Complementary copy given for honest review and opinion. Copy provided by NetGalley.

This book was amazing! I loved to see the love bloom from these two characters that was carried over from secret crushes of their younger years.

I really enjoyed Home Sweet Mess, Allison Ashley has a real talent for great characterisation.
This is the story of Jeni and Logan and all the messiness of their past trauma. This starts off with a few traditional romance tropes - enemies to lovers and interested in friends sibling. Jeni and Logan have a rough start and Logan appears to be the ultimate playboy. Jeni on the other hand is strong and independent and not looking for love after a brutal past relationship. These two are thrown together over and over and their chemistry is undeniable. As we delve into their backstories Logan goes from a one dimensional playboy to a damn good catch. Jeni’s ongoing resistance to committing to Logan is understandable and at times frustrating. My favourite characters were Jeni’s visiting family and her escape tactics were so relatable.
This is a lovely read with real heart and real world problems.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC.

I enjoyed this book.
I found Logan and Jeni to be very realistic characters. It was nice to see that the characters weren't perfect. So many times you read books and the characters are so perfect, that they are just too good to be true. But Logan and Jeni are like regular people. It was easy to relate to them. It was also great to see them acknowledge their flaws throughout the book.
I get that Jeni went through a trauma so she's unwilling to try something new, I completely appreciated Logan stood his ground and didn't waiver
This was a very empowering and optimistic book. It let me see that the right person can make all the difference.

Thank you NetGalley, Allison Ashley and the publishers for the chance to read this great book.

This story is a breath of fresh air and one I enjoyed immensely. You could relate to these characters so much and once you get into their world, you have trouble leaving. I found myself rooting for them and wanting to meet them for coffee or drinks. It encompasses a lot of topics and the author did an excellent job weaving a story that many are sure to enjoy. One I will be recommending.

Home Sweet Mess follows new-in-town, social worker Jeni and her twin brother’s womanizing best friend Logan as they attempt to navigate friends with benefits vs dating while dealing with twin/best friend Andrew’s cancer diagnosis. (Too wordy? This is why I’m not a writer 😂).

This was the enemies to friends to lovers romcom book I didn’t know I needed. I started out hating Logan (which was the point) and seriously considering putting it down cause I didn’t want a whole book of him. So glad I kept going as per usual romance style, you start to learn why Logan is who he is and fall in love with him. This book had back story and well as romance. I loved the alternating perspectives as I always enjoy getting inside a male lead’s thoughts. I also loved how you got to see a glimpse of the foster care system through Jeni’s work.

My only minor issue is that it annoys me when girls want to be with someone but won’t allow themselves love because they don’t want a relationship 😒. (And this is the second book recently that had that as a story line). For those of us her are terminally single, I just want to scream at her! But that’s my issue entirely, not a fault of the book 😂.

If you looking for a great romance with depth and backstory that will give you all the feels, go check out this self published one by @authorallisonashley

Thank you NetGalley and the author for this gift eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 out of 5. This is a cute story. A predictable but cute and nice story that is a very easy read and a very enjoyable 1 sitting read. I loved the NFL focus, and all their meet cutes. Jeni is a bit stubborn for my taste but at least there is some strong character development throughout the story. Sadly i didn't know there was a 1st book, as i might have wanted to read that one but know i know how it ends!

I love this authors writing style and this was no expectation, it was so cute. I’ve done very few 5 star books this year so far and this was one of them. I loved it! I’ll definitely be recommending this to all my fellow book readers! Thank you for this gem of a book! 😍

What a beautiful story. So many real and raw emotions are expressed in this book and so beautifully written, I cried more than once.

I loved Jeni and Logan and how they bantered with each other. As each of their back stories unfolded my heart broke for each of them. Each had a wall they had built to protect themselves from being hurt again and even though Logan is the one who, rather unexpectedly decides he wants more, he wants that connection and commitment, he’s still holding back and protecting himself, it takes his mom pointing it out to him about his past behaviour for him to realise. He then lays his heart out to Jeni and leaves himself open to be truly hurt. Jeni takes a little longer to get the same point as Logan as her past hurt scared her deeply and it is asked her having to move on without Logan to make her realise he’s worth the risk. The moment when she opens herself fully to him is simply beautiful.

This was my first book by this author and it was simply beautiful, the heart was so strong. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Home Sweet Mess was such an adorable love story! Allison Ashley is an amazing author with beautiful prose and a talent for characterization and transmitting emotions through words. This is the story of social worker Jeni and her brother Andrew's best friend, Logan. It's got enemies-to-lovers feels, although the enemies part doesn't last long! Logan is a known playboy, but when he meets Jeni, he wants to settle with her. The thing is, she doesn't want anything serious after a bad past relationship, and would only be willing to be physical with him. I loved both Logan's and Jeni's backstories. I feel like they were original and gave the characters a lot of depth. I also loved Logan's sweet and caring personality. I have to admit I had a bit more problem getting to like Jeni's character. Yes, her backstory explained her hesitancy toward having a relationship with Logan, but even when she knew he wanted more, she didn't let him go, and she hurt Logan a little too much for my taste. I love a good take-no-shit woman, but at some point I just felt sorry for Logan who kept getting played with. There were also a few places where the dialogue felt a little info-dumpy, especially at the beginning. Still, this book was a really enjoyable read and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants angsty romance and a mostly closed door level of steam!

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a very sweet and easy to read story. It was fairly easy to spot what would happen and despite my predictions being 100% accurate it didn’t make it a boring read. The characters were likeable and it was a pleasant few hours lost in an easy to follow book. Would recommend for a few hours of escapism!

Home Sweet Mess by Alison Ashley is the companion to Perfect Distraction - there are character overlaps, so one should really read the other first to avoid two major spoilers. I really enjoyed Home Sweet Mess. Jeni is an outspoken, strong woman, and Logan is a bit arrogant, but also a kindhearted, genuine man. Their relationship begins awkwardly and not without conflict (though minor), but evolves into a strong friendship with benefits and more. There is plenty of banter balanced with deeply heartfelt conversations, which add to the characters' chemistry. It is a well paced novel with strong character arcs and realistic dialogue. If you enjoy enemies-to-friends-to-lovers or best-friend's-sister tropes, then this novel will be an excellent choice for you!

Content warning: cancer, divorce, foster system

Advanced copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So here's the thing - I liked a lot of things about this book. This is an enemies to friends to lovers to friends to marriage book. It has an unusual arc - and I liked that about it. I liked Logan and Jeni's commitment to foster children and their friends and family. I liked Logan's character arc of growth and the advice his mother gives him. What I didn't like? Jeni. I know, I know, she's "sassy" and tough. I can love that - and do love that in many books. I just didn't here. I felt she was selfish, immature, and cowardly most of the time. Granted - she is very up front about her feelings with Logan (which I did like) but everyone could tell - even Logan that while she was being up-front with him - she was also straight up not being truthful with herself.

I'm also not sure about the title here - I kind of expected it to be about home improvement - but it wasn't. It was about finding home - to an extent - but it just doesn't fit for me.

Overall - I liked it - but it definitely wasn't love.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

Let me start off by saying this is the second book written by this author. The first book is about Jeni’s brother and his experience with cancer. And him meeting his one and only. I absolutely loved everything about that first story! This one lacked a bit. I did enjoy the story which is why I am giving it four stars, but it is missing something/a few parts were slow. Logan is a well developed character who you can’t help fall in love with right away. Jeni was a bit annoying to me a few times and I just wanted to skip over some of her parts.
Overall, I do recommend you read this one. It is an enjoyable story with mostly great characters. I just wish it had more of the feels that Perfect Distraction allowed me to experience.

Home Sweet Mess is my first book by Allison Ashley. I requested it because I really enjoy both the friends to lovers AND enemies to lovers trope and while I couldn't be sure which category this book fell into, I knew it was one of the two and either way that's a win for me.

The book started out pretty meh for me. Jeni, the main character, felt off. I wanted to like her, but something about her seemed immature to me. Sadly, as the book progressed, I couldn't love her character. There were times when I liked her character but there were also more times when I did not like her at all. Unfortunately, her immaturity deepened and it just didn't FIT with the character the way she was written. However, this book is written from multiple points of view and Logan's character was the whole package. I loved him, I rooted for him. His story was so well developed. His insecurities FIT with his past and ultimately his character. He made so much sense and kept me coming back to the book.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was compulsively readable and the trope DID NOT DISAPPOINT ( I knew it would be a win). As soon as I finished, I searched the author and ordered Perfect Distraction. I can't wait to read Lauren and Andrew's story.

I give this book 3.5 stars


Thank you to NetGalley and Allison Ashley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Home Sweet Mess.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Jeni is new to Kansas City, working in child protective services, a passion to help people has always been in her blood. Her twin, Andrew, is her best friend and always keeps an eye out for her. Logan, is Andrew's best friend and wants the two of them to meet and become friends. Little did Andrew know what would ultimately happen to his two favorite people, let alone himself. I really enjoyed following the stories of these three individuals and how their lives change, progress, during good and bad times. You never know how much you have in common with people or how different aspects may intertwine for the better. I loved watching Jeni's guard slowly come down and Logan, the ladies man, take a relationship approach to his life. Great quick read! I would recommend!

3.5 stars. For the most part, I really liked this book. Even though it took me longer than I expected, mainly because I was having a hard time trying not to reach through the pages to strangle Jeni, I ended up enjoying it. I had a hard time dealing with Jeni's attitude throughout most of the book - she definitely let one mistake rule her life, and the "woe is me" pity party was definitely getting on my nerves towards the end. Despite that, the story had some funny moments as well as touching, sweet moments, and I loved Jeni's brother Andrew and his story. Logan was an absolutely sweetheart and definitely book-boyfriend material. The football rivalry was hysterical!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review this advanced reading copy!

<b><u>CONTENT WARNING:</u></b> <spoiler>fostering system, child protective services, female infertility</spoiler>

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick, sweet and enjoyable read. The writing style really fit me well, and I enjoyed this book from the very first page. But I felt that I've already read this one.

I felt that the plot was almost copy-pasted from [book:The Friend Zone|41945163] and it had every romance trope imaginable: best friend's sister/ brother's best friend, he is a ladies' man/ she never wants to have a relationship, enemies turn to lovers.

So Logan and Jeni meet through a series of events where they go to each other's nerves. Logan turns out to be best friend of her twin brother. He sleeps around and she has a failed marriage and never wants to date again. Jeni's twin brother gets diagnosed with cancer and the two bond over taking care of him. Now, Jeni wants to be friends with benefits, while Logan wants to date her exclusively and not have intercourse at all.

There are some secrets that remain untold until the very end of the book, but it is very clear what they are, so all of the plot was extremely expected.

All the same, I really enjoyed the writing style and the book in general. It was a quick and easy read and I just flew through it. I'm definitely interested in reading more from the author.

I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest review.
I have to say I was unsure about this book as I was unfamiliar with the author and wasn’t sure I would like it. I read it in one day so I guess that says something about the book.
Jeni’s past had a lot of heart aches and she tried marriage once but her husband left her devastated and with some issues that she would soon learn she would have to work through.
Enter Logan who Jeni finds out is a player right off the bat. Then to find out he is her brothers best friend to boot. Some interesting twists in this book and it’s well worth it to read.
5 stars

I honestly had a difficult time finding my pace with this one. The writing was fine, as was the story. I have no idea what it was, I couldn’t get into it. I’m not punishing the author or book for my issues. It was obviously well-done this one was on me.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Logan who works for the nfl likes his best friends sister named Jeni. When Logan's friend is sick Logan and Jeni spend more time together I enjoyed the chemistry between Logan and Jeni.