I am not really sure what it is about this book, but I just didn’t connect with it. We don’t really get any background on the characters, so I never felt a connection or spark between them. The inner dialogue from both characters, but especially Jack, was very childish. Nothing really happens in this book. You keep reading thinking it is going to pick up, and it never really does. I appreciate that it covers some anxiety and self-doubt issues.

Bottom Line: I really wanted to love this book, as I have enjoyed others from Jayci Lee…but it was very underwhelming. Maybe it would work for others.

** I received a copy of Booked on a Feeling from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Booked on a Feeling follows Lizzy Chung and Jack Park, childhood friends as they navigate their lives and the ambitions and dreams they want.

After suffering from a panic attack at her first trial and questioning if being a lawyer makes her happy, Lizzy takes time off to visit her childhood summer town where she spent numerous summers with Jack. Throughout the novel, you follow them as they navigate their long history of friendship with a mix of feelings for each other. You also get to see them discover and navigate what they want and learn to live for themselves and not for others,

Reading this book was an absolute squeal of a good time. Whenever I saw Lizzy and Jack together, I couldn't help but awe at how much Jack loves Lizzy. This man literally drove hours to ensure he didn't miss her first trial. Never have I read about someone so smitten by their childhood crush until I met and read about Jack. Nothing makes me love a romance novel more than childhood friends to lovers. I will eat that troupe up until I die.

Overall, this was a wholesome and sweet book to read during AAPI month. Jayci Lee does an amazing job writing characters who go through debates and issues that can be seen in the Asian community. The debate on whether to give up your dreams for your family or follow your dreams but risk losing your family is one that is rarely written about. I can't wait to read more of her work and hopefully see another novel set in this universe.

I always love contemporary romance novels! Add on friends-to-lovers and I'm sold. That's exactly what this book delivered. A classic friends-to-lovers story featuring Lizzy and Jack, that takes place in small-town California and heavily features a local indie bookstore. A book that takes place within a bookstore? Yes, please! Jayci Lee did a beautiful job describing and letting me visualize this setting. I finished this book wanting to go browse in the Sparrow bookshop.

The introduction did take me a few chapters to get into it. I found myself getting frustrated with Jack at times as he wanted to “take things slow”. However, it is a slow-burn friends to lovers romance. I loved Lizzy’s growth throughout this novel and I also loved the author's approach about anxiety. It made the characters more relatable.

This was an adorable contemporary romance novel. I would recommend this book if you're wanting a cheesy romance and a light read.

“Booked on a Feeling” is a must read! A sweet and steamy romance with a lovely representation of Korean tradition and culture sprinkled throughout. The love of books and bookstores that Lizzy has is so comforting and wholesome, a perfect read for a bookworm. This book didn’t disappoint.

This was a light, fun read with great character development. Watching both Lizzie and Jack reflect and realize what they truly wanted out of life felt very natural and relatable. I loved the way that the author allowed them to separate to truly feel established on their own. We all love a book about bookish people, so the bookstore element was a fun plot point. While I was a little unsure based on the first few chapters how I was going to feel about this book, overall it was an enjoyable bookish romance that I would definitely recommend for summer!

Super cute romance based on lifelong friends. I am always a fan of mentioning the trope the couple is falling under. Makes it more fun that way. As a reader and a lover of all things book related, I enjoyed the renovation and plans for the bookstore, probably as much or more than the romance. The romance is a slow burn and the payoff is hot. For lovers of romance, this is a good one. For people who want to renovate bookstores, this one will do fairly well.

This book was sweet, easy to read, and it had the perfect amount of angst. While the book centers on Jack and Lizzy’s romance, I really loved how the author tackled anxiety, self-doubt, and the uncertainty one experiences while switching careers.

Overall this book was cute, fluffy, and a delight to read! If you enjoy a good friends to lovers where the boy falls first, then this is the book for you! 3.5 stars.

I was a bit disappointed by this romcom. I was expecting all the cute tension and will they/won’t they of most romcoms but I didn’t find that here.

Ok. This book was sweet. Friends to lovers is growing on me!

This book starts off with our girl Lizzy, an LA lawyer who is pushing herself so she can be made a partner at her firm. She’s just come off of her first major case and won! Huzzah! But she’s not feeling that spark of satisfaction that she thought she’d feel. She’s definitely feeling burnt out. So, she takes some time off and visits her childhood best friend’s hometown of Weldon. Jack, the best friend, is head over heels for Lizzy and has been for years, but has been relegated to the friend zone. He’s the bookkeeper for his family’s brewery and is feeling unhappy with his career. He’s looking for something else and has applied for a job in LA. Our pair join together to help save a local bookstore from closing and sparks fly.

The chemistry between Jack and Lizzy was great. Their banter was cute and their scenes together were almost always a delight. The dual POV was definitely well used in this book. I do wish we got a bit more information about their mutual past. Beyond knowing they’re childhood besties that’s about it. It wasn’t like a huge problem, but I just wish we got a bit more of a sense of the shared history, you know?

The book was a bit slow to start but once it got going (after a few chapters) it was great. It was a relatively quick read so I’d say this would be a good beach or pool read this summer. Particularly because you can take a dip to cool off when it gets spicy. And trust me, it does ;)

It’s not a genre-smashing book but it is a comfy type read. If you like sweet and spicy friends to lovers books then this might be for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Thank you NETGALLEY and ST. MARTINS for the arc!

Booked on a Feeling is a romcom about two childhood friends who have gone their separate ways in life but are still very close. Lizzy is in LA pursuing her… “dream” of becoming an attorney. She’s on track to make a partner and after winning her first case, she starts to realize that maybe this profession isn’t quite for her. Blaming it on “burnout,” she moves to the small town of Weldon where her best friend since childhood lives with his family, Jack.

Lizzy rents a small apartment above a bookstore owned by a single mother and she takes it upon herself to help the bookstore out. Jack, of course, gets dragged in because how could he say “no” to the girl that he’s been in love with since he was 10? Jack is a sweet book-boyfriend who valued his friendship too much to make a move. Lizzy (who is also very sweet) is productive and always busy. Before this trip, she never really thought of Jack in a romantic light.

I liked Lizzy’s and Jack’s characters most of the time. They both weren’t awkward throughout the book, their relationship was adorable, and they were the cutest nerds. Besides that, I just had irks with the writing and how the story was executed. These things just really prevented me from enjoying this book more than I did. Yes, it was fun at times, but it didn’t stand out that much.

I did like how realistic their own problems were. Lizzy felt the need to please her mother who wanted her to be an attorney, so she pushed everything away. She forgot about her own dreams and felt overwhelmed with the thought of tackling them since she had worked so hard for her job. Meanwhile, Jack worked at his family’s brewery as the “numbers man,” handyman, and a waiter. He just felt like he wasn’t contributing as much as everyone else since his siblings brewed, his mom cooked, and his dad helped around everywhere. (Jack was contributing a lot.)

Anywho, they were still cute but I've read quite a few romance books that I enjoyed a lot more.

In Booked on a Feeling, Lizzy is an attorney in LA who is on track to become partner in a few years. But she has a panic attack during a court case and it makes her realize how burnt out she is. So she takes a three-week hiatus in a small town in California where she used to spend summers with her best friend Jack and his family.

Jack is ecstatic because he’s been in love with Lizzy for decades and now he has three weeks to spend with her. But he doesn’t want to risk their friendship so he doesn’t intend to change anything between them. Plus he has his own future plans that he’s keeping to himself for the time being.

While in town, Lizzy starts helping the local bookstore owner with renovating her shop, bringing back to life her own childhood dream of owning a bookstore. It definitely made for an enjoyable setting for much of the book because I love bookstores (don’t we all? 😂).

I really loved the quick funny exchanges between the main characters and enjoyed watching Lizzy’s realization of her feelings unfold. There was also great tension with what felt like bazillion interrupted almost first kisses! Lizzy and Jack are both Korean-American (Lizzy’s parents are currently living in Korea) and it was fun to see all of the authentic foods, to see how Jack’s family all interacted with one another and how Lizzy interacted with his family.

There was a legitimate conflict in the book that kept them apart for a time but it was blown out of proportion because they wouldn’t just talk to one another. I will admit I might have been more agitated than usual by the miscommunication/non-communication trope because this was the third book in a row that had it be prevalent in the story. I did enjoy the way it all eventually resolved and the way the story ended (even though it was fairly predictable - still enjoyed seeing it happen).

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee follows our main characters Lizzy and Jack as they try to help a struggling bookstore owner get her business running smoothly in Jack’s small home town.

Lizzy is a lawyer working at a prestigious firm in L.A. who ends up having a panic attack in the middle of a trial. Realizing she hasn’t been taking care of herself like she should, she takes a vacation from work to stay in the town her best friend lives in. Jack works for his family brewery but he feels like he doesn’t contribute much and is unhappy. When the two team up to help revamp a local bookstore, the sparks really begin to fly.

This book was fine. It is a very sweet, clean, cookie cutter romance. Childhood friends to lovers usually are. You can easily predict how it will end from the beginning. It isn’t exactly the kind of romance I enjoy. I like something a little more angsty. It’s hard for me to enjoy childhood friends to lovers when we don’t get the flashbacks of when they are growing up. I was hoping the bookish setting would make me enjoy it more but it really didn’t help a lot.

This things I liked about this book include the Asian representation. The author is Asian so you can really see how she pulled from that in this book. I loved all the talk about food. And I did really enjoy the scenes with Lizzy being a really awesome lawyer. I looked at the author’s bio and saw that she was a defense litigator for 15 years and that really shows in this book. I can tell Lee, as an author, writes about what she loves and cares about and that kind of connection with the author in the book is one of the main things that made me finish reading.

All in all, this isn’t the kind of romance I normally enjoy but if you are a fan of hallmark type movies, you would probably enjoy this.

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for allowing me access to a digital copy of an ARC for an honest review.

I had many mixed feelings on this book.
This book is dual POV and follows Lizzy and Jack. Lizzy and Jack have been friends since they were kids Lizzy is a lawyer living in LA who is struggling with being happy with her career. Jack works as a bookkeeper at his family’s brewery in Weldon and is struggling with is career choices also. After a big trial Lizzy decides to take 3 weeks off at the law firm and stay in Weldon. During these 3 weeks Lizzy and Jack start realizing what they really want in life.

I found about the first 15% of the book pretty boring. The case that Lizzy is working on is overly explained in drawn out details that made it hard to keep interest. I found myself losing interest a lot through certain parts of the book. I did however love Lizzy and Jack as characters and as a couple.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Do you want to read a super cliche, best friends to lovers romance? Do you want to read about two likable characters even if they aren’t particularly unique or groundbreaking?

Pre-reading:
Finally onto the book I was given to read early. I feel semi-bad going into this with such a negative bias against this author, but like write better and we wouldn't be here. This book’s description makes it sound like a departure from the other two books in the series, so I'm praying it's more tolerable. I think the cheesy title is cute, and this one has the best cover of the three.

Thick of it:
The writing in these books just skews so young and childish. Like Wattpad or high schooler writing. Drink what you like, sheesh. See, stuff like that. It’s just immature. There are books that can throw in SAT vocab that give me pleasant little goosebumps while they work my brain. This is not one of them. This is like the person who learns a new word and tries to work it into any sentence even if it doesn’t fit. I don’t care about cars in rom-com. And the author’s hating on other women for their appearances again. This book is seriously glamorizing unhealthy eating habits so far. And the unnecessary foodie additions are back. Is this gonna be some legally blonde shit where the friend thinks she slept with the boss to get her position? Because no thank you. How high I can fly only makes me think of The Office. Another romcom with Pride and Prejudice. I really need to read this book at this point, or, at the very least, watch the movie so I have some idea why all these rom-come practically fetishize it. I tentatively think I like this one better than the other two books. It’s still atrocious writing though. Putting the name Jack that close to Sparrow? It’s not poetic. People don’t talk like this. I love the romance genre when it’s done well. Formulaic can be done well. It’s usually not. This is doing formulaic in the exact way that people insult it. Why am I getting deja vu from this book? I swear I’ve read this spin instructor bit before. Wanting a dude to make you feel like you’re enough? Bestie, that’s just daddy issues. Yeah, like it’s still bad, but I will happily argue that this is the best of the three books. More Charlie Brown. I wonder if I can tally up at the end of the year how many books have referenced it because it’s a little uncanny at this point. Don’t complain about a designer bag oh my fucking god. Also, if it’s super slim, then chuck an iPad in it. Like I’m sorry, but it would be useful. Proud of this book. Finally a line by this author that’s amusing and not cringey. I’m rooting for this one. I want a two-star book from her. Why is it The Sparrow and not The Bluebird? Then they could have a cute painting the bookshelves scene and like getting paint on each other and oh no now they need to share a shower. Like it’s sitting right there. Don’t make a PB and J foodie porn. You’re not good at it, and it’s just obnoxious. Her dialogue is slowly becoming more reasonable/realistic. Book I’m really, really trying to like you here, but the cringe and random metaphors are really doing a number on me. Haha, the painting is happening! So like edit the name, bestie. Update, we are not getting painting. They literally just state that they’re painting. Missed opportunity. You know this book could be something. It needs a serious edit, but this is her best book by a mile. Like spend less time on the cringey food additions that have no business being in this book and more time on the snappy dialogue and you’d have something. No, it’s completely cringe. Do not put that song in a book. I was so on board, and then immediately no. Why must all her characters cry over singing? I also keep forgetting they’re 30. They don’t sound 30. They sound like early 20s. Tired of this author’s no makeup superiority complex. I like Lizzy. I like this couple. This is the first time that I’ve liked a couple of hers. See that’s a good chapter opener. Just take out the garbage in this book and you have a decent one. I think the bad bits are ruining it from being three stars, but had they been taken out, this book could’ve been three stars easy. It’s making me warm and fuzzy; I wanted the author to get better and she did. Now I might actually read the fourth book to see how much she’s improved. I repeat: I like Lizzy. See, and a good dialogue bit right there. Proud of you, book. Didn’t she already realize she was in love a couple of chapters ago? Another good little bit right there. Come on book. Get rid of the cheese and the absurdity and the like half-baked ideas. Neaten this book up. It needs a heavy-handed edit and then it would be a good one. Not a great one, it’s still like very standard fare, but like it’s an easy read romance novel. Big words are still awkward and out of place. See, and then I’m out again because what should be cute is not cute and it’s just kind of weird sounding and it doesn’t sound anything like something a 30-year-old man would say. Also just don’t bring feet into it. No feet. Book, I’m really rooting for you, but then you just have to go and be so awkward. I want to give you 3 stars, but the cringe bits are so upsetting. Okay, what a bitch. Sheesh. It’s very Rapunzel and Gothel. Mother. You know another big criticism I have for these books is that these people don’t exist outside the relationships; like they don’t really have friends. Like they have hobbies, they have jobs that they keyword love eventually, but they don’t feel like fully developed people. I don’t know what else is missing that’s keeping this from greatness. But like I look at the Off Campus series and I’m like yeah those books have it. It’s partially a good dialogue thing, but even if this book was only good dialogue, I still feel like it’s missing something. I’ll think on it. Maybe it’s just that no one really grows and there’s not really a believable conflict? Like instead of the reader understanding why the couple can’t be together, the author just tells you they can’t and you have to go along with it. They don’t really grow as people either; the emotional conflict is always the same throughout the book and then they just kinda get over it because the book is ending. There’s nothing really pushing them into that growth. I feel like other successful romances, or just books in general that I like, have characters whose emotional conflicts affect the world around them and have other characters respond to it. These characters’ problems exist like entirely in their heads and only when the author wants to address them rather than being permanent fixtures throughout the book. They feel like immature conflicts too. At 30, it shouldn’t really be an epiphany that you can stand up to your parents. That’s like some 18-year-old personal conflict. I like this heroine. It’s her first one that has a spine and a libido. That’s a good little fight. I know I just complained about this author’s conflicts, but this tension should be throughout the book. Not just a blip to cause a breakup. The other books have been kind of dumb about their flights. This one’s more like yeah, I can understand that. Oh right, the office people exist again. Can we get some resolution with the ex-friend? I am confused. How can you afford to live in Los Angeles on an entry-level position? Hold on, how does she even have the money to buy a bookstore? That doesn’t make any sense. It’s a little frustrating to hash out the tropes when your entire audience is sitting there going this is the most formulaic thing I’ve ever read and instead of leaning into it, you’re trying to pretend it’s not that. This is like a bad version of Book Lovers. With less angst. Where is the resolution with the mom and the lawyer best friend? Have we just forgotten about them? What about her father? See, another good little subversive chapter opening. Again, it’s like she learns a fun fact and just throws it in to be like look what I know! Shut up. I almost feel like she gets these fun facts off of Facebook listicles like I do.

Post-reading:
I am going to be generous today because I feel like this is a fine little rom-com. It needs such a fucking edit, but to have the same author produce this book after producing that first book is something very hopeful. I feel like the fourth one could genuinely be good if she gets a proper editor to rein her in or just grows out of the bullshit in her writing style. But I dunno, I’m proud of it for being something that I could tolerate after having two books that I genuinely hated. And there are one or two moments in this book that I liked and was fully on board for. They did not last long, and they kept being interrupted by the same immature writing flaws that ruined and comprised the entirety of the first two books, but they were there. I really like Lizzy. I have not liked one of this author‘s characters before. I am frustrated that there’s no resolution with a good third of the characters mentioned in the book. That feels like a miss. I don’t understand how any self-respecting editor allows her to name a bookstore The Sparrow in conjunction with a main character named Jack. No one is going to be able to read this book without thinking of Pirates of the Caribbean especially with the Johnny Depp Amber Heard case being so prevalent when this book is released and coupled with the main character being a lawyer. The author needs to stop with the food bits. This book has nothing to do with food. She can check out other romcoms that successfully make you hungry with food descriptions without feeling out of place or distracting from the plot of the book. I think the book‘s greatest failing is still the immaturity of it. These characters don’t read like 30-year-olds. Their problems also feel a bit immature for being 30. I’m reading this as a 20-something, and it’s more relevant to me. I would be curious for her next book, and I fully went into this expecting to completely write off this author as not for me. I also think it fails in the scope of the book. The only subject is really just them as a couple, and you don’t get much of an outside world even though it’s supposed to take place in a small town, but then it doesn’t last in the small town, nor are you given enough small town vibes for it to be a small town romance. This book is frustrating because it’s like the bones of something that could be good, but then it has really annoying habits that need to be corrected, and then even if you did smooth it all out, you would still need to add more to it for it to be something great. It just feels like it wasn’t ready to be written. It needed more. I don’t know, I’ve got a lot to say about this after reading it just because I want it to be better because I am so genuinely impressed that it’s better than the first two books. I’m rooting for her. I want her to write well. It’s just not quite there yet. But this is the first book that I would be like this is a fine thing to read; it’s not a complete waste of your time. It is still not something I would recommend, but I don’t think it's a waste of time like the other two.

Who should read this:
Small town romance lovers
Fans of the best friends to lovers trope

Do I want to reread this:
No

Similar books:
* When In Rome by Sarah Adams-cliche, bad rom-com, small town romance
* The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang-cliche, bad rom-com, diversity
* Book Lovers by Emily Henry-the small town romance book for people who appreciate the romance genre but aren’t afraid to criticize it. Can’t recommend enough.
* Fluffy by Julia Kent-easy read rom-com with people who knew each other as kids

This book was a lovely, light summer read. I would have loved to have lived more with Lizzy as a lawyer (which was laid out in such a cool way in the opening scenes) and I also would have loved more information about Lizzy and Jack as friends. Friends to lovers is one trope where I think we really need to see the depth of the friendship through flashbacks, especially if the friendship is actively shifting in the time that we’re reading about.

I thought the writing itself was good and I’ll definitely check out what Jayci Lee puts out next!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really wanted to like this book because of the premise (I love bookstores and the childhood friends to lovers trope), but I couldn't get into the writing style. The dialogue felt a little stilted and broke immersion for me. Overall, not for me, but hopefully others will enjoy.

Booked on a Feeling is a sweet rom-com book by Jayci Lee.

It is friends-to-lovers, which is a trope I've really grown to love this year. This small town focuses on Lizzy, an attorney, and her childhood best friend Jack, who's a bookkeeper at his parent's brewery. He's also been pining for Lizzy for years, which is another trope I love when it comes to friends-to-lovers the whole "it's always been you."

This book was an easy read, and it made me smile. However, it fell flat. Nothing about the book truly stood out to me, and when I finished, I was like, "meh." It felt overly predictable, and nothing surprised me, which is disappointing. But it is a comforting and sweet read.

I will say I loved the diversity in the book! The different cultures and their households were essential to see. If you're looking for a lighthearted read with sweet tropes, then I recommend this book.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

A fairly cute and enjoyable read. I like anything that has to do with bookstores! I finished this book a while ago and forgot to come back right away to write a review, so I don't feel like I can say anything super specific about this book. I will likely read it again, though!

Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish this book, because it was all talk with very little action. I didn’t really care about the characters because there wasn’t any back story. It had potential but just didn’t deliver.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to like this book so much. Friends to lovers, second chance, and a bookstore? Yes please, but I just could not connect to the characters. I found it a little boring and I was waiting for something to happen. Also, there was no background on Lizzy and Jack's friendship. I need that, I need to see what happened in the past, and what lead them to where they are now, and that part was severely lacking in this book, unfortunately.