I don’t know why but this book just didn’t wow me in any way. There wasn’t anything particularly bad about it but it just didn’t “do it for me”. I love this author and I adored “Some Girls Do” and “Coven”! I saw some similar relationship dynamics between Lizzie and her mom in this book and the main character of Some Girls Do and how her mom depended on her beauty pageant income. I always appreciate a character who finds a way to cut off toxic relationships in their lives, which is what Lizzie did in Love at First Set.

The romance was fine, but it didn’t grip me or pull me in; it felt a lot more like telling than showing. I felt for Lizzie’s debacle, with wanting to be the manager of her own gym, but personally, I felt like her aspirations of working for this family were not worth the power-hungry, snobby bosses so it was hard for me to root for her (because I wanted better for her).

The ending and epilogue was sweet, but for most of the book, I just didn’t feel reeled in like I thought I would be! And I’m a workout/gym girly!!!

New-to-me author Jennifer Dugan is going to be a repeat author for me. I quite enjoyed this for the secrets, the characters and the gym/wellness themes - YES! 🙌🏼

SYNOPSIS
Lizzie gets dragged to her best friend’s sisters wedding whom she’s never met. She runs into her (unknowingly) in the bathroom and accidentally convinces her to call off the wedding.

It has:
Sapphic romcom
Light drama
Family dysfunction

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
🌶️🌶️/5


THOUGHTS
Refreshing to see the theme of being strong (vs being skinny/weight loss) and helping others find joy in movement throughout. No room for problematic diet culture in our books anymore.

The secrets were a fun + dramatic part of the plot. Everyone had something to hide and I just knew when it all came out, it was going to be explosive!

The characters all got a good amount of ‘screen time’ including the side characters, who didn’t actually feel like side characters as I got further along. Romcoms typically focus on the two MCs so I loved that little bit of change. It actually made me want more from the other characters (ie: Ramon and James). It paves the way for a sequel - although I don’t know if there will be one.

This will be great read for fans of Ashley Herring Blake’s “Delilah Green Doesn’t Care” series.

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book until the third act break up. I found the premise to be engaging. Lizzie and Cara had really great chemistry. The romance was really sweet. It was a bit of a slow burn. All of the characters are kind of a mess but in a way where you can tell they are still figuring things out. The third act was a bit harder for me. Both Cara and Lizzie said some pretty terrible things to each other that they just kind of move on from without ever really addressing. This is one of those books where I think everyone could use therapy.

This is my 3rd Jennifer Dugan book and her first foray into adult romance. A woman ruins her bosses' daughter's wedding and then falls in love with the bride. The book's premise promises messiness and drama. Instead we get... something else? I'm always astonished because Dugan always delivers on strong emotional beats and angsty moments that tug at me while I"m reading. However, the plot always just a little lacking. Many moments did not make sense nor did I particularly like any of the characters involved in the story whatsoever. Class differences and insecurities that were the central conflict of the novel seemed to be resolved quickly˙ and without much conversation beyond "I love you"s which is grating to me as conflict resolution. Weirdly enough, the way Jennifer Dugan writes angst will make me continue to return to her novels in the future and will likely result in me revisting Love at First Set on release date. Do with that what you will.

I hate trash talking books so much, especially when it's sapphic (and I adore me a sapphic romance), but this was honestly so dumb.

This book was sadly disappointing. I started off being slightly into it, but the book took a turn right away. I just couldn’t get behind this one.

“Love at First Set” is sapphic adult romance debut by Jennifer Dugan. This is Jennifer’s first foray into adult fiction. I have really enjoyed her YA books, so I was very excited when I was approved to read an arc. This book was adorable and has fun plot. Lizzie and Cara have great banter and chemistry; it was very easy to read. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more steam between Lizzie and Cara, but that's a personal preference and didn't have a negative impact on the story for me. I loved Lizzie's drive and tenacity, watching her relationship grow with Cara, and the playful banter sprinkled throughout this book had me giggling. You could truly feel the connection between them. Something I really liked about the book is that there was very little dancing around the fact that the leads were attracted to each other. Definitely recommend if you love a good rom-com! Thanks to Jennifer Dugan, Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an e-arc in exchange for my thoughts. I look forward to what Jennifer writes next!

it's a hard one to rate for sure. It started out decent and i was glad to have some sapphics not afraid to express their desires and sexual attraction but my god that plot was dumb and the conflict even dumber. And Cara made for a terrible love interest

Lizzie deserves better than all of this. I could get through the first part okay but it all fizzled out after that

I really wanted to love this book. I have read a few others by this same other and unfortunately they weren’t for me either, but I thought that this one sounded good and it was adult instead of young adult so I wanted to give it a try. I will say that I did like the characters but it unfortunately wasn’t enough. I felt like the writing in this book was very juvenile even though it was an adult title and it made a huge impact on the story. The writing felt like it was for a young YA book but with some adult themes in it. So the characters were doing very immature things and it just felt wrong. I know this could work as a fun light hearted book for
some but sadly not for me.

I straight up did not have a good time. James sucks. Cara sucks. My girl Lizzie needs therapy and new friends.

Thank you netgalley but this one was not for me.

I had high expectations, but this queer romance was just okay. Lizzie is the front desk manager of a gym with dreams of owning her own gym one day. James is Lizzie's best friend and the son of the gym owners. When James drags Lizzie along as a plus one to his sister's wedding, she meets Cara, James's sister, in the bathroom, and in the name of girl code, convinces her that she shouldn't marry a man she isn't 100% sure about. Cara comes to stay with James, throwing her and Lizzie together.

The romance was okay, but I disliked how contrived it was. I also disliked the complete lack of communication from any of the characters. James and Cara's mother, Stella, felt like a fairy tale villain - very one-dimensional. I also didn't care for how quickly the book was resolved.

Thank you the the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a little slow to start, but I quickly fell in love with both Lizzie and Cara. Their lovestory was complicated and full of miscommunication (a bit too much for my taste generally, but the ending made up for it for me), but they fought for each other and made such a beautiful ending. A strong of being awkward and unsure of your place in the lives of others not meaning that you don't have a shot at forever. This story was sad where it needed to be, sweet all over, and left me a sappy, teary mess. I loved it!

I've loved Dugan's YA works, and was excited to see her dipping her toes in the adult romance world with her debut. Unfortunately, a lot of things didn't work for me. I didn't feel the chemistry between the leading ladies, and everything felt very formulaic. The lack of tension led me to lose interest quickly, and in such a crowded romance market, this one just doesn't stand out (2.5 stars).

Awww this book was very adorable. I have to say I agree with what I’ve seen though that the book reads more as a young adult book than an adult book- I wish the characters were more like 18 than in their 20s - found it hard to relate with their immaturity. I think I would’ve benefited from seeing Cara’s POV also. It was hard to watch some of their actions and think this isn’t how someone wouod actually react or think at this age. Regardless, it was a very cute book and feel good and brought me some joy.

This book was great! Lizzie was very fun and engaging and Cara was a delightful mess. It had a very rom com vibe with a very small amount of angst, just the way I like it! I loved that we got to see their happy ever after all tied up. Would happily recommend to any romance fans.

Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for an e arc of this book!

When Lizzie reluctantly agreed to go with her best friend to his sister's wedding, she doesn't expect to hype up a hot girl in the bathroom and convince her to leave her boyfriend.... And she definitely doesn't expect that woman to be the bride! To complicate things even more, Cara's parents are Lizzie's bosses, and she really needs a promotion.

This was super cute! I have loved all of Jennifer Dugan's young adult books and am glad she ventured into adult romance! I loved this Bi Woman x Bi Woman romance!

Lizzie is a really great character and even though she is messy, she's super relatable and I definitely was rooting for her the whole time! Cara is also great but I had issues with her getting mad at Lizzie for rejecting a kiss while she (Cara) was drunk. It didn't matter what the reason is, you shouldn't get mad at someone for rejecting you. I definitely think she needed to have recognized that later in the book and she didn't.

James is such a himbo. I'm glad he was included in the book because he made it way more dynamic! I wish he was in it even more!

CW: mild sexual content, discussion of abuse (past), manipulation, toxic relationships (familial)

After the first few chapters I put this down and never had the desire to pick it back up. I’m not a YA reader and this book read too much like YA. not for me unfortunately

LOVED the concept, didn't love the execution. While this was a fun adult debut, I could tell at times that Jennifer writes primarily YA romances. None of our main characters acted like adults, with the majority of the conflict revolving around gaining their parents' approval. Overall, this felt like it could have been a YA romance but it was lifted from the high school setting and placed into an adult work place.

That said, I did still enjoy this one and am excited to see if Jennifer writes more adult romances moving forward. I think that while this felt like a transitionary novel, there is a lot of potential for her as an adult romance author.

Read for:
- Brother's Best Friend
- Sapphic
- "Oops I ruined your wedding"
- Boss's daughter
- Friends to lovers

---3/5 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Jenn is the queen of "hot mess express" characters. While it is a romance, people's reactions aren't perfectly scripted. Each character is messy just like real life.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Lizzy works at a gym but would rather own it. Her best friend’s parents own the gym she works for and Lizzie keeps hoping they will promote her but they seem to hate her. She goes to a wedding as a plus one with her best friend James and in the bathroom helps a hot crying woman decide to leave her partner. Turns out it was the bride and her best friend’s sister, Cara. They eventually fall for each other but Lizzie doesn’t want to get to close because she knows she’s not the kind of girl Cara should be dating, they are too different. Plus would she ever get that promotion or even keep her job if she was dating the boss’ daughter and she really needs her job to help pay her deadbeat mom’s bills.

I had been excited for this book but I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I’d have liked. I also don’t think Cara and James are all that nice to Lizzie. I haven’t read many books about gyms though so that aspect was interesting.