All the tropes! This is a cute book by a debut author. The main characters' meet cute is a trope, as are all the adventures they have. I liked Mason a lot, but felt more meh about Sawyer.

When bestselling romance novelist Sawyer Greene gets stuck in an elevator with a handsome stranger, her jaded heart is determined for it to NOT be a meet cute. But when they keep running into each other, it's too difficult to ignore their chemistry. But the sexy stranger turns out to be hopeless romantic and famous actor Mason West, and things get a lot more complicated. The two agree to privately go on uber-romantic, movie-worthy, classic "dates"--without benefits, wink wink, nudge nudge--to destroy Mason's romantic notions and ensure he doesn't keep falling head over heels for the first woman he sees, helping rid his romancer reputation while hopefully curing Sawyer's writer's block.

I LOVED this book. What a debut! Swoony celebrity hero with a cinnamon roll heart? Check. Bad@$$ cynical but romance book loving heroine? Check. Sweet, spice, and everything nice? Triple check! This story was a perfect, sexy, warm hug of a read. It had enough holiday cheer to make it perfect as we head into fall and winter, but not so in-your-face holiday if that isn't your thing. Sawyer and Mason are fabulous little idiots to lovers that I just wanted to scream at "ADMIT YOUR FEELINGS ALREADY!" but with all the love in my heart. I can't wait to read more books by this author.

Thanks to Forever for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Sharp, delightful, and fast-paced, UNROMANCE is a true rom-com to devour in a sitting or two. I loved all of Connor’s sly references to classic romcoms and comedy films. If you love Abby Jimenez, Connor’s bright and engaging voice is for you.

This was fantastic debut! I really felt so connected to the characters in this. I absolutely love when the guy falls first and BOY DID MASON FALL!! Sawyer and Mason were just the cutest ever and felt so real even tho they both had a level of fame to their characters.

All in all for sure a 5 star read!!

4.5 stars

What a great debut! Unromance takes all of the romance tropes we know and love and puts a unique and funny spin on them. Romance author & famous actor was the perfect combo - Sawyer has been struggling with writer’s block for two years following a rough breakup, and Mason is a hopeless romantic who serial dates his costars yet can’t seem to get one to stick. After a chance meeting and a one night stand, they come to an agreement to play out all of the cliche romance tropes in hopes of ruining romance for him and sparking some inspiration in her.

Sawyer and Mason had such great chemistry and their banter and innuendos made me laugh the whole time. He fell fast and he fell hard and I loved every minute of it. The descriptions of the different tropes before each chapter were super fun and I was always excited to see what the next one would be. Although this book is a lot of fun, it also has its serious and heartfelt moments, so it’s basically the whole package. I’m very much looking forward to reading more from Erin Connor in the future!

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC in change for an honest review.

4.5 stars

Unromance by Erin Connor was such a fun standalone rom-com that I am already looking forward to rereading!

Sawyer Greene is a romance novelist who is suffering with writer's block.... she gets her own meet-cute when she meets Mason West in an elevator. She doesn't recognize the soap opera star and proceeds to have her first one night stand. The two decide to go through a list of rom-com cliches together in hopes that Sawyer will get inspiration to start writing and that the newly single Mason will be cured of his hopeless romanticism.

This book is HILARIOUS. The characters are a HOOT and I enjoyed every moment of it... I was a little baffled that we had not one BUT TWO third act break ups, but of course I was pleased with our happily ever after. This book obviously was predictable but that didn't take away the enjoyment one bit.

If you are looking for a fast paced novel filled with laughs and references to the rom com tropes we love so much then dive into this as soon as it hits the shelves.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the arc in exchange for my honest feedback. I look froward to reading more from Erin Connor!!

LOVED this book. This book is everything a rom com book should be. The characters are fun and funny. They care about each other without being over the top. Every rom com cliche is used on purpose which just equals a fun read for people who love rom coms. Sawyer is a struggling writer who is extremely lonely. She doesn’t have family, barely any friends, her last breakup was years ago which still holds her back. Mason is an actor who loves love. He is the ultimate golden retriever, but can’t hold on to a girlfriend to save his life. These two have an adorable meet cute turned one night stand right of the bat and eventually keep meeting until they decide to help each other out. Mason helping Sawyer with her writer’s block (thank goodness she is finally leaving her apartment) and Sawyer helping Mason with his ridiculous obsession with love? I think that’s what she’s helping him with. It doesn’t matter because any excuse for these two to have fun around the holidays is fine by me! I read this book in 2 days and it is just a really well done rom com.

In this book:
Meet-cute
Writer FMC
Actor MMC
One night stand
Funny banter

5 stars from me!

Thank you Erin Connor, NetGalley, and Forever publishing for an advanced digital copy of this book.

Unromance is a debut contemporary romance full of romcom tropes, even the meta trope of "following all of the romcom tropes to prove how silly they are" (or something like that). Sawyer and Mason were really cute as they navigated through all of the tropes and subsequently failed at not falling in love. There was a lot of banter but I'm not entirely convinced with their romantic chemistry. But as many romcoms go, you just need to suspend your disbelief and believe that two strangers can fall in love.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a digital review copy of this book via NetGalley!

A fantastic debut. Charmingly meta re tropes with two very likeable main characters. A super fun dating black cat/golden retriever story.

Sawyer Greene, a romance novelist suffering from writer’s block, gets trapped in an elevator with a handsome stranger. It’s a chance meeting. And it’s cute!

She later witnesses Elevator Guy at a bar, apparently in the midst of a breakup. Some banter, a slight misunderstanding, and a strong dose of impulsivity leads to a “no-strings” one-night-stand. Elevator Guy, it turns out, happens to be famous television actor, Mason West. See where this is headed?

Unromance blatantly and unapologetically exploits as many clichés as possible as Sawyer and Mason team up to reignite her writing career and cure him of his hopeless romanticism by ruining every rom-com cliché they can think of. Their plan starts with a “no catching feelings” contract (which will be broken) and a list of date ideas (which will be checked off.) While this medicine seems highly successful in curing Sawyer’s writer’s block, it has a rebound effect on Mason’s problem by making him fall harder than ever before!

I really found this to be a clever and funny premise and I fell in love with Sawyer and Mason. I only wish that I wasn’t trapped in their heads for quite so long. Some scenes were really drawn out. I felt like I was on the non-express bus. I generally enjoy a good long book, but this one felt slow. It’s clear that the author had deeply developed her main characters and went to great lengths to show the reader who they were.

I’m grateful to the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this NetGalley ARC.

had so so much fun with Erin Connor's hilarious, swoon-worthy, sultry debut. Every element of this well-crafted story is a wink and a nod to the romance genre, and I for one ate it up! Mason and Sawyer's chemistry is off the charts, and I rooted for them from the first page all the way to their HEA. Can't wait to read everything Erin writes.

Erin Connor’s Unromance is a book for all of us rom com trope girlies.

Sawyer is a romance novelist who doesn’t believe in love. Mason is a soap opera star who falls in love too easily. A meet cute and a hot one night stand are all the two can have for each others, at least that’s what they tell themselves.

Except circumstances draw them back together, and the two vow instead to be friends. Sawyer will help Mason cure himself of his romantic ways by ruining all the romance tropes for him and Mason will provide inspiration for Sawyer’s latest novel and cure her writing block.

It’s a perfect plan.

Except their one night together didn’t blow up the steam it needed to.

Instead the two are a pressure-cooker waiting to explode. (In a tights scene that’ll make you never think of hosiery the same way 🥵 ).

Only, once they give into their simmering attraction, can Sawyer take a chance and believe in love again and can Mason trust his heart to know what they have is real?

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Forever for the arc. Be sure to preorder this now. Our Jan 14/25!

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @readforeverpub for an early copy of Unromance by Erin Connor. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5/5
Release date: January 14th, 2025

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/212924099-unromance?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=bq7urJvHIK&rank=1

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑

What a perfect and delightful way to honor the romance tropes that we all love in the form of Unromance! Romance-writer-who’s-sworn-off-love-and-on-a-writer’s-block Sawyer meet cutes TV actor Mason gets stuck together in an elevator and have a one-night stand afterward, assuming they won’t meet each other again. Weeks later, by fate’s design probably, they meet again and decide to share a mission together. With Mason being an all-romantic guy, needs to pause on dating as he’s venturing into a new company as a producer and needs to be in a good light to be able to get sponsors, while Sawyer needs to get her life back on track by writing her new book, they decide to help each other out by Sawyer ruining romance for Mason, and Mason helping her be inspired to write.

I seriously loved all the romantic tropes and activities Sawyer and Mason did in this book – they were so cute! I especially enjoyed seeing Mason fall head over heels in love with Sawyer so hard and fast. And the tights scene 🥵🔥 What I kind of disliked about this book though is I found it difficult to connect with the characters at first (mostly because the book basically started with smut lol), and with the emphasis on Sawyer being all hung up with her past still and then it being resolved in just a whim – at least give me time to process. 😅 But I did love the ending overall. Spoiler alert – it ended with a big romantic gesture. 📻

Unromance is a delightful debut novel that will make you fall in love with romance tropes all over again. Releasing January 2025!

How is this a debut novel?!?! WOW I could not put this book down. I was obsessed with the main characters (Sawyer & Mason) from their meet cute in a stalled elevator through their adventures trying to help each other out : (her) with her writers block and (him) with hopeless romanticism.

The characters, both main and supporting, were well developed and the author does a wonderful job creating strong emotional ties to each. The dialogue was witty, snarky, hilarious and brutally honest sometimes 🤣😳🤬 The chemistry was HOT HOT HOT (🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥/5) and very open door, proceed with caution where you read this one 🫣

While I loved the ending, I felt it was a little drawn out & I found myself speeding up to finish the last ~50 pages.

This book is a romance of 2025 to add to your TBR list ASAP!! If you enjoy Abby Jimenez and/or Julie Soto this is a new author I know you will LOVE 😍😉

Thank you Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC!

I absolutely loved every second of this book, so much so that I stayed up much too late reading the first half and then tried (unsuccessfully) to pace myself on the rest so that it wouldn't be over. The writing is gorgeous and immersive, and I just love Sawyer and Mason from the moment they first meet in an elevator and then decide to not do romance through every single subsequent interaction. I loved the premise of two people who are famous in different but sort of adjacent ways, and I was promised a tights ripping scene. BOY OH BOY did that scene deliver. I also particularly love that Sawyer is a bisexual whose parents do not neatly just change their bigoted ways and accept her. Part of the back story, off page, is that we know they never will change and there will be no neat tidy they realize they are wrong. And she still gets to be happy, and have a happily ever after, because people with the back story of disappointing grown ups GET TO HAVE THAT. This is one of my favorite reads in a long, long time, and I will be buying everything Erin Connor ever writes from this point on. Honestly, I love this book so so much. I love Sawyer so, so much. She's everything.

Thank you Erin Connor, Forever, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was super fun! Unromance is a delightful tour through romance tropes that gives them a fresh spin, while also holding true to everything I love about the genre. I adored Sawyer and Mason's dynamic, and I especially loved how Sawyer's publishing career is more realistic than romanticized. I also loved that this is a bi f/m romance--more of those, please! I will be eagerly awaiting Erin Connor's next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

This book was IT. I cannot believe this is Erin’s debut because it is genuinely incredible. The perfect wintery romcom.

There’s cute festive scenes, witty banter, genuinely funny one-liners, an ADORABLE, sweet, romance loving MMC, and a hilarious & layered romance-skeptic FMC (who also happens to be a romance author).

This might be the best celebrity MC trope I’ve read yet, because it wasn’t overdone and it really made the MMC still feel like a normal person with a unique job. I also loved that while this romance takes place in winter & includes adorable holiday scenes, it isn’t an in-your-face christmas romance. Honestly, it read like a movie and I genuinely genuinely LOVED it. An easy 5 stars!!!

Thank you SO much to NetGalley and ReadForever for this eArc ily

Words cannot describe how much I utterly and completely adored this book. From the start, I was enamoured. I instantly gravitated toward our protagonists - their humour, wit and charm, and their dynamic the second they met. The tension and chemistry is palpable between Sawyer and Mason.

In so many ways, I needed this book. It hit so deep for me. I related a little too much to Sawyer, and her aloofness, cynicism towards love, and the way she distances herself from truly feeling, from being "all in" in a relationship, due to her past relationship. I related to how she used humour to cope with pain, how she tended to repress her feelings, forgo relationships when inspiration hits, how she did not want to allow herself to fall deeply, so entirely afraid to give all of herself to someone. She broke my heart. I also found myself relating to Mason, too. I'm a sucker for rom-coms, and a hopeless romantic to heart. I identified so much with Mason's vulnerability, how he felt like too much, how he desperately wanted to be loved for everything that he is... UGH THESE TWO. They hold such a special place in my heart, I can't explain it.

As the story progresses - and there's truly never a dull moment - I fell harder and harder for these two. I was so entirely invested and hopeful. There are such poignant and tender, vulnerable moments that Connor simply nails. I did not expect to cry so many times, but half of my ecopy of this book is just highlighted quotes that hit so deep, that resonated so hard, and that made me feel so much.

The humour was there, the setting was cozy and warm, the chemistry was top-notch, and the sex scenes were written with so much heart and passion. I simply don't have enough praise for this book. It's a new all-time favourite. An absolute must, must read.

Endless thank you to NetGalley and Forever publishing for the advanced copy <3

I was laughing so much while reading this book. If you love romcom jokes (or jokes about romcoms) you will get a kick out of it. I highlighted quite a bit of the book and can't wait to annotate the physical in January.

Sawyer had so many layers and I loved seeing them slowly get exposed with Mason. She is a firecracker and I need to find myself a mustard yellow coat.

Mason such a cinnamon roll. I loved that his character was the one romantic one who was writing futures from little signs and get swept up into having the perfect romance. It was refreshing to read about.

Also tights (iykyk).

This is Erin's debut book and I can't wait for more of her stories. Loved all the references to romcoms over the years.

What happens when a hopeless romantic meets a romance author who’s sworn off romance? Well, they work together to “cure” each other’s woes, of course. Sawyer needs to get back her writing inspiration, so she and Mason agree to go on (un)romantic (read:platonic) dates to help get her creative juices flowing again. Mason needs someone to pull off his rose-colored glasses and stop treating every romantic partner as The One. Who better help him than a jaded Sawyer?

This book is a love letter to all romcom lovers out there. I had so much fun reading it, especially since the writing painted such vivid scenes that it almost felt like I watched this in my head.

Is there a petition to turn this into a movie? Because sign me up!! Thanks for the ARC, Forever!

P.S. The chapter headers are just as brilliant as the chapters. So funny.