Some of the most boring writing ever. The characters are cookie-cutter, the dialog is flat and stilted -- “I am going to take a walk to prevent vitamin D deficiency.” or “watching his brother drink made him thirsty. Alex had this strange talent for making everything he drank or ate look so good” -- it’s awful! There was no chemistry between the main characters. The only good thing was the description of a meal. Don’t bother with this one.

Booked on a feeling is a sweet romcom about childhood best friends who end up falling love. It takes place in a small town where they are attempting to save the local bookstore. They save the store, and realize what their true dreams have always been.
This book was full of romance tropes from beginning to end. It was predictable, but absolutely lovely. The characters are warm and loving and it makes you wish you could live in Weldon with them.

I absolutely loved that this book was based off of a bookstore and had friends to lovers. I also loved the presentation of the Korean American culture. This book starts off with Lizzy having a successful start to her job as a lawyer, but then that quickly goes downhill after she has a panic attack. Following this event, she moves back to the town she grows up in and reconnects with a childhood friend named Jack. They begin to catch feelings for one another and work to restore a local bookstore. Any books based off books is automatically a good book for me! I greatly enjoyed the authors writing style and how she presented different cultures and mental health issues. .

Booked on a Feeling is a friends to lovers romance. Lee manages to stir both longing and anxiety in readers by successfully conveying Jack’s inner turmoil as he constantly ruminates on his feelings and his fear of losing his best friend. Because of this, he is slow to make any kind of move and this becomes one of the most frustrating aspects of the novel. There are stolen glances and tingling feelings that help build tension, but it also goes on for more than half the book. I liked the tension building and the turmoil, but I also needed things to speed up as well. Thankfully, Lizzy does help by making her thoughts on it known. This was a nice change of dynamics with Lizzy always ready for more while Jack remains more concerned about the aftermath if they don’t work out.

This is a sweet romance and I enjoyed most of it. There are some beautiful passages that I loved in here. Jack and Lizzy have a wonderful friendship, and there is some cute banter between them. I couldn’t help wishing there was more time spent on them being together without seeming like one foot was always out the door. (3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars)

It is a really cute story but I’m not a big fan of cursing or spice, which is why I docked two stars.

3.5 stars
This one was cute.

I love the bookstore setting even though that was only part of the book. I’m gonna start off saying that friends to lovers has never been my favorite trope, so that might effect my opinion. I like that there’s already a basis for their relationship through their friendship. I just don’t like the push and pull of their friendship being on the line if they admit feelings and it always has the miscommunication trope which I don’t like. So I had a bit of an issue with that. Also I didn’t really love Lizzy, she made me mad a few times 😂 But I loved Jack. He was so sweet and would do anything for her. I loved how much he loved his family and did so much for them. The whole time I just wanted him to realize that he deserved so much more than he thought he did. Shannon was a great character I loved her, she was probably my favorite.
The ending was nice and the epilogue was cute. A very them epilogue, it made me laugh.


Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the ultimate friends to lovers book! Lizzy is an overachieving lawyer who is steadily checking things off her life to-do list. She has a plan in mind for her future but what she didn’t plan for was a panic attack during an important trial. Burnt out, she decides to visit her best friend in his hometown to recharge her batteries. Jack has been Lizzy’s best friend since they were 10, but he’s been keeping a pretty big secret from her, he’s been in love with her for decades. Can he keep his secret under wraps or will they both realize that their perfect future was right in front of them all along?

I thought this book was so cute! It was sweet, heartwarming and all around adorable. I love a book where the guy falls first and this is exactly what we have here! As they spend more time together they can’t help but give into their obvious tension and chemistry. Jack was such a sweetheart and Lizzy was so relatable. We’ve all felt the pressure’s of our family and even society to check off those milestones and get that high paying job, but what’s the point if you’re not truly happy. The progression from friends to lovers was so natural and their connection was so genuine. I loved that we see them both realize that they shouldn’t settle for jobs and lives that they don’t truly love, and peruse their dreams.

If you’re looking for a cute, lighthearted and fluffy summer read, this one is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Jayci Lee for this eARC!

Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with the characters in this one. The writing felt overdone and it took away from what was happening. I will try to read it again at a later date.

Cute romance about two best friends. I loved the dynamic between Lizzy and Jack. The small town charm, with a book store, was a fabulous setting for their friends-to-something more story. An adorable and quick read!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Why is this book so cute?
The chemistry. The tension. Oooo the tension is SO good.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this!

My first Jayci Lee book and I’m coming back for more.

That achy, gut wrenching feeling when two characters fall for each other but don’t want to be together for the sake of the other? MY GAAD, that’s my fave feeling EVER. Combined with a healthy amount of Korean culture set in California, it was all perfection. The Asian-American rep was so relatable.

I couldn’t get enough of Jack and Lizzy, Jack’s family (that oh-so familiar upbringing of a child of immigrant parents), Lizzy’s struggle with her mental health wasn’t the focus of the story but there were some feels. One of my pet peeves is when one character’s story gets overpowered by the other. This wasn’t the case at all. It gave as much Jack as it gave Lizzy. I fell in love with both characters.

And the steamy scenes complimented the story so well. So much tension and chemistry. It had some descriptive scenes. I’d say it’s more spicy than Emily Henry but less than Rachel Lynn Solomon.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one.
Comes out July 26!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5
🌶🌶.5 /5
Not closed door but not too spicy

✅️ RomCom
✅️ Friends to Lovers
✅️ New Adult/YA

Lizzy goes to visit her friend Jack in California (who works at his family's brewery) while she decides to take a break from work. 🍻

After spending more time with Lizzy in person, Jack's feelings that he has always had, come back strong and it becomes hard to suppress them any longer.... so it's time to act on them! 💕

A book about self discovery, coping with anxiety, & the pressure of trying to meet your parents expectations. 😅


Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this eARC!

I liked this book a lot. it’s such a quick and easy read that’s lighthearted and fun. both Lizzy and Jack are very likable characters that I could relate to. This book is a very cute friends to lovers rom-com which I am a complete sucker for. It’s also set in a small town centered around a bookstore, what more could I want from a book? I think the anxiety representation in this was well done and I liked it a lot. I also liked that Lizzy and Jack are both Korean because reading Asian American centered romance books just makes me very happy.

Personally, I would’ve enjoyed this more in a dual pov format rather than the breaks in the chapters switching between Lizzy and Jack in third person pov. I do think the development of the relationship was a little off though. Jack and Lizzy didn’t really feel like best friends, in my opinion, but that may just have been because there’s a certain distance between them. The dialogue also felt a little weird to me in that it felt like it didn’t flow the way a natural conversation would and felt very written. It was still a very good read though and the things I didn’t like are mostly personal preference.

Overall, Booked on a Feeling is a very cute, lighthearted rom-com that I enjoyed and had a good time reading. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Lizzy has her life planned out and never deviates from that plan. She’s a successful lawyer at a prestigious law firm, and the next step is to make partner. But after having a panic attack in the courtroom, she decides to take a break and leaves LA to take a break in a small California town where she spent her summers as a child and ends up helping out with the local bookstore. Her best friend Jack, has had a crush on her for as long as he can remember, and now that she’s in his town for a few weeks he wants to make the most of it.

I loved this cover and was so excited for this book but it fell a little flat for me. I loved Lizzy’s character and her journey. I thought there were great messages about taking a step back to take care of your mental health, and finding your own path and what makes you happy. I also loved the bookstore aspect and the parts where Lizzy worked to revamp the shop. I mean, what book lover wouldn’t love to get to play such a major role in a bookstore? However, there were parts of this book that felt very slow - especially in the middle, and despite it being a cute story, it didn’t always hold my interest. The audiobook in particular helped with those slower moments for me as Cindy Kay did a great job narrating!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for the advance copies.

This book was such a fun little escape. I finished this in 2 days. I couldnt put this down. Such a great summer read.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an e-ARC of Jayci Lee's "Booked On A Feeling". All opinions are my own.

Friends to lovers? Check.
Burnout to Bookstore Owner? Check?
Passionate plot that makes you root for the couple? ...meh.

"Booked on a Feeling" follows the story of Lizzy, a young lawyer who just won her first case, but is already burned out and decides to take a vacation in her best friend Jack's hometown of Welton. Jack has secretly been in love with Lizzy for the last twenty years, but has resigned himself to being on the sidelines for seemingly no plausible reason. Why do I say that? Simply put, Jayci Lee frames Jack and Lizzy's friendship as purely platonic but immediately throws the two of them into forced attraction and flustered feelings, which feels incredibly quick. If Jayci had taken more time to prep the reader, it would seem more believable - however, with how quick-paced it is, BoaF became a disappointing read with a few nice descriptions of bookstore renovations to try to revive the reader's interest.
If you are interested in other titles that might do a better job, I would recommend:
"Book Lovers" by Emily Henry - I know, everyone is reading it right now, but there is a reason for that.
"Never Been Kissed" by Timothy Janovsky - Saving a dying business all while falling for a longtime friend? Yes please!
"Last Chance Books" by Kelsey Rodkey - Saving a dying bookstore and clashing with the son of the owner of a popular bookstore chain is all in a day's work for this heroine.

Booked on a Feeling follows high powered lawyer Lizzy returning to her small hometown after realizing that she isn't being fulfilled in her career. There, she reconnects with her hot childhood best friend Jack, who has been holding a candle for her forever. Lizzy and Jack get involved with fixing up the local bookstore and shenanigans ensue! I (obviously) love books and thought this one sounded cute!

Things I liked: I thought Lizzy and Jack were good characters (especially Lizzy). She had some interests that I don't see super frequently in main characters, like making lists and being into handymen (lol). Lizzy is into romance books and I thought the meta commentary on the genre was fun. The descriptions of Korean food were amazing and made me so hungry. I enjoyed learning about Lizzy and Jack's families and how their culture impacted their expectations of their children and how they navigated those feelings.

Things I did not like: Oh man is there a lot of angst in this book. Or I guess lust for the other character as the book switches perspective. I found that this got really old really fast and I started skipping over it. There are only so many descriptions of the same characters that I can read without getting bored. The third act breakup is SO INCREDIBLY DUMB that I skipped right to the end because I decided that I didn't have time for it. If that part had just been omitted I would have liked it a lot more, genre tropes or no.

Overall, I recommend this book if you are a romance lover and want a cute story. This had too many things that annoyed me to be my my cup of tea. 2.65 stars rounded up to 3. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Unfortunately Booked on a Feeling has adult characters that sound and behave as though they were much younger. The motivations of Lizzy especially seem to make no sense. The relationship (or the history of the relationship/firendship) between Lizzy and Jack didn't feel authentic. The connection between the two -- that the entire book relies on -- doesn't have nearly enough to allow the reader to care enough about them.

I really liked this book! I loved the characters so much, which made the 'will they, won't they' plot so much more frustrating at times. The payout more than made up for it though! I found Lizzy and Jack both so relatable! And even the secondary characters wormed their ways into my heart. Friends to lovers is such a classic troupe, but Jayci Lee put her unique touch to it.

3.5 stars, rounded up.
I felt like this was a refreshing take on the friends-to-lovers trope. Jack and Lizzy had great banter and undeniable chemistry. The main setting of Weldon, CA seemed idyllic and allowed the MCs an easy, small-town pace to grow their relationship.
Both Jack and Lizzy were struggling with trying to sort out their careers. Lizzy is an attorney, a path she chose to please her mother, but it's exacerbating her anxiety. Jack works for his family brewery but feels a bit like a third wheel to his siblings who are driving the business.
I love bookish themed books, so the fact that Lizzy has a bookstore and copy of Pride and Prejudice as her safe space, and then starts helping at a book shop when she is supposed to be on vacation were plot points I really enjoyed.
Jack seemed so sweet. He's definitely a cinnamon roll, and I love that he had been crushing on Lizzy since they were 10 years old. This book was the perfect blend of sweet and spicy to me, and I appreciated the minimal awkwardness when Jack and Lizzy decided to take their relationship to the next level.
There were a couple of things that went unanswered in the book, but since they weren't necessarily things that truly affected the plot, I won't harp on them here. The pacing was a bit slow at first, but I felt that got resolved once Lizzy got to Weldon. Overall, I really liked this book and will read more by Jayci Lee.

Lizzy needs a break from her busy life as an attorney, and she decides that a three-week vacation in her best friend’s hometown is perfect. Jack has been in love with Lizzy since they were ten, and he decides to use these three weeks to get over his unrequited crush. When she decides to help fix up the local bookstore, she ropes him into helping, and she finally seems to see him in a romantic way. But what happens at the end of her trip when she leaves?

This book honestly should have been my jam. Friends to lovers? Here for it. Sprucing up an independent bookstore? Big fan. The story had all the right pieces, and it was perfectly enjoyable and happy and a fun, light read. But I wanted more.

Jack feels stagnate in his life and at the family business, and he aches for more, somewhere else. Lizzy is finally coming to terms with the fact that she doesn’t like being an attorney and the family pressure that got her to where she is in life. But these supposed best friends don’t tell each other anything until they’ve already made huge life decisions. The lack of communication was surprising, considering how long they’ve been friends and the chemistry they do share in their romantic scenes.

I think I also would have liked to know a bit more about their past. They’ve been friends for two decades, and we don’t get much more than a passing reference to anything from those years. I hate to be that “show don’t tell” person, but it just didn’t work for me here, being told they were best friends without seeing what really drew them to each other.

Still, it was a fun book, and the bookstore transformation was a great plot. If you’re looking for a sweet, low drama read, this is absolutely perfect.