I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I thank NetGalley for offering me the e-ARC of this title.

3 stars!
This was a delightful read! However, I would say that this is NOT primarily a romance. While the book (at first) appeared to mimic the structure of an Ali Hazelwood book (FMC and MMC meet, have a misunderstanding, then years pass by as he was pining for her the whole time with her having no idea) after the two year time jump there is minimal romance other than to create enough context to believe his motive to do a big gesture at the end to solve the problem. There is one night they spend together (out to dinner & talk) which is cute but overall you get little to see and believe that she loves him back. They get together and kiss at the end but you don't get much of them mutually in love or see them be together. Meh.

TLDR: Not a romance, but a lovely casual read about an author who loves her first manuscript and what it means to her (don't we all!!) but then realizes that she has grown along the way and adapts it to reflect her growth (to its major success).

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/5a761a1f-bd45-4a05-a929-ba782df50e6e

This was a 3.5 read for me. It’s a lovely story with beautifully written characters. The romance was not there a lot though and the focus laid more on bryony’s life and how it all plays out. Not that it is a bad thing but I just expect to read more about her and Jack together. The ending was gorgeous though. I adored it. Smart move there honestly.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc! I absolutely enjoyed it, Bryony and Jack were so cute. I devoured this in a few hours cause I was hooked on their story. The perfect rom-com was indeed the perfect rom-com!

Thank you Netgallery and Thomas Nelson Fiction for chance to read an ARC of this book!

Melissa Ferguson is the queen of clean romance. The most romance you will get is kissing and holding hands. She is amazing at building romance without being detailed or having sex scenes.

Likewise, I really liked this book. There weren't any grammer errors that I saw or noticed. The characters had developed over the course of the book that was realistic and not overwhelming. The only thing I wanted more of was The Bridge. I wanted to learn more about the students, how The Bridge impacted students and people lives other than it made it better; basically I wanted more.

I absolutely devoured this book! Melissa Ferguson’s writing always makes me giggle, cry, and smile! One of my favorite things about this book was the heart of the story. Bryony is such a wonderful FMC, and I loved the heartfelt aspects of her teaching career as well as her writing journey. This book was definitely giving Two Weeks Notice vibes (one of my favorite movies EVER). I imagined Jack as a Hugh Grant style, British, and grumpy publishing agent! The writing in this book had me hooked and it was such a creative technique! Overall, this was such a great book and I’m so excited for release day!! 🤍
I would certainly categorize this book under fiction, rather than a regular rom-com, but it still had some great early 2000s rom-com vibes! This read was fast paced and so intriguing! Super fun tropes and NO spice!
I received a complementary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own!

Bryony Page has a wild ride trying to navigate the publishing world!

Bryony, an aspiring author and all-around dream chaser, heads to her first-ever writers' conference, hoping to sell her manuscript. Things take a turn when her pitch completely bombs, but she ends up saving the day by correcting someone else's work and impressing a big-shot agent, Jack.

Next thing you know, she’s got an offer to ghostwrite for the Amelia Benedict, a famous rom-com author.

I loved this book!

It’s got that perfect slow-burn romance which is my favorite!

Bryony’s journey through the cutthroat publishing world was fascinating, but watching her grow as a person and fall for Jack? The best!

If you’re into slow-burn romances, you’re going to adore this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson fiction for this ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this book. This was a romantic comedy set in the publishing world with the female main character is an author working as a ghost writer and the male main character as a literary agent. This was a light, easy, enjoyable read. Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down. I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of rom-com's.

The Perfect Rom-Com has many of the required pieces of a heartwarming Romantic Comedy. Overall, I found it this read to be less than perfect, lacking in both the Romance and Comedy departments. Nevertheless, I read this in entirety within 24 hours - it was fun, easy, but perhaps just not for me. 2.5 stars rounding up to 3.

Liked: Byrony, Jack & Penny's characters. They painted a picture of the inner world of publishing, friendship, and conflicts of interest. I thought there was genuine chemistry between Byrony and Jack and very much believed in their potential as more than just friends.

Didn't like: The main character's internal monologue was...exhausting. I felt like we were trapped in her manically pace fasted mind- it was disorienting when juxtaposed against the slow-burn 'romance' and wheels of bureaucracy. Wished there would have been some variety to the pacing. Very picky but I was very distracted by the consistent usage of phrases like "as if to say" and "in a way that said" - sometimes multiple times a page. Generally, lots of repetitive language & distracting formatting issues (understanding this was an E-arc). Felt dumbed down - was all tell and no show. Despite appreciating the characters, I felt the overall character development was lacking - a bit surface level & one note (i.e. Bryony only thinks about the Bridge, Jack only thinks about publishing, etc.). Made other characters/ plot points seem pointless when I didn't know enough about the main characters themselves (i.e. why was Parker included if he was entirely forgotten? Could have picked up from the 2 year jump with them having broken up instead of randomly mentioning him & using him as an off-page catalyst for Byrony & Jack). The ending was also confusing. We had just had it laid out how Byrony & Jack are up against a cabal in publishing and yet...their way out was via public humiliation on national TV? Didn't find this very logical or satisfying as all their roadblocks seemed to melt away just in time for a happy ending. Honestly, much of the above could have been looked past if it wasn't for the lack of Romance and Comedy. I didn't find myself laughing out load and I truly didn't encounter enough romance. There was certainly a connection between the two main characters, but I was never entirely sold on the transformation from platonic to romantic love.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction & NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Cozy and heart warming are two words I’d use to describe this book! Definitely one of those books you’d love for a chill read-a-thon

First of all, can we talk about that beautiful cover? Prepare to be even more hooked when you open it! This was a cozy, witty, lovely Rom-Com.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Bryony Page dreams of selling her novel in the hopes of bringing awareness about her grandmother’s organization, The Bridge, where she teaches ESL. She attends the American Society of Writers conference in the hopes of pitching her manuscript, but those dreams are quickly dashed when she finds that not a single agent is interested in her novel. With her final attempt of securing an agent hanging in the balance, Bryony attempts to impress him by correcting another author’s work. It works and she’s offered the chance to be a ghostwriter for a popular novelist. Seeing this as an opportunity to get her work published she agrees as long as the agent works to sell her own book.

Jack Sterling is a literary agent at the famous Foundry Literary Agency. He knows a hit when he reads one, and Bryony’s book is not a hit. When she impresses him by editing another’s work, he asks her to ghostwrite for one of his clients. Surprised by the success Bryony garners for his client, Jack can’t let her go. For professional reasons of course. But Jack is starting to realize that his reasons may go beyond a professional capacity.

There’s a two year time jump that I wasn’t crazy about. I thought we would get to see more of Bryony working on the novel and the development of her relationship with Jack, but we miss all of that goodness. This book could use another round of edits. For example in one scene, Jack and Bryony mention people they are dating, and in another scene, Bryony’s sister mentions he’s not dating anyone. Another issue is the author mentions that Bryony is 29, but that she’s been teaching ESL for 15 years, which would have made her 14 when she started if that was the case. The book feels like it’s in between tropes in a sense, as if it can’t decide if it wants to be an enemies to lovers story or a friends to lovers story or a workplace romance. I also felt that we could’ve done without the long distant relationship. There are never any texts, FaceTime calls or emails that show the interaction between Bryony and her boyfriend other than throw away comments here or there until he finally calls her to break up. In my opinion the agent/client relationship is enough of a conflict that could be played upon. I enjoyed the banter between the two. I just wish we could’ve seen the relationship of agent to friend to lover develop more.

I found Bryony’s desperation to have her book published a bit off putting. I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t take constructive feedback, and make edits to her book. Most especially after having been a ghostwriter for a couple of years and being aware of how the process works. It shouldn’t have taken her until the end of the book to finally admit the book needed editing. I also felt that her plan of publishing a book in order to save her grandmother’s ESL school didn’t make sense. There are too many unknown factors such as how the book will do in sales and will it become a best seller, that it didn’t make sense she would pin all of her hopes on selling the book.

There isn’t much romance in the novel, and I agree with another reviewer who said this is more a woman’s fiction book with romantic elements. With a title like, The Perfect Rom Com, you would assume that romance would be the star of the show, but what we really get is a look at the inner workings of the publishing world, which is interesting, but puts the romance on the back burner.

SPOILERS

The third act conflict was weird and dragged out. I understand she was upset about Jack lying to her about not reaching out to editors, but it seemed odd that she wouldn’t give him the opportunity to explain himself, but does send him her updated manuscript in order to send the book out to editors. It didn’t sit right with me.

I think there’s an audience for this book, it’s just not for me.

First things first- thanks to NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own!
Secondly, I thought this book was so cute. The dialogue reminded me of Emily Henry in the fact that the characters spoke like real people. Sometimes, especially in romances, the dialogue is very cliche and not what actual people would say. The FMC and MMC were supposed to be friends for years prior to us getting to the main part of the story and it truly felt like that due to their banter.
This book had a classic HEA, which reminded me a lot of the classic rom-com movie finales with big romantic gestures and lack of realism. But honestly I liked it. I love HEA’s (so sue me!) overall I’m glad I read it
4/5 ⭐️
0.5/5 🌶️ a slow burn ending with a kiss and a few pecks here and there but otherwise no spice

For a perfect rom-com, Melissa Ferguson's novel came relatively close. Bryony's journey allowed the reader to follow her journey into both love and publishing. With distinct characters and developed subplots, I found myself enjoying the novel overall. However, while the concept and plot were lovely, the pacing at times felt off. Bryony's struggle at the beginning felt longer, yet the ending did not feel fully fleshed out enough. The Perfect Rom-Com was enjoyable, but not fully memorable.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Melissa Ferguson did it again with another fun read! I wanted to keep reading even when I had other tasks to attend to!

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 stars)

This book was such a breath of fresh air! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.

Bryony Page has two goals: to become a published writer and to save her grandmother's immigration nonprofit—and she plans to achieve both by getting published. At a writer's workshop, she crosses paths with Jake Sterling, one of the toughest and most selective literary agents in the industry. When Jake offers her a job as a ghostwriter for a wildly popular romance author, Bryony accepts—but only on the condition that Jake will eventually work to sell her own book. However, her ghostwriting skills are so exceptional that she becomes indispensable, further delaying her own dreams. As they navigate constant dinners together, a bowling league with Bryony's ESL students, and an unexpected book tour with the author, Bryony and Jake find themselves living out their own perfect rom-com, complete with grand gestures and all.

This book was just what I needed to pull me out of a reading slump. As someone who works in the immigration nonprofit world, I deeply connected with Bryony's passion and determination to save the organization and her love for the people she works with. I also adored seeing the two sides of Jake—the hard, serious, no-nonsense agent who can charm anyone into doing what he wants, and the completely smitten man falling head-over-heels for Bryony. It made me fall for him instantly!

This book is perfect for a spring break or Valentine's Day read. It’s filled with quirky characters, a slow-burn romance you can’t help but root for, and an entertaining, feel-good story. Highly recommended for fans of close proximity, workplace romance, and closed-door romance.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review.

DNF-ed at 64%. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Summary of the plot:

Bryony Page is is an aspiring author who spent all this money to attend a writers' conference in hopes of gaining an agent. She sits down with well-known agent Jack Sterling to compel him to represent her, only for him to reject her within a few short minutes. Bryony, being determined and frustrated, still argues her case to Jack, who then presents a challenge to her. He gives her a manuscripts and asks her to tell him what's wrong with it. She reads it and essentially says "this is trash, there is no plot, the characters are basic af".

Jack is impressed, so he offers her a job as a ghost writer to Amelia Benedict who is a bestselling author but has never written any of her books except for the first one. In exchange, Bryony gets him to represent her and try to sell her book.Two years ago by, and Bryony is forced onto a tour with Amelia because it's becoming more obvious that Amelia is not writing her books. So off they go with Jack on the tour bus and feelings start to emerge.

Thoughts on the book:

I thought this could have been a better book, but this one was not it for me. I thought the writing style was a little weird (it also didn't help that the format that I got made everything seem like one big paragraph). Often times, it felt a lot like "telling" and not "showing".

For example, and this is actually the scene that made me stop reading, Bryony is in a long distance relationship with some man in Russia. WE don't really get much from this relationship at all. There are no scenes of them calling, no scenes of them texting, nothing to really indicate that they were dating. Then the break up happens (a spoiler, but what did you expect?). But we're simply TOLD that the break up happens and that she's upset that there's another woman, etc etc etc. To me, this relationship hardly existed.

THEN what happens next got me really annoyed. Jack, knowing about the breakup, takes Bryony to dinner. Bryony suspects something is off, so she's like "what's happening, what's going on". Then Jack says "we're essentially been dating for over a year now. I've met your friends, we hang out often, I've joined your bowling group, etc. So that means we were dating, but I was dating you. But you weren't dating me. But now we're dating." AND THEN THEY KISS.

??????????? WHAT.

No. Absolutely not. Bryony was in a (hardly existing long distance) relationship. You cannot just CLAIM that you two were "basically dating". THAT IS NOT HOW DATING WORKS. That's how FRIENDSHIPS work. Where is the romance? Where is the yearning? Where is the wooing? And the fact that Bryony is just okay with kissing Jack after getting broken up with? Where is the romantic intent? I kinda hate how all of Bryony's friends were like "omg Jack has eyes for you and is in love with you and has been for the last two years". Okay, and??? We're just going to ignore the facts that 1) Bryony was in a LDR, 2) it's potentially a conflict of interest since he is her agent and therefore how some power over her, 3) Jack never stated any kind of romantic intent so they could have easily been friends.

I had to stop right here. I actually thought this book was okay up until this point. In many ways, I think this actually focused more on getting an agent, selling the book, becoming a published author (not a ghostwriter), etc. than the romance. The romance seems secondary. But then the romance just turned to... that... Whatever that was.

This book is not for me, y'all. I'm glad if you enjoyed it, but it's a big fat no to me.

Bryony Page, our aspiring author/ESL teacher heroine, wants to sell her manuscript and raise awareness for her grandmothers organisation, The Bridge, so they can keep teaching ESL students. But all of a sudden, she finds herself as the ghost writer of insufferable Amelia Benedict, publishing romance-coms. This is a far cry from her original plans, though if it means she gets to work with Jack Sterling, the legendary literary agent, who has promised to help her get her manuscript published, she is willing to suffer through Amelias antics… until she isn’t.

The chemistry between Bryony and Jack was incredible. Their witty banter and friendship was fun to read and heart-warming because you could feel the love and care they have for each other. It was so good, I wish there was more of it.
The book focused more on Bryony, her wish to get her book out in the world to give the thing she loves a fighting chance. It was inspiring to read about her internal struggles and watch her overcome them and all the things that have been holding her back. She is a lovely FMC and Jack was absolutely charming, they truly are perfect for each other.

Above all else, thank you to the author for showing love to immigrants and appreciating their efforts and culture when there is so much hate in the world. You could feel the love and appreciation for the ESL students, their culture and their effort shining through all throughout the book and it was heart-warming.

If you’re in search of a story that is romantic, hopeful and inspires you to keep going, look no further. This is The Perfect Rom-Com! ;) out February 11th 2025!

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

I thoroughly enjoy Melissa Ferguson's writing. The book is paced well but I found I had a difficult time connecting with the main characters. I didn't feel like I had to reason to root for them other than I was supposed to. The plot was good and with a little addition to drawing the reader into investing in the main characters' successes, this could be a 4 or 5 star read for me.

This should have been titled, “The Worst Rom-Com”.

I love books that have publishing as part of the plot line so I kept reading because the glimpses into that world are fascinating, but that was one of the few redeeming qualities in this book.

The writing style was so distracting. An incomplete sentence can give emphasis to a point, or to implement an element of surprise, or shock, or a litany of other uses. But. Every. Freaking. Sentence. Is. So. Annoying. It’s lazy writing.

The supporting characters were nonexistent and void of any personality. Her boyfriend of two plus years? Mentioned twice in the first half of the book. Her sister Gloria? (Every time she talked to her sister, I would get confused because I’d think she was talking to her grandma because what kind of name is Gloria for anyone under the age of 99?) A vapid cheerleader who exists only to bring toxic positivity to our leading lady. And Byrony herself? Immature and probably should have been fired from her job the second she started.

For a romance, there is no chemistry. No slow build up of the relationship. Everything interesting has happened in the past tense. The midnight phone calls. The party where everything changed. The late nights that she stays up to hit a deadline. Why aren’t we in the moment for these scenes? I’m told they are best friends, but we don’t actually see any of it happen.

Omg that ending was… an Olympic sized swimming pool full of plot holes. There would have been so many lawyers coming after each and every character in the book, the lawsuits would have had lawsuits. Now THAT would have actually been interesting to read about. I would have actually preferred the characters to go to jail because I didn’t even like any of them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the ARC.

Thank you Thomas Nelson Fiction | Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for this advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of the Perfect Rom-Com was sweet and sounded promising but the plot was so slow and characters were flat and while not unlikeable, boring. It felt like the same conversations were happening over and over.