3.3 stars!

This was a sweet friends to lovers romance that I enjoyed but just felt like something was missing. The chemistry was there and so were the emotions but I think there just wasnt enough action on those emotions for me? Maybe? Idk all ik is that something felt like it was missing.

Read For:
- Best friends to lovers
- Finding your passion
- Pining
- Bookstores
- Diverse representation

Overall this book was good, again just felt like there was a little something missing.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to review! All thoughts are my own.

This is my third attempt at a Jayci Lee and unfortunately will also be my last. Her titles and covers are always just so cute that I can’t help but want to read it! The premise for this was very strong: bookish theme, childhood friends to lovers, and small town romance. All things I normally adore! I also really love the multicultural representation Lee brings in her books. I just found the dialogue in this awkward and unnatural, one dimensional characters, and just not enough background on the characters to bring myself to care about what happened. I must say I did enjoy the first chapter and felt the premise overall was a good one. I hope others enjoy this more than I did! I’m pretty picky with my romance reads so it might just be me.

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee
⭐️ ⭐️

▫️friend-to-lovers 👩🏽‍❤️‍👨🏻
▫️bookish theme 📖
▫️small town 🏘
▫️revamp an old business 📈

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this, but it ended up not hitting the mark for me. As a reader, I didn’t feel that I knew enough about Jack to find him appealing or even interesting (as the main love interest). I found some of the dialogue awkward and uncomfortable. This was a miss for me, but I know others who have enjoyed it.

I really wanted to love this book. I'm slowly expanding my romance reads and this one sounded so insanely adorable and involved a BOOKSTORE, what was there not to love?

I ended up being pretty disappointed. First of all, even though I knew this was a friends to lovers troupe, I didn't expect it to be so...nice guy-ish? Jack had been secretly pining for Lizzy for years, basically being at her mercy for whenever she needs him, because he is in love with her. Its a case of a guy feeling trapped in a friend zone and doing whatever he can to get out of it, which is something that has never sat right with me.

Then there was the descriptions, OH THE DESCRIPTIONS. Both Lizzy and Jack are Korean, but the author acts as if this is a fantasy culture and not one that is rooted in reality. Anytime a Korean food, phrase, or cultural norm is referenced the story stops to go "In Korean culture, this is the type of food that is made for you when you're upset because of this, this, and this." It really pulled me out of the story because Jack and Lizzy had no reason to explain this to anyone, it was purely for the readers sake. It was easy to figure out some of these cultural differences through context clues, and the extra pause in explanation wasn't necessary. (Plus the food descriptions were unnecessarily long)

And don't get me started on the sexual descriptions...."be still my throbbing vagina" is not a phrase I ever want to read again.

I also felt as if the timeline was skewed? Lizzy is supposed to be spending three weeks in Weldon on her vacation, but SO MUCH happens in this time period. I don't want to flat out spoil anything, but between her and Jack's relationship, the work she does at the bookstore, it's A LOT. At one point it seemed as if Lizzy had accomplished two weeks worth of stuff, but timeline wise it had only been about three days. This girl must've been waking up at 4am and going to bed at midnight in order to accomplish all the stuff on her various to-do lists. It just wasn't realistic. And I know its just a book, but contemporary fiction is one genre where the timelines and nature of a day need to be a little more rooted in reality.

I ended up liking the side characters a lot more than the main ones - I adored Shannon and her son, and Jack's sister (whose name I can't recall at the moment), but some of the side characters were severely underdeveloped. Jack has a twin brother, who randomly pops up only when Jack needs to talk to someone and has no personality traits of his own.

Maybe I'm diving into contemporary romance too quickly - so far there are only a very select few authors that I like and I don't think I'm the target audience for friends-to-lovers romance novels quite yet...but for the right person I can see them loving this story and the overly cute romance of it.

I have one other small caveat that counts as a spoiler, so don't scroll further if you don't want to know!

Incoming....

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Spoiler ahead...

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I would have rated this book higher if it wasn't for just one detail - which if its a troupe you enjoy that's GREAT, but for me its the one sure fire way to make sure I don't read your books again. It sounds nitpicky and pretentious, but I get to decide what books I read, right? If this book had ended just one chapter earlier I would've been satisfied with the ending and gone "aw that's cute" but instead we got the "one year later" time jump. In that one year, Jack and Lizzy got married, which I don't care how long you've been friends, at the end of the book they had dated for LESS THAN THREE WEEKS and been broken up for a few months, that just seems a little speedy for my liking. And then there's the part I hate...LIZZY IS PREGNANT!!!! I don't know what it is about this troupe that bothers me so much, but if your happily ever after has to end with marriage and a baby on the way, its not for me, and I say this as someone who is in fact, married with a child.

Like I said though, I'm still very much dipping my toes into the contemporary romance genre as a whole and discovering what I like and what I don't. This book wasn't for me, and I still tend to be overly critical as I figure out the tropes that I like.

I do hope there are people out there who absolutely adore this book and that it finds its target audience!!

“I love you.” “Again.” “I love you.”✨

*thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “I LOVE BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS!!!” & revamping a bookstore… sign me up! 🤍

Lizzy and Jack were the perfect MCs and I loved seeing their friendship turn into a cute relationship. They complimented each other so well. It was a romance book that I did not want to put down! Something about it just clicked with me & this is one of my favorite rom-coms I’ve read this year!

Y’all are going to want to check this one out!!!

Read if you like:
- friends to lovers 👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻
- books about books 📚
- second chance romance 💞
- dual pov 👥
- personal growth 🌱

Rating: ☀️☀️☀️☀️💫/5

Bookstores ✔️
Brewery ✔️
Best friends ✔️

This slow burn, friends to lover story was just right. Back in the town of Weldon (with some appearances from the other Weldon friends) Jack and Lizzy have been best friends for 20 years.

Lizzy comes to Weldon from LA on a much needed leave from her lawyer job for three weeks and to finally see best friend. She stays above a failing bookstore and immediately falls in love with the store and the store’s owner, Shannon. She helps fix up the store and brings life back into with the help of her friends.

Jack is the bookkeeper for his family run brewery but is struggling feeling adequate now that the brewery is doing well. He fills up his days helping out his childhood best friend fix up the book store when he’s not helping out with the brewery.

Definitely go along on this sweet romance as these best friends try to navigate their dreams and while deciding if a relationship is worth risking their friendship.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for a review!

This was such a good read and I absolutely loved the story behind the characters. I was rooting for them the entire time and was happy to see them find each other again. I hope to see more of them in the future

Sadly, I wasn't able to connect with this one. 

Having said that, I did enjoy a few aspects of the novel. The bookish subject matter was fun and I officially adore the idea of owning a bookstore! A few quotes in the book made me smile about motherhood and bring an avid reader, two things that I can relate to. Especially that growing TBR stack!

Lizzy and Jack are our main characters. In my opinion, they had a cringe-worthy relationship, to put it mildly. I just did not connect with either of them and more often than not, found myself feeling that both of them were immature - together and separately. They reminded me of high schoolers in their first relationship. Not longtime best friends who were wanting to see where they could take their relationship on a romantic level. 

Booked on a Feeling is a light read and if you enjoy the cheesy (with extra cheese) friends-to-lovers trope, I propose you give it a chance. Who knows, you may love it like so many others have!

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee in exchange for an honest review.

small-town romance with a great female lead. the male lead was so incredible and i loved this so so much. please read this ASAP!!!

This was a really fun read! Give me a rom-com with a bookstore and I’m hooked. This book hits all the right notes. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Friends to lovers with a small town bookstore revitalization!

Lizzy Chung is an up and coming LA lawyer. She owns her condo. She just won her first case. The only problem? She’s being crush by her anxiety to the point of fainting during her opening statement. And when she finds out she won the case, she doesn’t feel excited. Deciding that she’s just burnt out, Lizzy decides to take a three week vacation to Weldon, where he best friend of twenty years lives.

Jack Park has been in love with Lizzy almost his entire life. They’re just best friends and he knows that. He works as a bookkeeper and server at his family brewery but is secretly applying to jobs down in LA so he can try to improve his life. Thinking he’s pining safely from a distance, the last thing he expects is to bump into Lizzy on his morning run! How is he supposed to keep his heart in check while spending every free second together?

Plot: 4/5
The arc of the plot was really cute. I could guess how it would end up which isn’t a bad thing I just kept waiting for it to happen. The romance was definitely there and I loved it. I am a huge fan of romance books that center around books/bookstores/libraries.

Characters: 4/5

Lizzy is a head strong, passionate, and creative woman who clearly doesn’t want to be a lawyer. A conflict averse lawyer? Not a thing. Once she becomes aware of her attraction to Jack, she takes the lead and goes after what she wants. I would have liked to see more of why she had never seen Jack as a possibility before.

Jack Park is everything you could want in a man. He’s funny, thoughtful, and handsome. He’s a bit insecure about what he’s achieved in life due to being too humble but he’s taking the initiative to improve himself. His family is also incredible, I want his parents.

One of my favorite things about this book is that both characters are in their 30’s and changing their life paths. It’s almost like a coming of age story but for adults.

Writing: 3.5/5
I liked the style and it is very dialogue heavy, which I enjoy. There were however lots of time skips for things I would have really wanted to see. Like for Lizzy’s trial, we only see opening statements and then she’s won in the next chapter. It felt like we only saw the parts of their lives that overlapped and we didn’t get to see much of their individual time.

Overall: 4/5

I am for sure a fan of Jayci Lee and the way she creates romances that pull you in. Booked on a Feeling gave me everything I wanted and more. This is the perfect summer romance for book lovers.

This is the heart-warming and fun story of Lizzy and Jack. Longtime friends turned something else when Lizzy decamps from L.A. to Weldon seemingly overnight after realizing that she's burnt out from her high-powered gig as an attorney.

Jack welcomes her with open arms but questions whether or not this is the time to pursue his true feelings, ones that go beyond friendship, for Lizzy. Little does he know (at least until about 35% through) that she is also questioning their long time friendship and what else might be in store for them.

Even though she's supposed to be on vacation, Lizzy throws herself into helping to spruce up (which is a kind term) the bookshop below the apartment she's rented for her stay in small town Weldon. It turns out to be exactly what both Lizzy and Jack need to bring them together and give them some perspective on their lives - in Weldon? In L.A.? Together? Apart?

I know this is part of a series and I am intrigued and will add the other books to my list, but you don't have to have read them to enjoy this book. The one thing I would say is that the epilogue may make more sense if you've read the other books (I presume) and generally it doesn't add too much to the story so if I could give it a do-over I'd just skip it.

This was the definition of a light and fluffy romance. There were no big traumatic events or anything crazy that happens. I really enjoyed Jack and Lizzy’s relationship and I thought they were very cute. However, childhood friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and it didn’t reach its potential in this book. We didn’t get any backstory on Jack and Lizzy growing up even though they met when they were 10. It made it more difficult for me to become invested. I would still recommend this if you like friends to lovers and stories about books, it’s just not something I’ll keep thinking about.

This is really cute! It was kind of hard for me to get into, but I think that’s more me than it was the book. The food descriptions in it were excellent, and I think that this book would be great for fans of Jasmine Guillory.

Lizzy Chung is a a successful lawyer in L.A. but it comes at a high price. To help relieve the burnout and anxiety that comes with her career, she decides to take a three week vacation in a small town a couple hours away where her best friend of 20 years Jack lives and works for his family brewery. Jack is elated that he gets to spend 3 whole weeks with his best friend, and the love of his life, but Lizzy doesn't know what feelings stir beneath the surface. As they spend more time together, the feelings become harder to ignore. Is Jack willing to risk their friendship for more?

This is SWOON WORTHY, full of romance and literary goodness. I loved all the interactions between Lizzy and Jack. Lizzy shows up in Weldon to get away from the bustling city. While she's there, she also volunteers to help out a failing bookstore. Jack also becomes part of this with his handyman skills to help fix up the store. A lot of their time is spent in the bookstore which I thought was adorable and easily my favorite parts of the book. I love books about books! Jack is constantly struggling with his feeling for Lizzy because he doesn't want to lose his friendship with her. And I loved how he valued her. Lizzy has never looked at Jack as anything other than her best friend. So when more feelings start to surface and she finds herself attracted to him, she too also has an internal struggle. The tension between these two was wild! Lizzy and Jack both have good character development as they try to figure out their own lives and how they can possibly fit into each other's. I loved the author's writing style. I liked the ending of the book though I thought the epilogue was a little flat for me. At first the dual POV in third person confused me, but it becomes vital to the story and doesn't take away from the events. All in all, I definitely recommend this.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of this book!

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pub Date: July 26, 2022

This book was fun, and quirky...and utterly forgettable. The writing was a little boring, and honestly, I found myself skimming at a lot of points just waiting for something to happen. I almost DNF'd this book honestly. The characters were fine, but nothing special. I might revisit this book down the road to see if my opinion still holds, but I was overall really disappointed in it. I had such high expectations, and it just did not live up to them. The plot and the writing really didn't pull me in, and the characters were not enough to save IMO. This is a weak three stars from me because I just wasn't compelled by anything in the story.

This is a cute, fluffy romcom. I love when the guy falls first, and I’m weary of friends to lovers, but this was adorably done. This is a sweet, easy read, low angst and lots of butterflies. It’s the perfect palette cleanser!

I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Booked on a Feeling!! I happened to stumble upon the first book in this series at my library a couple of months ago and am so glad I took a chance and got it! This entire series does not get the love and attention it deserves from the contemporary romance community!

I loved the way Lizzy and Jack’s friendship turned into a romance on the page. Their decades old friendship was believable and I found myself very invested in their future. In addition to their sweet romance, they each learned important lessons about self happiness and being “enough”.

Highly recommend and read the first 2 while you’re at it!

I received an arc in exchange for an honest review**
This book was such a feel good novel! The author really gave the characters life and personality. The author tackled so many different topics as well, ranging from anxiety and family issues, but in a way that wasn't cliche, but was well written and made you feel for the characters involved.

I also really enjoyed that the character's happiness wasn't dependant on another's. The MCs had to find themselves before they truly found each other. Definitely a feel good read all around.

If you like stories about friends turned lovers, bookish people and stories about finding yourself then you'll enjoy Booked on a Feeling. I enjoyed reading about Lizzy and Jack, their years of friendship, their contrasting family relationships and Lizzy's love of books and bookstores. It's a fun read with a few steamy scenes.