DNF @ 16%

Fake dating is my favorite trope, and I love YA books, so this seemed like a great combination to me. Unfortunately, I did not like Parker all that much, and I wasn't a big fan of the writing. With some more polish, this book could be good.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

cute and fun romance about some fun characters. a bit insta-love despite being marketed as a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers but definitely works. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

The Trial Period by Auburn Marrow is a captivating romance that plays on the classic fake relationship trope with a fresh twist. The story follows two characters who agree to a “trial period” of dating with no strings attached, only to find their feelings complicating the situation. What makes this stand out is the witty banter and the slow-burn tension between the characters. The chemistry is electric, but it’s not just about the romance—the book also delves into self-discovery and emotional growth, making it more layered than your typical romance novel.

Auburn Morrow’s The Trial Period is a compelling and thought-provoking romance that explores the complexities of love, commitment, and personal growth. With a unique premise and relatable characters, Morrow crafts a story that keeps you hooked as the protagonists navigate the challenges of testing their relationship. The emotional depth and witty dialogue make this a perfect read for fans of contemporary romance with real-life stakes.

*ARC provided for my honest review*

A cute WLW Teen read about two "enemies" dared into dating for a month to get over their bad habits. This definitely required some suspended belief, but still cute and a story I wanted to keep reading.

Initially I didn't like any of the characters but really grew to as the story progressed. This book also captured the insecurities of female friendship as you begin navigating romantic relationships and I loved that piece of it even though it stressed me out at times.

One of the characters isn't out at home and though it was discussed minimally it never became a coming out book or a book focused solely on that, which was nice because for me as a queer person that can get exhausting to only focus on that.

Nothing groundbreaking but still a good read and would recommend
as a palette cleanser.

I appreciate getting an arc of this book. I tried multiple times to read this book but unfortunately I had to dnf this book.

This was a really sweet story that I had a lot of fun reading, despite some aspects that didn't quite work for me.

The premise of this story feels like a that of a classic teen movie in the best way: Lizzie and Parker are both terrible in relationships, and they cannot stand each other -- until their mutual BFF Camille proposes they fake date each other to learn how to be better girlfriends (and so they'll stop trying to kill each other whenever all three hang out).

At first I was worried I would find Parker too insufferable to enjoy the book, but I really did like watching her growth and getting to understand her more. With that said, I do think the quick 180 from her being really mean to Lizzie to immediately wanting a genuine connection with Lizzie once. the trial starts occurs too quickly to be believable.

I liked Lizzie a lot and really related to her anxiety, but I similarly feel that some of the choices she made post-trial didn't quite track with what we knew about her. These shifts could have been fleshed out further, and I also would have loved more context of her past relationships, because it was very hard to imagine her in them based on what we knew about her up until this point.

Some of my favorite parts of this book included the well-fleshed out cast of side characters and the focus on seeing both Parker and Lizzie not just grow in their relationship, but as friends to the other characters in the book. I really enjoyed magic of Miss Patty's Boutique, and the theater scenes were always delightful. I liked the writing overall, although there were some typos and sometimes a heavy reliance on similes that could be distracting.

Reading this book and watching the characters grow was a really joyful experience, I found myself smiling a lot at just how sweet and fun it was. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was so so for me. The first half was a bit slow. The formatting of the book was really odd as well. Parker was her own worst enemy but I did like her growth in the end. The second half was a little better and I thought Lizzie's character was so cute.

So thanks to the publisher and Author for the Arc. So this is YA enemies to lovers book and if when you start reading this book you get a ew feeling and want to quit?..continue it gets better. I had this feeling and I read some others that had as well. Some of them in fact quit the book. I really did not like either of the mains at the start of the book. In fact it took maybe a third of the book to grow on me. They did grow on me though and that's more than I can say for some books that I completer. This book has several other characters that could make for spin offs and have the fleshed out more. Overall this is a good book. It got better as it moved along and made you want to see what happened rather than ugh..I have read this far I may as well finish it. If you like PG rated YA Lesbian fiction then you will enjoy this. 4 out of 5 stars

DNF.
I tried. This didn't work for me at all. I found the MC's -all three of them- very annoying and childish. Their behaviors toward each other are very inconsistent.
I didn't understand what was going on. I keep asking myself "Why?" very often. "Why do they act like this?"
I also think that this book is poorly written. Felt like I was reading a bad fanfiction. I honestly didn't check the publisher, but when I noticed this was a Wattpad book it's like everything fell into place.
1.5/5

Thank you Netgalley for providing me a copy of this novel.

This was pretty much pure fluff in the best way. I usually don’t read YA-ish books but I ended up really enjoying this one and I will be recommending it for teenagers at my job.

This was a truly heart-warming YA romcom. I am not a fan all the time for romances but, I cannot resist a great YA romance!
We start out with Lizzie, who lets her doubts and insecurities always get the best of her in whatever relationship she is currently in. Then we have Parker who, is self-centered to the max and can’t keep a relationship because of it. And then we have the mutual best friend of the two, Camille.
Camillie tried of Lizzie and Parker’s constant fighting, proposes a trial dating period.
They have 30 days to fake date the other and learn how to change their ways, the loser must do the tour of exes and say sorry to every ex they have had!!
I loved the high school romance and watching the main characters grow and mature. The story was relatable and was a quick read for me that only took a couple days to read

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

When I started reading this book, it seemed incredibly familiar and it took me a little while to realise it was the publishable version of the same book on Wattpad that I had DNF'd previously. This new iteration is more polished up and improves upon several form choices from the original version and I settled in to enjoy it.

By the time I finished, I could see glimmers of really cool ideas incorporated into this book, such as the idea of a store that mysteriously changes its displays without anyone knowing and a kid forced to go to live with her dad in a small town with his new family after being caught skipping school to work in a NYC theatre. Despite these, some of the fundamental problems still persist in this story. The primary issue I have with this book is that premise feels very much like plot-service and extremely inorganic.Who among us hasn't told two squabbling friends completely out of the blue that they should date each other for a month for absolutely no reason when we're pissed with them fighting all the time? This came completely out of left field and left me absolutely baffled, despite me giving leeway to romances because the emotions and setting up the situation is often more important than realism.

The second problematic part of this book is that the characters are intended to be older teens but behave like fourteen to fifteen-year-olds. The emotional maturity just does not track (because there is absolutely none) for kids who are on the cusp of adulthood.

The third and absolutely crucial problem with this was that while it's advertised as an enemies-to-lovers slow-burn romance, it is not convincing at being either of these things. The two main characters absolutely hate each other until they start fake dating, in which they do complete one eighties on their attitudes towards each other. There is no lead-up to this, no internal monologue about pretending to be caring and considerate to each other to win this bet, but sudden and complete attitude reveals that are completely unexplained and hard to believe. Thanks to the sudden change in attitude, I can't call this a slow burn either by definition.

Finally, I believe this is Auburn Morrow's first book so I cut some slack for this, but the amount of telling and not showing is a massive turn-off. If the character has to explicitly think that they want someone to choose them first multiple times, you are not being shown character and asked to draw your conclusions about what they truly want, but being told, which is rather annoying (particularly when it happens for every point of view character repeatedly).

All of the above being said, this was otherwise a decent read and, as I said before, there are some nuggets that would make a really fun and special romance if the issues were ironed out.

Parker is too self centered to keep a relationship and Lizzie lets her insecurities and doubts get the best of her to keep a relationship. Camille, their mutual bff is tired of their bickering and proposes a trial period. Thirty days fake dating to learn to change their ways. Loser has to take the tour de exes and apologize to every ex they’ve ever had.
This is a heartwarming YA romcom read. I truly enjoyed the growth of all of the characters in Morrow’s “The Trial Period”. The high school romance and banter between friends was very relatable.
This was a quick read that only took me two sittings to complete. I found myself rooting for Lizzie and Parker and feeling all the feels right along with them!

I have incredibly mixed feelings about this book. I really liked the premise, I liked the two main characters, Parker and Lizzie, and how they interacted with each other a lot!

My first problem, however, was the trial part at the beginning seemed awkward, and not in the "hey, we just started dating as a trial" kind of way, but it the way that the way it was brought up by Camille and agreed upon felt forced and not realistic at all. It's once we actually start getting to experience Parker and Lizzie getting to know each other that I like their relationship.

I also really disliked Camille for most of the book. She was so bitter about Lizzie and Parker despite begging them to get along. It felt very much like she was unhappy they were spending time together without her, despite wanting them to date? It was weird. She did come around in the end though.

This was overdramatic in some good ways and bad ways as well. Like, I love a good dramatic love story, but their peers throwing up after it was revealed their relationship was a sham. There's a difference between dramatic and overdramatic to the point that it's ridiculous.

Lastly, I didn't love the way this was formatted. It just felt a bit unnatural to read, for me personally. That is probably just a personal preference for me though. There were also a few errors in writing, but not too many or enough to be much of a distraction.

I give this a 3/5, just because while there where some flaws, I did enjoy the story, and I think Morrow wrote a really fun YA novel that's age-appropriate and features great representation!

I received an arc from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review

I want to loveeee cringey cute wow romance but ugh it’s such a hard balance and I think this was a bit too silly but cute and I’m giving it four stars because we deserve it

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

What a great romcom!! This is a first for me by this author but will not be my last. It was such a cute story! The writing style is great and I loved the characters chemistry.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sometimes all you need is a really sweet YA queer romcom. 4.5 stars rounded up. Parker and Lizzie share the same beat friend, Camille. Neither of them can keep a relation going for more than a couple of weeks. Then starts the fake dating for 30 days trial in which they will date from October 1-30. Parker has to deal with stalking her ex, Emily’s instagram. Lizzie loves music but has stage fright. I don’t know how they were ever enemies as they are really cute together. I was really rooting for them to fall for each other. They had great banter, loved the fresh dialogue and sense of humor throughout. Camille is caught in the middle although this is not a love triangle situation. I really appreciated that Parker identified as bi but there was no rival boy thrown in just to make that part of the character. I think it’s important to show bi characters who aren’t portrayed as being indecisive or sexually promiscuous. As this is a YA romance, it was really clean, which I like, spicy scenes in romance I find cringy. I would like to see a sequel where Camille is the main character.

Thanks to @NetGalley and @wattpadbooks for the ARC. Book to be released February 4, 2025.

This is such a sweet YA novel. I love Parker and Lizze together, their banter and chemistry is adorable, and I enjoyed seeing them fall for each other for real. There is also some great character development for our two mains, with both making more mature decisions and finding confidence by the end of the book. I particularly enjoy Parker's development, learning to appreciate her dad and Hayden, and taking ownership of her actions. The book wasn't without some issues, however. Mainly, Parker is frustrating at times because she is self-centered and oblivious to the way she treats people. Her biggest fear is being abandoned, and yet she can't stop pushing people away with her actions. Luckily, she comes to her senses throughout the book and starts appreciating those around her. Overall, this is the perfect YA romance filled with sweet moments and fun characters. 4.5/5 stars rounded up.

First review? I don’t know why this makes me feel good but it does.

This was 4 or 5 stars, hard to decide, and in the end I rounded down. I enjoyed this novel a lot while reading it. It was very entertaining and that is the most important part in the end isn't it? That is my main takeaway: this novel was a lot of fun and very enjoyable. At the same time, a few parts felt somewhat forced (mostly at the start) and some parts didn't fully make sense, or weren't as good as they could have been in an objective sense. Considering that it is short, easy to read, and very enjoyable, I would absolutely recommend it to readers.

Highlights:
-This was a lot of fun to read. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The writing was well done, and had some well timed humour worked into it. There were a handful of truly spectacular scenes that were a lot of fun to experience. Great banter between protagonists.
-They were adorable together. The chemistry worked very well. They were sweet. The characters were all well developed and felt real, particularly the protagonists. Great use of side characters too.
-Excellent job of subtly showing non-narrator characters feelings and thoughts prior to them coming out for real. The protagonists resonated before they got together, the third friend having issues before they became obvious, etc there are lots of examples.

Nitpicks and criticisms:
-I found 3 or 4 errors or mistakes in continuity/timeline/wrong name used. This wasn’t terrible and they would all be easy fixes, but it was surprising that they got through editing and it makes the novel look bad. They were not major details but it distracted and confused me as a reader.
-The beginning section of the trial seemed forced, rushed, and inorganic, like the author was trying to force the plot line that they had decided on instead or it occurring naturally. I think there needed to be more conversation at this point. I wasn’t clear on the “rules and expectations” and neither were the characters. Like was it a secret and why, because there didn’t seem to be any reason to lie to friends/family/bystanders considering the point was just to give each other feedback.
-People found out they were faking and proceeded to throw up? Really? Slightly dramatic.

At the beginning I wasn’t loving this, it just wasn’t doing it for me and I was worried I wouldn’t like it. By the middle and end though it got me and overall I really enjoyed this novel!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.