While I will say there's nothing groundbreaking about the plot (early 30s woman being hounded by her mother to settle down and procreate*/dodgy exes who border on stalking/ a seemingly unrequited love interest) every single note in Laura Starkey's debut novel just hits perfectly. If it's this enjoyable, who really cares? Certainly not me.

*or is she?

There's depth to every single major character, and even the minor characters are well incorporated, and not merely there for padding, or worse, as afterthoughts for forced conflict points.

We are allowed to let the story breathe, yet the pacing doesn't feel at all laboured. Rachel was extremely relatable, and her childhood backstory added a whole other emotional dimension to what was already a great debut novel. I won't spoil the love interest, but I was definitely rooting for the right one... 😉

I look forward to reading more from @laura_starkey

**Trigger Warnings for bereavement and cancer**

Overall Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤
Heat Rating: 🔥
Emotional Rating: 😂😂💓😢😢

I had a lot of problems with this text, which I'll get into below. To give credit where it's due, I did find the MC relatable. Unfortunately, that's the nicest thing I have to say.

- This novel is based around a love triangle, which isn't my favorite trope but can be done well. For some reason though, Starkey doesn't introduce one of the two romantic options until 40% of the way through! By that point my capacity for caring had long since passed.

- The book suffered greatly from "she doesn't even know she's beautiful" syndrome. The MC, Rachel, talks a lot of shit about her own appearance despite every dude we meet finding her just beautiful.

- From a technical standpoint, this book had a problem with POV. It's told in 3rd person but mostly follows Rachel. There are head swaps though, which are utterly unmarked btw, though the first one doesn't occur until 40% in as well.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this Rom-Com. It was funny and the main character was relatable.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was funny, cute and hard to put down. I enjoyed this book and will look for more books by this author.

I enjoyed reading this book to find out about 'Rachel's resolutions.' The story was rather predictable but it made it an easy read - which I appreciated. I was happy with the conclusion of the book.

4.5 stars

Rachel Ryan has resolutions for the new year— start running, put more money into savings, get a promotion, etc. Rachel lives with her best friend Anna while working as a copywriter in London. As of now, she’s dealing with some pretty dry content— vegetables. Things seem to be going according to plan, that is, until her cheating ex boyfriend shows up. The guy who broke her heart and is the reason she keeps men at a distance.

Jack Harper and Rachel Ryan were serious in college until he cheated on her the day before graduation. Rachel hasn’t seen him in 10 years and now she’s forced to work in close proximity to him daily. Jack apologizes and claims he’s a changed man, while also laying on the charm thick. Things evolve as Jack keeps trying to get back in Rachel’s good graces. To keep him at a distance Rachel pretends her and her best guy friend, Tom, are dating. It seems harmless at first, as they’ll never meet. As the year goes on, will Rachel have to make some new resolutions?

This was such a cute story. I actually read it in nearly one sitting. It’s always so fun to read a story where the main character shares a name with you.

The one problem I had with this book was the very random changes in POV. The story is told in third person via Rachel, but there are random jumps to someone else’s perspective (still in third person). There is no line to mark a change or even a new chapter, it just happens. This only happens a few times, but it was very jarring when it happened. I think this should’ve just been from Rachel’s perspective, unless the author had changed it to be more of an overarching third person POV. I also would’ve been okay with a new chapter from the other perspective (but it needed to be more clearly marked).

Another thing that was irksome was that Rachel was constantly putting herself down, but everyone around her remarked how beautiful she is. It felt very “not like the other girls”. I get feeling self conscious, but she’s described with beautiful red hair, curves, etc. and has two beautiful men pining after her so it seems very cliche.

The story had great pacing, great plot, and one of these men was an absolute gem.


TROPES: second chance?, possible friends to lovers?, love triangle, fake dating, not like the other girls (sigh), mutual pining

If you are looking for a feel good romance with a love triangle troupe look no further. Rachel is totally relatable, funny and charming. I loved the fact that the book was written in a way that it took a while for Rachel to open up and for us as a reader to get to know her.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and hope to read more of Laura Starkey’s books in the future.

I want to thank NetGalley, the Laura Starkey and Embla Books for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

This book follows Rachel Ryan who is having no luck with her love life and she still lives with her best friend from University. She decides at the start of the book to make some resolutions to improve her life. She is a copywriter at a marketing agency and not happy when her ex boyfriend Jack turns up working for the same company and then working as a team with her. The story documents how she feels about this and moves forward trying to complete her resolutions and find love along the way.


This book is a breath of fresh air in the rom-com genre. I was hooked from the very beginning. Its easy to read and very well written. I really liked Rachel, I could imagine myself being friends with her. I felt sorry for her at times though, she struggled at work, in love and life something that a lot of women could relate to.

This is a fantastic debut novel and if you fancy a read that you’ll get straight into and thoroughly enjoy then you should definitely read this.

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

3 stars

This was a light read with a good cast of characters. There were a few rough parts with the writing in the early chapters but those smoothed out as the novel progressed. There were also a few plot holes as the story moved along but in all, it was an enjoyable read. A decent first novel and lots of potential for future novels.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review - Rachel Ryan's Resolutions by Laura Starkey #RachelRyan'sResolutions
"Rachel Ryan is a copywriter at a marketing agency, finding no luck in love and still living with her best friend from University in a two-bed in London. Rachel starts the story writing New Year's Resolutions to improve herself and her life when she realises she dislikes how much copy she has to write about vegetables, how Anna is due to get engaged to her boyfriend of four years any day now and she will inevitably have to move out, and how all her exes have either been douches or dull as dishwater since her cheating ex-boyfriend Jack from University. Everything changes when Jack starts working at the same company and they end up having to manage projects together, on top of the fact that she's recently single and her most recent ex-boyfriend is stalking her, begging to get back together and not taking her no for an answer. With a fun group of people at her job and friends, we can see how Rachel attempts to complete her resolutions, but with added complications along the way.
I absolutely loved this novel. Rachel Ryan was a fun, fiery protagonist and her cast of friends were multi-faceted and well developed. While the way they were described or characterised at the start may have felt a little trope-y, Starkey truly fleshed them out into complex characters with flaws, individual goals and it made them more realistic and human. It made me want to be a part of her friend group, meet up at The Hope every Friday night and partake in their fun.
My favourite parts of the novel were Rachel's animosity with Jack at work, which brings up old insecurities and that was really interesting to delve into and see how it all broke down back at university. I also loved her catch ups with Greg, which started out as the gay-best friend trope, but really developed it further into a meaningful, supportive friendship, with only a touch of flamboyance. I also really loved her friendship with Will, Anna's boyfriend, and Tom, his roommate, because in every friendship group, there are always individual relationships that are different from the group dynamic and I was really pleased to see how Starkey showed those.
All in all, this book was a breath of fresh air in the contemporary rom-com genre. It took age-old tropes and situations, everything from enemies-to-lovers, fake relationships, the GBF, forced proximity and all, and spun them in new, funny and original ways. The main character had a strong personality to her but she still developed over the course of the book and you can see her developments through the resolution lists that preface chapters. I would shout about this book from the rooftops and recommend it to all my friends who would love a substantial feel-good romcom with a strong female protagonist, a great and supportive friend group, three love interests and real character development.
I have to say a great big thank you to Jen from Embla Books @emblabooks for including me in this book tour and giving me a chance to read and promote this incredible book through @NetGalley. This book was gifted, but the review is completely honest, I loved it just that much. I look forward to the rest of the blog tour leading up to the pub day and reading what everyone else has to say about it!"

Rachel Ryan works as a copywriter and lives with her best friend, Anna. Anna and Will are an item and have been a few years, Will shares a house with Tom. The four are great friends, and have regular drinks, nights out and are like family.

When there is a re-shuffle at work, Rachel is surprised when her ex from years ago arrives. He is one of the team members who is part of merging and creating new and exciting accounts. This is almost like a make or break time for Rachel.

The story is based on Rachel and her plan for her future. Like most, she does set her resolutions for the start of the new year. Like most, she also doesn't necessarily get started on them, to she alters them.

This did feel like a light-hearted sort of a story. It did take me a while to get to understand Rachel, and actually, not all the characters n the book know much about her or her past, so it does kind of make sense. I did find as the author revealed more about Rachel, that she did start to come out of her shell. It really didn't help with her ex coming back on the scene. I did find that the further I got into the story the more I grew to like her.

This is a story of hiding, of trying to be quiet and not seen. Happy within a small group of close and trusted friends where it's safe. Unplanned events throw Rachel's life into turmoil, she believes her actions are right but she seemed to be just treading water. It takes a bit of a blowout and for things to crash before she can see clearly once again.

This is a story that I really enjoyed, it got better the further I read and I found myself getting quite involved with how things were going to play out. This is one for those who like a more modern contemporary fiction story and it is one I would happily recommend.

⭐ REVIEW ⭐

A lovely, heart-warming rom-com that I thoroughly enjoyed.

There was much to like about this book. Rachel, the main character, was funny and completely relatable. I really enjoyed the banter with her friends and loved watching her really come in to her own.

Even though it was a little predictable, I didn't mind, because it left me with a smile on my face.

An highly amusing story. Its a quick fun read. I loved the romance development as they start of as just friends, fake relationship and onto a real relationship. Great cast of characters and perfect read to cosy up with a hit chocolate and warm blanket. I loved it. Highly recommended

A quick and easy if somewhat predictable read. I liked Rachel’s friend group of Anna, Will and Tom and Greg. It was good to see Rachel’s work life and how good she was at her job although some of her coworkers clearly needed to learn some boundaries. The history with her sister added unexpected depth to the story. Tom was lovely and Jack was as expected. I like alternating pov’s and there was a sprinkling in this story but I wished the author had leaned into that a bit more especially in relation to Tom. Overall 3 ⭐️

Cute book and story. It doesn’t dive to deep into a storyline so it’s easy to keep pace with the book. It is definitely a weekend type of read because it’s so lighthearted and funny.

I absolutely loved this from start to finish. It was so funny (laugh out loud funny) and really heart warming and touching in parts. I laughed and cried my way through this.

I thought it was really well written and the pacing was spot on. The main character Rachel was really well developed and I loved all the side characters too. The journey Rachel went on in the book was great and I loved the way the resolutions were tied in and updated throughout the year. I can't wait to read more by this author!

A very fun and light hearted read with a relatable MC. Just what is readers need in our lives! Loved it.

Rachel starts the new year with a list of resolutions she plans to stick to but the universe has other ideas. First there’s the imagine of the woman her college boyfriend cheated on her with plastered all over the buses, next her company is bought, and her new coworker is her college ex. On top of her professional life being in turmoil, her personal life experiences some major changes that disrupts Rachel’s idyllic life. The one constant throughout everything is her friendship with Tom and even that experiences some changes when they collaborate on a project. Can Rachel stick to her resolutions or does the universe win?

This rom com is a slow burn, friends to fake dating to eventual lovers trope story. Rachel definitely goes through the winger especially with the reappearance of her ex and it’s only when everything comes crashing down that she realizes she’s had blinders on for forever. I wish Rachel would have gotten out of her own way earlier to realize what was right in front of her in Tom and I wish Tom would have taken one of the opportunities presented to him. If only Tom would have told Rachel sooner he would have saved himself some heartache especially since he’s a sweetheart. If you love friends to lovers and fake dating tropes this rom com is a must read!

Rating 3.5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and publishers for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Poorly written with a non-existent story line and barely developed characters. Give this book a pass.

I loved this story so much, that I hated when I would be disturbed whilst reading to go do necessary things like sleep etc. Rachel is so relatable, and yes some things that happen aren't very realistic, but then again, do we really read books like this for realism? No! We read them so we can laugh, cry, and generally feel better about ourselves, and I can say this story definitely makes you feel all those things. I hated Jack, but there were times when, like Rachel, I wondered if he'd changed, which shows how well written this is. I'll be keeping an eye out for further books by this author