This was an easy-breezy, one-sitting read for me. Sora is a freelance writer who would love to be promoted to a full-time gig. After discovering that her boyfriend is married and was cheating on his wife with her, she declares that she will swear off dating for the entire month of February. She pitches a story on her #gosolo pledge to her editor, who loves the idea -- and before long, Sora's posts go viral, with readers across the country cheering Sora on and promising to follow her example.

Unfortunately for Sora's journalistic credibility, early in the month she runs into an old schoolmate, Jack. Sparks fly, and Sora's resolve is thoroughly tested, especially when Jack confesses that he had a crush on her all those years ago.

I was kind of hoping this would be a slow-burn romance, with the two of them unable to keep their hands off each other but having to do so because of Sora's work commitment, but they jump into bed almost immediately (leading to wacky hijinks when Sora's boss comes over the next morning). I loved the fact that Sora had a one-eyed rescue dog, but as a dog owner myself, I tend to get way too invested in fictional pets; when Sora injured her ankle, for instance, and Jack had to carry her up the stairs to her third-floor walk-up, I couldn't help but wonder who was going to take the dog out for his bathroom breaks?! (Her neighbor hates dogs, so no luck there.)

"The Second You're Single" will be published on Jan. 31, just in time for those who prefer Galentine's Day to Valentine's Day. Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin for the review copy via NetGalley.

Hmm… complex feelings in the air!

I have to admit;the book’s BIPOC, Asian culture and LGBTQ representations were realistic.
But three things made me irritated:
1)Mixed, dislikable, conflicting approach to body and weight image!
2)The very insta love and lack of chemistry between main characters
3)The unfair crazy ex-girlfriend approach.

I was so hopeful to read about women’s fiction with more feminism vibes after checking the blurb! It was promising to read a romance centered on midsize heroine.

Sora could be more likable character if she stops her long monologues, quitting to mention about her endless love for bacon!

Jack was dreamy-picture perfect boyfriend material: blond, blue eyed, hot and he’s a baker! He is in love with the heroine since elementary school but I didn’t feel that intense chemistry between them so I found their love a little unrealistic.

Last third: there’s a quick angsty part which resolved faster than I expected and lost its effect instantly.

Overall: it’s still fast reading, some parts are entertaining but it’s not catchy and heartfelt enough to stay on your mind for a long time. So I decided to give solid three stars to move on my next reads.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ St. Martin’s Griffin for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

I’m keeping this review short because I don’t want to speak negatively about it needlessly; this book might be other’s cup of tea but it was not mine.The whole premise, while sounding good in theory, The whole premise, while sounding good in theory, but the execution was very lacking.but the execution was very lacking.
It's a decent read with good representation.

Sadly, this one just wasn't for me.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I don't think this book was for me. The premise sounded great and I was excited, but it fell flat. Kudos to the plus-sized main character rep, but all of the comments surrounding size and body types and weigh did not leave a good taste in my mouth.

(Also, not sure about the bacon obsession, but it felt intense and went overboard. I feel like it went from a fun character quirk to intensely irritating fairly quickly.)

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and the Cara Tanamachi for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

This sounded like a fairly interested read, but I realized very quickly it really really was not for me. The writing at times felt too wordy, and clunky to read through.

Sora had about 2 personality traits, hating Valentine's day and loving bacon. After the first chapter had multiple mentions of her love of bacon, I decided to literally tally how many mentions there were in the book of bacon... there were <i>22</i>. Was this supposed to be a quirky thing because she's a plus sized character? If so, it was irritating. Her mom and sister constantly were body shaming her, and Sora herself even says she couldn't fit into a dress because she ate too much bacon.

For a character that is comfortable in her own body, Sora sure did criticize other people's. This book felt like constant negative judgements about the people around her. Such an extreme amount of criticizing people's bodies throughout this book and it was aggravating.

The concept of this book was fun, writing down her experiences not dating for an entire month! Except it fell really flat when she couldn't even stick with it half way through the month.

There's a whole list of things that made my eye twitch while reading this.


Thank you Netgalley, Cara Tanamachi, and St. Martin's Griffin this read now ARC in exchange for an honest review.

1 star.

I found this book via the Read Now feature. To be honest, I was only semi-interested in reading it. After reading my friend Hannah B's review, however, I am not interested at all in reading a book with conflicting messages about weight and body image. No thanks.

I love seeing midsize rep but this book did not make me, a midsize person, feel comfortable. There were too many offhand comments made by SORA let alone every other fricken character in this book besides maybe Jack. She was constantly concerned about people’s eating habits, weights, and bodies—making broad generalizations and weird comments.

She was also obsessed with bacon which was just plain weird. Sure, make the midsize character obsessed with food to the point of a gimmick. Other characters would call out the way she talked about bacon, and it was even used as a way to shame her since she didn’t fit into a bridesmaid dress due to her overconsumption.

Jack was “chubby” as a kid but “lost a bunch of weight and went on a diet” and “looks great” now. Not a message I necessarily needed to read about. He did say he didn’t want people to always mention how he lost weight, but everyone around him including Sora gave that vibe. Sora initially said he had a slight beer belly but not “gross big.” Again, not a comment I like to see. Then when she sees him naked, he’s not “too skinny or too fat.” Again again, le sigh.

✨

Women were constantly villainized as plot points and given pretty poor arcs. Mal’s character was tiresome, but I do think it brought up good points of men also being the victim of stalking and invasive behaviors. I just think it could’ve been handled in less of a cookie-cutter tropey way of “crazy ex girlfriend.”

I also did not like Jack’s POV sections. He used the phrase “AF” right away and I got the ick. He generally did not sound like a real person, especially his beginning parts. His part in the third act breakup was tiresome and wholly expected. I also did not like how Jack was so cagey about admitting he slept with Mal the week before he saw Sora at the grocery store. He was hiding it and making her feel weird about being slightly concerned.

✨

Overall, the vibe of this book was weird and off-putting. The concept seems cool but the “no sex and dating” February thing was just a poor way to make the relationship forbidden, since they literally had sex before 50%. It just really made no sense why they couldn’t wait the two weeks.

Jack was weird about it when he literally knew she was holding off on dating because of her job. Then Sora reveals it all in a wishy washy article, naturally gets hate, “explains herself” in another wishy washy article, and everything is fine again.

⭐️.25/5 🌶.5*/5


*Sex was talked about, but there wasn’t any explicit language or scenes. It was closed door and tile jump to next morning. One of my biggest pet peeves is closed door shutting us out of sex, but then CONSTANTLY bringing up just how crazy and bananas the sex was and how good it was. All. The. Time.

** Also in one of Sora’s articles she was like “scientific evidence shows single people are happier than married people” but cites no sources. I’m sorry but that’s a lazy article right there are we sure she’s a professional? No I’m absolutely not sure. If you’re gonna include articles and stuff that the MC writes, make sure they actually sound like they’d gain the traction of 400,000 likes.


CWs: body shaming, weight shaming, cancer, miscarriage, pandemic mentions, cheating (not between MCs)

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this Read Now eARC. All opinions are honest and my own.

Sora is in her mid-twenties and stuck. She has a home and a job she doesn't love. Burned too many times by romance gone wrong, she blogs about boycotting men during the month of February, gains a following on social media, impresses her boss, and has a meet-cute with a drop-dead handsome man. Who, it turns out, has been in love with Sora Reid since elementary school. Now the trick is for Sora and Jack to navigate a budding romance in the face of all the pressures: her disappointed mother, her bridezilla sister, her vapid boss, Jack's stalker-level ex. A good romance and the ending made me cry happy tears.

Freelance writer Sora pledges to remain single but falls for Jack, a baker. Can she keep her resolve to remain single or will she allow herself to fall in love?

Love both characters and I love how they grow together. Jack is a prize and so is Sora. :) I wish that they see that about themselves earlier. The humor and romance in the book are outstanding. I love the subtle inclusion of a multi-cultural world in the book because that's the reality in our world! A totally charming rom-com.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Sora is a freelance magazine writer who has been burned so many times by shady men that she decides to stay single for the month of February and she takes her readers along for the ride. This immediately takes off and becomes a whole movement of women who join her and choose to date themselves. Sora’s career is finally gaining traction and she is learning to take care of herself when a chance encounter with a childhood friend puts her in a sticky situation where she has to choose between the perfect man and staying true to her readers.

The beginning of this book had me smiling from ear to ear because it was just so cute. I am sure many people will add Jack to their list of book boyfriends. He’s very handsome and exceptionally kind and HE CAN BAKE! What more could you ask for?

I think Sora’s self-care journey was important for her character development. Growing up with parents who push you to be quiet and not make trouble can make it hard to learn to prioritize your needs and to speak up for yourself, so I really enjoyed watching her break out of her shell.

Overall, this was a cute love story with some added depth. I enjoyed the dual POV and the childhood friends to lovers trope and it had some absolutely hilarious moments. I also thought the epilogue was so heartwarming. I would recommend this to anyone who loves romance, rescue dogs, and especially bacon!

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I appreciated the representation of Asian culture and LGBTQIA+ in this book. It was a quick, easy read, just don’t know that it’s a story that will stick with me.

This book kind of just…exists? The two leads didn’t have any intense chemistry, and while they liked each other, I wasn’t convinced that they were ever in love. The main conflict of the solo February preventing them from dating was bland and a bit irritating, because all they had to do was wait for March. My biggest issue with this book is the weird weight stuff. The heroine constantly talks about her love of bacon, and how she’s a size 14, but she’s better than all the skinny girls because she can actually eat. She is also constantly eating or thinking about food, and seeing as she’s the only somewhat fat character, that portrayal made me really uncomfortable. The love interest was fat as a child, but is now buff. However, other characters and his own self monologue continually bring up that he was fat, even going so far as to call him “piggy Jack”, his grade school nickname. I can’t tell if this is just a weird character thing the author threw in, or if this is supposed to be the one flaw of the perfect love interest

Wow. Absolute 5/5 stars! Cannot wait to buy this when it becomes available! So happy i was able to read this. This was my first ARC read and definitely won’t be my last! I am obsessed with the writing style, none of it was dragged out, i was sucked in from page one, the quirkiness and the wit was hysterical (literally laughed out loud multiple times) and was perfectly adorable. I’m obsessed. 5/5 easy!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review. (Trigger warnings at the bottom.)

Summary of plot:

Sora is a freelance writer and decides to write multiples articles about going solo all February aka no dating men at all. Soon after she declares her ban on dating, she bumps into Jack, her elementary school friend who is now super attractive. Lovey eyes ensue and the two get together eventually.

Pros about the book:
✔️ representation (BIPOC and LBGTQ+)!
✔️ Asian culture sprinkled in there (though I could have used more)!
✔️ feminist messaging (that women shouldn’t just accept men who don’t have value because men say they have to)!
✔️ very short and easy to read!

Cons about the book:
❌ often times, Sora has very long internal monologues
❌ not a lot of angst between Sora and Jack because they get together so soon
❌ feels slightly insta-lovey
❌ kind of tropey (hot attractive hero has blonde hair blue eyes model girlfriend while heroine is someone who never eats vegetables)

Potential triggers:
🟡 mention of miscarriage
🟡 cheating partners
🟡 death of a loved one

Would I recommend this book? Meh