This one started off a little slow to me, but picked up pace towards the middle. I initially thought it would be a DNF, but for some reason I decided that I needed to see what happened so I kept reading and then I was hooked.

Adina Gella goes to a small town to write the perfect hallmark story - only she finds out the town is anything but pleasant. There are no festivals, local gatherings, bonfires, or town parades. Her small town dreams are crushed and so is her bank account. She meets Finn, the supposed villain in her made up story, only to find out that he's actually a really nice guy with good intentions. Can she get rid of her preconceived notions long enough to get to the true heart of the story?

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Hallmark movie lovers should rush to grab this hot new book from Meredith Schorr. As Seen On Tv tells the story of Adina, who admittedly has watched one too many Hallmark romances. Her view of the perfect small town and everything inside comes crashing in when the town of Pleasant Hollow doesn't quite fit the mold. The journalist is intent on writing a piece on the town that could land her dream job. Enter Finn, mistaken for a small town guy, shaking up the story.

Adina is a fierce character who tends to say everything we wish we did. Her courage is empowering and makes this story an easy read. Even stepping outside New York City, anything can happen.

This review was also posted on goodreads at the following link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4406464049

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

Originally hearing that this book took inspiration from Gilmore girls and Hallmark movies i was hooked although I was not expecting it to take a twist into showing that not all small towns are like the movies and for the Gilmore girls comparison to have the mom and Adina be close for about 3 chapters and did not have that Lorelai and Rory relationship because it wasn't consistently shown but implied.

The romance in this book was cute but it just felt like it was a slow burn of interest to each other then instant love at the end to close up the story. The fight that always splits them up before they come back together was kind of awkward as it had shown Finns father would be an issue than saying she can handle it and the second he shows up, she's backed out.

Though I personally didn't like some parts of the plot and the pace, this book was well written and I believe most romance and Hallmark enjoyers will love it. Im so glad I got to read it.

Things are not going Adina Gellar's way. She's trying to make her way as a journalism while working two side jobs. And she's not found much success while dating. Adina often wishes her life was more like a Hallmark movie -- where she goes to a cute small town and quickly finds love with one of the eligible single men. So when she discovers that a New York developer is planning a project in a small town a few hours away, Pleasant Hollow, Adina decides to do a story on the real-life Hallmark movie come to life -- hoping to use the story as a launching pad to a full-time job at an online magazine and, maybe, her own love connection. The only problem is Pleasant Hollow is nothing like she expected -- it is not at all charming, the residents are not welcoming, and the person she has a spark with, Finn, is working for the developer.

This is a fun and creative twist on the Hallmark movie. The main character is a delight, and the supporting cast, including Adina's mother and best friends and the residents of Pleasant Town, make for a sweet and often funny story. Highly recommended!

It’s always Hallmark movie season (Winterfest, Countdown to Valentine’s Day, Spring Fling, June Weddings, Christmas in July, Summer Nights, Fall Harvest, and finally Countdown to Christmas) and therefore always a perfect time to read Meredith Schorr’s first trade paperback which is about…making Hallmark movie plots come true!

Adina Gellar is a big city girl with fantasies about life in small towns — retro diners with homemade pies, innkeepers offering hot cocoa by the fireplace, hunky men in flannel shirts strolling the town square, and a craft brewery with adorable characters behind the bar like Luke from the Gilmore Girls. She’s an aspiring journalist who’s seen a tad too many Lifetime Channel films about big developers destroying quaint villages, and she’s on a real assignment in Pleasant Hollow where that particular scenario appears to actually be happening, so she hopes to get writing her big break and dream job from the article she’s here to research. Except….nope. The townsfolk are happy (or blasé) about impending change, and there’s not much quaint or cute or folksy around town. A new affordable condo complex (but with luxurious amenities and new shops) might benefit everyone. The only person who’s engaging enough the spend any time with Adina is the corporate developer’s on-site henchman, Finn. And Adi knows from her Hallmark plot experience that she’s supposed to dislike him and lead some kind of town revolt against the gentrification occurring. Of course, Finn is the only other guest at the B&B that she’s staying at, which complicates things. She sees a frenemy; he sees a sweet girl. How will this end satisfactorily for both of them?

The writing was charming and delightful and I found myself rooting for both Adi and Finn, even though they had competing interests. I couldn’t put the book down once I started it! Five stars! Hallmark movies are over in a couple of hours, but this story delightfully lasted much longer. Bonus points for the couple watching Frances Ha, a B&W edgy indie movie I saw at the Toronto Film festival and assumed no one else ever would.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the advanced reader copy! Looking forward to Meredith Schorr’s next books with delightful characters.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Our lead character’s eyes are brown and green with flecks of gold.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO I had expected description of romantic wisteria arches, streets lined with hanging flower baskets, and fields of random wildflowers, but since this was the anti-quaint town, they were absent.

This was a fairly interesting story that kept my attention grasped till the very end. The characters and their story was quite entertaining. Also, I really like the pace with which events unfold. I really like the writing style, although, I felt the beginning a bit slow. Nevertheless, it was a very fun read for me!!

If any book deserved an all night we read, it was definitely this one!! Gosh, I just devoured it. I was so invested in it that I didn’t even realise that I have reached the end. The story was so entertaining and engaging. I quite liked the characters too, they were relatable and adorable. Along with that, I really like the pace and the word building. All in all, it’s a 4 star read for me.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and #NetGalley for my honest opinion. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Delightful, charming and adorable read.

3.5⭐️ I didn’t LOVE this book but it was definitely entertaining and enjoyable!!

Adina Geller is an aspiring journalist who has hopes of finding love in a small suburban town just as she’s seen on TV. When she gets the opportunity to chase down what she thinks is a career changing story- a big developer’s new project disrupting a small town’s community- her perception of what she thought this town would be like is quite different than the reality. Along with that, Adina quickly develops feelings for the project manager, Finn, who’s view of dating is not what Adina is looking for.

Read if you like:
-Hallmark movies
-Tons of TV show references (Hart of Dixie, Sex in the City, Gillmore Girls )
-Honesty and being upfront in relationships
-Modern dating references
-NYC suburbs
-Low steam and low angst

A light, fluffy read that definitely feels like a Hallmark movie in book form, just a lot spicier.

New Yorker Adina is an aspiring lifestyle journalist who believes she's found the story that will be her big break: a small town that's getting a huge new condo building thanks to a big city developer, just like in the movies. But when she gets there the town of Pleasant Hollow is not at all like the settings of the films she so dearly loves, and the guy who catches her attention isn't a local hottie but the big city developer's project manager, who also lives in the city.

I struggled at times to sympathize with Adina, but found Finn to be an interesting and complicated character. The intimacy they share is excellent, and the grand gestures--particularly Finn's--were very cute. Ultimately, this is a nice story about the importance of not making assumptions or prejudging places or people for better or worse.

As Seen On TV was a quick, fun, and lighthearted read. I love the premise of a big city girl going to a small town to look for a Hallmark movie experience, only to find the exact opposite. This was a very clever twist on a well-loved and classic trope. As a twenty-something I found Adina's love life and career struggles to be incredibly relatable. However, I also found myself questioning her actions in pursuing her story. It felt like she was trying a little too hard to craft the town into the Hallmark movie small town she was expecting, instead of writing the story the town was giving her. It's possible this was a commentary on bad journalism, but it also made it seem like Adina wasn't as good of a writer as she wanted to be seen as.

I was initially drawn to this book for its comparison to several small town TV shows including Gilmore Girls, Virgin River, and Hart of Dixie. I loved all the pop culture references and they felt very modern and fresh. However, part of the reason why I love those shows are because they paint a picture of a lively small town with quirky residents. Even though this is meant to be a small-town without the eccentricities, I was disappointed to find that this book didn't dive deeper into some of the backstories of some of the residents. Even the interviews that Adina did conduct with residents felt too rushed and I wanted a little more depth to them, even if the interviews would prove to be unhelpful to her story. I would have liked to at least see some subtle nods to the small towns this book references, even if it isn't outwardly meant to be like those small towns.

While the idea of twisting the small town trope was a unique take, I think that the heart of small town storytelling was lost in the re-imagining and I found myself wishing there was some tiny spark of it left because as a rom-com, the lack of that heart, made it harder to fall in love with Adina and Finn as individual characters and a couple. While I loved that Adina and Finn felt like a real-life couple instead of a Hallmark type couple, I felt like the pacing of the entire book was a little too slow in contrast to the progression of their relationship, which moved a little too quickly. The third act conflict and subsequent breakup also felt a little forced and unrealistic. It felt like an issue that could have been easily resolved in the same scene with some better communication between Adina and Finn.

Overall, I loved the story and I think it's a unique and very well-written debut, which made me laugh more than a handful of times. I would still recommend it to anyone who loves rom-coms for its fresh twist on the small town genre because it defies expectations of the classic rom-com lover in a good way.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me with an ARC of As Seen On TV in exchange for an honest review.

This book is so well written and such a great twist on the big-city small-town romance. I look forward to reading more from Meredith Schorr.

i really enjoyed getting to read this book early. it was so much fun and such a sweet little romance. it made me feel good and that's something i really enjoy in my books. a lovely escape!

This is a 3.5 star read for me. It’s really hard to reflect my feelings on this one. I didn’t love it or didn’t hate it. Overall I just think I didn’t connect with the characters or writing. Maybe the book felt too long during times and carried out? I’m not sure. I just know it wasn’t for me. I can see people totally loving this one though!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This was a cute romance with lots of feel good moments but ultimately brought nothing new to the table.

AS SEEN ON TV follows Adina Gellar, a twenty-something millennial living in New York City with her mother. She works two part-time jobs to make do but she’s an aspiring journalist – who’s been pitching to online magazine publications with little success.

In this, Adi was utterly relatable. As a twenty-something year old in a city working a job I like (but not love), I’m still a bit too close to my years of working multiple part time jobs to get through grad school and those uncertain months thereafter. The author did a great job in writing Adi’s stress of trying to land a job, especially in a field as densely populated as journalism.

However, Adi (and by extension, her best friend Kate) is obsessed with Hallmark movies and small towns. Upon hearing the news that a big-shot community developer bought up land in some small town a couple hours away from NYC, Adi has a breakthrough moment where she pitches a Hallmark movie trope of the big bad developer ruining the town and it gets accepted. There’s even promises of a full time job should the piece do well. She packs up her bags and dips into her life savings to live out her big city girl – small town Hallmark dreams in Pleasant Hollow…only to find that Pleasant Hollow is not quite like the movies.

Things I liked:

- Adi’s Jewishness. I loved reading about the Rosh Hashanah dinner that Adi’s mum hosted for her friends and neighbors. That dinner scene as well was slightly chaotic but in the way that left you with the impression that Adi is well loved and supported by the people in her life.

- Adi’s friendship with Kate. It’s very obvious that Adi and Kate have a very supportive friendship. Ditto on the relationship between Adi and her mother.

Thing I didn’t like:

- Finn. I’m sorry! Even despite his backstory, he felt very two dimensional and not well fleshed out to me. Their relationship as well was not quite insta-love but they’d only known each other for a couple weeks before flat out committing to each other – so it may as well have been.

- The main conflict and third act breakup felt flimsy and unbelievable to me and emotions felt too deep to be believable after only two weeks

If you’re looking for a quick read with a teeny smattering of spice, do consider picking this one up! It was charming in a small town kind of way – even if it wasn’t quite my cup of tea.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

The premise of this book is very cute - a woman obsessed with Hallmark movies, Gilmore Girls, and the quaintness of small towns tries to write a profile about one, only to find it falls short of her fantasies. The writing was not for me. The humor felt forced and the romance conflict didn't land for me, especially given how short the timeline was. Something I did love was that the heroine and her mother were Jewish and celebrated Rosh Hashanah in the book. I am always happy to see more Jewish characters in mainstream romance and for it to be casually Jewish. I did wish she'd explored the idea of being Jewish in a small town and how that felt, as I'd definitely have my guard up about it.

This is the book I needed in my life at this moment!! It was so much fun and so cute! I really loved the premises of this book. Adina is so funny and her banter with Finn is so fun to read. Meredith Schorr really hit a home run with this book. Do yourself a favor and read it. Now!

Thank you NetGalley and Forever publishing for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions in this review are purely my own and not affiliated with any brand.

Advertised as a book for lovers of Gilmore Girls and Hart of Dixie so of course I loved it!! I would say more like Hart or Dixie than Gilmore girls though. It openly mocks the hallmark trope which is funny even though I think we all secretly love hallmark movies because they are predictable and will always have a HEA. This is a cute, heartwarming, and quick read.

This novel is so full of heart and charm, and such a delightful read.. Adina, a young, ambitious NYC-based journalist and Hallmark movie enthusiast, chases down what she thinks is a career-changing story: a big developer is destroying the fabric of a small town with his new project. But as Adina spends time in the small town, located about two hours outside of the city, to get the scoop, she is surprised to find an apathetic community and an atypical project manager, with whom she has obvious chemistry. Pressure mounts as Adina struggles to find the real story amid her deepening connection with Finn. The stakes are high, the relationship is hot, and Adina is just so darn honest and likable that you'll be rooting for her every step of the way. This is an impressive, feel-good debut from Meredith Schorr! A perfect escapist read.

This book started a little slow for me but I thought it got stronger as it went on. I love the pop culture references, although I think it got a little heavy on the hallmark references. For me not watching hallmark movies there were several actors mentioned I had to look up. I really enjoyed both leads and I thought the chemistry was well written. This takes a lot of assumed tropes and turns them around, and also I love a strong female lead who actually articulated her feelings and needs. Highly recommend!