“Loving someone doesn’t meen you won’t hurt them. It means you’ll stay even when you get it wrong” A second chance at happily ever after full of big emotions, sizzling chemistry, friendship and so much love that you can’t keep it down until the end. Andie and Kit’s past has the potential to destroy what they have been building since their wedding for a reality show. Can this time be different and keep them together? The audiobook with Kelsey Navarro Foster and John William Maddux brings to life all the big emotions and really touches your heart

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of this audiobook. I’m a big fan of married at first sight and this book was everything and more I would want out of a book based off the show. I loved the two main characters and their try again at love.

This is a fun and charming read. Wedding dress designer Andie makes stunning, one-of-a-kind gowns, and she’s gained a TikTok following for them, but bespoke dresses are time consuming and she is one nasty bride’s negative review away from going under. She needs investors to scale up her business. Architect Kit has built the financially stable life he always dreamed of and can help care for his sick mother, but he is emotionally unable to actually be there for anyone when it counts. His mom is worried that he’ll be alone when she’s gone.

These two meet at the altar on First Look At Forever, Andie with the intent on pocketing the divorce money at the end of the show and Kit at his mother’s insistence. But surprise, they dated in college and were in fact in love. Kit left without an explanation and broke Andie’s heart. How is this going to play out — on camera, no less?

You can probably guess where this might be going, but it is mostly a delight with lots of funny moments. A few moments of me wanting to literally reach into the book and smack Kit, who likes to decide what people need him to be and whether he is capable of being that without consulting them. We learn their backstories re: they are so fiercely independent (Andie) and emotionally unavailable (Kit). I enjoyed their journey. There are also a few very spicy scenes!

I have to say a word about the narration from Kelsey Navarro Foster, who I was feeling a bit tough on for the first half of the book. She had a sort of sarcastic tone that almost read to me as vocal fry, and it was grating on me a bit. Then I noticed it dropped during the moments when Andie let her guard down and became more vulnerable, and it started to become clear that was a character choice — part of portraying Andie as a badass who takes nobody’s crap. After I realized that, I enjoyed the narration for the rest of the book.

This was an advance listen from #NetGalley and #DreamscapeMedia that comes out on July 9. Thanks to them and author #IngridPierce!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the arc of "Not You Again" by Ingrid Pierce in exchange for my honest review.

I requested this book because I really enjoyed the premise. I have read a wedding reality show type book before and enjoyed it, however this one did drag on a bit personally. I thought the beginning was great and I was enjoying it but then it was a bit slow. I don't mind the miscommunication trope, but I thought it a bit odd that it wasn't a miscommunication that arose during their relationship but rather it was from the past relationship. When you give someone a second chance, don't you usually talk about why you broke up in the first place and what issues arose the last time? I did enjoy the narration, I thought the narrators really conveyed the emotions of the MCs very well.

This was such a good read/listen and was spicy! Wow there are scenes that I almost had to fast forward through because I was embarrassed to be there! Haha! I loved the main couple and how they had a history and then had a real second chance. It was also nice that they did communicate about what they wanted and went for it!

I enjoyed this one. Great plot and well developed characters. This was open door, which I usually just skip over, if it was closed door I'd give it 5 stars. The open door doesn't add to the plot at all.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC audiobook of Not You Again by Ingrid Pierce.

Andie Dresser is an up-and-coming dress designer with a Tik Tok following. She was invited to show her line at fashion week. Unfortunately, she used all of her savings for the fabric and her next bride cancelled her order. Now Andie has to figure out to pay for the supplies for her show.

Her friend has insider scoop on a reality tv show. You get married at first sight but if it doesn't work out there is a hidden clause that they will pay you $100,000. Andie applies for the show with the $100,000 as her goal.

Her ex-boyfriend Kit Watson moves back to town to help take care of his mom while she goes through chemotherapy. Her wish is to see her son happy. She talks Kit into applying for the show...and I am sure you can guess what happens. I don't want to spoil it, so I won't go on.

I liked the premise. I did not like all of the leading up to romance parts. Seriously, use different wording. How many times do you have to hide your chest due to ummmmm....issues. I found it quite annoying.

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and Ingrid Pierce for the chance to listen to this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was SO charming and entertaining. To any of my fellow reality TV indulgers- especially "Married at First Sight" fans- you will LOVE this book. It felt like a true, behind the scenes look at what these "couples" go through- from the relationships with the crew and other castmates, to the producer interference- filming the talking heads. All of it. From this POV alone-- highly recommend.

Beyond that- to this precise plot-- I felt their chemistry- I felt their conflict and confusion. I was just truly rooting for Andie and Kit. And the spice? Well, let's just say I'll be thinking about the time Kit ran back to the apartment to get his headphones for a while...

PS- I immediately started online shopping for long skirts with pockets-- I think Andie's style needs to become mine.

Ingrid Pierce does an amazing job at making you fall in love with these characters and root for them from the start. The detail in their stories where she gives you just enough information to keep you satisfied but also can’t wait to hear more was fantastic. I was captivated but the entertainment world she put in this book while also the real life story coming to light. The character building in Andie and Kit makes you love them and understand their personalities and biggest insecurities. Andie is a broken but doesn’t want to show it strong independent woman and Kit is a man who just wants to take care of his family but goes about it in the wrong way. I really enjoyed the story and the narrators did a fantastic job!

To put my feelings in the simplest terms possible: <i>Not You Again</i> quite literally made me want to rip my hair out.

As I sit here, reminiscing on my experience with this book, I find myself wondering what I was even expecting from a premise like this. In truth, I thought it was unique and that, therefore, made the book sound interesting. As with most rom-com novels, I think I usually expect a fun romp—or at least, I’m hopeful for one. And despite sounding like something fresh and new, Pierce’s story simply disappointed me at every turn.

Some of this might be me—this is the second “game show / reality TV” -esque story I’ve read and I hate both passionately. If even the wonderful Christina Lauren can’t do this trope well enough for me, perhaps it‘s something I should avoid entirely. All of that said, I’m still not quite sure that’s my biggest problem with either of these books, but rather the execution and the characters have just fallen so damn flat each time.

Ultimately what this gets me to is the fact that I am getting to the point where I would like to smack every moronic character who makes decisions without talking to their partner about said decisions. This bullshit “I’m going to assume I know what is best for the things my partner has told me they want from life and therefore I’m going to dip without explaining <i>anything</i> about why I made this hurtful decision because I just <i>know</i> I can’t give them what they want” plot line as the supposed “climax” is literally killing everything good or even okay about a couple in so many books.

I genuinely do believe that authors really need to stop using the miscommunication trope solely to further the drama of a plot. It’s quite unnecessary and, in the case of <i>Not You Again</i>, made the characters look like giant assholes. For <i>once</i> I just want to see a couple have a legitimate and real fight rather than making stupid decisions because they can’t have a damn conversation.

You’re grand reconciliation moment is still possible and won’t feel idiotically forced if you just stop this nonsense.

Miscommunication is something that happens in real relationships and I get that. I’ve also seen books where the trope is actually done well, so I’m not advocating for getting rid of it entirely. But I will say that the miscommunication needs to be done in a manner that is not excessively aggravating; it cannot be because the characters will not speak to each other and are simply making assumptions toward the end of the novel, it cannot be because they are making decisions for each other based on those assumptions, it cannot be to cause unnecessary drama, and most importantly of all it cannot be solely for the purpose of breaking them up right before the end just so you can have your stupid reconciliation scene.

I am so thoroughly done with poorly written miscommunication plots that I may legitimately throw the next book I read with one in it clear across the room.

Anyway, the rest of the book is pretty meh or okay. I didn’t love the characters and I didn’t really feel whatever connection they were supposed to have. I also <i>hated</i> every second of their sex scenes, so take from that what you will—I’m not usually a big fan of them in general, but these ones were especially awful to me. The plot didn’t really leave much room for realism or to keep me engaged, either. So, overall, I found this book pretty disappointing.

While I did enjoy the narration from both narrators, I don’t really think either of them could have done much to save this book for me.

Setting: Atlanta, GA
College Exes
Reality TV
Forced Proximity
Slow Burn
Dual POV

Custom wedding gown designer Andie swore off love a decade ago, but after losing a client due to a cheating fiancé, she finds herself in a financially compromising position and takes up the advice from her best friend and high profile wedding planner to apply for a reality TV show on being married at first sight.

The catch: make the marriage last 8 weeks before filing for divorce, and as the fine print states: the show will pay out $100k for damages incurred.

International Resort Architect, Kit, stopped dating seriously in college following the passing of his father, travels the world, and supports his mom as she navigates cancer.

Showing up blindly to the alter, the last person they expected to face was their college ex. Can Andie keep Kit at an arms length and her feelings out of their marriage or risk losing the $100k payout?

I enjoyed the narrators. It threw me off how Kit’s mom and other characters would sometimes have a southern accent and other times wouldn’t.
There is a third act breakup. The story would drag a bit here and there for me and making me disconnect from the plot, but overall a 3.5 star audio ARC/ALC.

Chapter 31. JFC. This slow burn was so worth it. 🔥

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Stories set in and/or around reality tv shows seem to have become almost a trope of their own, and Not You Again has joined their number. It is also a second chance love story, as the two main characters dated briefly in college and then saw/knew nothing of each other being united ten years later IN MATRIMONY as participants of a reality show. I liked the book, but the constant melodrama, while perhaps desirable on screen, was a little too overblown for the confines of a novel, even a romance novel. Everything was extreme: from the intense bitterness and regret over their initial breakup (Kit withdrew emotionally at his father's unexpected death, and Andie was demoralized when he didn't return her "I love you") to Kit's worry over his mother's treatment for cancer (spoiler: she does fine) and Andie's blind determination to resist all offers of professional assistance. I wanted to reach into the book and just yell at them to actually pay attention and talk to each other. The repeated default of withdrawing into their respective corners makes the happily ever after, however lovely, hard to have confidence in. The secondary characters, however, were all fun to spend time with, and the descriptions of both Andie's couture designs and Kit's architecture were beautifully rendered.

Andie & Kit both go on a marriage show for 2 different reasons. Andi is needing the money from the match not working out and Kit wants to settle down and make his mom happy so why not find is perfect match. But little did they know they picked each other for there perfect match and they already know each other from dating in college and it ended horrible. Now they have to navigate the past and the current. Will she try to keep the marriage going and forget the money or is there no hope?


Thank you so much Netgalley for the audio-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was written for the romance reality TV girlies!

This book starts out with our entrepreneur FMC Andie hustling to try to get her custom wedding dress business off the ground and in stable waters. This leads her to take an interesting path to get capital for her business. Joining a reality show. Imagine her shock when the surprise groom waiting at the end of the alter for her is her ex. The one who broke her heart and left her stranded.

What I really enjoyed about this book is that the people felt real. Their imperfections and the miscommunications that happen make sense. The ego that comes along with falling in love really gets in the way but nothing they did seemed too crazy. Like most romance books the problems would have been solved with a hard conversation but like I said the ego got in the way and frankly it felt real. Anyone who has given an ex who broke their heart a second chance understands the reactions in the book. Loved it! They also have a well rounded cast of characters that really add to the story. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of 'Married at First Sight' or 'Love is Blind'. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a free advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The plot of this debut novel by Ingrid Pierce is creative and fun with some steamy scenes that are a bit too raunchy for my taste, but the characters are likable. The story flows well and there is diversity in the supporting characters which I think helped the story to feel current and trending along with the reality tv married at first sight premise. The female narrator was good but I didn’t care for the male narrator’s voice. Overall, this is a great debut novel that will appeal to romance/lust fans.

Hmmm this one was interesting.. in a sense that it took a little bit for me to get into, but the storyline was so intriguing I know I needed to push through. And maybe also I was sort of Annoyed at Andie’s character…. But then I was annoyed at Kit… urgh Miscommunication troupes am I right?!?

But there was something endearing about this couple and I just wanted to ROOT for them soooo badly and wanted that HEA for them and…. But….well you’ll just to read to find out on July 9th!

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸…
🎊Miscommunication
🎊Reality TV
🎊Forced Proximity
🎊Both so stubborn
🎊Dual POV
🎊Open Door - mild

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What would you do if you signed up for a reality tv show to hopefully marry “the one” - sight unseen - and as you’re walking down the aisle you realize it’s your ex? (Personally myself, I’d be a runaway bride LOL)

“I see everything in her gaze - our past, our present, our future … if we’re brave enough to reach for it.”

Wedding dress designer, Andie Dresser is hanging on by a thread when she falls short of the money needed to attend Atlantas Fashion Week. Meanwhile, Kit Watson will do whatever it takes to get the medical help his mother needs. With a potential $100,000 dollar prize on the line, both Andie and Kit submit applications to be contestants on First Look At Forever. Past meets present when they get paired together by a team of experts and must embark on an eight week journey to decision day. Will Andie and Kits past prevent them from a happily ever after?

I’m a huge fan of the tv show Married At First Sight, so I was really excited to dive into this book! The advantage of a reality show tv vs reality show book is we get the characters actual thoughts outside of filming and the things they might not be saying to the cameras. I loved the Dual POV for this book, I think it was equally important to get both sides of Andie & Kits story - past and present. Their characters came with baggage and without flaws and it made them both easily relatable. Their story had heavy moments as well as light ones which is important in relationships - maybe theirs especially. Miscommunication caused a lot of problems for Andie and Kit but it also allowed for character development for both of them!

‘Not You Again’ is a fun and engaging read filled with romance and just enough drama to keep you hooked!

~ I didn’t deduct anything from my rating, but just wanted to note I read this on audio and I didn’t care for either narrations of Andie or Kit. ~

✨ Second Chance Romance
✨ Marriage of Convenience
✨ Reality TV
✨ Lovers → Enemies → Lovers
✨ Forced Proximity
✨ Dual POV

TW: death of parent, grief/loss, mentions of cancer.

Special thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media & Ingrid Pierce for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked the premise of this book. I kept thinking about Love At First Sight and Love is Blind. It was easy to visualize the show and being behind the scenes. I loved the tow main characters' back stories. I did not like the male narrator. He seemed too gruff and his inflection didn't match the words on the page.

This book is based around a reality tv show where people are matched up and meet at the altar where they are to be married. Kit is an architect with a sick mother who always wanted to see him married and settled down. Andie is a wedding gown designer who needs money for her business. She finds out that if you get divorced at the end of the 8 weeks, you get $100,000 for damages. So they both decide to sign up!

Kit and Andie are matched up and married. The biggest problem though is that they dated and were in love in college and their relationship ended poorly. They go on a honeymoon and then have to live in a neutral apartment for 8 weeks before deciding if they want to stay in their marriage or divorce. They begin to enjoy spending time together and rekindle their college love. But can it really be that easy?

I liked the idea of this book. I don’t watch much reality tv but the shows where people are matched up to be married without knowing one another always seem wild. Such an odd concept to me!

This is a second chance romance book. There was a lot of miscommunication back when they were in college and then again with this time around. There’s one, maybe two scenes of open door spice.

I listened to the audiobook and I enjoyed both narrators.

All in all, it was cute. I’d recommend it if you like a second chance trope and especially if you’re into reality tv shows like Married at First Sight!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion. This book releases on July 9th!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Audio for this advanced copy of Not You Again.

Not You Again tells the story of a former couple who gets paired together on a matchmaking showing where they marry at first sight. She joined the show for the cash prize at divorce. He joined to prove to his mom he could settle down.
The show has the typical comedic challenges and side characters, and the plot is a bit predictable but overall it’s very sweet.
My big hang up was the pet name. Sweet Potato is not cute and honestly it turned me off the story every time.
Also, the male narrators had a horrible fake feminine voice that took away from Kit’s perspective.

Overall, cute story but not a great audiobook.