Sparks fly, secrets unravel, and you won’t be able to stop smiling!

Small-town schoolteacher Sophie Taylor has a secret. She is Este Cox, the world-famous romance author no one can seem to unmask. But here's the kicker: she needs the help of Joe Walsh, this ultra-conceited creative director.

Of course, nothing brings out the tension (and the laughs) like being forced to share a tiny cottage.

This book was seriously such a blast to read, complete with nods to authors we already fangirl over.

I loved the way the story unfolded like you’re watching a rom-com on the big screen. It’s light, it’s flirty, and you’ll fly through it in one sitting.

This is perfect for those cozy nights when you want something that’ll make you laugh and melt your heart at the same time!

Thank you NetGalley are Harper 360 for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 36o for providing the ARC.

I really loved this book! It had a great mix of humor, sarcasm, banter, crazy shenanigans, and a swoony love story at the center of it. Sophie is the middle child of middle children, constantly feeling overshadowed by her hotshot older brother and her hellbent-on-world-domination younger sister. Dealing with her parents who are literary darlings in their own right. And trying to extricate herself from a pretentious idiot of an ex all while trying to come to terms that she has just published one of the biggest bestsellers in publishing history. There's also the the hot, smarmy guy who just keeps showing up when she really doesn't want him to, but needless to say, life is a mess.

This book was charming and funny. I love that the author focused on how romance as a genre is often viewed by other people, despite being the highest grossing genre out of them all. And I love how she took those arguments and demonstrated to everyone why romance books can and are great for so many people. I loved the central storyline with Sophie and Joe, and Sophie's family provides some needed levity to the story. If I had to criticize anything, I'd probably say the pacing, as almost all of the book takes place over a weekend. But it is not a deal breaker.

Excellent and hilarious book!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of Love Story.

I’ve really enjoyed other books by Lindsey Kelk. Unfortunately this book didn’t connect to me as much.

I enjoyed more of the family relationship between Sophie, her siblings and parents over the romantic relationship with Joe.

I would recommend this book more to romance readers who are interested in the intricacies of the publishing community.

Here is such a fun and feel good story and one that confirms what author Lindsey Kelk believes-that we love happy stories during difficult times. Her protagonist and, I think the author as well, see a role for romances as fiction that is just as worthy as any other reads.

Este Cox has written a book that takes off and becomes a huge bestseller. But…there is no Este, she is really teacher Sophie. Sophie is from a literary family and does not want to acknowledge her authorship of a sexy, romantic read to them. Lots of shenanigans ensue from this decision.

Playing against Este is Joe. As this is an enemies to lovers tale, readers watch as these two spar and come together. Watching them and the other characters in this story made for a delightful read.

I could pretty much say that, moving forward, I will read anything that Ms. Kelk writes. She knows how to help readers escape and enjoy her world for a few hours. Kelk gives readers a nice mix of plot, character, humor and heart.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360 for this title. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Harper 360 and NetGalley for the ARC of Love Story in exchange for an honest and independent review.

Without a doubt, Love Story has quickly become one of my absolute favorite reads of 2024. The one thing that sets this book apart from all others is the seamless dialogue that occurs between it's characters that allows the book to read as if you are watching a movie. That is impossibly hard to achieve, but Lindsey has hit it out of the park. The back and forth is truly priceless and I found myself laughing out loud to all of it's witty banter and Taylor Swift references (huge Swifty over here myself)! At it's core, the plot is so relatable and I know it will resonate with readers around the world. The fact that Lindsey references and calls out all the notable romance authors that have impacted our lead character, Sophie, was a wonderful hats off to all the work contributed by these incredible authors that have brought romance novels to where they are today at the forefront of literature. I also loved the dynamic that was created by making Sophie's character an undercover romance author. There has always been a stigma associated with those who read romance novels vs other genera's of literature almost as if romance novels are less than or a stain on other literary works. I love that books like Love Story address that misconception head on and take a stand for not only the talented authors that create these works but also those that turn to romance novels for a sense of empowerment or belonging allowing women and men to stand up for what they want out of a relationship or partnership. Barriers are being broken down across readers of all walks and this book is testament to that and it's wonderful to see and be living in a generation that embraces literature from all avenues.

Honestly, standing ovation to Lindsey Kelk on this wonderful addition to romance novels and a sincere thank you from those of us that love to get lost in their pages. This one stands apart from the rest for me and I'm so thankful to have had the pleasure of getting lost in Sophie's story and Lindsey's own Love Story to all romance novels out there. Please run, don't walk to pick this one up September 17th!

This is the most meta book I have ever read. I think that will really turn off a lot of readers. I didn't mind the meta-ness because I felt like it wasn't cringey or eyeroll-y. It was very pertinent to the story at hand. What I minded was the story and characters feeling flat. The couple never convinced me of the chemistry. The side characters were funny and unique, and I really enjoyed the FMC. I loved the Romance as a genre being lifted up so much. But I found the scenes really easy to skim through. It was an okay read that overall I think was memorable because of the meta-ness of it, but overall minorly forgettable with the actual romance.

This is single, FMC POV. FMC is a Romance writer and it's heavily discussed because it's the whole plot. Forced proximity, enemies to lovers/rivals to lovers. And it's oddly closed door, despite a couple of flirty statements and some steamier scenes read from her book.

Spoiler, but potential content warning: Third Act Breakup is over MMC being married because he had a marriage of convenience to get his bestie a Visa in America, and he explains this to FMC (THREE MONTHS LATER ARGHHHH because FMC won't take his calls).

I'd still recommend this to readers looking for a light, beach or cabin Romance read!

This book wasn’t awful but it simply wasn’t for me. I thought the author wrote flawed characters really well but the growth left something to be desired. The characters either didn’t change at all or when straight from point A to point Z with no stops along the way.

Also the characters in the book hate insta love and the miscommunication trope which is ironic because this book has some of the worst instances of both.

If Lindsey Kelk writes it, I will read it. I loved this book and devoured it. The banter between Sophie and Joe was amazing. I didn’t want this book to end and was sad when i read the last sentence. I would love to see a sequel and see what happens to Sarah.

i loved this so much!! the perfect short and sweet romcom that will leave you swooning. i loved the characters and their chemistry. the pacing and writing were also fantastic. i would read more from this author

I was very excited about this book, and while it didn't exceed my expectations, it was an enjoyable read.

Sophie Taylor is a primary school teacher with a big secret—she’s also Este Cox, the anonymous romance author that everyone’s desperate to uncover. The premise had potential, and while there were some entertaining moments, the book didn’t fully land for me.

The chemistry between Sophie and Joe is undeniable, and if you're here for spicy scenes, you're in luck—there’s plenty of it. But for me, the overuse of certain tropes, like the miscommunication one, felt tired and a bit frustrating. It felt like it dragged the plot down, especially when it led to the predictable third-act breakup.

Kelk does touch on some interesting points about how romance novels are perceived, which I appreciated, but the pop-culture references were a bit too heavy-handed for my taste....there were A LOT of them. The constant nods to real-life authors and Taylor Swift took me out of the story more than they added to it.

Overall, it was an okay read with some fun moments, but I didn't connect with the story or characters as much as I hoped. Fans of Kelk will probably enjoy it more, especially with the added spice, but for me, it just didn’t quite hit the mark.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Love Story is a cute, romantic comedy that will leave you in stiches.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper360 for the ARC of this novel; all opinions are my own.

Sophie Taylor is keeping a big secret. She’s the author of an international, bestselling romance novel. No one knows, especially not her snobby literary family, because she wrote it under a pseudonym. After Joe Walsh, the marketing director at her publishing company, finds out that she’s the author of the world’s hottest book, Sophie must decide if she’s going to come clean and take credit for her novel, and how exactly Joe is going to fit into all of it.
This book was so much fun. It’s enemies to lovers romcom with lots of great banter. It is one of the funniest books I’ve read in a while. I really enjoyed it, and I highly recommend that you check this one out.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lindsey Kelk, and Harper360 for providing me with a free digital reviewer copy in exchange for an honest review.

📚ARC Review 📚

Love Story⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sophie Taylor is a primary school teacher with a really big secret. She is also Este Cox, the best-selling author of the book Butterflies. There’s only two people who knows her secret but when she runs into Joe Walsh, who is the editorial director for the publisher, and accidentally leaves her tote bag with the draft of her next book, things are about to change.


Overall, this was just ok for me. I felt like there were too many real life/pop culture references for my liking. The characters were ok but not really my favorite. I did like Joe and Sophie’s banter. The enemies to love her trope was there, but I felt like it could’ve been better. I felt like Sophie’s character was too hung up on caring what other people thought about her, especially when she’s a grown adult. Her brother was funny but her younger sister was super bratty. I think because I wasn’t a huge fan of the characters and their chemistry (insta love trope), I had a hard time connecting with the book and being able to really enjoy it.

This book will publish on September 17, 2024. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for my advanced readers copy. This is my honest and voluntary opinion.

Repeat this with me, please: Being a teacher is not a bad thing, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. So please can we, in 2024, stop using that argument even if it’s just in books? And while we are at it, stop ridiculing romance, because there’s nothing wrong or uncultured in reading the genre!

For how educated and successful the parents of the FMC where portrayed to be, they were nothing more that pieces of shit, because the amount of creo they let their youngest child get away with is unbelievable–stealing, blackmailing…

Apart from the constant pop culture references, there is a paragraph that’s just the author dropping romance author names, it feels like just for the sake of name dropping.

Also, trigger warning—it really isn’t, but really should be—in chapter 25, when they are about to do the deed, he asks her what her favourite tropes are, and she tells him, whilst undressing him. I don’t know about you but that would not turn me on at all.

And when you though the book could not get any worse, you find out the MMC has a wife, and he’s been cheating on her, and then they have the first conversation since the discovery in a M&G, where they mention another trope.

Thanks again to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the arc of this book.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was super cute! The pace was quick and really engaging which is what I mostly look for when I’m reading. I loved the chemistry Sophie and Joe had and even all the side characters were fun and enjoyable to read. It was like watching a 2000s romcom but in book form!

One of my favorite things about the story was the banter. I found myself laughing along with every joke and rolling my eyes at the others. I’ll say it again but it really did feel straight out of a romantic comedy. Like the attention to detail?? Incredible.

Plus the Taylor Swift references?? 10/10

Love Story was a cute rom com following an author trying to keep her identity secret as her book rises to a best seller.

This book was super cute. The two main characters had great chemistry and the plot points kept moving at a great pace. We really got to understand Sophie and her reasoning for keeping her novel a secret. The book kept me interesting and the little Taylor Swift references were cute!

The one thing that I was iffy about in this book was the timeline. 90% of this book supposedly happens over a 3 day period before a time jump at the end to 3 months later. The love story felt like an insta-love story. The ending also didn’t seem finished. I was expecting an epilogue at the end that never came.

But overall this book was cute!

Love Story gave me all the butterflies!
If you were into British popular culture from 2012-2017, this book is for you!

Remember, Zoella/ Tanya Burr/ or Sprinkle of Glitter? This book transported me right back to my early college self of watching British Youtubers in all their glory. And, I mean that in the best way possible. (Joe himself may have given me some Marcus Butler vibes and that's why I was so smitten.)
The storyline isn't set around youtubers but it's filled with British terminology, trends, and language that are my guilty pleasure. So, if you're like me and love all things BritPop, this is the one for you!

The book itself is set in present day, but the feeling has me rushing back to what it felt like to be OBSESSED with something or someone. The way this entire city is, with the infamous Butterflies. The way this book had me WISHING I could open up my kindle and start Butterflies right along with everyone else.

Love Story was cute, romantic, a bit steamy, and in some parts I actually LOL'd (legitimately, I laughed out loud!) I loved the TSwift name drops, and I have to think her Fearless album would make a great backdrop to this book.

My only critique, I wish there was more steam as Sophie and Joe have major BED CHEM!

This is my first read by Lindsey Kelk and it definitely made me want to add all of her books to my TBR, immediately! For fans of Abby Jimenez, Tessa Bailey, and Ali Hazelwood!


Thank you Harper 360 for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Homage to old movies!

Sophie Taylor is a primary school teacher with a really big secret as the best-selling author Este Cox. But her secret hits a glitch when she runs into Joe Walsh who is the editorial director for the publisher and she accidently leaves her tote bag with him with the draft of her next book thinking that it was gone forever.

Sophie never expected to see Joe at her parent’s house for her dad’s birthday party because he’s the son of her dad’s editorial enemy especially when they had to stay in the stay in the cottage that has only one bed and a couch.

Love Story is a homage to old movies where you can pick out the specific movies and scenes that are over the top and make you laugh because she doesn't want anybody to know that she wrote Butterflies

P.S. I loved Sophie’s sister Charlotte!

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

This novel was Lindsey Kelk's ode to romance novels and the best romance novelists. After a painful breakup, Sophie authored a salacious romance, under a pen name, that became a best seller and was optioned for a movie. Only her manager brother and publisher godfather know she is author Este Cox. Super handsome creative director Joe finds out, she loses the manuscript for her second novel, along with evidence of her identity, and everyone convenes at her family estate for her father's birthday. Along the way many nods to romance tropes. It was fun and funny.

My take: 4.25 out of 5. A sweet romance I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this and that is as strong endorsement as you can get from me. I loved the banter, the enemies to lovers, the family shenanigans, and as absurd as her hiding her persona is I kind of felt for her too. Also Joe Walsh was a great book romance. In general I loved how much of a love letter to romances and female authors it was and an empowerment of all reading habits. Two of my favorite quotes:

"instalove is my least favorite trope" i strongly agree!

"that's why I think modern romance novels are so brilliant they celebrate women exactly as they are"