"Booked on a Feeling" is a pleasant, fun and easy read for fans of the friends-to-lovers trope. The small-town bookstore setting is a dream and the story is cute enough. The characters are likable and the romance is on-point. However, it did feel like there was quite a lot of build-up for the plot only for the conflict to be resolved uncharacteristically quickly and primarily off screen.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review.
3.5/5

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee was an absolute delight! I loved the first two books in this series and book 3 was just as wonderful! You can read this as a standalone if you want.

Lizzy and Jack are both kind of stuck. They have careers that they are good at, but their careers don't bring them joy. Lizzy takes some time off work, ends up revamping a local bookstore and falling in love with Jack. Friend to lovers. Swoon!

Lizzy has anxiety and panic attacks, and the representation is phenomenal!

I really love Jayci Lee's use of language. There are so many words and phrases that just call to be highlighted! Because this is a review of an ARC, the only thing I will say is Cannonball.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Oh my goodness, I adored reading this book and I couldn't it down. I loved reading this adorable book and highly recommend reading this!

Lizzy and Jack have been best friends since they were 10. But now they’ve both hit a point in life where they are questioning where they want to go next? Is this job really what they want? When Lizzy takes a break from her job due to burn out, she spends it in Jacks town and realizes how wonderful he really is. Does he feel the same? Can they move out of the friend zone?

This was such a cute, straight forward friends-to-lovers story. Lizzy is a to-do list making go getter and Jack has always just gone with the flow until now. This book is them navigating their changes in work, location, and relationships together. Very cute!

This book is my first ever arc! I was so excited to read this book. You had me at the title…Booked on a Feeling. I am a sucker for rom-com. This book has a dash of book-store side story, friends-lovers, and self-discovery. I love to see growth in the main characters. I felt the words when she spoke about romance books saying, “They saved me”. I think all of us who love to read have felt that way at some point in our lives.

It does start out a little slow I had to push through, but once she arrived at the book store I was completely invested. I would definitely recommend this book! Give it time and you won’t be sorry.

Lizzy reaches a pinnacle of professional success and realizes that she is burned out, and she needs a break. What would be a more natural place than returning to her childhood summer haven and the companionship of her best friend Jack.
The two help revamp a local bookstore, leading Lizzy one step closer to identifying her next professional steps, while Jack works to fulfill his professional goals on the sly.
How they fit into each other's future--and what that future will look like--is a big question. Read this story to see how Lizzy and Jack find themselves, figure out how to satisfy family expectations, and solve for love!

This book in 3 words: Darling. Witty. Entertaining. 

Lizzy, burnt out after winning her first case as a lawyer, heads to Wheldon... a small town where her best friend, Jack, lives and works for the family business (a brewery). Lizzy and Jack finally decide to see if they're meant to be more than friends... 

Booked on a Feeling is classic feel-good reading material. There were times I was smiling ear to ear and just felt so light and airy. The characters are so likeable and you find yourself rooting for them - start to finish. This is a significant strength in the story. 

I loved the representation of Korean characters and family dynamics. I'm not Korean and I loved learning about some of the traditions, foods, and just pieces of their culture. 

I read this, enjoyed it, but did find myself in a few lulls. Some of the pacing was so slow and repetitive. I think there could've been some different plot points introduced or the book could've been shorter. 

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy for review.

Thanks NetGalley for the early read! This classic friends to lovers romance had all the makings for a great RomCom. Lizzy had worked hard to become a lawyer, only to discover it wasn’t going to bring her fulfillment. Her long time best friend, Jack, is on a similar mission of self-discovery about his own passions and career path. They help a bookstore owner in Jack’s hometown for several weeks and realize the full potential of their love. Pining, then finally giving in to their strong emotions between shelves of romance novels.

The first 3 or 4 chapters I was skeptical. I couldn’t find any sort of attachment to Lizzy or Jack and didn’t have high hopes for the book. As a reader, you were just kind of plopped into the story without much feel for the characters or their motivations. Despite the slow start, it got so much better. By the end this had fulfilled all my cutesy RomCom desires.

This book was such a delight! After A Sweet Mess, and The Dating Date, I've already completely fallen in love with the people of Weldon and was so happy to be back in their world. Jayci Lee always has the ability to make me laugh out loud, 00h-la-la, 'dawwwww, and crave delicious food - and this story did all of those things!

LOVED:
* Weldon! Re-visiting Weldon Brewery, The Comfort Zone, and then getting to know Sparrow made me feel like I was on my own little vacation in this lovely town with characters I adore.

* NOM NOM NOM... Jayci Lee describes food in the most sensual way. Every dish and dessert on the page made my tummy rumble and my Door Dash activity busier than usual. Luckily I have a local Korean restaurant to take care of all of my needs.

* Lizzy is such a relatable heroine... Quarter-life crisis! Anxiety! Loves books and checklists!

* Jack is so swoooon-worthy... a scrumptious marshmallow... squishy, but knows what he wants and takes it... in both his profession and love life.

* Sparrow Bookstore is one of the main settings and it's so comforting to read about books, bookshelves, journals, comfy nooks... who knew just reading about these would give me cozy feels.

WOULD HAVE LOVED:
* I can't ask for anything more from this books, honestly... Jayci Lee, please don't stop here... I'm ready for Alex's story! *gimme hands*

FAVORITE QUOTES:
"Being a bookseller meant helping people find their moments of escape or enlightenment-helping people fill a void in themselves to find a sense of wholeness and happiness."

"Oh, my glitter bomb." (Aww, I missed you Tara!)

"Loving her had always been part of him. A quiet, tender ache. Something that couldn't be contain

This was a nice story! I didn't personally connect with the characters/law plot line, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it was written well and I know other people will connect with the characters better than I did. Sometimes it's really hit or miss.

Booked on a Feeling is an easy, fast lighthearted read with childhood friends to lovers trope. Lizzy Chung, an overachieving lawyer, decides to take a 3-week break from her job to fix her burnout and figure out the cause of the burnout in California. Jack Park, Lizzy’s childhood friend, is up for a job in L.A and doesn’t know how to tell his parents who have a business in California. The plot was very cute but it felt underwhelming and flat. I didn’t care about the tension between them because I didn’t have that much information about it. Like, Jack mentioned that he liked Lizzy ever since they were kids but the book didn’t say how that came to be. I don’t really know what to say about romance because the second-chance trope isn’t really my thing and it felt a bit childish and corny. The pacing of the book was fast- I would’ve preferred that they got together later in the book. Other than that, I really liked the representation of Korean culture and the portrayal of anxiety. They were both well-written. I would recommend this book for the adults who just want a fast light hearted read with childhood friends to lovers trope (with spice). This would definitely be enjoyable if you especially like your books a bit cheesy. Overall, I would give this book 2.5 stars. Thank you Netgalley and St.Martin's Press for allowing me to review this book in exchange for an honest review. Apologies for any typos and brevity.

Oh man there were so many cute parts in this story and so many disappointing parts. The premise was good and I loved the relationship between the two MCs, but some parts of the story really dragged where others felt like they were rushed. Would I recommend it to someone? Probably not. If they asked if I liked it when they were ready to read it already? Sure. Altogether, my feelings on it were decidedly “meh.”

I really wanted to like this book. Gave it a long time before stopping because I was hoping to write a positive review. The characters are nice and predictable, as is the plot. If you like slow-burn romances, you will like this book. I was looking for more compelling characters and a reason to want the best for each of them

First, I want to take a moment to thank the author and publisher for a digital ARC through Netgalley.

Unfortunately this one was a DNF for me after around the 20% mark. I really wanted to like this book. I’m an attorney who was successful in LA who loves books and Pride and Prejudice. It seemed like fate and honestly the perspective of Lizzy was great on its own. But the switch in perspective to Jack was very jarring when it first occurred. I actually had no clue what had happened at first and had to flip back, reread, and process to understand we had switched characters. And having this switch in EVERY chapter along with his instant reveal of puppy dog love from 10 pages in made the reading experience pretty unenjoyable.

There was no slow build up or steady reveal for these characters and I’m struggling to see where the conflict in their relationship will eventually arise. I wish their romance would have slowly blossomed from a single person perspective. I think having this solely from either’s perspective would have at least given a bit of mystery and discovery for the readers and I probably would have finished. As is this one just wasn’t for me.

Best friends wanna take their friendship to the next level without ruining things while figuring out their lives. I knew 10% in that this is aggressively not my style, but I had to finish to keep my NetGalley percentage up. The writing was immature, cringey, and flat, as was the relationship between the characters. Friends to lovers plus lying plus miscommunication tropes. Please just bone and talk about it and be adults.

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martins Press for this arc in exchange for a honest review!

For characters that were supposed to be in their 30’s this felt a little…. juvenile to me? I thought the original build-up to them deciding to try and work things out was great, but once they got together I got annoyed really fast. They were kinda awkward which made me feel awkward, and the whole miscommunication was definitely not for me.

I feel if we had more detail and background about our MC’s, this would’ve been a lot better. I did really like the setting in the bookstore and our MMC working at a brewery!! 2.5⭐️

thank you to netgalley for an ARC of this book for my honest review.

i was really excited for this book — the cover is intriguing to me and the description sounded cozy and exciting. unfortunately it didn’t deliver what i was looking for for a few reasons.

the dialogue didn’t feel natural at all. things were repeated, the emphasis on describing food was excessive but not intriguing (and this was consistent throughout nearly every scene in the story. i’ve never read so much about meals in a book before that isn’t focused on food.)


overall i felt there were too many details about seemingly unimportant things (her bubble bath or unsalted eggs) and not as much about actual character development like the trial in the beginning. i think we could have shown more of who lizzy is to explain what exactly she won over or what kind of cases she took on.

we were told that they missed each other so much because they lived in different cities, but it would have been more productive to show it, show that longing and the hardships of long distance friendships (or crushes). it didn’t have the suspense i would hope for in a friends to lovers book or an initially long-distance relationship.

a more minor note that frustrated me was that it wasn’t clear that being a business analyst was jacks dream in the beginning of the book but toward the end he sounds like it’s all he ever wanted. in the beginning it’s framed as if he just applied to be close to lizzy. it’s hard to feel that compassion for a character when there are inconsistencies and lack of character development there. even his sentimental moment with his twin in the car after breaking the news he was moving to LA didn’t move me because we didn’t see much of their relationship to begin with.

overall the book was entirely predictable. i called it 19% in. this would be fine, in my opinion, if the book was written in an intriguing way or the characters were super loveable, etc. overall i didn’t connect at all with this book, even though i really wanted to.

This was such a sweet, feel-good romance. The perfect book to read on a sunny beach with a drink in your hand. Jack and Lizzy are childhood friends now in their late 20s. They are each figuring out what they want out of their lives and their careers. Lizzy flees her big-city lawyer job to spend some time in Jack's small town. Cue the secret pining and building sexual tension!

The tension was so good and I was a bit disappointed when it faded to black. This dorky couple warms the heart. Booked on a Feeling is a fun easy 'romcom' read.

first book i read by this author and certainly not the last. i absolutely enjoyed it and the characters!! the chemistry they have is insane!

Booked on a feeling is an adorable friends to lovers romance. Big city, list maker, overachiever ,attorney Lizzy has always followed her family’s plans. After achieving one of her major goals, she feels… not as she expected. She ends up driving 4 hours to the small town where she used to spend summers with her childhood best friend Jack. She rents a cute apartment over the town bookstore and makes it her vacation project to help the owner.
Jack works at his family’s business and is surprised to find Lizzy in his town but decides to take this as a sign to either confess his long time love for her or get over his crush.
This books follows the pair as they start to figure out what they both, separately, want in their lives. Will they go with their families’ plans or follow their own dreams? Will they end up as more than friends? I loved the Korean culture woven into this story. This book is entertaining, sweet, funny and well written.