After reading and loving In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, and finding myself recently more interested in the romance genre, I knew I needed to read Fool Me Once! I loved Ben and Lee's characters and the banter between the two of them. The fact that Winstead was able to write a thriller and a romance novel as her first two books and do both so well is pretty impressive. I look forward to reading The Last Housewife!

It took me a bit of time to get into the story, and it wasn't my favorite. However, I think it would appeal to students and YA/early 20s adults and is a good beachy option for the summer.
I wish the writing was a bit more concise and the characters didn't feel very unique, which isn't always a bad thing, but in this case I wanted a bit more character development to pique my interest and draw me in. If you're looking for a good summer read, this is a fun option, but it isn't a good I would spent time analyzing or even discussing with friends at a book club meeting.

I originally rated this book 3 stars because it was just okay for me. But now that I'm three months out from reading it (guess who forgot to write a review?!), I'm lowering it to 2 stars. All I remember from this book is how insufferable the female main character was and how unimpressed I was with the story overall. I wanted to like this because I really liked Ashley Winstead's first book, but I just didn't. Would not recommend it.

Ok, if you’re expecting this to be a cute rom com, it is not. I found Lee aka “Stoner” to be the most unlikeable main character I’ve read in a long time. Not only is she immature and irresponsible, she is also toxic. By day she is a Director of Communications but at night, makes all sorts of self-destructive bad choices, including taking pills and getting black out drunk. I could not take her seriously. I was supposed to believe she was able to do all that AND write a green energy bill and hold press conferences and meet with Senators when she had the mindset of a teenager? The romance didn’t work for me either. They hate each other, they love each other, they hate each other again. It was so frustrating. And Lee never really grows as a person. I’m not sure what the author was going for here, but it isn’t for the romance reader. I’m giving it 2 stars because I finished it; I thought there were some funny scenes and I hate giving 1 star.

This is a damn near perfect book for me and I loved it even more on re-read than I did the first time I read it back in January. Our main character Lee is the definition of a hot mess, but she crawled right under my skin and into my heart and I just adored her, questionable morals and all. This is definitely a book following some ~*unlikeable*~ characters, but I found myself constantly rooting for all of them. The story revolves pretty heavily around cheating, and while there isn't any physical cheating going on during the present timeline of the story, I can't deny that there are definitely some lines that are being crossed by Lee and her love interest, Ben. If emotional cheating done by a main character is a hard line for you, I would maybe skip this one. But with all that being said, this book just worked so, so perfectly for me. It was somehow both hilarious and heart-wrenching in all the best ways and I will absolutely be re-reading it for the rest of my life. Crossing my fingers and toes that Ashley Winstead has plans to write more rom-coms in the future because I need so much more!!!! So, so good.

CW: cheating, death of a parent, alcoholism, drug use

this was an entertaining romcom to read during a slump! it was well written and didn't have politics in an annoying way where it's super problematic or making a poor attempt at store like so many others have done recently, and I enjoyed the romance alot.

I absolutely loved this book! I found it hard to put down. I highly recommend reading it! You won’t be disappointed.

For fans of second chance romance and competitive couples, Fool Me Once is a steamy and funny romance.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

Fool Me Once was a delight this Spring. Lee is uber-successful, running communications for an electric car company. She’s worked hard to get to where she’s at and is working diligently to get a new bill passed with the current Texas governor. Lee is thrown a curve ball when the only real love interest from her past, Ben, is suddenly across the boardroom table from her. The one area that Lee hasn’t been successful in is romance. In an attempt at self-preservation, Lee preemptively cheated on Ben and left him heartbroken and angry. Her past is suddenly directly in front of her and cannot be ignored. While Lee certainly had some unlikeable character traits, I really enjoyed Fool Me Once. I think the storyline was believable and engaging. There’s a lot of detail in the political storyline, which I enjoyed. Author Ashley Winstead has done an excellent job weaving serious and complicated issues into a novel that reads light-hearted, humorously and relatable. Out this spring, Fool Me Once should not be missed!

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was everything I needed it to be and more! Hilarious and beautifully written. Lee’s made her fair share of mistakes, but who hasn’t?!

I highly recommend this book!

Check out the trigger warnings!

This was such a cute and fun story. If you love political storylines, I highly recommend this one because the story is full of politics. And cheating is a central topic. Overall quick and easy read with laugh out loud moments.

I fell in love with Ashley Winstead’s thrilling debut and was so surprised to see that her next book was a romance.

This gigantic genre leap shouldn’t have worked so well, but Winstead delivered on a laugh-out-loud plot that has made me a believer that she can write anything.

Lee works as a communications director at a women-run electric car company.

While serious and successful at work, Lee definitely leans into the “work hard play hard” mindset. She’s not afraid to throw back a few or call a guy for a one-night stand.

Her carefree attitude isn’t because she’s so easygoing.

There have been many heartbreaks in her life (both in her childhood and as she is older), which is why she keeps so many at a distance.

This jumping to conclusions and mistrust is exactly what ends an important relationship in her life with some of her signature sabotage.

It is also why, five years later, she is stunned to discover that she must reunite with this old boyfriend when the two are both working towards getting a clean energy bill rolling.

With a political backdrop that doesn’t lean into the negativity, lots of chemistry between old flames, and loads of LOLs, this is destined to be a favorite in this summer’s book stack.

This was a fun read, not a typical romantic comedy. I liked a lot of it, but it was a slow build. The story is about Lee Stoner who is complicated, doesn't believe in love, and just a general mess. Honestly, I liked her sarcastic, cynical sense of humor but I didn't love her as a MC. I loved Ben, her ex-boyfriend that comes back into her life when she is trying to get an environmental bill passed in Texas. Five years ago she broke their relationship when she cheated on him because she was afraid of him leaving her. When she finds out Ben is coming back into her life it sends her on a roller coaster of emotions, and wondering if she made the wrong choice. I enjoyed the writing style, slow paced books are not my usual favorites but I enjoyed this one. I have seen mixed reviews on this book, mainly having to do with cheating being the main plot line. I agree with that, I didn't like that aspect of the story being the main focus. I would have liked the main story to be about Lee and her growth as a person throughout the book. The cheating took away from the romance part of the book, and I got annoyed with Lee a lot. Overall I thought this was a good book, and I recommend it for readers who like a non-typical rom-com.

Fool Me Once, enjoyed the romantic story line and how Liz came to terms with growing up and forgiving those that she loves and has loved. However, reading for enjoyment I personally prefer no politics in my storyline. Just a personal viewpoint.

I really appreciate how Ashley Winstead can switch up her writing with different genres- so impressive! I have mixed feelings this book. The writing was sharp and funny and entertaining and very creative. However the romance really fell flat for me. It was hard for me to feel their chemistry and to get over the normalization of cheating. The main character was also very unlikeable which affected how I felt about the storyline too. I did like the political aspects and the emotional growth the character experienced. The banter was also top notch. I will totally read more of Ashley’s books! Just wasn’t sure this one was for me.

Thanks so much to Harlequin and Netgalley for my copy.

The writing was really great and I was impressed by the author’s ability to showcase her writing skills through a different genre than her previous book. I enjoyed the story overall but I thought it was a bit too long. I wasn’t hooked like I usual am with contemporary romance novels and I think part of it was because of all the “mishaps” that were happening, it felt far-fetched and repetitive. I was able to get past it and still enjoy the book.

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved the concept of this story. A MC who is the cheater but only because she’s been cheated on one too many times and has sworn off love? Great concept. Fantastic execution. Loved Ben especially for being so understanding a lot of the time. I liked their chemistry as well.

I enjoyed this book while I was reading it, but once I finished it, I promptly forgot that I'd read it.

Fool Me Once is laugh out loud funny, while also taking a deeply, emotionally complex look at some very serious issues. The characters are flawed, real people, who make big, serious mistakes — and still deserve their happily ever after.

Again and again I find myself reading romance novels where the male love interests are bland, slightly nothing characters — outlines rather than fleshed in characters. Not so in Fool Me Once, where both halves of this romantic pairing brought their own baggage and issues to the table, as well as distinct voices and points of view.

This book is a fast, fun, surprisingly touching read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Graydon House for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

It wasn’t my favorite. Lee assumed everyone cheats so she can’t trust anyone… so she cheats… and the authors descriptions of Texans…They don’t all wear wranglers and cowboy hats… and it was political… just not something I want in a romcom. Sorry— it wasn’t my favorite.