Maybe unpopular opinion but the time jump ruined it for me! I was enjoying the first half so much! I’ll try Ferguson’s next book but the relationship left me wanting more. I didn’t connect as much as I had hoped! Still a sweet story!!

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction and Melissa Ferguson for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️

Bryony is an aspiring writer who is trying to get an agent to pick up her manuscript. The manuscript is a multi-genre book that is wildly too long and inspired by the school her grandmother founded teaching English to immigrants.

She is rejected by several agents. Her last hope is Jack Sterling, a blunt and notoriously selective agent. With nothing to lose Bryony pushes back against Jack. Jack recognizes something in her and wants to sign her, however it’s not for her manuscript- it’s to ghostwrite for a well known author, Amelia Benedict.

Fast forward two years and Bryony and Jack are best friends who hang out multiple times a week. Ghostwriting is slowing sucking the life out of Bryony, especially when the ‘author’, Amelia is miserable and doesn’t even read the books she claims as her own. Now Bryony is being forced to go on tour to help make sure Amelia doesn’t slip up again by not being able to answer questions on the books she claims to have written.

The 2yr time jump was a surprise. I wish I could have seen a bit of the development of their relationship. They do touch on a small but impactful night when discussing when/how their relationship changed but the flashback wasn’t enough for what I wanted.

I enjoyed the details on the writing world.

The grand gesture was top notch and honestly, I would love to see that happen to someone as terrible as Amelia.

The title makes sense with part of the story and there is a romance storyline (kissing only) but with the bulk of the book being about The Bridge and the writing itself so being called The Perfect Rom Com felt a little bit of a stretch but it had a HEA so it counts!

Bryony Page is an aspiring writer, Jack is a hot shot literary agent. Bryony gets wrapped up in a ghostwriting job for Jack with promises of getting her own book published. The premise is good. The characters are good. It’s nice and light just like Ferguson’s other novel “Meet Me in the Margins”. Where it falls apart is the pacing. I love the dynamic between Bryony and Jack but we barely get to see it. We are mostly in Bryony’s mind and going in circles with pages of descriptions between dialogue. I loved the forced proximity of the book tour which doesn’t happen until 40% through the book. There was definitely potential in this story and just is too disjointed to be a perfect rom-com.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for an advanced electronic copy of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the advanced reader copy.

Bryony Page wants to be a writer, with a goal of conveying how much her grandmother's ESL school means to her and her family--so she's written a mess of a book that tries to tell that story. When she mouths off to one of the best and scariest literary agents, in Jack Sterling, she finds herself becoming the ghostwriter to Amelia Benedict and needing to figure out how much of herself she can give away on the page without being seen for it?

Melissa Ferguson writes such delightful characters that reading Bryony and Jack on the page was what ultimately pulled me through this story. The rest of the book was...fine. There's a long distance boyfriend who rarely makes an appearance on the page (so that when he and Bryony break up it's hard to care all that much or understand why she cares). Bryony's goal of saving her grandmother's school by publishing a book felt far-fetched given how slowly the publishing world moves and because of how much (millions!) the school needs to stay open. THE PERFECT ROM-COM is an easy read with delightful characters, if you can overlook some of the plausibility issues.

The Perfect Rom-Com comes out February 11, 2025

Thank you @NetGalley for the ARC The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson. This book was charming and sweet. To watch the two main characters story unfold was so heartwarming. The ending was perfect and made me cheer Bryony on.

What a fun read! I loved the premise of this, and absolutely adored the dynamic between Jack and Bryony. As a writer myself, I resonated so closely with Bryony and her own thoughts/doubts/fears surrounding her place in the publishing world and loved seeing how Jack continued to champion her, chapter after chapter! This was my first Melissa Ferguson read and I'll definitely be coming back for more!

I enjoyed reading this! I read 70% of the book in just one day, and that feels like such an accomplishment for me because lately, I haven’t been able to focus on reading for long periods of time. I’ve been reading slowly lately, usually just 1 to 2 hours a day, and even that is broken into short reading periods, but yesterday was different.

As I kept reading, I noticed there were parts of the book that felt unnecessary, like the overly detailed explanations of certain things and Bryony’s thoughts, which sometimes went on for too long.

One thing I really liked, though, was how the relationship between the main leads didn’t feel forced. It developed naturally, and even the female lead didn’t realize it at first, hehe.

Out of all the books I’ve read with a theme related to books, this one is my favorite so far. Why? I got really curious about the ghostwriter issue, and I was so excited to see how it would unfold in the story. The transition for that is not perfect, it turned out kind of cliché for me, but I still loved it.

The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson 🩷

Bryony Page is an aspiring author who attends her first writers conference in the hopes of her manuscript being snatched by an agent, Jack Sterling, and her dreams coming too. In an effort to impress the agent there, she agrees to make corrections to another authors work, which leads to her becoming a ghost writer for the infamous yet intolerable Amelia Benedict, a popular rom-com novelist. Bryony is also doing everything she can to raise awareness of The Bridge, her grandmothers organisation, where Bryony teaches ESL full time. She needs to raise awareness as there is great concern The Bridge is not going to financially survive. Jack and Bryony work together to survive the gig of being a ghost writer, but Bryony does not give up on her dream of publishing her own novel and saving The Bridge.

Thankyou to @netgalley and @thomasnelson for offering me the opportunity to read The Perfect Rom-Com before release, which is due for publication on 11th February 2025.

I found this one to be a heart-warming and sweet story about Bryony and her journey to becoming an author, and her romance with Jack. I found the characters likeable, except for Amelia which I think was on purpose - and enjoyed the twists and turns in the plot, particularly at the end which I had not been expecting but found intriguing and enjoyable. The pacing and structure of this book made sense and was easy to follow. I found myself rooting for the main characters and overall found it an enjoyable read ✨

GR/SG: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

The Perfect Rom-Com follows Bryony, a talented ghostwriter for one of the most successful authors in the industry, Amelia Benedict, and her ambitious agent, Jack. Bryony has big dreams of publishing her own novel, one that centers on an ESL school where she works, which is on the verge of closure. In exchange for writing for Amelia, Bryony hopes to secure representation for her own manuscript through Jack.

Unfortunately, this book didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I found myself struggling to stay engaged, often counting down the pages until it ended, and I even came close to marking it as a DNF (did not finish) on two separate occasions. While I did appreciate Bryony’s personal growth throughout the story—especially watching her find her voice and stand up for herself—I never truly connected with her character. The narrative felt disjointed, moving in uneven chunks, with the plot's pacing fluctuating too often to keep me invested.

A major point of frustration for me was Jack. He came across as self-centered, manipulative, and overall unlikable. His actions throughout the novel were, in my opinion, unforgivable, and I found it hard to see any redeeming qualities in him. While I was hoping for some kind of character development or resolution that would justify his behavior, it never fully materialized.

The ending of the book was satisfying but very unrealistic. I will not go into details for the sake of spoilers, but I wish the ending had a bit more of a realistic tone. It was just over the time of too far fetched in my opinion.

I genuinely wish I had enjoyed this book more, as the premise had so much potential. However, it just didn’t capture my attention in a meaningful way. It was an okay read, but I doubt I would pick it up again.

This book was aptly titled; I found it to be the perfect rom-com! Best yet by Melissa Ferguson, it held my interest from beginning to end with no slow parts. The best part of Ferguson's books are the unique plots and situations her characters encounter, and this one was no exception. I was able to relate to the plot especially well because I am also a writer, but I think Bryony has lots of relatable attributes that anyone could sympathize with. There was just the right amount of struggle, of self-reflection, and of obtuseness in not realizing the romance that was developing. This is the first Melissa Ferguson book I'm giving five stars. I think it is her best one yet.

The Perfect Rom-Com was just that. It was absolutely adorable. I loved the banter between Jack & Bryony, as well as being able to watch her grow as a character. She truly came into her own as a writer and that was incredibly enjoyable to read. It does time-jump but I felt that Ferguson did it well and you still had that connection with the characters.
Pick this up to read. You won't regret it.

This was the first book from this author and I wasn't sure what to expect. The storyline was so fun and I loved diving into more about an Authors life. The book had humor, tension, wit, romance and fun. At times it was a little long, but I did enjoy the story. I would read another of Melissa's books.

I really enjoyed reading about the life of a ghostwriter and Bryony was fantastic. I love that she is doing something she doesn't love, but is crazy good at, in order to support her dream of helping The Bridge continue. She is a an amazing ESL teacher and I loved that part of the story as a teacher. Jack is such a cocky putz, but I absolutely adore how hard he tries to protect Bryony and ends up falling for her. He really is a good guy at heart and makes the story more fun with his personality and charm.

The beginning of the book was promising. I liked Bryony’s dedication to getting her book published and her thought process was fun. Jack also promised to be an intriguing love interest. The dynamic they had created the potential of being a witty dislike to lovers book and I was very excited to see the ways they were going to butt heads when it came to her writing. However, the book had a time skip and I felt that potential was lost. The time skip ruined the opportunity to see how their relationship developed, which was the part that I was most looking forward to. While Bryony’s dedication to her book and helping The Bridge was admirable, it was too much of a focus of the novel and I quickly lost interest in the story once her desperation kept being repeated.

I can’t figure out why this book isn’t clicking with me but there are so many words without a lot of action. There’s a lot of angst but no real feelings shared. I just can’t find any interest in the “love” story. It had promise in the beginning but it just felt bogged down by annoying side characters and situations I couldn’t care less about.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you for an ARC of this book!

The perfect rom com is a perfect rom com! I really loved the FMC Bryony and she brought depth to the story with her love for the Bridge and her students there. It even made me tear up at the end which is not an easy feat! It was a quick read and while parts were a little predictable the story sucked me in! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bryony meets literary agent Jack Sterling while trying to get her debut novel published. While Jack isn't impressed with the manuscript, he is impressed with Bryony's insight into the latest plot description from hot author Amelia Benedict. As Bryony soon finds out, all of Amelia's books are ghostwritten, and they want Bryony to be the latest, and eventually only, ghostwriter of Amelia's rom-coms. She enters into an agreement uneasily on the condition that Jack shops her novel around while she's writing Amelia's.

The two become more than just agent and writer - they become the best of friends. Meanwhile, Bryony's "Amelia Benedict" books fly off the shelves, but Bryony is impatient to publish her first novel under her name. Can she trust that Jack is helping her?

This novel has very strong vibes of Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation, which is probably my favorite Henry book. I love quirky female leads who find love simply by being themselves. This was also a great peek into the publishing world and what debut authors have to endure to get someone to notice their work. This was a fun and well-written read!

This was a slow burn for me, I found it so heartwarming and engaging. I wasn't hooked from the start but as the storyline went on I started to develop a connection to the characters. I love that this wasn't a typical "rom-com" but more of a coming of age and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I can't wait to read what Melissa Ferguson does next.

I decided to read Melissa Ferguson’s “The Perfect Rom-Com” as a palate cleanser. The description of the book online is pretty spot-on. The book follows Bryony Page, an aspiring author, and Jack Sterling, a literary agent she meets at a writer’s conference in Tennessee.

Bryony has written a book inspired by her grandmother and the organization her grandmother founded, The Bridge. At The Bridge, Bryony has been teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) courses for years. She knows how difficult it has become for her grandmother to find and receive funding to continue operations at The Bridge. As she tries to find an agent at the writer’s conference for her novel, she stumbles into an opportunity to become a ghostwriter for Amelia Benedict, a popular rom-com novelist.

I loved the first two-thirds of the book. In particular, I loved the banter between Bryony and Jack. I found the last third of the book to be uneven in places, but did enjoy how one of the conflicts facing Bryony and Jack was resolved.

Overall, I recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

In an effort to save her grandmother’s struggling ESL school, The Bridge, Bryony Page writes a book based on her grandmother’s inspirational story, but no literary agent wants to represent it. But after a pitch session gone wrong, she makes a deal with Jack Sterling: she will be a ghostwriter for one of his most popular rom-com clients if he promises to work on selling her own book. When Bryony’s ghost-written books explode in popularity, the literary agency is unwilling to let her go, and her dreams of publishing her own book and saving The Bridge hang in the balance, especially when she discovers her growing feelings for Jack.🌇

The Perfect Rom-Com is a perfectly adorable and hilarious rom-com from Melissa Ferguson. The chemistry between Bryony and Jack is amazing, and I loved all the locations where this story takes place: from New York to Florida to South Carolina. This is such a fun story, and yet I also enjoyed it’s depth as it explored the impact and importance of ESL classes. Plus, this cover is one of the best I’ve ever seen. If you’re looking for a new rom-com to read, do yourself a favor and pre-order this one!🩷

Release Date: February 11, 2024
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

A big thank you to Thomas Nelson for sending me a copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions above are my own.📕

Melissa Ferguson has such a unique and refreshing voice when it comes to Rom-Coms, and I always look forward to reading her latest books. Her characters are quirky and fun and usually very loveable. The main character in The Perfect Rom-Com was no exception. I adored Bryony (did not adore her name but at least it’s memorable), and was rooting for her the entire way. The plot was really fun and interesting, the “villain” of the story made me laugh often and also want to rage, and the story of Bryony’s ESL teaching and students was heartwarming and sweet. Truly my only criticism of this book is that the romance was really missing for me. I didn’t feel like I got to know Jack, it seems like all of the development of their relationship was actually the backstory, but we never got to see it play out in the current set of events. One moment they were just friends, the next they had decided to be more, and there was honestly not a lot of transition between the two. Then the third act break up was about one chapter later, and the rest of the book Bryony was (understandably) avoiding him. For me, the plot and main character were 5 stars, while the romance and relationship development was 3 stars. I still really enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down. If anything I just wanted there to be MORE!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.