, easy to read, there's goats and plaster, what more do you need? Also, mega Mr. Darcy moment. I mean, wow.

I'd heard of The Hot Henry Effect but hadn't read it, but I will most certainly be reading it now, especially after this one. Though the stories are mildly connected, they are standalone novels.

Also, exes suck sometimes, don't they?

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC!

(Free ARC from NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter | One More Chapter that I chose to review after reading - Cross-posted on Goodreads on November 7th, 2024)

I enjoyed The Hot Henry Effect. And Fundamentals in Flirting by Lucy Chalice was such a great story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors writing style had me hooked throughout this book.
Adorable, lighthearted, feel good romance story with that small town vibe and amazing Grumpy x Sunshine trope.

This book was fun from page one. I read it in two days, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Its fun to see the sunshine character as the male, balancing off of the grumpy female. The town was also so charming, the characters vivid and endearing.

I thought this book was a cute little time. Hannah and Teddy’s relationship flowed very well and I thought that their insecurities were realistic and valid.

Where do I begin this book has taken me on an emotional rollercoaster immediately from the song playlist. I think what makes Hannah so special is how relatable she is. I think Hannah goes through many things us women go through when we look at ourselves in the mirror no matter the age. I think something that made love this book was how funny the comedy was. I especially love the banter that Hannah and Teddy have with each other. Speaking of Teddy I loved him as a character. I think he is very compassionate and great with every one he talks to. Overall I think that this book was a great read if you are looking for something that is not that serious and a quick and easy read.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

For someone who is supposedly smart, Hannah sucks at reading people thanks to her destructive inner narrative. She doesn't see herself as valuable or likeable. I think this is why she is so prickly. I enjoyed the story and felt really bad for Teddy. I will definitely recommend this to a few people I know.

Ahh the premise of this was so cute, and it began really well. It sort of peters off though, because the same self-confidence issue is simply rehashed. It needed more - a new conflict at about the 75% mark.

This one was hard to get into and continue to read. The FMC had a HUGE chip on her shoulder that never was resolved it was just forgotten? I guess. She was also so negative that it was nauseating, and the MMC had no backbone like "Sir? do you mind getting ran over about 4 more times? Then I'll consider loving you." There wasn't any chemistry it was just meh.

Dr. Hannah Havens is back in her hometown with zero interest in romance, especially with Teddy Fraser—the charming, flirty guy from her past. Determined to keep her distance, she finds herself repeatedly thrown into his orbit, testing her patience and people skills like never before. Teddy’s relentless cheeriness clashes with her prickly demeanor, but as Hannah’s boss pushes her to soften up, she wonders if Teddy might just be the perfect challenge. This fun, slow-burn romance is full of witty banter, unexpected chemistry, and the sweet surprise of letting someone in.

A grumpy -sunshine trope with Hannah being the grumpy vet. Ted and Hannah had good chemistry once she started being nice to him. Wish they had more interaction with her parents since it contributed so much to how she was. Loved seeing the relationship of his brother from the last book.

3.75⭐️