“At Her Service” by Amy Spalding is book two in her Out in Hollywood series. I really enjoyed the previous book, “For Her Consideration” so I was looking forward to Max’s storyline.

This one left me with some mixed feelings overall. While I did enjoy, for the most, Max’s story, this didn’t really feel like a romance. I liked Sadie but we don’t see her that much. A lot of what we know about her are Max’s assumptions and she’s not all that accurate about things.

The story centers more around Max and her job and the self-actualization app her roommate has her on. I was interested in those things, but Max tended to whine a lot and had a lot of self-doubts. It was okay at first, especially because of how realistic it is. However, it kept happening over and over again and it got tiresome after a while. It made some of the book feel repetitive.

I did like the growth we see with Max. Maybe it’s more of a belief in herself. Max’s life is in a bit of a stasis. She’s not moving up in her career, she has a crush on her local bartender and doesn’t have many friends. She has goals for all of these but she doesn’t know how to go about attaining them. A lot of her issues stem from low self-confidence and I liked how she started realizing that a lot of her assumptions just weren’t true. She started having more confidence in herself to go after what she wanted.

As in “For Her Consideration,” the setting is again almost like a character here. I liked seeing aspects of Los Angeles that we don’t see get mentioned much. I’ve never been to LA but I feel like I have a slightly better idea about it after reading this series.

Nin and Ari also make a couple of appearances and I enjoyed seeing how they’ve progressed.

While I didn’t love this book, I still liked it and will be looking forward to whatever Spalding releases next.

I received an ARC from Kensington Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After reading and enjoying For Her Consideration by this author I found this book to be a bit of a let down. The humor, secondary characters and inclusivity were there, but I felt that the chemistry between Max and Sadie was a bit under developed. Part of the problem was that this book is told from Max’s perspective only. It would have been easier to understand and empathize with Sadie if I knew more of what she was thinking and where she was coming from.

Honestly this book read more like a self-help or woman’s fiction novel than a romance. Which is fine if that’s what you’re in the mood for, just be aware of that going in. 3 stars.

At Her Service by Amy Spalding
Out in Hollywood #2

Hollywood dreams fill the minds of many people including the main character of this book. BUT Hollywood doesn’t just dole out dream fulfillment to all who show up – it takes more than that – and the main characters of this book find out just what it will take for them to achieve their dreams.

What I liked:
* Maxine “Max” Van Doren: intelligent, assistant to a talent agent, dreams of being successful, wants to have a loving committed relationship, underestimates herself often, attracted to Sadie, becomes involved in beta testing a self-actualization, a private type who becomes very exposed – grows a lot in more than one way during the story
* Sadie: bartender, bright, friendly, competent, attracted to Max, dreams of owning the bar she has been working in for years
* The way the app pushed Max toward actualizing her dreams and achieving her goals
* The supporting characters: Max’s roommate, the owner of the bar, Max’s boss and co-workers, and the people that came into her life through the app and how they helped Max
* The idea of the story, the location that I grew up in, and that there was a happy ending
* The fairytale feel of the story
* That I believe there is an audience who will love this book

What I didn’t like:
* That I never really warmed up to the characters – had trouble relating to them and the lives they were living. Perhaps because this is geared to Young Adult readers rather than septuagenarians?

Did I like this book? Sort of
Would I read more by this author? Maybe

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

At Her Service
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Amy Spaulding

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley. One More Chapter and Kensington and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Max Van Doren has a wish list, and a great career and a girlfriend are at the top. But despite being pretty good at her job as an assistant to one of Hollywood’s fastest rising talent agents, she has no idea how to move up the ladder. And when it comes to her love life, she’s stuck in perpetual lust for an adorably perfect bartender named Sadie. Her goals are clear—and Max has everything but the self-confidence to go for them. Even her mother seems to assume she’ll be crawling home to her childhood bedroom at some point . . .

When Max’s roommate, Chelsey—an irritatingly gorgeous and self-assured influencer in plus-size and queer spaces—offers to sponsor her for a new self-actualization app, Max gives in. If she can’t run her own life, maybe an algorithm guiding her choices will help? Suddenly Max is scoring big everywhere, and her dreams are achingly close to coming true. But when one of Chelsey’s posts reveals Sadie’s part in the app’s campaign, Max is poised for heartbreak on all fronts. Tired of the sponcon life with its fake friends and endless selfies, Max realizes that to have true influence, she’ll have to find the courage to make her own, totally authentic way in the world . . .

My Thoughts: This is the second book in Out in Hollywood series, however, it could be read as a standalone. This was a cute queer romcom that I enjoyed very much. Max wants more than anything to have a great career and a girlfriend. She is currently the assistant to one of the top talent agents, is really good at her job, but makes next to nothing. Max’s own mother believes that she will come home eventually. Max’s roommate, whom she finds slightly annoying, offers to sponsor her in a new self-actualization app, Max eventually gives in. Through this app is expensive shirts, a professional gym trainer, smoothies, a dating coach, and even a life coach. When one of Chelsey’s post shows Sadie leaving the apartment, not only does it go viral, but causes Max all sort of problems. Can Max find the courage? This follows the tropes of queer romance, friends to lovers, and FMC secret.

The story is narrated in Max, through her POV. Max lacks confidence in all areas of her life, and hopes to find it through the self-actualization app. Max wants a fulfilling career, a sense of community, and a solid girlfriend. She stops by the local dive bar just to see her favorite bartender every night, whom she secretly pines after. Sadie knows what she wants, at least career wise, but has struggled with relationships. The angst, tension, push and pull of Sadie and Max is beautiful, yet frustrating at times. More than once I would yell at them to get it together. The characters were well fleshed out with depth, witty banter, chemistry, intriguing, and growth. I really loved how much both of our MCs grew during the story. The supporting characters also elevated the story to another level. The author’s writing style was complex, compelling, funny, swoony, heartwarming, and beautiful. The characters are relatable, even as someone almost 50, have aspects I can relate to.

Overall, such a cute romance that I absolutely adored. The only con is I would like to have seen more focus on their relationship, however, I think the focus on improving themselves took priority over that, and that is more than okay with me. I highly recommend this to other readers.

I loved the first book in the series, but this book sort of fell flat for me. I think that it will be one that I revisit to see if my feelings toward it change. I love the friend group and as always that's what stood out to me the most.

I LOVED this book. Amy Spalding is one of my favourite LGBTQ+ romance authors currently and At Her Service lived up to those expectations. After reading For Her Consideration and loving it, I was eager to get into the second story. The Hollywood backdrop portrays the perfect scene for a confused 20 something and all of those feelings that come along with moving somewhere and starting anew. The side characters are as lovable as the main characters, and I think everyone can find something to relate to in Max. I love the representation this books provided for mascs as I think there is a market for this.

The romance felt like a B plot to the development of Max's self actualization but was still enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! After absolutely loving For Her Consideration I was ecstatic to read At Her Service. Unfortunately, I didn’t love the characters in this one and found one of them to be a bit off-putting. I can’t say this was as satisfying as For Her Consideration.

Max has been at the same job she's been at and it good at it but things feel stagnant. She still hasn't been able to find the community she's thirsted for since moving to LA or find a long lasting relationship with a woman she loves, or even make a move on the hot bartender by her apartment. On top of that, it feels as though her mom is just waiting for her to crawl back home.

When Max's influencer roommate tries to talk Max into some sponsor content on her page, Max gives in. The app their promoting is meant to help with their goals and help them thrive. Task after task, it seems like Max is working up her confidence and has even befriended the hot bartender, Sadie. When the content starts to go live, Max realizes all the very personal things her roommate has added and things start to fall apart on all fronts. Max needs to reevaluate what she wants her life to look like and who she wants in her life while being true to who she is.

I'm a fan of Amy Spalding and this one was great! It was different but similar to For Her Consideration in ways I liked. It was more self reflective with the same warm found family but it was more general fiction in some ways where I wished for a little more romance. It was still a really sweet read and I'll continue to pick up Spalding books though!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️
🫕📱🍹📃🏳️‍🌈

At Her Service is #2 of the Out In Hollywood series by Amy Spalding. And just like For Her Consideration, I absolutely, whole-heartedly loved it.

We follow the main character Max Van Doren who is so relatable that I thought I was ready about myself. Max is 26, lives in LA, is an assistant to one of the top agents in a celebrity agency, and has a major crush on the bartender, Sadie, at her local bar, Johnny's. But she needs and wants more. She wants to feel strong because she's so small, she wants to be a junior agent rather than just an assistant, and she wants to let Sadie know how she feels, but she doesn't have the belief in herself that she can do it on her own. So her roommate, a social media influencer talks her into doing a self-help app called You Point Oh, where she has to tell the world about her progress. At the same time, Sadie asks for her help with saving the bar so she can buy it, rather than lose it to condos and parking lots.

At Her Service is so real that I think many people will relate to this book. Being scared to get the girl, being scared to speak up at work, and working on yourself is something we always do. So the plot of this book was amazing. The writing, as always pulls you in from the start and you don't want to put it down. I loved everything about it seriously. We have a glimpse of Nina and Ari's life, we have a queer kickball team, found family, and LOTS of queer characters. I recommend this book to everyone!


Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington for a copy of the ebook. This review is left voluntarily.

I somehow missed the first book in this series. After reading At Her Service, I instantly bought the first book because I loved the writing style and characters so much! LA romances are one of my favorite types of books, and this one does not disappoint!

I wanted to love this story, but I just didn't. It was ok. I enjoyed it enough to keep reading, but I wasn't particularly drawn to the characters and the story progression fell flat for me. I enjoyed the previous book more, so would definitely read another book by this writer.

I have really enjoyed this series so far. This book was really enjoyable and the perfect read on holiday

3.5 ⭐️s

I enjoyed this well enough, but honestly less than For Her Consideration. I definitely prefer Max as a main character, but liked For Her Consideration’s plot and characters better.

While not the fault of the actual book, the synopsis spoils something that doesn’t come up until after the 72% mark (I know this percentage because I texted my best friend, annoyed that the synopsis spoiled so much). It’s the worst!

I don’t know, I wish I had more thoughts. I love Max’s growth throughout the book. Overall I just feel kinda meh about it. Like, I put off finishing the last 10 minutes of it for WEEKS. Why.

I loved Max so much in For Her Consideration and I was so excited that she was getting her own book and a hot new girlfriend of her own.

While I really enjoyed the romance, I was more drawn to Max’s character growth. I loved seeing her doing all of the glow-up tasks assigned to her. They helped her be braver and go for things both professionally and in her romantic life, and she learned that she didn’t have to become perfect to be worthy of love. I found that pretty inspiring!

I’d gladly read many more books in this series if the author chooses to write more!!

Thank you so much to Kensington Books and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

✔️ Opposites Attract
✔️ Insta-Lust
✔️ Entertainment Industry

Just like For Her Consideration, At Her Service read like a love letter to LA. That was the part I liked the most. My other favorite parts were the side characters from the softball team to Chelsey and Billy.

I loved Sadie, but I am a sucker for a hot bartender character in a book. She was so clear as a character to me. The issue was Max - it took a while for me to get her and then even longer to root for her.

While the plot was perfectly fine, it didn't have the same sparkle that For Her Consideration had so I had to dock one star. That said, I breezed though and I loved the theme of figuring out how to be an adult and to take charge of your own life.

Steam 🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕

Ultimately, I liked the first book better but this also very good!! Spalding is quickly becoming a must-read author for me.

Notes: While this book takes place in the same universe as Spalding’s For Her Consideration, it is not a sequel and can be read completely stand alone.

For those who are sex averse, there is one make out scene and one more graphic sex scene. Both come at or around the 3/4s mark and are telegraphed well enough to be easily skippable.

The book’s main character, Max, is going to either make or break this book for people, I think. I identified with Max’s anxiety and work frustrations and enjoyed her self-deprecating humor overall, but it did take time for her to grow on me. Some may never like her, and that’s a problem when the book is all about her growth. I also liked Sadie and Chelsea, most of all because I liked seeing how Max characterized and then reevaluated them. I’m a sucker for an unreliable narrator, especially one that undergoes as much growth as Max.

While marketed as a romance book, I appreciated that the plot focused on Max’s overall growth as a person in work, physical health, and community. All these aspects tie together in building a person and gave an aroace like me something to relate to besides romance. That said, those seeking romance may find it slightly disappointing, as romance is merely one of the many goals Max pursues.

Since I know many (including myself) don’t like the 3rd act break up trope, I have to say that here it fits the situation presented. What felt more rushed and forced to me was Max’s way-too-late realization that all the things helping her were support she wouldn’t have received without sponsorship since she was poor. I think it was a good moment, but it came way too late and suddenly given Max’s work experiences related to influential things and her roommate’s job as an influencer.

All that said, those who enjoyed Spalding’s previous work will likely enjoy this one as well, and for those unfamiliar with her work, I think this book will be a fun, quick read.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, For Her Consideration, so I had expectations going in to At Her Service. I liked it, but didn't love it. It read as more of a self improvement fiction rather that romance/rom-com, which is what I was hoping for. Max was basically already in love with the love interest when the book starts, so we couldn't fall with her. I also feel like the love interest (Sadie) is so interesting but hardly fleshed out. She has a crazy family history and such a different outlook on life that it would have been so interesting to learn more of. But since this was mostly following Max and her self discovery, we didn't learn much about Sadie's life.

Overall, the story was good. Would recommend!

This isn’t a book I would normally pick up but I am glad I did read this one as even a couple of weeks later I am still thinking about it I liked the characters and the storyline. This is a book I would recommend.

Firstly I’d like to say, this book is NOT a romcom. It’s a contemporary fiction novel with a romance subplot, very different. The book centers Max, a butch lesbian living in LA who feels lost and stuck in her life. She dreams of love with the hot bartender at her local bar, a group of queer friends and a promotion at work, but she’s too afraid to go after the things she wants. More importantly, she doesn’t even know where to begin going after these things. Then everything changes when her roommate, an influencer, asks Max to be the face of a new app focused on self improvement called You Point Oh. The app will help Max get on track with her goals and dreams. Max says hesitantly says yes.
To be quite honest I was not vibing with this book for the first 40%. I didn’t click with Max as a character, and was confused as to why the romance wasn’t the focus. Once I changed my mindset from ‘this is a romcom’ to ‘this is a fiction book with a romance subplot’ I found myself enjoying the book more. It was also around the 50% mark that I began to empathize with Max as a character. One thing I really disliked was how dismissive and mean she was to Chelsey though. Even when they were being friendly she was still mean, snapping and being sarcastic with her. It also bothered me the whole book that she said she’d help Sadie with her dream to save Johnny’s, but then didn’t do anything about it until the very end. I understand the character development and Max’s arc, but I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if there had been no miscommunication and if Max had just done what she said she was going to do right away. It had me STRESSED. That being said I really related to Max’s feelings of loneliness and not believing in herself enough.
I also really loved how this book highlighted the need of queer spaces/bars and how important they are to our community. Every year it feels like queer spaces are forced to close, leaving us with no where to go that’s ours. Just last year the only lesbian bar in Toronto, the Lavender Menace closed. It’s so important that we rally around our spaces and work to keep them going. I loved how dedicated Sadie was to Johnny’s, and how she wouldn’t let anyone tell her it wasn’t important.
Overall I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t mind blowing or anything, but as with the first book in this series it was very decent and I even shed some tears towards the end of this book. 4/5 stars