Thank you Netgalley & Harlequin Trade Publishing for an eARC of Fool me Once in exchange foe an honest review.

Wow. Chef's kiss to Ashley Winstead for Fool me Once. An author that can master both romance and thriller genres is truly a rare thing, and Ashley writes both with perfection.

I mostly read thrillers, but as soon as I saw that Ashley was coming out with a new book, I absolutely needed to request it. My 125th book of the year, this no doubt goes down as one of my favorites.

Need...
A ton of laughs?
A relatable character who sometimes you want to smack some sense into but seriously love?
Some steamy scenes?
To swoon beyond belief?
A romance that gives you all the feels while also educating you a bit on some hot topics in today's climate (no pun intended)?

I have no hesitation when I say pre-order this book now! I'll be recommending it to everyone I know and I'll read ANYTHING and everything Ashley writes moving forward. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lee Stoner is one tough cookie! She is a communications director at an electric car company. She doesn't believe in love, ever since her dad cheated on her mom. Her heart has also been broken many times by various boyfriends, but none was worse than when she broke the heart of her true love, Ben Laderman, that she had met in graduate school.

Fast forward five years later, Ben comes back into her life. Ben works as a policy expert for a Texas governor and Lee is trying to get her clean energy bill together, so they end up being forced to work together. The tension is real! Will these two ever see eye to eye? Can they rekindle the romance they once had?

This was a great, fun read. I found it funny at times, sweet, and romantic. I was hooked from the beginning. If you love rom-coms you are sure to fall in love with FOOL ME ONCE. I look forward to reading more from Ashley Winstead in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

I'm awed by Winstead's ability to write in a genre completely different from her debut IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE, which I loved. And since I'm a sucker for a good love story, I knew this book would be right up my alley. It did not disappoint. The story is a wonderful take on an enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance and delivers all the hallmarks of what I think make a good rom-com. Oddly enough, as much as I love empowering women who take charge and kick ass, Lee didn't call to me as much as Ben did. Perhaps it was Lee's sense of (in)justice--I couldn't connect with it, and she made decisions that I would not have. But that is the beauty of wonderful stories--reading about people who aren't like you. Well done!

Lee Stone doesn’t believe in romance or soulmates. Her father cheated on her mother, she had a string of disastrous relationships, and when she thought she was close to loving Ben Laderman in grad school, she accidentally broke his heart. Ben left without a word and Lee gave up on love once and for all. Fast forward five years—Lee is a communications director for a woman-led electric car company and is trying to get a clean energy bill rolling. Ben is back in town working as a policy expert for the most liberal governor in Texas history. The two are forced to work together and decide to turn it into a competition. Let the games begin!

I. Loved. This. Book. It’s an enemies-to-lovers second chance romance and Winstead knocked it out of the park. Lee and Ben are ambitious, witty, flawed, and well-developed. Their chemistry was smoldering and their banter had me cackling. Although it’s an uphill battle, they’re both devoted to investing in the future and hoping to turn conservative Texas green. I really enjoyed seeing Lee’s character develop as she worked through her grief, trust issues, and analyzed her relationship with alcohol. So much more than your typical rom-com, Winstead touches on love, sexism, infidelity, grief, sobriety, therapy, trust, and forgiveness. FOOL ME ONCE is hilarious, heartwarming, and inspiring. Out 4/5/22!

Read this if you:
*are still in love with an ex
*have been hurt in the past
*love character development
*love female empowerment

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife is one of my favorite books I’ve read so far this year. I was ecstatic when I heard the author wrote a rom-com! I was immediately hooked on this one. I loved the female empowerment, the character development and Lee & Bens chemistry was 🔥🔥. Definitely check this one out asap!

Thank you NetGalley & Harlequin for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: April 5

Book Dynamics ✨
Singular POV
Political setting
Exes turned enemies turned lovers
Female empowerment
Modern storyline


I have very mixed emotions about this one. Y’all know how I feel about cheaters. Was I enraged for a majority of the book? Yes. Did I enjoy the book? Also yes. Which I think is a major testament to Ashley’s writing!

The character development in this book is *chefs kiss* - Stoner is horrible and I hated her but I’ll be damned if I wasn’t rooting for her at the end.

Politics are meh to me but I loved the real issues Ashley took on and made a point to poke fun at and emphasize at the same time.

After reading IMDIHAK I knew her writing was good, but 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 So many claps for a writer that can write different genres.


Grab this one if you want a romcom with a fresh setting that goes beyond a meet cute.

Thanks to @netgalley and @htpbooks for the access to this ARC. These opinions are my own.

First off, I want to say how grateful I was to be able to read @ashleywinsteadbooks newest work of art so early! As I posted earlier on, I absolutely loved #inmydreamsiholdaknife and so was very excited to see what she would do next. It is a complete abrupt shift from the thriller world with a romance but I'm here for it!

Meet Lee Stone, or Stoner if you're a friend and remember that awkward AF situation that happened back in college. She's a communications director for Lise Motors, a woman-led motor company, planning to champion the Green Machine bill through state legislature. Said bill would cause much of the emergency vehicle fleet to be turned into electric vehicles, causing a massive crackdown on carbon emissions. Wanna make it even harder? Let's make it one of the reddest states in the union, Texas, and let's make the man she has to work with from the governor's office be the boyfriend she cheated on back in college due to a whole lot of unpacked baggage that, five years later, is still pretty packaged up.

I loved watching the dynamic between Ben and Lee unfurl. I absolutely loved Lee's friend group. I don't love using politics as the back drop as I'm not a hugely political person myself but I did love watching this story develop. @ashleywinsteadbooks has a knack for character development that I loved seeing in another genre. Typically, I can tell if an author is deviating from their usual genre, feeling a little let down by the less familiar one. I have to admit, this did not happen! I would have to give it a solid 4/5 stars and truly can't wait to see where this brilliant author goes from here!

#bookstagram #ilovearcs #foolmeonce #ashleywinstead #politicalromance

I loved this book! Not only was it a great romance read, but there was a good amount of “real” components with all the political jargo. I couldn’t put this one down!!

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Ashley Winstead is back with another beautiful novel that I couldn’t get enough of! It was so cool to read a thriller from her and then turn around and read a romcom. Needless to say, she nailed both genres.

This book was captivating and inspiring, but best of all, hilarious. I’ve never been able to relate to a main character more than I could relate to Lee Stone (aka Stoner). She was so raw and real and unapologetically herself in every messed up way. She had so many flaws and drove me a bit crazy, but in the same breath, she was a bit of a genius and had so many positive qualities that made me admire her so much.

The main plot of this novel was for Lee and Ben (her ex-boyfriend that comes back into her life) to fall back in love as they work together on getting an environmental bill passed. But there was so much more involved in the story! We get a chance to see Stoner grow within herself. We get to know about the dark corners of her past. We’re able to meet her friends (and not so friendly people) and figure out how she ticks. I loved the depth of the characters and how there was more that Lee wanted besides just true love (nothing wrong with wanting that, but come on, there are so many other things out there that people dream about).

I thought the ending was absolutely perfect. I won’t say much to avoid spoilers, but I usually find romcoms to be predictable and a bit cheesy by the end. That wasn’t the case for this book, and I love it when an author surprises me.

Overall, I loved this book so much. The characters were great, the steam was perfect, and the inspirational monologues were top notch (I’m a sucker for a good speech). Ashley Winstead is definitely an author that I will automatically read!

Thank you to Ashley Winstead, NetGalley, and Graydon House for giving me the opportunity to read this early! I will be posting a review on my Bookstagram account (@janinesbookcorner) closer to the publication date.

Absolute loved.

I will say this book probably won’t be for everyone because of the cheating element (even though the cheating is in the past) but I really enjoyed it. As a reader, the books I’ve always loved the most usually had a lot to do with characters and Fool Me Once was no exception. I loved Lee. She was flawed, made questionable and sometimes bad choices/mistakes, was sometimes proud, sometimes messed up, but was entirely human. She made me laugh, a lot! The marathon scene had me in stitches. She’s one of those character I know I’d be friends with if she was real…and if I ever left my house long enough to make friends.

Easy 5 stars.

*I was given an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book is absolutely hilarious. I love a good enemies to lovers story. I can’t remember the last time a book hooked me so fast. The first paragraph alone had me hooked and laughing so hard.

Definitely recommend!!!!

Thank you so much netgalley!!

Lee Stone learned one big lesson: never trust love. Four major heartbreaks set her straight, from her father cheating on her mom all the way to Ben Laderman in grad school—who wasn’t actually cheating, but she could have sworn he was, so she reciprocated in kind.

Then Ben shows up five years later, working as a policy expert for the most liberal governor in Texas history, just as Lee is trying to get a clean energy bill rolling. Things get complicated—and competitive—as Lee and Ben are forced to work together. Tension builds just as old sparks reignite, fanning the flames for a romantic dustup the size of Texas.

A fun second-chance romance. Lots of laughs and sizzling chemistry in this book. I like the female empowerment in this book. Warning about cheating triggers though. There clearly are lots of mentions of cheating. If you have ever been cheated on by someone and are still not over it.... this may trigger some bad feelings. Not to minimize anyone's pain, but cheaters aren't worth a moment of anyone's thoughts. Either than that, this is a fun rom-com. I totally enjoyed it.

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

The chemistry in this one was intense! It was a quirky and enchanting second chance romance that I found enjoyable to flip through. While I found the middle dragged a bit, I loved the set up and the end to this one.

I loved In My Dreams I Hold A Knife so much that when I heard that Ashley Winstead wrote a rom-com, I knew I had to read it!

Lee Stone is a kick-ass comms director at a women-founded electric car company called Lise. She's dealt with a lot of cheating in her life - her father cheated on her mother, she's been cheated on by past boyfriends and she cheated on her last real boyfriend, Ben Lederman, in grad school after she thought he was cheating on her - oops! Completely heartbroken, he moved to California right after they broke up and they've both moved on with their lives. Because of these past experiences, Lee doesn't do relationships anymore - she never lets guys get the chance to get too close - that way she won't get hurt.

Five years later, as Lee is trying to get a clean energy bill rolling in red, conservative Texas, Ben reappears in her life. Ben is working as a policy expert for Texas' most liberal governor and they are forced to work together. Things get competitive - and complicated - as they try to get pitch the energy bill to stakeholders and get their buy-in. As they spend more time together, old flames reignite. But will their past indiscretions, insecurities and competitiveness get in the way of their second chance at love?

I absolutely adored this enemies-to-lovers, second chance romance with an eco-conscious flair! The book is so well-written - the plot flows effortlessly, is captivating and downright hilarious! A true rom-com at its finest, with a healthy amount of steam. The main characters, Lee and Ben, were well-developed and both complex in their own right. And even though Lee comes off as unlikeable at times, you can't help but root for the both of them. I loved that Lee was strong and ambitious - she was flawed but her independence and ambition was super sexy. There was some sexism and misogyny in the book but the feminist themes outshined all that - I am always here for feminist vibes!

Overall a fantastic rom-com debut from Winstead. She's quickly become one of my favorite new authors and I'll be waiting with bated breath for her new releases!

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (rounded up to 5).

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Graydon House / Harlequin Books and Ashley Winstead for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for our free ARC of Fool Me Once by Ashley Winstead.

Rating 4.5 star
Genre Romance

After reading In My Dreams I Held a Knife, we will pretty much read anything Ashley Winstead writes! This was a really unique romance, and I thought it had some powerful points. I loved that it was a typical role reversal for the main characters. In this romance, the female lead, Lee, is a against committed relationship, and has destructive behaviors based on this. At times, you won't like Lee, but over the course of the book you understand her story and why she is the way she is. I really enjoyed seeing the female character struggle in this way. I also enjoyed the overarching theme of women empowerment, women being treated as equal to men, and that the most important relationship you can have is with yourself.

Warnings: There are a couple of warnings I would give for this book. First, there is an element of cheating. For some people, you may be cautious if that is a trigger for you. My second warning would be that there is a large political element to this book. If that is triggering to you, I would encourage you to do your research on this book before you read it. Whether you agree with the political opinions or not, I will say that the bigger theme is women empowerment!

Overall, I enjoyed this one!

Very fun! This is a good romance that has depth. The main character is one with layers which is always good to see. I would definitely recommend it.

Despite her witty and intellectual comments, it was sad to see how Lee was committed to leading a life as a shell of a person of which she used humor to deflect how she really felt about loving others. As she stated repeatedly no feelings nor expectations as she was determined to believe that everyone cheats. However, in opening herself up as the novel progressed and let Ben and her friends in, she became happier and more fulfilled because of it. Her passion and dedication to Lise Motors spilled over into her personal life. I smiled at the end when she said she loved her life.

Things are moving along perfectly for Lee Stoner. The Green Energy bill she has developed is going great until her ex boyfriend, Ben, enters the picture and the whirlwind begins. Engaging and lively with great characters.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book absolutely blew me out of the water. I love the numerous issues that it dives into, from childhood trauma rearing its ugly head to the sexism that takes place today to undermine women in power. AND THE PERFECT LOVE STORY TO GO ALONG WITH IT. I'm so so grateful that I got to have the pleasure of receiving this arc. Ben and Stoner are all I want in life and more. The idea of two people constantly finding themselves pulled back to one another despite the hurt is a love story that is sure to make you tear up.

Let’s say : “All right all right all right” as like McConaughey’s line from Dazed and Confused movie and his Oscar speech!

I have no problem about this book . Actually I envy the talent of Ashley Winstead who can write in different genres adroitly and get fantastic results. “In my dreams I hold knife” was even smarter, more exciting, brilliant work than the thriller books which were highly appraised and turned into streaming series!

And this romcom is easy to read, smart, riveting, entertaining!

The heroine Lee Stone is great combination of Scandal’s Olivia Pope meets Fleabag’s main character played by Phoebe Waller Bridge ( you realize we still don’t know the character’s name in the series) with sassy Georgia Miller vibes from Ginny& Georgia series.

The chemistry between Ben and Lee was also steamy!

So I know what you’re asking? Why the hell I only gave three stars!

The reason is obvious: I don’t like to read romances when one of the MC’s ( or two of them) cheater. It’s a big no for me even though the author clearly tells us the reasoning behind the characters’ actions, I still hesitate to trust their behaviors.

From the beginning I had hard time to connect with Lee. She’s kickass communication director who takes no sh*t from man. She was a great portrait of anti heroine at first. I waited to see her character’s developing and wished she saw her mistakes to learn her lessons. I understand how her trust issues and feeling not to be deserved someone’s love were the setbacks prevent her to form a sincere bond in her relationships. But I didn’t see enough effort from her at the end. I wish I witnessed how she grew up, wore big girl’s pants, making up for the faults she’s made!

Overall: it was still well written, entertaining, smart novel from one of the brilliant authors I enjoy to read the works of. I wish I could relate more with the heroine.

I’m still looking forward to read next books of the author ( thriller or romance: both genres are truly accepted)

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.