Leah is a loner, living in the Upstate NY of Willow Cove after spending years in foster care and returning to take care of her ailing foster mother. She's saving up money to leave town when she crosses paths with Eli, who she has the misfortune of hearing propose and be rejected by his girlfriend Victoria. As Eli's sister and friends help to make him over to win her back, Leah gets roped in. Slowly but surely, she becomes part of the crew and sees there may be many reasons to stay.

This was a cute romance that definitely had some deeper themes which I always appreciate. I couldn't stand Patrick and wished Leah had stood up to him more/earlier! Leah was such a strong person and I'm glad that she was able to find people who truly wanted the best for her and supported her. I loved watching her and Eli's friendship form and solidify into something more.

This was a cute, clean romance. I was annoyed at how long Eli mooned over his ex (Victoria), but I did think the makeover attempted by his family and friends was funny, and I really liked Leah with her many jobs and her belief that Eli was fine just as he was. The book also pointed out to me how very many movies I have not seen! And I sure like the friends to lovers-type romance!

I thought this was an enjoyable read. It was quick and cute story. I would recommend this to those who enjoy romcoms

4.5/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and Jayne Denker for allowing me to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters and whole story is really cute and hilarious.

This story is told in dual POVs. We get both Leah and Eli's point of view and thoughts throughout the story. The characters can be frustrating at times, but it is worth the read. Eli is getting a makeover by his sister and friends to get a girl back. Leah gets wrapped into the makeover on accident because she helped them choose clothes for him at the place she works at. They all become friends, and feelings develop rather quickly. But Eli is still wrapped up on his ex that he is trying to get back.

The title tells the plot of the story perfectly. This book is hilarious. The banter between the two main characters, along with side characters, is amazing.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves romcoms and a good laugh while reading.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

I was really looking forward to this one. The tropes are my type and the premise of this book had promise. Unfortunately the story just didn't pan out for me. It seemed halfway done, like the author wasn't fully invested.

A cheesy romcom book with references to other romcoms. The story and characters were ok, it took me a bit to get into it but overall I thought it was a good read. I do feel like this book lacked in some parts, but I would still recommend this book especially to the rom com readers!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for opportunity to read and review this arc honestly.

I had started to read it forever ago and got distracted by something else. Well I recently picked it back up and read it. The storyline and plot were predictable but cute and I enjoyed the read. The dialogue was entertaining as well as how the story progressed. The main female character wasn’t as annoying as I usually find in this genre so that was a nice surprise. I’d definitely read more books by this author.

I wasn't able to read this book because life has been extremely busy, so I will rate this 5 stars to compensate. The blurb looked very promising though, and I will read this when I get the chance and I will edit my review

Cute concept. But lacked tension and believable romance. There’s a lot in Leah’s backstory and I wanted her to have a light and easy and loving relationship but her relationship and Eli’s both felt way too one sided and heavy. I wasn’t cheering for them. I found myself annoyed at both of them for wanting an idea of someone and wasting their time. I received an advance review copy for free via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

2 stars!
I can honestly say that this book was not for me. From the blurb, I thought it could be cute and reminded me a bit of The Cheat Sheet. I failed to understand the ages of the main characters because this type of plotline for characters in their 30s (I think??) is a bit crazy. I feel like the "makeover to win someone back" plot is better suited for characters in their teens or 20s. That aside, the way that no one liked Victoria, yet they made up and executed this crazy plan for Eli to completely change himself in order to get back with her was very ???? I know these are his friends and family but tough love is allowed. Eli and Victoria only dated for 4 months before she had to leave the country for work. Despite the short time frame and circumstances, he thought would be the perfect time to propose. She rejected him, and instead of accepting it, he decided to completely change himself? Wild. I didn't like any of the characters except for Leah which is the sole reason for the 2 stars. I feel like the majority of the book was him trying to get back with Victoria, and only like a quarter of the book (or less) was about Leah and Eli. She deserved better, either way. I also wasn't a fan of the pacing of the book or the way the different plotlines were integrated.

The Rom-Com Agenda is a small town, slow burn romance about Leah and Eli.

Leah grew up in the Foster system and never found a place to call home. At the age of 18 she left her last home, to come back later to take care of her foster mother, Cathy. Leah is working many jobs in order to make enough money to leave town.

Eli is in love with his ex girlfriend who has left to go work aboard for 10 months. Before leaving they broke up but Eli is willing to win her back.

Eli’s friends and family, although not big fans of his ex, help him by giving Eli a (drum roll please)… makeover!

This is when Leah and Eli meet. Leah is brought in by his friends and family to help with the makeover. They have created a list of Rom-Com movies for Eli to watch and study (giving the book its name)… Eli is unwilling to watch all the movies and so Leah helps him by watching with him. And the story continues…

The characters were lovable and funny. The town was a little peace of paradise even in the winter and made me want to explore similar small towns. For a book that is called the Rom-Com Agenda I would have liked to have more references to classic rom-coms. Yes they were important for the story line but not the main focus.

This books does contain death of a family member, cancer and a little about abandonment.

Thank you to NetGalley for this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was a really cute story - it definitely reminded me of the classic Rom-com movies from the 90s. Anyone who likes romance movies should adore this book I would definitely reread this book!

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Closed door romances are not my thing but I liked this one well enough. I enjoy friends to lovers and a good slow burn. That said Eli was so hung up on is ex and the waffling between him and Leah didnt do it for me.

I literally could not put this book down. I wish I had picked it up a year ago instead of letting it sit there on my TBR! I definitely can't wait to read more of Denker in the future, and I won't wait as long as I did this time!

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

A fun book, you will enjoy.

This was a slow burn, closed door, friends to lovers romance. The characters were witty and there was some great banter which was nice.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in return for an honest review (apologies for being a year late in getting it read).

Remember old school rom-coms? And by old school I mean: Say Anything, Sixteen Candles, Dirty Dancing. Toss in Love Actually and this is basically our story.

* Girl meets a guy and falls for him. He is charismatic, TALL, sweet, thoughtful ... and in love with someone else.
* There is a makeover. Of course there is a makeover.
* There is a gaggle of friends and family that just have to butt into everything.
* Hero needs to realize that the girl who has become his best friend - is really THE ONE and act on it.
* Girl has suffered a trauma (well several) and acts like everything is fine, until she can finally depend on new friends, and the guy to support her.
* Asshole comes and tries to bring her down (in this case her former foster brother) and the gang is there to tell him to get lost.


Told in alternating POVs (Leah and Eli) this was cute but something about it missed the mark. I think maybe it went a tad too long - the beauty of old school rom-coms is that they were rarely longer than 75-90 minutes. This book went about 75 pages too long. At the 70% mark I wondered what was going to fill the last 30% of the book. And honestly - we could have cut out more of the beginning, or even the entire getting Victoria back storyline - and still had a cute little story.

The good: Both Eli and Leah were great characters. This book is obviously the start of a little series about the rest of the friends (Gillian is next in "Hedging Your Bets", and I can't imagine not getting Gray and Delia's story)

The bad: Since I know more books are coming about "Willow Cove" I think maybe the"world building" of the whole group just took up too much bandwidth and stalled the story a little. Eli's sister Jenna is a tad annoying (like over the top - but I guess we need one of those characters if we are re-creating old school rom-coms).

That said. I was able to read this pretty quickly and loved how Leah was able to explain Love Actually to Eli in a way that totally addressed the issues we all have with it today - while still admitting to loving it.

My one question was... why no Jerry Maguire? When Leah tells Eli about the "grand gesture" - that should have been a reference point! At least based on the movies being referred to throughout the book. (I also found it a little strange that they would pick those movies when they likely would have watched movies from the late 90s and ealy 2000s based on their age... but that's just me).

3.5 Stars.

A closed door romance, filled with witty characters, slow burn, and a friends to lovers. I wanted to love this one but overall the characters and some of the choices they made were very hard to sit with,

This book was just ok. I really couldn't get past Eli's obsession with his ex - I felt like it took so much away from the actual story when clearly Leah was a better match for him. The jokes/banter/vibes of the book had me laughing. The pacing seemed off, and felt like we were missing some details. Thanks for the ARC.