Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

As Seen On TV

Meredith Schorr

Publication: June 7, 2022

Adina is trying to find her place in New York City as a journalist. She believes in the mentality of small-town living equals Hallmark romance and quirky, close-knit community. She pitches a real life “Hallmark story” and the idea is accepted. Unfortunately, the town, the proposed situation, and even the love interest is not following the made-for-TV- romance movie formula. Adina’s life is suddenly turned upside down as she tries to make a story out of a town that doesn’t even have homemade pie and the hero/love interest (Finn) is not even from the small town…not everything is “as seen on TV.”
This book had a cute storyline, while not quite Hallmark it still had a sweet romance, low angst, and predictable outcome that I enjoyed.
3 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for sending me the invitation to read this book. I'm not a big Hallmark/Gilmore Girls fan, but I thought I'd take a gamble on it and see if it interested me anyway.

Answer: No, it did not.

Ummm, there's nothing really major that deterred me from reading past chapter 6. It's pretty heavy on the Hallmark/Stars Hollow kink, which for me wasn't something I could genuinely enjoy. And to be brutally honest, the premise and characters and general plot outline just screamed basic from page one. I didn't see this one holding my attention.

I absolutely loved this book. I would reread it again! It’s the perfect rom com. The main character I feel in love with instantly and I loved watching her relationship with Finn develop. It’s everything I look for in a book. Easy to follow, characters you feel connected to, and the romance between Finn and Adina felt so natural!

(4/5) This was just the read I needed (and I don't just say this because I share a first name with the author). The premise of the book - a big city journalist coming to a small town expecting it to be straight out of a Hallmark movie only to find that life and love aren't like they are in the movies - drew me in. This book had all the best tropes, and had me goofy grinning like a fool at the end, the sign of a good romance novel. I wish there had been at least a few chapters from Finn's perspective (or a bonus chapter, please Meredith, I beg you).

I loved Finn. I think he was the redeeming part of this book. He was sweet, kind, and reflected on himself and made changes.
However, that’s where my enjoyment ended. I felt like marketing this as a Hallmark movie meets Gilmore Girls book was very misleading. Adina was annoying and immature. I got so frustrated with her constant whining about how the small town wasn’t living up to her expectations. She expected more out of Finn after a week than she was entitled. There was barely any banter with the mom or best friend.
The spicy scenes were awkward and the banter between them was stilted.
All in all, I think the concept of the book was good but the characters were not well fleshed out and the interactions between characters needed work.

DNF @ 24%
This story had a cute premise but I just couldn’t get into the characters or the setting. I felt like there wasn’t much drawing me in to their development, and the “twists” all seemed predictable.

"Adina Gellar is fed up with her hometown of NYC-the high cost, the constant competition, the never-satisfied men. She longs for a sweet, simple small-town romance like she sees in her favorite TV movies. So when Adina hears about a real estate developer creating a big condo monstrosity in Pleasant Hollow, a tiny town in the Hudson Valley, she follows her journalistic instincts straight to the source, sure that she'll find a David vs. Goliath scandal that will launch her career. And if she meets a swoon-worthy small-town doctor/mayor/handyman in the process? Even better! But Pleasant Hollow doesn't quite live up to Addy's expectations-there's no homemade pie or harvest festival anywhere! And the one person willing to help her out is the cute developer, who she was sure would be her nemesis. Suddenly Addy has to wonder if maybe TV got it all wrong after all. But will following her heart mean losing her chance to break into the big-time?"--

————————————

Thank you NetGalley and Forever Books for an ARC of As Seen on TV! With the Texas weather keeping us iced in, I am devouring books and this one was so fun! While I found this book to be a bit long, I loved the plot line. I love cheesy rom-com movies, especially Hallmarks and this discussed just that. It showed life isn’t like the movies and love can be messy but worth fighting for. I loved the ending and the spin class plot line because I’m addicted to SoulCycle. I recommend this book for an easy read.

3.5⭐️

I was provided an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and words are my own.

This book is full of both in your face references and little easter eggs for anyone who loves Hallmark movies and Gilmore Girls. Meredith does an excellent job spinning the tale that not everything is what you see in the movies and it takes Adi a good while to figure out that "the grass isn't always greener" concept. It was a fun spin on the love in a small town trope and I appreciated the fresh take.

Adi is an easy character to identify with in her wistfulness and desire to better herself in her mid twenties. She's funny, she gets back up after being knocked down (MULTIPLE times), and when she gets it right her energy is infectious.

Finn is our complicated hero who's back story is one to tug on your heart strings. I appreciated getting a 3rd party perspective into watching him develop through the story both internally and with his relationship to Adi. I would have liked to learn more about his family (other than what we're given) but all in all it wasn't bad for the amount of content.

One thing I really wished for in this book was more development and plot lines for the side characters (Kate, Adi's mom, etc.) while I really enjoyed the main story line I think having those characters also progress a little more directly would have been an excellent addition.

All in all it was a cute easy read thats great if you're in the mood for something light hearted. Bonus the final scene had me SWOOOOONing.

Heavily inspired by the Hallmark world, Meredith Schorr's "As Seen On TV" is a wonderful whirlwind of a romance.

Adina, our main character, is a lovable twenty-five year old aspiring to pave her way in NYC. Juggling several jobs, trying her hand at becoming a published journalist and living with her single mother isn't quite what she envisioned for herself. Inspired by Gilmore Girls and her affinity for Hallmark flicks, she feels the urge to give small-town life a chance in the hopes of unearthing her very own IRL HEA... and land a columnist job through her essay on said small-town before it takes new shape through new real estate development. Although she unsuccessfully tries to make the pieces of the puzzle fit to meet her expectations in order to write what she had pitched to an editor for the chance at her dream job, she learns some big lessons along the way.

I may not be a big Hallmark gal, but I am a sucker for good romantic storytelling. This book was as charming as it effectively revealed the power of being vulnerable in establishing meaningful relationships. The ending was *adorable* and I found myself pleasantly surprised as to how much I like this story.

4 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely loved this book! The protagonist is a heartfelt, strong woman in search of what she desires and deserves. I was rooting for her from page 1! I loved the article. aspect, and how in the guise of chasing down a story, she's able to write her own love story based around the people she meets. The tight-knit mother/daughter relationship reminds me of myself and my own mother and really bonded me to the characters. Overall, a super cute, light read that is definitely worth picking up!

I loved this cute (and unique) book. As a Hallmark movie fan AND someone who creates content for a living, I really appreciated the storyline and dynamics within this story. This was cute, relatively spicy and engaging.

I really liked the main characters, Adina and Finn. The meet-cute happened a bit earlier than I expected and the relationship unfolded in a backwards way, when compared to most other rom-coms. I appreciated that the author took us on a zig-zag journey instead of directly from point A to point B - it kept my attention really well.

Overall.- recommend to anyone who appreciates a light-hearted rom-com with pop culture references.

Trigger warning: There are some heavier issues that are touched on this story, so anyone sensitive to alcohol/addiction and family dynamic issues might want to think twice.

This book is almost as much a love letter to Hallmark movies as it is a romance novel. There were a lot of Hallmark-specific tropes and sort of a breaking of the fourth wall. The story itself moves slowly and the romance is only part of the plot, not the entire story. I found Finn's character arc a bit confusing to me. I really liked him in the beginning, but once his issues with his father are revealed I thought he became almost narcissistic. I felt gross reading the way he spoke back to Adi, and nothing in the rest of the story made me feel like his words/actions should have been forgiven. Since the book is only from Adi's POV, we didn't see the journey he went on to get to forgiveness, and instead we read about Adi feeling bad for standing up for herself and an abuser. I just couldn't get behind that. That being said, the whole section with the grand gestures had me swoony and my heart all aflutter.

This was a very cute read! As Seen on TV follows Adina as she moves from New York City to a small town to get a change of pace and to write a piece for work about the residents of the town. She goes in expecting a Hallmark movie-esque experience but finds that not to be the case. She meets Finn who she keeps bumping into around town and discovers that he's a developer. This is very much a cute and fluffy read. In the beginning, I struggled a bit getting into the book but I felt like the ending really redeemed itself.

🌟Book Review🌟
Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the advanced review copy.

Release Date: June 2022

Adi Gellar, a journalist from New York has had it with trying to find love in the city, so she heads out to a small town hoping to research and write a master of a piece about the residents and their objection to a new development project, and maybe fall in love in the process. But what she finds is that the small town is unlike the other Hallmark small towns she's used to from her romanticized movie obsession. But what the town does have is the dreamy and delicious Finn who works for the developer.

There's instant chemistry between the two, but when family obligations get in the way, Adi must decide what it is that she really wants and what she's willing to forgive all while struggling to find a new angle to her story.

Overall, I liked it. The ending for me saved this book. I finally found that deep connection that I was looking for throughout.  What I struggled with the most was that the book just didn't capture my attention for the first half. I found the characters a tad boring to follow in the beginning and It really wasn't until the second half that it began to pick up, and I became more invested. Once that happened, I fell into an enjoyable rhythm, rooting and cheering them on.

An easy read with characters that will eventually grow on you!

I’m a huge hallmark and Gilmore girls fan and this book was just perfect for me. I fell in love with the characters and story from the very first page!

This was such a cute and very easy read, I found myself immersed in this romance, it’s marketed as Gilmore Girls meets Hallmark movies and it’s definitely a comfort read if that’s your cup of tea.

I had such high expectations for this after seeing all the good reviews, but it fell a little flat for me. Not a bad book by any means but the writing seemed immature. I didn't really like Adina, but I adored Finn. I wouldn't necessarily read it again, but if I had a friend who wanted to read a Hallmark movie in book form, I enjoyed it enough to recommend this to them.

Most young professionals think that living and working in Manhattan would be a dream comes true.
However Adi Gellner, an n emerging journalist is done with romance in NYC. She wants true love~ ‘as Seen on TV’ via Hallmark stories and other TV programs. She wants a marriage like her parents ~ love in a small town, harvest festivals, winter strolls etc.
She believes she has found just the right place in Pleasant Hollow a new development and this might be her chance for love and a position with an on-line magazine.

This is a cute rom.com.
Nothing heart pounding exciting but sometimes a light read is just want I need.

Want to thank NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 7, 2022

This book was very cute with all of its Hallmark & small town tv show references, especially Gilmore Girls and Heart of Dixie (two of my favorites). Adina lives in Manhattan and is tired of living in the big city - tired of the horrible dating scene, the hustle of two jobs, living with her mom and striving for the chance for a full-time journalist. She sees a reality show about a small town in upstate NY where a developer is building a huge mixed use facility that will increase the population of the town by 50%. It sounded just like a Hallmark movie where the evil villain is coming in to change everything the residents love and cherish about their small town.

She pitches the story idea to an online magazine to compare the real life story with a Hallmark movie and she's given the green light to do it. So she moves to Pleasant Hollow for a week only to realize there's no homemade pie, no fall festivals and no Christmas tree lighting. She does think she's found a small town romance with Finn, the handsome guy she keeps running into around town. However, she soon finds out he works for the developer, so he's essentially the villain.

I thought it was adorable how much Adina wanted the Hallmark movies and quintessential small-town tv shows to be real and I really did enjoy all of the shoutouts to some of my favorite shows. I did feel like Finn and Adina got together really quickly and easily - maybe I've just been reading too many slowburns lately! They definitely had ups and downs but I felt like I wasn't as invested because there wasn't that much tension in them getting tgoether in the first place, though there was plenty regarding them staying together. However, the ending and HEA was very sweet, so I appreciated that. I also really appreciated having a Jewish heroine! A lot of books that have a Jewish character are either about how that character wishes they celebrated Christmas or it somehow ties back to the Holocaust, so it was nice to see this representation!

Mucho si esto era realmente lindo. Me gustó la ciudad de Pleasant. Y disfruté de Adina y Finn. Pero también consiguieron en mis nervios mucho también. Eran un poco demasiado inciertos para mi gusto, pero eso es sólo yo. En general, fue una lectura divertida sobre lo que
Hallmark ha hecho pensar a la gente que es una ciudad pequeña y lo que puede
en realidad ser como.