I really couldn't get into this, and this close to the end of the year i don't force myself to finish books i dont like. There's just too much of character building but also not enough to make me care. like nothings happened expect each character individuals complain about their problems but i dont care about either of them so i don't want to know anything about them yet. you know?

sorry, just not the read for me at the moment.
i appreciate the opportunity to read in advance

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @stmartinspress @smpromance and @netgalley for an early copy of The Rom Com Agenda by Jayne Denker. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

The Rom Com Agenda is a friends-to-lovers story about Leah, who has been caring for her foster mother for the past year at Willow Cove and is used to being alone, and Eli, who’s still pining over his ex-girlfriend even after she has rejected his marriage proposal months before. Eli has been “forced” to go through a major makeover (hair, clothes, etc.) by his sister Jenna and friends so he could get Victoria (his ex) back. Another part of his makeover was to watch rom-com movies to be able to identify rom-com hero traits no girl can resist, and somehow, he gets to watch those movies and bond with Leah.

This book is adorable and I love the references to iconic rom-com films (although I haven’t watched some of them yet so I can fully relate to Eli as he too hasn’t watched them yet at the beginning of the story). I loved Leah’s strong independent woman persona and I found that her character had the most growth in the story. Being in foster care for most of her life, she has always questioned where she belonged, and with the help of Eli, Jenna, and friends, she found a home in them at Willow Cove. Eli, on the other hand, I felt like his entire personality just revolved around Victoria. He’s too hung up on her that I felt his romantic feelings for Leah lacked depth. I felt like Leah was his major rebound. While I loved the development of their friendship and bonding over films, the chemistry was just lacking. I felt like they were better off as just friends.

Rating The Rom Com Agenda ⭐⭐⭐/5. I would recommend this if you love stories about friendship and love the camaraderie between the main and supporting characters. Releases January 10th, 2022.

What I read: The Rom Com Agenda by Jayne Decker

Why I picked it up: It had a cute cover, so I requested the ARC from NetGalley.

How I read it: On Kindle via NetGalley

What it’s about: Leah accidentally overhears a proposal gone wrong while she’s hiding in the boat house. Months later she’s at work in the only clothing store in the area when the guy walks in with his friends who are making him over to become enough for the girl who rejected him. They end up becoming friends during the make-over process and we learn more of her back story in foster care in this same small town.

What I liked: I liked the encounters that Leah and Eli had. They were really sweet together.

What I disliked: His obsession with Victoria was a little hard to read because it was so obvious that she wasn’t into him and had moved on.

Genre: Closed door romance, foster care.

Rating & Recommendation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and it’s cute – and comes out in early January!

This cover is gorgeous and the name?! So fun!

I thought this was a cute story. It's a friends to lovers and though I usually prefer enemies to lovers, I did enjoy this one! I loved Leah's character. She was sweet and strong and I really admired her. Eli, meh. The constant pining for his ex was SO ANNOYING. I do think they were good together, but it took him way too long to realize it.

I thought this study was who written, and fun and perfect for anyone who enjoys a friends to lovers rom com!

3.5⭐

I adore when authors make found family a big focal point of their plots, because it’s something I find important, so I was delighted to see that done here. I also really enjoyed all the references and talk of 80s and 90s rom-coms! Really speaks to my nostalgia.

I’ll be buying this one soon!

I’ve tried several times to get into this book, but it’s not working for me. I think it would be unfair for the book if I kept forcing myself only to give it a bad rating when there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s a me thing.

Thanks to SMP for my ARC! I hope other people can enjoy it more than I did!

I absolutely adored this charming and delightful closed-door romantic comedy! It won me over with the witty dialogue, close friendships, small-town vibes, pop culture references galore, and, course, the sweet friends-to-lovers romance between Leah and Eli. There's even a villain! The author perfectly balanced the lighthearted story with a sad backstory and heartwarming moments. With clever store names like "Thousand Island Dressing," I highly recommend this to fans of Kerry Winfrey. I'm very happy this is a series and look forward to Gray and Delia's story, which I assume is coming next as it was built up beautifully.

Eli and Leah have a great chemistry that shows throughout the story. Sometimes you find love in the most unlikely places.

I really enjoyed this quick cheerful read.

The plot is somewhat cliched and predictable, just like many rom coms. However in my opinion, this isn’t a bad thing. There is lots of witty banter and entertaining side characters to make the book entertaining until we get to the inevitable ending. Is it the perfect rom com? No, but it is a fun light read that put a smile on my face.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book to read and review.

I loved this story, couldn't put it down! I really cared about the characters, and everything was so relatable. The author handles some serious subjects with care and understanding. From the very beginning when Leah overhears Eli, I needed to know what happened next. I will definitely seek out other books by this author.

* I received a digital ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!
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This is a slowwwww burn, closed doors, friends-to-lovers with a concept that’s incredibly cute. The thought is that Eli, who is a few months post-breakup from the woman he thought was the love of his life, is trying to make himself better for the woman who left him. Leah, our FMC, somehow gets looped into this scheme and falls in love with him in the process.
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We know I don’t like friends-to-lovers, so if we ignore that trope, I still think this book falls a little flat. All of Eli’s friends and family hate his ex, so why are they going to the ends of the earth to “help” him get her back? He was pretty one dimensional, with his only personality trait being how much he loves Victoria until all of a sudden, he doesn’t love her anymore.
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Leah was also pretty… bland. I liked her background but didn’t think that she had much growth or development either. Why was she in Florida? Why did she come back? Where was she going to go? There’s just not much depth there.
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All in all, the book was enjoyable but I found it to be without substance or meaning! It’s a quick read and if closed door, slow-to-no-burn is your thing, you may find it fun!

The Rom-Com Agenda was such a cute and fast read! I'm a sucker for friends to lovers romances, and this just checked all the boxes for me!

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy of The Rom Com Agenda. Unfortunately, this books was a miss for me. While I love a friends to lovers story, this one fell flat and I had a hard time staying invested.

When Eli Masterson is moody and mopey following the girl he thought was his one true love running off to Rome, his friends come up with the perfect plot. Transform Eli into the RomCom Hero no girl could turn down. His assignment: new clothes, a fresh shave, and a full list of iconic RomCom movies. But when Eli’s makeover brings him face to face with Leah, a lonely girl working odd jobs trying to save up to leave town, the both of them will learn that maybe they didn’t have to change after all.

This was a super cute book full of references to iconic RomCom movies. Also plentiful was the found family trope, which was super heartwarming throughout. I really enjoyed that there was no big dramatic conflict just for the sake of having a third act breakup. InsteD I found Eli and Leah charming and both in need of the comfort each other could provide. Overall, I would recommend!

• Friends To Lovers
• Found Family
• Small Town
• Makeover (for the Male MC)
• Trying to get back the ex
• 80s and 90s romcom references

The Rom Com Agenda was a cute, fast read. I was initially drawn in by the premise – the male MC getting a ‘makeover’ from lessons learned via classic romcoms to become the hero and win back the girl. It sounded intriguing, and a little different from others in the genre I have read.

I enjoyed our female MC, Leah, and really felt for her given her circumstances and backstory – I’m always a fan of found family, so I was happy that played a roll in the story and that Leah had that as part of her journey. Eli was a mix for me – on the one hand, I liked him and I was rooting for the friends to more angle for him and Leah. On the other, one of my main issues with him was timeframes (on his love for his ex, as well as his timeline in getting over her) – he came off as a bit immature to me as a result given the age of his character.

While it didn’t fall together exactly as I hoped, I did enjoy the story overall and was satisfied by the conclusion.
A book I’d recommend for others who are fans of the romcom genre and are looking for a light read and an author I look forward to trying more from in the future.

Thank you to SMP Romance and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an early copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and freely offered.

When I first read the synopsis for this book I thought I would fall in love with it, but once I finished it I found that it seemed to fall a little flat. I don’t know if I wasn’t quite in the right mood or what.

I didn’t like how Eli was hung up on his ex for what felt like the whole book. He also gave me a bit of whiplash going back and forth between wanting his ex and being cute with Leah. Although I am glad they ended up together and things worked out, because I love love.

I thought this book was cute, but I had a hard time getting through it. Some of the dialogue felt forced and too cheesy. I also felt that some of the word choice was either a bit much or too juvenile. I didn’t hate the book, but it just wasn’t for
Me

I really enjoyed this book. It was something that was a fun read. My biggest complaint would be that there was what I felt to be an excessive amount of time spent on attempting to win back the ex.
I honestly felt like that part of the book was over hashed and took away from Eli and Leah's relationship a lot of times. I enjoyed the effort Eli was putting in attempting to win Victoria back, but it made the book feel stale at points and I felt like i was on a carousel at times, especially the first 40% of the book.
After that, I truly started enjoying the book a lot more. I think it was just the constant cloud that was Victoria hanging over the first part of the book made it less enjoyable because it was SO present for SO long.

This book really packed a punch. We have Eli, who we meet while getting dumped by his girlfriend of four months, Victoria. Victoria goes off to Italy and Eli stays back. Several months later he is still feeling down about the break-up but his sister and their friends try to get him out of his "funk" by giving him a make-over so he will be ready when Victoria returns. Leah came back to town to care for her sick foster mother for a year. She is used to taking care of herself and relying on no one. Leah inadvertently becomes a helper in Eli's make over and helps him discover who he really is. No one counted on her falling for Eli and maybe Eli falling for her.

I struggled with this book because Eli was so fixated on getting back with Victoria, when Leah was obviously a better choice. He and Victoria are obviously not a good match and Leah is right in front of him. Once Eli got over his belief that he was going to end up with Victoria, things really became more magical for me.

I liked Leah and Eli together, they were good together. Even more than Leah and Eli's relationship, I liked the friendship dynamics and the family that Leah finds with everyone. The found family was my favourite part of the book and that Leah found a place where she could feel comfortable and belong.

I found there to be a lot of funny parts in this book and that Eli and Leah's relationship really developed through watching the 80's and 90's rom-com's. I thought it was cute and added good balance to some of the more serious topics addressed.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read and I look forward to checking out more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

A cute premise but the story didn't draw me in at all. I was just bored the whole time and wasn't a huge fan