Bella is tired of the dating scene and trying to find her Prince Charming after a failed date. Everything in her life is changing and she can’t keep up. In one last attempt to find her HEA she leaves her shoe in a bar hoping for her Cinderella ending. This leads to the start of a new chapter in life and her book.

This book has a good story premise and I like the idea here, but the book needs better edits. Many of the chapters are way too short, a number of them are less than a page long. The short chapters really impact the pacing and flow of the story. I feel like other readers might have a hard time with the short chapters. I also felt the physical diving of the story into seven separate parts wasn’t needed.

Personally I wasn’t the biggest fan of Bella. I do think she was well written. Ultimately would have liked to have seen more of her development on the page. It is hinted at later on in the book that she has grown but I would have really liked to see that journey.

I also would have liked to have seen more with her relationship with Marty too. While their interactions are nice and they are comfortable with one another they are lacking a strong connection to one another.

There were also a few inconsistencies in the book that I think could be cleared up with a bit better editing.

There is a smidge of spice but it is closed door with vague recounting of events.

Again I do think the story premise was good and I am excited to see what else this author has for us in the future. I just don’t think this was the book for me. I do however think this is the book for someone.

I would recommend it to those who are fan of the Bridget Jones's Diary type films and stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This is a quick, cute, fun and easy read about a woman who is searching for her Prince Charming but instead is kissing a lot of toads along the way.

The story is too long, it didn't need to be 900 pages, quite a bit was just filler. And while I found the characters relatable the end of the story was also very predictable. The main character, Bella, was all over the place and while I understand she was spiraling, I think it may have gone just a bit too far. I did however really like that the characters, especially Bella, owned up to their mistakes, gave heartfelt apologies and asked for forgiveness.

All in all, it was enjoyable but not anything spectacular.

DNF @ 74% At first I really enjoyed the book. It had a lot of my favorite elements of quirky heroine and rom com fairy tale weaved in. However, the pacing of the book really slowed down, and I got to the point where I was just reallllyyy done with Bella's antics. She started off as a hot mess, and at first it was fun to read about, but you get to a point where you're just like girl you need to pull yourself together. All of the things she did were so cringe that I just got so much ick and I get that it's all part of her character arc, but when you're 3/4 of the way through the book and the MC is still just bumbling her way through life, it just really makes me doubt how they're going to redeem her. Additionally, the author makes it very obvious who the OTP is from the beginning, yet it is SUCH a slow burn, I wouldn't even count it as a simmer. I get that people pop out of the woodwork and sometimes youre surprised but just Bella's obliviousness drives me nuts.

Bella is looking for her prince charming and improve her life. Her dates are all hilariouly horrible. She does have a terrific group of friends and great family. The story is filled with LOL scenarios and great lines. A great fun read.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Not That Kind Of Ever After is an entertaining contemporary romance by Luci Adams. Ms. Adams has provided readers with a well-written book with lots of fun characters. Bella works as a receptionist but has dreams of being an author. This story was humorous but I think it was a bit angsty and repetitious. Bella's actions are a little juvenile for an adult and come to think of it, self-centered and spoiled. Will Bella wake up and become the adult writer she wants to be? Sorry, you have to read the book to find out. I enjoyed reading Not That Kind Of Ever After. This is a complete book, not a cliffhanger.

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

This is almost a coming of age book, but later. Main character Bella is confronted by her lack of relationship when her best friend moves out and gets engaged to her boyfriend- that Bella is mostly jealous of.
Tiring from lame date after online date, and struggling to break out as a writer, Bella impulsively decides to write a story about her dates gone wrong, with a fairytale spin.
As it begins to gain more and more attention, Bella starts looking for dates to go wrong so she will have content for her online novel. Along the way, the people closest to her worry that Bella is taking things too far and not being herself. She’s not a serial dater, but a romantic at heart!
While she’s kissing a bunch of Frogs she almost misses the prince right in front of her.
This story was a cute idea- Bella’s
Adventure was bit like a train wreck. Hard to look away, but just so wrong for her. In the end she was able to find her own happily ever after- with someone I was rooting for all along.
Overall it was a cute, sloppy mess of a love story. I liked it.

Not That Kind of Ever After by Luci Adams is one of the best Rom-Com debuts I've had the pleasure of reading. Adams is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the writing world!
Her debut was remarkable and us readers have a lot to look forward to!
That excites the hell outta me!

NTKoEA was addictive, adorable, funny, and swoon-worthy. I loved every single page.
Adorable characters with relatable flaws, witty banter, romantic angst, and full-on LOL moments.
I fell in love with these characters immediately. Bella posessed characteristics that I could identify with. The book itself was written so well.
I love when I wake up wanting to read and stay up late reading.... This book did that!
I can't wait to see what Adams creates next!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

St. Martin's Griffin,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

I had a had time reading this one. It didn’t venture far from the blurb and the characters just didn’t jump off the page. I was hoping for more from the characters and the story and it just missed the mark for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eArc for my honest review.

This story has a good concept. I feel like some of the characters could have been developed a little more. Bella is not someone that I found easy to like, but there were times when I found myself liking her..

The main character is Bella. She has been friends with Ellie and Marty since they were kids. Bella finds herself going through a midlife crisis when Ellie gets engaged. She wonders what she's doing with her life and desperately looks for her own true love.

I also wasn't a fan of how quickly Bella found her HEA (Happy Ever After)., I felt like the author got close to her deadline and had to finish quickly so the last two chapters were rushed. They didn't feel like they naturally fit.

Overall this book was a fun read. I will definitely recommend this book to friends that like rom-coms.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well, I loved this book! I despised Bella at first, but I think she was written so over the top selfish it set up for a serious character arc and a good, satisfying ending. The stories were very entertaining - though if your looking for smut, you won’t find it here. It’s a book featuring sexcapades, but no play by play. Highly recommend checking this one out when it comes out spring 2023!

Seriously good! This book was a fantastic romantic comedy. The characters were lovable, and I was so sad when it ended. I loved it!

The idea of the book sounded great but it really didn’t keep my attention. The story the first half was really slow moving and I didn’t really care for the main character. Also the word feminism was used in the description but I didn’t find any feminism in the book. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC.

Bella, the main character is funny and spunky but she also came off very self centered. Throughout the book I did have many moments where I laughed out loud. Overall, I think the story line had a lot of promise and at times was entertaining but for me personally it didn’t quite hit the right note.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for access to an advanced reader copy of this book!

⭐️ 3.5/5 (rounded down for platform rating purposes).

Could be a hit or miss, depending on your tastes. While I appreciate what the story was trying to accomplish and thought the idea behind it was intriguing and cute, this book was missing some things for me. Bella was overall difficult to relate to, but I did enjoy her character development by the end of the book. The single stream of consciousness writing style was not for me and was a struggle to follow at times. Romance was a secondary component but still okay. It would have been a quick read for me, but I kept losing interest. I would still recommend this book to a few people I know would enjoy it. 💙

For all the fairy-tale lovers out there, pick this new book up ASAP! I loved every second of this, from the atmospheric writing to the laugh-out=loud characters, this story was a treat through and through.

I throughly enjoyed this novel. In fact, it’s one of the few lately that has held my attention throughout the entire story. While I could see a few things coming, I never felt like rushing though it. I would definitely recommend it to friends.

This was an odd read for me, because I really didn't like Bella for most of the book. Normally, when I find a main character that dislikable, the book as a whole turns me off. But not this time. I was intrigued by the premise and how slowly the story built. Also the fact that while this seems to be a romance with all the standard trappings of a romance, it really isn't. Not at all. I mean, yes, it's there. And there aren't many surprises but the book is more about how Bella grows up as a human being and moves away from being a selfish person to embrace her potential as a pretty decent (normal) person. The fairy tales were fun, and I truly expected them to roll for the whole book, so I was surprised when they kind of didn't go exactly to plan. Which made it a lot more realistic, although let's be real, going out with a bunch of Smurfs is pretty unreal.

So, while Bella was not my favourite person, in the end, I was rooting for her to get her act together and figure out how awful she had been to the people around her. And when that happened (hopefully not a spoiler) I was annoyed by the way she beat herself up for things that were really minor. Even though, at the time, I was thinking she was a horrible person for doing just what she was beating herself up over too. So, that contributed to my odd feelings. At one point, I found myself thinking "wow, you are being way too hard on yourself" and then in the next breath realizing that I had been just as hard on her for the same thing in the moment it was happening.

To sum up: The characters were well developed. The plot was interesting and really cute at times. And the romance, while secondary to the main plot, was satisfying.

Oh, and no huge conflict to tear the lovers apart was a relief for me. Too many books involve boy meets girl, boy and girl get together, both realize they're in love but don't say it (or only one does), conflict tears them apart, and then there's about 20-50 pages where they figure their stuff out and end up back in each other's arms somehow. NOT how it happens here and I loved that.

This is the perfect contemporary fiction read for smart, young women in their twenties who are still discovering themselves. This book conveys everything that female friends and I are experiencing in our disorganized, hopeful lives right now. I'm a sucker for female characters that enjoyed reading fairy tales growing up because I so relate to that. If you're someone who constantly daydreams and imagines fictional scenarios for yourself, then this is the ideal read for you.

I could not get into this book! I’m the same age as the main character but she seems to be more in her early to mid 20s not almost 30. She is definitely a character that is hard to root for a lot of the time! I did enjoy the fairytale tie-ins. I did not like how Mark was described- it definitely felt like there was some weight shaming going on there.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

Sadly, this book just didn't do it for me and seemed very unrelatable for me. I just got more annoyed with the main character, and I know we are supposed to be, but I just didn't get as invested in it as I wanted to. 3 stars because the main character pulled her head out of her ass at the end of the book and became likeable enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Marten's Press for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.