I enjoyed this book. I thought the story was cute and the characters were deep enough to relate to them. The plot was great and it kept me hooked. I always love a good romance book and this one I definitely enjoyed.

A book about unmet expectations in a big city and a small town. Wrapped up in a bow like a Hallmark movie.
The main character wasn’t always likeable but as a whole she worked and it’s a really cute book.

A steamier, sexier version of a Hallmark movie. 3.5/5 stars

Following disappointment after disappointment dating and finding a full time job in the city, Adina heads to a small town with hopes of writing a story about how Pleasant Hollow is similar to the cute towns in Hallmark movies. Adina makes some surprising discoveries while there and ends up falling for another city guy. She learns relationships aren’t easy and not all small towns are the same.

Adi sometimes comes across as immature and naive, with unrealistic expectations. Finn is more relatable and swoon-worthy. You root for both of them despite sometimes being annoyed with Adi. Their relationship initially felt rushed and some parts of the plot seemed unrealistic, but the author has an excellent writing style. I loved the banter between Finn and Adi. Anyone who enjoys Hallmark movies will certainly enjoy this book!

Calling all small town lovers! This is your book! I cannot wait to see how much everyone adores this book and then I can gush on it together with my best book friends. Such a sweet and funny story, an anecdote to the hard time we're all in together right now. Thanks so much for a chance to read this and I can't wait to share this when the date gets closer!

This was a quick read. Marketed as Hallmark movie meets Gilmore Girls I expected a cute breezy read. I didn’t expect it to be the opposite but it was still a cute book.

City girl, Adina is working as a freelance writer, a barista and a spin instructor trying to make her way to staff writer for a NY online site. In a moment of desperation she turns to hallmark movies and submits a proposal to go a small town and write a story about a corporation moving in.

Once she gets to Pleasant Hollow she was very disappointed to find it not at all like the small town she was dreaming of. Trying to make friends with the locals, find a good angle for her story and flirting with a man she meets at the Inn have her desperately trying to connect.

It was a cute story. If you like Hallmark movies I think you will enjoy.

3.5/5 As Seen on TV: chock full of references to Hallmark and other well known shows, this book is a love letter to simple popcorn stories we all love and adore. Perhaps I hoped for a bit too much from it— I love hallmark while also accepting its silliness. I come from a small town, so I don’t expect most places to be so picturesque as shown on tv. Adina is a bit too focused on forcing her projected story onto the town in order to get what she needed. That being said, the twists and turns of falling for someone you don’t expect to had some lovely moments that continued the whole life isn’t as perfect as it’s seen on tv. The hero and heroine are both flawed, which is great!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Adi Geller loves Hallmark movies and everything feel good with happily ever afters. She loves them so much she hopes to create that life for herself by living small town life away from big city Manhattan. The only catch? Adi's small town is nothing like she imagined.
This book had everything that a romcom reader enjoys, which of course includes a happy ending, but getting there was just as enjoyable. I loved the growth and introspection of the main character as well as the humor. While I felt it was a bit of a slow start, the story did build and then I couldn't put it down. This is a must read for romcom and romance lovers.
Thank you NetGalley and. Grand Central Publishing for the ARC and opportunity to provide an honest review.

The concept of this was cute, especially considering I’m a big Hallmark movie fan myself. Adi as our narrating character, though, was a but too much for me. She wasn’t very likable, overly quirky, and she felt very naive and childish for a 25 year old. I felt the story continued to drag until she caught her bearings and tried to discover something to write; it made the novel much longer than it needed to be. I liked her mom and Kate much more, almost would rather a story focused on one of them.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story didn’t work for me as well as I hoped. I love the cover and the description hooked me in quickly, but the writing style just wasn’t for me.

I felt like I couldn’t connect with Adi, and so I didn’t love that this book was from her POV. I also personally don’t enjoy when books have a lot of specific pop culture references and right from the beginning, there were multiple. I’m sure some people love that, but I don’t watch a lot of tv/movies and I feel like I’m missing something when there’s a reference (or multiple) I don’t understand.

Thank you to Forever & NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book!

A Happy Ever After (HEA), a great plot, and characters you can fall in love with.

Adina is a young aspiring writer juggling three jobs and raised by a young widow Mom Adina still lives with in their NYC apartment. Adi's love of Hallmark movies and a news report of a big city developer creating a condo village within Pleasant Hollow, a two hour trek outside of NYC, gives Adi an idea for a feature article that could lead to a full-time job at a magazine - her life long goal!

Come along on Adi's adventures in Pleasant Hollow and her relationships with people of the town and the developer's project manager. Can Adi save herself when Pleasant Hollow somehow doesn't fit the Hallmark mold? Can she get that magazine job? Will she ever get back to NYC where the food she loves is readily available?

A steamy part or two that takes this out of a cozy label is well handled and makes it a Forever publication.

You can count on Meredith Shorr for a fun rom-com romp.

Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I struggled to connect with the characters and didn't find myself invested in the plot at all. I did, however, appreciate the characters communication and that the issues they worked through felt realistic.

I was very intrigued by the summary of this book. I've been reading lot of romance this past year so this sounded like just the book to start off my year! Classics tropes and ways to turn them around--just what I want to read.

Some spoilers ahead!

I liked the concept overall, the idea of the story: Big city developer with plans to take over and gentrify a small town, city girl gets the scoop and helps locals preserve the town's cozy charm while romancing the local cutie. Burt then invert all those tropes into the big developer actually doing a good thing for the town (and other altruistic endeavors), the town being unremarkable, the locals actually being fairly bland and curmudgeonly and looking forward to the development, and the local cutie actually being part of the corporation and a city boy himself--this is everything that's so fun about trope inversions!

Unfortunately, it didn't pay off for me as I was expecting, which was disappointing.

I wish I had found the main character more engaging. It was hard for me to suspend my disbelief that Adi was still so wide-eyed and naive at age 25. She did not seem very worldly, for all her years in NYC and a degree in journalism. Much of her character seemed unrealistic to me, from how gullible she was on arrival to Pleasant Hollow, how determined she was to change the town to fit her needs, her weak grasp of journalism itself, how incongruent some of the story line for her was.

I had a hard time finding her endearing or relatable. I didn't find her very likable or believable. Much of her story was how to make things work for her, in a very self-centered, somewhat clueless manner. I think I'd have found her somewhat annoying if I were a Pleasant Hollow resident.

But I think the aspect of this book that doomed it for me was her reaction to Finn's family history, hidden problems and ultimate reveal. It showed very little empathy on her part, turning the whole focus back on her. I don't think she had an inkling of what Finn had gone through, was still going through, how trauma shapes one and one's responses. Yes, she had loss in her own life too, but empathy is deeper than simply a similar loss. Could Finn have done or said more in the confrontation? Of course. Should she have made it an ultimatum? Those aren't good for relationships in general! I was overall very disappointed with the big reveal, the break up, the reasons behind it, and in many ways the way his father's mental health and addiction issues were portrayed and the somewhat callous way Adi responded to them.

I'm glad her mom called her out on it.

I wasn't sure how they were going to get back together for the HEA. It was ok but I was not convinced her article was so good that it got her a job, the boy, and a tv treatment. That stretched my imagination too far.

The writing style itself was pleasant and readable.

Overall I would say I was disappointed in this book. I had much higher hopes and expectations.

I read it to the end, so that merits more than two stars. I'll give it 2.5 stars. It disappointed me that much, based on the inspiring premise.

Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book early!

I really enjoyed this lighthearted romance, all the swoonworthy Finn moments, and all of the pop culture references. Any fan of Gilmore Girls or Hallmark movies will be sucked in right away. But there are deeper themes to this rom com than what you may think!

Adorable delicious romance . This book was graciously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This was so fun to read. At first I thought Adina was a little vapid but I ended up really liking her. Her inner thoughts were really fun and easy to connect to.

I really enjoyed all the movie/tv references. This was just like a Hallmark movie. If you’re looking for something fluffy and a little bit sexy it’ll be right up your alley.

I read all of this in one sitting. It was easy to follow and had me turning the pages to see if Adina would write the perfect story for her picky editor.

Predictable and cheesy but that’s exactly what I knew I was in for and it delivered!

An easy 4 ⭐️! I can see myself reading this one again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the published for sending me an arc for this one!

As Seen on TV was the perfect winter distraction. It was fast paced, which I appreciated and loved. The author did a fantastic job of keeping things realistic but yet hopeful. As a Hallmark movie lover, I loved the whole premise. I will be recommending this book to my reader friends!

4.25/5 stars

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Adi, an aspiring journalist, is hunting for the perfect job in New York City that will allow her to put her journalism major to use. But when she meets Finn in the small town of Pleasant Hollow, she may be getting more than just her life-changing story…

Was I attracted to this book simply because the cover was so dang cute? Uh, yes. Did I absolutely end up loving it for a bunch of other reasons? UH, YES!

Absolutely loved the whole “Hallmark movie” concept. And the banter? Yes, please.

Although I couldn’t get into this book immediately, I’m so glad I read this. Finn has my heart. Forever.

So many readers/consumers are hungry to see the Hallmark tropes flipped on it's head, and the author delivered!

Adina's naivety about what it would take to attain that "perfect life" and tension with her expectations versus reality drive the narrative. Nothing in Pleasant Hollow is what she expects. The themes were achingly real and relatable; we all want to believe there is a small town HEA experience out there for the taking, if only we are brave enough to seek it. But relationships are MESSY and take work, and this author managed to tackle that topic while still keeping the read breezy and in the spirit of "rom-com". And YAY for Jewish representation, and fabulous banter with the MC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the opportunity to read and review the ARC of As Seen on TV.

Adina's Geller's life is in limbo. While she is waiting to get a job in journalism she has been doing some freelance writing and building up her portfolio and trying to find any opportunities she can. So far she has been supplementing her income by teaching spin classes and working part time as a Barrista. Adina is still living at home with her mom because she doesn't make enough money to support herself which she hopes will change in the near future. Adina comes up with a cute story line about going to the small town Pleasant Hollow that is obviously similar to small towns that she has seen on Hallmark Movies. It's a great opportunity as there is a big bad developer who is planning on building a condominium project which no one wants. So Adina heads to Pleasant Hollow to write her article only to discover that Pleasant Hollow isn't anything like she envisioned from the Hallmark movies she's watched. The people aren't friendly and are actually looking forward to the new development. Adina's story to launch her career has crashed and burned.

I was looking forward to reading another romcom with a jewish character. This was a cute read and kept my interest the whole way through the story. There were some parts of the plot that I felt weren't believable but overall the story was wonderful. I did enjoy this story and was happy to read another book with a bit of jewish representation in it. If you are looking for a cute read with a little bit of steam but not too much heat this is for you. The pace of the story was good and I didn't feel like it dragged on at all. I would give this book a 7.5/10 and I would recommend it to someone who was looking for a light read.

Thank you so much for approving me to read an early copy of this book!

This was such a cute spin on the city girl falling in love in the country town trope. I love those for Hallmark movies and this book really was a great spin on a classic idea. It was really easy to get immersed in the story and I really loved Finn immediately. All the characters were really fun, and I loved Ami's relationship with her mom. I did struggle at times to really connect with Ami, but it wasn't too bad or enough to really pull me from the story. This was a fast paced, fun read and I think romcom fans will really enjoy it.