I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book more than I did unfortunately. It wasn't bad but I've read some books lately that have blown this away. Parts of it were entertaining but I put the book down a lot because it wasn't fully holding my attention or I got a little bored.

I also really didn't like the main character. At the beginning I found her to be an idiot but as the book moved on she stayed an idiot and also became insufferable. I understand that she goes on her journey to not be that anymore but it was a little bit of a quick fix.

A cute, different spin on a classic rom com trope - a late twenties girls best friend gets engaged and is leaving her behind in singledom. After a particularly bad first date, she takes to the internet to share her anything but “fairy tale” dating life and it quickly becomes an obsession that tears apart her life and makes her realize what matters.

While it wasn’t a ground breaking plot, the fun fairy tale angle and the witty main character Bella made it an enjoyable Sunday afternoon read.

If you’re looking for a Bridget Jones ish read, you won’t be disappointed.

All aboard the hot mess express!

Bella’s life isn’t going to plan, so she attempts to turn it around by having interesting hookups and writing about them.

Part romance, part journey of self discovery, this book fell flat for me. I found Bella to be excessively tiresome with her first people pleasing behavior that turned into self-destruction back into people pleasing. I didn’t understand why the people in her life kept giving her chances. At the same time, most of the people in her life sucked, too.

The premise was really cute, so you might like it if you want to read about a hot mess express!!

Thanks to NetGalley for this Advanced Reader Copy. All thoughts are my own.

This book was an easy and quick read. I think the premise of the book was fun! I think most people could write a book about the dating apps and the dating scene before finding their prince charming.

I didn’t like Bella’s character. To be honest, she was a bit awful. Marty, though 😍

Not That Kind of Ever After by Luci Adams
Pub. Date: March 14/23
Format: eARC
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So thankful to @netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffen for the opportunity read this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! I found the storyline interesting and wanted the main character, Bella, to be successful. Yet the story goes in a direction that leads the reader to contemplate their own values and beliefs around sexuality and relationships. I admit I struggled a bit with the self destructive behaviours displayed by Bella. However was also led to consider if it would be viewed the same if the character was male. Thus I found myself wanting to know what would happen. Would there be a happier ever after? I suggest you give a read to find out.

Ugh! This book is just not engaging. I don't like the characters, the plot--really nothing about this was what I hoped it would be.

For Libraries: If you have patrons clamoring for the saucier side of realistic fiction then this might be a good fit.

I DNF after 20%. I didn't connect with the MC or the writing style. I found the MC selfish and unlikeable. Ultimately the plot and relatability of the MC just didn't allow me to connect and I didn't feel inclined to finish this one.

Not That Kind of Ever After was a fun, easy read about a young woman named Bella who finds herself in a bit of a tailspin as her best friend, Ellie, decides to move in with her boyfriend Mark, who is absolutely horrible and wrong for her friend. The pairing off of people doesn’t stop there and Bella finds herself struggling with her desire to find her Prince Charming, but ending up with a series of toads, instead. Bella is also disenchanted with her job, answering phones at a publishing house, instead of being a writer who is published. Bella finds some inspiration to begin writing her book and goes down a path she never expected to travel.

I found this book enjoyable but predictable. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I do enjoy some unexpected twists in the books I read. There were a few things I didn’t predict along the way, but not much.

Bella’s plight is one I think a lot of young women could relate to, in this new world of online dating, challenging adulting and discovering that the two people who would always be together forever, determine that is not the case. This particular part of the plot struck close to home and I felt was handled extremely well.

A decent beach read, and I’m appreciative to St. Martins press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read it.

I enjoyed the story and the summary of this book, but the novel doesn't have much more than the 100-word synopsis of the book. The novel was cute, had your classic fairytale tropes and tied everything together at the end. It was nice, but realistically, wasn't very engaging past the opening scene.

This was…okay. The book was well written and easy to read, and the characters were complex and (mostly) likable. Unfortunately, the character I had a hard time relating to (or liking, to be honest) was the main character, Bella. Also, a lot of the content just made me very uncomfortable. It’s not the type of thing I typically read and I just found it all a bit…raunchy.

Bella is having a hard time in the dating world and is also experiencing a lot of upheaval in her life. But she “copes” by having a lot of one night stands (and a bit of group sex) and then writing about it. There IS a love story, eventually, and I loved that part. It’s sweet. But I really had a difficult time relating to Bella. She’s selfish, careless and immature.

This was just meh for me.

Super fun story! Loved that Bella finally discovered what’s most important. A few loose ends could have been tied up but overall, a fun read!

When I started this book, I wasn’t sure if I would like it from the first few chapters but as I read more, I enjoyed it more and couldn’t wait to see how it’d turn out. The main character, Bella, can be kind of annoying and made parts of the book hard to read because she was so clearly making these mistakes. I liked that her character had some growing up to do and you can see her character develop throughout the book. Overall I think it was a great read and a cute romance!

This was so boring. I’m fine with the fact that the romance wasn’t until the end of there was good character development, but there wasn’t. The main character is annoying and does not grow at all.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Overall, the really liked the main ideas of this novel. The main character, Bella, is a single woman who is searching for who she is and her place in the world. Who can relate to that? So many people. But the content was definitely more adult/dirty than I normally read. and for that reason alone I'm giving it 3 stars. The editing was tight and the characters equally lovable and loathsome as the situation requires.

As a huge fairytale lover and hopeless romantic, I knew I had to read this book.

I enjoyed the concept but didn’t particularly like Bella which is a shame! I just thought she was whiny, selfish and a bad friend.

It was the supporting characters that redeemed it for me because I liked basically them all.

A cheesy but overall enjoyable rom com read.

It’s definitely not your usual HEA.

I would say it’s a coming of age for adults. Not really a romance.
Bella is 29, used to her little world. Her best best friend, work, writing… And her search for Prince Charming.

She feels a little pathetic. So focus on her HEA that she’s willing to disrespect herself in order to attain it. Her world will slowly, and I mean slowly(!) crumble bits by bits.

I never got attached to any characters, I mostly felt sorry for Bella and her childish answer to everything happening.

The novel was well written, and at 83%, it picks up. I wouldn’t loved less self pity and more of her late enlightenment.

I received and eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley.

*I’d like to thank St Martin’s Press and NetGa;;he for an ARC for an honest review*

I saw a couple reviews about this book that were less favorable than what the author may desired, but I had an okay time with the book. Bella Marble is in a standstill in her life because she isn’t as well along as she thought she would be. She wants to be a writer but hasn’t written anything substantial. She wants to find love like her parents but all the men in London haven’t met her expectations. Her best friend is growing up and getting married to some bore.

Bella gets a new look on life when she begins to write about her dating and sex adventures and retelling them as fairy tales. This novel is billed as a romance, which it is at the very end because her love interest isn't revealed until the last quarter of the book. I would’ve liked to have seen more between them. There are also some things that Bella does that don’t sit right with me, and it’s difficult to read a in a first POV. I liked this book, but it may be a while before I reread this one.

I couldn’t relate to the main character which made me not want to keep reading

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy.

This book started out great and then fell flat. Bella, oh Bella. I was surprised by the first line of the book. I chuckled and thought ok, where is this going to go. Than the pursuit of Prince Charming. Than the destruction. And then I got bored. I had invested so much time in this book, I needed to see it through (as predictive as it was).

8/10

I don’t understand the low score (avg 3.13) this book is getting on Goodreads. I really liked this book. In fact, I finished it in less than 1 day.

Rom coma are my secret guilty pleasure. Emily Henry is at the top of my list, as she puts the com in rom-com. This first novel by Luci Adams is right up there with Emily.

The difference with Luci’s book is that it’s different. There is a standard rom-com arc that always works:
- couple meets, despises each other
- forced to interact
- begin to like each other
- plot twist in which they may not be together
- they get together and find true love

“Not that Kind of Ever After” plays with that story arc but adds a variety of different layers on to it. This is one of the more complexly layered rom coms but it works. It works really well.

Here’s the story:

Bella and Ellie are BFFs. Ellie gets a boyfriend and Bella is angry/jealous/scared that the friendship will end. She wants to find her own Prince Charming.

Well, Bella has some deep seeded issues about self worth. She’s probably an alcoholic, or at least has the feelings of victimization that come with addiction. She’s self-absorbed and doesn’t appreciate all she has in life.

Without spoiling things, these feelings play out in a variety of ways, some self-destructive, some not.

Through it all, it’s funny. Luci paints clear pictures of each characters, their strengths and their faults. It makes me smile. And oftentimes, it makes me laugh out loud.

I really liked this book and would read her next one without question.

If you’re a rom com fan, I’d ignore the other reviews listed here. Trust me, it’s worth it.

#netgalley #notthatkindofeverafter