“My whole life I’ve thought with my head, and you, you make me think with my heart.”

I’ve always enjoyed Amy Lea’s books, so I was incredibly excited to read this one.

This story reminded me a bit of Mazey Eddings’ Tilly in Technicolor as far as the young (new) adults traveling through Europe and falling for the person they least expect.

I loved the ability to travel through Italy with Lo and Tenner and all the people they meet along the way!

I will say that this book did read a bit slowly to me (beyond just being a slow burn), so I was grateful when I was able to simultaneously enjoy it through an audiobook listen thanks to @dreamscape_media! The audiobook helped pick up the story for me and the narrator did a great job, although I do wish there had been at least a dual narration for it. Hearing Tenner’s voice as only a slightly different pitch from Lo’s was a bit jarring at times.

Even still, I definitely recommend checking this one out for an adventurous, friends-to-lovers, coming-of-age, discover-yourself story!

“It’s easy to have fun with someone on all these elaborate adventure, but the real challenge is finding someone to enjoy the mundane. Someone who makes you look forward to the blurry grey of everyday life. That takes someone special. That’s what’s real.”

Check this out if you enjoy:
- Best friends to lovers
- One bed
- Forced proximity
- Italy setting
- Opposites attract
- Fate
- Coming of age/finding oneself

I thought the premise of this book sounded good but unfortunately it ended up falling a bit flat for me.

Overall this was a decent quick read for me. The psychic element of being able to foresee your soul mate was intriguing to me, I have enjoyed other romcoms with a touch of magical realism, but this one felt forced. I was excited for the MFC to take a trip to Italy following her mothers journey to find her soul mate but it quickly became obvious who that was going to be and the journey to get there felt painful and drawn out at times. I have loved many other books by this author, and many others may enjoy this one as well, it just wasn’t for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I’m a huge fan of Amy Lea and I really enjoyed this foray into YA. I’ve always enjoyed magical, realism and wish there was even more backstory here. Very cute novella . Very fast read

Thank you # netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫

Lo comes from a long-line of fortune-telling women who foresee their soulmate, before ever meeting them. Lo thought this ability had bypassed her until she gets her first vision!

Amy Lea always manages to write characters we can’t help but root for and Lo and Teller are no exception. Lo is the sunshine to Teller’s grumpy. They are opposites that we fell for. Their friendship was so fun and endearing and we love how they balance and support each other. You will root for this friendship to be more.

On a side note: Her fixation on her vision, while understandable, was very frustrating. She was very single minded in her interpretation that we wanted to shake her and tell her to rethink it 😂

Overall, this book is a fun adventure about friendship, travel and fate. Be warned, you’ll want to book a trip to Italy while reading 😆

Read if you like:
▪️Best friends to lovers
▪️Opposites attract
▪️Only one bed (in a hostel)
▪️Backpacking in Italy

This was a YA friends to lovers vacation romance with a bit of a magical twist that is sure to appeal to fans of authors like Jenny Han. While I have loved Canadian author Amy Lea's books in the past, this latest young adult romcom fell a little flat for me. It was cute and sweet but the romance didn't grab me or feel believable and I really only stuck around for the interesting Italian settings. Okay on audio but nothing I would go out of my way to recommend. If you do want a great YA Italian romance check out All roads lead to Rome by Sabrina Fedel. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

This is a sweet idea and I liked the premise of fate and psychic abilities predicting soulmates. I think it would have been stronger if the idea of visions or psychic ability played more of a role throughout the middle of the book, but it was charming. This is classed as YA, but as the characters are 19+, in college, and traveling on their own for most of the book it is relatively mature, and I think will appeal to readers of a variety of ages.

The premise of this book sounded great, but I struggled to get through this one. I couldn't connect to any of the characters and found myself bored at times. I didn't feel the connection between Lo and Teller and perhaps this is why I struggled to finish this one.

I love Amy Lea and everything I’ve read from her so far. This one had a great storyline that was interesting and fun. I do feel it got a bit repetitive and too long. Other than that, it started off with a bang and kept me entertained. Can’t wait to read her next book.

While I did enjoy this book, there was nothing that made it stand out from other romcoms I’ve read.

The whole psychic abilities and being able to know who your soulmate is going to be sounded like a cool concept, but the execution was lacking which made it not hit the spot for me. There were a lot of juvenile moments within the story, and as an older reader, this was a bit of a let down.
I had hoped to enough this book more than I did, but it was still an okay read.

The relationship between Teller and Loren was probably my favourite part of the entire book. They had a good foundation as friends which eventually developed into something more. They just understood each other so well and I loved whenever they were together. I wished we got more moments of them as a couple before everything wrapped up.

Overall this was a cute enough, light read.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have liked all of Amy Lea's previous work, however this book was just not it. I will admit when I read the description I was intrigued but skeptical. I should have gone with my gut and not requested it. Every character was shallow with very little development,

The FMC Lo just felt childish, immature and toxic. Granted she was only 19 but she was just fixated on finding this soulmate from this vision she had. She was so tunnel visioned on it that nothing else mattered even though she was on an awesome adventure. Then the main reason her feelings for Teller changed was purely because he got "hot" while away at college.

Then you have her crazy aunts who were just giving the worst advice and encouraging this tunnel vision about a soul mate.. But the most frustrating part of this book was that is was so slow and there was so much rambling nonsense. There were so many times I wanted to scream "just get to the point already" I ended up skimming through most of the book because I just couldn't handle the rambling.

This book just seemed confused, It was an odd in between YA and new adult romance, like she couldn't decide which genre to stick with. Then she kept trying to add some magic realism in with these visions that just fell short, and the visions just ended up being an excuse for Lo and her aunts to ramble on about more nonsense.

Overall I would not re-read this book and don't think I would recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

While I was intrigued by the premise, this one ultimately didn't work for me. I love the idea of being about to foresee your soulmate. I love the Italian setting. And the descriptions of traveling through the country were delicious.

However, it took me awhile to get into the story and the magical realism part was difficult as executed. I will admit that magical realism is as often a miss as it is a hit for me, here, with the soulmate connection, it was clunky. The second half of the story was more enjoyable and I enjoyed Lo and Teller's relationship ovreall. I thought the story would have been better served by having the couple spend more time together.

I think it will hit harder with the intended YA audience, with an audience more willing to work within the constraints of magical realism. It's sweet, but not for me.

Amy Lea is a favorite author of mine and I’ve loved following her writing career!

SOMETHING LIKE FATE is a romantic comedy about two best friends discovering if true love is up to destiny or free will.

For generations, the fortune-telling women in Lo Zhao-Jensen’s family have foreseen “the one” before ever meeting them. Lo has always had zero psychic abilities — but when a vision finally comes, she has to figure out if fate has other plans.

Lo and Teller’s summer in Italy made me want to book a flight ✈️

Their friendship was so special. They had so much fun together and I loved seeing how they navigated their feelings 🫶

🩷 friends to lovers
🩷 only one bed
🩷 travel and food 🍕🍝

The writing is funny, flirty, and fast-paced. Amy Lea has another hit with SOMETHING LIKE FATE 🩷

Amy Lea’s new novel, Something like Fate is a delightful read like all her other wonderful books. Her first novel got me hooked and ever since her books are definitely on my reading list. Bravo Amy and looking forward to your next novel. 🙋‍♀️🇨🇦❤️👏💐📚👍

📖 Title: Something Like Fate-standalone

✍🏾 Author: Amy Lea- read Exes and O's 5*& The Catch 4*

📅Publication date: 3/1/25 | Read 2/28/25

📃 Format: eBook 328 pgs.

Genre:
*Contemporary Romance
*New Adult

Tropes:
*magical realism
*friends to lovers
*opposites attract
*coming of age
*backpacking through Europe
*love triangle
*fortune telling

👆🏾POV: 1st person single-Lo

⚠️TW: anxiety, parental death-h, grief


🌎 Setting: Italy

Summary: Lo plans a vacation trip to Italy mirroring a trip her mother and aunt Mei took 30 years ago. When her BFF Bianca can't go, Teller agrees to go so they can reconnect. They have been BFFs since high school and lost touch 3 years ago. Lo has a vision that she will meet her soulmate, but will it be a stranger or her best friend?


👩🏾 Heroine: Lo Zhao-Jensen-19

👨🏾 Hero: Teller Owens-19

🎭 Other Characters:

* Eric-Lo's father, forensics scientist
* Kim-Lo's mother (deceased)
* Mei & Ellen-Lo's aunts
* Sophie-Teller's ex-girlfriend
* Caleb-Lo's supposed true love,
* Riley-student teacher they meet on the trip, Lo pushes her and Teller together


🤔 My Thoughts: I loved all the places they visited in Italy. I didn't believe in their fortune telling visions in Lo's family, but her and aunts lived by them. Teller and Lo became close, and things heated up. Lo believed Caleb was "the one" as a free spirit, travelling the world. Teller was reliable and knew everything about Lo hoping they could be together. When Lo returned home and learned her parents' truth- her choice was inevitable.

Rating: 4/5 ✨
Spice level 3/5 🌶️ closed door, fade to black

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Skyscape, and Amy Lea for this ARC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

I was excited about this based on the premise. A bit of magic via the physic abilities in Lo’s family. Some angsty teen stuff. Summer in Italy. It all felt right going into it.

Unfortunately, execution was not right for me. I will try Amy’s books in the future as I have really loved a couple, but this one wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this. It was funny, exciting, and cute. But the middle lost me a bit. I think this was just too long in general. Or I would have hoped it would have been a little sexier considering it started off by talking about her hookups a lot.

The ending was good too, although it did feel a little rushed. I think this is a case of a wonderful storyline that wasn’t executed to its full potential. I really liked the characters in the beginning, but they did lose me after a while.

Overall this was good, but didn’t have that wow factor for me.

Thank you to netgalley for this free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to be able to read an early copy of this one and the cover is so cute! Unfortunately, it felt way too juvenile and immature for me. I ended up DNFing it because I just had no motivation to keep reading and I did not enjoy the characters. I can see how this book could have a strong audience but it was sadly not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Skyscape for the ARC!

3.5⭐️

📖 Read this if you like:
- NA Romance
- Friends to lovers
- Some magical realism
- Italian setting

Thanks Skyscape for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

💭This was such a fun concept! I loved the idea of being able to foresee your soulmate and the Italian setting. The way she described her travels transported me to the streets of Italy and made me dream of going back.

It did take me a bit of time to get into the story and I struggled a bit with the execution of the soulmates/magical realism, but once I got into the second half it was really enjoyable. I also loved seeing the relationship of Lo and Teller throughout, but I do wish we got more time with them as a couple.

Overall though, this was a really sweet story.

Instagram and Amazon links to be provided on pub day.

Unfortunately, this just isn’t for me. I can already tell how this was going to end and am not super interested in reading how it gets there (after skipping ahead, I was right and I can figure out how it got there).

Thank you to Skyscape and Netgalley for the advanced copy!