It's a love story, baby just say yes! I read and ADORED The Christmas Wish by Lindsey Kelk (5 stars!) and was so excited to check out another title by the author. I absolutely knew I was in for a treat when I found out this is an enemies to lovers romance between a teacher/secret romance author and a book publishing executive. I always love books with writers and the publishing world so this was also a treat. We get the all the best tropes: small town, enemies to lovers, forced proximity and the best banter between our main characters, Sophie and Joe. A nice, quick, lighthearted romance!

This was a silly fun time. A book named after a Taylor Swift song with a MMC named Joe is so funny.

Single POV, a little spicy, and a solid palate cleanser.

Sophie has written *the* romance book of the year under a pseudonym. Her publisher is waiting on the next book, her fans are trying to discover her real identity, and she’s coming to terms with her embarrassment around writing spicy books. Back home for her father’s birthday celebration, she ends up having to share a room with her least favorite colleague who turns out to be a family friend.

As someone who felt shame for years about enjoying romance books, Sophie’s journey with becoming comfortable really resonated with me. It’s tough when people who haven’t read the genre make assumptions and put the books down.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!

I was so excited going into this one, unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. I wasn’t a fan of our love interest. He got slightly better as the story went on but I just didn’t like him. The story went by relatively fast everything happened in a couple days. It was nice but didn’t leave too much time for character development but that’s okay. Overall this one just wasn’t for me, however I will be reading from kelk again in the future as I did like her writing style.

I really enjoyed this books so much! Sophie Taylor is a teacher who comes from a family in the publishing world. Her mom is a critic, her dad is an editor, her brother is an agent and her godfather is publisher. With all of those family ties, it’s a wonder she didn’t go into the same field. Except, she is an author to the steamiest new romance novel that she’s written under a pen name so no one finds her out. She ends up meeting Joe Walsh while having lunch with her Godfather/publisher. He happens to be the creative director on her secret book (that he doesn’t know she wrote) and the two can’t seem to stand each other…. Except they desperately want each other. In the sweetest little enemies to lovers romance, finding out all the little twists and turns will have you feeling all the things! This book was witty, funny, romantic (I LOVE JOE), and even vulnerable. I loved how it shows that even as an adult, you still want to impress your parents and make them happy. Sophie also was the perfect smut author and fan. I always love thinking that someone who seems so innocent and sheltered could also adore the dirty books too!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers for my ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I have loved Lindsey Kelk's stories, but this one fell a bit flat for me. The premise was great with the "hate at first sight" trope (which I love), and a romance author who hides her identity. Sophie is the undercover author of smutty romance and feels she can't tell her family because her dad is a big time editor of non-romance books. Joe is a creative director, and her brother is her agent.
Sophie and Joe meet before she is leaving to go to her family's home for a big party, and after some drinking and other mishaps, she loses her laptop with her next novel. Sophie needs Joe's help to find her lost laptop.
I gave this book a 3 star rating as I had a hard time with the toxic family members, especially her sister. The lack of boundaries was difficult to read about and took away from the romance for me. I will continue to read Lindsey Kelk's novels, but this one was not a hit for me, but not a complete miss either.

I've heard wonderful things about Lindsey Kelk, but never read her work, so I was really excited to hear about her latest, LOVE STORY. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for the ARC I received in exchange for my honest review.

LOVE STORY is an enemies to lovers rom com about Sophie Taylor, who is hiding her secret identity as mysterious and wildly successful romance author, and Joe Walsh, a creative director who does not set a good first impression. I enjoyed this story but it fell a little flat for me. I will read Kelk's other work, as I enjoyed her writing, characters, and dialogue! I think this plot just wasn't my favorite.

I thought this sounded like such a cute premise, and I’ve read and liked this author before. However, I could not root for this couple from the very jump. The MMC was so rude and the forced enemies to lovers that his rudeness made was not even well done. There was no tension or building of connection between the two. The problems of this book were enough that I wanted to DNF it early on (like 30% in), but I made it through to see if it got any better. And unfortunately, it did not. Even with the FMC’s criticism of instalove, this book really fell into the problem of that since there wasn’t a developed storyline that made their relationship believable.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360 for this ARC!

This book has such an interesting concept! Sophie comes from literati stock, but she herself has chosen to become a school teacher... who just happened to write an international best-seller under a nom de plume. Love Story tells the story of her attempts to keep her identity hidden while also falling for her sort-of enemy, Joe. I loved the concept of this, but I did not love the execution as it felt wordy and catty at times. I think this will totally be the right book for the right person, that person just wasn't me.

Thank you to Harper 360 for gifting me with an ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

This was more like 3.75 stars. I enjoyed this book, after I got through the first half. The first half was very convoluted, and way too silly. I skimmed through it because I found it too silly.

But, the second half definitely had more meat to it. The family interactions were interesting, although, the shenanigans taking place around the heroine's father's birthday party was over the top. I still enjoyed it, though.

Not going to lie the author being compared to Taylor Swift. But sense it was a small-town enemies to lovers rom com I decided to give it a chance. I while I didn't love it, I did enjoy it especially the fact that Sophie is not only small town teacher she's a secret romance author. So it was an enjoyable read just not one I would reread.

*I want to start by thanking the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced release copy of this book. This book was a slow read for me.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really wanted to love this, but unfortunately this book is not for me and I ended up DNF’ing at 56%. I really struggled to keep going and did not enjoy our FMC and MMC. I didn’t start to care about them until 44% in and that seems like much too long for a romance book. I also hated all of the characters in this story except for the FMC’s brother.

The main issue I had with this book was the constant romance genre bashing and misogyny. Bad stereotypes about to romance genre, female authors, and romance readers are stated SEVERAL times. While I understand the FMC did not agree with these things, the consistent mention of it overshadows the premise and the FMC’s struggle. It made me feel guilty for reading the book instead of rooting for our main character. There comes a point at where her struggle is further overshadowed by the MMC, and it was so frustrating to read. I also don’t think we should be saying “those who can’t, teach” in 2024. This was actually my last straw.

Objectively this is a 2 star read for me, but I’m giving it 3 stars as I didn’t finish it.

Amazing plot concept but sadly didn’t do it for me…

I’ll start with the good. I did love the overall plot of the book and the romance was super cute and goofy! The banter between our FMC and MMC was amazing and I loved the way they spoke of love.

Now I had a lot of issues with this book. The biggest issues being the constant name dropping and our characters personalities.

There were pages with MULTIPLE real authors names, talk about social media, and so many references to real people and news. It felt like our author scrolled through tiktok and decided to write about every topic she found. It was way too much for me and felt too much like she was trying to include as many references as possible to seem relatable.

Now our characters were insufferable. None of them felt authentic or like real people. Almost every side character was just an asshole and said some of the rudest things to our FMC. There is an 18 year old who genuinely acts like a 12 year old and literally whines to her parents about something every other page. She quite literally rummaged through our FMC’s bag and stole a $4,000 purse and refused to give it back. The end of the story is supposed to have this resolve for the sister but it’s just “don’t change” and she doesn’t apologize or return the bag. Just annoying.

It also felt oddly like a sitcom… Our main characters found a convenient random ice cream truck. Then when they were in the middle of nowhere suddenly a random girl appears when neither noticed her approaching… Our FMC’s dad quite literally dressed as a clown for his birthday party? Man I don’t know… just weird shit that I found myself having to read multiple times to understand why it was happening.

I am interested in reading more from this author as I do enjoy the romance but this one just didn’t work for me…

Thank you to the publisher for the arc through NetGalley! All opinions are my own honest opinions.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Edelweiss for the early digital copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

To be very truthful, I started this book months ago and put it down because it just didn’t catch me but I picked it back up and read it over the last few days. It came out to about 2.5 stars to me.

While I loved the banter and pace, the rate at which these two leads “fell in love” was pretty darn unbelievable. Especially because it was pretty strong enemies to lovers trope. It also feature forced proximity, one bed and a twist on mistaken identity.

There was great potential but fell a bit short for me when it comes to rom com/women’s fiction.

a fun enemies to lovers book! Definitely worth it if you're looking for a quick and easy read. You will fly through it!

from the cover to the storyline to the characters, I’m obsessed! it was the perfect rom com and had everything I was looking for. Schoolteacher with a secret job as a well known romance writer= perfection. then the only one bed trope>>> yes. please. so cute- would definitely recommend for a heartwarming, funny, and happy read.

Lindsey Kelk does it again! In “Love Story”, Sophie is a teacher by day. But Sophie has a secret - she is also the hottest romance writer Este Cox. Sophie writes under a pen name for two reasons - her student’s parents may not approve of a steamy romance author teaching their kids and her parents are known for championing literary works, not romance.

At lunch with her editor, she meets Joe. He is annoying and also in the publishing world. Somehow Sophie and Joe end up spending the afternoon getting drunk and singing karaoke. Then Sophie heads home for her father’s big birthday party only to find she no longer has the next Este Cox manuscript with her. Her missing bag with both the manuscript and items with her real identity could blow her cover.

This novel takes a deep look at the ways we feel like we do not live up to expectations of others and of ourselves. I loved the insight the author provides of the main characters. My favorite part may have been the hilarious events of the birthday weekend. The silliness was a nice counterpart to the more serious emotions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper360 for an advance copy.

I have truly enjoyed every Lindsey Kelk book that I have read, likely because I enjoy her characters so much. They always have such sharp quick wit and I love the banter. This book was no different. I have been enjoying books that have a sort of meta feel in relation to being romance books that are written about romance writers as well. This book was so much fun, with all the pop culture references and easy breezy dialogue, and I loved the actual romance of the book. I think the best part of the book for me, however, was the family relationship of the Taylor family. Seeing how Sophie interacted with her brother and younger sister and how they worked as a family unit was heart warming and truly hysterical at times. The only con of this book was that I felt like the ending was a bit rushed and wished that we got more resolve in the romance before we did. Other than that, I really did enjoy and know that I will be reading all the Lindsey Kelk that I can get my hands on!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

I made a joke when I first started this book that Lindsey Kelk was the only chick lit author I’d willingly read. And then she put me in my place with this entire book, and it made me change the way I think and feel about the romance genre. I’m not a hater of people who love the genre by any means; I just keep trying to read it despite not connecting with it for seemingly no reason.

Sophie makes mention of the first time she encountered Bridget Jones, and reading Lindsay Kelk reminds me of a shared experience. I, too, was won over with the first “fuckwit.” I distinctly remember my aunt handing me her well loved copy of Bridget Jones Diary and The Edge of Reason, and they were the beginning of my awakening with reading. Believe it or not, I had a HUGE chick lit phase before horrors and thrillers. And Kelk shares the same with humor that made me fall in love with the genre in the first place. It’s hard to not connect with.

We all know that I struggle with romance, and yet I keep trying. And I always wonder why I do this to myself. But Love Story talks about how romance is an act of feminist rebellion because it is women loudly and proudly stating how they deserve to be treated. When you look at it that way, it’s hard to see it any other way.

Love Story has a cute and bubbly cover, yes, but it packs a punch, like most of Kelk’s do. I’ve loved her since I Heart New York when I was a teenager loving at home, and I’ll love her for as long as she keeps writing.