A very very slow burner.

Follows the trope of friends to lovers, but boy does it really drag it out. At 30% I was ready to throw in the towel on this one. Realistically, it’s more of a 1-1.5 for me.

Jack and Lizzy were overwhelmingly complicated. The back and forth was extremely unnecessary. I felt the story could have easily been shorter and we wouldn’t have had to read through so much repetitiveness.

There wasn’t anything significant throughout the entire story that kept you wanting to read. The friends to lovers trope was the only storyline. There were no other subplots to add depth to the story. Yes, there were a few internal battles with each individual, but those were dragged out and should have been resolved earlier.

After more than an month I was able to finish it, but the struggle to DNF started at 30% and continued until about 91% of the book. By that point the story picked up a little and I was able to power through.

I received an ARC through NetGalley thanks to St. Martin's Press.

I thought this book so cute!! Absolutely loved it and i think you killed it! Will definitely be recommending to everyone

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a 2 star read for me. There were things I liked and disliked that led to this rating.

Things I liked:
- Cute plotline
- Friends to lovers trope
- Representation of mental health in this case anxiety
- Jack!

Things I disliked:
- Repetitive/ describing everything
- Thrown into the friends/lover trope. The very beginning we are introduced to Jack as a friend (though by description I thought he was the boyfriend)
- Predictable
- Reads like a YA romance novel even though the MCs are in their 30's

Overall, it's a cute read but I personally am not a fan of YA romance books. This would be perfect for fans of: friends to lover trope, YA romance, predictable plot

Lizzy, a stresses out lawyer, is back home and attempting to relax. Jack, her childhood best friend and the man who has been secretly in love with her for a decade, is overjoyed. He is also not entirely happy with his job helping in the family business and these two reunited is what they didn’t know they needed.

This book has cute moments, realistic issues, fun characters, and some of my favorite tropes. It was an easy, quick read for me and overall enjoyable.

Although this book is obviously focused on romance, there are so many other aspects that add to the story. I loved the realistic life changes and problems both Lizzy and Jack faced. Lizzy dealing with anxiety is something many people, myself included, can relate to. The author wrote it in an accurate and validating way. Having a partner like Jack that can help calm the storms or support you while they inevitably happen is the dream. I love when romance books can be both focused on love/relationships, but also real life.

This book is wrote in third person which I do struggle to read/enjoy at times, and the writing style was just a bit different for me in general. This is my first book from the author as well, so with every new author comes some new adjustments. Regardless, Booked on a Feeling was a funny, cute, easy to read story about childhood friends to lovers - one of my favorite tropes!

Tropes: rom-com, childhood best friends to lovers, small town romance, secret pining, boy falls first

Thank you to St. Martin’s and NetGalley for the ARC!

You've got Friends to Lovers, you've got Hero Falls First, you've got Second Chance Romance, you've got dual POV... and it (mostly) all happens in a bookstore.
Lizzy suffers from anxiety and panic attacks in her high stress-trying to impress her mom- life while Jack is full of self doubt and wanting to chase his dreams. As much as I hate a miscommunication (or lack of communication, just talk about your feelings!!), I liked that these characters had to figure things out on their own and then were sure. 
I thought some of the inner dialogue felt repetitive and the epilogue was extra cheesy, but overall liked it. Going to give my inner-Lizzy some love when I can check off Jayci Lee's other books off of my to-read list!
Thank you Net Galley &  St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I didn’t enjoy this. Lizzy was a strange character and I found the friends to lovers thing didn’t work for these two. Jack seemed uncomfortable the whole time. I’m still unsure why his brother was rocking back and forth in a chair at the end. The relationship between Lizzy and her mom was awkward and off putting.

The sex scenes in the book made me cringe at times. Everything just felt fake and unnatural. For instance in the beginning of the book Lizzy goes on about how she hates coffee, especially black coffee, but is drinking black coffee instead of her preferred tea because she felt like she had to. Why? What a weird thing to say. Why not just drink the tea you like? I feel like some of this could have made at least a little more sense if Lizzy and Jack were 21 and not 31.

Lizzie is a lawyer who needs to take a break after winning her first court case. She heads to her best friend Jack's hometown for a short break. He has been in love with her forever. Will she fall for him as well? While she is in town, she takes an interest in the local bookstore. Where will this go

I LOVE a friends to lovers story! I also love these stories where the main character finds out what they wanted isn't what they thought they really wanted. I didn't know this was part of a series, so now I want to go and find out more about Lizzie and Jack's backstory!

Thanks to NetGally and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A very sweet story. I felt like there could’ve been a slight but more buildup but it was worth it in the end irregardless. Cant wait to read more by this author.

Ugh I really wanted to like this one- a cute cover, friends to lovers, big-shot lawyer moves to her small town. All the Hallmark vibes! But if I’m being honest, it missed the mark for me. There was hardly any backstory and minimal depth to the characters, and while this isn’t an earth shattering revelation for a romance novel, the plot line was easy to predict. I struggled to get through this one, and I kept putting it down and picking it back up for almost two weeks. I didn’t DNF (I could NEVER), but I do feel like I maybe I could have used my time more wisely if I had 🫣 Lizzy and Jack were, in a word, fine. I did like Lizzy’s growth through out the book and appreciated what a supportive friend and partner Jack was, but most of the book dragged for me and at times, felt repetitive. There was room for more growth, more depth, and more conflict, but the entire thing felt very surface level for me.

this book was a really cute story. i found myself really rooting for the characters the whole time and i loved how close both jack and lizzy were with jacks family. i really wanted them both to get their happy endings and i’m extremely satisfied with how this story ended!!!

i think it would’ve been nice to have a bit more backstory to jack and lizzy but i also didn’t know this was apart of a stand-alone series until after i read it so maybe if i go back and read the first two it would give me more about the characters!

overall, it was definitely a really fun read and i loved the little bookstore setting and i could picture it so well which made it a lot more enjoyable!

Friends to lovers is my favorite romance trope, and while this one was friends-to-lovers, it left me wanting a little more from the story and characters. It was a quick read that has lots of references to food & and book/bookstores which were all fun to read about. However the disconnect between the light/juvenile and then the super steamy moments was kind of jarring.

I wanted to like this one more, I've seen that the author's other books are very well loved. This one just wasn't my favorite.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the e-galley in exchange for an honest review!

Perfect for friends to lovers fans!

I've enjoyed Jayci Lee's books so far, with A Sweet Mess being my top favourite, so I was really glad to see her coming out with a new book and with a setting of a bookstore no less!

This book certainly started off with a bang with all the lawyer talk and I just really liked how Lizzy's job was a lawyer since I haven't read many books with an MC with that profession before.

Friends to lovers is your classic "cute trope" and this book was definitely that! I love bookstores (of course) and this book was the perfect homage to that with the background of Lizzy and Jack's love story!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the earc in return for an honest review.

This review was also posted on goodreads at the following link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4788349837

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

I thought this book was adorable! i loved the lawyer and bookstore aspects being added to the book as it's interests of mine although i accidentally read this and didn't know it was a 3rd in a series and i was a little lost for the beginning part. Im sure it would be much better if i had read the first 2 although i still enjoyed as i read!

It gave me some reminders of it ends with us for some reason just by the helping clean up and set up a store, just a small detail i thought about while reading and i loved having that comparison to something shown in another book even if it's not close at all. I will for sure be going back to the first books to catch up and fully understand this book & ill probably end up rereading it even

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t initially aware it’s part of a series. The dynamic between characters was sweet. I enjoyed the cultural aspect and inclusion. I found it a bit predictable but still enjoyed.

Booked on a Feeling presents a friends-to-lovers romance between childhood friends attorney, Lizzy Chung, an attorney, and Jack Park, frustrated working in his family brewery business. While the author’s writing style is enjoyable, and the characters were worth rooting for, I was irritated by some of her errors about litigation, the legal system, and the practice of law. As a practicing attorney I found these misstatements about Lizzy’s professional responsibilities, her plan for the future at her law firm, her “staff,”and the trial that results in the problem that causes her to take a hiatus to be glaring error that were too distracting to disregard. With a brief conversation with a practicing lawyer, or a even a scant amount research, the author might have obtained and presented a more realistic setting for her primary character, Lizzy.

However, the author’s presentation of anxiety issues, the stereotypical pressure Asian parents place on their children to be traditionally successful, and self discovery created an satisfying story.

When Lizzy’s professional hiatus brings her back to a small town where Jack lives, and she discovers a bookstore in need of a revamp, she finds a new purpose. Jack provides assistance int his endeavor through which Lizzy and Lack discover and, eventually, explore their mutual attraction. While the characters’ reluctance to be open and honest about their feelings was, at times, infuriating, their eventual romance was worth the wait.

Thank you to NetGalley and and St.Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4/5! This was a sweet end to a very cute series. I really enjoyed the first book, but felt that the second book was not as mature. I was prepared to feel average about this one, but was pleasantly surprised! I really liked the character development here and found the romance story to be relatable, funny, charming, and flirty! I definitely would recommend this to someone looking for a quick and easy summer read.

Ok. I liked this better than the last one in the series, but only just. It totally reads like fanfiction which would be fine, but I totally didn’t care about the characters. It was less robotic than ‘Dating Dare’ but I think I just have to come to terms with the fact that I just don’t love Jayci Lee’s writing. I do, of course, love a book-centric book and I liked the store makeover part; Shannon and Elliot were cool and if the next one’s about them, I’ll check it out, but otherwise I don't know that I'll be interested.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story! The dynamic between Lizzy and Jack was sweet and I'm always a sucker for a good friends-to-lovers trope. I enjoyed the cultural inclusions of their Korean backgrounds but wish there had been more to the build up of their relationship. The bookstore-aspect is sure to appeal to other book lovers as it did to me. I did find the ending a bit predictable and could see the resolution from a mile away, but I still enjoyed the sweet conclusion to their story. Overall, a solid 4 star story.

2.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read. Unfortunately this book was not for me. I felt it was incredibly slow paced and since I hadn’t read the first 2 books I lacked required background knowledge on the characters

A wonderful 4.75 to Booked on a Feeling!!

Our story follows Lizzy, an attorney in LA who’s been trying to make partner for years. After winning her first case (and having a panic attack in the process) she takes some time off in a cute sleepy town called Weldon. She spends time with her best friend since childhood, Jack. Jack has been carrying a torch for Lizzy for years, where will the two friends find themselves at the end of the three weeks?

I know people say don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but I knew I would love this book as soon as I saw the cover. This story has so many good things working for it. It’s funny, the romance is sweet but still sexy. The author touches on mental health and anxiety and it genuine and carefully discussed. I love how the characters found the strength to follow their dreams at the stage of life they’re in.

I love our characters so much. Lizzy is smart and has always been driven. I found that I relate to her anxious tendencies, and I wanted to give her a hug multiple times through this story.

I love Jack so much. I have never considered myself a fan of friends to lovers but this was just too good. He’s so sweet and caring, and he really knows and values Lizzy.

The only things keeping me from 5 stars is that the story line felt a little predictable toward the end, but I still really really enjoyed this.

Would definitely recommend!!