This book was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!! I loved it from the beginning to the end. It was perfect, I don’t have any critiques for it.

I will undoubtedly read this book again in the future🥰🫶🏼

This was a Rom Com but it also highlighted the reality of publishing and the dark side that aspiring writers face especially ones who choose to be a ghostwriter.

I look forward to reading more from Melissa Ferguson!

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction, Thomas Nelson and Melissa Ferguson for giving me an ARC of this wonderful book!

“Fingers gripping me more protectively now, delight clear in the way he holds me, touches me. Draws his fingertips through my hair. Me. His Bryony. His girl. And it feels, well, it feels like home.” 🩷✍️🚍💻🌎🎳😘

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the ALC!! I needed an audiobook for my busy day yesterday(getting the house ready for our kiddos and babysitter so we could go on a V-Day date)and this one perfectly fit the bill 😍😍

Bryony Page, aspiring author and ESL instructor, attends a writers conference, ready to pitch her manuscript. Though agent Jack Sterling isn’t all too impressed with her work in its current state, he offers Bryony another opportunity: to be a ghostwriter for bestselling rom-com novelist, Amelia Benedict.

However, what was meant to be a short-lived contract turns into a years-long commitment, in which Bryony becomes THE sole writer for Amelia’s “work.” Bryony is desperate to publish her OWN work under her OWN name, but the agency is loathe to let her go. And Jack, agent and eventual best friend, realizes he can’t let her go either.

I LOVED this story. In the hours listening to the audiobook, I laughed at Bryony’s and Jack’s banter, raged at Amelia’s selfish entitlement, swooned at Jack’s flirting and concern for Bryony, grew frustrated with Bryony while she fought for her beloved ESL program and manuscript, and celebrated when we finally reached a satisfying HEA.

As an aspiring author, this book gave me equal parts hope and anxiety 🤣 Bryony discovers the obnoxious politics of the publishing world, and desperately wants her story told. She finds that her original story needs a lot of work, and I gained a new appreciation for authors who put hours, weeks, months, and even years to realize their publishing dreams. I am anxious, but also excited to continue in this slow-moving journey 🩷

Talk about a fun book! The Perfect Rom-Com is a delightful and witty romance that was the wonderful lighthearted escape!

Thank you to everyone for this early gifted copy of The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson.

You guys, Melissa has done it again, and this really is THE PERFECT ROM-COM. So so sweet. Wonderful characters. Great storyline. Parts that made me laugh, parts that had me rooting for main characters and one great part that took a twist and had me laughing with joy. I cannot recommend this book enough.

I have read almost all of Melissa's books, and I think that this might be one of my favorite, if not my favorite now!

i really wanted to love this one because the plot sounded so great - but it was just too slow for me and i didn’t feel any connection to the characters. i get that we need to understand the backstory but when you’re 50% in and you feel like you don’t know what’s going on in the present and some movement towards a turning point, you loose interest!

all opinions and reviews are my own - arc provided by netgalley and publisher for my honest opinion.

Bryony is an aspiring writer hoping to make a name for herself, and raise much needed funds for the immigrant centre she works at in the process. Instead, she ends up ghost writing for a notorious - albeit emotionally shallow - romcom “author” who wouldn’t know a good story if it hit her over the head. Tensions, of course, ensue.

This is the kind of book you can read in one sitting. Melissa’s conversational writing style is full of witty banter and sarcastic inner monologues. That said, I think there were missed opportunities for character development - some were very one note. The plot was also very basic, and sometimes got lost in the sheer quantity of off-topic monologuing by the FMC, though I appreciated the “grand gesture” at the end.

What to expect:
🩵He falls first
🧼Squeaky clean romance
💞Forced proximity
📚Book about books

Thanks to @uplitreads for the opportunity to review this one. All thoughts are my own.

A glimpse at the life of an author. The problems of being a ghostwriter. The most enjoyable part of the book for me was the ESL people and The Bridge. The romance was really low key. The reason for three instead of four stars is due to the wordiness. The dialog was great, but the inner thoughts tended to drag on too long for me. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

Melissa is a wonderfully hilarious author who pens perfect clean romance. I was hooked from the beginning.

Stay with it. I promise if you just stay with it and don't form any judgment, you will like it. I was ready to DNF at about 8%. I was tired, bored, so I decided to sleep on it. When Bryony found her hutzpah I decided to read a little more and found a delightful little Rom-Com which, if real, is a look at the down and dirty of the publishing industry along with a cute little clean romance. I don't read much Contemporary Romance, but every once in a while, I do like an escape from all the murder and mayhem I usually read, and Melissa Ferguson has provided that in the past. If escape from your winter doldrums is what you're looking for, this book is it.

Having written her first novel which she poured her heart and soul into, Bryony Page set off for a writer's convention with the goal of finding an agent which will take her masterpiece and make its' publication a reality. What she finds is not very sympathetic people telling her the beloved manuscript is too long and genre bending to ever be published. Her last meeting results in a proposition, but not at all what Bryony was looking for.

Jack Stirling is "the" agent. He has a magic touch, and his authors all have bestsellers. Having pulled the short straw at Foundry Literary Agency he is stuck at this writer's convention and bored silly. Bryony Page is his last wanna be writer, then he's out of there. Her proposal is absurdly long, and her manuscript is waaaay long too. This is just not going to work, but he sees unpolished talent here and offers her a job ghostwriting for his bestselling client, Amelia Benedict a popular rom-com novelist.

Thus begins a love - hate relationship. Bryony needs the money, experience and opportunity to learn the publishing industry, but she hates when her ghostwritten books become best sellers and a selfish, egotistical airhead gets credit. But Jack has promised to find a publisher for her baby, and he is sorta hanging around a lot. Her book is about her grandmother and the founding of The Bridge, a school dedicated to easing the transition for immigrants. Bryony teaches ESL there and her book will bring awareness to this organization, which badly needs funding.

Two years in and Bryony has written bestsellers and still no one will publish her book. Is Jack stringing her alone? She is making him a lot of money as a ghostwriter, but she wants more. She wants recognition and her book published. What does Jack really want? 3 1/2-Stars

My thanks to the Publisher and Author for providing a complimentary digital Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley. This is my fair, honest and personal review. All opinions are mine alone and were not biased in any way.

🙌 Thank you, Thomas Nelson, for this ARC.

✍️ A behind-the-scenes look at the publishing industry plus an agent x ghostwriter romance? I was sold. But did it deliver? Let’s dive in!

💡 What I Loved Most:
📚 The insider glimpse into the publishing world—seeing what it really takes for a book to make it to readers was fascinating!
😈 Amelia Benedict = the perfect villain. I loved to hate her! While the ending was a bit unrealistic, it gave me exactly what I wanted for her character.

💔 What Didn’t Work for Me:
📉 Where was the romance? For a romcom, I expected way more rom. The MCs’ relationship develops entirely off-page during a huge time jump. I wanted to see their love story unfold, not just hear about it afterward. 😕
📖 The marketing felt a bit misleading—this is more about the FMC’s journey as a ghostwriter than an actual romance. If you’re expecting swoony moments and romantic tension, you might be disappointed.

📌 What to Expect:
💼 Agent x ghostwriter dynamic
🔥 Slow burn (but off-page!)
🏡 Forced proximity
🚪 Closed-door romance

⭐ Final Verdict:
For a closed-door romance, I still want to feel the romance, and unfortunately, this one just didn’t hit the mark for me. I was craving the angst, buildup, and anticipation, but it felt too rushed and off-screen. If you’re here for the publishing world drama, you might enjoy this one—but if you’re looking for a swoon-worthy love story, this might not be it.

Loved it, loved it, loved it! I could not put this book down and absolutely fell in love with the story and the characters!! It was such a fun read that made me laugh, cry, fall in love, and so much more. I want to say so much more but don’t want yo spoil anything- just read it!

Thank you so much Net galley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for approving e-ARC request of the Perfect Rom-Com.
3.5 stars for me as rom-com is not one of my top 3 favourite fiction but i enjoy reading it.
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Bryony working as a ghost writer for one of the most popular and swoon worthy under Amelia's name who's mean,selfish and pick-me woman. Jack who work as a literary agent of Amelia and had offered Bryony position of ghost-writer after seeing her manuscript she wanted to be published under her name.
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My honest thoughts are there was not much of story at the starting of book because I keep zoning out and did not feel the need to reread the paragraph again because things were happening so abruptly or maybe I felt that way but after a while I started to get the storyline (which was not much). The romance was so limited and there was a lot of Amelia which was so funny to me because the way she talked and how she thinks about books/characters/storyline, that was so hilarious and interesting. No matter how negative her character was, she actually carried the book for me. Absolutely loved the ending though. I was laughing while combing my hair cause I was listening to audiobook.
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This book was more on the side of chasing your dreams, finding the perfect people in life and getting over the hurdles with the help of them.

The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson follows Bryony, an aspiring writer and Jack - her literary agent. This was my first book by the author and I thought it was a really cute and quick read.
The characters were very likable. The ending was so good and unexpected!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC copy.

This book was quite good during the first half: it was entertaining and had some funny moments, and I enjoyed seeing the romance building up between Bryony and Jack. It was also interesting to read about the different interactions with the students from The Bridge and their struggles, and the figure of ghostwriters in the publishing industry.

However, after about 60% of the book, the pacing started to feel unconnected and the story kept focusing on too much detail about irrelevant stuff for the story's development. The ending, especially, felt very rushed and I wish we could have seen more about how the romance between the two protagonists evolved.

3.5/A fun, cute story about an aspiring writer turned ghostwriter and her agent. The burn is real slow and it was a bit hard to get into the story, partly because Bryony felt a bit delusional at times, but I do think Jack was developed quite well as a MMC.

☝️Single POV
👩‍❤️‍👨Strangers to Friends to Lovers
💙He Falls First
📚Work Romance (Agent x Writer)
🗨️Miscommunication
🚪Closed Door Romance
🎳Found Family

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the eARC. Just published! ❤️

This was a sweet novel about an author Bryony Page, who wants to go from ghost writer to an author published under her own name. Jack Sterling, the hard assed literary agent, falls first in this friends to lovers and workplace based romance. I enjoy this book so much and the fact the romance was somewhat more of the sub plot made for a great book that I couldn’t put down. I love the way that Bryony makes herself the protagonist of her own life by not sitting back but making things happen. It was well written and fun read. The audio narration was so well done and charming. I highly recommend this book to the romance and women’s fiction readers.

"The perfect rom-com" is a very lighthearted, sweet and easy read.
But unfortunately, there wasn't enough romance for my taste and Jack was a bit of a questionable love interest (imo).

I loved everything about ESL students and The Bridge. I think the book needed more of that.

3 stars
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for this ARC.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

4.5/4.75 ⭐️

I really just had the best time with this story! I had the digital copy sitting on my kindle for MONTHS & then opened the audio and I was immediately captivated. I loved the plot of the story and the characters!

I loved watching our FMC come to the realization that she wanted a different life for herself and she took her life by the reigns and tried to make it happen for herself. I think it’s also such a good lesson for aspiring authors to learn - that a million nos don’t matter if that one yes is coming.

Our MMC made me love him and hate him and i still don’t know even i like him 😅 but the strong feelings still ilicited me to be tied super strongly to the story.

I would definitely recommend the audio for this one! I’m not sure why but overall it was super enjoyable!

You’ll find:
-He falls first
-Aspiring Author / Agent
-Workplace Romance
-Ghost writing trying to break away
-HUGE grand gesture

I would def recommend this to my peers & would be interested in reading more by this author!

“She’s written dozens of smash-hit romance novels. Too bad no one knows it.

Aspiring author Bryony Page attends her first writers conference bursting with optimism and ready to sell her manuscript with long-shot dreams of raising awareness for The Bridge, her grandmother’s financially struggling organization where she teaches ESL full-time. But after a disastrous pitch session, she stumbles into correcting another author’s work in a last-ditch attempt to make a good impression with the agent. And she, as it turns out, is spot on.

No one is more surprised than Bryony when the agent offers her the opportunity to be a ghostwriter for Amelia Benedict, popular rom-com novelist. Bryony agrees on one condition: she’ll write books for this vain, demanding woman just as long as Jack Sterling, literary agent of the legendary Foundry Literary Agency, works to sell her own book too.

What nobody predicted, however, was that Bryony’s books would turn Amelia Benedict into the Amelia Benedict, household name and bestselling author with millions of copies sold around the world.

And just like that, the Foundry Agency can’t let her go.

But on a personal note, Jack is realizing he can’t either.”

**What I enjoyed about this book:
I really enjoyed Bryony and Jack in this book! I loved that Bryony was so driven and ambitious and that Jack really fell for her! A great workplace romance!

This was definitely more chick lit than romantic comedy, which did disappoint me. It’s marketed as romance and there’s really only a small sub plot of it