<i>Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the chance to read this digital ARC.</i>

<b>Too Good to Be Real by Melonie Johnson</b> has a really unique and clever premise, but the execution fell a bit flat for this reader.

With her job on the line, travel-averse Julia pitches her boss the idea of becoming their new travel writer. Her boss agrees to give her a chance after loving Julia's pitch to review a resort dedicated to bringing romantic comedies to life for their guests. Julia snags complimentary visit for her and her two best friends to experience the romantic comedy live action role playing (LARPing) during the resort's grand opening.

Upon arriving at the resort, Julia has a meet-cute with an endearingly awkward man named Luke and a run-in with a thieving seagull. Julia decides to hide the fact that she's reviewing the resort from Luke, while Luke decides to hide his own secret from Julia. As Julia and Luke get caught up in the resorts romantic comedy offerings, they'll need to figure out if what they're feeling for each other is fantasy or reality.

The premise of a romantic comedy novel set at a resort that delivers tailored romantic comedy experiences immediately caught my attention. Unfortunately, the execution fell a bit flat in terms of character development and overall storytelling.

Each of the characters felt very one dimensional, which made it very difficult for me to connect to them or care about what was happening to them. A lot of time was spent exploring Julia's, Luke's and her friends' relationships with their parents (and ultimately those parents' marriages) and how those marriages impacted each character's view of romance and love. I understand the importance of exploring how those parents' marriages impacted their kids, but I have to admit it got a bit taxing reading about so many negative parental relationships.

I also felt like there were too many subplots - Julia's career, Luke's career, Julia's friend Andie's romance, Julia's friend Kat's romance and Luke's sister's romance - which ultimately took away from the main romance's development. While the subplots took away time and attention from Julia and Luke's romance, none of them felt fully developed. They were more distracting than actually serving any real purpose.

While I didn't enjoy Too Good to Be Real, I do think they are readers that will enjoy escaping into the world of romantic comedies Melonie Johnson created.

Loved the concept for this one! It was unique, well paced, and contained all the best references and call backs to all the great rom coms. Highly recommend for all the rom com lovers out there!

Mmm, I have this book for weeks now and I started reading several times; every time a bit further. But at the same time, there was another book that I preferred to read. So, this book landed at the bottom of the pile again. Today, I decided to finally pick this up because I thought I needed something uplifting and romantic after reading some books on heavy topics. But again my eyes kept lingering (figuratively) at another book. That made me decide to DNF this one at 29%. This is not a bad book, I really liked Julia and her friends and Luke was a cute guy. This book was just not the right one for me at the right time.

3.5 rounding up.
A cute and fun romance!

I absolutely loved the concept of this one. Julia, a writer trying to save her job stays at LARP Rom-Com experience called Notting Hill where all the guests get to experience scenarios from some of the greatest rom-comes of all time. Luke, the architect of this experience is a coder who wants to create a start up so he took this job to work with his sister Penelope and his best friend Vijay.

The meet-cute of Luke & Julia is straight out of a rom-com. From the 1st moment you know their story is going to be a fun and wild ride.

Overall, I really did love the concept but some of the romance parts fell a little flat but I still would recommend this one to anyone who loves a rom-com.

Thank you to Netgalley & St. Martins Press/Griffin for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Too Good to Be Real

Rating: 4/5🌟!

Rom-coms and meet cutes are just for books and movies right? Or are they?!

Too Good to Be True follows three best friends - Julia, Andie and Kat - as they head off on an all expenses paid vacation to a resort offering just that - a chance to spend one week living like their lives as a story in a romantic comedy.

Enter Luke - sweet, extremely nerdy and head game simulator for the resort. He’s used to having a plan for everything and plan he has. Between him, his sister Penelope and his best friend Vijay, the three of them are ready to give the resort’s guests the most romantic, comedic week of their lives. Or at least, that’s what he planned.

One chance encounter on the beach later, Luke and Julia find themselves questioning if maybe rom coms are real, and maybe so is love at first sight.

This was such a fun and interesting take on romcom but Melonie Johnson - I loved the idea of characters on a LARP (live action role play) adventure and thought it was such a fun approach to a genre that can be a bit overdone. I appreciated the time she gave to developing each character and their stories and felt compelled to keep reading to see where their game experience would take them. While some parts were a little wordy and repetitive, I truly enjoyed this fun and different read!

Read if you like:
+ Romantic comedies
+ Love at (almost) first sight
+ Best friend adventures/character arcs

Thank you so much to Melonie Johnson, St. Martin‘s Press/Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars

I would love to stay in a themed hotel where you get to role play as a rom-com character! I think that's a fantastic idea and now I wonder if something like it exists in real life? The game was my favorite part of the story, the activities they planned like paintball and wine/painting night sound fun and everyone playing a character was great.

Julia and her friends are cute and I enjoyed their relationship. They tease each other and push each other's buttons but are also supportive through tough times. Each of them got a little romance in and they all had some funny moments. Luke also has a squad with his younger sister and his best friend. They aren't as funny, but it was still an interesting relationship.

The pacing was pretty quick and the story was cute. If you're looking for a lighthearted romance, give this a try. Bonus for corgi cuddles and lots of rom-com references!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I have voluntarily chosen to leave a review.

Such a cute story! This is just the type of book to reach for when you want something lighthearted but well written. The premise was a bit convoluted for my taste, with all the rules to this fantasy romance game at a resort. Where this book really shines is its characters. The heroine and her friends are very likable, the dialogues are great and the whole group feels well-defined. The hero was refreshing because of he felt like a real guy you could meet, not some perfect ideal but just a nice guy. Very charming!

Escapist and fun - perfect for pandemic times! A recommended purchase for collections where light WF and romcoms are popular.

I am always looking for books that let me escape, especially these days and wow did this deliver.
I wish this resort was real so I could go there too!

When the hero has a bird crap on him but still can't stop thinking about the heroine's hair, I think I fell a little bit in love with him myself. And how fun he wasn't the usual buff super hot guy. Personally, I'd love to see more awkward nerdy love interests.

Both the main characters had flaws and issues, which made them feel very real. And even though their love seemed to happen fast (they are only together for a week) I found that to be a perfect example of the kind of lightning bolt romance rom-coms can be known for...and that's what they question too - can a love felt so fast be real? By the end of the book, I believed it was.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange of an honest review.

I thought the story was cute. Not much depth but nice and easy read.

Sadly, this book was not for me. The characters are interesting and often charming, but they are unfortunately held back by a contrived plot and an unconvincing central conflict. At times, it feels like they're being forced to act in ways that don't make sense for who they are in order to fit into a specified rom-com blueprint. Fans of romantic comedies will enjoy the many nods to the genre and its beloved tropes, but a gimmick will only get you so far, and Too Good to Be Real lets the tropes use it instead of it using the tropes to create something fresh and honest.

On the plus side, there is some enjoyable banter between the leads and several humorous encounters with seagulls.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Too Good to Be Real was all kinds of cute and filled with tons of awkward and funny moments as well. It also reminded me of Austenland but way cuter and with less annoying characters (for me).

In it, you will meet Julia and Luke. Now these two had tons of chemistry throughout the book. Plus the little baby sparks from their first meeting was kind of adorable. But the real thing that kept me laughing? Julia and her friends.. and the seagulls. Man the birds were hilarious. The trio of girls were equally entertaining due to their bantering too. It just shows you how close they truly were.

Now some of the events were kind of interesting to me. I mean, a sand castle competition and paintballing sounds like a lot of fun. It's just the whole fake name thing that would mess me up. Just like Julia and her friends, I would end up saying everyone's real name instead of their fake one.

With all the puns and bittersweet moments, the book was quite enjoyable. I cringed, laughed, and made comments in each chapter. It was definitely entertaining and a page turner for me.

Lovely! It was cute and fluffy and had just the right amount of steam to keep my interested. Would have liked it better if it was not dual pov but alas

Too Good to Be Real follows a writer, Julia, on her adventure at a meet cute resort for her job.

This was such a fun read! I loved the concept of the meet cute experience. This reminded me a bit of How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days with the journalist trying an experience for her job. The chemistry between Julia and her friends was iconic, Luke was a bit less than iconic. Overall I did like this a lot though!

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

So so unterhaltsam! Ich hätte nie gedacht, dass mich das Buch so packen würde. Ich habe Tränen gelacht. Es könnte DAS Buch für den Sommer werden.

Too Good to be real by Melonie Johnson is well written. The story is fun, quirky, and very enjoyable. I love the idea of a Rom-Com retreat.

"I'll have what she's having."

If you enjoy rom coms even a little this book is going to keep you entertained. I absolutely loved the premise and had quite a few good laughs.

While trying to save her job, A reporter attends a rom com resort, and of course all the typical antics ensue. From meet-cutes to forced proximity, all of it is on the table.

I did find that the character interaction could have been stronger and the writing sometimes left me confused on who was speaking, but overall a fun read.

I love the concept of this book. I adore rom-coms and really enjoyed all of the references to classic rom-coms throughout the book. I enjoyed the friendship between Julia, Kat, and Andie. I also really like Julia and Luke together, however it happened so fast it didn't feel too real. I did not like Luke's interactions with his sister.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

<i>"Did the resort deliver the magical experience of being a part of a romantic comedy?"</i>

This one was absolutely adorable. A female journalist signs up for an full immersion, roleplay type experience at a resort - one that lets you experience all the rom-coms you've loved and all the cute moments that go along with them. But when you're staying in a make believe land, it's hard to know when something might actually be real.

I loved the trio of friends (both sets!) The girls were so fun. Their banter was well written and easy to read, even when they were having candid conversations. The other three, putting on the experience, were equally fun and I enjoyed learning some of the behind the scenes stuff for the resort.

This is a great, easy read that had so many cute moments - I laughed and cringed right along with everyone in the story - and I loved it!

<i>An e-ARC was provided to me by the author and publishing via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.</i>

I wanted to like this book. The first couple of paragraphs had me cracking up, with the girls comparing a man’s appendage in a photo to a shrimp. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there for me.

I felt as though the writing did not “flow” at all. As soon as we hit one subject, we’re on to the next, and it was honestly just confusing. I wasn’t connecting to any of the characters.

I had to DNF. I do want to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book, but unfortunately, it wasn’t for me.