This was such a gentle read. The low stakes really hit the spot.

Attorney Lizzie Chung lives the over-achievers dream - lawyer on track for a partnership, the fast pace of big city LA, and completely unhappy. When she has a panic attack in court, she bolts for the small town where she spent childhood summers with her best friend, Jack Park.

Jack, now helping his family's brewery, is surprised to see his friend (and secret crush) in town. Now, he's hanging out with her all the time and gets pulled into her project to help revive a local bookshop. With each passing day, they grow closer together. As Lizzie's time ticks down, they have to confront what truly makes them happy and pursue it, even if it pulls them apart.

I imagine there are many people who'd love nothing more than to take an emergency 3 weeks off from their job to spend it in a book store. Bonus points for falling in love with a man that can rock a tool belt. Lizzie and Jack were such a great pair and I truly enjoyed their journey. The book starts a little slow, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I loved the ending where both Lizzie and Jack pursued what they thought they wanted, and then still had to adjust to get their happy-ever-afters.

Lizzy and Jack, best friends for 20 years, are both unhappy. Lizzy is coming to realize that the legal career in LA she's worked towards for years isn't satisfying. Jack is unmotivated working at his family business in small-town California. But when Lizzy takes a break from her job and visits Jack, they realize that maybe they were meant to be more than best friends.

This book is full of "will they/won't they" moments, breakups and hookups, and self-discovery, with a satisfying epilogue. However, the book on the whole just didn't grab me. Long paragraphs of self-help book style exposition, some big plot holes (am I the only one wondering how Lizzy is going to pay her student loans?), and a dose of vocational awe for bookstore owners turned me off. I liked the characters, but somehow couldn't believe this was their story.

The cover and title of this book immediately caught my eye and after reading it, I'm glad my instincts were right! What a fun romantic story of friends to lovers, with an extra appeal to fans of bookstores, reading, and all things bookish. It is far from perfect, but certainly a fun summer / travel / beach / type read.

The two main characters, Lizzy and Jack, are likeable and easy to relate to. Lizzy is the high octane lawyer in LA climbing the corporate ladder to make partner at her firm, but struggling with anxiety and questions about whether her life plan is what she really wants. Jack does the books for his family brewery in a small California town, but wants more - and has been in love with his best friend Lizzy since childhood. A panic attack leads Lizzy to take a vacation to Jack's small town where they reexamine their relationship and all kinds of delightful romance story tropes ensue...

The backdrop of fixing up an independent bookstore works very well. I liked Jack's family and siblings, and bookstore owner Shannon.

The final probably 15% of the book felt disparate from the rest though. The writing style changed to too much of just telling the reader what the characters were doing separately, instead of how it flowed nicely in the beginning and middle. Then the very ending came together so abruptly that it felt like whiplash. The epilogue felt more substantive than the actual ending of the book.

Lizzy Chung has achieved nearly everything in her career that she's been working toward for years but it doesn't feel like she thought it would. She takes a break to fight the burnout and disillusionment, and the first place that jumps to mind is the same little town where her best friend Jack lives.

There were lots of things I loved about this, and a few I didn't. The pacing felt off for me at times. It started off really slowly, and after Lizzy and Jack give a relationship a try, it felt like it slowed down again. I also wish that I knew more about Lizzy's mental health and anxiety journey. That didn't feel fully fleshed out, and with so many things missing from her understanding of herself and what she wanted, having her anxiety mostly under control and figured out felt unlikely.

What I loved: The descriptions of Korean food, the chemistry between Lizzy and Jack, the respect Jack showed for Lizzy and her journey, and of course, the enthusiasm for Romance at the bookstores involved.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin.

This a sweet and happy RomCom book. Loved the characters and I’ll take a bookstore setting anyway. I also love when authors name issues ( anxiety, stress, social awkward, neurodivergent…. Etc) just makes the character seem like real people walking around us every day.

This was overall very good, easy to get lost in, and quick to finish. I now have to find her first 2 books. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lizzy is a independent women who is rising up in as a lawyer to try and make her parents proud. Jack is Lizzys best friend who works with his family at their own local business. What happens if line start crossing when lizzy goes and visits jack on vacation. What happens when best friends start having deeper feelings for each other?

A super sweet friends to lovers romance. I loved watching them fall in love with each other all while helping in the bookstore. I thought it was so well done. The chemistry between Lizzy and Jack was so well done. I couldn't put it down once i started it. I would highly recommend it to anyone! Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin Paperback for an eARC of this book

Booked on a feeling is a super sweet friends to lovers romance. The best part is that it’s all centered in bookstores. Unlike a lot of novels that have books in the title it doesn’t disappoint because it spends a lot of time in the bookstores.

I also really liked the chemistry and relationship between Lizzy and Jack. It took a little bit for me to get into the book, but once I did I couldn’t put it down.

Thanks to NetGalley and St . Martin’s Griffin Paperback for an eARC of this book

4/5 stars

I really wanted to like this one but it ended up being a DNF for me. I usually try to make it at least halfway and I did, but even then there was something lacking.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Publishing for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

I am a sucker for childhood best friends to lovers books, so it took me no time at all to decide to request an arc of Booked On A Feeling by Jayci Lee. In short, this was a cute and adorable and tooth-rottingly sweet read.

The main characters, Jack and Lizzy, have been best friends since they were 10. My favorite part of their relationship was Jack’s unrequited pining for twenty years, and his longing for Lizzy to love him. I ended up looking forward to his point of views more than I did Lizzy’s.

I rated this book 3 stars because of a few significant factors. First, I thought there were too many descriptions of unnecessary facets like settings and food (I know what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich tastes like, I don’t need a two-paragraph explanation), while sorely lacking in character descriptions. What color hair did Lizzy have? Jack? What shapes were their faces? Did they have wide smiles or full lips? It was hard for me to really feel a connection to these characters when I truly had no idea what they looked like, and what they found most attractive/inviting about each other’s appearances.

Another thing I disliked was a good chunk of the dialogue. Most of it was awkward and stunted, and just didn’t feel very natural at all. Like perhaps the author was trying a bit too hard to create witty banter, but it really didn’t come across as witty. I regretfully found myself cringing during a significant portion of the conversations between Jack and Lizzy.

This book would be a good read for anyone looking for a quick, simple romance between best friends, but for the most part, it is pretty forgetful.

I really wanted to love this book. Personally, I was not a fan and I was not able to finish it. There was serious character development that was lacking throughout the book. I do appreciate the multicultural representation of the characters though!

i unfortunately couldn’t finish this book. i don’t know which aspect of it led me to set it down for a final time, but i was relieved when i did so. i always felt like i was actively trying to read instead of relaxing into it. however, i didn’t mind the writing style. it moved quickly, it was descriptive, and the storyline initially seemed enticing. i can see how this would resonate with others, it simply wasn’t for me.

Thanks ver much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! Friends to lovers is one of my favourite romance tropes so I was really excited to give this a read.

Booked on a Feeling follows our two main Lizzy and Jack, they've been friends since childhood but Lizzy is unaware that Jack's been harbouring a crush on her that whole time. Lizzy is a lawyer in LA, and Jack works for his family's brewery in the small town of Weldon. Lizzy is suffering from major burnout and decides to take a three-week vacation to spend time with Jack in Weldon. Meanwhile Jack is looking to make a change in his own career. The two come together to help spruce up the local independent book store and romantic feelings grow between them.

I really liked that besides just a cute romance the author touches on mental health and how hard professional burnout can be as I think it's something we're seeing a lot especially in young professionals right now. Also the idea that it's never too late to make a career change and find that it is you really want to do! Where this book fell a little short for me is that it seemed like the getting together was very rushed. We know Jack has his years long crush, but it seems like Lizzy's feelings developed out of nowhere. I wish it had been a slower build with a bit more tension and pining. It also had a third act breakup which I hate in romance. But over all this was really cute and I highly recommend!

Full review posted to Goodreads and StoryGraph!

This book was cute but I had overall mixed feelings. I found Lizzy's character to be relatable to how a lot of people feel when under the pressure of their parents and find themselves pressured into a life they wouldn't have necessarily picked for themselves. Struggling though burnout and also dealing with the anxiety of living a life that is not your dream is something a lot of people can identify with and I loved this aspect of the story. I loved the childhood friends to loves aspect of this book as well but I found Lizzy and Jack's relationship to be lacking something. Individually as characters I loved them but together I just did not find their love to be as believable as I would have hoped for after twenty year of friendship.

I had to abandon this book. It wasn’t very interesting. I liked the characters, The plot was too weak for me to continue.

I want to thank Net Galley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. I requested this book because the title was so cute. I had high hopes. Unfortunately, it just didn't make it for me. It was cute and fun, and sexy. but I felt like that there was so much more that was missing. Lizzy is a lawyer in LA. She has just win her first case, despite a crippling anxiety attack at the start of the trial. She is not happy a a lawyer, and it appears she is just in law because her mother has pushed her to excel since she was young. Lizzy always wanted to own her own bookstore. Lizzy goes to Weldon, her old home town , where her best friend jack lives. Lizzy takes a room above a bookstore. Jack's family owns a brewery. Jack works at the brewery, but it is not what he wants.He has secretly applied to a firm in LA for a job. That is basically the plot. It was ok, fun and light. It just wasn't what I was looking for.

thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for giving an honest review.
holy moly. i loved this book so much. i was literally gushing. normally i’m not a huge fan on friends to lovers, like they are good but i definitely have tropes i like better, but this book…THIS BOOK AHHHH!!! my heart feels so full after reading it. it was literally so adorable. i definitely plan on getting a physical copy of this book when it comes out!!

3⭐️
Firstly, thank you to the publishers and NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press publishers for the E-ARC of Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee. The below is my honest opinion!

This is a cute, feel good romance. Booked on a Feeling is a second chance, friends to lovers romance. It follows two POVs: Lizzy, an attorney living in LA who realizes her life is not what she wants, but what her mother laid out for her, and Jack, who works at his family’s brewery wishing he had his own goals and pinning for his childhood best friend. The story revolves around the two helping a local revamp her bookstore.

I enjoyed the Korean culture that is seen throughout the book- the different traditions with both households. I also enjoyed how cute and fluffy Lizzy and Jack were.

Why I gave it 3 stars: I felt like these two people who claim to know the other better then they know themselves and hve been friends for 20years, had a hard time expressing their true feelings. They kept going back and forth with “oh she/he doesn’t feel the same” when they could have resolved the main conflict easily if they just talked. I also felt like there was miscommunication between them when there didn’t have to be.

Overall, a very sweet romance with a childhood friends to lovers, the boy falls first tropes.

Sadly, this wasn't my favorite. Booked on a Feeling was my first Jayci Lee read, and perhaps I would have enjoyed this more had I read the first two books in the series. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and I feel like I was lacking background detail that would have helped me connect to them better. The plot was a tad predictable and I am not a fan of miscommunication that often comes with friends-to-lovers, so that was also disappointing. Lastly, I'll say that I love romance novels where characters are bit older and more mature (Lizzy and Jack are in their 30's) but this somehow still felt a little juvenile. I definitely recommend this to Jayci Lee fans and those that are looking for a sweet and heartfelt romance. The writing was great and there were definitely some sweet and enjoyable moments, it just wasn't for me.

A sweet, easy read about an overachieving big city lawyer who suddenly stumbles and a vacation town guy who has crushed on her from afar.

Lizzy expects that she’ll find success in LA until a panic attack sends her on a three week burnout rehabilitation to the vacation town (Weldon) she’s always visited, where Jack Park has been her childhood friend. Jack is unsure of staying in small Weldon. Just as Lizzy is trying to find herself, so does Jack and Jack also needs to reveal his secret crush to her to move on as well. In the course of taking on a project (rehabbing a bookstore) they have an opportunity to discover themselves at age thirty instead of age ten.

The characters were lovely and the story has a slow build — perfect as a beach read. It’s everything you’d want in a quaint town romance. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Twinkling, deep, wide and hopeful but none described as green.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Jack is concerned about the hidden meaning of the flowers in the bouquet he gives Lizzy.