A group of exes vying for the same guy on a reality TV show? Seems up my alley!

Something about me is that I am a lover of reality TV and even more so I love reality dating TV shows. So, of course this book immediately caught my interest.

This book was a fun read. I loved the revenge plot, I loved Maya coming in guns blazing, I loved getting the different perspectives of both Skye and Maya espectially as their romance progressed and I loved the inclusion of many reality TV show tropes (the villian, the girl here to gain an instagram following, etc.). It wrapped up in a satisfying way and I had a good time reading it. Lovers of the Bachelor franchise should definitely pick this one up.

Thanks so much to the author, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for the gifted advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. { partner } All opinions are entirely my own. My reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog

I was so excited about this book when I first heard about it pre-publication. John Tucker Must Die meets The Bachelor with a queer romance at the forefront? With a Taylor Swift-esque title? Sign me up so fast! And I am very pleased to report that I LOVED this book! It really lived up to those expectations that I had for it, and I want to read it all over again.

The characters (with the obvious exception being Jordy) were all so much fun! Obviously Maya and Skye, our main characters, were favorites since we spent the most time with them. They were strong and spunky, but still felt true to age, since they are both still so young. I think it can be easy when writing characters in the 18-20 year old range to either make them read really young or incredibly mature - and while there are definitely folks in real life that fit into those camps, it isn't always the norm. So I really enjoyed that both characters felt true to people I've known around that age - the age when you think you're an adult, and try to act accordingly, but you definitely still have some of that young kid in you.

And I would be wrong not to mention all of the secondary female characters. Obviously, with a Bachelor-esque setting, we get a ton of female characters - and I really enjoyed them! They all felt like they had really distinct personalities, and again felt true to how young they are. And I really enjoyed seeing the interactions between all of the girls, and how those relationships changed throughout the story.

And as far as our primary romance goes, I found that really sweet as well. I love an enemies to lovers, so I was already off to a good start there. I think that their relationship progressed in a really realistic way and timeline, which I feel like we don't always see in YA novels. And I also enjoyed that I could really feel what would bring these two characters together. I guess, it didn't feel like the romance came out of nowhere, or like it wouldn't last past the last page.

Overall I would absolutely, highly recommend this book to my friends and fellow readers. I read it in two days, and if annoying adult-things like work hadn't gotten in the way I think it would have been in one sitting. I think that the perfect way to read this book would be with a cold drink (or perhaps a jello shot?) while on vacation somewhere warm and lovely, sitting out by the pool and working on your tan.

Yes, I have read this twice before it came out because I'm a (queer) brat.

Maya is a crazy psycho with jealousy issues. Well, no, but that's what Jordy, her ex, says and he's pretty famous, well-liked, an extremely good liar and a cheating dirtbag.
It's been two years since they broke up but it still follows Maya to this day.
When she's called by a producer to be on a Reality TV show where six of Jordy's exes will date him again for him to figure out who's the one who got away, she doesn't say no, she says hell no. But then she figures it might be the perfect occasion to show the world what Jordy is really like...
To Skye, Jordy is the one who got away, so she goes to Second Chance Romance to see how the guy she once almost loved became. But, it's not going as planned, her roomate, Maya, is more than hostile and keeps saying that Skye stole Jordy from her. But that's ridiculous, Jordy is one of the good ones and he would never cheat, right?

I loved this one so much. It made me angry, made my happy, made me laugh, etc.
I fell for Maya instantly and while I needed a bit to properly fall for Skye, I really loved her in the end.
I just really loved the reality tv setting, it hooked me from beginning to end and I was rooting for Maya and her revenge the entire time.
I really enjoyed getting to know the other contestant too and they all felt layered and had their own personalities. i just had the best time from beginning to end and flew through the pages. Also, i love that title and covers with all my heart and I cannot wait to own copies of this.
Another big hit from Sophie for me, I cannot wait for her next book.

Follow Skye and Maya as they have been invited to a reality TV show where they explore dating their ex-boyfriend again. Maya is hoping for revenge, while Skye is more open to a relationship again, but the two discover that they might be in for more than they bargained for. I really enjoyed this read! It was light and fun, with all the characters well-written. Jordy was the perfect villain as he's portrayed with softer moments and others where you can tell he's manipulating the situation. The reality show setting really worked for this book as well! I thought seeing those behind-the-scenes moments and how friendships/relationships grew in that environment was fun. There were also so many twists and turns, so it was fun to be kept guessing by this book!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

GENERAL INFO

Year Pub/Re Pub: 29/11/22

Book's cover: Title a little long but love the guy with all the girls in the back.

Format: Kindle

Source: "Thank you Net Galley and (publisher) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own."

Page Count: 374

Book's Price: $10.99

Price I'd Value: $7.99

Setting: Connecticut and Chalonne/Loreux (France)

Genre: NA, CR

Tropes: fake dating, enemies to lovers,2nd chance romance

Standalone/Cliffhanger/Part of a Series: standalone

HEA/HFN ending: HEA

Epilogue Included: yes, h gets revenge

Character(s)POV Spoken: dual POVS w/ both heroines

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Synopsis/Plot Summary: Maya and Skye are recruited by ex-boyfriend "The Explorer" Jordy Miller to appear on a new reality show "Second Chance Romance." Show premise is the Explorer re-connects w/ group of selected exes (6 women).

M/F-M/M-M/M/F-etc: F/F

Representation: LGBTQ+

Contains Cheating: yes, Second Chance Romance is very "The Bachelor" meets "Amazing Race"

Contains Children: no

Flashbacks: yes. Both heroines remember their relationships w/ Jordy

Jealy/Possy/OTT H/h: yes, both get a little jealous when they go off alone w/ Jordy

Amount of Sex In The Book: none, plenty of kissing though

Overall Smex Rating: 1

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

Heroine: Maya Bailey

Hero Description: 18, lives w/ mother and 2 sisters. Just graduated high school w/ plans to go to University of Connecticut pre-med until Jordy calls about the show. Dated Jordy @16 years old.

Hero Likability Rating: goes from 1-5

Hero loves books/writing: no but she wants her own radio show

Heroine: Skye Kaplan

Heroine Description: 18, close to her father, mother left when she was 7 years old. Backpacking through Europe, gets call from Jordy to join show with coarse warning about Maya.

Heroine Likability Rating: 4

Heroine loves books/writing: no, but blasts music every day on her dad's old iPod.

Secondary characters:
Jordy Miller-model, wealthy and brother to Princess Samantha of Chalonne.
Gwendolyn Bushman- has the production company
Isaac Kassab-producer who "handles" Maya and Skye's accommodations.
The other contestants: Kim-Jordy's girlfriend last year in Liverpool, Lauren-dated Jordy before Maya and Jordy was her first boyfriend, Perrie-only agreed to do the show for the exposure/more Insta followers, Francesca-just a holiday hookup w/Jordy, came for fun.

H /h RELATIONSHIP INFO

Endearments: none

OW/OM/Exes: yes, Jordy is both Maya and Skye's ex with some overlap.

Cheating Before/During/Outside H/h Relationship: yes, Maya believes Jordy cheated on her w/ Skye.

CONTENT WARNINGS/TRIGGERS: none

AUTHOR OVERVIEW: Sophie Gonzales

New or read before & any favorites: 1st time author for me

PERSONAL OVERVIEW

Technical/Editing Quality: 4

Writing/Content Quality: 4

Overall Rating: 4

Do You Recommend This Book: yes

Will You Re-read This Book: maybe

Would You Read More Books by this Author: yes

COMMENTS/NOTES: A slow burn romance with women who deal with their issues of self-worth, betrayal, revenge, and abandonment. Maya is focused on exposing Jordy, that she misses true friendship and love. Skye is the pessimist who trusts no one and never gets hurt. When she accepts Maya, the show becomes less important. I loved all the challenges. The kayaking was my favorite because of Maya "rescue." It's clear from Jordy's first conversation, he's no good. He is a great manipulator and narcissist. Maya used a lot of restraint not causing a scene on tv, but Isaac and Perrie the true MVPs!

Favorite line: "If one of you wins, you'll be sending me and my boyfriend to Phuket for Christmas." -Isaac to Maya and Skye

New Vocabulary/beautiful words: crinolines-a stiffened or hooped petticoat worn to make a long skirt stand out. The women were to visit the palace and learn about royal etiquette/history of the Chalonian royal family.

Rainbows and Sunshine
November 30, 2022

Never Ever Getting Back together is a fun read overall. I mean a reality tv dating show where the two women fall for each other instead of the ex??? Yes, please!

Add in getting revenge on the ex, it's perfect for all the drama!!! Maya and Skye were cute together. It was fascinating to watch the behind the scenes of the dating show and I really loved that. Especially refilming reactions, out of context shots etc.

Oh how I hated Jordy!! And I needed the revenge plot! Why couldn't we get both love and revenge.

I do think it would have worked better as an adult novel, because the concept of the show is to find "the one" and as the teen having dated more than 6 people.

Overall it was a fun and entertaining read!

*ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review

Did I initially gravitate towards this book for the Taylor Swift title reference? You bet. However, I was thoroughly pleased with the story inside as much as I was the title!

This was a Sapphic, John Tucker Must Die meets Bachelor story full of chaotic humor, girl power and revenge. I loved the premise of the reality tv show as well as how everything unfolded. I absolutely despised Jordy, but loved the just desserts he is eventually served! I highly recommend for fans of Sapphic romance, revenge and HEA in unexpected places.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher (@wednesdaybooks) for this E-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Sophie’s an auto-buy author, so it pains me a bit to write this review.

I remember being excited about this book when I first heard the premise (and it’s from a favorite author, which made it even better). However, I should’ve realized that the reality of combining teens and a dating show probably wouldn’t mesh as well as I’d hoped.

It’s a fun book if you can manage to make yourself forget that they’re all 18/19 years old and competing on a dating show for a 20 year old guy that they dated when they were anywhere from 14-17. The drama and deep feelings and “the one that got away” of it all makes sense for teenagers because everything does feel that deep at that age, but putting that in a more adult dating show environment didn’t work as well as it might’ve if they were older.

The cliques and melodrama and blindly believing in this guy all make sense for teens/people who were very recently children (even if it made for a very frustrating first few chapters), but putting them in a dating show element didn’t really work for me. Or at least it did until I would be reminded how young they are, and then I’d get a bit uncomfortable (especially when the prizes were a night alone in a suite with Jordy, the weirdness of it is pointed out but it still left me feeling odd). I think Maya and Skye’s ages also kind of made it seem even more insta-love for me too (a trope I don’t really like), especially with the regular reminders that it’s only been a few weeks.

I think the dating show element would’ve worked better if they were all at least a few years older, or the joining forces to get revenge on an ex element would’ve worked better at their ages if it was some other type of competition/environment and not a dating show (or even in school like in John Tucker Must Die).

Don’t get me wrong! I did mostly enjoy myself. I enjoyed the writing and the humor, and Sophie did a good job of making me despise Jordy from the start. I liked Maya and I think the supporting characters like Perrie and Isaac, along with the thing that happens in the epilogue, are what ultimately helped end this book on a better note for me.

Perfect on Paper and If This Gets Out are still some of my favorite books, so I’ll definitely continue reading Sophie’s work even if this didn’t exactly meet my expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley for an early copy of Never Ever Getting Back Together.

Maya and Skye have the same ex and are invited on a dating show to reconnect with him. Maya wants revenge - Skye wants another chance but together they find something unexpected. Love. They fall in love…with each other.

I am here for the sapphic rep.

This was a genius concept and I adored it. Maya and Skye did not like each other at first so this is a bit of an enemies to lovers trope. One of my favorites! If you like revenge plots, enemies to lovers, and drama filled dating shows then this is THE book for you.

I got an ARC of this book.

As a concept, this book is a 10 out of 10. It is exactly the sort of thoughts I had while I was growing up being forced to watch the dating shows my older sister and mother were into. I needed this book to exist. I also quite like this author. The stuff Gonzales writes that work with me are some of my favorite books. The issue is, the books that don’t work for me just really don’t.

This book didn’t work for me. I almost DNF multiple times. This book had my number one pet peeve for books: a dual narrative where the characters were not distinct. I literally had no clue who was talking at any point. I still can’t tell the characters apart. So I probably lost a lot of the nuance that made this book more enjoyable to others. If this book weren’t in that alternating narrative I would have probably loved it.

The guy was such a gross jerk the whole time. Every time that I thought he couldn’t get worse, he did. I enjoyed him just getting grosser and grosser. It was how the Bachelor always went for me. The guy always felt so fake and skeevy that seeing the main guy actively get worse really did validate my view of the dating shows. So again, concept was amazing. It really just came down to not being able to tell characters apart.

The ending was also a bit too neat for me. There was clear issues with the plan the whole time. I could see it coming from a mile away. I enjoyed the clumsy journey there. Their attraction never really worked for me. I didn’t understand why they were into each other. It again comes down to the characters not being distinct for me. How can I ship the same person in a YA romance that is not sci-fi? Without the motivation for the romance the ending just felt bad. If you ship them, then the ending is a great romance ending. If you don’t, it just can’t measure up.

Overall, concept was amazing. Execution was really off on this one. If you don’t have the same pet peeve as me or you can find distinction between the characters the you should read it. Gonzales really gets those queer stories I need.

Happy day-after-pub-day to Never Ever Getting Back Together. I dare you to read that title without singing Taylor Swift!
This YA sapphic romance involves reality TV show Second-Chance Romance where Jordy, who has recently found fame, has five ex-girlfriends compete for his love. The two main characters, Maya and Skye, are two contestants who previously dated Jordy. There is some confusion about whether Jordy cheated on Maya with Skye or Jordy cheated on Skye with Maya. While clarification might help, Maya and Skye begin the competition as enemies.
My favorite quote: “The opposite of love isn’t hate. Not by a long shot. Hate and love are cousins. Possibly even siblings.”
I switched back and forth between ALC and ARC copies, and I finished it wrapped up in my favorite cozy blanket during a rainy cold afternoon. The audiobook alternates two narrators, both of which are great. Thank you to Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advanced copies in exchange for my honest opinion. This was a fun read, but I read a lot of romance books and, while the premise had a lot of promise, this book isn’t one of my favorites. But I think it might be the right book for someone else, so if it sounds interesting to you, give it a try!

Never Ever Getting Back Together is the reality show turned revenge plot turned sapphic love story that we’ve all been craving. It’s like reading The Bachelor, but is super enjoyable if you hate the Bachelor.
Maya and Skye both deserved better, but they got Jordy. Now, a couple years later, Jordy is now a much beloved royalty-adjacent figure with fans everywhere due to his sister’s own royal love match. Due to his popularity, a film crew has decided to make him the star of Second-Chance Romance, a show where Jordy reunites with his exes in hopes that he can find love with someone who once cared for him before all the fame got in the way (cue gagging sounds).
What the world doesn’t know about Jordy is that he’s a liar and a cheater, and Maya wants nothing to do with the show at first. However, she and her sister realize this may be the perfect chance at revenge—out Jordy as the a-hole he is in front of the entire world by going on the show and letting him have it!
When Maya arrives in Chalonne, not only is she greeted by her nemesis, Jordy, but also Skye, the girl he cheated on Maya with! And now, Maya and Skye discover that they are more than just stuck in this mansion together, they’re also roommates. What Jordy didn’t count on was that they would be able to put aside their differences long enough to compare timelines and Skye finds out that Maya isn’t the crazy ex that Jordy had portrayed her as, and she’s actually a lovely person, if somewhat compulsive in ways that Skye is definitely not.
As Maya and Skye team up against their mutual enemy, they begin to feel like more than just friends, and high fives turn into hand holding and talking into something more intimate. As things progress with their revenge plot, so does their relationship. However, as they near the end of their window of time together, decisions need to be made. Is revenge really worth what may come next? And are they willing to give up what they have gained in pursuit of it?
Thank you to Netgalley, Wednesday Books (St. Martin’s Press), and Sophie Gonzales for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was SUCH a fun YA take on a Bachelor-esque reality show!

A few years after their less-than-amicable break-up, Maya receives an invite to join a reality show to re-date her ex, Jordy Miller, for a second chance at love, alongside several of his other exes. Having been cheated on by Jordy and made out to be the villain in their love story, Maya sees this as an opportunity to get back at Jordy and show the world who he truly is under his charming facade. What she doesn’t expect is to be sharing a room with Skye, the woman that Jordy cheated on her with, and that this may be the best thing to happen to both of them.

This whirlwind sapphic revenge against a deplorable man-child is told in dual POV, so you get both Maya’s and Skye’s perspectives throughout the book. Both are unique in their voices, and their relationship falls under enemies to lovers. It is such a cute and fun book, and I laughed out loud so many times at Maya’s dry, sarcastic humor.

I do wish that the characters had been aged up just slightly. It felt off to have them all around 18 since, at times, it felt a little too mature to be a YA romance, and other times, it felt too young to be NA, so it lands somewhere in the middle, in my opinion. It also would have been nice if the female characters weren’t so stubbornly dead-set against one another throughout over such a despicable male. Still, it honestly felt fairly true to dating reality shows in the same vein.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Jordy freaking Miller. Sophie Gonzales’s writing of this character was so perfectly executed that every time he was a two-faced, egotistical a****** or called one of his exes an “awesome chick,” I wanted karma to push him off a cliff. You may think that’s a strong emotion towards a fictional man, but trust me, you’ll feel the same, and he wholeheartedly deserves karma to be swift and merciless.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Bachelor-esque reality TV shows, revenge plot romance books, and forced proximity. A solid 4 stars.

A cute, fun, fast-paced read! Any book centered on women seeking revenge against the man who wronged them is always gonna be a win, especially if you throw in a sapphic twist. Skye and Maya were fun characters to root for, and I found their initial antagonism to be incredibly realistic and a great example of how miscommunication plays out and real life and works well in a story. The reality TV elements were great fun for any Bachelor fan (or former Bachelor fan as I am these days), especially when playing into how manufactured it all was (although I refuse to believe any producer worth their salt would let the girls start fighting before any filming began!!)

The largest issue with the book is that the concept does click really well with YA aged characters. I suspended my disbelief plenty fr the premise (which is fine and appropriate!) but in the back of mind I just wished the characters had all been aged up 5 years. A reality TV dating show about 18-20 year olds seems so unrealistic, and making the characters proper young adults rather than just out of high school would have given the story a little more depth (and frankly just made more sense with the premise). I saw the author say the Olivia Rodrigo/Sabrina Carpenter/Josh Bassett situation made her think more about relationships in this age range and how the media interacts and speculates about young kids, which is really neat but ultimately has nothing to do what played out in this book as the characters are only in the public eye properly for the final chapter (kind of) and epilogue.

I love YA and I think it's important to tell distinctly YA stories that don't need to be aged up. Unforunately, certain concepts just won't make as much sense when using teenage characters.

One of the best rom-coms I've read in a while. It has everything, enemies to friends, friends to lovers all set on a reality dating show with the biggest f-boy. A must read for sure and will be recommending to everyone!

This is the perfect book for everyone fancying enemy-to-lovers romances. And as a bonus: it’s all wrapped up in a reality show – complete with behind-the-scenes material. Entertainment is guaranteed, right? So, let’s invite all The Bachelor lovers out there too. I’m sure we can get a very interesting crowd together, just like the characters in the book.

A bunch of completely different young women are locked up together in a mansion for eight weeks, and everyone is trying to win back their shared ex-boyfriend, Jordy. What could possibly go wrong? Everything! With all the contrasting personalities and ultimate love goals, this adventure is full of emotions, just like a real reality show. And drama is inevitable. But that’s exactly the exciting part, isn’t it?

I thought this to be a fun and light read for cold winter nights. It isn’t very deep, but I didn’t expect it to be. What I did expect was that I would feel the chemistry between Maya and Skye more. Unfortunately, I did not. I didn’t sense that flame they tried to hide that ultimately would turn into an explosion at first contact. It was more like a flickering and personally quite disappointing.

After that setback, I just wanted to see how they could get their revenge on Jordy, which kept me going until the end. So that was fine. But definitely not a showrunner in a book meant to be focused on the enemy-to-lovers trope. I still enjoyed it.

In Never Ever Getting Back Together we follow Skye and Maya as they get a invited to go in a reality show to get a second chance at romance with their famous ex but even tho they both accept, the reasons for agreeing to participate are different for each girl. Skye is curious to see if the spark between her and Jordy, the ex in question, is still alive meanwhile Maya plans to take vengeance and expose him to the world after not only he cheated on her but also painted her to be a crazy stalker... What the girls don't expect is to fall for each other instead.
There were a few things I enjoyed about this book, the tension for the vengeance and how much of a bad person Jordy is was top tier. All the anticipation, if Maya would be able to execute her plan or not and to see him get worse every chapter had me biting my nails, I was so nervous. Jordy's chatacter was so well done that I kept feeling the urge to kick him up!
Other things I liked were the friendship between the girls that were participating in the reality and to see all the behinds of the show, as a reality tv enjoyer I loved that!
And then there were things I did not like at all... I don't think they were the majority but they were the most important so that took away a lot from my experience reading this book. What bothered me the most was our two main chatacters, they were bland, they had no personality at all and then they were also kinda insufferable so it was very annoying to read from the POV of two characters that I disliked deeply. The other thing I didn't enjoy at all was the romance, it went from hate to love so quickly that there was no development to that relationship, one day they wanted to fight each other and suddenly the next day they both felt the urge to kiss one another and spend their whole time together, it just made no sense. I never mind a little bit of insta-love as long as the chatacters have some chemistry (and are also well done) but the spark between the girls was nowhere to be seen, this was lacking in everything.
Overall, since the vengeance/Jordy plot was very big on it I enjoyed most of this book but the romance and both MCs left me very disappointed, at times making me want to DNF.
Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC.

... I will read anything that has even a vague reference to Tayor Swift in the title. I also enjoy this author so I wasn't surprised that I liked this book. It was a little bit predictable, however the concept was entertaining enough to keep me interested. This is perfect for fans of the Bachelor and queer romance.

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

I’m sucha fan of reality tv shows as this one portrays. I really enjoyed the concept of the book; however I thought some parts did drag out a bit. I still recommend it overall I did enjoy!

- forced proximity
- “enemies” to lovers
- sapphic

I loved the rise of girl power amongst the women in the house the more we continued to dive in to the story. Maya is a bad ass 💕