I loved this book yall! It was like nerdy banter meets sizzling chemistry, and I was so here for it. This book gave me ALL the soft, swoony feels while also serving up a little bit of steam. Millie, the entomologist with an infectious smile, and Finn, the grumpy, yet secretly soft astronomer, are chef’s kiss perfect together. From the slow-burn tension to the way they just get each other, their connection had me hooked.
What I loved most? There’s literally no unnecessary drama (YES, you heard me right). It’s all about Millie’s journey to self-confidence, Finn's healing process, and their sweet moments of growth—together and apart. The found family vibes? Ugh, adorable. Finn’s niece energy? Total heart-melter. Plus, a hero who sees a therapist? Iconic.
Also, NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP, y’all. This book keeps it real and grounded in a way that feels so refreshing. It’s soft, spicy, and so satisfying. Highly recommend if you’re into heartwarming STEM romances that don’t play games with your heart.
4.5⭐️

Jillian Meadows can do no wrong! I read Wreck My Plans over Christmas and fell in love with her writing and characters so when I saw this ARC, I knew I had to have it! You know Ross Geller? From Friends? Imagine if he was less awkward and 1000 times sexier and then you would have Dr. Finn Ashford. The story follows Millie Oaks, entomologist at the Wilhelmina Natural Science Museum, and her journey through applying for a new position at work while also rediscovering herself after a relationship that took too much from her. Finn is the director of the Astronomy department, the new guardian to two little girls and he’s also on the interview panel for Millie’s dream job. Which is problematic when they establish a friendship but are both left with the feeling of wanting more. Workplace romance, single guardian, found family and grumpy sunshine all tied together with nerdy humor and topped with the sweetest nickname!

Thank you so much to Jillian for the opportunity to read this arc! I’ve loved reading your work and getting to chat with you as I read! You’re an auto-buy author for life and I can’t wait to read more of your work!

AAAAHHHHH!! I loved this book! Out of 7 books I tried to read over the weekend GMB and BHE were the only two that I enjoyed!! A better review to come!

Give Me Butterflies was a super sweet read. I enjoyed the story and the characters. Overall, it was cute but not something super memorable.

Entomologist Millie has fought hard to come back to herself after ending a toxic relationship. She is ready to prove herself and further her career and won’t let grumpy astrologist Finn stand in her way. But after a coffee spill and a fender bender Finn and Millie can’t escape each other at the museum. After some bad first impressions, Millie and Finn learn the depths of grief and other vulnerabilities they refuse to share with anyone except to each other. Millie must choose between dating her coworker and potentially risking her promotion to follow her heart.

With the prominent message of found family, this romance tugs at the heartstrings while also giving so much joy, confidence and perseverance to both its readers and its characters.

3.5⭐️

If you’re looking for a sugary sweet, workplace romance…then I’ll think you’ll enjoy this! The banter was cute and all the characters were pretty likable.

My only complaint is that I did get a little bored since there wasn’t a huge conflict and the ex boyfriend drama was resolved pretty quickly. However, a lot of people will love the low stakes.

Workplace romance
Grumpy/sunshine
Single “dad”
A dash of ex-boyfriend drama
Topics of toxic relationships and toxic families

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

DNF did not enjoy the storyline. It unfortunately did not keep my attention and it felt a bit too insta love. Minimum build up for their relationship.

This book was good. Not bad, not great, but good.

I enjoyed the characters arcs both of the leads had. I think the enemies-to-lovers storyline was well written here.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a STEM romance where two curators at a science museum fall in love. This was honestly such a cute book and I loved the storyline. I don’t believe I read any STEM work place storyline and I just loved the layout of this book. The author did so well with balancing the work, the romance, the family and just about everything. The pacing was perfect and I loved the different conflicts in this book. I was never bored and just wanted to keep on reading without stopping. This book includes both Millie and Finn’s pov.

Millie is an entomologist who is trying to become the director. I really liked her character as she is strong, sweet, and just so caring. She has anxiety and I loved how she gets help from her friends to help with it. Then we have Finn who is known to be a grump but honeslty he is such a sweetheart who loves his nieces. I just loved how caring of a person he is. There are many side characters but I loved the girls and Millie’s family. The romance is grumpy x sunshine, forced proximity, workplace romance, and a bit of enemies to lovers. There are a few steamy scenes but none that overpower the storyline.

The ending was well done and I really enjoyed this book. It was truly well written and I’m excited to read the next book in the series. I am excited for Theo and Fabs story because I know it will be amazing. I recommend checking this book out because you don’t want to miss out.

*this book was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

Comparing this to Ali Hazelwood was spot on — it has that steamy STEM setting with a funny narrative voice and quick pace. This book had a lot of great romance tropes; enemies to lovers, workplace romance, he falls first, grumpy vs sunshine. And all of them were done really well! I’m not usually the biggest fan of dual POV romances but I really enjoyed it it here. The two POVs really helped to build that chemistry and tension between Finn and Millie.

Give Me Butterflies by Jillian Meadows is so adorably heartwarming with the perfect blend of laugh out loud humor, witty banter, blush worthy spice & all the feels you could ask for.

Give Me Butterflies is great for those looking to read…
🦋 Sweet & Spicy Romance
🦋 Single Uncle/Guardian
🦋 Workplace Romance
🦋 Characters in STEM
🦋 Forced Proximity
🦋 Shorter Chapters
🦋 Anxiety, Panic Attacks & Grief Rep.

This has banters galore & it is truly top notch. The connection between these two is evident right from the start even though it begins with friendly sparring, the small flame sparks from there & it is a joy to watch them blossom. I adored the short chapters as well as the quick pace of the novel, which made it easy to get lost in. I love seeing women in STEM. & this was just an excellent feel good romance, which I highly recommend.

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Avon for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

4.5 stars

Despite some tropes not fully excelling for me, I still enjoyed this STEM romance! The nerdy banter, lovable characters (well, most of them), and heartwarming found family dynamic made it a great read.

What stood out most were the real-life challenges woven into the story. Finn’s journey through therapy, grief, and raising his nieces felt authentic, while Millie’s pursuit of her dream job while overcoming past trauma added depth. Though the book had its share of clichés, they weren’t overdone.

That said, the pacing felt off at the start, and the slow-burn didn’t fully deliver. The grumpy-sunshine dynamic also faded too quickly, making their friendship feel too immediate.

Still, I highly recommend this book—Finn and Millie’s journey was a joy to read!

Words can not express how much I loved this book. There is the perfect amount of smut, fluff, and angst and add in a touch of found family and stubborn enemies to lovers it's such a fun read!

The way you write like Ali Hazelwood brings so much joy to my life. I love your characters, I love how consent heavy this is, I love the communication, and I love the green flags.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Give Me Butterflies
Author: Jillian Meadows

Crying, screaming, throwing up over this one. Absolutely loved it. Thank you for the copy Avon and Harper Voyager! This was a re release, and it originally came out in 2023! It was so friggin good. Millie works in a museum, and it has always been her dream to run her own department. A positon opens up and she ends up applying for it, and competing for the position against her toxic ex. Of course she accidentally runs into her coworker and spills coffee all over herself on her way to work one day. He works in the astronomy department, and is the known grump. Finn is an asshole on the outside, but on the inside he is just a sad guy raising his recently passed sister’s two daughters all by himself. Also his astronomy attire was hilarious. I need to get my husband some of those outfits. There connection was inevitable and I adored it. I loved Millie’s relationship with her friends and family, especially all of her group chats. This book had me swooning, and laughing out loud throughout the entire thing. Also give me a science/stem related romcom any day of the week. Can’t wait for more of this series.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Give Me Butterflies by Jillian Meadows!

i simply just do not think julians writing is for me. the relationship between the MCs always feels a bit shallow and then BOOM they are having very vivid and descriptive sex that doesn't match up with any of the things that we were previously seeing between the characters.

Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

Oh my goodness this book was so cute in so many ways. I am still unwell over the adorableness of the entire thing. From the romance itself to the platonic parental love to the familial and friend support, everything was such a warm hug.

This was one of those romances that was quick but didn't feel like it was insta love and I greatly appreciated that piece of it. They genuinely get to know one another and come to understand how their lives will fit together. They actually take time to become important to one another and it felt so much more genuine.

The anxiety rep was not super heavily at the forefront, but it was well done and I loved how it was integrated into the romance. The support from both the MMC and her family were all perfect, and I adored the way that her previous relationship was part of that story and her development both in her anxiety journey and the way she discovered herself and how she would fit into her job and her relationship.

This was a very fun, quick read that was perfect for those warm and fuzzy feelings!

This was sweet and the right amount of nerdy for me. Though I would love to have had more time in the museum. Millie and Finn are 2 scientists that work in a museum together and have the typical Ali Hazelwood "grumpy man secretly has feelings for small cute scientist" trope but it works here for some reason.

Finn is dealing with the grief of losing his sister but never really had the time to go through it because he's the guardian for his twin nieces. They take up all of his free time and he's trying to figure that dynamic out. He can't really afford distractions like a very attractive entomologist named Millie.
Millie is being considered for a promotion to director of entomology for the museum. She's nervous but ready for the next step in her career. After the 2 bump into each other and she spills her coffee on the both of them, my grumpy gils starts finding her in his orbit more often. He gets her a new coffee the next day as an apology/peace offering and they go from there. His nieces participate in a summer camp at the museum and he's relieved to find how much fun they had with Millie. Finn tells Millie he's the girls' guardian after his sister's death and their relationship changed from that point on. Millie has her own baggage in the form of a very shitty past relationship that still affects her. The 2 help each other process their issues with the extra support they need or didn't get before.

There was a potential conflict early on that was resolved pretty well/quickly and I appreciate that it wasn't drawn out. I liked a lot of the pop culture references and they didn't feel like popular things just plugged in and didn't make sense. The board games and book date was just *chef kiss* and I loved it.

Jillian Meadows, I was not aware of your talent but I am a HUGE fan now! I have been in my romance girlie era and I’m
really enjoying stories about people with cool jobs. This one fit the bill because the main character ,Millie, was an entomologist?!? Ugh be still my little nerdy heart. The romance was so good and some parts even made me a little emotional😭 I also enjoyed how sensitive issues were dealt with compassion but still realistic. And you know what really made me LOVE this one?! There was no random, stupid, pointless third act break up! The conflict that did take place was believable, real, and something that really needed to be dealt with. I enjoyed the use of therapy for the male character and how he healthily dealt with his past issues and traumas. It was great to see two characters grow in love and learn how to heal together. 4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.