I like the friends to lovers trope and I love books written about books/bookstores. I liked how both Jack and Lizzy felt pressure relating to their current jobs and wanted better for themselves even though they were 30. The buildup was good but once they get together and have their fight, it fell for me. The ending felt rushed.

Thank you netgalley for this copy. It’s 3.5/5🌟

When I say Booked on a Feeling is one of my MOST anticipated reads of the year, I’m not joking. The story follows our main girl Lizzy as she becomes overwhelmed with the pressures the life of a lawyer piles on her, and decides there’s nothing she needs more than to escape. And don’t we all sometimes? She rents a small flat in the picturesque town of Weldon, where she is once again reconnected with Jack (the epitome of Dream Book Boyfriend). The catch? He’s been in love with her for as long as he can remember. The two band together to save Sparrow Bookstore, and it’s through a slower pace of life that Lizzy learns, not just what she wants in life, but what she wants in love as well. Is Jack the One? More importantly, is he the one she’ll be risking her future to have a chance at happily ever after with? Booked on a Feeling hits shelves this June, and I couldn’t be more excited! Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to preview this amazing story early!

3.5/5

This was a really cute friends-to-lovers story. It has pining and tension and a solid friendship that slowly builds to more. I enjoyed that they were able to spend time together and bond over fixing up the small-town bookstore. It was nice to see Lizzy rediscover herself in the process of fixing up the bookstore. We get to see some Korean representation and different family dynamics which was lovely as well. I wish the conflict at the end could have been avoided altogether, but I'm glad things worked out. This was a lighthearted, fun romance read, and I would recommend it.

3.5 Rounded up to 4 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Overall a very cute romance book!. And who wouldn't want to read a romance book about a bookstore?

Liked:
Friends to lovers trope (one of my favs)
Quick read
BOOKS

The writing felt very juvenile and stilted. There were many, many examples of the author simply saying the characters were happy, sad, etc. without bringing forth any emotion from the reader. It was also a bit dull. I powered through because the premise was promising, but, ultimately, am not glad I did.

I thought this book was cute, overall. It was a smidge boring at times, but overall it was a cozy quick read. If you like books and dream of slowing down and reconnecting with old friends and new, this will be perfect for you.

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the gifted ARC.
Wow I really, really wanted to love this but it just… fell so flat. The book dragged on and I found myself skim reading and skipping whole pages to get to the good stuff. Miscommunication tropes aren’t my favorite so that could be why I didn’t enjoy it as much.
I loved Lizzy and Jack and their individual conflicts, but my God were they boring together.
And that epilogue?! Holy heck that dropped it down a whole star.
Really though, I loved learning about Korean culture through these characters and the sweet setting of a bookshop. This one just wasn’t for me.

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee is a great read. It tells the story of Elizabeth "Lizzy" Chung and Jack Park who have been best friends for twenty years. A high-powered attorney in LA, Lizzy suffers a panic attack at work and decides to take a vacation and visit Jack in the small town of Weldon, California. Jack decides to use their time together to get over his decades long crush while Lizzy soon discovers there may be more to their relationship than just friendship.

The story is very entertaining. Both characters are relatable and fun to read as they navigate their relationship and project of reviving the local bookstore. They are both equal parts awkward and adorable and watching their friendship change into something more was sweet and rewarding. It was also great to see characters from Lee's previous books to find out how their stories have evolved with time as well, and while I think reading her previous books adds to the richness of this one, it isn't necessary. I would love to see her next book tackle Jack's twin brother Alex as there definitely seems to be more to his character than we see here.

My one complaint about the book is that the solution to Lizzy's problems seemed to be staring her in the face from so early on I wanted to smack her upside the head to get her to see it sooner, but that probably wouldn't have made for as entertaining a read. I highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially readers of romance, women's fiction, and general fiction as well.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ugh this book could not have been cuter! Jayci Lee writes the yearning and sexual tension between Jack and Lizzy so well. They are both at places in their lives where they long for something different in their careers and are looking for what makes them happy both professionally and romantically. Jack has loved Lizzy their entire friendship, but Lizzy is just realizing that her perfect match might be her best friend of twenty years. If you are looking for spice, however, this book does fade to black right before the steamy part is about to get good. If you love friends to lovers and a small-town setting, this book is for you!

This book was everything I expected and more!

Booked on a feeling was light and fun childhood friends to lovers romance, with a good amount of plot and development. The small town setting paired with bright characters made the story. In particular, I really enjoyed how the author brought up the main character's struggles of high family and self imposed expectations and their struggles with burnout and anxiety.

This ended up being a really cute friends to lovers romance. Lizzy is a successful attorney in LA when she passes out during her first big trial. This causes her to recognize that she is burned out. She takes a 3-week leave from work to go stay in Weldon, where her best friend Jack lives. Jack has been in love with her since they were 10 and uses this time to try to get Lizzy to fall in love with him. I loved this book so much! Outside of the romance the two leads are struggling to find their place and true calling in the world.

I absolutely loved this book!! I am a huge fan of friends to lovers and this was a perfect example of this trope! I could not put this book down! A main reason I liked this book was how the last part of the book played out and how an emphasis was placed on life goals. I would’ve loved an epilogue or another chapter to wrap up the story more but overall it was a very enjoyable read!

Lizzy is a lawyer desperately trying to become a partner to satisfy her mom’s expectations of her career. After a breakdown in court, she takes a leave of absence to spend some time with her best friend in his small hometown.

Jack has been working at his family-owned brewery while keeping two big secrets- he doesn’t have the same passion for the brewery that his siblings do, and he’s in love with his long time best friend Lizzy.

After many long days spent together going for runs, spending time with Jack’s family, and helping a local bookstore owner fix up her store, Jack’s crush isn’t so one side anymore.

I thought this was super cute! I loved the storylines around self discovery and actualization. Jack’s family is so cute and I love getting to see more of them in this book. There were definitely times I wanted to shout at Jack and Lizzy to just speak to each other and talk about their issues. Overall, this was super enjoyable!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this advanced reading copy!

This book follows Lizzy who has taken a. break from her job at a firm in order to figure out the next steps of her life after having a panic attack at the start of a trial. Deciding to go to Weldon where her best friend lives, she spends the time exploring what she enjoys rather than what she does as a result of her mother's expectations and finds herself leaning into the feelings she has for her best friend Jack. As this book does have both the perspectives of Lizzy and Jack, we also see his challenges with his current life and the reasons as to why he fights the feelings he has for Lizzy.

I absolutely adored this book. This is a quick easy read where you find yourself becoming attached to the characters and rooting for their happy ending together.

I will say however, that it did take me a bit to get used to the author's writing style and the transition between the character's perspectives. Along with that, at a certain point it felt like their relationship no longer focused on the emotional aspect but turned heavily onto the sexual aspect that in some cases it seemed a bit overdone to me and just wasn't something that I personally enjoyed. This still did not ruin the book for me and I still enjoyed the book overall.

This book was a quick and fluffy read! Who doesn't love books about books? I will say, though, that I'm not a fan of the miscommunication (of lack of communication) trope, which we get in this book. I find it a bit too frustrating most of the time, especially when your MCs are of a certain age. On the other hand, I am a fan of the friends to lovers trope! In this case, though, I wish we got to see the development of the relationship between Lizzie and Jack a little bit better. This is probably the reason why I wasn't fully invested in the characters. That being said, here's a list of things I did enjoy: bestfriends since childhood to lovers, Asian American rep, Korean food, and independent bookstores! I truly wanted to love this book, but unfortunately I only like it. The perfect-bow-tie ending did leave me smiling, so I would definitely say it was still an ejoyable read. 🙂

Booked on a Feeling comes out on July 26! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

3.5 This is a friends to lovers romance. It's told from both characters' perspectives. We find these best friends navigating their feelings for each other and making changes in their lives/ careers. The first half of the book was pretty slow. It was just okay. Something clicked about halfway through and then it was really cute. That made me round up from 3. It's worth mentioning that this book does get steamy at times. It was a solid romance read.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was WONDERFUL.
Reading Booked on a Feeling is like being wrapped up in a warm hug by your best friend.

Lizzy and her best friend Jack can't avoid the inevitable that faces them; they're meant to be together. But how will it all unfold? Can they manage to take things slow and not rush in too fast?

The tension and slow build of the romance is electrifying and will make you blush. There were many times where this book made me laugh out loud and cover my face because of the chemistry between the characters.

It's a quick and easy read that is guaranteed to make you smile hard.


P.s.... this book will make you want to be a lawyer.

double P.s... this book will make you want your own best friend named Jack.

*This review has also been posted on Barnes & Noble's website*

This book was a delight.

Lizzy Chung is an aspiring lawyer working at a firm she hopes to make partner one day. But, when an incident happens in court one day, Lizzy decides to head to a small town in California where her best friend Jack lives. Jack has always been in love with Lizzy, but when the two of them team up to save a local bookstore, they start to spend more time together and have to make hard decisions about their future, and their feelings.

While I did not like the constant "is this what you want", "but it's your dream not mine" back and forth that happened a lot in this book, I enjoyed the cutest of a best friends to lovers story. Jack is adorable and Lizzy is spunky but also relatable.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Publish date: July 26th, 2022.

The concept of this book was great; I love a good bookstore story and the whole escapism trope, so I was excited to pick this up initially.

However, I had a really hard time connecting to the characters and believing the story, and the writing (especially in terms of the dialogue) fell flat for me. It honestly felt like the protagonists' friendship was kind of shoved down my throat, without any real foundation. To me, it just did not seem believable that someone would have a mutual and pretty obvious crush on their supposed best friend (especially at their age of late 20s - early 30s). Some kind of build up or distinct event that caused the initial attraction would have made way more sense, but in this case the reader is kind of just thrown into it.

I understand why people enjoy this book (especially those who are partial to friends to lovers), but it just unfortunately was not for me. More detail and background context would have really helped this story.

Brief synopsis: After passing out during a trial, attorney Lizzy Chung decides to get some R&R and goes to small town Weldon for a vacation and to spend time with her best friend Jack Park. Jack has been in love with Lizzy for years, though she doesn’t know it. Lizzy decides to spend her vacation helping revive an old bookstore and enlists Jack for help. What feelings will arise as they spend all this time together?

This book is the third in a series, with the main characters of the first two books featured as side/background characters, but you can definitely read this as a stand alone novel and not feel like you’re missing anything.

This is a cute, easy to read romance. I love a good friends to lovers romance and I also love books about books and this delivered both. I thought Lee did a great job bringing Jack and Lizzy’s chemistry and sexual tension to life on the pages. I also liked the exploration of different family dynamics and the emphasis on following your dreams and not someone else’s dreams for you. I enjoyed seeing Lizzy and Jack both come to terms with who they were as individuals and what they wanted for themselves.

However, something about this book just missed the mark for me. I’m not a fan of the miscommunication/withholding information trope. I also did not see the relevance of such elaborate food descriptions that took place in mainly the first part of the book, but it wasn’t bad enough to completely turn me off of the book or anything. Overall this was a nice easy romance read, and I wouldn’t be opposed to going back and reading the first two in the series. I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it.