jayne denker's romance novel 'the rom-com agenda' is the perfect example of a book sounding good from the description and then completely missing the mark at every turn. the novel follows leah, a woman working a million part-time jobs in the hopes of leaving small town willow cove for good, now that her foster mum has passed away. we also follow eli, a local guy head-over-heels for a girl named victoria, who sets off to rome for a year and leaves him determined to win her back. when eli's friends force him to watch classic rom-coms to learn how to be the ideal man for victoria, leah is accidently dragged into the scheme, and ends up being his guide thru the world of grand gestures, despite the fact that she doesn't think he needs to change at all. all this time together can only lead to one thing...

this book DRAGGED. it felt like nothing happened, or nothing of note. i think this is largely due to the fact that leah & eli had zero chemistry, at least that i could see. it also took far too long for them to eventually get together, even though we all knew that's where it was heading. eli's penchant to fall in love too quickly was too much for me, and didn't make him a love interest i was rooting for, but he was the only option. tbh his friends really should have just told him to get over it, considering he was only with victoria for a few months. overall, i just felt like this book could have been SO much better with a little more plot and some more interesting characters.

This book starts off with Eli, a 31 year old man, acting like a man child because he misread a casual relationship that he was in. Enter is friends who act more juvenile then he does. They think if he can change everything about himself he can win the first girl back. This story became more ridiculous as it went on.

This was a great read about two people finding more about themselves and that they deserve to be happy! I loved both the main characters in this book. Leah was relatable and you just wanted her to succeed with her plan and also get her happy ending. Eli captured your heart right away with him wanting to change so that his old girlfriend would want him back, even though someone already liked him just the way he was. These two really became one another's true friend and then realized that maybe all they were looking for was right in front of them.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish this book. I gave myself 30% of it, but it got to a point where I couldn’t force myself to read any longer. I didn’t think the writing was all that great. The characters did nothing for me, and the main male character, Eli… his whole situation bothered me. He proposed to a woman after only knowing her for a short time, then spends months hung up on her, changing literally everything about himself for her, after she basically didn’t want anything to do with him. I’ve read that it gets better later on when Leah and Eli’s relationship picks up, but it’s hard for me to continue a book that I’m not interested in, when I have so many other books I want to read.

In the Rom-com Agenda, Leah is mourning her foster mother and trying to make money to move out on her own when she overhears a man proposing and the woman turning him down. Eli has rushed his relationship and scared off his girlfriend Victoria of 4 months who is going away for a year to Italy. It’s awkward and heartbreaking.

Fast forward a few weeks when Leah runs into Eli as he is getting a makeover by his sister and her friends. They are trying to make him into someone Victoria would see has husband material. They also request that he watch all kinds of romcom movies to see how he should act. Leah is working all sorts of jobs to make money so she keeps running into Eli all over town (he nails it when he compares her to Kirk from Gilmore Girls!) Eli is still really hung up on Victoria but Leah sees Eli for who he really is. Especially after they go on practice dates and watch all the best romcom movies for inspiration.

Leah was such a good character! She was independent and kind and extremely hardworking. She has been through a lot in her life and has dealt many hardships at a young age. She was in the foster care system and became very close to her foster mother. Eli was a great guy, but such a bonehead! He couldn’t see how wonderful Leah was when he was so hung up on the wrong for him (and using him!) Victoria.

I really enjoyed this book and I especially loved the author’s use of the romcom movies as inspiration. I loved Leah’s back story and I thought that Leah having a very positive foster care situation was refreshing to see. Eli and Leah have a great banter and genuine chemistry.

Thank you to @jaynedenkerauthor and @smpromance for my gifted copy. This was a really fun book for movie lovers and it’s on sale now!

OK, I really loved the main character...her love interest, not so much.

Eli got on my nerves from the get-go. He proposed to a woman barely knowing her, then spent MONTHS hung up on her and being really annoying about it. Ugh.

The second half of this book redeemed it for me, because Eli and Leah's love story was sweet. It just took a lot of being annoyed at Eli to get there.

The Rom-Com Agenda by Jayne Denker is a cute contemporary closed-door friends-to-lovers romance. We follow our two main characters with alternating third-person points-of-view. The audiobook clocks in at a little under eleven hours and is narrated by Erika Schindele.

After growing up in the foster care system, Leah is used to feeling alone. She spent the last year back in Willow Cove, taking care of her sick foster mother. Now she has nothing left to tie her to the town and it's time to move on yet again. Eli's ex-girlfriend just flew off to Rome for a year, but he thought their relationship was going amazing. After telling his family and friends how determined he is to get her back, they decide to give him a makeover inside and out.

This was cute, though there were some deeper moments. I especially liked all of the pop culture references, especially to rom-coms. I liked everyone in the friend group, and I hope we get a Delia book sometime in the future. Leah's foster brother Patrick was a major tool. There's some casual queer rep with a bisexual side character, but I wish there were more.

Leah was great and there were a lot of parts of her personality that I identified with. Eli was okay, but I feel like he was stubbornly holding onto his plan to woo back Victoria for a little bit too long. That being said, I really did like the two of them together.

I had a hard time reading the ebook version; for some reason it just wasn't holding my full attention. I think my main issue was with the pacing. There was also some weird information missing, at least in my reading. I don't think I realized Eli's sister's husband was not white until very near the end of the book when he had an offhand comment about having more melanin than his wife. It's possible I missed some references to this but the author could have shown this in other ways.

Once I switched over to the audiobook I had a much better reading experience. I think the narrator did a good job, but with dual POVs I tend to prefer having two different narrators.

Tropes in this book include: found family, slow burn, friends to lovers, small town, closed door

CW: death of parent from cancer (prior to book), description of panic attacks and dissociation

I was really looking forward to this but what I read of it just didn't work for me. It fell just a little flat so I didn't continue remembering not every book is for every person and this one was not for me. Check out some other reviews though as it could be the one for you.

The perfect combination of tropes: friends to lovers, dual pov, found family 😍, cute closed door romance.

The cover first drew me in and the writing kept me in line.. i do however think I would have enjoyed this as an audiobook better

This is a little cutesy rom-com. It's a closed door romance.

I was rooting for Leah and Eli, but dang Eli was really dense the majority of the book. Basically Leah is roped into helping Eli win his ex girlfriend back by giving Eli a make over. Inevitably Leah falls for Eli and eventually (when Eli pulls his head out) he realizes he has fallen for Leah, too. It's a bit of a slow burn to get to their romance, but it was cute!

-friends to lovers
-found family
-small town
-dual pov
-closed door romance
-2000s rom com vibes

I really liked this book!! It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, but I still enjoyed it regardless! The characters had depth and the story was much more centered around the growth of the main character than a romance, but I didn't mind because of the powerful messages that were focused on instead. It was an enjoyable read and I lived for the cute interactions between the main characters.
Thank you for the ARC!

Special thanks to the author, @smpromance, & @netgalley for my advanced readers copy!!!

It took me awhile to find the words to say on this review because this book really didn’t do it for me. Slow-burn doesn’t even begin to describe this book. It definitely had potential but fell slightly short for me and I couldn’t stand Eli and honestly Leah was right behind him.

The premise was cute and witty and was the reason I wanted to read the book. But it took sooooooo long to get anywhere and I was so annoyed with Eli’s obsession with getting back with his ex. She literally broke up with him and he couldn’t accept it so much that his friends & family helped conjure a plan so he could WIN her back.

Leah was pulled into the super makeover which is how her and Eli met. After months of being around each other working to help Eli become the perfect guy the feelings began to grow between the two yet neither of them made a move. It annoyed me because they both knew the feelings were there but it’s not until nearly the end that Eli decides to act on it.

Overall, the book was simply okay I just really wasn’t a fan of it. I recommend if you’re into cliche love stories but it definitely wasn’t for me!!!!

I had hopes for this one, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I feel like the biggest issue I had with it was the pacing. The romantic storyline felt both too slow and too fast. There's obviously a level of angst and pining because of the premise, but I expected that to be wrapped up much quicker. At the same time, when the main characters finally got together, it was a little too fast? There'd been a lot between them for it to just magically go away so that was strange for me. I also felt like Eli as a character wasn't the love interest I was hoping for. His revelation of his feelings for Leah didn't happen in the best way and it kind of cheapened the moments between them. Also, there's a really weird scene toward the end that had me so confused on why it was necessary. However, I did really like the premise and I enjoyed the side characters a lot. I enjoyed what the book had to say about home and found family and understanding yourself. I just wish it had just been a little faster because it took me a month to read when I can usually get through romances in a day or two.

What a delightful book with so many nods to rom coms. At times I was a little frustrated with the characters because they clearly have feelings, but I understand the stubbornness of one character and the life situation of the other so it worked ok in this. I liked all the side characters and the humor they added. Super sweet story.

I read half of this book and couldn't get into it, which is unfortunate because I was looking forward to the description. Not for me but I kept going because I could see the potential in this cute rom com!

I was rooting for the main character but the story took too long to develop.

Very cute story, but a little low on the spice for my taste. If you're looking for a clean "palette cleanser" type of story though (we all know we need those from time to time) then this is a good one!

What I Liked

The small town setting was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed seeing the punny names of the different businesses in the tourist town. This book takes place in the off season, and that was interesting to see, as well. 

There are a lot of good characters in this one, as we get to know Eli’s friends and watch them welcome Leah into their lives. 

The rom-com and pop culture references were a lot of fun, as well. There’s some Gilmore Girls references as well as plenty of nods to the romantic comedies Eli has to watch as part of his makeover. 

What I Didn’t Like

Unfortunately, I found the whole makeover premise a bit hard to buy. Rom coms are meant to have silly setups like this, but somehow this one just wasn’t believable. None of Eli’s friends believed he should be with Victoria, so why were they trying to get him to change so much to win her back? 

The second half of the book also felt a bit slow to me. After a certain point, there wasn’t a lot of tension to keep me reading, and I was expecting things to wrap up a bit quicker than they did. 

Like other readers, I didn’t love how clueless Eli was about clinging to his intentions to win Victoria back long after he clearly had feelings for Leah. It didn’t bother me a ton, but it did make things feel a bit repetitive after a while. 

Overall, I enjoyed the first half of The Rom-Com Agenda but felt my interest waning in the second part of the book. It was a cute love story and had a nice bit of a found family angle as well, but something about it just didn’t quite hit the spot for me personally.

I recommend this one to fans of classic 80s rom coms, to those who enjoy a makeover storyline, and to folks with a fondness for small town settings.

This hit the right mix for me for a contemporary romance, pretty believable but theres something a little *wow* about the likelihood of it happening

This was a cute read. While it took me a bit to connect with the main characters, it did eventually happen and I enjoyed it.

Definitely a very unique story different from anything I’ve read before.

It’s officially the new year and what better way to start 2023 off on the right foot than with a good romance book! The Rom-Com Agenda by Jayne Denker, which comes out on January 10th and was my first read of 2023, definitely fits the bill and is a great read to kick off your 2023 TBR!

This book was a romcom lover’s dream! This small town romance featuring references from classic romcom movies from every era is such a fun reading experience, while also still packing a punch. Not only are there fun “we keep meeting like this” moments and meddling friends trying to get Leah and Eli together, this book also deals with heavier topics like being a caregiver for a sick relative, the foster care system, lost love, and past traumas. However, Denker interweaves these themes into this fun “win the girl back” story wonderfully, even if the book does have the ability to make you tear up.

And while this book isn’t super steamy and has that fade-to-black moment, this slow-burn book still has that binge-able quality that will have you saying “JUST KISS ALREADY!”

If you’re looking for a friends-to-lovers, slow-burn romance that has a fabulous found family aspect, then I highly recommend this book!

*I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest opinion.