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.

Small town schoolteacher has a big secret. She is Este Cox, the author of the hottest romance series in the world. Her parents are literary snobs so nobody except her brother, knows the truth. When she goes back home and has to share a room with her sexy hotshot nemesis, will her secret be revealed? This was sexy, funny and at times serious and I loved it. A quick read you will not want to put down.

Lindsey Kelk’s latest novel offers a delightful mix of quirky characters and sharp British wit that kept me chuckling throughout. Her talent for crafting love stories filled with clever pop culture references and playful dialogue is on full display, making the book feel refreshingly current and effortlessly entertaining.

While the banter and lighthearted tone were undoubtedly fun, the central romance between Sophie and Joe didn’t quite resonate with me. Both characters, who work in the book industry, had promising setups, but their budding attraction didn’t hold my attention as much as I’d hoped. As a result, the latter portion of the book, where their relationship took center stage, felt a bit slow.

Despite this, the novel’s charm and bookish appeal make it an enjoyable read overall. It’s an entertaining escape for fans of witty, contemporary romances.

I am leaving this book a neutral 3 star review, even though I did DNF at 35%. The writing isn’t my style and I found that I was not connecting to the characters. I couldn’t see how they would ever become a couple with any sort of chemistry. I personally prefer deeper more emotional books, but I know there will be many people that adore this book.

Thank you to Harper 360 and NetGalley for providing me wi5 an ARC of Love Story.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this advanced reader's edition. Unfortunately, I will not be able to give it the time required to write a thorough review and will be unable to read it for this purpose.

I am so mad at myself for not reading this book earlier! I really enjoyed it, start to finish. Although there were several characters that I wanted to shake some sense into, I found myself so hooked I couldn’t put it down. The publishing insight was so interesting to me and added a level of authenticity that I think could have come off very easily as disingenuous but didn’t. This was a well written book beginning to end, and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

I got about 15% into this and realized the writing is just not to my taste. I can imagine this will work for many readers - sadly just not this one. Thank you for the opportunity to review.

This is a fun, funny, and overall sweet book.

I love that for all the misunderstandings, cover ups, and family drama, this book does not give into the dreaded (& loathed entirely) miscommunication trope. While we may scream at the novel to ‘just say it already!’, it’s understandable why so much is left unsaid.

One of my favorite things about Lindsey Kelk novels is the humor that keeps up, no matter what is going on with the characters, which is one of the things that make them a lot of fun to hang out with…and sad when the book is over. I really enjoyed hanging out with Sophie & her friends - not so much her family - and hope to see her back again, maybe for Este’s sequel…?