Loved this one! A great debut from Meredith Schorr. A fun contemporary romance with Gilmore Girls vibes, Jewish rep, relatable characters, and just a feel good story. On the romance front, Schorr reminds us that sometimes love is messy. Highly recommend this one.

I'm grateful to Forever Publishing for generously providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

In Meredith Schorr's As Seen On TV, the New York City dating scene just is not it for Adina Gellar. She's decided she will try her luck in a small, charming upstate town. Adina is hoping life will mirror a Hallmark movie. Especially because she's traveling and staying in Pleasant Hollow to write a story about a developer coming in and building a new resort. However, when Adina gets to Pleasant Hollow it turns out the locals aren't exactly Hallmark Friendly. Also, the man she finds herself attracted to happens to also be from the city, Finn Adams. As it turns out, he works for the developer. Oh, and the residents of Pleasant Hollow actually WANT the resort to come in. Nothing is what Adi expected.

As a small town upstate NY born and raised person myself, I really liked As Seen On TV. Where I am from, people get excited when a new chain restaurant comes to town. Heck, they got over the moon for when Marshalls recently came in I guess. So, Schorr's depiction of small town residents being pro-developer rang true. Heck, where I live now was chosen for a new microchip plant to come in and people are so excited. I can see why Adi's perception would be off if you are from a big city and all you know about small towns comes from Hallmark movies. She definitely gets her rude awakening, but you know, she grows so much along the way. I am a sucker for character growth and both Adi and Finn experience this. As Seen On TV is narrated by Emily Lawrence. The audiobook is 9 hours and 42 minutes long. It is very compelling and easy to listen to.  I think Lawrence's narration had me liking this book even more. Overall, a fun and charming read, if not entirely life changing, but that's okay.

I debated on rating this 3 or 4 stars. So we’ll go with a 3.5. I really liked the premise of this book. I’m a sucker for Hallmark movies and the Gilmore Girls and I really wanted to love this. But I just didn’t like the main character of Adi as much as I wanted to. I did like Finn, best friend Kate, and Adi’s mom. Just felt like Adi should have been a bit more mature for her 25 years. Not a bad read, I was pretty sucked in by the 2nd half of the book. But I did feel there was room to make this an even better story!

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book. It is always appreciated!

In all fairness: I did not finish this book. I have not been successful at getting through the book, though it is well written and has all that one would seemingly want in a romantic comedy. I could not get behind the MC and felt much of what I did read was kind of cringeworthy (which, to be fair, happens in a lot of rom coms!). I took off a star because I simply could not get into it - which could just mean this book wasn’t meant for me.

I enjoyed this book. It didn’t blow me away by any means, but it was still a cute read.

Parts of it were very cringy but I think that was the point because of hallmark vibes.

I started out by listening to the audiobook and I didn’t not enjoy the narrator so I think I might have liked this book better if I would have skipped the audio entirely.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

My favorite part of this book is the cover.

The first three quarters of this book were so bad, but by the end, it had grown on me a bit, which is why I gave it three stars rather than two. Though it could have grown on me because it was just SO LONG. At least, it felt way too long.

The main character, Adina, has the worst case of main character energy in the universe. She thinks she is the main character in everyone’s life and everyone else is just a dumb side character, there to fill a sterotypical role. The language and slang were so cringe and difficult to read at times. I wish I had written down every line or word that made me cringe or go WHYYY, but I think I would’ve taken down a third of the book.

I will be filing this under “couples who don’t stay together when the book ends” and hopefully erasing it from my memory.

At the end of the day, this author wrote a book, and I didn’t and that is something to be proud of. Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Light, fun spin on the Hallmark movie market and the classic celebrity-in-real-life dilemma. Realistic characters and romance without being syrupy. That's not easy to pull off!

Adina hasn’t had much luck with love or with her writing career. That’s when she sees there’s a small town being targeted for development she starts thinking. How about she goes to this small town to find her happiness and maybe even help save the town? If she writes the article that can do this, she might be able to start her dream career as well.

I’m a big fan of the small town romances and movies/shows. Gilmore Girls has always made me want to live in Stars Hollow, so I was hoping Pleasant Hollow would be the same. Our main character finds out that not all small towns are what they seem and her dream article may not be what she wanted it to be. I do love that the author showed us that not all small towns are like what you see on TV. Even if we all want them to be.

I did love learning about the people who lived in town and Adina wanting to help them keep things cozy instead of turning into something its not. That’s where things got tricky, because Adina did get on my nerves at time. When the town wasn’t what she wanted she decides she should change it for her article. I mean you can’t force things to go a certain way.

The encounters with Finn were interesting and I loved him as a character. His life had him busy and certain things made relationships hard, but Adi started opening up those walls. Apparently you can find love in other places than expected. I enjoyed that their relationship wasn’t perfect from the start and they did have struggles. The article Adi ends up writing really made me smile and how it all ended as well.

If you’re looking for a fast and fun read with some Gilmore Girls references I definitely suggest picking up As Seen on TV!

I was so so so SO excited when I learned Meredith Schorr would be publishing a new book and with Forever, no less, one of my favourite publishers. I’ve known Meredith for years and have loved her work so to have her traditionally published rom com, As Seen on TV, in my hot little hands was a thrill. And it was such a enjoyable read, too!

Here's the book’s description:
Emerging journalist Adina Gellar is done with dating in New York City. If she’s learned anything from made-for-TV romance movies, it’s that she’ll find love in a small town—the kind with harvest festivals, delightful but quirky characters, and scores of delectable single dudes. So when a big-city real estate magnate targets tiny Pleasant Hollow for development, Adi knows she’s found the perfect story—one that will earn her a position at a coveted online magazine, so she can finally start adulting for real . . . and maybe even find her dream man in the process.
Only Pleasant Hollow isn’t exactly “pleasant.” There’s no charming bakery, no quaint seasonal festivals, and the residents are more ambivalent than welcoming. The only upside is Finn Adams, who’s more mouthwatering than the homemade cherry pie Adi can’t seem to find—even if he does work for the company she’d hoped to bring down. Suddenly Adi 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?
OK – tough things out of the way first. I have to say that I wanted to love this one more than I did. Does it mean it was bad? NO. It just means my expectations were SKY HIGH. It was tough to swallow when Adi drove me nuts with her incredibly naïve views on small towns, as I grew up in a small-ish town. That said…I did really like that the story was a twist on the Hallmark movies we’ve all watched. The small town isn’t always the place to find a Happily Ever After!

There was a bit of a nostalgic feel to this book, even though it’s very much a contemporary set rom com with a young heroine. It felt like the rom coms of many years ago, you know the classic ones that we all rewatch over and over again. There was a lot of heart and a lot of cringeworthy moments with laughs along the way and all wrapped up with a Happily Ever After bow. It was delightful.

Schorr created an amazing cast of characters with this book. Even with Adi’s questionable thoughts about small towns and how to be a journalist (my partner is a reporter so I’ve had a front row seat on the profession for a long time), I still loved her. I wanted to hang out with her and really get to know her better, which is something I always look for in my rom coms. And Finn!? Yes, please. I shouldn’t be surprised that Schorr wrote such a fabulous hero because the love interest in her self-published Blogger Girl series is just as wonderful. Adi’s best friend, Kate, and Adi’s mom were amazing side characters and I loved how strong all the relationships were between the women. So good.

Meredith Schorr’s new novel is perfect for fans who love old school rom coms. As Seen on TV is full of love and laughs and will leave romance readers feeling satisfied.

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Adina is obsessed with Hallmark movies, when she has the opportunity to travel to a small town to right an article for a online magazine about a small town she jumps on the idea. As she soon finds out not all small towns are like that of the Hallmark movies she loves.
While looking for a story she meets Finn. Can she have her Hallmark movie ending?

I was not as excited about this book as I wish I could have been. To me the writing was lacking. It was a cheesy Hallmark movie kind of story. I felt there could have been better character development and chemistry between the two characters.

I choose to listen to this book while I was driving and doing chores as well. The audiobook did add a bit more feeling to the story, but I felt having more than one narrator would have made it even better. The audiobook did help with the reading pace because without it i found myself bored.

Adina Gellar loves Hallmark movies - You know the ones: typically set in a small town and "against all odds" the two main characters fall in love. Well, that is exactly what she is expecting in Pleasant Hollow (which is just a few hours outside of New York). Except Pleasant Hollow doesn't care about the big-city developer moving in on their town, nor do they have quaint little events in the town square. Pleasant Hollow doesn't even bake their own baked goods! It's a travesty really. That is until Finn Adams. Is Finn her dream man that she was supposed to meet? Or just another one of those disappointments from Pleasant Hollow?

Adi knows she'll find love in a small town away from thew city because that's what happens in all of the romance movies she watches,. Only when she actually gets to the small town, it's not charming or quaint. People are not as welcoming as she was imagining they'd be and quite frankly she doesn't enjoy it until Finn is discovered and maybe just maybe she'll find her happiness oooor will she miss her big opportunity instead?

The main character is from NYC and is visiting a small town hoping to find Stars Hollow (Gilmore Girls, she even has the same last name as a main character...) and star in her own real life Hallmark romance movie while spinning an article to land her a full time journalist job.

This sounded cute and light which fits my reading mood right now. Unfortunately, I didn't love the main character. She came off a bit clueless, with immature humor and is boy crazy which made her annoying to me. The cringe worthy love scene should have been when I put the book down. I also had a hard time believing she would be a capable journalist since she demonstrated poor ethics and questionable vocabulary. This wasn't for me.

I was skeptical going in as someone who's comfort show is Gilmore Girls that this would be anything remotely close to it. I was, unfortunately, right. I don't think I would have minded if there weren't so many references to Hallmark (though, I get it, that was the whole point), but it was just too much.

Adina rubbed me the wrong way from the start. I don't like a woman that thinks she needs a man to be happy. She can't REALLY believe every small town is like the movies, can she? And that she has to "fix" the town by making it more like Gilmore Girls? Ugh, go home. Her article was so condescending, and I'm shocked Finn didn't tell her that. I'm glad the editor said it, at least! No wonder the Pleasant Hollow residents hated her. She was just creating problems left and right for her own amusement, when the Pleasant Hollow residents clearly didn't have an issue with the new apartment complex.

She never really grew on me. Once she realized she shouldn't try to change the town, she moved on to trying to change Finn and his relationship with his father. Whining about Finn not introducing her to his father as his girlfriend, when Finn clearly had other things on his plate? Grow up! She never really seemed to learn or grow throughout the story.

Finn didn't treat Adina all that well either, but at least he was honest at the beginning about not wanting a serious hookup. They should've enjoyed each other for the time she was in town and then gone their separate ways.

The whole story felt very young and immature. I think I've established that I just don't like New Adult, but I didn't see anything labeling this as such.

Finally, what are the odds of finding one specific person's dating profile in NYC...twice? Also Kate found it on Hinge but Adina saw it on OKCupid.

This story - meant to be Gilmore Girls meets the Hallmark channel - was not my favorite. I loved the own voices Jewish representation, but the story romance felt awkward and contrived. The main character seemed obnoxiously clueless and out of touch with reality, and while there was a little aww moment in the end, overall I found this whole story to be trying too hard.

I love the premise for this story - who DOESN’T want to encounter a small town hunk and fall in love a la Hallmark? Plus, Gilmore Girls references? GIVE IT TO ME. Much like Adi’s experience in small-town wasn’t what she expected, this book also wasn’t what I expected. I had difficulty liking Adi from time to time, and, I didn’t exactly feel like the relationship between her and her love interest was overly well developed. I just felt like I needed to see more development of how they got there, I just couldn't play it out in my mind. Overall, it wasn’t a book I disliked, I just felt more underwhelmed by it than I had hoped for.

I loved Finn and Adina! Adina is a girl after my heart with all her love of Hallmark! She soon finds out that life is not a Hallmark movie, unfortunately. A truly charming story.

Although the basic premise seemed a little bit forced into the sunny Hallmark movie style plot line, I did enjoy watching Adina growing as a person and learning that her viewpoint isn't always the best for everyone, and seeing how she and Finn worked together in their relationship.

This was a cute and quick read. I felt like there were just too many Hallmark references…..which I get is part of the premise of the story….but at times it was a bit much.

All in all a sweet read!