*I received an eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.*

<b> Birds of California</b> tells the story of Fiona St. James, a former child actor on a Full House type show, who just wants to be able to move on from her past and her wild teenage years. It is also the story of her former costar, Sam Fox. The two haven't spoken in years, but when they get together to discuss a possible reboot of their show (which Fiona wants NO part of) the sparks fly.

This was a good read. It wasn't too difficult, the relationships seemed realistic, and the characters were likeable. I almost wish that there had been a little more of an explanation behind Fiona's reasons for not wanting to do the reboot. While they are revealed, it's sort of just thrown out there and not really handled, which is not the way that such a serious storyline should be handled. It seemed like the dark topic didn't really fit the rest of the light and fun book. Other than that, I enjoyed the story and would definitely recommend it to romance readers.

First of all, hello!! This cover! It’s absolutely gorge. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I really liked this book! I went into it having read a content warning about sexual assault, so I kind of knew what was coming and I think that’s why I still liked Fiona and really rooted for her while others found her really unlikeable. I wish we would have seen more of what happened after the article was published, but that’s really my only gripe. Oh, and the amount of times the word scrubbed/scrubbing were used. 😂 This was a light read that reminded me of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s earlier novels, which I also loved. (Ps Katie can really write a steamy scene 🔥)

I was so drawn to this book by the gorgeous cover!
I enjoyed the writing I just didn’t care for the story as much as I was hoping to. I wanted to love this book & the character but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

Thanks NetGalley & Harper Perinneal

I really enjoyed this book! It felt fairly predictable, but the characters were sweet and I enjoyed reading it.

Fiona St. James doesn’t want to go back to acting. She’s living a calm and normal life after a very public meltdown that resulted in the cancellation of Birds of California, the popular show on which she starred, and is very happy in her calm and normal life. Until she gets a call from her old agent, asking if she is interested in being on a reboot of Birds. When she says no, however, they don’t just let her go. After being encouraged by his agent, Sam Fox, another actor from Birds, shows up at the store where Fiona works, asking her to reconsider. After she insists that she isn’t interested, though, he decides to stick around and hang out with her anyway.

This book was a very quick read, but I liked it a lot. It didn’t feel too busy even though there was a lot going on, and was emotional but believable. Fiona was a great main character to read, and I loved how self aware she was and her willingness to always stick up for herself and the people who she cared about. She was very emotionally intelligent in a way that is rare in book characters, but still was able to grow and mature over the course of the story. Sam was also a great character, and complemented Fiona well. The two balanced each other out in a healthy way, and even though neither of them were perfect, they did their best.

What really made this book for me was Fiona’s friends and family. Her sister and grandmother cracked me up, and supported her in a way that I love to see women supporting each other. I saw the slight plot twist with the people at Fiona’s theater coming a mile away, but I still found them such a fascinating and enjoyable group of people, and the variety in their backgrounds and personalities brought a new angle to the book that I really loved. The characters in this book were not your typical love story background characters, and that is what ultimately made this book stand out for me.

Overall, this book was a hit! It was cute but had a lot of emotional depth, and had me rooting for the characters and genuinely hoping for the best for them.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and to Harper Perennial for sending me a copy of this book for review!

Former child actor Fiona St. James is finally feeling more settled after leaving the public eye and living at home after one too many crazy incidents and a very public breakdown down that essentially ended her career years prior. However, when former costar Sam Fox enters her life again, trying to convince her to come back to limelight, Fiona has no desire to take him up on his offer, but she can't deny the sparks flying between them...

I found this to be a fun, quick read with a solid premise and easy, engaging writing. Messed up child actors are truly interesting case studies, so diving into Fiona and Sam was fun and utterly addicting. The author does a good job of giving backstory that's believable and that stirs empathy for the characters.

I enjoyed the romance. It took me by surprise but I could buy into it and enjoy the bits of steam and banter.

However, my only issue with the book was the characters! I found them interesting but totally frustrating.

Fiona is not okay. She is angry. She runs hot and cold. She is all over the place. Understanding her history and the trauma she's endured, I still felt like at her age and the work she's done, her temper and the way she treats other is not okay. I wanted her root for her and she had great moments, but her lack of growth and self awareness was glaring. At times, she worried others were embarrassed by her outbursts and honestly...who wouldn't be? The only things that truly endeared me to Fiona and humanized her was her relationship with her sister and neighbor; otherwise, she's just a privileged actor with a bad attitude. In the end, I'm happy she found some peace and her own form of happiness.

On the other hand, Sam falls into the stereotypical Hollywood heartthrob role and there's not much else. He's incredibly shallow, conceited, and makes really poor decisions. Understanding his family situation, Sam is under a lot of pressure to work and make money, but it doesn't answer him constantly spending money, being around people he doesn't like, and being something he's not. It just felt like he was too naïve for a 31 year old man who's been in the business for this long. He's a pretty flat character and I wish we could've got more from him.

Overall, this was a cute romcom with some heavy bits, steamy bits, and fun bits! I thoroughly enjoyed it (finished it in one day!) and am so happy I got to read it!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I was an avid reader of Cotugno's YA books years ago and now I mainly read adult romance so I squealed with delight when I saw this book. This did not live up to the self created hype for me. There is very little character development here and the she feels very stunted, but understandably so because of her past (check all the trigger warnings).

Ten things I loved about Birds of California

❤️ This cover is really gorgeous and is half the reason I picked this up, I also really love that it's not an illustration of people.

❤️ The flashbacks/memories were woven in SO WELL. Normally I find timeline changes choppy but this felt really natural.

❤️ Erin!!! She has her own plotline and is just an interesting person.

❤️ The sex scenes. Noteworthy for how these intimate moments were so much more in terms of establishing trust and communicating past barriers.

❤️ The portrayal of caregivers of a family member.

❤️ Birds of California really looks at the effects of fame on child actors and the difference in how male vs. female stars are treated.

❤️ Fiona is an incredible FMC. She has so much grit but also some very tangible pain that continues to be a block in her life.

❤️ Obviously the romance! Sam and Fiona have a past, there are some secrets, some drama at the end, it just pulls you in.

❤️ Fiona's relationship with her sister. I am always here for women supporting women. These two are sister goals.

❤️ This plot was totally unexpected but I was drawn in from the first chapter. Not my usual Hollywood story but I kind of liked this change more.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @harperperennial for this ARC, Birds of California is out now, make sure to grab your copy!

I thought this book was supposed to be a light hearted rom-com and ended up being so much more. Fiona was a child star and ended up losing her big show in teen years for being rebellious. Her "brother" on the show is Sam Fox. They played on a show, wants to reboot, but they need Fiona to sign on to get it. Sam's agent sends him to try to get her to agree. However, he finds out he's falling for her and there's way too many secrets for this all to work out. This book has multiple heavy topics, and should not be read without looking into trigger warnings.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. I liked the storyline. I liked the characters. I liked their little quirky banter wars they had going on. I liked the setting. I liked the ending.

What I didn’t like, was the fact that this traumatic (and extremely important topic in todays’s society) event was barely touched on. With the #MeToo Movement being such a monumental event in women’s (and men’s) lives, you’d think the author would want to touch on it a bit more. I certainly would have read it.

Other than that, it was an enjoyable and quick little romance.

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC of this one!

#BirdsOfCalifornia:

Okay first and foremost. Julia Whelan. I mean, we don’t need to say more, right? Birds of California gave me TJR vibes like Malibu Rising. Maybe it’s because Julia Whelan did both audio? I did feel like the time and themes were very reminiscent of each other.

I loved Fiona St. James. She was snarky and fun. I loved her relationship with Sam. I did feel like this was mislabeled as a romantic comedy. Was this funny? Yeah. Is there romance? Yeah. But it’s not a romantic comedy. This is definitely more women’s fiction.

I was sad the ending was so quick and abrupt. I really wanted more. I wanted more vindication. But, we all knew what was not said as a reader. I truly loved the way this played out and how the flashbacks really amplified the story.

Overall, once I got over this was not a romcom, I loved it. Thank you so much Harper Perennial for the gifted copy. Birds of California is out now!

I haven't read Katie Cotugno's young adult literature but I was excited to read her adult debut. Her writing goes down smooth and makes the pages fly by. I love anything about former child stars, and I really like reexamining the way young women in Hollywood have been done dirty but the tabloids and the system. I could have read 100 more pages about Sam and Fiona!!!

I really enjoyed Birds of California. This fun and flirty romance novel has some charming main characters set in the blistering sun of Los Angeles. I was a little worried about how this book would handle the sexual harassment/ Me Too allegations mentioned in the synopsis, but Cotugno managed to walk a thin line that was believable, realistic and also profoundly well characterized by Fiona. The only issue I had with the book is that as someone born and raised here, some of the locations/restaurants mentioned seemed a little touristy and out of place for people that had spent years in the city.

The synopsis compares Birds of California to Beach Read, The Kiss Quotient and Red, White, and Royal Blue which feels highly misleading. Birds of California didn't even feel like a rom-com. I wanted to be more sympathetic to the main character but the lack of character development made that difficult. It's a quick read that I'm sure many will love but at the end of the day this just wasn't what I was hoping to read.

This book piqued my interest because of the endorsement from Taylor Jenkins Reid, I am not a usual romance reader, but loved the idea of two people who missed out on a relationship, but are able to reconnect later in life. The setting in this book transported me to California, and I so badly wish I had the chance to watch Fiona’s show because she sounded beyond talented.

Overall, I really enjoyed the relationship and banter between the two main characters, but sometimes I think the characters lacked depth or their responses seemed unrealistic.

Are you ever knee deep in the middle of the book and think, “Yes! This is such a Five Star review for me!” and then you keep reading and love that the book just gets better and confirms that it’s STILL a Five Star book? That’s how I felt about Katie Cotugno’s Birds of California the entire time. The story is catchy and leads Sam and Fiona are so quick-witted that I felt like I had known them forever.

Perhaps that is part of the natural way that after several years from having worked together on a Family Channel show, Birds of Paradise as teens, Fiona finds herself being invited back into the possibility of a reboot with Sam. Adamantly against the idea (although we are unclear as to why), the spotlight was never kind to Fiona and she is resistant to revisiting the show. Surprisingly to her, Fiona finds herself unexpectedly agreeing to see Sam, leaving herself open to possibilities beyond what “Birds” might invite.

The book alternates between Sam and Fiona’s POVs as they re-learn each other and navigate their newly established friendship/relationship. Neither character is perfect, far from it, but their messiness and vulnerability make their story so endearing. I found myself halfway through the book having only started it mere hours ago—that is how readable and inviting it is. And the chemistry between Fiona and Sam is undeniably sexy (just like you might imagine your favorite celeb couple to be like). Cotugno tackles several tough topics: child acting, mental illness, parental abandonment, parental illness, sexual predators and abuse, but she does so amazingly fluidly and sensitively. The novel never felt heavy, but instead inviting and hopeful. I just really wanted Fiona and Sam to get it right, and Birds of California fell smartly between a second-chance romance / childhood crush, and a Hollywood love story.

The only fault I had was that it was over a little too quickly. I would’ve loved to see an epilogue or even just one more chapter to help the ending round out. This definitely will not keep me from seeking out Cotugno’s books in the future; she is a talented storyteller and writer.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for my eARC in exchange for my unbiased review. And if you are an audiobook listener, the amazing Julia Whelan narrates this book beautifully (I listened while reading several chapters).

I thought at first this would be a light rom-com, but I was wrong. It’s the story of a former child actor who is now trying to live in obscurity managing the family’s print shop. Once a famous child star on the family channel, Fiona crashed and burned and destroyed her career with rebellious and bizarre behavior. But now all of a sudden, the creators of the show want to revive the show, with a twist, and they need to have Fiona sign on to do this. However, Fiona is absolutely not on board and so Sam Fox, who played her older brother, is sent to convince her. Sam is a newly unemployed actor, having his show recently cancelled and is financially motivated to get this show on the road. However, he hasn’t seen Fiona in years. What Sam doesn’t expect is that as he tries to woo Fiona to come aboard to do the revival, he begins to have romantic feelings for her which is new for him. As Fiona and Sam get closer, he holds back the secret of being pressured to convince her by his agent and the creators of the show. Fiona also has a secret of her own, the reason that for her breakdown as a teen star. When these truths come out, will their new love for each other survive?
This story seemed to be so familiar to the lives of child stars that we’ve seen in the press where too much pressure causes them to fall apart as well as the Hollywood #metoo movement. But there is also a sadness in this story for Fiona, who only wanted to be loved and protected but was let down by the adults in her life. As a result, this character had a hard shell that was hard to crack, with excessive use of profanity and a chip on her shoulder as large as Mt. Rushmore. There were so many hints and clues as to what really happened to Fiona. A lover of true crime stories, as the reader, we weren’t sure why they gave her such comfort. I would have loved to see both the character Fiona and Sam developed more. A quick read, but I found it quite predictable. Not as well developed as I would have liked to see and no resolution at the end. The cover art though is amazing.

Many thanks to #netgalley #birdsofcalifornia #katecotugno for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A fun romcom for fans of enemies to lovers trope.

SYNOPSIS
"Sparks fly and things get real in this sharply sexy and whip-smart romantic comedy set against the backdrop of a post #metoo Hollywood from New York Times bestselling author Katie Cotugno--page-turning escapist fun in the spirit of Beach Read, The Kiss Quotient, and Red, White and Royal Blue. "

WHAT I LOVED:

✔️ The famous 'has-been' TV show actors Fiona & Sam start as enemies and then *nudge, nudge, wink wink

✔️ The cuteness of this romance, albeit steamier at times than I normally read or choose. So a must-read for romance fans who like a little spice!

✔️ Fiona (MC) is so filled with self-sabotage that she can be hard to like but she had something that intrigued me and I felt empathy for her.

✔️ Sam (MC) god bless him, is a trier and kept hoping and will for both him and Fiona to just get along and not second-guess each other - that was part of the fun of reading.

✔️ The backdrop of Hollywood and the toxicity of that industry.

✔️ The interesting way this story spotlights the characters' and readers' judgement of those who are famous/on TV.

✔️ Despite the comedic tones and the romance the book does touch on very serious issues... at times I felt that this could have gone a little deeper and brought in earlier in the book.

All in all, an indulgent fun, poignant rom-com with a little spice.

This is my first Katie Cotugno book and it definitely won't be my last.

**Thanks to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for an honest review**

Birds of California was a smart and witty rom-com that had me devouring this book in a day! This is my first book from Katie Cotugno but def will not be my last. Her writing and story telling was amazing. There was trauma within these pages but it was done so beautifully. Like a reminder that everyone is dealing with something and we are all imperfectly perfect.

My friend Erin (roostercalls) reviewed this and called it whipsmart, funny and sexy and totally sold me on it. Usually I love a book because of the plot or the characters. It’s more unusual for me to love a book for the writing but this was that rare case. There were a number of times I found myself pausing to just take it in. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free review copy!

Birds of California has a fresh hook that readers will love! With so many '90s favorites being rebooted lately this book provides a fun look at what it might be like to really return to your past. Two former teen stars who have both been in and out of Hollywood reunite with the prospect of their show getting a new season. During their original show they had a spark but it just wasn't ever the right time and now they're wondering if they have a second chance too. This book touches on the public's obsession with celebrities and fame and how that can wreck a person. Katie Cotugno has always written such complex characters in her YA books and this adult debut delivers on her signature style. A must read for contemporary fans also looking for a romance storyline.