Melissa Ferguson's "The Perfect Rom-Com" is a delightful read. It follows Bryony Page, an aspiring author who becomes a ghostwriter for a bestselling novelist. Their witty banter and evolving relationship are charming. The story offers a heartwarming look into the publishing world. However, some readers felt the romance developed too quickly. Overall, it's a feel-good novel worth reading. The perfect beach read all-year long! It gives you that bubbly feeling. Perfect banter too. Thank you for letting me review this.⁰

The Perfect Rom-Com was a fun, lively story with adorable characters. The main character, Bryony, felt a little whiny at times, but she and Jack were a good fit. I liked that her purpose was for far more than herself, even though being a published author was her dream. I felt this book showed another side to Ghost-Writing books, whereas most that I have read, the "author" is thankful for the Ghostwriter's help, acknowledging that they need a writer. This one takes on the side of the "Face" who thinks she is all and doesn't appreciate the Ghostwriter who is truly the talented one, but may not have the means to be able to publish themselves and write for the sake of the love of writing. The storyline including a book tour and travel/appearances tacked onto the writing was fun. Overall, it is enjoyable and I enjoyed listening to the narrator read the book to me. I encountered no issues with the production or talent of the audiobook. It flowed well and the narrator gave life to the characters.

As I fellow adult ESL teacher, I was excited to listen to the audiobook, “The Perfect Rom-Com.” I liked the idea of a ghost writer and her relationship with her agent, and the terrible attitude of the person she is ghostwriting for. I could have used more rom-com”ness” between Jack and Bryony, because their relationship was so fun.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC. #ThePerfectRomCom #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this. Especially the ending. I found the ending so realistic and really loved how it didn't just end with everything being sunshine and rainbows but more of a realistic actuality. I do wish that some of the more heavy hitting characters were developed better.

Thank you Thomas Nelson Fiction and the author for a free advanced listener copy of this book.

3 stars

This was a sweet no spice romance. I found the story about publishing really interesting and now I’m wondering how many of the popular authors now have ghost writers. That being said I rather enjoyed the characters. I thought they had great chemistry. The miscommunication was very prevalent in this book, which obviously a little annoying at times, but it did set up the conclusion nicely. But also was a little let down by the conclusion, seems improbable, but it was a great romantic huge gesture.

This was a delightful read! I loved Bryony and Jack's relationship and how they interacted with each other. It was such a nice change of pace to watch them just be in love and slowly realize it, rather than a dramatic insta-love scenario. The side characters were delightful too, especially Penny.

I also really enjoyed the setting of this book, and how it delved into the world of publishing and ghost writing. It was interesting to get a peek behind-the-scenes at how that world works. The addition of the ESL classes was fascinating, and all of the characters in those classes were absolutely darling. Finally, this was one of the first times that I truly couldn't predict the ending of a rom-com, which was really fun.

My only tiny complaint is that I wish we had gotten more of glance at what the future holds for Bryony and Jack at the end. Overall, it was a very fun story!

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins Christian Publishing for the ALC.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Perfect Rom-Com is an adorable and fun romance between a ghostwriter and her book agent. With excellent narration by Karissa Vacker, I could not stop listening to this audiobook. Such a sweet spin on Two Weeks Notice.

ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

When I started this book I truly thought it was going to be a 5 star read:

Intelligent, self-assured FMC- check
Fun, unique premise- check
Slow burn romance- check
Great banter and chemistry- check

But somewhere around the middle of the novel, it fell short. I think the book was about 45 minutes to an hour too long to really keep the story flowing. I will say, the beginning and the end of the book were truly great. Once the romance started up, and the confession from Jack about how and when he fell in love with Bryony was absolutely swoon worthy! I know some people don’t love the miscommunication trope but I honestly think the it was more of a betrayal trope because Jack was lying about certain situations. The ending to the book was great and I thought it tied everything up well. The narrators kept me invested in the story and did a great job of bringing the character to life: Overall a solid but not perfect read!

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

This book was a breath of fresh air and if really goes to show you can have a fantastic romance book without the spice! I loved Bryony and i loved that she was passionate about her culture and her career (teaching ESL). This book had me in a chokehold from the very beginning.

I read this book for the first time in December and when I saw that the audio was being realized I jumped all over it!

This story remains as I said last year: Brilliant. Highly invested in both of the MCs, irritation and disgust over the antagonist, skin crawlingly horrible woman. I loved being immersed inside this literary world and wished it wouldn't end. I managed to feel the whole range of human emotions throughout and desperately loved the ESL students and what they brought to the story.

Great Narrator. great listen!

This was a charming, light read that leans more into professional growth than romance. While there is a romantic element, it takes a backseat to the main character’s journey as a struggling writer navigating career highs and lows. With 90% workplace dynamics, 10% slow-burn tension, and a touch of humor, this one is definitely for the writer/author girlies who love stories about chasing creative dreams.

Thank you, NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the ALC of The Perfect Rom-Com.

Fast-paced, quick witted, and clever dialogue make The Perfect Rom-Com a delightful listen. The narrators captured the chatacters well and it was almost like getting caught up in watching a movie. I hardly realized much time went by.

Such a cute book! Definitely giving Emily Henry vibes. I loved every minute of this book from the banter back and forth from literary agent to ghost writer. Very uplifting and endearing audible listen.

Melissa Ferguson may be the most under appreciated romance writer.

Overall: 5
Spice: 1
Narration: 5 (Karissa Vacker)

Bryony is an aspiring author and her first book is a personal one about the ESL school her grandmother founded. She hopes getting it published will save the struggling finances of the school. Jack is a well-established author agent who already has many big name clients on his roll and doesn't need an unknown with a too big, too many genres manuscript. When Bryony finds her backbone and tells Jack how she feels about the proposed next book for one of his famous clients, she finds herself facing an offer she can't refuse - become a ghostwriter for the famous Amelia Benedict. Two years later, Bryony has put Amelia on the top of the best seller lists, but she can't tell anyone. She and Jack have become best friends, but he still hasn't found an editor for her manuscript. When they are forced together on a tour bus to follow Amelia and make sure she doesn't accidentally reveal that she knows nothing about the books she supposedly wrote, everything comes to a head. Can Bryony make her own way in the publishing world and will Jack be with her or has he been working against her the whole time?

This was my sixth book by Melissa Ferguson and on my list of most anticipated reads of this year. I was happy to get access to the ALC on NetGalley. First, for the narration, Karissa Vacker is always a win. She does great with the voices with each character being unique and she adds a lot to the story. I really enjoyed this story with its insight into the publishing world (I really wonder if Ferguson was a ghostwriter for one of our fave authors), a great character arc for Bryony and a sweet love story (if you can forgive Jack for a bad lie). Ferguson does a great job of creating Amelia as a true villain that you are rooting against. I saw that some reviews felt there wasn't enough romance in this one, but I liked the "he falls first" story of them and felt the moment of his declaration to her to be truly swoon-worthy. This is a romance with great chemistry between the main characters, but only kissing. I will continue to read everything Ferguson writes, with Meet Me in the Margins as one of my all-time favorites. I highly recommend this book to fans of romance and especially those that appreciate a spice-free romance.

Getting this out of the way from the start: the big plot point here that wraps up the story, and will make you smile from ear to ear, would never, could never happen for so many reasons. It is utterly ludicrous on every level. But it’s fun, and so is this whole book. I enjoyed it so much.

Bryony Page doesn’t have the money to attend an author conference where she will have the opportunity to pitch her book, a passion project written from her experience working with an organization founded by her grandmother that helps immigrants resettle into their new lives and learn English. But she blows all her savings on going to the conference anyway, because this book being published could be in big things for her as an author, and for the organization, called The Bridge, which is in big financial trouble.

Problem is, her book is a wreck. It’s extremely overlong and she spends the conference being rejected over and over until it’s time to go home. But she has one last chance, and when well-known literary agent Jack Sterling rejects her, too, she’s just not going to take no for an answer. This all leads to an unexpected and quite lucrative opportunity to ghostwrite romance novels for an insufferable heiress who became beloved after her debut novel, but didn’t have another hit book in her. Bryony agrees to this arrangement only if Jack takes on her book to pitch, too. But the ghostwritten books are incredibly successful, nothing seems to be happening with her own novel getting any interest, and things aren’t looking good for The Bridge staying open to continue to serve the community.

I just really enjoyed all of the elements here. Bryony has a literal heart of gold. Jack may at times seem like a bad guy, but his motivations are largely good. Amelia Benedict, the heiress who can’t even bother to read the books that are being ghostwritten for her, is a delightful villain. The characters from The Bridge are absolutely lovable. There is a romance element but it’s not very spicy or heavy-handed. The book is just fun and light and exactly what I needed right now. Immigrant/refugee resettlement programs also happen to be particularly close to my heart so the author’s clear passion for this had my heart, too.

I haven’t read anything from #MelissaFerguson before but I would like to read more from her now. Thank you #NetGalley #HarperCollinsChristianPublishing #ThomasNelsonFiction for this review audio copy, which came out on Feb. 11. I would be remiss not to mention that the narration here is from #KarissaVacker who is a master and always a treat!

I absolutely loved the first 75% of the book and the last 5%. I laughed out loud. My heart broken for Bryony with everything she was doing to save The Bridge. I loved how their relationship developed. I loved how she stayed true to herself. I didn't like how she refused to listen to Jack. She was being a brat. If that had happened earlier, I might would have DNFd the book. I get that she was mad and hurt, but give the man a chance to explain. She acted like a toddler throwing a fit. In spite of all she did, he still did what he did in the end. I wish we knew a little more about what happened to Amelia. Hoping she got what was coming to her.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it. Thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for my audiobook copy of The Perfect Rom-Com.

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4.

Spice - 0 (just fyi, but didn't impact my enjoyment)

An absolutely charming and a quick listen! Bryony and Jack are a great duo with lots of good banter and sweet moments and the conflict was actually an understandable conflict that resolved exactly as you hope. I would definitely recommend this as a palate cleanser if you come out of a hard/exhausting read or want something to distract, but not suck you in too deep.

My negatives:

1. How quickly Bryony was to jump to worst case scenarios sometimes, but also was completely optimistic others. It was strange as I never knew what to expect from her.

2. How the entire relationship building between Bryony and Jack seemed to happen between the first and second sections and not on the page. We go from their first meeting to 2 years later and being friends. I wanted to see their relationship grow so the romance actually makes sense. As it is, the romance felt shoe-horned into a story of family and friendship.

3. There were too many plots and not enough resolution for any of them. I love a happy ending, but there were about 4 plots happening and they all got wrapped up with a neat bow after the resolution of 1 of the plots. It just seemed... silly.

Overall, I liked the style of writing and would read more by this author, but maybe this wasn't it. You could tell her heart was in the story of the school and students and maybe she should have written that book instead of the romance/ghostwriting book.

♡ Thank you for the free audiobook, Harper Collins | Thomas Nelson and NetGalley.

I loved this story! I have now read a couple Melissa Ferguson love stories, and I have a couple more in my TBR. She writes sweet romances that are a breath of fresh air. I absolutely adored Bryony and Jack’s love story. The publishing and teaching facets added a lot of sweetness, drama, and depth to the novel. Pick this up if you enjoy slow burn, clean romance, grumpy x sunshine, rivals to lovers, and workplace romance.

This is not the Perfect Rom-Com book, please don't let the title or photo fool you.
It's employees that argue a lot with some sexual tension while they are both in relationships. More than half of the book was getting to know the characters. The 2 main characters are annoyingly cute together in their banter. I've read many reviews of this thinking I was missing something but it appears I was not. So many people called this a palette cleanser and I have to agree.

If you are looking for a quick story and palette cleanser then check this out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook arc.

This book was an easy to listen to story that had a right amount of plot to make the story engaging. It did not have a lot of deepth but it was a sweet romanance. I found myself smiling during the story even if you good see the whole story coming.