This was so fun! I, along with a lot of folks, can totally relate to giving a drunken pep talk to a strange once (or fifty) times before so I thought that was such a cute way to have Lizzie and Cara meet! I loved the gym setting and Lizzie and James' friendship. They had me laughing from the very beginning! The girlies are being blessed with amazing 2023 sapphic romance releases and this one is no exception!

Thank you so much to Avon and Harper Voyager for the advanced copy!

I enjoyed Cara and Lizzie. Lizzie is in the middle of both Cara and James and their setups. Lizzie is trying for a promotion at the gym she works at. James and Cara are just trying to not have their parents dictate their choices and who they are with who own the gym that Lizzie works in. James is definitely a fun character. Love those kind of friends, I need more lol.
Stella their mom and gym owner is awful and doesn't know what Lizzie's motives are she thinks she's trying to just get a promotion. Also Lizzie's mom is awful expecting her to fund her life, do parents really do that to their adult kids.
Lizzie and Cara had a insta attraction and had a secret relationship which Cara's parents weren't aware of nor ok with once they found out.
This was a cute romance.

Thank you avonbooks for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

I was not expecting to cry as much as I ended up doing for a sports romance but I’m happy to be wrong! This book was a love story that handled class differences, power dynamics, and the messiness of real life in a really honest and beautiful way. This also meant this book had one of the most painful—and necessary—third act breakups i’ve ever read. I loved every moment.

Representation: white bisexual women, white gay best guy friend

spice level: one graphic sex scene

tw; abusive mothers

This book inspired my inner gym rat 😍 as someone who is on her new fitness journey I absolutely loved this one! Couple that with the fact it’s sapphic and it was a game changer for me❤️
Lizzie is adorable and awkward and hilarious and Cara is just this suave woman who secretly needs to be held and I just want to put her in my pocket! I was rooting for Lizzie from the get go, I wanted her to reach her dreams, to hold her when her mom rang her and honestly I was obsessed!

Let me preface this by saying: I love Jennifer Dugan's books. As a queer, youth services librarian, her books are what I wish I had as a teen and the first thing I turn to when a young queer patron ask for a romance. She writes complex characters and has fun doing it. As an adult, I was so excited to find out Dugan would be releasing an adult romance. If "Love at First Set" is what we have to look forward to, I'm excited to read more of her adult content.

Lizzie believes that home cannot be a person. For her, home is the gym. Not just any gym, but all gyms. There is something special about the control she has when lifting weights. Her current gym comes with a few perks and more than a few cons. The first of both being that it is her job. Plus- free membership, con- the owners suck. Another plus? Her best friend, James, works there with her. Con? He's the owner's son. He also has no problem guilting Lizzie into his random schemes. So when he drags Lizzie along to his sister's wedding, she has no idea what hell is about to break loose. Convincing the girl crying in the bathroom to break-up with her "boyfriend" ends up leading to a runaway bride and a relationship Lizzie never would have expected. Cara is the exact opposite of what Lizzie sees herself as. She has her life on a track and calling off her wedding is just a small hiccup in the grand scheme. Some one like Cara could never truly want Lizzie, right? With secrets and secret truths being kept from all parties involved, will everything explode in Lizzie's face or will her home become more than just a building?

Spoilers ahead:
While the love story is the main focus, I enjoyed watching the characters grow in more ways than just romantically. Lizzie is in all honesty, kind of a mess. She is so scared of losing the few people or things in her life, that she lets everyone walk over her. Between her toxic mother and her friend's toxic parents, everyone has to learn how important boundaries are and when to move away from negative situations. In a perfect world we would have seen a resolution with her mother, but in the real world, that's not aways how it plays out. I am, quite honestly, Shocked that there is any resolution with Stella and George. They are despicable humans and I would have been just fine with Cara's proclamation being the last we hear of them. Do I feel like this was a bit of a Cinderella retelling? Yes. Am I OK with that? Also, yes.

Lizzie is a gym worker with a difficult past and big dreams that she's not sure she deserves. Cara is a rich girl who has lived her entire life based on the expectations of others until she breaks free, only to find herself more lost than before. Together, they help each other see that chances are worth taking, even when you're scared.

Probably a 3.5. This book was maddening. I loved the characters and I wish I could superimpose them into a different plot because this one was so frustrating to read. It wasn’t even miscommunication, it was downright poor communication on the part of all the characters and about everything. The romance was sweet and lovely and the three main characters were so well written (except when it comes to any type of serious communication) but everything else was all over the place. We get a hint that Stella might have more complex reasons for her behaviour but in the end it becomes soap opera villain-y, there’s a whole relationship with Lizzie’s mom that never gets resolved even though it’s a big part of her motivation for most of the book, the sibling rift is resolved off-page…

Overall is was an enjoyable read but I really wish it had been a bit more complex. The potential was there!

I received an advanced copy of Love at First Set through NetGalley so I could share my review with you! I absolutely adored this sweet gym-centric romance, which was my first five star read of Pride Month!

I have read and enjoyed several of Jennifer Dugan’s books before, but Love at First Set is easily my new favorite of her books! I adore the bisexual disaster romance between Lizzie and Cara, who are just perfect together. I was especially drawn in by the gym setting of the story, which was exciting to me as a queer woman who enjoys working out (a combo that I have not seen in nearly enough media). Lizzie’s love for the gym and for her place there was so well written; her connection to the gym and the people in it defined the story, and established her as a passionate and caring character.

My Recommendation:
If you are a fan of Kiss Her Once for Me or Delilah Green Doesn’t Care, you have to grab a copy of Love at First Set! This book is such a sweet and quick romantic read, perfect for any Pride Month TBR!

*3.75 Stars*

Lizzie loves the gym, it's her passion and she wants to have her own someday. But, for now, she works in one, owned by her best friend's parents. She really wants that new promotion that opened up so when James invites him to his sister's wedding and begs and says it might help get her the promotion, she caves. A lot of cocktails later and a drunken talk in the bathroom with a crying woman and Lizzie has ridiculed herself in front of her bosses and convinced the bride to call off the wedding. Ooooooh shit.

This was a little bit of a miss for me. The characters didn't really hold my attention and I just didn't care all that much. The best friend annoyed me to no end from beginning to end. He was selfish and self centered and barely even apologized in the end. The romance was pretty good and I had some laughs at times but it was a lot of miscommunications and stuff like that which were a bit annoying for me. I did like the whole job related storyline and Cara's character was pretty likable.
Overall, it was a pretty good romance, with some fun moments. I just excepted better I guess... I will still read all the books by Jennifer Dugan though!!!

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.5⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: LGBTQIA+ romance📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
I love a sweet sapphic romance

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Romantic comedies
Single POV
Gym vibes
Family drama
Adorable romances
Messy plots
Great banter

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Relatable characters
Hooked me in
Had me laughing out loud

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Over dramatic at times
Unhealthy relationships
The ending was a little rushed

Lizzie is passionate about the gym, she even dreams of opening her own gym one day. But the owners of the gym she works at don’t take her or her dreams seriously. When her best friend, James (who happens to be the son of her bosses) invites her to be his plus one for his sister's wedding, Lizzie thinks it might be her chance to win over her bosses. What she doesn’t expect is the pep talk she gives a stranger in the bathroom will result in the bride calling off the wedding. Lizzie is determined the family never finds out she was the one to talk to Cara. Lizzie and Cara end up spending a lot of time together and as they become friends the more Lizzie realizes she actually likes Cara.

This is a chaotic romance in the best possible way. From the meet cute all the way to the end, Lizzie and Cara really found themselves in many messy situations, yet I found myself rooting for them (especially Lizzie) all the way through. This book was full of drama, secrets, and tension along with some fun witty banter. This was a quick and fun read!

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

When Lizzie goes with her best friend to his sister's wedding to impress his parents/her boss, things go awry. After giving a girl in the bathroom advice to break up with her partner, she finds out that the girl was the bride-to-be. Lizzie is hopelessly attracted to Cara but thinks she's off limits.

This romance was fun at the beginning. I didn't remember the synopsis so I was surprised by the runaway bride incident. After that though, everything just dragged on. I just didn't care that much about the will they won't they scenarios. I also felt that the third act conflict was so dramatic.

A fun, chaotic sapphic rom com! what's not to love?

There is A LOT of drama and A LOT of messy - but for me that made it all the more real and relatable! The book has a bit of that ticking time bomb ready to explode feeling, which is different in a rom-com, but I enjoyed it.

Overall, very readable and fast fun read!

.5 stars rounded up!

The anxious attachment style, the struggles with her mother and the awkward queers made this book so relatable! my only complaint is that it was only one POV, and I prefer dual POV's in romances and I think adding in Cara's POV would've added so much to the story. But overall a really good book and I highly recommend!

4.5 stars rounded up!

The anxious attachment style, the struggles with her mother and the awkward queers made this book so relatable! my only complaint is that it was only one POV, and I prefer dual POV's in romances and I think adding in Cara's POV would've added so much to the story. But overall a really good book and I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Avon/Harper Voyager for the gifted e-book ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read if you like: LGBTQ romance, slow burn, best friend's sister

This was a good read. I loved the beginning. It had a lot of really strong parts. I loved Lizzie. I hated how the people treated her, including her best friend and her love interest, Cara. The romance took a backseat to the drama and toxic people in the book. It's mostly a messy fun read that I recommend!

I'm very sad to be giving this a two star rating because I just want every sapphic romance I read to be amazing. But unfortunately, I didn't feel the spark between this couple. Their relationship felt extremely rushed (even for sapphics), they fought more than they were together, and all of the added drama just made me think this couple shouldn't be together to be honest. i wish this had been longer and the relationship had more development. then i may have liked it more. but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

I've loved Jennifer Dugan's YA novels in the past, but her adult debut unfortunately fell a little flat for me. I adored LIzzie but didn't really like James, Cara, their mother, or even Lizzie's mom for that matter. The mothers were the worst, but James and Cara were just as bad in their way and came across as very immature at times. I hated the way they all used Lizzie every time it suited them.

I struggle to finish books if there are characters I don't like, so it's a testament to how well Lizzie's character and her journey is written that I was able to finish the book, but those other characters really made me want to throw my kindle out the window several times along the way.

3.5 All in all, this was a cute novel and I had a decent amount of fun reading it!

It's definitely not the most revolutionary romance novel I've ever picked up, but I did eventually get sort of attached to the characters and invested in their story. There's definitely some very cliché but nonetheless very entertaining scenes and moments between the main couple, and it had me hooked enough to read it all essentially in one night.

I do think the writing needs work. It threw me off at first and it was hard to get fully immersed into the story because of how awkward and distracting it was. I think I eventually got used to the narrative voice, enough to enjoy myself, but there were still some passages that surpassed my tolerance level for "cliché" and made me cringe just a bit.

I also think the characters could've been a bit more developed. Some of them felt a little one note or cartoonish. For instance, I get that the main villain acts the way she does for a reason, but it wasn't explored in a ton of depth, so it felt like she was being mean just for the sake of being mean which was more annoying than anything else.

But I do admit that the story was cute, and I found myself whispering the dialogue out loud to myself just to hear it play it out or to imagine myself in that moment. There's some funny moments in it and an interesting plot outside of the main romance, so overall I had fun. I don't know if I would necessarily recommend this novel as a way to introduce people to sapphic romance, but I would mention it to someone for whom it's their specific niche.

This was a solid three star read for me. There was a LOT of dysfunctional/toxic family aspects to the story which I felt overshadowed the bisexual love story a bit too much (in my opinion). I wanted to love it more than I actually did which was disappointing since I've loved this author's YA romances.

The gym setting was different and fun though and I did like the main character Lizzie a lot as she's trying to chase her dream of running and designing her own gym despite a needy alcoholic mother and horrible bosses. Good on audio narrated by Lori Prince. Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

For fans of Sorry, Bro and I Kissed a Girl comes a relatable and quirky sapphic romance. Lizzie lives, breathes, and sleeps the gym. Not only has she worked her way up from towel girl to front desk manager, but she spends every free moment trying to beat her latest PR. She dreams of a day in which she can open her own gym. Sketching out plans on stray napkins and sheets of paper. So when her best friend and gym owner’s son James ropes her into being his plus one to his elusive sister’s wedding she spots her chance to get closer to her dream. 
However, once arriving to the wedding she drunkenly corners her bosses, ruining her one chance at a promotion she desperately needs. And once she accidentally talks the bride Cara out of the wedding, she knows she is in too deep. The problem is now Cara, who also happens to be the hottest person Lizzie has ever seen in her life is living with James and is hellbent on fixing everyone else’s love lives. So when James asks Lizzie to romantically babysit Cara just until she’s off his back she agrees. I mean what are best friends for and it’s not like Cara would ever actually fall for her. But as the feelings become stronger and the secrets grow deeper Lizzie finds herself stuck in a heavy lift without a spotter. 
This book was…not what I was expecting. With comps like Delilah Green Doesn’t Care and Written in the Stars I was anticipating my newest favorite sapphic romance. And although this book was just fine on its own I found myself let down just based on my expectations. I found myself wanting more mainly in the area of characters. The story was just plot heavy over character-building. Which isn’t a bad thing necessarily, some of my favorite books are. I just didn’t connect to the characters as much as I normally do in romances.
Not to say the characters weren’t relatable. Lizzie’s mommy issues were deeply saddening and hit home in a number of ways. But she was an asshole, to put it lightly. Her standoffish demeanor worked in the beginning but carried on way too far into the story for me. It just felt like her character’s growth was a bit rushed. Yeah, she changed externally by the end but it didn’t feel like there had been enough time for her to actually make the internal changes necessary to be in her relationship.
Speaking of her relationship I did not see the chemistry between Cara and Lizzie beyond the physical attraction. I really wish we had a dual POV like the two books comped so that we could have a deeper understanding of their connection. Because Lizzie was spending all her time drooling over how hot she was and not enough time on the fact that they didn’t get along. Like at all. All of their interactions were hostile until they started hooking up. I just felt like the intense emotional connection that is so often seen in sapphic romances specifically, was lacking. This is just my opinion though. I’m sure if you’re more of a fan of this particular trope you will be ecstatic.
Now that I’ve got my gripes with the characters out of the way, let’s get into what I really enjoyed about the book, the plot. Initially, this is what caught my eye, as talking someone out of their wedding accidentally sounds like such a fun time. And it totally delivered. This book is not short on drama and high stakes. Every chapter contained some new obstacle that Lizzie had to overcome. Whether it be juggling her secrets between James and Cara. Or navigating her less-than-stellar relationship with her boss who definitely has it out for her. The twists and turns had my stomach in knots just hoping that it would all work out in the end.
And without putting any spoilers, the climax of the book had me so uncomfortable but in a good way. The scene ties everything together in a way I didn’t expect. So let’s just say this book isn’t predictable in the ways at least I thought it would be.
All in all, this was a good book. It wasn’t amazing and barrier-breaking but wasn’t bad by any means. But I think the books that were comped were far too different and set up a completely irrelevant set of expectations. Plus the plot did thrive on miscommunication which is my least favorite trope. But the plot had me in shambles by the end and kept me interested. So there is a lot of good throughout. I do recommend this book, if only for being able to un-ironically read the phrase “emotional support himbo” multiple times. Enjoy!
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sending this eARC for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.