Max is totally over feeling stuck. She's got this cool job assisting a big-time Hollywood agent but feels like she's going nowhere. Living with a roommate who's killing it online doesn't help, especially when Max is crushing hard on Sadie, the bartender she thinks she's got zero chance with.

When her roommate hooks her up with a chance to turn her life around using a self-help app, Max is all in, even if it means her fails are broadcasted for the world to see. Things start looking up as she pushes her boundaries, but then a video goes viral for all the wrong reasons, and Max's life looks like it's about to implode.

This story's a wild ride through Max's ups and downs, packed with humor, heart, and some serious self-reflection! It's a deep dive into the messiness of growing up and finding your place, especially when you're trying to navigate the chaos of love and life in the digital age! Totally a must-read if you're into stories that feel like real life, but with way more funny moments!

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC!

When Max Van Doren feels like she's not being taken seriously as a powerhouse assistant to one of the top talent agents in Hollywood, or in her life she can't help but agree to be the subject of her newest sponcon using an up & coming self-actualization app her influencer roommate is launching. Max is hopeful this will help her actually ask out her crush, the sexy bartender at Max's favorite queer bar. To Max, Sadie seems like everything she's not, impossibly cool, down to earth, and has her life together, but once she actually gets to know Sadie it seems they have more in common than just some basic chemistry.

This was a quick and easy romcom about 20-year-olds finding themselves, their place in the world, and falling in love.

I loved the romance. I truly love a Hollywood romance when it’s done right. But something I see no one talking about is the grief rep. It was PHENOMENAL! I felt so seen. So heard. So understood. And not in a cheesy way.

Max comes across as a chronic pessimist and it was rather difficult to care what happened to her. While I admire having career goals, she doesn’t seem to make any effort to progress, likely due to a lack of confidence. Max has torn herself down with the expectations she has put on herself, so any comment that can be taken as criticism or doubt, she builds it up to people having a lack of faith. She was also rude, dismissive and uncaring towards most of the people around her, who I am surprised kept putting in effort. It took an app for her to give people a chance and attempt to reach her goals, which is believable in the modern, but I find it sad.
The You Point Oh app supplied basic advice and challenges, which highlighted that people need to take baby steps to remind them of the basics. We’ve lost touch with life without our phones and an app to help us tick.
The character Chelsey is a prime example of someone who lives off the praise of the internet, making her living from promoting products sent to her. While I admire that some people can do this, it’s not the lifestyle for everyone. Chelsey was a bit pushy and lacked respect for the privacy of others, but her heart was in the right place.
At the other end of the technology scale is Sadie, who lives above her uncle's bar with an old flip phone. She is passionate about keeping her uncle’s bar and his legacy alive, but she too has her fair share of self-doubt. The difference is she has a kinder approach to most of it. I much preferred Sadie to most other characters as she came across as more real, and less superficial.
The LGBTQI+ focus in the story wasn’t in your face and is the representation the world needs, though some of the intimacy scenes felt a little too detailed for my taste. It was still nice to read and see the exploration of new relationships and learning to be comfortable with who you are in all aspects of your life. The only slightly negative comment I could make is it felt like every character was queer like we almost needed a token straight character. Still, given they have enough representation elsewhere and this was intended as a queer community-focused novel, I can certainly look over it.
I went in expecting a fast-paced, fluffy romance, so I feel I had some disappointment in that regard, but that doesn’t reflect the quality of the book. I would have preferred the story to move a little faster and get to the inevitable point a bit sooner, but I will accept that as a personal preference rather than a fault. If I were recommending this book to someone, I would ensure they know that this book is an investment of time.
This is a 3-star for me personally, though I am rounding up to a 4-star since my reasons for the 3 are personal and not a reflection of the quality.

I started this book and immediately knew it was going to be one that I couldn't put down. I found myself going back to it whenever I had even a moment of down time. The author made it easy to know and understand the main character's career without having any knowledge going in as to what it actually entails. The chemistry between the two was amazing and the whole book was definitely well written!

This is sweet read, complete with humor, angst and a window into Max, a 26 year old, and her personal growth evolution. Her roommate, Chelsea, who is a social media influencer introduces her to an app she is promoting called You point Oh! As Max identifies what she wants in her life, including Sadie, who is a bartender at a queer bar Max frequents, we get to see how her story unfolds.
The story is enjoyable and the side characters are all likable and interesting. The author weaves humorous banter along with more sensitive subjects throughout the book.

I received the book through NetGalley and Kensington Publishing in exchange for an honest review and then purchased the audiobook when it was released halfway through my reading the ebook! Lori Prince does a good job with narration.

✨Gracias a NetGalley y Amy Spalding por mandarme un eARC a cambio de una crítica honesta💖

✨Este es el segundo libro que leo de esta autora, siendo el primero For Her Consideration (la historia de Nina y Ari), y tengo que decir que a pesar de que Max me ha parcido una persona en la que me he podido ver reflejada en muchos aspectos, el libro en si me ha enganchado bastante poco.

✨Lo he disfrutado, que no quepa duda, pero me parece que el romance queda en un segundo plano, y es más una historia sobre crecimiento y autoconocimiento, con el añadido de la trama romántica

I wanted to read this however I just could not get into it sorry. Myabe it was just the wrong time for me to read this as I have read other books that had a more mystery based genre. This is not a hard dnf ths would be a soft one, I would still very much recommend this book to others.

i rlly wanted to like this, as like a few reviews said, it’s hard to find masc x masc sapphic novels but the writing was so lacklustre. i think this is less of a romance novel as a fiction w romance, we spend sm learning abt max’s life and work that it kind of overshadows the tension and world building you want from a romance of this size.

i also think it was hard to relate to max as a lot of the language really swayed towards something i think americans or even la folk would grasp more than little ol me.

i did give it three stars tho bc i want more sapphic novels w masc x masc and i do think there’s a really limit in what’s good for adult sapphic novels so i have mad respect for amy for trying <3

I just finished At Her Service by Amy Spalding and here are my musings!

Max is living a half life. Her life revolves around her job and her work/life balance is out of whack. Her only reprieve is when she visits a neighborhood bar. A bar where the drinks are cold and the bartender is HAWT! The trouble is Max doesn’t see herself clearly and all her wants are just a pipe dream.

That is until her roommate, Chelsey, a plus sized queer influencer comes to her. She has been given a job to help launch a new app. A self-actualization app. Resisting her roommate she takes a look at her life. Can’t figure out how to move up in the ranks of talent agents… How to win love and how to feel strong. After a drunken date she makes the decision to take Chelsey up on her offer.

The app looks like it is making improvements in her life but it all feels rather unreal and rather than being authentic and honest, Max finds herself hiding who she is from the one person who should know it all.

It was totally cute. This book. I fell in love with Max right from the start. She made it real. Her reactions to what was going on with the app and her feelings about it. The steps she took were realistic and relatable and the author always writes books that bring that to the forefront for me. The realism is excellent and I love that from a book. The character development was excellent. I loved every character I was introduced to. Sadie really saw Max before the app and that made my heart sing.

I loved the underlying moral of this story too. Saying yes more and hiding less from ourselves is such a powerful message. Loved the fact that Chelsey is a bigger girl and was excellently presented for me. She made plus size sexy! It wasn’t just Max reaching for the stars but Sadie too and everything Max did… SIGHHH made me well up with happy tears!

I highly enjoyable LGBTQIAP+ Romance

4 stars! Excellent book!

Thank you @netgalley and @kensingtonbooks for my gifted copy!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of “At Her Service” book 2 of the Out in Hollywood Series by Amy Spalding. This is my 3rd novel by Amy Spalding and once again she writes characters with so much heart, and characters that I see myself in. While I related more to Nina in “For Her Consideration” and Abby in “The Summer of Jordi Perez”, the journey that Max goes on really made me stop and think and also want to “make the big move”. Max is an assistance for one of the top talent agents and she’s great at her job. But all other aspects of her life are lacking - she wants community, friends, a promotion, and a love life. With the help of her influencer roommate she embarks on a journey of self- actualization with the app ‘You Point Oh’. The tasks that Max has to complete (meeting with a personal trainer, a dating coach) she puts herself out there and her journey was wonderful.

I got some pretty awful personal health news when I was reading this, and it took me a lot longer to finish because of that. But when I no longer felt the heavy burden of dread, the empowerment and self actualization Max underwent was really special and I know it’s “just a book” but when Max doubted herself, when she thought she wasn’t good enough, too small, she went for it and good things came. Max found so much confidence and she instilled confidence in others (bartender Sadie). Overall this was such a good read 4/5 stars that gave me the feels, and I’ll always read books by this author. I’m hoping Out in Hollywood #3 explores favorite side character- Paige maybe?

I love Amy Spalding’s books. She just keeps getting better as she evolves into her sweet spot - hot adult queer romance. Her YA is fabulous, but damn if she isn’t nailing the adult genre. I absolutely loved For Your Consideration and read it in one sitting. At Her Service is the second in this series and focuses on a minor character in FYC. I read this in a day and am so glad to be back in that world!

I honestly didn’t remember a great deal about Max, but I think that was for the better as it gave her the opportunity to really develop her into a relatable character for those queer quirky neurotic wannabe extroverts who watch 90s tv like it’s their job (hi, it’s me, I’m the neurotic.) Spalding does a great job capturing a Gen Z voice just hitting their quarter life crisis while depicting chosen family and community.

I enjoyed the build between Max and Sadie (and freakin loved Sadie’s outfits.) I also liked how Max was far from perfect but just kept trying. I would’ve liked more phone calls between her and her mom. I had to laugh because her roommate Chelsey and her gf Ava were just an updated version of Maureen and Joanne from Rent. I enjoyed the kickball friends a lot - I think an interesting follow up novel would be with the character Paige. And of course it was great to see Nina and Ari again, and let’s please focus again on their journey as well!

4 stars only because I found some of the drama a little unbelievable. But this really was wonderful, and I hope Amy Spalding continues this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for providing this arc in exchange for my honest review!

At Her Service is an Adult Contemporary novel. This book is all about self-improvement, chasing your dreams, and writing your own Hollywood love story.

So I didn’t realize when I requested this book on NetGalley that it is the sister novel of For Her Consideration. This book can be read as a standalone but I do think I might be missing some context. The biggest of which is whether the drunken proclamation the MC made happened in For Her Consideration or occurred completely off page. The start of the book revolves around Max hiding due to embarrassment and, while what she said does get later explained, I still felt like I was missing something. But without reading FHC I can’t be sure.

Regardless, this is a fast paced story that will be so relatable to so many people. The main characters name is Max and she is stuck. She doesn’t know how to move up the ladder at work, how to pursue the girl she’s crushing on, or how to build a community of friends around her. I really enjoyed seeing Max and her influencer roommate Chelsea’s perspective on living their authentic queer lives. Coming from a red state, they haven’t always felt safe in living their truth or always had access to a welcoming queer community like they do in LA. I really enjoyed their friendship and the way it developed over the course of the book.

I know this book is being marketed as a romance, but to me it’s more of a coming-of-age story. There is a romance plot but it’s not the primary focus. It shares the spotlight with Max trying to climb the ladder at work and build community/develop a group of queer friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

At Her Service- Out in Hollywood Book #2

By Amy Spalding- read For Her Consideration, gave 3*

Rating: 4/5  

Format: eBook

Page Count: 326

Setting: Hollywood

Publication 2/20/24,  Read 2/19/24

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Kensington Books for this ARC  ! I voluntarily give an honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

What to Expect:  sapphic romance, rom-com, LGBTQIAP+ rep, POC, self improvement 

Summary: Max is an assistant at Exemplar talent agency. She wants a promotion to junior agent, but doesn't have the self confidence to bring it up to her boss. Her neighborhood bar and hang out Johnny's has a beautiful bartender Sadie, who makes Max's Paloma to perfection. Max likes her but again can't pluck up the courage to ask her out. Her roommate Chesley is a social media influencer and wants to sponsor her for a new self actualization app You Point Oh. Together with a dating coach, a trainer, and a new wardrobe Max will be able to make her drams come true.

The characters:

Maxine "Max" Van Doren-26, from KY. Has dreams of becoming a talent agent, fall in love, strengthen her body, and make friends outside of work.

Sadie- a bartender at Johnny's bar. Feels self conscious about not being more accomplished, but wants to buy the bar. She enlists Max's help to go over the contracts.

Chesley-Max's roommate, an influencer willing to help Max but uses her to make money and get more sponsorships. Has a girlfriend Ava

Joyce-Max's boss. Loves Max as an assistant and is a great mentor.

Paige-Max goes on a date with her to get over Sadie.

Nina and Ari- couple from book #1, make an appearance and Nina tries to help Max make her move on Sadie.

My Thoughts: This novel is very character driven following Max as she changes her life. There's not much action,
its literally Max, Sadie, friends, and coworkers at the bar all the time. I didn't connect with Sadie and didn't think she was right for Max. I wished she pursued Paige who had a better personality.

I did like Chesley even though pushing Max to put her personal life on display was wrong. It was cute seeing Nina and Ari pop in and show they were "couples goals" for Max. Joyce was a important mentor for Max and didn't sugar coat things for her. It was refreshing to read about a strong, black woman as a caring and supportive boss.

I can't end without the mention of Sadie's attempt to make Johnny's bar a historical preservation for the LGBTQIA+ community. It was opened in 1977 as a place for people to lead open lives when it was dangerous. They made friends and found families. It was a place of support and comfort during the AIDS epidemic.

I mean I loved Max in book 1, I wanted her story and this was just great. I liked the whole idea of her wanting to better herself. I liked her openness to new experiences and put herself out there with the person she's had a crush on for a long time.

I thought it was cute but it didn't blow me away. I was waiting for it to end.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

This book was agonizing to get through, but it did keep me entertained. Max is just so awful to herself and can we just leave that in 2023. I thought this was just the character but I remember the author wrote Nina this way also, so I think this is just her writing style. I understand how everything had to play out but my goodness this boo was just way too damn long like whoa I was so bored halfway through this book I literally started skipping pages.

I was given an ARC by Net Galley in exchange for an honest review, as always, all words are my own.

So glad that this follow up is Max's story, and it's an incredibly relatable story of mid-twenties floundering, love, and community. This queer romance is often really sweet as Max finds her way in aching steps forward and plenty of missteps along the way.

Thank you to the author, Kensington Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second in a series, but can easily be read as a stand-alone as the story only glancingly references characters from the first book in the series. The author successfully delivers another sweet romance, showing the insecurites of both main characters - and more importantly how they dealt with, and overcame them. Interesting also to see how these false perceptions had haunted both of them in the past, and how they were able to come out of their shells, both separately and together.

I had a good read with For Her Consideration, so I was very excited to read At Her Service, but unfortunately the book didn't meet my expectations. I found the characters much less interesting than in the first book, which led me to not care as much about the romance. The pacing also didn't help to make the experience better, despite that it's still a cute book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!