🏳️‍🌈👩‍❤️‍👩📚⚢🏃❤️👩‍💼😱🏃‍♀️👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩📖👭🏳️‍🌈

I received an ARC copy of Amanda Kabak’s “Training For Love” from Bella Books (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review. So, here it is !!!

My rating : 2.5 ⭐️

Charlie Williamson flamed out of college on a wave of drugs, alcohol, and depression and ever since, she’s worked the same easy, low-stress job at RRiotWear—a women’s fitness clothing startup in Chicago. When a promotion appears on the horizon, Charlie’s boss ropes her into leading a beginner’s marathon group in the RRiotWear facilities.
Elizabeth McIntyre runs a boutique tech company. Since graduating from MIT, she’s made herself into the face of women in technology. She’s top of her game but so overworked that she never sees her beautiful apartment and is on the brink of panic attacks. She needs to slow down and make some radical life changes: signing up for RRiotWear’s marathon program, in Charlie’s group, of course, is one of those changes…

It’s always nice to discover some new and/or new-to-me authors. Amanda Kabak is one of those new-to-me authors. I have very mixed feelings about this novel, though.
On one hand, I really liked the idea of the book, the writing style of this quick read but, on the other hand, I’m very disappointed.


The promising plot about the physical preparation for a marathon really piqued my interest. The settings were good and both MCs seemed great in their own way and quite likeable. Since I’m all for diversity and because sapphic fiction needs more of it, I think it was appreciated to have not “perfect” MCs and having some dealing, for once, with mental health issues and/or the consequences of a not healthy workaholic life style was a good change… BUT …
°° I was fed up of seeing the same “hindrances” brought up again and again. What I mean is that I found that insisting heavily on how “butch’’ Charlie is and how “femme” Elizabeth is was really tiresome. Duh!! That was such a stereotype case !!! What was annoying too was the fact that both MCs were agreeing on that being a cliché (it has been expressed from both POVs more than once) but still, Elizabeth wouldn't go for Charlie because she's …butch!! Duh !!! Being butch is Charlie’s style and being “femme” is Elizabeth’s, OK, we can all agree that that’s a fact. But I’m still trying to figure out why it was brought up so many times because being labelled as butch or femme doesn’t define them … as a matter of fact, that’s just a TINY part of who they are, so it’d been great not to insist too much on that and give more substance to the MCs and so, the story.

°° Due to the fact that both MCs of this book deal with their own issues representing meaningful but difficult topics and the complexity of said MCs, I think it is way too short to be credible and seen as really good.

°° The pacing was weird: it was quite slow for most of the story and suddenly, it sped off to reach, in no time, the too rushed (and quite paradoxical) end.

°° Whereas it was full of potential, the shortness of this story prevented a real character development (which would have been crucial because of all what the MCs have to deal with) as well as a real romance development. Personal (bad) habits and issues, out of league love interest, not the “usual type”, opposite way of life, etc… all those things would have required A LOT more struggles for each MC to be reunited and so, more drama. In there, it’s like it’s too miraculous, like if all said drama had been removed. The shortness of the novel—which, BTW; looks more like a novella from my POV—could make us think that huge parts of the original draft have been cut. As a result, there’s no big stand-off conversations in there and the “resolution” of every single thing happened way too quickly. Paradoxically, I really didn't feel like any of the main issues (the ones causing the most trouble for both MCs) were really resolved because I had the feeling they weren’t addressed at all. Let’s take the example of Charlie’s mom. She probably means well—she wouldn’t be a good mom if she wasn’t worrying about her—but, duh!! She’s way overstepping her role… She seems to forget (on purpose to flatter her ego??) that Charlie is a grownup woman who knows very well how to deal with her bipolar disorder. She plays the “good loving mom” card & takes the excuse of doing that with Charlie’s well-being in mind but all she does, literally, is babying her daughter, even making decisions for her, contacting her boss behind her back and invading her workspace. Well, in other words, she’s totally suffocating her, making Charlie’s bipolar episodes even worst. And where Elizabeth is concerned, please, don’t get me started about Carmen …


I may have enjoyed this book more if its contents had fit the promising title better, if it has had been way longer and had balanced out the two supposedly main arcs: the training for the marathon (used as therapy against the MCs mental health & health issues) & the “training for Love” with all the dram it was supposed to bring … Sadly there’s a huge unbalance in there and the romantical side of the story took a (huge) backseat which, of course, made the supposed romance not very credible … Charlie & Elizabeth should have been shown more dealing with their various problems and, of course, spend a lot of more time TOGETHER, you know, to witness the attraction between them that was, supposedly, growing week after week…

To shortly summarise my view, I’d say something like this :
- Did I enjoy this book? => not really, it’s sadly barely “average” whereas it was full of potential
- Did I find the characters believable? => not really due to the lack of a real character development.
- Is this book now included in my "must be re-read"-list? => no, unless the book is thoroughly reworked and sees an extended version released
- Will I purchase the paperback? => no, unless the book is thoroughly reworked and sees an extended version released
- Would I read another book by this author? => yes, I'll keep an eye out for Amanda Kabak's books in the future and give her another try.
- Would I recommend this book => I’ll let people use their free will to read the novel, or not …

🏳️‍🌈👩‍❤️‍👩📚⚢🏃❤️👩‍💼😱🏃‍♀️👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩📖👭🏳️‍🌈

Thank you NetGallery for the ARC.

I went into this expecting more of a light romance. I appreciated the focus on mental health in relationships, but I wish we saw more of the nuance in Elizabeth and Charlie's dynamic. I think mental health is often under represented in lesfic so it is great to see a book that focusses on this as a primary plot. I don't think it leant into romance enough for what I was expecting. I think the summary has affected how I view the book because I was expecting a romance-heavy book.

This is a hard one for me to review. On the one hand, I really enjoyed certain aspects of this book but then on the other hand, I found it frustrating.

I loved the running aspect to this novel, as well as the way Charlie's mental health is portrayed. I ran quite a bit before having kids, but since pregnancy I've had a few setbacks each time I've tried to get back into it. Only in the last month have I been able to start running again with no pain afterwards (YAY!) so to read a book which has a large focus on running just when I'm falling in love with it again seemed fitting. ❤️

Mental health seems to be under-represented in lesfic so it was refreshing to read a novel that took no prisoners in the way it portrayed Charlie's bipolar diagnosis. I thought Kabak did a fantastic job of providing a realistic representation of life with mental health issues.

However, there were a few downsides to this novel as well. I found the romance to be quite simplistic, and Elizabeth and Carmen were two very frustrating characters. Elizabeth had a pretty big chip on her shoulder, and to be honest this didn't gel for me in the way the romance is played out with her and Charlie. I couldn't see them as 'fitting' together well as a pair as they were both so intrinsically different. Also, it was grating the amount of times we're told how Elizabeth likes to subvert expectations and stereotypes. It became very repetitive quickly and I would've loved to have been shown this instead of told.

Who needs enemies if you have a friend like Carmen? I've not responded so strongly to a side character in quite a while but I couldn't help but think she took away from the romance more than added anything to it.

All in all, a good debut and I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for Kabak.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bella Books for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

First, the cover photo does not seem to fit anyone in the story. Oh, well on to the main characters in the story. Charlie Williamson, works for a fitness clothing company, socializing is a challenge, supportive mom, and is bipolar. Elizabeth McIntyre, owns a tech company, workaholic, deals with panic attacks.

This was a read that provided quite a bit of background information about what Elizabeth and Charlie were dealing with and how it impacts their day-to-day life. Not being that familiar with these health issues, I really appreciated the detail. Elizabeth is encourage to reduce her stress or she will suffer some serious health problems. Her friend Carmen, suggests and encourages Elizabeth to join a marathon prep group. Talk about needing focus and commitment. I really liked Charlie's mom. She was a bit pushy but considering her family situation, I can understand why. This read was not so much about romance, as it was about how diet, proper rest, and exercise can make a difference in your life.

I enjoyed that the read was different and in my opinion, that was a good thing.

Training for love is the first book I've read by Amanda Kabak. Not many authors can write about a character who struggles with their mental health, Amanda Kabak did this brilliantly, and with such sensitivity. Both the main characters are strong individuals with very different personalities from one another.
The only downside about this story is that I felt things between the pair happen too fast. It felt rushed. I did enjoy ‘Training for love’ but something else was missing which I can't put my finger on.

I've given ‘Training for love’ a 3.5/ 5

I love reading stories that have unusual themes. This is one of them. Its a love story between two women with very different backgrounds and both have a degree of mental problems. One a compulsive Type A and the other suffers from bouts of depression.
Now this doesn't sound like a very happy story but it is. Their growing relationship helps them both overcome, recognize and work on their issues.

I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

A solid 3.5 stars, but not quite a romance in my eyes. The main characters, Charlie and Elizabeth, both struggle with mental health (bipolar and anxiety, respectively), and that felt much more like the focus of the novel. While I appreciated the representation of someone with bipolar that felt genuine, rather than villainous or exaggerated, I would have loved to see a romance that actually developed around the symptoms. The book had each character face their mental illness in their own arcs, rather than together — in fact, neither knows the other has a mental illness until the last 10% or so of the novel.

That said, the characters were lovable, if a bit static. The writing was solid, and the pacing worked well. The story avoided overused tropes, and despite having a third act breakup, it wasn’t one due to miscommunication.

One complaint I had were how often it was brought up that Charlie was butch, and not Elizabeth’s usual type. Any time Charlie’s masculinity was mentioned, it was almost immediately followed with “but in a feminine way.” One moment stands out in particular:

“He suddenly seemed nervous and adjusted the cornflower-blue tie he wore tied in a thick Windsor knot. […] She hoped he would because the knot looked nice in his starched, spread collar, and she wondered if Charlie ever wore clothes like this. Cross-dressing to this degree would go well beyond butch, but if anyone could pull it off, Charlie could. She would be downright handsome.”

Maybe it’s a matter of preference, but use of “cross dressing” and saying that a tie and slacks were “well beyond butch” rubbed me the wrong way.

First I want to applaud Ms Kabak for daring to take on the challenge of mental health issues where she manages to be respectful about it and gives us sincere characters and a real image of how it can be when suffering with mental health issues. Yet this book is said to be a romance and I think it falls a bit flat there. No real connection between the two main characters, both struggle with their issues on their own, yet they are in love. I know I felt like the ending was too soon...they got together and I expected to see them navigating their issues together in order to build a stable relationship and for me as a reader to see their connection, but alas, it was not meant to be. Still the writing was solid and I would pick up another book from this writer.

***Thank you Bella Books and Netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book. ***

I love discovering new authors, for me at least, but I believe this might be the first 'romance' book Ms. Kabak has written? I did enjoy this book, but I will say if you are looking for heavy on romance, this may not be the book for you, BUT if you are looking for a good book that deals with real issues (in this case mental health) and a bit of romance thrown in, this is the book for you.

I found the MCs, Charlie (is bipolar) and Elizabeth (bad panic attacks), very believable and down to earth. The story is mostly about how both cope with their mental health and how exercise helps them both handle their health. There is a bit of connection with the 2 characters, but again because I believe the author came from more of the mental health aspect rather than the romance, there wasn't much chemistry with the 2 together...and that is ok because the author did a great job giving us a story of just how mental health can affects our daily lives and how different folks deal with it.

I enjoyed the writing style of Ms. Kabak, I really could feel what the characters were going through and how much I was cheering them on. I will look for more books from this author, and give this book 4.5 stars.

I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but would have written the same opinion if I had come across this author on my own.

To see my Amazon review, it is under CC-A good look into mental health

Elizabeth McIntyre owner, operator of her own successful tech company. She has worked hard, maybe too hard for now as a young woman. She has reached the point where her body is starting to show the result of working non-stop, even though she has the people to take some of the load for her. Now not only her doctor is calling for her to slow down but her best friend is determined to get Liz to take better care of herself. So it’s Carmen’s idea for Elizabeth to join a group sponsored by RRiot Wear to train for the Chicago marathon.
Charlie Williamson works for RRiot and has always helped with getting people in shape to run. Not always an easy job but this year Charlie is having a difficult time mainly due to her bi-polar and her decision to stop her therapy and stop taking her meds. But she’s promised her boss that she’d do her best, especially when she’s led to believe she might have a chance at a promotion.
With her boss, along with her mother keeping her moving forward. Back to her meds and therapy. Carmen is pushing Liz to keep her promise to look after herself and not to give up her training. Neither Liz nor Charlie were expecting the attraction between them.
Ms Kabak has given us a story about a bi-polar woman and an overworked business owner. Strong characters along with a moving plot kept me from putting this book down. Very nice read. '
ARC via NetGalley/ Bella Books

I wanted to like this book because it's rare to find a butch lesbian story line, but the romance between the two main characters wasn't believable. They do fall in lust, but there doesn't seem to be an emotional connection between the two. They don't communicate about anything real and barely spend any time together, yet they are in "love". I did appreciate the author's attempt to tackle mental health issues in a realistic way, and I liked Charlie. Elizabeth's character, on the other hand, let her best friend tell her how to manage her life, cutting Charlie out without any explanation.

The writing was solid, however, and I'd be interested in reading more from this author.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵.

This is the first time I've heard of Amanda Kabak and I've got to hand it to her for choosing to write a story about mental health. Mental health is a meaningful topic but is also difficult to write because it needs authenticity and a strong growth arc on top of the romance. I realise I don't know much about the subject to comment on the authenticity, but their episodes feel pretty legit to me. And what I do know is that if anything, doing sports helps so it makes sense that the characters become acquainted at a marathon group where Charlie is the trainer.

Elizabeth is put together on the outside, top of her game, career wise, but known only to a close few, she's overworked to the brink of panic attacks. Charlie is a little more complicated. She's a recovering alcoholic and drug user and is bipolar and depressed, which also results in some esteem issues. While both Elizabeth and Charlie do end up making positive changes to their lives after some struggle, I thought what the characters have between them is superficial. Granted, having each other to lust after might in a sense help steer them towards something positive, but they pretty much struggle with their issues alone. Not together.

This book is average for me but I'll keep an eye out for Kabak's books in future.

Training for Love is set in the Windy City of Chicago. It features butch jock with a heart, Charlie Williamson who works at RRiotwear, a sports apparel company. Charlie has bipolar disorder and she utilizes running as one way to help her mental health. Charlie meets Elizabeth McIntyre, the head of a tech company, when a panic attack hospital visit forces her to make some changes to her life. Elizabeth gets involved in marathon training that Charlie’s company is hosting and that Charlie is leading for newbies.

The book is a slow burn but not really too much of a romance. Rather the story focuses more on Charlie’s mental health struggles and Elizabeth’s challenge with letting go of her Type A personality traits. The story does wrap up in an apparent happy ending after Charlie and Elizabeth try to deal with their own issues independently before making room in their lives for each other. 3.5 stars

I received an ARC from Bella Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Training for Love tells the story of Charlie and Elizabeth. The first has Bipolar disorder and tries to use running as a coping mechanism. And the second is a workaholic that has started to try running as way to reduce her workload and stress. The two meet when Charlie's company has her helping a couple of women preparing for a marathon.

I liked this book! I was very happy to see butch rep and I thought it was good that Kabak made it very clear how much desfemm Charlie is. That's not a very common trait in lesfic so I'm glad for it.

The second thing that should be noted is that this isn't really a book about their romance, so don't expect steamy action, ok? It's very much a slow burn because if focuses on the two characters learning how to cope with their mental health and their being together feels like a side story, really.

I know that the title makes you thing it's going to be a sweet love story about two women running, but that's not it at all.

Even so, I think the author has done a pretty good job in describing their struggle and their ups and downs, specially Charlie's. It still felt she left a happy ending for us with a good message of hope too!

I recommend it - as long as you're not expecting sweet, steamy romance!

This is a slow burn romance. I thought the author took her time letting us to get to know the main characters Charlie and Eliazbeth. However, I thought the ending was a bit unrealistic, 4 stars


Thank you NetGalley and Bella Books for this ARC.

This is my first book by Amanda Kabak and I will look out for her books in the future but I didn't really connect with this one. Charlie is bipolar and suffers from depression. She's been tasked with leading a women's marathon group. Elizabeth seemingly has it all, she's brilliant and rich but suffers from panic attacks. She decides she needs to make some changes and signs up for the marathon group, lead by the very attractive, butch Charlie.
What worked for me in this book was the way mental illness was handled with delicacy. There is such a stigma associated with mental illness and it was nice to see it handled with sensitivity. Charlie and Elizabeth have a lot of issues to deal with and exercise is a great way to cope. I suffer from anxiety. I don't take medication for it but I meditate and exercise to try to keep it under control. It helps and that is what I was most impressed with in this book.
The romance didn't work as well for me. I didn't feel the chemistry between Charlie and Elizabeth. I want a couple who communicate well with each other and there wasn't much of that happening between these two. While I am glad the author focused so much on the mental health issues of the couple, the romance needed just as much attention paid to it. The book could have been longer to develop the romance more. I see a lot of potential in Amanda Kabak's writing and will look for her books in the future, even though this one didn't fully draw me in.

When the book opens, Charlie is in the middle of a deep depression that she struggling to climb out of but can’t. She’s Bipolar and has successfully been controlling the deep lows and the manic highs, but for reasons she doesn’t understand, this depression has her by the throat. Elizabeth is a high-profile business owner who micromanages her employees, can’t delegate, and can’t take a step back. A wake-up call in the form of a trip to the hospital gets her attention and she acknowledges she can’t keep up the pace she’s maintained for years. She tells herself she’ll change soon. When her best friend dares her to run the Chicago marathon, she can’t ignore the challenge and signs up for a training program for marathon newbies. There she meets Charlie.

This book is wonderfully written, the characters are well drawn, likable, and complex. The pacing is perfect. Each character has flaws – Charlie knows hesr while it takes Elizabeth a while to get to the point of admitting hers. The conflict is evident throughout the book but comes to a head when Elizabeth decides to back away from Charlie for Charlie’s own good.

Kabak does not allow Charlie’s depression to make the story drag or to overwhelm the story. However, she handles Charlie’s Bipolar condition realistically and the reader who has little or no knowledge of Charlie’s diagnosis will be a much better-informed person going forward.

Kabak’s secondary characters, like Charlie’s mom and Elizabeth’s best friend, are both overbearing and less than supportive and therefore unusual in the genre.

If you’re looking for a book with characters you can’t help but like with conflicts that are “real,” then this is the book for you. If you want a well-paced book that is also well-written, do not pass on this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bella for an eARC.

Ok, first things first, I have no idea which of the main characters the cover is supposed to depict, but as far as I am concerned it looks like neither. And that annoys me. Secondly, I don’t think blurb does a good job of telling us this story revolves around mental health (and running).

This is my first book by Kabak and I am not sure the writing is for me, but I did enjoy/ identify with parts of this story. Charlie has Bipolar Type 2 and she tends to lean into, at least that is my perception. She goes to her job and ignores her therapist. As people with Bipolar tend to do when they think they can manage their disease without medication. Elizabeth owns some sort of tech company and is working herself into the ground, recently she started suffering from panic attacks. The ladies meet at a marathon prep running group, Charlie is the trainer, Elizabeth the reluctant participant. They have instant attraction but I don’t understand how they can become a couple. They don’t communicate at all, not until after the dark moment really.

This book is about how they deal with their mental health, in their own way and running. I would not call it a romance, I don’t know what to call it it, but romance isn’t the word I’d use. I enjoyed some of it because mental health and physical activities go hand in hand for me, the author did a great job of describing that aspect. The struggles of mental health seem legit as well, at least they compare to what I’ve seen people experience who have Biopolar.

Not a great book, but ok enough.

I liked this book even though it has a much more serious tone than I expected. I'd say that the love aspect takes a backseat and the main focus are Charlie's depression and Elizabeth's work life that starts causing her panic attacks. I think that the book does a good job of dealing with these things and I didn't have a problem with the romance standing aside. Though if the book was longer and balanced out the two, I would probably enjoy it more.

I had trouble with the pacing of the book though. The beginning was kind of slow and I didn't enjoy how the same 'obstacles' were brought up over and over. And by that I mean the stereotyping of butch and femme lesbians with both saying that it's such a stereotype for a couple to have one of each but also that Elizabeth wouldn't go for Charlie because she's butch (expressed from both POVs) and it was just a point that I didn't really get why it was brought up so many times. The ending was on the opposite side and it was way too quick.

The resolution of everything was too fast and I didn't feel like the main issues that caused the most trouble for both characters and in some parts were especially aggregating were resolved or addressed at all. I'm speaking about Charlie's mother who is worrying about her but at the same time babying her, making decisions for her, invading her workspace and in general suffocating Charlie and in that making her mental health worse. Let the woman breathe! I was hoping for some big stand-off conversation but it didn't happen. And Carmen? What the hell?

So while I enjoyed this book as it is, for these reasons it was a middle rating for me. Both main women are great and I liked both of them, the setting and the plot about preparation for a marathon was nice and I appreciated the representation of mental health. I'll be on the lookout for another book by Amanda Kabak because the writing was good and some parts were flying by for me.

Thanks to Bella Books and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC copy of this book.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Elizabeth is stress because she the CEO of a tech consultant company and if she doesn’t find a way to slow down her health will be in jeopardy. She decides to join a marathon training group to help her destress. Charlie has been working at RRiotWear a sports apparel company she hasn’t had easy life but she content when her boss ask her to lead group of beginners who wants to run marathon one day.

Elizabeth and Charlie meets they both have issues when it’s comes to relationship but as they spend more time together their feelings grow. I like both characters the chemistry was there. I just say it’s was weird that Carmen was supportive friend to Elizabeth then the next she wasn’t which I felt just was unnecessary drama because Elizabeth and Charlie are ready had drama within their selves.