‘The perfect rom-com’ is a cute romance following a wannabe writer and her soon-to-be agent. Bryony Page becomes a ghost writer for one of Jack Sterling’s biggest clients a really super annoying writer. She was truly unbearable.

The novel had an amazingly over-exaggerated plot. The characters were a friends to lover match. I really loved the teasing and slow-burn of their friendship. The only downside is I wish there was more time within the relationship.

I was obsessed with all the side characters – the ESL students, the stressed assistants and multitude of industry professionals were really the stars of the show. I thought they were all fun in the glimpses we got.

I would recommend this book to someone wanting something really lighthearted with a wide cast of characters.

In terms of narration, the narrator can do one hell of a man voice and was not jarring when she would use her Jack voice like I find a lot of female’s reading a man in romance.

3.75/5

Thanks to #netgalley for this ARC.

I don't know where to start with this, I have several things I really didn't like about this book, but they are my opinions and I don't want one one to read this and say " ehhh I won't read that " when maybe they would have before reading this. Maybe I give to much credit to that people will actually read my review, but if one person read it and that one person judged it by me I would feel awful. So let me get on with it...

I have never read anything by Melissa Ferguson, and I would never judge her entire writing history on one book, her writing was fluid and easy to read, but like a lot of things The Perfect Rom-Com and me just didn't get along. There would not be a second date, I barely survived the first one.

But let me tell you what I did like. I liked the main character Bryony. She had tons of compassion, seemed to be very driven, and she seemed to be a wonderful teacher, and friend to her students. Besides that I didn't really connect with her.

Again, I liked the authors writing style, it was easy to read, not complicated .

I learned a lot about the publishing business, of which I know NOTHING of.

I am a huge fan of Chick Lit, I love Plum Sykes, Sophie Kinsella, and many more, and this book to me fit into that category , but this alone was a problem with me. I went into this book wanting to read a Rom-Com and it didn't feel like a Rom-Com to me, it certainly wasn't a perfect one.

I felt like Jack was missing through out the book, I didn't learn enough about him to get to know him and form an opinion on him, our their relationship. They are already together in the book, and would occasionally speak on aspects of that relationship in the past. It was like we were given information on their relation ship in little bits and pieces, but nothing solid.

Listen, the book was find, and I know so many people I know who will love this, I am just not one of them.

This was just the book pick-me-up I needed! Who doesn’t love a book about books and especially one that centers around the publishing process. I loved learning about this side of my favorite pastime.

Yes, the book is titled The Perfect Rom-Com and that’s more about the books in the story than the story itself. There is a romance, but it’s such a small player in this book that I certainly wouldn’t call this a rom-com as it’s more about Bryony’s journey to becoming an author.

This was a cute story but did not feel like a romcom despite the title. It was womens contemporary fiction. I wished there was a bit more romance but the characters were likeable and there were plenty of laughs.

3.75

Very cute solid romcom!! I tend to love bookish books so the story itself outshined the romance for me. Overall very enjoyable. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio copy of this book! I am definitely interested in looking into the author’s previous works now!

This book was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!! I loved it from the beginning to the end. It was perfect, I don’t have any critiques for it.

I loved the narrator! Karissa Vacker is amazing at what she does!

I will undoubtedly read this book again in the future🥰🫶🏼

This was a Rom Com but it also highlighted the reality of publishing and the dark side that aspiring writers face especially ones who choose to be a ghostwriter.

I look forward to reading more from Melissa Ferguson!

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction, HarperCollins Christian Publishing and Melissa Ferguson for giving me an ALC of this wonderful book!

“Fingers gripping me more protectively now, delight clear in the way he holds me, touches me. Draws his fingertips through my hair. Me. His Bryony. His girl. And it feels, well, it feels like home.” 🩷✍️🚍💻🌎🎳😘

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the ALC!! I needed an audiobook for my busy day yesterday(getting the house ready for our kiddos and babysitter so we could go on a V-Day date)and this one perfectly fit the bill 😍😍

Bryony Page, aspiring author and ESL instructor, attends a writers conference, ready to pitch her manuscript. Though agent Jack Sterling isn’t all too impressed with her work in its current state, he offers Bryony another opportunity: to be a ghostwriter for bestselling rom-com novelist, Amelia Benedict.

However, what was meant to be a short-lived contract turns into a years-long commitment, in which Bryony becomes THE sole writer for Amelia’s “work.” Bryony is desperate to publish her OWN work under her OWN name, but the agency is loathe to let her go. And Jack, agent and eventual best friend, realizes he can’t let her go either.

I LOVED this story. In the hours listening to the audiobook, I laughed at Bryony’s and Jack’s banter, raged at Amelia’s selfish entitlement, swooned at Jack’s flirting and concern for Bryony, grew frustrated with Bryony while she fought for her beloved ESL program and manuscript, and celebrated when we finally reached a satisfying HEA.

As an aspiring author, this book gave me equal parts hope and anxiety 🤣 Bryony discovers the obnoxious politics of the publishing world, and desperately wants her story told. She finds that her original story needs a lot of work, and I gained a new appreciation for authors who put hours, weeks, months, and even years to realize their publishing dreams. I am anxious, but also excited to continue in this slow-moving journey 🩷

This was my first ALC(I’ve done lots of ebooks but this was my first audiobook ARC), and I LOVED it! The narrator was wonderful, putting so much emotion into Bryony’s character. I was also very impressed with her impressions of Amelia and Jack, making them distinct voices. I’m always a little skeptical of women performing men’s voices, but Karissa Vacker did an excellent job performing in Jack’s unique voice. I am excited to listen to more books narrated by her, read more books by Ferguson, and to listen to more ALCs!! :)

I received the audiobook via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this book. It was different from a lot of rom-coms I've read. The main character was stubborn and loveable all at the same time. The author really had me feeling all the feels. I was mad for characters, felt 2nd hand embarrassment, was laughing and felt that feeling when someone falls for another person. It was a good book overall!

The narration was perfection.

I have truly enjoyed this audiobook. I listened to it (at 1.75 speed) within one day! I like that it is different than most romance novels but still have the "he fell first" trope. I also highly enjoyed that the author wrote about her love of being an ELL teacher and then brought that into her book! A great twist ending! Overall enjoyed this book!

Thank you to everyone for this early gifted copy of The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson.

You guys, Melissa has done it again, and this really is THE PERFECT ROM-COM. So so sweet. Wonderful characters. Great storyline. Parts that made me laugh, parts that had me rooting for main characters and one great part that took a twist and had me laughing with joy. I cannot recommend this book enough.

I have read almost all of Melissa's books, and I think that this might be one of my favorite, if not my favorite now!

An aspiring author attends a conference to find her perfect agent—okay, any agent—and winds up ghost writing for the latest “big name” romcom author who’s actually a nepo baby sham instead of finessing and workshopping her own beloved manuscript.

First and foremost, Karissa Vacker is becoming a favorite audiobook narrator. I’ve enjoyed her every time.

I liked Briony’s voice and personality, overall. Her swings from desperate, anxious woman with imposter syndrome to end-of-her-rope losses of temper were authentic—relatable, even. The love interest, Jack, started out prickly and abrupt, and lost that personality way too quickly, in my opinion. It didn’t help that immediately following their first meeting there was a two-year time jump. Readers miss out on all of the relationship-building, the feet-kicking banter, the breakdown of Jack’s grumpy exterior. Except for a couple tiny flashbacks to hangouts during that two-year period, we get no buildup. All of a sudden there are references to how they’re best friends now, and I guess we just have to accept that (?). That was my biggest issue of this book: the pacing. Otherwise I liked the writing!

I almost never think this, but maybe this would’ve benefited from dual POV. We don’t get enough into Jack’s mindset from the time he first meets Briony to when they’re supposedly best friends. If not chapters from his perspective, then more moments that Briony observes but disregards that show he’s starting to be interested in her. Without that, the love interests lack chemistry. By the time the big conflict came, there hadn’t been enough buildup to make it dire. I didn’t really care if they wound up together.

I did like the creative takedown of the villain, though! That was satisfying.

Thank you for giving me this arc! Unfortunately I did not gel well with this book. I found the main character to be too stubborn and narrow minded for me. And for a rom-com I think I expected more romance. There wasn’t really much it just focused on the same repetitive plot

Enjoyed this one and the audio is great. It is my first melissa Ferguson book but it for sure won’t be my last. A little depressing how it makes the publishing world seem though. I really hope it’s greatly exaggerated.

My favorite part of this book is the fmc's monologuing. Honestly it makes this so human and I loved every second of her humor

Want to see justice in the way of the mean girl getting what she had coming to her? Read on...

Bryony Page is the amazing writer with pure intentions and a heart of gold. Jack Sterling is the cut-throat and calculated agent who sees the potential when no one else does. A true story of opposites attract.

My favorite part of this book is the fact that Melissa Ferguson has written another book that shows your characters can have depth to their relationship and chemistry, even without outright spice. The growing friendship and devotion between these two has me so excited to see where they went and confident in their intentions, even through misunderstandings. I think we can all agree that Amelia is the worst and I loved how Jack took it upon himself to be petty and ruin her so Bryony didn't have to get her hands dirty.
I do think I would have enjoyed a little bit more of Bryony's other relationships with the women in her life and also a little bit more of the two of them falling in love before obstacles are thrown in their way - just to get a little more sweet romance.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and Melissa Ferguson for giving me access to this story for my honest opinion.

Thank you so much Net galley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for approving e-ALC request of the Perfect Rom-Com.
3.5 stars for me as rom-com is not one of my top 3 favorite fiction but i enjoy reading it.
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Bryony working as a ghost writer for one of the most popular and swoon worthies under Amelia's name who's mean, selfish and pick-me woman. Jack who works as a literary agent of Amelia and had offered Bryony position of ghost-writer after seeing her manuscript she wanted to be published under her name.
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My honest thoughts are there was not much of story at the starting of book because I keep zoning out and did not feel the need to reread the paragraph again because things were happening so abruptly or maybe I felt that way but after a while I started to get the storyline (which was not much). The romance was so limited and there was a lot of Amelia which was so funny to me because the way she talked and how she thinks about books/characters/storyline, that was so hilarious and interesting. No matter how negative her character was, she actually carried the book for me. Absolutely loved the ending though. I was laughing while combing my hair because I was listening to audiobook. Narrator was super fun and cheery to listen because Female lead was such a chatterbox and i enjoyed narrator showed the perfect emotions and vibes.
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This book was more on the side of chasing your dreams, finding the perfect people in life and getting over the hurdles with the help of them.

Disclaimer: Thank you NetGalley and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the audio ARC. All opinions in this review are my own.

This is my 2nd bookish romance by Melissa Ferguson!

Bryony, our FMC, has written several best sellers as a ghostwriter for a famous romance author and she really wants to be known as a writer. She also has a heart of gold and is trying to save her grandma’s ESL school. Jack, our MMC, is her agent and their friendship eventually turns into something more. This is very much clean, lighthearted romance escapism. Bryony and Jack, had very fun banter through out the book and their flirting and slow burn was perfect.

Read if you like:
Bookish/workplace: ghostwriter x agent
Slow burn
Forced proximity
Friends to lovers
He falls first
NO spice / kissing only

This was really a super sweet romance and MMC Jack is such a dreamy book BF, I just wish we got more of him! ❤️

This was a sweet novel about an author Bryony Page, who wants to go from ghost writer to an author published under her own name. Jack Sterling, the hard assed literary agent, falls first in this friends to lovers and workplace based romance. I enjoy this book so much and the fact the romance was somewhat more of the sub plot made for a great book that I couldn’t put down. I love the way that Bryony makes herself the protagonist of her own life by not sitting back but making things happen. It was well written and fun read. The audio narration was so well done and charming. I highly recommend this book to the romance and women’s fiction readers.

The Perfect Rom-Com is a sweet novel about a woman and her efforts to move from ghost writer to a writer under her own name. The cover/title imply far more romance than is in the book and sets it up for disappointment for those hoping the focus will be on the romance storyline itself. That’s not to say there isn’t a romance, but it’s definitely not the focus and I never became overly invested in that part of the novel.

It’s a fun and quick listen and the narrator is incredible charming. I didn’t score it higher because I didn’t find it overly memorable, but it’s a great listen if you’re looking for something with low stakes.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for an honest review!

4.5/4.75 ⭐️

I really just had the best time with this story! I had the digital copy sitting on my kindle for MONTHS & then opened the audio and I was immediately captivated. I loved the plot of the story and the characters!

I loved watching our FMC come to the realization that she wanted a different life for herself and she took her life by the reigns and tried to make it happen for herself. I think it’s also such a good lesson for aspiring authors to learn - that a million nos don’t matter if that one yes is coming.

Our MMC made me love him and hate him and i still don’t know even i like him 😅 but the strong feelings still ilicited me to be tied super strongly to the story.

I would definitely recommend the audio for this one! I’m not sure why but overall it was super enjoyable!

You’ll find:
-He falls first
-Aspiring Author / Agent
-Workplace Romance
-Ghost writing trying to break away
-HUGE grand gesture

I would def recommend this to my peers & would be interested in reading more by this author!