"Unromance" by Erin Connor

I love how Erin Connor playfully deconstructs rom-com clichés while simultaneously delivering a story full of heart and chemistry. The banter is razor-sharp, the tension is electric, and the emotional depth sneaks up on you in the best way. I devoured this witty, self-aware, and unexpectedly heartfelt love story. Sawyer and Mason’s dynamic is addictive—their witty exchanges and undeniable chemistry make this book impossible to put down. Overall, I loved how it played with tropes while still embracing everything that makes rom-coms so fun!

Unfortunately, I got 60% through this book and was too bored to finish which makes me so sad. I was really excited about this book. The cover and description sounded right up my alley but sadly it was not for me. Thank you to NetGalley for early access to this audiobook in exchange for a review.

this was cute. sawyer is a workaholic jaded romance author who swore off love and mason is a hopeless romantic actor who coincidentally get stuck in an elevator and have their meet cute. After news of mason's recent break up and after sawyer having writers block, they come together and get tasked with making mason hate love and giving sawyer inspiration to write her book they end up with a couple rules they cannot break two of which is no sex, and no catching feelings well doesn't happen. overall, I really did enjoy the story it is a really good debut novel.

When recently dumped TV heartthrob Mason West decides he’s done with love, he teams up with Sawyer Greene, a jaded romance novelist battling writer’s block, to dismantle rom-com clichés and avoid heartbreak for good. Their foolproof deal? No sex, no swooning, and definitely no falling in love. But as they test their plan, they realise some love stories refuse to stick to the rules.

This was such a fun romcom, and I really enjoyed listening to it while working and on my daily walks. The narrators did a great job bringing the characters to life, and their performances made the story easy to follow and engaging. The audiobook was well produced, and the narration complemented the humour and chemistry in the book perfectly. A great listen overall!

Thank you NetGalley & Forever Publishing for gifting me this ebook! Unromance by Erin Connor is for the Lovers of Love and rommance books! Mark your calendars, it will be out on Jan 14 2025!
Sawyer Greene, a bestselling romance author, is struggling with writer's block after a bad breakup. She has a one-night stand with actor Mason West, but they keep running into each other. Mason believes they’re meant to help each other: her with her writing, and him with his fear of heartbreak. They agree to no more sex and no falling in love. However, as they grow closer, they realize some romantic plots can't be controlled, and they might be headed for a real-life happy ending!
If you love contemporary romances, if you read the tropes of a book before picking it up and if you are okay with 3rd POV then this book is for you!

Reread as audiobook 30/01/2025: Thank you Hachette Audio for allowing me to listen to this ALC!
I absolutely loved the narration! The dual narration was fantastic, and I’m a huge fan of Mia Hutchinson Shaw’s voice—her intonations were perfect, making me feel every emotion the FMC experienced.

This was cute but I found Sawyer to be a bit annoying at times. The third act breakup was unnecessary (as they mostly tend to be) and that pulled me out of the story a bit.

I listened to the audio arc and whilst the female narrator was great, the male narrator was not suited for this role and not very good.

Audiobook narrated by Mia Hutchinson Shaw and Lee Osorio who both did so well to bring this debut romance to life. This is an opposites attract friends to lovers - a lil bit slow burn (after a one night stand 😲) as actor Mason and writer Sawyer help each other out over a Christmas holiday and try not to fall in love. They do of course, and there's plenty of complications along the way, with romance novel in-jokes and banter. Sawyer's lack of commitment wore a bit thin.

Narrators read alternate chapters so both had to navigate a number of voices - I was impressed! Lee nailed the male role of Mason West - a bit of a golden retriever, not an Alpha at all, and this was reflected in the pitch and some endearing hesitation in Lee's speech. Secondary characters needed to be believable and I especially loved how Mia voiced Lily. She was our FMC Sawyer's irritating sidekick whose job was to keep Sawyer's feelings on track. I would not have enjoyed this nearly as much without the audio.. Sidenote - the cover is gorgeous!

Thank you Hachette Audio, Erin Connor and NetGalley for the audiobook. Opinions are my own.

I love when the story inside is as cute as the cover! I really enjoyed this trope-filled story of two characters falling in love against their wills. The lead characters had great chemistry, and I really enjoyed the unique way the author poked fun at popular romance tropes. It reads less like a celebrity romance and more like a one-night-stand to friends to lovers romance. I found some of the conflict overblown and repetitive, like the FMC harping on the MMC moving away; babe, he’s a 4-hour flight away, and you work remote. Inconsequential conflicts kept happening to the point that it got a bit frustrating, but I would say the HEA was worth it in the end!
The voice actors for this audiobook both performed well; they added to the story with their dual performance and never distracted from the story with out-of-place intonation. I would listen to both narrators again.

This book just wasn’t for me. The chemistry felt forced—getting stuck in an elevator, running into each other at a bar, and then a one-night stand just didn’t click believably. It all felt off. And the nickname for her lady parts? Yeah, that was a definite no for me. Ick.

The premise of this book is so fun, she’s going to “ruin romance” for him while getting inspiration for her next book and he needs to take a break from dating publicly. I thought it was feeling a little insta-love at the beginning, because they have a one night stand right away and instantly hit it off, and these characters have great chemistry, I was invested in the first half.
I did lose interested pretty quickly though. The characters felt like their connection kind of plateaued.

3.5 stars rounded up!

This was an easy, light listen as an audiobook. I loved the premise of approaching all romance cliches to "unromance" and not end up falling for each other while absolutely ending up falling for each other. The romance trope outline at the start of every chapter was a really fun touch, too.

Mia Hutchinson Shaw was an awesome narrator for Sawyer. I didn't love the male narration as much, and I almost would have preferred the whole novel be narrated from Sawyer's perspective (as a majority of it was already). It was still really well done and I was finding excuses to stop what I was doing to pick up listening again.

Also agreeing with everyone else here: the tights scene 😮‍💨

This book was good, but it didn't wow me. The writing style felt reminiscent of Emily Henry to me for some reason, and I imagine a lot of people will enjoy it for that reason.

I adored Mason. I felt like I could totally relate to him as the hopeless romantic and looking for love everywhere he goes, being a serial dater, and wanting to find love for himself.

Sawyer was Mason's polar opposite. While I'm sure there are many people out there who will connect with Sawyer, unfortunately I just wasn't one of them. Her entire personality was soaked in pessimism.

While the premise of the story was cute, I felt that Mason and Sawyer lacked chemistry because they were on complete opposite wavelengths for the entire book right up until the end. The ending felt rushed to me, because while they were doing all the cute dates and inevitably were going to end up together, they continued to lack chemistry for me. So at the end of the book when they were suddenly together, that's what it felt like. Very sudden.

Mia Hutchinson Shaw and Lee Osorio delivered a good performance of the audiobook. Their narration was enjoyable to listen to and kept me engaged with the story even when I wasn't totally connecting with the characters.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the Advanced Listening Copy.

A romance writer who no longer believes in love, and an actor who is a hopeless romantic make a deal where he helps her get inspired to finish her book and she helps him be less naive in love.

At first I really liked seeing how they incorporated every cliché trope from romance books and gave it their own spin, plus Sawyer and Mason's relationship was very mischievous and fun. I feel that at some point in the second half of the story I lost the spark of what caught my attention and I couldn't recover it later because the story felt eternal.

With that said, I think it does have potential and this could work amazingly for other people, it is a story with charismatic characters, with touches of drama and that makes you remember scenes from your favorite romance stories.

Lovers of romcoms, both books and cinema, will find much to embrace in this ode to the genre. Often maligned for not being a serious art form, a well executed romcom will deliver depth of feeling with a gentle and humorous touch. That’s exactly what Erin Connor’s laugh out loud and heartwarming novel achieves.

UNROMANCE gives us all the tropes as Sawyer and Mason use their unintentional meet cute as a springboard to advance their careers. Both main characters are scarred from recent breakups. Sawyer is a romance novelist unable to write because she no longer believes in love. Mason is an actor looking for the mythical HEA while struggling to change his image as someone who can’t sustain a relationship. Sawyer tries to cure Mason of his belief in love one trope at a time.

Everything about this book - from the trope-y chapter titles to the familiar and recognizable grand gestures - is a tribute to a genre that delivers HEAs to an ever growing audience of fans. Romcoms are comfort reads. They make us laugh and cry and hope and believe. They make us feel. UNROMANCE gives romcom lovers a chance to celebrate all they love about the genre.

The audiobook, narrated by Mia Hutchinson Shaw and Lee Osorio, makes the listener feel they are accompanying Sawyer and Mason on their relationship journey. Their performances enhance the reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

Unromance is a delightful twist on the genre, full of sharp banter, laugh-out-loud moments, and swoon-worthy chemistry. The characters are layered and complex, with fantastic development that makes you root for them both. It's a perfect mix of heart and heat, with plenty of playful nods to romance tropes that will make any romance reader smile.

I listened to the audiobook, and Mia Hutchinson Shaw and Lee Osorio did a fantastic job narrating. They truly brought the story to life, making every moment feel even more engaging and immersive. My only complain was maybe a Net galley shelf issue. Whenever a new chapter would start, it would cut out for a few seconds so I would always miss something. But if I manually went back to the beginning of the chapter, it would be fine.

If you love books that embrace and subvert romance cliches in the best way, this one's for you!

Sawyer- romance author, free spirit, jaded, stuck in writer’s block, definitely holding on to a lot of hurt

Mason- actor, basically McSteamy on this book’s version of Grey’s Anatomy, hopeless romantic

Enter fate. Aka- a faulty elevator up to a swanky bar. The two share drinks and laughs (once the elevator works again) over some very witty and flirty banter , before sharing an amazing night together. The two establish right away that under no circumstances is what’s happening the beginning of a relationship….

Btw- this is early in the book and 🌶️🥵 okkkk way to set the tone and make you keep reading for more……

In good romcom fashion, the universe has a plan. If fate wants them together, why not use it to their combined advantage?!

This was very well written. It’s sharp, and witty. It’s contemporary, and relatable.

So the elephant in the room- it’s third person narration which absolutely took me out of the story at times. I think it’s written well enough that perhaps if I were physically reading the book, it wouldn’t be so noticeable for me, as this doesn’t usually bother me, however hearing it on audio, depending on how the narrator added infliction to different words/sentences, at times was more noticeable than others. I would occasionally find myself focusing more on the narration than the content.

Overall, I still think this is excellent romcom. 4.5 ⭐️ in that respective category. As a whole, it’s a 3.75 star romance. Sometimes romcom plot devices can frustrate me, like third act breakups and messy FMCs.
But hey, it’s just part of the genre 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thank you Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audio book!

Sawyer is a romance writer that doesn’t seem to believe in romance anymore. Mason’s an actor who has a habit of falling in love too easily. She’s got writer’s block and is in desperate need of inspiration. He looking to make a major change in his life and needs to be ‘cured’ of his foolish heart. She agrees to help ‘ruin’ classic romance tropes for him and in return she hopes to get inspiration for her new book. Sounds like a solid plan, right? The problem…their one night stand makes it hard to remain emotionally detached. I really liked these characters and the narrators do a fantastic job of bringing them to life. This is a fun romcom with more than a dash of spice. I’d like to thank Hachette Audio | Forever and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review an advanced copy of the audio version of Unromance.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1SU5L7J3MW4ZH/ref=pe_123899240_1043597390_SRTC0204BT_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Oh goodness. I flew threw this book in a few days! I adored both MCs and the perspectives they brought to this story.

Sawyer - I resonated with the FMC from the very beginning. From her piles of books (TBR, To Be Read, and To Be Donated (of course)) to her "bookstagram worthy rainbow bookshelf," it was easy for me to put myself in this story.

Mason - in Erin Connors story Mason is struggling with what most people would assume are more typical "female" problems, like catching feelings fast and seeing the romance in everyday happenings. It was a fresh take that I'd love to see more of!

I also loved the Tropes at the beginning of every chapter. Very cute!

I listened to the audiobook version of this story. I enjoyed the dual narrators. They both did a great job!

Thank you to Erin Connor, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for the ARC to review!

Absolutely stunning. This is one that I will be thinking about for a long time, and needing to add to my physical library. Sawyer and Mason were a fantastic match, and although they had different outlooks on love, their chemistry was off the charts and you were always rooting for both of them. Rom-com references tastefully incorporated throughout, with side characters that you want to know more of and know more of their world. Shouting from the rooftops about my love for Unromance.

This is a great book that feels like a love letter to romance readers. I love Sawyer and Mason, love their relationship and how they fall. It felt real and sweet, and while the narrators were just okay, it didn’t stop me from devouring this debut.