I was so excited to read Waiting for Tom Hanks! The title alone totally hooked me because I LOVE me a good chickflick/romcom. While I don't think I've ever swooned over Tom Hanks, I used to dream many a days about finding my special someone, and it's safe to say that I wanted it to be just like the movies. That is precisely Annie’s dream in this book. If it’s not romcom level, she.is.out. Ironically, she finds herself working on a movie set with none other than heartthrob Drew Danforth, thanks to a connection thru her wacky Uncle Don (who is obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons, by the way).

You can see where this is going… But not so quick! Any good romcom fan knows there must be an obstacle before a happily ever after, IF there’s a happily ever after (looking at you My Best Friend’s Wedding). Will Drew and Annie end up together? Or will she end up with Carter? Oh yes, my friends, two good-looking guys vying for Annie’s interest, of course! Carter has a houseboat, which is obviously on Annie’s dreamguy checklist. To see if Annie finds her romcom happily ever after, get a good laugh, and just enjoy a nice read with lots of fun movie references, you’ll want to grab Waiting For Tom Hanks. Which is rated PG-13, obviously!

Thank you to #netgalley for providing a free copy of this book for my honest review!

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a huge rom-com lover and romance reader! I love the feeling of reading a romance because it gives me all the beautiful butterflies inside. For all the people out there saying romance gives us unrealistic views on love then I say screw you! If anything, romance novels teach me what not to want in a man. If reading about love makes me wrong, then I don’t want to be right.

Upon starting Waiting for Tom Hanks, I was excited beyond measure. The heroine seemed right up my alley because essentially she was me. A daydreamer. A hopeless romantic. Love is the cure to all things. But that was before. Once I started the book, I realized that I didn’t much like the heroine, Annie. She’s living in a world that isn’t real. She wants to find her version of Tom Hanks. The Tom Hanks in the romantic comedies he starred in and not necessarily the actor himself.

I continued on though. Because characters always have room to grow from beginning to end. Can’t really judge one from the first chapter. Annie is able to score a job as the assistant to the director of a rom-com that’s filming in her hometown. It’s there that she meets Drew, the lead actor of the film. A manchild that she wants nothing to do with. Herein starts the push and pull and romantic banter we all love in romance.

Drew and Annie were great together. While the story didn’t really bring anything new to the genre, it was sweet and fun. I’m happy to admit that my dislike for Annie grew into more of a tolerable likeness. Her character wasn’t my favorite but I could appreciate her in a different light once I finished the book.

Overall, this was cute. I definitely recommend this to fans of rom-com movies and romance lovers in general. One can never go wrong with a swoony hero that you never knew you were looking for to begin with.

The book had an interesting premise, but was not executed strongly. The plotting was loose in spots and kind of fell apart in the end. Some lines from the book were repeated almost verbatim later in the story regarding character's opinions or feelings. This took me out of the story. I had literally just read that exact thing a few chapters earlier. The characters were endearing. I would give the next book about the peripheral characters a shot. Hopefully that one has some tighter editing.

I've been reading a lot of mystery/suspense this year and wanted something "light and fun" for a change. This book fit the bill perfectly!

WAITING FOR TOM HANKS is a romcom about romcoms. Not surprising, since the heroine is an aspiring screenwriter whose idol is Nora Ephron, and the hero is an actor starring in a romcom filming for two weeks in the heroine's hometown. It was meta but not overly so, knowing when to poke fun and not veer into utter ridiculousness.

I've been telling people this story is "super cute," and it is. It's an easy, breezy kind of read, perfect to take with on vacation. There's great chemistry between the hero and heroine, but the sexy times is closed-door. I didn't mind, though. In fact, I thought it fit well with the overall tone of the story and narrative.

If you're a fan of Nora Ephron romcoms, this is a must-read. Be warned, though: the references sprinkled throughout the story will make you want to binge-rewatch every movie mentioned afterward!

RATING: B

I LOVE Rom-Coms, and Tom Hanks is one of my favorite actors, in any genre he appears in. Kerry Winfrey has written a very fun, witty, romantically satisfying story. The main character is a Rom-Com (romantic-comedy) fan, and a huge Tom Hanks fan and is on the look out for her own Tom Hanks and all the trappings that go with a romantic comedy movie--including a houseboat. I loved the references to some of my favorite movies, the characters and the overall fun of this book. I will definitely be recommending this to my friends that love these movies, this book will be read again!

So this book was most definitely written for me. Thanks Kerry for burrowing into my brain and writing this!

All of my friends know that I am obsessed with Tom Hanks, he is literally my favorite human being, and I know really random facts about him so as soon as I saw the title of this book I jumped on it. I then read the synopsis and got so giddy then I read it and couldn't stop smiling!

If I didn't have to work the next day I would have finished this in one sitting. Damn was it cute! I love rom-coms and Tom Hanks as mentioned before, though not as much as Annie, and it was so adorable I couldn't help but love it.

What made this book extra special to me though was that I went to THE Ohio State University and this book takes place in Columbus, OH. All of the places mentioned in the book I have been to and that is just so cool to me! It made the book REAL even though rom-coms aren't real life, because I knew what these places looked like (German Village, Thurman's, and The Book Loft, my second favorite bookstore ever!) and since I knew all of these places it made it feel like this book, this rom-com, can actually happen which put an even bigger smile on my face!

*Thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to read this e-arc!*

Fun and quirky story about the search for romance. Entertaining in a sweet way with many cultural references.
Nostalgic.

There's a reason To All the Boys I Loved Before became a cultural phenomenon when it premiered on Netflix last year. People love a sweet, sigh inducing, fade to black in the bedroom, guaranteed Happily After Ever ending, romantic comedy.. That's what Waiting for Tom Hanks is in book form.

Annie is obsessed with romantic comedies and finding her own Tom Hanks, but at 27 years-old she'll settle on a good guy with a houseboat. When the opportunity to work on the movie set of a real life romantic comedy comes into her life she can't pass it up. Nor can she pass up the chemistry she has with leading man Drew. Obviously Drew can't be her Tom Hanks, right? Or could he...

This is a cute book totally worth binging on the beach this summer.

I had a fun time reading this and for contemporary romances that is sort of the main thing I care about. I am a huge Rom Com fan and despite never seeing the so called Rom Com classics that are mentioned in this one, I enjoyed seeing a character who unapologetically loves them. I enjoyed the commentary on romantic comedies, the author talks about how heteronormative and white older rom coms are and the main character’s best friend is constantly bringing up how unrealistic certain aspects of them are. This book is also funny, I found myself laughing out loud a few times. The supporting characters were fun too, her uncle and best friend were refreshing. I believe there is a spin off novel with the best friend and I see potential in that one.

I really wanted to love this book and the above made me ignore some of the issues I had while reading it, but once I finished it, I realized I had some problems with it. Overall this book is cheesy (not always bad), infuriating, and I had issues with the main character. Annie seems sort of naïve for being 26 (or 27 I don’t remember her age). She still believes in the whole idea of the perfect man (she refers to him as her Tom Hanks) which to me seems a bit unrealistic for a woman in her mid-twenties in 2019. I also did not see any chemistry between Drew and Annie. They had some cute and funny moments, but I did not really care if they ended up together and was not invested in the romance. This also has tons of miscommunication and the whole “it’s better if were not together trope” spoiler, this is a romance novel and we all know you’re going to get together so I don’t want to read about that for 40 pages. There are tons of tropes, not all which are bad, but all together make for a predictable novel whose comedy and fun side characters don’t fix all the issues I had with the main plot.

First and foremost, thank you Netgalley and Berkley Romance for sending me an advanced review copy!

With a cover like that, I was stoked to dive into this one. I was coming off of my Valentine’s Day high and Waiting for Tom Hanks was the perfect way to finish it out. A woman obsessed with rom-coms finds herself smack dab in the middle of a rom-com. What could be better?!

“Tom Hanks isn’t a person so much as he is a representation of the kind of man I deserve, as my mom told me over and over.”

Waiting for Tom Hanks is the perfect blend of humor and romance, as any rom-com should be. The witty banter between all the characters—especially Annie and Chloe—felt so authentic. I absolutely felt like the characters were my best friends and I was in the snow-y streets of downtown Columbus.

Speaking of Columbus—I actually live in Ohio, so to read about places I’ve been to before was so fun! I loved to get a little taste of one of my favorite cities in print form. Like The Book Loft? One of my all-time favorite places.

“Life’s a big ball of shit sometimes.”

Like any good rom-com, there’s always the angst (but never too much)! I thought Kerry did an incredible job of adding heart to the story, bringing her characters and her story even more to life than before. It truly felt like I was sitting on my couch and watching this book on my screen. I love when an author can bring a story to life like that.

“Chloe might be right. I might actually, finally be in my romantic comedy.”

My only, only problem with Waiting for Tom Hanks is kind of a dumb one. The story is centered around romantic comedies and I understand that. It’s just… it felt suffocating with how much romantic comedies are mentioned. I was waiting for the moment where Annie stops caring about romantic comedies so much and just lives her life, but it never came. It was just constant talk about romantic comedies and it really took away from the story. It was very distracting!

The beginning was also quite slow, but I got over that pretty quickly.

Overall, Waiting for Tom Hanks is a romantic comedy full of heart, humor, and a delicious dose of reality. I would love to see this novel make it on to the big screen!

This book was SO like a rom-com and I was hear for it! I cannot wait for this book to come out because Ill be able to actually recommend it to all of my friends!

Annie was raised on rom-coms thus sparking how she lives her real life...forever in search of her own Tom Hanks. When an opportunity arises to work on a rom-com set presents itself, Annie can't say no, in fact she is currently writing her own screenplay. But when Annie meets the lead actor, notorious prankster Drew Danforth she is less than pleased with his casting; but soon enough sparks begin to fly and maybe Drew isn't quite how he portrays himself.
An adorable story of a someone searching for real love in today's world (when she is kinda stuck in how she thinks love should be thanks to all the movies she has watched).

Unpopular opinion here and I feel kind of sad that I feel this way over this beautifully written romance novel, with such an incredible cover...

I am probably the only one who will be feeling this way over this novel, but I never back down from speaking the truth when it comes down to any romance novels. Don't get me wrong, the writing was surprisingly incredibly well written. What threw me off was the story plot. I am the biggest fan of Tom Hanks and all his cheesy rom-com movies, but to me I did not see this story appealing once I got into it. I actually feel really bad about it, but I cannot be denied from stating my opinion. I feel bad because this is a new author for me and I wanted to give her a chance, but no way am I a true fan. I really don't want to get involved about the story plot because I don't want to expand too much on my opinion, but I will say this; for those who are looking for an up beat and original romance novel with lots of excitement and great characters? This is not the romance for you.

For those who are seeking a simple romance that has no story plot and just focuses on these bland characters, then I suppose this is it? Congrats to Kerry for this novel. I will probably not be reading anything more from this author, but I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else may think of this story.

Waiting For Tom Hanks is fun, binge-worthy read that embraces everything people love about romantic comedies.

Annie has been living her life waiting for something exciting to happen. She’s dreamed of writing a screenplay, working in movies and finding the love of her life - who she imagines would be like the Tom Hanks characters she idolizes in her favorite romantic movies. The problem is that while she’s waiting for things to unfold like a standard rom-com she’s watching life pass her by.

Everything changes when a new movie is being filmed in her neighborhood. Annie finds herself working on the set and literally running into the leading man. She continuously tells herself he does not fit her Tom Hanks ideal and this man can only lead to trouble.

I thought that this was a fun take on the genre. I loved how this book pointed out some of the unbelievable stereotypes found in romantic comedies while still embracing everything that makes people love them. It had everything I’d expect - a main character prone to mishaps, witty banter, and an entertaining plot.

The main word I have for this book is cute. The story is cute, the romance is cute, and the writing is cute. Its right in the middle of everything, which is why it deserves three stars and not more. It was entertaining and I read it in less than 3 hours so it was a fast read as well.
What I enjoyed about the book is that Kerry Winfrey knows her romcoms (especially Nora Ephron's) and wove a ton of those references throughout the book. I enjoyed reading about her journey from being a fan of movies and a writer to actually getting the chance to work on a movie set. The banter between Annie and Drew is fun and you can feel the slow sizzle between them even if she's in denial for much of the time. I liked her best friend and her uncle. It's a simple story with fun elements.
The issues with the book are that Annie spends too much time focusing on the Tom Hanks list and the author brings that up just a few too many times. Life is not a movie and I get that she was trying to be meta but after a while, it felt like I was being hit over the head with it. Annie is more obsessed with Tom Hanks than seeing what's right in front of her and the opportunities that she's given. There needs to be more development to the plot and the characters so it feels relatively superficial. It also felt a bit rushed but I feel that was done on purpose because most times, the characters Tom Hanks plays and Nora Ephron wrote fell in love pretty quickly. I think the chemistry needed to be amped up a bit and I was a little disappointed that, like with most romcoms, the bedroom scenes are built up only to fade to black.
As a whole, some things could have been better but overall, it's cute and fun. I would still recommend it to anybody looking for a beach read or a palate cleanser.

I really wanted to like this book, it had all the elements that make up a light, fun read. With some heavy editing, it would have been a much tighter, cleaner, and enjoyable novel. The heavy emphasis on Columbus (Ohio) and the "German Village" neighborhood felt less scene-setting and more like a travel advertisement of I LOVE THIS PLACE AND HAVE TO YOU REMIND YOU EVERY FEW PAGES ABOUT IT. There also seemed to be a LOT of repetitiveness throughout the novel that should have been caught in editing, ie., everyone smirks as their default facial reaction and everyone is described as wearing a puffy coat. We get it, it's cold. It sounds silly but I legit almost put the book down after being told YET AGAIN that someone bumped someone else with their "puffy coat". I feel bad that the author's work didn't get the editing job it deserved, it's a cute story and had lots of potential. Her humor was sharp and supporting characters were well-fleshed out, I LOVED Uncle Don! This writer is one to watch if she is paired with the right editor to polish up the story structure on future novels.

I saw this title on Netgalley and immediately put in a request based on the cover and title alone. Then the synopsis said “rom-com romantic” and my brain immediately converted it to neon CAPS.

I adore rom-coms. I regularly watch my favorite movies in 10-15 minutes sections. The meet-cute and then the climactic, music swelling ending. I’ve watched the last 10 minutes of Set It Up & To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix more times than I can count. Do I have the last 10 minutes of Bridget Jones Diary saved on my dvr so I can watch Colin any time I want? Yes. Yes I do. I’m not even embarrassed. I love these feel good schmaltzy moments because, well, they feel GOOD!

This book delivered the same feeling I get watching my favorite rom-coms. It.was.adorable. I flew through it because I couldn’t get enough of the PG romance and snarky banter between the two main characters. It was genuine escapist fun. Plus there is an ongoing conversation about Yacht Rock (my favorite!!), in particular, Escape (the Pina Colada song) that made me laugh out loud!

A word of caution: A lot of references to specific rom-coms and Nora Ephron/Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks. It didn’t bother me- but be aware.

Waiting for Tom Hanks is a sweet and charming homage to romantic comedies and those of us who love them. Annie Cassidy is well versed in how rom-coms are supposed to develop, from meet-cute to happily-ever-after. We learn that her devotion to rom-coms is more than just superficial pop culture references, but how she stays connected to her late mother. While working on a movie set currently filming in her neighborhood, she meets-cute with both actor Drew Danforth and “Sexy Gaffer” Carter. Annie’s journey to her HEA takes her through all the traditional tropes of a romantic comedy. Annie has the requisite best friend (Chloe) and is surrounded by quirky characters like her Uncle Don and coffee shop customer Gary. This was an enjoyable book to read and was full of heart.

A couple of favorite lines:
“Just because I’m looking for what I know I deserve doesn’t mean I’m being unrealistic.”

“This guy looks like he’ll age well, like wine or a cheese or a Clooney.”

Looking forward to Nick and Chloe’s story in the next book, Not Like the Movies

An aside: Love stories happen outside of New York and LA so it was nice to see this story set in Columbus, Ohio. I live in central Ohio so it was delightful to read about locations I am familiar with.

P.S. I agree with Annie, Drew and Kerry Winfrey. It does seem like Chopped is always on!

I received a egalley from netgalley of this. From the title and synopsis, this book is right up my alley. But I feel like the execution could've been a bit better. I feel like some super minor revisions would've made the MC a lot stronger.

But hey, I read it in 24 hours and it was entertaining. Especially for people who love romantic comedies!

A pitch perfect beach read!

If you’re a mega-fan of 90s rom-coms, you and Waiting for Tom Hanks are M-F-E-O. Made For Each Other. It’s a supercute (and totally self-aware) homage to the genre, with nods to everything from Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally to Notting Hill and The Wedding Singer.

Annie and Drew’s story hits all the classic beats: the meet cute, the banter, the misunderstandings, the grand gesture and even the sprint to the finish. I ate it up! Waiting for Tom Hanks is charming, delightful and a summer must-read.