DNF @ 67%
I felt like I couldn’t really get into the characters, maybe I just didn’t like them as people? I made it 2/3rds of the way and felt like the story didn’t progress. It honestly had a lot of potential and I can see this being an enjoyable story, I just think it may not be for me, which is fine! I loved the setting it was very descriptive.

A fun and engaging enemies to lovers battle. Love Story explores pride and empowerment and relationships in a very authentic and refreshing way. Would recommend for any rom com lovers library!

Did I liked the book, I would said more than 90% , it was funny. Down right hilarious on some parts and definitely enjoyable. The plot was cute and nice. Like the main character and her development and her sister and brother 🤌🏻. The MMC was a bit more harder to like right away but you do eventually until you want to strangle him 😅. Not fan of the third act break up but happy with how it ends.

I had loved Lindsey Kelk's "I Love" series so I was really excited to get an ARC of her latest book. Unfortunately this was rather disappointment despite the exciting premise...

Sophie wrote the newest best-selling romance book that everyone is obsessed with under a pseudonym - a secret she wants to keep, especially given how her high-brow high-literature critic parents think about romance as a genre. She meets Joe, the so-called bad-boy of the publishing world, when she is out with her publisher/old-family friend, one of the 3 people who knows her moonlighting as a best-seller romance writer secret. Of course Joe and Sophie immediately clash and of course she forgets her totebag containing the sequel to her novel, which Joe promptly finds because he also turns out to be another old family friend's son and they used to know each other as kids and he is also invited to Sophie's dad's birthday party.

I do love a 'only one bed trope' but the fact that Sophie's parents would force her to share a bedroom with Joe, someone she barely knows was terrible. To be honest, throw Sophie's entire family to the garbage (except her brother) for how they think of Sophie and how they let her younger sister walk over her.

Sophie and Joe also somehow fall deeply in love within 3 days even though their every interaction is with Sophie being judgmental towards him for no rational reason and Joe ending every sentence with mentioning how much he wants to sleep with her. Oh, there is also lots of miscommunication, blackmail, false identities, name-check of every single prominent romance author out there, BookTok, and to be honest, too many characters that are rather impossible to keep track of.

Thank you for the ARC!

“I’ve always loved the smell of books.” SAME ☺️

Haha Love Story is like taking a jump inside both the worlds of publishing and #bookstagram with a nice tea and some cookies. If you love quite literally ANYTHING about books…the cover art, smell, size, beautiful sprayed edges, limited specialty foiled book box editions, bookstores, booktok…then you will adore it. My heart swooned and I laughed out loud multiple times. What a gem of a book!

“I can never get over it, the thought of one person sitting down to write a story and all the different people who pick it up over the years and read it. The same words taking on a completely different meaning every time.”

The sibling banter is gold, the romantic interests swoon worthy, and the storyline such a clever play on the current state of books and social media. Love loved it!

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins publishing, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc of this book. All opinions expressed are my own entirely.

Meet Sophie Taylor, a school teacher with an alter ego of sorts, Este Cox. Este is the writer of Bufferflies, an erotic debut novel that has rose to the top of the charts. Everyone is talking about the book, especially since nobody knows who Este really is, that is except for Sophie's brother/agent William and her publisher/longtime family friend Malcolm Jennings. Sophie runs into Joseph Walsh, who works at her same publishing firm, while on a secret meeting with Malcolm regarding the book's sequel. After a night of fun together she looses her laptop/sequel draft and believes this is how she will be found out.

The next day Sophie makes her way to her parents' house for her father's birthday party weekend. Parents Hugh and Pandora Taylor are well known in the publishing world and a major reason Sophie wants to keep her identity hidden. To her surprise, Joseph shows up to the party with his father Gregory Brent, a long time frenemy of Hugh's. Not only will he be staying the entire weekend, he will be staying in the backyard cottage with Sophie. This would be totally fine if the pair weren't wildly attracted to each other and Sophie's ex CJ was invited to the party and staying in her parents' house. It's not long before Joseph learns Sophie's secret, and they find themselves in quite the entanglement to keep it hidden.

If you're a fan of the close proximity and miscommunication tropes, this book is right up your alley. There's fun banter, likeable characters, and a cute story overall. It is a bit predictable and some characters are unbearable, so I give it 3.5 stars rounded up.

The cover of this book is so cute and the story itself seemed really interesting from the summary. However, I didn't love the book, it was just average and I didn't like the characters. I found myself struggling to get through it at some points and likely wouldn't recommend to others.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
DNF @ 48%
2 stars

Let it be known that I tried. There were two prior times I nearly DNF-ed this, but I pushed on. But this is the third time, so I'm done. I'm sorry, but I can't anymore with this book T^T I love love love books about authors and readers and just writing, so much so that I'll hop on a book just for having those elements. Which is what I did here.

But every single bit of this feels so over the top, and not in a charming way. I wanted to toss Charlotte off a cliff. She was a plot device just constantly used to be utterly awful, which maybe it's a comment on the entitlement of some readers/'influencers', but I don't know. It's too obnoxious. She literally steals Sophie's handbag and the parents are like "yeah, sure." Can I say no parent is like this? No, but gaaaah. And maybe I could have handled that if it was the worst thing, but basically every character in this book was over the top in specific areas to make them suck. Like the mom absolutely trashing on romance novels. Or the dad being so obsessed with the daughter's ex. And the ex... My gosh, the ex. Then let's not forget how horrible Joe was in his intro, but obviously that wasn't the real him because he has to be one of the good ones.

I just can't anymore T^T And that honestly sucks because if everything was dialed back just 50% or something, I think it'd actually be a fun book and solid commentary on reading. I liked the idea of the book. It's why I picked it up. Not everything was horrible, and there were real moments of wholesomeness and love for what reading is. So yeah, I could see people loving the book for that, but unfortunately, I just can't with the characters anymore.

very cute just was missing something to me. i wish i enjoyed this book because everything about it was cute and sweet but it was missing something i ciuldn't figure out

Lindsey Kelk is one of the queens of romance who never ceases to amaze me with her heartfelt and entertaining romcoms. Especially when she adds obnoxious, very eccentric family members into the equation, so much is guaranteed. I have to admit I never resist the charm of my favorite tropes: forced proximity (separated by curtains is a great tribute to "It Happened One Night") and enemies to lovers! (Later it added love at first sight and he fell first tropes that I don't much enjoy, like main character Sophie Taylor does, but they still blended perfectly into the entire formula I truly enjoyed.) There's even Montague vs. Capulet-like fight between enemy families that made me guffaw a lot!

What truly made me choose this book was the fact that I love Love Story by Taylor Swift, and this book has the same name. And for that reason and also what was in this book I was not disappointed.

This book is such an addictively cute love story. (Yes I am being cheesy). The whole idea of being a secret bestselling author surrounded by an uptight book critic of a family has so much humor in it. Then adding in the idea that this big shot (and hot) marketer figures out who she is and pretends to be the author to help her hide the identity in front of her family. Comedy gold truly.

Love Story genuinely had me giggling out loud and kicking my feet around. It's been a while since a book has really had me enthralled based on its comedic timing. Then you add in the fact that the two main characters' romance was 10/10, and that's a fantastic five-star book. But does it stop there? no. The author somehow perfectly includes all sorts of modern-day references and I don't hate it?!?! Now that is a feat.

I read this book from 0% to 89% on my Kindle in one day, and I would have finished it that same day if my Kindle had not died while I was babysitting. And as a reader when I can confidently say that I read a book in a day (or in this case would have) then you know it's a damn good book.

If you are looking for a hilarious romantic book that appeals to all us book-loving swifties then look no further, because that's exactly what this book is!

Thank you to Harper360 for allowing me to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review!

"Love Story" by Lindsey Kelk is a delightful romp through the ups and downs of modern romance. The witty dialogue and relatable characters make for an engaging read that keeps you laughing and cheering them on. Kelk’s knack for blending humor with heartfelt moments adds depth to the story, making it more than just a typical love tale. The exploration of love, friendship, and self-discovery is both refreshing and inspiring. Overall, it’s a charming novel that leaves you with a warm heart and a smile.

Sophie has a big secret. To everyone she may be just a school teacher, but she is secretly bestselling romance author Este Cox. Not even her family knows of her literary success. But when roguish marketing director Joe crashes her meeting with her publisher, Sophie is not sure how safe her secret is anymore, especially when Joe turns up at her father’s birthday party weekend. When Sophie’s sister discovers her manuscript Joe covers for her by telling everyone he is Este Cox. As the two try to navigate their charade over the weekend they cut through preconceived notions and each other’s vulnerabilities. Can Sophie keep her secret or will it come out despite Joe’s help?

I’m a big fan of romance involving writers as the main characters, so this book was right up my alley. IT WAS SO GOOD! I loved how the romance genre was defended and how familial expectations were broken down. Such a fun and enjoyable read!

I really, really wanted to like Love Story, but it just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t think Sophie and Joe had any chemistry to speak of. Their will-they-won’t-they angst was minor at best. I didn’t think either MC had many redeeming qualities. The HEA was kind of just meh. The side characters were legitimately awful and only a handful BARELY redeemed themselves at the end.

I will say I thought the book was funny, and the plot itself was interesting, but those were about the only two things that saved this from being a one-star for me.

I received an ARC of Love Story from NetGalley. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

I’m a big fan of Lindsey Kelk’s books and while this one isn’t my favorite I still really enjoyed it! A rom-com about books, count me in!

3.75 stars

It was a quick, cute read. I liked getting to know all the different characters. I hope Charlotte gives Sophie her Chanel purse back because that will haunt me forever. This book was super relatable. Obsessing over a book, wanting all the special editions, all the pop culture references. I just feel like the beginning was a bit repetitive and then the end was wrapped up so quickly.

In my opinion, Lindsey Kelk can do no wrong! I have read all of her books and devoured this in one sitting. Highly recommend!

This book was a beautiful love letter to all romance authors and books. I loved all of the discourse and discussion around romance novels and their importance, I felt that very deeply.

I felt like the book leans heavily into certain tropes and I couldn’t really get behind all of the romance? It felt like I was watching a movie vs reading a novel, I’m not sure if it’s because we only got FMC POV throughout the entire book or not. I would say that if you’re someone who does not like a ton of current pop culture references, stay away from this book. The two best friends dialogue felt like me and my friend talking.

Such a fun book! It started a little slow and took awhile to get into but once I did, I really enjoyed the storyline and overall theme. My only real criticism is that the conflict between Joe and Sophie at the end came out of nowhere and the resolution felt rushed.

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. love lindsey kelk's books! i was excited to read this before any of my friends. love the trope of enemies before lovers. i thought the characters were so good together and loved watching their relationship take shape. i will say the weakness was overuse of pop culture references and such.