i wasn’t really sure what i was expecting when i read this book. one thing was the amount of sex, which really took me by surprise (as someone who is used to reading more milder romance books). in literally over 75% of the book the main character, bella is having a one night stand or crazy hookup, which after mentioning literally every chapter for ¼ of the book, i felt like it was getting a bit repetitive.

i understand that the whole purpose of the book is for bella to find herself, before realizing that she doesn’t have to change for any man to find her prince charming, but bella’s character development to this realization is literally all over the place. suddenly a reserved girl who is desperate for her own fairytale ending, becomes a sex-crazed manic overnight? and it’s only after she hits rock bottom, does she come to realize how much of an ass she’s been, and then she suddenly gets the guy??? i wanted so bad to like marty and this romance between him and bella, but his character development was also strange. he is introduced as a womanizer and playboy who doesn’t really do relationships, but suddenly says that he’s loved bella ever since they were children and after they hookup is suddenly ready to be in a committed relationship with her. i felt as if there was no progressive character growth, but instead a complete 180 in the actions and personalities of the characters.

the ending was cute and wrapped everything up nicely, and i like the concept and the messages, but i just feel like the execution fell flat for me.

thank you to netgalley and st. martin's press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this book was a flop for me. I couldn't connect to any of the characters, who all felt very surface-level. While Bella's narration was meant to be mostly humorous and light-hearted, I just found it to be immature and grating, much like the character herself. And if the reader dislikes the protagonist, it definitely taints the rest of the story.

This was a DNF for me. I found the main character to be extremely annoying. She seems borderline obsessed with her best friend and throws a temper tantrum when she finds out her parents are divorcing. The MC is just codependent and that's just not something that I can relate to or understand. I really really wanted to like this book and the first chapter was hilarious, but it just fell short for me.

What a great read. Seen some reviews that made me a bit nervous to pick this up but I'm so glad that I did. I love the way the main character, Bella, is figuring out life. Things are going great and everything is perfect until one day it isn't anymore. I can really relate with not liking change. I really liked how this storyline progressed and I am interested to see what will happen next! If you are looking for a feel good, not complicated but fun read. This one is for you!

Overall I really loved this book. The character development of Bella through out the book. She struggles with a lot of changes at once which is very relatable and does some questionable things in hopes of feeling better or just feeling something.

The ending left a few loose ends I would have liked to of had some resolution but at the same time it was nice to not have a picture perfect ending.

The structure/flow of the book with various parts and super short chapters was my biggest issue with the book. It just seemed like some chapters ended a little awkwardly.

Overall I really liked the book. It was happy but still had some depth with issues that were relatable.

Not that kind of ever after it's not your typical rom-Com, but that made it even better! The situations Bella gets into and how she deals with it, in usually the wrong way, are so funny

A disheartened woman, Bella, has several changes in her life that come at her all at once. Her best friend is moving out and going to marry a man that Bella doesn’t think is good enough for her, her parents that she has idealized for their happily ever after are getting a divorce and Bella has had such bad luck in trying to find her own Prince Charming. Her friends all seem to be growing up and moving on, but Bells just isn’t ready yet.
These changes cause Bella to spiral, where she starts having one night stands to fuel her online writing, which seems to be the only thing going right in her life right now. However, after alienating her friends, she finally realizes that, what started out as an empowering choice to live happily, has hurt a lot of people around her.
While I found that the beginning of the book was a little hard to get into, I started getting wrapped up in the characters after the first few chapters. The story seemed to lose its way a little bit after Bella has what you think should be her “ah-ha” moment, just to fall back into her old patterns once again. Thankfully she quickly sees the error in her ways, makes a final amends and starts to grow up. I feel the book could have done without the second “ah-ha” moment and Bella could have just continued her growth after realizing all the people she had hurt along the way.

A great read. Bella loses herself in terms of what she needs and also to satisfy what she she thinks her readers want when in fact, it is there all the time. I think we all go through that period of confidence that we define ourselves with how we associate ourselves with ourselves with others like Isaac and Charles. Her friendship with Ellie needed to evolve and her recognizing that Mark is great and Marty is her person marked it a book that ended with any reader having a true smile at the end.

Friends and family…love and romance…secrets…what will happen next? The protagonist is looking for love…secrets abound…I could not get into this story but others might…the book was sent to me by Netgalley for review.

I am a fan of the main character being a sort of quirky nerdy girl as I feel like I can kind of relate to that. I do think that there could have been more details in the book but overall it was written well. I do think that there are parts that were laugh out loud funny as well as parts that made me cringe a little. Overall, I have mixed feelings about the book but I did enjoy myself while reading it so I would recommend it to others to give it a try as well.
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Griffin for the free copy in exchange for an honest review!

The first half had me cracking up and i was loving it. The middle was kind of lost its spark, but picked back up in the end!

Not a typical romcom, which is what I normally read. Bella is a writer who is struggling to write and is a woman who is desperately seeking her Prince Charming. So when things continue to go awry, she makes them work for the benefit of her writing. Not so much the benefit of finding “The One”.

I think you need to go into this knowing it’s not a typical romcom, would probably be considered more “women’s fiction”. But is still a good read with funny situations, and romance focused more on the last section.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for Not That Kind of Ever After to come out on March 14, 2023.

To my own embarrassment, I found myself laughing out loud more than once while reading this book. Parts of it are borderline ridiculous and I loved it!

Ellie is So annoying. She’s seriously so ridiculous and self-absorbed, but you can’t help to slowly fall in love with her. No one is perfect and the “heroine” doesn’t have to be either.

I was surprised by the way this book went about. I thought undoubtedly that this would be more…romantic, but really this book is about an adult woman and her crazy adventures to find love… but she finds her way back to her best self instead.

Thank you for this arc. Overall, it was a cute story. I have become a fan of retellings, but this one didn’t hook me as much as I’d hoped. There were cute parts, and I enjoyed the ending more than the beginning. I can see how many women will relate to Bella, and her story. Recommend if you enjoy cute, light rom coms..

The concept of this novel interested me right off the start and overall I do think it was a cute romcom.
I did find it hard to get into and it wasn't until about 20% into the book that I was invested. I did like the plot a lot and I really enjoyed the ending.
I think Bella's character arc was well done, she went from being one of the most unlikable main characters to one I was rooting for, but I think some other characters fall flat especially in one scene at the beginning where they're all together and are met in rapid succession.
Lastly, I think the twists are very predicable, but that didn't make them bad. They would happen and although I didn't feel the shock of being surprised how the twists play out are interesting and intriguing.
Overall I think this is not your average fairytale and if you're looking for a fun story about the search for love here it is.

Although the story started out a little rough for me I was quickly engaged in the main character Bella and rooting for her quest for true love. The descriptions of people, places, smells and sights put me right into the scenes. Whether I was cringing, comfortable or anxious, it was because I sometimes felt I WAS Bella. I was in her head and for me that’s the best experience when reading, when I am living the experience rather than just hearing someone else tell it.

While this wasn’t a book I though about constantly when not able to be reading, I was always happy to be back to pick up where I’d left off. The pace was fast and characters were engaging. The aura of unhappy adult relationships for Bella and Ellie’s parents was a little depressing when reading about the new relationships they and Simon were embarking on. It was almost a message of enjoy it while you’re young because when you’re older it all falls apart. One enduring mature relationship might have set a different tone, and maybe there was mention of one I missed but that’s the message I took away, and wish I wouldn’t have.

I found it hard to enjoy this book because Bella annoyed me. She was a diva and wanted the world to revolve around her. She was upset with her best friend for moving out and upset that her parents were divorcing. But she was annoying in how she dealt with it all. Even the ending didn’t redeem her in my opinion.

This book by Luci Adams has the absolute best opening line ever! It was so epic I had to read it 5 times over to get all my giggles out before I could continue on to the story. It's like one of those TikTok videos you keep watching in a loop as you double over with laughter. Not That Kind of Ever After hooked me immediately and continued to deliver comedy throughout.

The MC Bella is more than just a train wreck because she just keeps chugging along causing calamity everywhere she goes As her cozy little life keeps getting tossed around Bella deals with things in all the wrong ways.. The hilarity of what happens is what great stories are made of and so she decides to do just that, write about it. Soon her story starts leading her life instead of her life leading the story.

Bella's life is full of interesting characters, loving friends and supportive family. All of this is not enough to keep her from getting caught up in her own head. As Bella continually tries to redefine herself she sometimes loses focus of what''s truly important. There are good times and bad and all along the way I could not stop rooting for her to find her happiness.

I truly enjoyed this story and really got the humor that Luci Adams generously dished out. The HEA was perfectly imperfect and that too I loved. I would recommend this story to those who love a heavy dose of Com to their Rom-Coms. I am grateful to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun and quick read! Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

Bella is 29. She isn't feeling that fulfilled at work, she is single but looking for a relationship, and her life-long best friend is moving out of their shared house to live with her boyfriend (Bella is not his biggest fan). She loves fairy tales and, after an ill-fated date/one-night stand, she writes a story of that evening as a reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood. Her story goes viral and Bella finds herself inspired to go on more dates (and writes about them, taking inspiration from classic fairy tales).

Though Bella is not necessarily a character that is easy to love (she is kind of a chaotic Bridget Jones-esque character with low self-awareness who spends a lot of her time online), there is plenty to like about Not That Kind of Ever After. I appreciated the unusual plot. There were some things that weren't as successful for me, mainly the consistency of Bella's character. She seems to go from a relationship-hungry/desperate for love woman to one totally at ease with having casual flings and one-night stands (not that those are mutually exclusive but I didn't get a clear sense of who she was and what she wanted). Her friends remark that she is acting out of character but we don't really know what is her typical behavior, from the first scene we meet her, she is having a one-night stand and seems comfortable with that. I think readers who enjoy lighthearted rom-coms and fairy tales will likely enjoy this.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy via NetGalley.