This is my first book from this author and thank you to #NetGalley for providing me a copy.

When I first read the blurb, I thought to muself "you should request for it" because, well, martial artist.

The story actually is between Katie, a newly graduate law student who got cut from a job that was offered to her days ago just because of the sudden merger. Not only that, she got dumped by his so-called BF after she didn't make the cut.

While cooling her jets, Katie decided to join jer frienwho asked her to come with her in a vinyasa class she's attending. She joined her instead of plotting murder on his bf.

On the way to the class, she mistakenly assume the door she was going to open was the vinyasa class their going to. Instead, Katie stand outside riveted to the girl inside a gym pulling powerful punches to a punching bag. She then realized that she wanted that for herself.

So when Ryan, the instructor who approached her outside the gym offered her to train, she accepted it.

From there their friendship grows.

And it took, like, forever for them to finally be together.

Yes, I felt like I waited forever for their "getting together, together".

The heroine and hero actually are great characters. The writing was fluidly done but sadly, the pacing was too slow.

It's hard to read books with slow pacing without droplets of romance to it especially when it's a slow burn romance. Read should be fed a litlle of swoon-worthy moments every now and then to tide us over.

Overall thought, this was a good book. Friends to lovers theme plus a slow burn romance, I know may people who crave stories like these. Hopefully, the author will make a second book, even if it's a novella, as long as it will feature romantic moments netween the main characters.

This book was cute but utterly predictable and not the best I've read in this genre. Very fluffy and cute ending though.

Katie just wants to do something different. She recently finished law school and is searching for her first job while she waits to find out if she passed the bar. Her boyfriend just dumped her because he "wants to be single for summer," whatever that means, and she's just had it with the status quo. On her way to yoga with a friend, she passes a kickboxing gym and is immediately intrigued. The fact that the trainer she runs into is gorgeous and tattooed and not remotely her usual type doesn't hurt, either. It turns out that Ryan and Katie get along perfectly, both in the gym and outside. But can two people from such different worlds make it work?

I really enjoyed Stacy Wise's debut novel, Beyond the Stars, when I read it back in 2016. I was pretty excited to be offered a review copy of her new book (and even more excited when the weekend rolled around and I could dive in). Maybe Someone Like You was okay, but it's not going to be one of my favorites of the year.

On paper, Katie and Ryan were great characters. Katie is a driven young attorney who wants to make a difference and isn't willing to settle for a soul-killing job just because it comes with a large paycheck. Ryan is the perfect guy, one who will make sure you get home okay after having too many drinks and who loves hanging out with his niece. Together, they have a lot of chemistry. It's just a shame that I never really felt anything for them.

This is definitely a slow burn romance. I can go for a slow burn when the final result is worth the wait, but I'm not sure that it was here. This is a very chaste romance -- which is fine! -- but after wading through 366 pages of manufactured misunderstandings and willful miscommunication, I was hoping to be rewarded with a little bit more than a kiss.

I did enjoy the job aspect of the book with Katie weighing the pros and cons of the large paycheck and security that come with a job she hates versus something less certain that she's passionate about. I also really enjoyed Craig, Katie's coworker and, eventually, her good friend.

Overall, this is an easy read, but it's not earth-shattering. The plot moves along very slowly with a few asides that probably weren't strictly necessary. If you like character-driven stories and getting inside your heroine's head, you'll probably enjoy this book. If you enjoy swoony heroes and lingering stares and the slowest of slow burns, you'll really enjoy it.

Final rating: ★★★☆☆

I received a free copy of Maybe Someone Like You from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

Stacy Wise crafts truly fantastic characters in this romantic novel. Opposites attract in this sweet romance between two unlikely people.

I was looking forward to reading this one after reading the blurb. You've read the blurb, I'll give you my thoughts on the pluses and minuses in this story.
The plot was great. The writing while seemed slow, flowed really well and the dialogue was great.
The story is equally balanced between the two MC's Ryan and Katie. Katie just took her bar exam, coming out of a crap relationship and looking for a job after being cut from a merger and has a famous uptight attorney for a mother who raises the bar of expectation without even speaking. I hate that. Katie is cooling her heels waiting to find something when she goes to yoga class with her roomie. Ryan holds the door for them. He works in the gym next door and teaches boxing. The idea appeals to Katie and after a practice session she signs up. Ryan works with her and you can tell there's underlying feelings going on, though no really spoken. Ryan always seems to turn up when Katie needs him which is a good thing. Ryan is gentle, kind and a special sort of man you really don't find in books these days. I love the way he was written. Even if he did drop both shoes and not just one.
Katie bothered me a bit, always harried getting hired on as a clerk for a prestigious law firm she's sure her mother had something to do with that. The atty she works for is a grade A buttwipe and I was honestly trying to figure out when this girl slept. She barely ate, yet squeezed in her training at the gym. Katie watches as her friends are having relationships and her best friend is getting married and after Ryan, wonders what the hell is wrong with her. 
She does finally take a stand on her job situation and that was a plus. Her father died when she was 10, he was a famous photographer and she misses him. She had her Gran and relied on both those memories when the proverbial sh** got sticky.
Here's my catch with this one, it's definitely a YA story. We have a front row seat to watch these two bob and weave their way toward each other, then away. I had a had time feeling the emotional connection between Katie and Ryan. For as much as they talked and spent time together, I just didn't feel the flow between the two of them. They'd make great best friends. Hopefully the author will come out with a second book and we'll get a closer look and them and a couple of the secondary characters. This book is a great story that will have you wondering if there's someone out there "maybe just like you." 

3.5 closer to 4
*advanced reader copy from NetGalley and Entangled for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
review edited 3/27

I tried really hard to love this book. It could be so much better. I hate leaving bad reviews but I have to be honest. It was so slow moving and the characters weren’t relatable

Maybe Someone Like You reminded me of my favorite slow burn romances in the best possible ways.

Katie has recently graduated law school, and also was recently dumped by her jerk of an ex. While going to a yoga class with a friend she meets Ryan, an instructor at a kickboxing gym. 

After a trial she signs up for lessons with Ryan and they form a fast friendship. Katie is attracted to Ryan, but unsure if he could feel the same way about her. Some of her past experiences have left her feeling less confident about romantic relationships and she isn't sure if she's Ryan's type.

I love smart, fun, and adventurous heroines in books and Katie fits the bill. I like that she has a career she's worked hard for and that she applies that same work ethic to learning kickboxing with Ryan.

Ryan is sweet and really looks out for Katie. He pushes her to learn more and to expand her comfort zone. He wants her to feel powerful and strong, and that made me love him even more!

The plot was well paced and it was easy to connect with the characters. This is definitely my favorite book so far this year!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After a job opportunity falls through and she breaks up with her boyfriend, recent law school grad Katie Capwell is drawn to a boxing gym one day while on her way to a yoga class. While looking through the windows to the gym, she’s approached by the sweet, sexy trainer, Ryan Brincatt. After signing up for some training sessions with Ryan, Katie quickly finds herself drawn to him, while struggling with how different he is from what the appropriate, perfect guy has always looked like in her mind. While building her boxing skills, Katie also begins a new job where she, unfortunately, begins to realize that she may have been wrong about her dreams. 

I loved Katie because she seemed so incredibly real, just like someone I would be friends with. She longed for career stability and happiness, and also longed for love and romance – the problem was, she had built up so many “perfect ideas” regarding a career and a man that she continually found herself disappointed when that fairy tale didn’t come true. Katie was funny, smart, driven, insecure at times, and very vulnerable at times – again, making her a very relatable character. Ryan almost seemed too good to be true and honestly, I wasn’t sure about any of his feelings until almost the end of the novel (which was frustrating). However, his sweet and caring nature, along with major sex appeal, maintained my interest from the first to last page of this book. My only criticism of this novel was how elusive and mysterious Ryan was. I was never sure of his intentions, feelings, other women, etc. for most of the novel but then I realized that the author prompted me to slowly gain his trust and faith in the good man that he was, just as Katie had to do. 

Poor Katie had several things going on in this novel regarding some serious “dating fails,” her best friend getting married, a new job with a very scary boss, discovering new interests, longing for her mother’s approval, and coming to terms with her true feelings and interests both personally and professionally. I have seen some reviews alluding to the slow pace of this novel but I couldn’t disagree more. The girl was trying to find her place in the world professionally while crushing on the total opposite type of man she had pictured herself with, missing loved ones that had died earlier, and just overall struggling to get her footing in the world. Attention other readers and reviewers this takes time and it may not always be mind-blowing excitement, however, I enjoyed being a part of her journey of self-discovery, confidence, and love.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

1.75 stars
This book was so slow, it was like watching paint dry. I kept reading, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did.

Ryan can be a violent man when jealous, "...And then I saw you with that guy.” He scrubs a hand through his hair. “I wanted you to punch him in the solar plexus." Ryan likes to state his intentions to his woman, “fine, then I’m going to spoon you all night.” I liked this book, I liked Ryan.

<I>Drinking game: take a shot every time I say the words ‘slow burn’ in this review.</I>

This is my first book by Stacy Wise, and I absolutely loved it! It’s cute and swoony, with just the right amount of cheese. 

Ryan is not Katie’s type; she’s an overachieving law school graduate, and he’s a tattooed martial arts instructor. But after he catches her creeping around outside the gym he works at, he offers to give her a tour - and Katie finds herself leaving with a gym schedule and her own personal instructor. 

I’m aware that I’ve just made this book sound a bit insta-lovey, but it’s not. Sure, Katie is attracted to Ryan immediately, and is drawn in by his charm and confidence (I, personally, was a goner when his tattoos were described), but it’s definitely not insta-love. It’s slow burn - and I mean <I>slow burn</I>. Like, it’s well past the halfway mark before these two get their arses in gear and talk things out. 

In fact, it’s because of how slow burn this slow burn romance is that I can’t give <I>Maybe Someone Like You</I> five stars. Because while I literally live for slow burn romance, I do like to actually see how the characters live in their relationship, and we didn’t really get that with Katie and Ryan. I mean, sure, we’re told how their story ends, but we don’t get to see any of it. I really loved the friendship and the build up to the relationship, but it was afterward that had me a bit disappointed. Had we gotten more fluffy/smutty/swoony times between the two, my rating would definitely have been a five star one.

While I really appreciated <I>Maybe Someone Like You</I>, I definitely don’t appreciate it making me want to go on a NA binge and messing up my tbr list. Just plain rude, I’m telling ya. 

*Thank you to the publisher for providing an e-ARC in exchange for a review*

Maybe Someone Like You,  Stacy Wise

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  New adult

I loved Stacie's Beyond the Stars, almost a five star read for me but this one? Well, Its sweet, cute, easy to read but I didn't feel that magic of Beyond the Stars in it. 
I liked Katie, liked Ryan but didn't really feel much beyond friends with them and the set up of miscommunication was so tenuous to hang a full romance on that I just didn't find the story believable. 
The Jasmine issue was one of the best parts of the story, how it led to Katie volunteering with the pother group and yet it was a secondary part of the main novel. 

Stars: Three, a story I had high hopes for but which ultimately was just an OK sweet read, not a solid romance for me. 

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

i only got like 20% before i dnf.

it was very dull the characters weren't relatable at all

LOVED this book.  It wasn't what I was expecting, but instead was so much better.  Katie is a recent law school grad looking for a job when she goes to a yoga class with her friend.  Instead of entering the class, she catches sight of a sexy fighter entering the gym next door.  He invites her in and she is hooked, - both on him and on the training.  However, after he last boyfriend cruelly dumped her, she is a bit gun shy, thus leading to an interesting dance as she and Ryan get to know each other.

While this novel is marketed for the new adult reader, this grandma thoroughly enjoyed it.  I found myself caring about the characters and engaged in their story.  I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.  

Just a note for younger readers - this novel has some minimal swear words and some adult situations (but not sexual), it also touches on abusive relationships, but with a light touch for such a tough topic.

I had high hopes for this book, it sounded like it was going to be an amazing read, but I couldn’t get passed the first couple of chapters. I have a rule when it comes to reading a new book. It has up until the first 79 pages to grab my attention, it that doesn’t happen, I’m done. And bless it, I had to struggle to get to page 79 of this book. Katie is supposedly this fresh and new attorney, but oh my goodness she talks to herself, often…..She is a very nervous girl and frankly, that really got on my nerves. I hate to start a book and not finish it, but this one was actually pretty hard for me to read. Some may absolutely love this book, it has a excellent story line, I just couldn’t get over her talking to herself and reassuring her self so much, how can we expect her to become a great attorney, if she has to talk herself into the fact that a stuffed animal is dead?

 

I received an ARC of this book for an honest review, and honestly, it wasn’t for me.

 

2 Stars

This is the first book I've read from the author and I was really excited to read it. I liked the characters well enough but liking the characters does not make me enjoy the story, especially if I can't really connect with them. This story also moved at a very slow pace and I was expecting so much more. This one just wasn't for me.

I was so disappointed with, Maybe Someone Like You. Ryan and Katie are in the friend zone for pretty much the whole book. He doesn't even ask her out on a real date (not as friends) until chapter 32. Mind you there are only 32 chapters and an epilogue. 
If you like friendship books then you'd like this one. I just was expecting more.