This romance audiobook just didn’t do it for me.

The storyline was a bit boring. Mason & Sawyer just didn’t have that tension that you look for in a romance book. The will they or won’t they. The “spicy” scenes were minimal and seemed awkward.

I did enjoy the narrators, both were great!

The ending saved this book, I enjoyed that portion.

Thank you NetGalley and @ForeverPub for this ALC, in exchange for an honest review.

From the moment I started Unromance, I was hooked! The chapter titles were such a fun touch—they’re all based on those familiar romance tropes we know so well. It was like a sneak peek into the story, and I couldn’t wait to see how each one would play out.

I’m a sucker for the one-night stand turned messy kind of romance. You know the drill—two people share a night, swear it’s a one-time thing, and then can’t stop thinking about each other. And then, of course, life keeps throwing them together. It’s always the kind of storyline that gets me every time, and this book definitely delivered on that front.

What I also loved was how the characters’ stories came together. Sawyer is struggling to get back to writing, but he also seems determined to mess with Mason, a hopeless romantic. Watching them both fight the obvious chemistry between them was so much fun. The tension built up slowly, and I found myself turning the pages faster and faster to see where things would go.

The narrators did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life. Can't forget about them!

Unromance was an absolute blast to read. I had such a great time with it, and I think anyone who loves a good romance will enjoy this one. I’m giving it 4.25 stars!

#Unromance, #ForeverPub, #RomCom

The book itself says it best:

“ONE-NIGHT STAND TO STRANGERS TO FRIENDS TO LOVERS TO IDIOTS TO LOVERS–Invented by Mason Álvarez-West and Sawyer Greene, probably.”

What a fantastic debut. Mason and Sawyer couldn’t be more different in their views and approach to love. Yet what they find in each other along the way ends up being so perfectly perfect for who they are. Neither one of them changes who they are, but they do find ways to adapt and compromise to be the kind of partner the other needs — and that is true even at the friendship stage of their relationship journey. The times they have to face apart make sense for the characters and their path. They both have moments where they’re frustrating and you want to shake them, but they’re so purely human.

The banter/rapport/dynamic between Sawyer and Mason is so good right from the jump. They both have quick wit and play off each other so well. They match each other’s humor and spark. In their time together, it’s clear they truly *see* the other, and while it’s definitely not always smooth sailing or an easy fall, there’s never a doubt that they each know the other is something special and important in their life.

One of my favorite touches of the book were the romance trope/microtrope definitions/descriptions at the beginning of each chapter. They never failed to make me smile or laugh and they were a great little bit of foreshadowing guiding the story along.

The audiobook was also incredibly well done. Dual narration for the dual POVs added a richness in brining Mason and Sawyer to life for me. Both narrators had a natural cadence and their varying tones for different characters were distinct. I enjoyed revisiting this book I loved in a new format.



This was such an impressive debut novel and I can’t wait to read more from Erin Connor. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Hachette Audio for the audiobook review copy.

wow what an awesome book!!! I absolutely loved the way they went through all the classic romance tropes and how they fell deeper in love with each other with each one!! like I knew that was what was going to happen (bc it’s a romance book duh) but the specific way the each felt during these moments made the story feel so realistic and charming and so freaking adorable.

I loved friend and family connections here, how the depth of the characters ran so deep that related to why neither of them wanted romance to begin with. and the spice THE. SPICE. oh my gawsh these two were so freaking hot together even when there wasn’t actual romping going on the chemistry and attraction was so palpable and steamy, I’ll never look at tights with a run the same way again!

overall, just an amazing, fun, emotional, tender, spicy, lovely story that I absolute adored! the narration was amazing too! really letting me fall into this story in the best passover way. thank you so much for the ALC!!!

Really enjoyed this one! Audiobooks can be hard if you don't have a narrator that nails the inner thoughts as well as dialogue and overall delivery. This one was very well done--both narrators were engaging and enjoyable. 4.5/5.0

This whole story was so entertaining and the characters were relatable and lovable. Mason is a hopeless romantic (bonus points for having the guy be this character) and Sawyer is a romance author who is jaded. All of the stuff they do to disprove the romance tropes is perfect. I laughed through most of this book, but then it had real heart and emotion when dealing with how a person reacts to being vulnerable and putting themselves out there. I related with Sawyer and adored Mason. Definitely will be on the lookout for any other books by this author.

Oh this book! I was not expecting the fun and frolics that I encountered AND it is a debut! I am thrilled for Erin Connor and even more excited to read what she writes next now. From their meet cute, Sawyer and Mason had chemistry. This just increased as the book went on and I was so invested watching them find their way to each other. I absolutely loved all the romcom references too!!

I loved every moment of this audiobook, especially since it featured the male lead as the hopeless romantic. This refreshing change from the typical rom-com trope added a unique twist to the story. The dynamic reminded me of an adult version of "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" series, with their pact adding depth to the plot.

It was heartwarming to see Sawyer break down her walls for the right person, and the medium spice level made it even more enjoyable. If you're looking for a delightful and romantic listen, this audiobook is a must! 🎧💖📚

Unromance is Erin Connor’s debut novel. I ended up DNF’ing at 60%. I usually don’t DNF so late into a book and try to power through, but I just couldn’t do it. Sawyer and Mason’s relationship felt too surface-level, and despite all the romantic things they were doing to make their relationship unromantic, I never saw them build a genuine connection. The book is written in third person, alternating between Sawyer and Mason’s perspectives. However, I found their inner monologues repetitive and dull by the time I reached the middle of the book. Oddly enough, I still felt like the characters lacked depth even though we had access to their thoughts. The writing style also felt very choppy and unpolished where some chapters moved the story forward while others seemed like filler. Overall, this one wasn’t for me and I don’t quite understand why there are the high ratings for this.

Did I pick this up because at first glance because I thought the girl was flipping off the guy on the cover? I sure did! Did I enjoy the heck out if it once I realized she wasn't? Absolutely! A romance book making fun of romance tropes and clichés... it doesn't get much better than that!

Loved the narrators and how well they portrayed the characters and emotion in this book. Very well done!

Sometimes being a hopeless romantic is a good thing, and sometimes it leaves you with a broken heart. I am just glad that Mason never truly gave up on love because witnessing him try to become less open to all of the romance tropes made me sad. I absolutely adored Sawyer and Mason’s interactions because they were so real and funny especially at the Christmas tree farm!

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
Unromance by Erin Connor was everything I love in a romance book. Everything. There was BANTER, there was YEARNING, there was FEET KICKING (on my end). I stayed giggling and twirling my hair the whole time I was reading this!! I love love loved the dynamics between Sawyer and Mason. The vibes were right and I really enjoyed this one.

My biggest criticism of the book was the male narrator- he wasn’t my cup of tea but it wasn’t so distracting that I didn’t enjoy this.

5 feet kicking, giggling ⭐️!!

A fun concept! We have a romance author who doesn't believe in fairytales and happily ever afters. And then we have our MMC who falls first. Flirty and cozy!

(2.5 round up to 3)

I feel really torn about this book. Some elements I really liked and others just gave me the ick and made me feel on the verge of DNFing.

The two main characters felt pretty cliche, especially Sawyer. She gave "cool girl" energy and on multiple occasions I found myself feeling annoyed by her. Mason whilst better did come across as far too instalovey.

I did really enjoy the concept of this especially exploring romantic tropes and how they work within romance novels.

The initial meet-cute was fun and was the perfect trope to start the book with. Also some of the date ideas were very cute! I especially loved the 500 Days of Summer vibes on some of the dates.

Overall I very mixed bag for me. It's not that I hated it but it's also not a novel I'll be thinking about after this review.

Listening to this was fantastic! I loved the characters, it was easier to follow with the 3rd POV. This was sweet and spicy, and a blast to read.

A really great audiobook!! I think both of the narrators did an amazing job bringing this book to life🥰

Unromance was such a fun read with just enough depth to make it relatable and more realistic. This is a story of Sawyer Green, a struggling author who has a one night stand with a celebrity, Mason West, but she doesn't know that until after the fact.

Mason challenges Sawyer to ruin romance for him one typical trope at a time, and you can guess where this leads. I appreciated all the layers of representation that were built into this story, especially around complicated family dynamics and childhood trauma. And Connor deftly manages to include serious topics while keeping the tone of this book positive and even keel.

I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook production of this title and I definitely recommend it if you like romance novels that begin with a one night stand and build towards something more.

📚 Unromance 🎧
✍ Erin Connor
📖 RomCom
⭐4/5
🌶️ 🌶️
➡ It's a coincidence when hopeless romantic and tv star Mason West and disillusioned romance author Sawyer Green get stuck in an elevator the first time they meet. It's kismet when they reconnect hours later at a bar after he gets dumped and it's positively serendipitous when they run into each other weeks after their one night stand at a local Christmas market. Though they're not sure what keeps drawing them together, they convince themselves that they need each other: him to help her remember why she writes romance and her to help him remember that not everything needs to be romantic. Together, they'll attempt to live out a list of stereotypical romcom scenes and 'unromance' them. Too bad they can't unromance their feelings....
🙏 Thank you to Hachette Audio, NetGalley and the author for the advanced listener copy of Unromance. All opinions are my own.
◾
🎯 What I loved: This had odes to of some of my favorite romcoms and lots of laughable moments. Sawyer and Mason's connection was instant and I loved the spacing of the spice (you get a little at the beginning, middle and end). I felt like the barriers to Sawyer and Mason being together were rationale and I enjoyed the ending. There were lots of sweet moments and readers are going to fall in love with Mason! This was a dual narrated audiobook and I adored the female voice actor but had trouble connecting the voice actor that played Mason to what he was saying, so it wasn't my favorite (but it was still good).

🙅‍♀️ What I didn't: Though I liked the scenes where the main characters were living out stereotypical romantic moments and trying to unromance them, I'm not sure that I fully connected with the premise. I *think* Sawyer was supposed to draw inspiration from their adventures and that she was trying to convince Mason that not everything was romantic but she never really did anything that would take the romance out of buying a tree or skating in Millennium Park so I couldn't tell what exactly they were doing besides having a lot of fun adventures with each other.
◾
Read if you love:
*celebrity & romance author
*hook-up to friends to lovers
*relationship weary FMC + hopeless romantic MMC
+bisexual FMC
*sandwiched spice
◾
See also: Business or Pleasure, Book of the Month, Under Your Spell

What to expect:
- opposites attract: he's a hopeless romantic, and she's a romance writer who hates real-life romance thanks to an ex-girlfriend.
- an elevator meet-cute
- a one-night stand to a slow-burn romance
- a second meet-cute at a Christmas market (yes, this book IS set nearly entirely during Christmas, which is so fun).
- strangers to friends to lovers
- bisexual FMC
- MCs ruining romance book tropes (we love cliches)
- third person POV
- great audiobook narration

⭐️⭐️ [didn’t like it]

I had really high hopes for this one but it was just not for me. It felt like the story was all over the place but also going nowhere at the same time? The narration of the audiobook was great but even that couldn’t hold my attention to the story. I’m sad about it, but on to the next!

<i>Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.