Book of the Month by Jennifer Probst is a romance novel with one of my favorite tropes: fake dating. This fake dating scenario has a unique twist, however; the dating is not so much fake as it is for a limited time, with the ultimate goal being to break author Aspen Lourde's heart in order to give her the deep emotional pain she believes she needs to write her next bestseller. The story is set in Corolla, North Carolina, in the area of the Outer Banks where wild horses roam. Brick, the local legendary ladies' man, is Aspen's target for her fake dating scheme. Of course, the pair catch feelings for each other, complications and misunderstandings ensue, and if it weren't for all of the steamy, spicy scenes, this could be a Hallmark movie, complete with goofy supporting characters and charming small-town antics. All in all, a mostly lighthearted read with some depth, especially in the main characters' backstories.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the chance to read and review this fun rom-com.

Before I begin, I want to thank AuthorBuzz/NetGalley for providing me with this arc of Book of the Month. <3 Although I abhor writing negative reviews of books that authors put their heart and soul into, I am going to be completely honest about my thoughts on this book.

Admittedly, I sympathized with Aspen’s struggle to reconcile the fact that “she’d lost her value of writing a good story and the quiet satisfaction and pride of reaching the end” as well as appreciated the insight into the publishing business. Although this may be true, Book of the Month is one of those books that feeds into my cynicism about love.

Regarding Aspen’s character, the only consistent quality of her personality is her stubbornness, also her shyness seems unnaturally exaggerated. Personally, the only relatable thing about her is that she finds folding the corners of book pages to be criminal…Brick’s personality is no better than Aspen’s. And he is possessive to the point where I expected him to growl at anyone who looked Aspen’s way. Don’t get me started on how he is CONSTANTLY sexualized. Every time his “sexual masculine energy” was mentioned I wanted to crawl into a hole. :/ Unfortunately, the romance b/w Brick and Aspen is excessively sexual. Every conversation/encounter they had ended with a sexual thought or action.

At this point, I truly think I need to stop reading contemporary romance books because they only disappoint me :(…Anyway, I sadly wouldn’t recommend reading Book of the Month, which contains swearing and spice, for the aforementioned reasons.

Unfortunately I had this book in my TBR for way too long. After receiving a NetGalley arc, this sat unread for months. Now that I’ve gotten to it, months later, I devoured it in 2 days!
While the writing was filled with cheesy descriptions, and some repetitiveness (what color were his eyes again?), I loved it. I felt like I was there in OBX, with them, and the cast of quirky side characters.

Cute little romance. Felt a little like the author was may be writing her own story. Some details could have been left out, but overall I rated 3.5, rounded up to 4.

Oh my goodness !! I adored reading this novel!

i loved the fmc and mmc as well as all of the side characters! the set up of brick being this super grumpy heartthrob but turning out to so loveable AHHHHH.

10/10 will read again

I’m a big fan of romance tropes, but the bad boy / fake romance tropes are two of my favourite 🤩 If this is right up your alley, too, you’ll want to pick of Jennifer Probst’s latest novel, Book of the Month!

The novel centers around bestselling author, Aspen Lourde who despite her best efforts can’t seem to write another hit novel. With her bestseller being based on her own heartbreak, Aspen heads to the Outer Banks for inspiration. There she meets moody and local heartthrob, Brick Babel who is having troubles of his own. The two strike up a deal to fake date that summer to benefit each other: Brick needs to break her heart by the end of summer for book inspiration and Aspen needs to increase business to his grandfather’s tour shop.

Happy reading!

I had a mixed experience with this book. While I enjoyed the heartwarming development of the relationship, I found the overall plot—a twist on the fake dating trope—far-fetched and uninspiring. Unfortunately, my enjoyment was overshadowed by the numerous spicy scenes, which I found uncomfortable and unnecessary. I would have preferred a fade-to-black approach instead, as it would have made for a less cringeworthy reading experience. However, I understand that this is just a matter of personal preference.

Overall, I found the story entertaining. There was good character development, and the third-act drama moment was both meaningful and well-executed. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a spicy romance with solid character growth.

I really struggled with this one. It definitely could be a case of it's me, not the book. I just could not connect to these characters and become invested in this story.

This was my first book by Probst and I didn’t know what to expect going in. At first, I was not enjoying the FMC but I came around after a while. The MMC was great and I feel like he made the whole book worth reading.

I want to start by saying I overall enjoyed the premise of this book. However the writing was just not for me . The paragraphs got a clunky at time leading to big blocks of text that didn’t end up adding much to the overall storyline.

I get that the Zanny Zoo comes full circle at eh VERY end. However, I am unsure why we needed so much information about her doodles throughout the story without getting any true examples of the humor. I kept waiting for this to be significant, and it took to the last few pages.

I find it hard to like Aspen in the beginning because I don’t agree with her motivations for getting with Brick. She almost doesn’t even think of him as a person, just a way to get what she is wanting. This is an overall theme and her personality is rough for me.

I feel like her sister makes such valid points and Aspen just completely ignored them. Sisters can absolutely be overprotective but Sierra is a character that doesn’t get nearly enough love.

Also: Aspen cried during sex and then we don’t even address it?? Really!?

The resolution felt rushed even though the pacing of the whole book was slow which is just really disappointing.

This was a DNF for me, unfortunately. I couldn't connect with the characters, both Aspen and Brick was very unlikeable. I found myself very bored and not interested in the story at all. There was some mentioning of pretty weird stuff in the book, ie. completely irrelevant descriptions in the book, dog humping his legs...

Thank you to Blue Box Press and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.

I absolutely adore this author and this book did not disappoint. The plot was smooth and the character development was fantastic. I was immersed in a story that took over my reality for a short period of time and what else can you ask for? I definitely recommend!!

light, enjoyable read, but it didn’t fully live up to its potential. The premise, revolving around a book club that turns into a catalyst for self-discovery and romance, is charming. The characters are likable enough, though a bit predictable at times. Probst does a good job of weaving themes about love, second chances, and finding your true self, but I found some of the plot twists to be a bit contrived. The pacing also felt uneven, especially toward the middle. There were moments of real emotional depth, but they didn’t always feel earned.

While the book is easy to get through and does have some heartwarming moments, I expected a little more depth and complexity. It’s perfect for fans of lighthearted romance, but if you’re looking for something more profound, it might not hit the mark. Overall, it’s a solid, enjoyable read, but not one I’ll likely remember long-term. A solid 3 stars.

My favourite part of this book was the setting. I’ve heard of the Outer Banks, obviously, but this book TOOK ME THERE.

I also love a Grumpy-Sunshine trope, and a Fake Dating trope.

The rest of it was Just Okay for me. I had a hard time liking the MFC, or connecting with her planned comeback.

Thanks so much to the publisher for the e copy of this book. THis wasnt my favorite read, but i did get through it. I think i just had it at a time that i had so many others that i wanted to get to that i couldnt give this its true atteniton

Book of the Month by Jennifer Probst had an interesting concept for me, as I love a book about a book and any rom-com. The character development was a bit uneven between Brick and Aspen, however, which made the book overall fall a bit flat for me. Still, I have enjoyed other books by this author and will enjoy others in the future I'm sure.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

Thank you for the ARC. This was a solid summer read. Light hearted and quick. I enjoyed it but it did not blow me out of the water.

This book had a very fun premise, and the author delivered! This book was a lot of fun! This book was funny with good spice and lots of good emotion. Both the hero and heroine had good character growth. Aspen is looking for another bestseller. The problem is that when she wrote her first book, it was based on personal experience. Aspen finds Brick Babel. She offers him a fake date situation.

I adored this one. This is my first book by this author and definitely won't be my last. Huge thanks to Blue Box Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

it was a struggle to get through the first 25% of ‘book of the month’ but i definitely think that it improved after a while. my biggest issue was with the set up of the plot- aspen stalking brick and mentioning so many times that she has to try harder to ‘seduce’ him just made me want to put the book down. however, i do think that once their relationship started developing i was able to enjoy the story more, i just don’t think that it was anything special.

This was a very cute rom-com! I loved that it was a fresh take on fake dating with the intent being complete and utter heartbreak (and as a writer, I can't say I've never thought of it a time or two...)! I always love a good book-within-a-book, and this was such a fun example of that. The town had so much character which was just lovely, and it utilized the dual POV structure so well!

Thank you to Blue Box Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!