I really enjoyed the writing style of this particular novel. I enjoyed how there was different types of media included in the pages. I think the author did an excellent job at character building. I am adding Jillian Matthews to my list of authors to look out for in regards to more books in the future.

This was such a cutesy little story and I just haven’t been able to get over it! It’s a single guardian workplace romance where they both WORK IN A MUSEUM. She’s a sunshine-y entomologist and he’s a grumpy astronomer.

There were so many times while reading the banter, I just had to stop reading and stare into space while I picked my jaw off the floor and my blush faded. Finn falls HARDDDD and it’s just so swoon-worthy!

There were so many fantastic nicknames exchanged between Finn and Millie and I couldn’t get enough of them. I also loved the little email and text group chats between Finn and Millie and Millie and her family. They were so entertaining and cuteeee! Also there may or may not have been some ravishing happening in an aisle of a bookstore…..🤭

If you want a romance that will leave you kicking your feet squealing with found family, baking together, anxiety and grief reps, workplace romance, and realllyyyy cute little girls, go preorder Give Me Butterflies ASAP!

Thank you Avon, Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for this wonderful e-ARC! I can’t wait to get my hands on this in January!

When her boss retires, Millie is up for a potential promotion to the Director of Entomology position at the museum where she works, but Finn the grumpy and hot Director of Astronomy is on the interview panel. She keeps having literal and figurative run ins with Finn and begins to catch feelings once she meets his sweet nieces who Finn has been raising since his sister died. Finn, meanwhile, fears a romance will distract him from his duties to his nieces.

There’s lots to love about this book. Finn and Millie make a cute couple who engage in great banter once their romance gets cooking. Finn’s nieces are adorable and it’s a pleasure seeing Millie integrate them into her life. The STEM aspects work well, and an entomologist heroine was super fun. Millie’s friends and family are interesting and supportive characters who help create a warm and welcoming story world. Millie’s baking and obsession with almond croissants creates a delicious motif. There’s even a cookie recipe in the back of the book. Multiple epilogues (one week, two months, and three years later) nicely cement Millie and Finn’s happily-ever-after. Spicy romance lovers are bound to appreciate the numerous love scenes.

Millie’s ex-boyfriend’s vendetta felt forced, especially how it played out. There’s a scene involving a tattoo that was poorly researched. As much as I liked watching Millie and Finn fall in love, some of date scenes and love scenes felt gratuitous as they didn’t significantly advance the plot. The interview process was unrealistically drawn out. For me, the book was a three and a half star read, rounded up to four.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Avon, an imprint of HarperCollins, for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was cute! I appreciated having a female main character in STEM.

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

I love this book!

It's so fun and quirky yet tackle enough emotional depth. I love our backdrop of working in a museum because it's so surreal to see people working there, and such a fun job.

I love Finn, he's so gentle and sweet and softie in the inside. How he handled the guardianship of the girls were such a remarkable thing to see in paper, and how he juggled everything in-between, he's so strong! Millie entered there life so seamlessly that she fit right in and added great balance to the dynamic. Let me tell you, the romance was good to the point that I was squeling and giggling, kicking my feet.

I'm a complete sucker for hot single guardian romance books and this indie-authored debut by Jillian Meadows was top notch!! Millie and Finn had the perfect forbidden workplace romance that I couldn't help wholeheartedly cheering for from the first page to the last! Huge kudos to the author for writing a highly relatable and important story about a woman in STEM dealing with a toxic relationship, gaslighting and feelings of inadequacy who despite all that still finds a man who thinks she hangs teh moon. This dual POV love story gave me all the feels and is perfect for fans of authors like Katie Golightly or Hannah Bonam-Young. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

5! I love a single-guardian romance, and from the moment Millie and Finn were introduced, I was hooked. Though enemies-to-lovers isn't always my favorite trope, it was so well done here that by the end, I was laughing at their interactions. Millie and Finn’s chemistry was undeniable, and I especially loved that it’s a "he falls harder" situation. It’s a great slow burn for so many reasons but I’m happy the author decided to develop these characters before bringing them into a relationship. For a debut, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it, and I’m really hoping Millie’s sister gets a spinoff with a childhood friends-to-lovers story because I will instantly buy.

This book gave me butterflies!! I don't remember the last time a romance had me actually squealing out of cuteness.

Right off the bat, I relate to Millie as I, too, require caffeine and an almond croissant to start my week off right. Our FMC was relatable and all the feelings she was experiencing were described so well I felt like i was actually her. So much of this book felt like it could have been something that happened to a friend of mine and it felt very comforting. Also, the pop culture references in this book were top-tier and I thoroughly enjoyed them.

Fav quote from Finn: " I want to meet your people so they can be my people, too"

Mein Leseerlebnis

Das wunderschöne Buchcover hat mich auf den ersten Blick begeistern können und es war auch der Grund, warum ich mir den Roman näher angeschaut habe.

In der contemporary romance können sich die Hauptcharaktere zunächst nicht so richtig leiden, doch so langsam entwickelt sich eine Freundschaft und später mehr zwischen ihnen.

Der einnehmende Schreibstil machte es mir leicht, mich auf die Geschichte einzulassen. Auch fühlte sich der Liebesroman über weite Strecken frisch an.

Die Hauptcharaktere wirkten auf mich interessant und ich habe sie im Verlauf des Romans ins Herz schließen können. Mit der Heldin fiel mir das leichter als mit dem Helden. Dessen Verhalten verwirrte mich im Verlauf des Romans in manchen Szenen.

Nicht ganz so unterhaltsam und überzeugend fand ich zwei Erzählstränge, die mit dem Ex der Heldin und der Familie des Helden zu tun hatten. Die Entwicklungen im Zusammenhang mit beiden wirkten auf mich teils etwas übertrieben und wie ein Fremdkörper in dem romance Buch. Gerade auf die Sache mit dem Ex hätte ich gut verzichten können.

Darüber hinaus gab es im Mittelteil ein paar kleinere Längen, die mein Leseerlebnis glücklicherweise nur minimal beeinflusst haben.

Das Happy End fand ich wiederum berührend und schön.

🖤🖤🖤 3/4

PS: Ich kann mir durchaus vorstellen, auch die Liebesgeschichte Wreck my plans von der Autorin zu lesen. Das Buch dreht sich um Millies beste Freundin Lena.

PPS: Die Website der Autorin ist toll gestaltet und auch informativ.

Für wen?

Wer unterhaltsame Liebesromane mag, in denen im Leben der Hauptcharaktere viel los ist und in denen die beiden sich zunächst nicht grün sind, für den könnte das STEM / MINT - Buch eine schöne Sache sein.

I was bamboozled by this book! I had no idea it was a reylo fic until the broody lead started to bear too close of a resemblance to Adam Driver to be a coincidence. Don't get me wrong, I love a bit of reylo, but unfortunately this just did not hit for me. DNF @ 50 pages.

For starters, as a big fan of he falls first, and harder/grumpy x sunshine there is one thing that can absolutely destroy the trope for me and that is mishandling his POV. I found him really annoying and it felt too much like he was infantilizing the FMC for me. I also just did not feel like they had any chemistry at all. Once the kids were introduced I lost all hope of this book being good. I can be a fan of the single dad trope, but if the characters are already half-baked I feel like authors tend to split all of their energy between incorporating the kids and the romance....it all just gets super messy and boring in my opinion.

This book was swoon worthy, the banter was amazing! It was sweet and spicy, two of my favorite things!! I really liked the in depth for both characters, growth, found family, single guardian. The writing was both funny and profound. The book tackled some heavy topics like death of a sibling, guardianship to two little girls, verbal abuse, and anxiety and did so really well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for an advanced copy of this book on exchange for an honest review.

Omg too cute way too cute!!!!!. I loved everything about this book. The little enemies to lovers, i feel like is tgat because she hates him and thinks he hates her, total misunderstanding but still. I love that he has his nieces and that he is learning how to navigate that. Also the burn meals 🤣. Millie is such a fresh breeze, i love her actitud and how she becomes so invested on the girls and Finn . Definitely happy I was able to read this ahead of time, now time to hunt a physical 🫣

This was a fun read, with lots of characters to root for. The family dynamics were really sweet (for the most part) and the romance was a fun “enemies” to lovers story. (I have received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review). The new cover is great!

This was so sweet and I like that it was a bit different in setting than most of the popular STEM romance books. Both of the main characters work in STEM and work in a science museum. The fmc works with butterfly curations which I loved and is going for a promotion. The mmc is in a higher position in the job and at first is on the hiring committee for her promotion. I liked that the mmc was broody, tall, and never smiled and that the fmc was the exact opposite in so many ways. Their interactions especially in the beginning were fun and highlighted the opposites attract. The mmc is the guardian of his late sister's kids and his grief and backstory really helped me understand his broodiness.
This is a slow burn and i think it was necessary especially allowing them to get to know each other and spend time with the kids before going into anything. Theres a lot of tension and want and steamy scenes after they finally go for it. The kid scenes were so so cute and i liked their little family. The mental health and therapy rep was nice and overall this was a cute romance.

Thank you Avon for the earc, the bonus scene in the new version is so cute!

Read for:
- Stem romance
- Opposites attracts
- Grumpy/sunshine
- Guardian mmc

I loved this so much! A perfect romance book. 10/10! I loved the found family trope in this. Character development was also great. I can’t wait for more from this author, can’t believe this was her debut novel!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!! Wow this book was swoon worthy!!! It had everything i was looking for in a book. The banter was fabulous. It was sweet and emotional but also spicy. It was the perfect combination of everything i wanted. Such a joy to read.

I couldn’t have loved this book any more than I did! Swoon worthy banter, depth for both characters, growth, found family, single guardian. The writing was both funny and profound. The book tackled some heavy topics like death of a sibling, guardianship to two little girls, verbal abuse, and anxiety and did so really well. I LOVED both of the main characters and loved watching them grow and find each other. I laughed, I cried, and I can’t wait to read more by this author!

Having read the indie publication of this one, I already knew I absolutely adored Jillian Meadows's debut, and that Finn Ashford was the ultimate book boyfriend of all of our dreams. Fortunately, a re-read confirmed this for me and I can feel good having constantly recommended this one all over the place. Millie and Finn are so good for each other, and the way they communicate could teach many a book couple (cough cough miscommunicators) a thing or two about healthy conversations and working through fears and issues together.
Finn's nieces are the sweetest little girls and I am so glad they were clearly written by someone who has experience with 5 year olds- they clearly act their ages and that's a welcome relief. The way Millie embraced Finn AND the girls as a joint package, and her relationship with all the girls was just as important to her as her relationship with Finn was just the sweetest thing ever. I love love loved how quickly Millie's parents embraced the girls as part of the family and filled that ache Finn knew was missing from their lives.
The bonus epilogue, which as far as I'm aware is the only change from the indie publication, was honestly a bit of a let down and unnecessary for me. It just felt like an excuse to add another spicy scene, but I feel like the book already had the perfect amount and I ended up skimming almost the whole thing.
Overall, Finn, Millie, and the girls will absolutely steal your heart and I highly highly recommend this one!

I requested this because it is marketed like hybrid of the writing style of Tessa Bailey and Ali Hazelwood,, and that is a perfect description of this fabulous book. I absolutely loved the banter and humor between Millie and Finn. This book is charming, loveable and soooo swoony, I can't wait to see what is next for Ms. Meadows, she is very talented and writes such charismatic characters that you will treasure forever.

This book is pure feels. It starts off with utter dismay and second hand embarassment for Millie and the chaotic meet-cute style encounters. Her hopefulness over a promotion quickly takes a backseat to the dread of finding Finn on her interview committee right after she rear-ends his car. The reveal of Finn's single-uncle/dadhood creates a lot of confusion and heartwrenching compassion, and the girls are written so adorably that we can't help falling for them. I will admit that my Spotify conspired against me, leaving me in tears over the "you were meant to be in our lives" moment while listening to the 500 Miles song cover by Sleeping At Last. The feels were real and created a whole story I enjoyed.