When Maya is contacted to go on a reality show about getting back together with her ex, she knows what she needs to do. This is an ex whose sister married a royal; an ex who cheated on her; an ex who gaslit her. She will expose him and get the revenge she deserves...except she falls for one of the other contestants. What will she jeopardize to put her ex in his place?

Sophie Gonzales has such a way of creating characters and dialogue that really sucks you in and makes you feel part of the story. Cannot wait to recommend this.

Imagine being on a reality dating show but the bachelor is your douchey ex boyfriend who cheated on you. But all the other contestants are also his exes. Including the girl he cheated on you with.
You scheme a revenge plot. The twist?
You fall in love with the girl he cheated on you with.

The entire premise seems super dramatic, but in all honesty, there wasn't as much drama as I thought there would be. This was still a fun little quick read, thought it was missing a lot of back story and depth for what I wanted from the new relationship between Maya and Skye.

I received a free eARC of this book via NetGalley.

Never Ever Getting Back Together is a charming contemporary YA romance told from the POV of Maya and Skye, two ex-girlfriends of quasi-royal Jordy Miller. When they both end up on a Bachelor-like reality show to see if there's a second-chance spark between Jordy and any of his exes, Skye is excited for the opportunity to rekindle their romance. But Maya, who was still dating Jordy when he cheated on her with Skye, is more interested in exposing Jordy's nightmare behavior to the whole world.

Unfortunately for them, Maya and Skye have to room together, and they hate each other. But as Skye learns more about Jordy, she turns on him, ready to work with Maya to get revenge. "Working together" quickly turns into something more, and Maya and Skye have to decide whether their budding relationship is more important than their revenge plot.

This is a romance, so it's pretty clear how the story ends. But I <i>really</i> enjoyed the process of getting there—I kept reading through the middle of the night to find out how Jordy would get what was coming to him without ruining Maya and Skye's relationship. It's rare that romance novels have a true villain, but Gonzales kept peeling back the onion on Jordy bit by bit, so that by the end of the book, the fact that he cheated on Maya and Skye is the thing you're the LEAST angry about. He's incredibly fun to root against.

Maya and Skye are surrounded by a coterie of competitors in their reality show mansion, each of whom is more enjoyable to read about than the next. Gonzales does a fantastic job of allowing the contestants to have their own personalities while also finding ways to draw them together. At the beginning, you'll hate them all (as well as all the show's produers). By the end, you might feel a little differently.

The romance between Maya and Skye builds really well—particularly so on Skye's part, where she notices every little detail about Maya before realizing that she's actually into her. Some of Skye's insecurities are a little frustrating, but they ultimately balance really well against Maya's drive for revenge.

Never Ever Getting Back Together is an awesome read that I crashed through in one night because I was having too much fun to put it down and go to sleep. I can't wait for readers to get to experience these characters!

This was fun! If you are someone who enjoys making some popcorn and watching the sheer mayhem that is reality tv, then you're going to enjoy this one! I was really curious and drawn into this book based on the plot being a satire on dating reality tv shows except with the plot twist being that two contestants ditch the guy and fall for each other. This is a layered story that begins as a revenge story and slowly morphs into a slow-burn romance, with a refreshing layer about rejecting the narrative of women being pitted against each other and instead forming an alliance against the not-so-great-cheating-cheater-who-is-playing-all-of-these-wonderful-women. We all know or have met a Jordy. A seemingly sweet guy who is secretly a slithery snake underneath all of the charm. Maya and Skye make it their mission to expose him for it and maaaaybe catch feelings for each other. It is a fun and eventful ride along the way.

Overall, if you love the drama and chaos that is reality TV, enjoy reading about competitions, love the takedown of sleazy men, enjoy all the tropes, love slow-burn sapphic books, and are a fan of slightly messy but lovable heroines then this book is for you!

I had two qualms that didn't push this over the edge of five stars. The first being that I felt as though the plot was too slow-paced for me and the timeline of events made me feel like I didn't fully buy into Maya and Skye's love. I feel as though they didn't have enough bonding/connecting moments to amount to such strong feelings for one another and their connection building began too late for me. I had to remind myself that this was meant to be a romance between the two of them since there wasn't any in a good portion of the beginning. I don't want insta-love at the beginning of a book, but I do oddly feel like it still read as insta-love even though it was a slow burn because their connection started a bit late and there weren't enough instances of connection so it made me think "how did we get to this point??". Although, this may just be me and my preference and I may not be formulating my thoughts correctly so take these thoughts with a grain of salt as you may feel their connection timeline and amount is just fine.

Secondly, I believe this book would have been best fitted in the NA category. All of the characters were 18+ and while 18-year-olds can still fit under the YA umbrella, I think it would have made more sense to be NA and more believable to me. I am the type of person that reads about an 18/19-year-old going on a bachelor-esque dating show to re-date all of his exes and thinks "c'mon how exes many could he have?? and how many could have been a long-term relationship?". Overall, I just think this storyline would have been better suited to be marketed as NA.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Queer Representation: two sapphic bisexual MCs with different POVs. WLW relationship. Gay SC.

Holy shit. I have been blessed by the gods to read an early copy of this. I’m not even sure how to put into words how much I loved this book, but I do know that I will be ordering a physical copy as soon as the paperback format comes out. I’ve already been gushing to my friends (and my chiropractor?) about this book.

Let me start off by saying, if you loved the first book of The Selection and you wanted MORE of that dating show drama, this book is for you. Never Ever Getting Back Together follows two girls, Maya and Skye, who both dated Jordy, the charismatic charmer who is now-famous and everyone loves. They’re invited to participate in “Second Chance Romance” which is a bachelor-esque reality TV show, with all of Jordy’s exes seeing if they can rekindle something.

The twist? Maya isn’t there for Jordy. She’s there for revenge. According to Maya, Jordy cheated on her with Skye and Skye knew about it. According to Jordy, he tried to break up with Maya but she said no and went crazy stalker ex on him. Let the drama ensue.

Congratulations to this author for making me hate this fictional guy more than I’ve ever hated any other. He is detestable in the most believable way. Truly, this book is the ultimate “the guy sucks lets just get together instead” and I’m so here for it.

And remember, never trust a guy with a J name.

*Spoilers after this point*

Pros:
-The communication! If you’ve read any of my other reviews you know that I hate the miscommunication trope. Yes the trope was still there in the beginning, but it was believable. Skye had been told one thing and Maya had been told another. They didn’t dance around the issue for 60% of the book either. Maya called out Skye very early on and Skye called out Maya in return. It also wasn’t resolved right then and there. Which to me was so incredibly believable! This happens in real life all the time, especially in romantic situations.

-It wasn’t instalove. Even after calling each other out, it wasn’t resolved until proof was provided. And even then, it took a little bit for the two to realize how much each other meant to each other.

-Jordy was so detestable in a horrible yet believable way. Men like Jordy exist. Men who know the right things to say, both to women and in regards to politics.. Who are actually just weaponizing their “feminism” and “inclusivity” for their own agenda. The type that will say they support women but drop subtle hints or backhanded comments to put other women down, slut-shame, and try to find a way into someone’s pants.

-This book brought in the reality TV aspect really well. We saw a lot of the behind the scenes and falseness of “reality” TV shows. There was a lot of showing instead of just telling, where we saw the frustration over and over of having to retake reaction shots and people lying about their history so they could get more exciting screen time.

-Revenge. Oh how I love revenge. I was so worried that by the end Jordy wasn’t going to get what was coming to him. I loved the game that Maya came up with to show the girls how fake Jordy was and I was so glad to see that turning point. I was so scared that Kim was going to end up dating him even if Maya rejected him. But I’m really glad the author wrote the end the way she did… where Maya realized Skye was more important… but someone happened to leak the destructive video to a certain popular influencer who published it.

-Skye was upset that Maya chose Jordy. You might be saying “but I thought you just said that you hate miscommunication!” I do. But again, I think this was resolved very well. Skye had self esteem issues and did think Maya left her for Jordy in the beginning, but this was resolved pretty quickly. She found out Maya did it so she could actually have revenge… and to Skye, that still meant Maya chose Jordy, even if it was in a hateful way, over Skye. Which again, I think is very realistic (or as realistic as you can get with a situation like this.)


Cons:
-I want more. I think the author needs to write another book based on the show “Second Chance Romance.” Maybe make the main guy not an asshole and make it a polyamurous relationship?

Thank you net galley for the book!
I was super excited about the premise of this story. The sapphic and the television show were all I needed to hear before I wanted to read it. My one note is I don't know why this is marketed as YA as it seems like a standard adult romance. Other than that it was really fun and I had a great time reading it.

I love Sophie Gonzales and her writing/characters and this book is no exception. I love this story and the sisterhood that these girls formed, even when it was rocky at first. This love story is cute and felt so real to me. The idea of two women coming together that have both been hurt by a single person is so beautiful. I am giving it 4 stars ⭐️ because at points it was a bit slow but in all a great read!

Great and fast read! While the plot is predictable with the two main characters partnering up for revenge, the laughs and slow burn are believable. I read this book in less than 2 days, I couldn't put it down and thought it was great writing! I would absolutely recommend picking this book up and checking it out!

I loved everything about this. Everything. Bi representation, revenge, reality television dating. This book was so fun from start to finish and managed to make a wildly out-there premise seem completely believable and realistic. My only disappointment is that I can't watch the show for myself.

A massive thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I've been extremely excited to read NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER since I first heard the premise, and it did not disappoint! Two years ago, Maya's boyfriend Jordy cheating on her with Skye. Now, she's being invited to a reality dating show to rekindle her romance with Jordy, and she takes the opportunity to get revenge by exposing the real him on national television. On the show, she meets Skye and the two team up to get revenge while also falling for each other.

Oh my god, this premise is sooo cute and the book lives up to it! It's also extremely funny - Maya's voice especially is hilarious, so many great one liners, such as:

"I pick up another, because pacing is for chimps and I am a chaos gremlin."
"To my delight, she seems to be showing him the respect he deserves: absolutely none, he's not fucking royalty."

I found myself actually laughing out loud so many times during this. I was hooked on the romance too, Maya and Skye are such a great couple with the perfect amount of tension. They start off hating each other (Maya thinks Skye knew Jordy was cheating), so it was a great enemies to lovers plotline. Overall I loved this, and I think it's going to become a booktok favorite!

I absolutely LOVED this book! The best revenge is truly finding happiness afterwards, and Maya sure does it! Watching the relationship between her and Skye bloom was so good. I loved their chemistry and their honesty at the end with each other.

This was alright! The romance was cute, both of the main characters felt well-rounded, and I liked that it was set on a reality dating show.
I wanted to like this more, because I've loved Sophie Gonzales' other books, but there were some things that didn't work for me. I didn't understand the Genovia-like, made-up country setting. I felt like we needed more information about Chalonne to connect with it. I also wanted the dating show parts to be more fun and twisty, but they were pretty straight-forward. Most of the supporting characters were also fairly one-dimensional, which was disappointing.
Overall, this was a cute, fun read with a sweet sapphic romance at the centre, but I was hoping for a little bit more!
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

I enjoyed the book and watching the growth of Maya and Skye and the different challenges they had to face. The main trope of enemies to lovers is one of my favourites, but I felt like some of it was a little rushed. We seemed to skip from hate to love fairly quickly without much of the falling part! The concept was great (with the reality tv show), and I did love the representation in this book. I just felt like it fell a little flat! I also enjoyed the women backing women as the story went on and Jordy was fun to hate!

Overall, it was a fun little read but just had some missing pieces for me.

Thank you to Net Galley, Sophie Ramirez and Wednesday Books for giving me an opportunity to read this book early in exchange for an honest review!

**Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me a digital ARC of this novel, which releases on November 9th, 2022

Sophie Gonzales’ Never Ever Getting Back Together is a cute and hilarious enemies-to-lovers romance that stole my heart in mere minutes. This book is easily on my top three reads of 2022. No question, this deserves five glowing stars.

To begin with, I absolutely loved the plot. Gonzales takes two phenomenal female characters, uses a man to position them against each other, then flips the story so they fall for each other and take their ex down together. I mean, seriously.

Second of all, Sophie Gonzales knows how to write love lines!

——
“I kiss her back, and that energy builds up, thrumming from my throat to my fingertips until I feel like a dying star. Like I’m about to shatter into a thousand shards of light.”

“The contact of our skin sends lightning bolts down my arm, and my nervous system explodes with the energy.”

“The spark of bravery I couldn’t ignite earlier today is back. And with a word, it becomes a fireball.”
——

This book was quite literally a dream. I started it at the airport before I slept on the plane and in the morning I woke up and couldn’t wait to open it back up and finish it. I enjoyed the romance element of this book, but I really loved the friendships that blossomed between the women. Perrie is a queen, hands down. Her commitment to her relationship with Maya and the other girls over that with Jordy was top-tier best friendship. I thought Lauren was sweet and definitely the peacemaker in the house. Kim, despite her seemingly annoying persona early on, grew on me as she developed her sense of self-worth. And, of course, this wouldn’t be a review without the lowdown on my girls Skye and Maya. I loved both of these characters so much. The slow realization of how fast their love sparked was beautiful to watch unfold. However, as individuals, they both have very admirable qualities. My favorite Skye scene was when she refused to hear Jordy’s opinion about short hair and worked with Maya to give herself a pixie cut. Get it, girl! And, of course, Maya pulling through in the show’s finale with her bold declaration is truly unforgettable.

I could write many paragraphs about Jordy, but I’ll limit this to simply say that he is an easily dislikable villain and women deserve better than men like him.

Ultimately, this was an engaging, comical, and heartwarming novel. Sophie Gonzales certainly delivers a story that deserves to be a bestseller. For those who enjoy romance with a side of laughter, read this book as soon as you can!

1 Sentence Summary: When Maya gets offered a chance to go on a new reality TV show, Second Chance Romance, for a chance to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend Jordy, she decides to do it just to get revenge on him for cheating on her, but when she arrives she finds out she has to share a room with Skye, the girl Jordy cheated on her with—she’s not happy about it, but as the girls start to get closer they form an alliance against Jordy, and a connection neither of them expected.

My Thoughts: This was awesome! Two girls uniting to take down their scumbag ex-boyfriend and falling in love along the way???? There was sooo much drama (in a good way)!

Maya & Skye’s relationship developed very naturally (no instalove, yes!) and was realistic and super cute.

Jordy was just ew. He made me so angry and I spent the entire book wanting to punch him in the face. I will not waste any more space in this review talking about how awful he is, but he was awful. The ending was supremely satisfying though (take that, Jordy, ha!).

I loved all of the contestants and how they banded together and the power of girls and friendship ugh yes!

Also, I laughed so much while reading this. It was so fun and entertaining and chaotic and everything you could want in a YA romcom.

Recommend to: fans of romance and reality TV

(Warnings: swearing)

As a queer person who watches the Bachelor franchise shows I feel like on some level this was written for me. Never Ever Getting Back Together does amazing in mixing together what makes shows like the bachelor compelling with a wlw romance. I was worried going in that the story would be too male centered for my own reading preferences however early on it becomes clear that is not the case here.

The main characters are likeable and getting both POVs was helpful to the plot. The romance was cute and fit this narrative well. It had a very new adult/young adult feeling and was breezy fun read. I finished it quickly, I think the plot following the reality show format made it easier to devour in one sitting.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC of this book! This wasn’t my exact flavor of bookworm food, but nonetheless I still enjoyed this story.

What I loved:
📚 the humor - seriously had me laughing like watching a good Netflix romcom
📚 the revenge 😂😂 revenge romances always crack me up without fail
📚 I love the Bachelor for the drama and this book delivered 🙌

What I wished for:
📚 getting to know side characters more, I know the purpose was to tell the main character’s story but I wanted to get to know so many other of the intriguing side peeps!
📚 more story development, overall it fell a little flat for me
📚 I wanted to connect with the main heroine more but it just wasn’t there

Like I said before, even though this wasn’t exactly the book for me, if you’re looking for an LGBTQ+ romance that will make you laugh, this book is for you!

Never Ever Getting Back Together is a charming and cute novel. Maya and Skye meet in a very unusual way - competing on a dating show trying to win the heart of their ex, Jordy, along with several other of Jordy's exes. While Skye joins the show hoping to re-ignite her relationship with Jordy, Maya has joined the show in order to shine the light on the true Jordy: a cheating boyfriend who lied and convinced everyone that Maya was crazy, manipulative, and unhinged. When Maya meets Skye, the woman Jordy cheated on her with, nothing goes as Maya planned.

Never Ever Getting Back Together is a delightful story where characters work together on their quest for revenge and along the way learn that even though it truly hurts, taking a leap and risking a hard fall is worth it every time. If you're looking for a light hearted romance story that has themes of women supporting women, then this is the one for you! I loved how when Maya finally convinced Skye and the other girls, they joined her plot for revenge and supported her throughout the entire experience. Instead of the typical girls tearing girls down to get a mans attention, the women in this book band together and have each other's back!

Please note: I did receive a free ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review :)

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely SPED through this! Something about books based on reality shows almost makes you feel like you're watching one. And the best part is that you don't have to wait for the next week's episode - you can binge the whole book in one or two days.

I enjoyed the idea of the revenge plot. The female relationships (both good and bad) were a lot of fun and the author did a great job of building rage upon rage against Jordy, who was the absolute worst. I liked Maya and Skye's characters, but felt we could have got to know them each on a deeper level. One thing I didn't realize before reading was how young they were. For some reason, I expected them to be closer to my age, not just going off to college. I think I would have liked it more if they were in their mid to late twenties, but I also appreciate a good YA novel every now and then!

Based on how much I enjoyed this reading experience and how quickly I devoured it, I rate this book 4/5. I'd recommend it to fans of One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London, as well as Dead Famous by Ben Elton, though that one is quite different!

Tired of having people believe her awful ex’s version of the ending of their relationship, Maya decides to expose the truth on national television. She agrees to join Jordy’s other exes on a second chance reality dating show where royalty-adjacent Jordy acts as the Bachelor. To make matters worse, Maya’s assigned roommate is none other than Skye, the woman Jordy cheated on her with. Skye and the other contestants must decide if they believe Jordy’s version of Maya, as unhinged and obsessed, or if Jordy is a liar and a cheater. Meanwhile, Maya discovers an intense attraction to Skye.

Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and it’s well executed here. The story is told in both Maya and Skye’s perspectives, which gives the reader insight on the women’s relationships with Jordy, their motivation for joining the show, and their love/hate relationship with each other. The reality dating show format with competitions and eliminations creates conflict while adding humorous elements, such as the cheesy host and the terrible promo booklet that declares “love is worthless.” Maya and Skye are both nicely developed and unique characters. Their relationship arc is rich and satisfying.

Isaac, the producer who is assigned as Maya and Skye’s handler, nearly steals the show, making him one of my favorite characters. Jordy, while clearly the villain, is less developed, but I loved to hate him. Having Maya figure out how to manipulate Jordy and having the women develop fierce friendships gave the story a fun, feminist feel.

When it comes to a romance, I adore a great epilogue, but unfortunately, that’s where the book fell a little short for me. All the threads are tied up nicely, yet I would have liked a stronger sense of a happily ever after. Perhaps the relatively young age of the contestants (late teens, early twenties) was a factor. The character’s ages meant that one of the exes had a middle school romance with Jordy (note this was age appropriate as Jordy was also in middle school at the time,) which felt a little like a stretch to fill contestant spots and was a touch cringy. On the other hand, the new adult age of the players kept the contestant pool to a realistic and manageable six.

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

Thanks to Wednesday Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group, for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.