“I love every version of you."
•

with “You’ve Got Mail” energy and “Love Actually” appreciation, Unlikely Story is a heartfelt and comedic journey as Nora navigates falling in love with a man she’s never actually met while simultaneously developing a confusing friendship with her new neighbor (and part-time nemesis) in her New York City co-op.

as with her other works, Ali Rosen’s wit, humor, and love for a good culinary dish shine throughout this novel and perfectly blend with the heavy humanness of the characters in such a way that will leave you with hope and a smile from beginning to end.
•

this and that:
♡ adopted pets
♡ advice columns
♡ baking
♡ hurt x comfort
♡ learning how to ride a bike (literally)
♡ loathe-to-love
♡ london
♡ “love actually” references
♡ new york
♡ rooftop gardens
♡ single pov
♡ therapy
•

triggers:
☞ death of a loved one
☞ difficult family dynamics
☞ loneliness
☞ people-pleasing tendencies

3 ⭐️

This was cute and a quick read for me! Nora was a character that I immediately saw pieces of myself in and it helped me fully immerse myself into the story. The romance of this story was cute but not enough for me to truly root for them.

Thanks NetGalley and Montlake for an ARC!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! A therapist and column writer, Nora pushes herself to open up to those around her. In doing so, she ends up connecting with J and Eli as well as letting in her friends and neighbors. This book was super cute with a fun community of characters. I loved the evolution of Nora and Eli's dynamic. I was surprised it was so far into the book until someone connected the dots, I picked it up very early on as a reader. The flow of the book had some lulls but otherwise very cute and enjoyable read! Would read this author again.

Loved the cover art, drew me in to click on it. When reading and listening the texting and emails more in their normal form you’d receive them in, felt confused sometimes which was her thoughts and what was an actually text/emails. 30% thru and just feels long, dragging and predictable. How. Did. It. Take. Till 71% thru to connect the dots?! I really like the thoughts of the book and how she works through some of her troubles and the ending was sweet. But resolution on her mom/family felt left out after all we were apart of, felt unfinished. Overall it was a little slow and longer than I’d like but still liked the book and would recommend to my romcom friends/bookclubs. I love her books in the back where she gives recipes! I think it’s such a unquie cool thing and I really want to try out some of them! I’d said 3.5 stars if I could do halves! Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the advance copy for my honest review.

Nora es una excelente terapeuta de pareja y, además, escribe una columna en la que cuenta con un corrector de estilo llamado J. Ambos llevan años trabajando juntos y se han convertido en amigos. Aunque viven en países diferentes, su comunicación se da por correo electrónico y mensajes. Nora se ha enamorado de él y ahora desea conocerlo en persona, pero teme ser rechazada. Mientras tanto, se distrae con su enemistad con su vecino Eli, quien, además, fue su paciente. Eli la culpa de que su novia terminara la relación con él.
¿Logrará pedirle a J que se conozcan?

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What an amazingly sweet nod to You’ve Got Mail! Eli and Nora give enemies to lovers a run for its money with the palpable dislike they initially cannot get over. Fortunately, a good happy ending was meandering behind the scenes and it sneaks up and hugs you close. A great butterfly inducing story!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for my objective review. So, bear with me as I try to tread lightly here so I don't give away spoilers. Nora, a couples therapist, writes an advice column but struggles within her IRL interpersonal relationships. She feels a romantic emotional connection with her copy editor, "J," with whom she's only ever had a virtual relationship. Then Eli, a former client's ex-boyfriend, moves in downstairs and blames Nora for the breakup so is antagonistic towards her. Nora finds herself dealing with a reluctant attraction to Eli while she simultaneously becomes closer to J. Nora has a problematic relationship with her family: she was a parentified child for a long time and her family continues to expect her to take charge. (I feel for her in that respect, I *really* do.) As a result of her off-kilter family dynamic she tends to avoid putting her needs first in her other relationships. And because of a focus on those dynamics, the book initially reads more as women's fiction than a romance, especially as Nora works to stand up for herself more. That said, the romantic aspect does pick up pace in the last half of the book. The romantic outcomes are fairly predictable early on, which is a tad distracting as you wait for certain events to unfold. I'm giving this 3 stars for that predictability, but also because I really struggled with the professional and ethical conundrum Nora grapples with regarding her relationship with Eli. I absolutely should have paid closer attention to the description before picking up this book as Eli is former client-adjacent, and their relationship is a gray area when it comes to complying with APA relationship standards for therapists and former clients. I don't think I would have picked up this book if I'd fully realized their former professional relationship, which ended only a few months before the start of the story. Pondering whether or not Nora should pursue a relationship with Eli yanked me out of the story for quite a while, although I will say that thankfully this is addressed a bit in the story as Nora ponders the same thing. The book is written as a single 1st-person POV from Nora's perspective; I would have liked more from Eli's perspective although I get why it wasn't presented. The two of them together didn't really grab me that much, although there were some sweet moments and the supporting cast was fantastic (plus cute pets!) So, ultimately not quite the book for me but I think those looking for a light read will enjoy it. Publishes March 1, 2025.

This plot is a convergence of several fateful circumstances that exist to bring two people together. In each situation they get to see a different aspect of the other and not every part is lovely.

Nora is a relationship therapist who works in New York and once a week writes an advice column for a London newspaper. She’s been doing this for the last seven years in an anonymous way.

J is has been her copy editor for seven years and every Tuesday he passes his own personal commentaries about Nora’s advice. They have created a friendship of sorts.

When Nora’s neighbor died, her grandson moves in, and he is the boyfriend of a patient who was struggling in her relationship and finally ended it. He is not a fan of Nora’s and is planning to let her know it the moment they met….if only he wasn’t attracted to her.

This story was lovely from the first page until the last. I enjoyed every moment of it. Plus, you get bonus recipes at the end! That was a perfect and unexpected gift.

Thanks to the publisher and author for this ARC.

ɴᴇᴛɢᴀʟʟᴇʏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ || UNLIKELY STORY [thank you to Montlake and @netgalley for my #gifted copy!]

Title: Unlikely Story
Author: Ali Rosen
Genre: Romance
Format: Digital
Star Rating: ★★★★☆

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ:
Relationship therapist Nora spends her days guiding others through love’s complexities, but she’s hiding a secret: she’s smitten with J, the editor of her advice column whom she’s never actually met. They’ve only ever communicated through file exchanges, but when J mentions his recent breakup and Nora’s boss sends her to London, she takes it as a sign to finally meet him.

Complicating things, however, is her new downstairs neighbor, Eli—who also happens to be a client’s ex and blames Nora for his breakup. As their tension builds over his loud renovations, Nora catches glimpses of Eli’s softer side. Soon, she’s forced to question whether love could be closer to home than she ever imagined.

ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
After meeting and hearing Ali Rosen speak at Romance Con this year, this book was such a delight to jump into! If you’re a foodie or a farmer’s market nut, I think you’ll see yourself in this story. 😂

I could NOT get enough of Nora & Eli’s first interactions! The fact that she was so set on destroying everything that he wanted to move forward with - just to keep the status quo, was nothing short of amusing.

I think I’ve also discovered that I really enjoy books about therapists - because it usually means that someone is really working on themselves, and I love seeing that in my romance novels (even if it’s not as fun to research as recipe testers, haha).

But I think my favorite part of this book (other than the banter) was the third act not so breakup. I thought it was so well done that these two people who really liked each other just weren’t in the head space to be together at that moment. Not that something terrible had happened & broken them up (which is often the case in this romantic beat), but simply that it wasn’t time.

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
You’ve Got Mail
Meet Me in the Margins
Foodie Stories
New York
Meddling Senior Citizens
Hello Stranger
Books about Therapists

ᴅᴇᴛᴀɪʟꜱ:
GR: 4.28
# of Pages: 320
Pub Date: March 1, 2025

This is a sweet romance that follows Nora, a therapist and advice columnist, as she navigates love and life. Nora is falling for J, her editor in London, through their heartfelt emails and texts. Meanwhile, her new upstairs neighbor, Eli, adds an enemies-to-lovers twist as he seeks revenge for her advice that ended his relationship. The book is filled with humor, witty dialogue, and relatable life challenges. Rosen beautifully highlights themes of mental health and communication. This charming story is perfect for anyone looking for a light, enjoyable read.

And ode to The Shop Around the Corner and You've Got Mail, Unlikey Story is a warm pen-pals/enemies to lovers romance. A Nora Ephron drenched New York City in which young therapists have enough money (cough a million dollars cough) to buy an apartment is the setting of this novel. If you can suspend your disbelief enough to get through this fact and you love all of the Ephron odes to NYC, you will love this book. Living in a building downtown where you know, and like, all your neighbors is a true NY fantasy. As a therapist, having an advice column and affording an apartment and an office space, feeling professional fulfilled and not having to worm late hours or weekend, that's also a fantasy. But gosh I ate it up.

Of course readers connect the dots much faster than Nora, but I loved watching her discovery. I loved the slow burn between she and Eli. I've her wrestling with her professional ethics (it was a bit dicey for me at times I admit, both concerning her relationship with Eli and the fact she disclosed it to her friend.

Rosen has the ability to write adults, with romantic problems, who have insight and communicate like adults to work it through. I truly love this about her books. This would make an amazing movie. Definitely worth a read while curled up in a knitted blanket with a mug of tea this fall. 4 stars
Thanks to Net Galley and Montlake for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

So there is a major spoiler in this story I don't want to ruin, and because of that this review will be limited.
I enjoyed this story about a therapist who is having her own mini crisis - that made her a very real character to me. The author's use of misdirection was good, as well, in helping the heroine move the story along.
One criticism - and this is just a personal pet peeve - I found the story very wordy at times - like one or two words would have sufficed instead of three or four sentences of explanation. But again, that's just me and doesn't take away from the storyline.
4 stars. Thanks to Netgalley for a sneak peek!

This is my first book by this author and it definitely won't be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed this and can't wait to read more. The pace and the story kept me intrigued. Thank you so much for the ARC!

Such a wonderful rom com. It was cliched but with a fun spin and different take. I didn't expect to enjoy this book nearly as much as I did. I think I found a new favorite author!

Love loooved this! The writing is amazing and I loved the story. I sped right through it and feel lucky that I got to read it!

Thank you NetGalley and Ali Rosen!

I made it halfway through this book. The writing is good and I enjoyed the characters, but I’m just struggling to finish. I have liked the author’s previous two novels so, I think I’m not in the right mood for this at the moment. I will come back and try again later.

This novel is an interesting take on the “enemies to lovers” trope. For that it earns its 4-star rating. However, there are a few caveats that detracted from the overall enjoyment of the storyline.

Nora is a dedicated therapist, and while she is New York City born and bred, she also writes a weekly advice column for a London based newspaper. My problem in embracing her credibility lies in her highly dysfunctional relationships with her parents and brother. Nora’s parents, especially her mother, were aggravating in their expectations and lack of self-sufficiency. While I know that therapists are human with challenges of their own, Nora’s ongoing reticence to stand up for herself and to take risks with relationships in general added drama but became irritating over time. The good news is that between her own therapeutic sessions and her advice to others, this book contains a wealth of helpful and practical insights.

I enjoyed the supporting characters – they were believable and were sufficiently diverse and a bit quirky to add dimension and color while keeping the story moving forward. The romance element developed organically with a twist that, unfortunately, was predictable early on. The book concludes on a positive note and left me moderately satisfied.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

I truly will scream from rooftops about my love for Ali Rosen’s books - HOW ARE THEY SO PERFECT?

To me, she is up there with Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez. I catch myself giggling and blushing and my stomach plummeting and all of the ups and downs that accompany romances with will they-won’t they vibes.

It’s hard to say too much without spoiling too much, but this slow burn friends to lovers is a newfound favorite. 😍

This book was so cute! I really enjoyed reading this book! The romance and banter was top tier. I would highly recommend this book!

loved this romance between J and nora who have worked for years on a column. she meets a neighbor Eli and they don't get along very well. Nora ends up spending time with Eli and slowly falling in love with him. She also falls in love with J. They have never met and this one time they do meet up. Its a good romance and she has great friends. Loved that they figured things out.