Jayci Lee

2.5 stars

Baked food and romance; 2 of my absolutely favorite things collide in A sweet mess and the result was sweet indeed. The book is a cute romcom filled with really great characters and even greater friendships. I am a sucker for a good sismance and Tara and Aubrey's friendship was one of those where they just have each other's backs and it was great to see. Aria and Lucien were also great fun.
TBH the actual romance was not my best thing in the novel maybe because I had a side-eye for the ML in the beginning and definitely near the end.

All in all a cute book.

Thanks to St Martins and Goodreads for the ARC… (meer)

Lizzy is on her way to making partner at her LA firm until a panic attack during an opening statement makes her take a real, off-work vacation. She decides to take three weeks and venture to where her best friend, Jack, lives and works for his family brewery. Jack has had a crush on Lizzy for years, but never will act on it since she is his best friend. Now that Lizzy is in town and she's no longer hours away what will that mean? Lizzy's escape from her high pressure job is escaping to bookstores to read her favorite book and not being the lawyer her mother has always pushed her to be. This isa story of Lizzy realizing what she really wants in her life for her career and in love, while also learning to stand up for herself. I enjoyed this book and it is not the typical romance book I expected halfway through. I applaud the author for not sugarcoating issues like dealing with paternal pressure and overcoming anxiety. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy.… (meer)

Okay. We started out like a Hallmark movie

Overworked woman lawyer
Best friend who is hopelessly in love with said lawyer
Goes to small town and pours herself into rejuvenating a local bookstore
Both Guy and Girl realize that their feelings and mutual.....

But then we go into 'Friends With Benefits" (you know the movie with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman) territory REAL quick. Because sure, adding sex into your relationship isn't going to change anything! Sure you can act like horny teenagers and then go back to the way things were three weeks later!

Yeah. Right.

This book lacked background. I wanted to know why Lizzy and Jack were friends. What was their history? Obviously Lizzy had been into Jack just as much or else the woodworker/handyman fantasies wouldn't have done a number on her. Once sex happened in their relationship, it literally felt like they truly did become teenagers. Misunderstandings. Angst. More horniness. Breaking up. "Finding themselves."

I rolled my eyes a lot. I cringed a lot (was not feeling the 0 to 60 velocity of their relationship and so the constant sex was like "I get it!"). I thought the writing poor. And it sucks because I had been hopeful for this one. It's a bookstore in a small town for goodness sake! But yeah nope… (meer)