I thought this was a very sweet and light read. It still dealt with heavy emotions, being in a toxic relationship, and having a family member die of cancer. I gave it three stars simply because I thought some of it was kind of cringy, mainly from the mmc. But, I think the title and the storyline are both very cute. I love the museum vibes, I also really like that there wasn't the normal they get together and then have a big miscommunication and then are fine again. There was one small miscommunication but i think it was pretty realistic for the beginning of a relationship. I would definitely recommend it!!

If you want to read a great romance novel, pick up Give Me Butterflies by Jillian Meadows. It was a fantastic book!

✨ARC BOOK REVIEW✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Give Me Butterflies - Jillian Meadows

🦋 Brief Summary 🦋 (in review below)

✨ My Review ✨ (check out my goodreads for the full thing)

From the moment this started I was completely charmed & captivated. This book was wholeheartedly adorable & such a cozy, emotional, & fun read. The aesthetics of this book & the mention of Gilmore Girls gained HUGE bonus points for me.

I absolutely loved the entire concept of this book. A single guardian taking care of his nieces who falls for his coworker who's going for a promotion at work for her dream job.

When Millie enters Finn's world, she realizes that he might not be the grumpy jerk he seems at work but he's the softhearted man who loves his girls & looks at Millie like she's hung the moon.

Millie was such a fun character with a quirky yet cute personality. I loved her storyline. I loved watching her grow as a person & turn into someone who she's proud of. I really loved this character.

Finn is a nerdy but sexy dream. Something about his nurturing side just absolutely melted me 🫠 He's adorable & tries so hard to do the right thing. I absolutely fell in love with him.

This is a man who remembers what you said in a conversation from three months ago. He goes out of his way to do the little things. He bought her books FOR CRYING OUT LOUD 🤭 He is the perfect book boyfriend.

Together, I loved these two. They fit together so well & had such amazing chemistry. They even communicated well. I loved how respectful they were of one another & always checked in on each other.

Sometimes kids in books can just come off as either too annoying or too mature. Avery & Eloise were written like actual 5 years old's & it was adorable. The love & admiration they have for their uncle was beautiful.

If you want a wholesome, cozy read with really good spicy scenes & a hot nerd who doesn't just say all the right things BUT DOES ALL THE RIGHT THINGS then you'll love this too.

A moment for the butterflies 🦋✨

Thank you so much to Jillian Meadows and NetGalley for the arc copy!

This was a favorite read of mine! I'm a huge fan of grumpy/sunshine and this was no exception, if anything it is one of the top reads for this trope. The banter between these two was *chef kiss* and I loved their relationship with the secondary characters. The cover is just adorable and made me one click so quickly. So happy I was able to read this one early because it is just so perfect.

I have no words for how amazing this book was. The title is true to it's word, it definitely gave me butterflies. This book was very well written and was super easy to follow along with. It is a dual POV which is one of my favorite types of books. It also included my favorite trope but with a twist, he fell fast she fell harder. The length of the chapters and book were perfect. Chef's kiss. This book was sent to me for free to read and review.

I did not have a chance to read this prior to the trad publishing (but I did read Wreck My Plans last winter!) and I loved learning about Finn and Millie! I loved the ongoing discussion of grief through Finn’s POV and felt very connected to it. I feel like most often, grief is portrayed through the FMC POV so it was a nice perspective. Millie is so strong and resilient. I loved her ability to stay strong even though her past relationship was truly the worst. Their love story was so beautiful, tender, and sweet. I loved Finn’s Kylo Ren vibes until he’s not and he’s just a huge teddy bear lol. My fave characters were the twins though, they really stole the show and were so precious.

4.25/5 ⭐️
Wow, wow, wow! I loved this book so much. When I first heard about a book about two scientists who work in a museum who fall in love I was already hooked but reading it was so much more than that. This book had heart and depth and had me crying more than once. It also had me giggling, squealing, and laughing out loud. A perfect mixture. This was such a cozy read and found me at the perfect time. I’m so excited to see all that’s to come with these characters!
Will post on Instagram on day of publication

Wow, I really enjoyed this book. The grumpy/sunshine was on point as was the fun aspect of work in a museum. Plus no third act breakup over something dumb! The slow burn was so delightfully slow and burny. I love how the characters grew and developed over the course of the story and helped each other do so. I usually don't like a single parent trope but I found myself really invested in this little twist on that trope. All the little butterfly tie-ins were the cherry on top of this warm, gooey cake of a book!

My favorite part of the book was definitely the MMC’s interactions with his nieces. It was a touching portrayal of someone working to rebuild their life after grief. The cover initially drew me in, but it was the heartwarming story that kept me hooked.

I'm not sure I can fully put into words how much I adored this book. To start, this cover is beyond gorgeous 😍

Jillian Meadows gave us a relationship between the mc beyond just the steamy parts. I love the grumpy x sunshine with Finn and Millie. Their jokes and nerd banter are amazing, but even better is their honesty with eachother and communication. Finn is a top teir book boyfriend and seeing their story and relationship build in such a healthy and respectful way is a breath of fresh air.

Millie's family is that supportive family everyone wants in their lives. The Oaks Folks group chat is simply amazing. The text threads help build the characters of her family members, while also being hilarious and showing how much their care for eachother.

The stem aspect of this book makes it so much fun. The little insights to both of their professions give you some interesting facts without over taking the story.

I was loving reading about their friends (and finding out Lena has her own book, I will be running to read that next).

Jillian wrote about some heavy topics in this book, but did a beautiful job of not letting it bring the story down. Touching on hard topics makes you want to hug these mcs. Thank you for emphasizing the importance of open and honest communication! I love seeing Finn talk about therapy, showing the importance to deal with his grief and his challenges rasing the girls.


She intoduces the sisters so well in this story. I can't wait to see what comes next from Jillian (more about Fable hopefully)

Big Thank you so Avon/Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing me an ARC!

Let me start off by saying I’ve been in such a reading slump the last couple of days. I’ve been sick with a nasty cold and every book I’ve tried to read has resulted in some form of a DNF. I was scrolling through my ARCs on my kindle and immediately this cover drew me in. It’s was so bright, colorful and cheery literally everything I was desperate for in my time of need. “Give me Butterflies” did not disappoint. Reading this book was an immediate serotonin boost. This book was quite literally my perfect palate cleanser. “Give me Butterflies” is a perfect sweet and wholesome workplace romance featuring found family, grumpy x sunshine, and he falls first.

I cannot stress how much I thoroughly loved this book. I’m also still in complete disbelief that this was Jillian Meadows's debut. I can't wait to read more from her. And I’m so excited to have a new favorite romcom author. I can’t recommend this enough please check out this book. It’s the perfect romcom for any season!

This is a dual POV story following Finn and Millie. Both are scientists working at a museum. Finn is in astronomy and Millie is in entomology. Finn has lost his sister to illness and is now the guardian for her 2 adorable kids. Millie has just recently left her toxic relationship with her ex. The two are attracted to each other but Finn is perpetually scowling which gives Millie the wrong impression. Millie is also looking to advance in her career and take up the head of the entomology department. Over this course the two develop a friendship that is possibly on the brink of something more.

Millie is plagued with anxiety and added with a toxic ex, her self worth has been a struggle to get back. I love reading books about women in STEM and seeing them prevail in a male dominated field. Its even better when Millie is the bug lady and totally stomping stereotypes. I admired her tenacity and drive and kind heart. Also reading about Finns grief and how he's slowly overcoming it was great because it doesn't magically just disappear. The author shows how its a constant but can morph from debilitating to manageable and then to a place where you can look back and experience sadness and happiness at the same time.

The side characters definitely added to the story. I loved them. Those twins were so fucking adorable I wish they were real. Millie's friends and family are such big supporters and full of love. It was amazing to read of such a support system while chuckling at something crazy they said. (Sidenote: I need Theo and Fables story!)

It was great to see the toxic people being expelled from places they shouldn't belong to make way for a better future. That being said; the constant angst and tension of Millie's ex trying to get in contact with Millie felt like it fell flat and a bit lackluster when the conflict actually arrived. It felt like a big build up for little bang.

It was a really cute easy read. If you're looking for adorable and heartfelt, this is a book you should take a look at.

I loved Give Me Butterflies and I can’t wait to read more from this author. I thought this book was really well done, especially for a first-time author. The MCs were so well-written. Both of them have been emotionally abused in some way and have the scars to prove it, but the way they overcome them together is perfect. The side characters are amazing. I wish the author nerded out a bit more in Finn and Millie’s respective career fields, though. I think that would’ve added a bit more depth to the book and made it less generic. You could’ve substituted just about any scientific field or career and had similar results, though the astronomer part was played up much more than the entomologist part. The book was also perfectly steamy. Overall, just well done.

I received an ARC of Give Me Butterflies from NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

We definitely hit the grumpy/sunshine trope here hard (or at least initially). There's a lot here dealing with grief and loss and Finn being a single parent. There were a few things I would've liked to have seen done differently (for example, with Millie's ex) but overall I enjoyed this. I see the next book is about Millie's friend but I'm more interested in reading about her sister and the neighbor guy.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was cute, but a bit surface level for me. Millie and Finn started out disliking each other so you'd think enemies-to-lovers. But then they're friends by like 10% in and already on their way to lovers by 20%. All of the villains were one-note and and all of the conflict was too easily resolved.

Absolutely loved this book! It is a very very emotional book. However, The characters and love story make it worth pushing through.

I cannot express how sweet and rich and absolutely decadent this book is. I first read this back in 2023 and when I saw it was going to be trad (how delightedly deserved) I knew I had to get my hands on it again.

There is love OVERFLOWING from this book. Between Millie and her family. Between Finn and his girls. Between Millie and Finn themselves. There is fierce, protective love, and soft, gentle love. There’s light and laughter and also missteps and heartache and healing. Between the heated flirtations and the easy familiarity, Millie and Finn have almost my entire heart - because the rest of it goes to Eloise and Avery.

One of my favorite things about romances is how frequently they press on the importance of non-romantic relationships as well. The way Lena and Millie and their friend group care for each other and how easily they welcome Finn into their fold. The chaotic, loud, and undoubtedly unconditional love from Millie’s family is a constant warm hum in the background of all of her other relationships. But also, the sharp contrast of Finn’s relationship with his parents, and how those ties can impact every part of a life.

You have to wait a bit for this one, but it will be SO worth it, I swear. Also, Jillian has phenomenal taste in jeans and can make conversational latte art, so she is a triple threat (at least).

i absolutely LOVED THIS BOOK!!! it was SUCH a sweet story. Millie and Finn had the sweetest relationship and you can just see how much they care for eachother. the rivals to lovers trope was done so well and was a seamless transition but in the way we needed. Finn fell first and so hard and just such an amazing grumpy man who melted my heart.

More to come on goodreads!

4.5 stars

I loved Finn and Millie so much. I liked how they both had issues to work through and that they communicated and talked about them even if their first instinct was to pull away. They felt like very real, relatable people. They also both had such fun, unique jobs and even though I would’ve liked a little more detail about that it was still a fun detail about them both.
I will say there wasn’t really a reason for why they originally didn’t get along. It seemed like they knew each other for a while and were kind of antagonistic and then had several unfortunate run ins at the beginning of the book but then all of a sudden were friendly. But other than that I thought they had a really great dynamic and I really enjoyed this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

A huge thank you to Avon books, NetGalley and Jillian Meadows for the ARC.

This book. THIS BOOK. It was absolutely swoon-worthy.

I've had the indie copy of this book on my Kindle Unlimited for ages, and I'm now kicking myself for not reading it sooner. When I downloaded the eARC from NetGalley, I read it within 24 hours. I was obsessed.

Give Me Butterflies is such a sweet, loving, romantic story between two co-workers who go from dislike to lovers over the course of the book. The main characters are great communicators once their relationship starts and their relationship is filled with nothing but green flags. I also loved Millie and Finn just for who they are individually. I love reading about women in STEM roles, and Millie being an entomologist was unique and intriguing. Both characters are sweet, loving, and dedicated to their jobs, their families, and each other.

This book is for you if you like:
* Single parent/guardian
* Co-workers
* Dislike to Lovers
* Who did this to you?
* STEM romances
* He falls first and harder