I have super mixed feelings about this book!

I loved the plot of this book. I am a huge fan of the friends-to-lovers and second-chance tropes. They are among some of my favorites. Add in a bookstore as the backdrop for all of this and it should be a recipe for perfection. However, I found there to be too much spice. Don’t get me wrong, I am fine with having a steamy scene every now and again, especially if it progresses the storyline, but I felt that it was a little excessive.

With all of that said, I still loved the heart of the story. Jack and Lizzy were lovable, relatable characters. I enjoyed reading about them discover their paths in life. It is so important to find what makes you happy!

The representation of anxiety was top notch. It is truly difficult to describe anxiety in a realistic way. Lee must be a fellow sufferer or know someone who is, because she captured how difficult it is to deal with anxiety on a daily basis perfectly.

Be aware that this is book number 3 in the series A Sweet Mess. However, it can work as a stand- alone book. I was not privy to this prior to reading it. Lee does a great job of filling in the reader with important information they need to know from the two previous books. I only really cared because I am a type-a personality and hate starting something in the middle.

Special thanks to NetGalley.com and St. Martin’s Press Griffin for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

Reviews Posted: July 13, 2022
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OMG, THIS WAS SO CUTE!!! I thought both characters were really interesting to read about, and I loved that we got the story from both of their perspectives. The romance was cute and fun, and friends to lovers is just superior.

While romance is the focus of this book, I think the author did an excellent job of highlighting the characters’ lives outside of the romance. As someone who had to step away from the path I was once on and reevaluate my life, I retailed to Lizzy a lot. The pressures of living up to what everyone else thinks you are doing can make things confusing, and it can take a few wrong tries before figuring out what you actually want. And that is exactly what I felt when reading about Lizzy. Jack had his own struggles throughout the book as well, and leaving the family without leaving the family can be hard too. I found parts of myself in both characters.

The romance itself was cute, and I had a good time reading about it. I do wish the development of Lizzy’s feelings was fleshed out a little more. Especially since we know a lot about how Jack got to the point of loving her.

I also think the ending was a little rushed and could have been played out more. It just didn’t fit with the rest of the book.

Overall, I had a fun time reading this; it just made me feel warm and fuzzy.

I might be in the minority here, but I loved this book. I recommended this book to someone when I was only 13% in, because I could feel where the story was going and I knew I was going to love it. I was hooked from page one although it did take a little bit before anything significant started happening, but once it did I was for sure all in. I didn't think I enjoyed the friends to lovers trope, however Jack and Lizzy have forever changed my mind.
Life long friends of twenty years, one that loves the other since childhood, but keeps getting put squarely in the friend zone, one that's oblivious to how the other feels, one that is knee deep in an anxiety ridden profession trying to make parents proud and the other feels lost in a profession that isn't really suiting their dreams for their own life...all they need to do is figure out what they want in life, what they want to do as a profession, and who they want to be with.
This book has the happy, the messy, the hard, & the swoon worthy moments of falling in love with your best friend, but like all life choices it comes at a cost. Things that couples should discuss and decide together aren't discussed, which further complicates the lives of Lizzy and Jack.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The main character, Lizzy, hopes to lead a fulfilled life in L.A., but has a panic attack during an important career opportunity. She goes to her childhood summer town to spend time with her friend Jack, who might have a decades long crush on her. They work together to bring a bookstore back to life, but romance sparks among the dusty shelves. Really enjoyed this book; lots of relatable characters and an interesting setting. I also loved watching the duo repair the bookstore, and bring life into a space that gives joy to many.

Lizzy is a lawyer at a big time law firm in LA. She wins her first trial and then she realizes she should be happier than she is. This leads to her taking a leave of absence to go to the town her best friend Jack lives. Weldon is a small knit community town. Lizzy rents an apartment above a bookstore and she decides to help the bookstore revamp itself with the help of Jack. Being so close with her best friend again she is realizing some feelings she has toward him. Meanwhile, Jack has had feelings for Lizzy since he is was ten.
Watching their friendship “cannonball” was really nice. You will be rooting for the two of them to work out in the end. The comfort level they had toward one another was so real.
Each character is so lovable from the bookstore owner Shannon, to Jack’s mom.
The aniexty issues Lizzy felt was also very real in the story. I felt the aniexty wash away from her while she was checking off her to do list in the bookstore. She seemed to be truly happy there.
Throughout the book you just want Lizzy to be happy doing what she truly wants to do in life.
This was a very easy to read cute romance novel with such lovely characters. It is a perfect “friends to lovers” story.

A big thank you to Netgalley & St Martins Press/St Martins Griffin for an eARC.

This romantic comedy is about Lizzy Chung and Jack Park. She had a list of things she planned on accomplishing in her career as an attorney. Jack is a bookkeeper for his family's brewery in Weldon. Lizzy is really stressed and decides to go to the small town of Weldon to decompress for 3 weeks. Jack and Lizzy spent their childhood summers together and were best friends.
Jack is waiting to hear if he will be offered the job he applied for in L.A. He would be living where Lizzy lives. Lizzy is deciding if she should go against her strict Korean mother and give up her career and move to Weldon. She would be living where Jack lives.
I enjoyed parts of the book, but found myself skimming through other parts.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a slow burn and friends to lovers that I really wanted to like, but found myself pushing through the first 40% and the last 20%. The story is good, but for me it was too wordy.

Lizzy is an adorable overachiever - always a checklist in hand and glad to have a job to do. As a lawyer in L.A., she is rising quickly through the ranks and solidified her plans of making partner in just a few short years. However an anxiety attack urges her to go on vacation and she can’t think of anywhere she’d want to be more than with someone who appreciates her.

Jack has a lot of titles. He’s a bookkeeper, waiter, handyman, and (the one he hates most of all) the best friend. As the ultimate nice guy, he plans to spend every waking minute helping Lizzy have the best vacation she can. But he also has a secret agenda: find a way out of his decades long crush with her.

The way he saw it, he had three choices here.
One: Maintain the status quo.
Two: Get over his crush on Lizzy.
Three: Make her fall in love with him.

While really cute, if not a bit awkward, and endearingly realistic, this book just wasn’t for me. I didn’t vibe with the writing style due to the amount of time in the character’s heads. I enjoyed the insight we see into these characters, but it was too much for me. I think if there was more showing of emotions rather than telling, I would have been more invested.

The other big thing I didn’t connect with was the amount of conflict and lack of resolution. Whether it was coworkers, family, or friends, arguments would arise but nothing ever came from it. I was confused why it was there at all. I know that’s a real part of life, but personally I read romance books to escape rather than delve into someone else’s problems.

There were some great quotes in this and I liked the story once they progressed past their inner thoughts, but it took almost half the book to get to that point. Jack and Lizzy were great and even the supporting characters were a blast to read. I just wish there had been more of these moments:

“If we do this, I can’t go back to being friends with you. I won’t be able to let you go.”

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me this book in exchange for my honest review.

Booked on a Feeling was a cute rom-com following Lizzy and Jack. These two are best friends with Jack living in Weldon working at his families brewery, and Lizzy living in LA as a successful lawyer on her way to becoming a partner.

Let's talk about what I loved. Jack, the Hero, falls first, but struggles with his confidence in the decision to become more than friends with Lizzy. Lizzy is Korean American and has anxiety. I love the diversity and the mental health rep. The scene of them posing like one of the historical romance covers had be cackling.

Things I struggled with: The friends to lovers trope isn't one of my faves. Its gotta be done right, and the mutual pining in this one made me cringe a bit. Lastly, the spice scale is pretty low for me in this novel. I wish there was more spice. We would get the beginning and the middle but nothing in the middle. 😔

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I requested this book I did not realize it was apart of a series. I wish I had realized that before reading because I would have read the first two books prior to diving into this one. With that being said I did enjoy this RomCom but found it a bit underwhelming. I really liked the concept behind the story and the characters were very sweet and lovable. However, I did struggle to connect to them. I wish there had been a bit more of a background, which again if I had read the 2 previous ones maybe I would have been able to understand it all a bit more.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC and this will be published July 26, 2022.

When I requested this book I didn’t realize that it was part of a series so when I first started reading I was confused since you just get pushed into the story. This book you would have had to read the first two books I think not the beginning to not feel as weird. This story took me a bit to get into but once I did I couldn’t put it down. The romance is really cute and I love both of the main characters.
Lizzy is a stressed out lawyer who decides to take three weeks off of work to visit her childhood best friend Jack in his small home town. While she’s there she starts helping a failing bookstore and Jack is right with her to help out The Sparrow.
Also the way that this Author describes the food in her books actually makes your mouth water. She really takes her time to explain every little step which makes it’s really powerful.
Overall I enjoyed this book and I’m thinking I might go back and read the other two books and see how I like them.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book struggled to captivate me, I wasn't loving the friends to lovers as the characters weren't very well developed. DNF before 50%

Well to be honest, i didn't really like this book. IT did not catch my attention early on and it wasn't my cup of tea.

The cover is beautiful but I wasn't expecting not to like the book. I read and skip almost everything..

The read was boring. The characters didn't have the friends to lovers romance, passion and angst that it usually a books of this trope gives me. Very disappointed of this book.

I do want to thank St.Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me a ARC of this book and of course the Author. <3

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee follows Lizzy, an attorney who is on the brink of burn out, as she takes three weeks off of work and head's to the town she grew up in giving her the chance to spend time with her best friend, Jack. While in town, Jack is faced with the feelings he has always felt for Lizzy. Does he risk their friendship by telling her or keep everything wrapped up - he can survive for three weeks right? While on her sabbatical, Lizzy meets the owner of the bookstore below the rental she is staying at. She offers her help to freshen up the store and ropes Jack into helping too.

Overall concept of this book is cute; who doesn't love a book written about bookstores?! One of the best parts of this book was the transformation that took place in the small town bookstore. Overall I felt like Jack's view of his place in his family was negative and on the whiny side. I also felt like the story was missing the history of the friendship between Jack and Lizzy and their chemistry was a little dry and awkward at times. I did find myself skimming sections to move the story along.

One of my least favorite things happened - the "let's not talk about this thing even thought it's a big thing" trope. I admit that the outcome of the unspoken was necessary to the story line, it simple frustrates this reader. 😂

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It fell a bit short of the mark for me, but perhaps you'd like to give it a go if you enjoy:

Romance books with a side of spice
Childhood friends to lovers
Korean-American characters
Main characters find their true passions
Transformations of spaces
Third person POV
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy for my honest opinion.

A warm and fuzzy love story with all the right elements.

Childhood friends, Lizzy and Jack, reconnect in Jack's small town during Lizzy's 3 week hiatus from her busy job as a lawyer in L.A. Things get a little confusing when they realize there is more to their relationship than being "just friends". Jack starts to secretly plan out a life for himself in L.A. to be closer to Lizzy, while Lizzy is secretly planning a much simpler life in Welden to be closer to Jack. They certainly know a lot about each other since they've been best friends since age 10, but during the 3 weeks together they learn so much more about themselves, what they want out of life and to follow their own dreams and not the ones their family's have dreamt for them. But, what happens when they find themselves in opposite cities?

Sweet, heartwarming, easy to love characters in search of self discovery. I was totally living vicariously through Lizzy and her dream of owning a bookstore, while her mother was adamant about her becoming a lawyer and making partner. I also had all the googly eyes for Jack who was the most loving and supportive friend turned lover, wanting more for himself than a bookkeeper for his family's brewery business. I loved the small town vibe of Weldon and the book lovers trope. A book about books? Yes, please! I simply didn't want their story to end.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for a free E-ARC in exchange for my honest review

Booked On A Feeling is a cute, friends to lovers rom-com. Typically rom-coms are right up my alley, but I struggled to really get into this one. The concept is cute and I did enjoy it, but it didn't ever really suck me into the story. It wasn't a book I felt I couldn't put down. I struggled to relate to the characters and at times I struggled to feel the connection between the,

Like I said I did enjoy the book, it just wasn't something I would recommend to everyone. I think if you like cutesy rom-coms and friends to lovers it might be worth a shot, it just didn't hit the mark as I was expecting it to given the story line of the book.

Thank you St Martins Press & NetGalley for this E-ARC in exchange for a honest review

Sadly, I DNFed this book at 15%.
First off, there was no background for the characters mentioned in the book. I don’t even remember the characters names. Also, there were so many character names, but no explanation of who they were. I got very bored with the book because nothing interesting was happening.

The cover is cute, but I just couldn’t get into the story.

Pros: light and fluffy romance book that goes by pretty quick

Cons: this really wasn’t a well written book. It didn’t feel like the main character had any depth to her, she was supposedly best friends with the other main character but they act very uncomfortable and professional around each other which is not how best friends act, there were some parts that’s just did not make sense (her parents basically shit on the fact that his family business was a brewery yet they are best friends with his parents and her mom didn’t think he was good enough for her because he worked at a brewery), there is basically no background about their friendship or flashbacks of their friendship from the past 20 years and it was mentioned that she moved here when she was eight and then her parents moved back to Korea when she was in high school but left her to finish out her American education but never said who she was staying with or where - the book also made it sound like it was her first time visiting his hometown which really doesn’t make sense if they were supposedly best friends their entire lives. I also didn’t like the anxiety representation in this book. It did not seem like the author had an understanding on anxiety and panic attacks, and if she did this plays into the not well written aspect because at the very beginning she has a panic attack but you only really know that because she says she has a panic attack and the author only sprinkles in that she is getting dizzy and has tunnel vision and then she faints.

I think that about sums it up but I would not recommend this book to anybody. I love Hallmark movies myself and cheesy romance books but there are so many better cheesy books out there than this one.

I want to thank St. Martin’s Griffin for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Unfortunately, this was DNF for me. I got about halfway through, giving it a go. But I didn’t really like the story. I had trouble with connecting with the characters as well.

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee is a must read! It was like a holiday movie and a meet-cute joined forces and wrote a book.

Burned out lawyer, Lizzy Chung, takes an extended vacation after being overcome with anxiety in her first trial. Lizzy is on track to make partner at her law firm but the anxiety she has started feeling has her questioning everything. She heads to a small California town where she spent summers growing up with her best friend, Jack Park. Jack is thrilled to spend 3 weeks with Lizzy, the woman of his dreams. Jack works at his family brewery but can't help but wonder if there is a life waiting for him outside his small town... and closer to Lizzy in LA.

Worried to risk everything to possibly find their wildest dreams coming true, Lizzy and Jack work together to help revitalize a small town bookstore, while finding out who they are as individuals and who they could be together.

Read this if you are looking for an easy read with a sweet plot, loveable characters, books, or if you have ever wanted to take a vacation to a small town and help a bookstore while falling in love.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian Publishing for this free digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Overall, Booked on a Feeling was a cute, pretty predictable rom-com that we book lovers are especially drawn to because it takes place in a bookstore, which is secretly a dream for all of us. Lizzy and Jack are clearly drawn to each other—and you get the POV from both sides so you know that they are both heading in the direction of romance, though it takes a long time to get there.

Though the story was sweet, nothing really happened with the plot. I found myself skimming through sections of it to find some sort of action or conflict and never really got too much of anything. The plot is slow and I felt that I didn’t really understand why Lizzy and Jack were friends or how their relationship worked before this point in the story. Childhood best friends usually have more inside jokes and quirks that only they know about each other, and I really didn’t see that here.

Without giving too much away, though, I did like the ending and I liked that neither of them had to change to be together—they were already friends, so it wouldn’t have made sense if someone had to give up part of who they wanted to be to make it work. Also, the secondary characters in the book were really great, especially the bookstore owner and Jack’s sister.

If you’re a lover of the friends-to-lovers trope and have an affinity for rom-coms and bookstores, you’ll want to grab a copy to breeze through it. You’ll get exactly what you’re looking for!

3 STARS

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.