LOVED LOVED LOVED. Everything about this story was wonderfully written. I was literally living the story. The characters were 100% believable. More please Sophie Ranald. Did I say I loved it?

I for the life of me cannot understand why this has such a low rating on GoodReads. Because you think its gonna be a romance and then there isn't much romance? There was so much happening in the book I didn't even care! I absolutely adored it. The only problem I had was the sister was not my cup of tea.

Lucy was the epitome of be delulu until it becomes trululu. It was fun to be in her world for a while but I wished it had more development and self growth apart from the hero.

Ugh I really struggled with this one. I wanted to like it more than I did because I found the synopsis intriguing.

I found all of the characters annoying and frustrating. Specifically the main character, Lucy. I found her rather immature. It made it hard to get into the story and root for the characters. With that said, the support Lucy had for her sister, even when Amelie didn't reciprocate it, did redeem her a bit for me.

Overall, it had potential and had some cute moments, this one just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF. I really struggled connecting with the characters. A slow burn that was too slow for my liking. An interesting concept though.

The Love Hack is a charming romantic comedy that will have you laughing out loud one minute and swooning the next. Lucy, a newly minted advice columnist, is tasked with dispensing relationship wisdom to men under the guise of the enigmatic 'Ask Adam.' Her own love life, however, is decidedly less adventurous, preferring the company of her cat and Netflix. Enter Ross, her charming and witty co-worker, who quickly becomes the object of Lucy's affections. The story unfolds with a delightful blend of humor and heartwarming moments. Lucy's witty internal monologue and her attempts to navigate the tricky waters of office romance are relatable and hilarious. The addition of her AI assistant, a quirky and somewhat overzealous cupid, adds a layer of lightheartedness and unexpected twists. The plot thickens when Lucy discovers a 'confidential' email in the 'Ask Adam' inbox that she suspects is from Ross, revealing a complicated love life that throws her own burgeoning feelings into question. The tension builds nicely as Lucy grapples with her own burgeoning feelings and the potential consequences of her actions. Ranald skillfully balances the lightheartedness of the story with a touch of emotional depth, allowing Lucy's vulnerabilities and anxieties to shine through. The reader is invested in her journey and rooting for her to find happiness, both in her love life and in her career. This book is a quick and enjoyable read, perfect for escaping into a world of laughter and romance. It's a lighthearted and entertaining story that will leave you with a smile on your face and a warm feeling in your heart. It's a book I highly recommend reading!

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of Love Hack. All opinions are my own.

This was a cute story but I felt it lacked a bit of depth and the build up of the connection between Ross and Lucy felt like it lacked a bit and dragged. This was a verrrrrrry slow burn and I tend to prefer a bit faster build up of tension/connection. I enjoyed the support Lucy had for her sister and there were a few fun twists as well.

Such a cute story. It reminded me a lot of Pam and Jim from The Office. The covert glances and slight flirting. From very limited dating Lucy has zero u seating of the male brain. Through her column as Adam giving advise she’s able to glimpse that not all men are d**ks! This story was a fun ride that was an entertaining read. Thank you to NetGalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Welcome back to another episode of: Was I supposed to like this chick?

The author will try to convince you that, yes!! You should like her!! But I'm just not seeing it. If I'm supposed to like someone with codependency issues who can't handle being away from her cat OR her sister, and who's still living in high school on the merits that if a boy looks at you he must like you, then idk what the bookish world has come to. This woman is a whole ass 29 years old and thinks that because her and her coworker shared Seinfeld quotes and make coffee for each other that that means he likes her, and she gets genuinely upset when he starts going out with one of her sisters friends because he's single and he's allowed to?

And if you hated that, get ready for bomb jokes and using AI to do your job because you're a woman trying and failing to give men advice!

If you're looking for the good bit, I'll save you the agony and time and tell you there isn't one. This couldn't even really be pedaled as a romance. There was no real romance between Lucy and Ross, just delusion on her part. Go girl, give us nothing!

✨Book Review: The Love Hack by Sophie Ranald✨

I was lucky enough to receive this book as an Arc reader through NetGalley. This book follows Lucy Masters and her navigating being a writer, a sister, a cat mom and being afraid to fall in love again. When she ends up working for a male magazine writing an agony aunt style column, she meets Ross and she has to grapple with her fears of falling in love again. I would say this book is literary fiction with a sub-plot of romance in it. I liked that the romance was not the whole plot of the story and it also follows a storyline regarding her sister Amelie which I liked. I loved how it focuses a lot of men and how men can always be portrayed as doing everything wrong and being quote “dicks” and Lucy’s realisation that that isn’t always the case. I would strongly recommend giving this book a read when it released on June the 7th!

I guess I liked this story
Felt more like a self love story rather than a romance but that was okay. I didn't really feel the love between the main characters though so I like that the romance was a side story instead

Thank you Net Galley and publishers for letting me read an arc of this book in return for an honest review.

This book had promise, and I really really wanted to like it but I just couldn't get into it. It was too fast paced jumping from one thought to the next. I wanted more but was left with more questions than conclusions.

The main female character, Lucy, is getting let go from her journaling job on the women's magazine until she comes up with the idea to write for the men's magazine about relationship advice for guys. Only problem is, she doesn't know men that well and has sworn off relationships altogether after her fling, not even relationship, ended horribly years ago. She has flashbacks that last the whole book about this "ex". I get it, your hookup was a dick. She's not that great at her new job, getting her sister to write advice for these men. When she says she can't help anymore cause she's getting married and her husband would get jealous, Lucy asks why. The sister says she has to be the perfect wife cooking and cleaning and being there for her new husband like some delusional 1950's housewife. Lucy then turns to AI to help write her articles.

This book was more about family and sisterly bonds than Lucy getting into a relationship. I got more details about her sister and not alot about Lucy and her coworker crush. Overall it was cute and enjoyable enough for me to breeze through it, but it just didn't hit the mark for me.

I usually love Sophie Ranald's books, but this one was unfortunately not a good fit for me. I couldn't connect with the main characters and there were a few plot holes that didn't sit well with me. Overall, it would say it was okay for a one-time read. I'll look forward to the author's next one!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

A thoroughly enjoyable romantic tale of love, hampered only by fear of rejection.
All of the characters are well written, just enough detail for you to want to know what happens without getting bogged down in overly long descriptions. Blossoming romances and a wedding- what is not to love?

The story might seem just fine if you turn off your logical brain and just enjoy the novel. The writing is okay but it was not very appealing to me. Lucy is an advisor under the pseudonym of Adam and advises men on "Ask Adam" though she is not proficient with it. She has no idea about men and often turns to AI and her sister for help. Lucy sometimes behaves like a middle schooler. She get hurt because her crush Ross kisses somebody else and she's a bit delulu.

Her relation with Ross felt like Heather walking by glitch. They had very few interactions and she started to weave stories out of it. I also did not understand the character arc of Ross. The story did not delve deep and mostly it's not very engaging.

PROS : OKAY FOR ONE TIME READING
ASK ADAM was a clever addition (but it was not used up to its full potential)

CONS: STORY DOESN'T HAVE DEPTH
GAPS IN THE STORY/ CHARACTERS/ PLOTHOLES.

3/5 - I enjoyed this book, kept me engaged throughout. Lucy was a lovely character and I was really rooting for her to get a happy ending :-) I haven’t read anything by Sophie before but will definitely read more. Thanks for the chance to read :-)

This is a really enjoyable, easy read that I blasted through whilst chilling outside on a gorgeous day ☀ It’s a great read for a chill afternoon or even a little holiday read - is it too early to start thinking about summer holidays yet? I hope not!

This felt more like a contemporary workplace romance than a romcom which is how it’s being marketed. I did enjoy it, but it didn’t get a giggle/laugh - maybe I’m just a tough nut to crack 😅

The book is in single POV, and we follow Lucy as she faces redundancy from the magazine she adores due to it moving online. To stay with the wider magazine group, she proposes a new idea - a relationship advice column for men aka an Agony Uncle column 📰

After her previous boyfriend broke her heart, she’d sworn off men for a while. However she starts to develop feelings for a co-worker, who is involved with one of her sister’s friends. We follow her as she tries to dish out relationship advice, whilst trying to figure out what it is she wants in life.

Lucy is extremely close to her sister and we see her sister a lot in the book. We see the hen party and the wedding, as well as how their relationship changes as her sister gets married and moves away to NYC 🚖

It was really nice to see how Lucy grows in this book - both professionally and personally ❤ We really see her grow and find herself - it’s quite a feel good book! Though it starts off a little slow, the pacing of the book does pick up as it goes on. This is quite a closed door book with a very slow burn on the romance side. Though I really enjoyed the workplace struggles and the advice column she wrote - these were quite entertaining!

Note: There is an affair subplot in this book, but it doesn’t involve the FMC or MMC.

This book was only ok for me. I liked the main characters, Lucy & Ross, alright. Their story felt very surface level though. So much more couldn't been written to give depth and dimension to their burgeoning relationship. Instead, it just felt blah.

The side characters weren't fleshed out enough either, especially her sister.

I just feel there was so much potential for this book and it kinda fell flat for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Warning: insufferable main character.

Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. The way that this woman's mind works... She needs to be studied.

One of Lucy's biggest subplots in the book (and I'm serious, it's an alarmingly large part of the story) is that she, in her job as a Writer, uses knockoff ChatGPT to write her column when she gets stuck. And because that is apparently not an insane enough arc for her to have, she also turns to ChatGPT for her personal problems. I just... cannot get over that.

That entire plot, however, cannot even begin to compare to the absolute horror that was the Katz Deli scene. I had to take a breather after this one. Like what do you mean she just faked an orgasm in a public space while on Facetime with her work crush????? Why did she do that???? Why did I have to read it???? Will be recovering from this one for a while.

Then there was the whole Ross mess, which was actually very little mess. Lucy's inner monologue was always trying to convince me that something was going on there when I never once sensed even the littlest spark. I mean, he did touch her leg once and it was a whole thing for her, but even that felt incredibly underwhelming for me. Like, where's the chemistry?

Plus Ross honestly just icked me out.

A miss for me unfortunately.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I think this book had so much potential and I wanted to love it so much but for me it just missed the mark a smidge. I liked it, and enjoyed the read, so 3/5!

The main character, Lucy, is supposed to be a bit of a mess but I didn’t feel she ever grew out of it. I also really wanted to love the romance but there wasn’t enough of it to feel realistic. I wanted more Lucy and Ross!!

Overall, this book is very cute! I just wanted to have a bit more of the tension and romance.