This book, while cute at some parts, was not my favorite. However, I did finish it, so I gave it 2 stars.

Things I liked:
- The meet cute was sweet, fun, and a little comical.
- The liquid gold analogy was really nice.

Things I did not like:
- The way bodies/body issues are addressed in the beginning in a very nonchalant way. I could see the causal treatment of body issues potentially being triggering for some people
- Villainizing women for doing “girly” things (wearing athleisure clothing, making “kissy” faces in pictures, “bridezilla” trope, etc.)
- Bacon as a personality trait. A super overdone cliche at this point.

Overall, definitely not my favorite, and probably not something I’m going to recommend. Some parts were enjoyable, but, in this case, the less enjoyable parts trumped.

Thank you St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was a cute story that feel a little flat for me. This is about Sora who picks the worse men and decides for the month of February she is doing Solo February to focus on herself and not a relationship. But the moment this cute baker she knew from her childhood shows up she starts focusing on him and not what this journey could of been. She should of just told him what she was doing and if he wanted to go on a date with her to wait 28 days. They create some drama that could of been avoided.

I would of loved to actually see her focus on her wants and needs as a person.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the E-ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Such a fun book and absolutely relatable! Loved Jack's character and Sora was awesome! Loved the cover!

The Second You’re Single by Cara Tanamachi sounded like the perfect Valentine’s Day read based on the cover and overall synopsis. However; I was instantly turned off by the body shaming comments spread throughout and found this novel to be one that I couldn’t finish.

2.5/5

Thank you to St Martin's Press, Cara Tanamachi and Netgalley for gifting me a copy of The Second You're Single in return for my honest opinion.

This reminded me of a cookie cutter hallmark movie type plot and it wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. I feel like a lot of the points could have been executed better then they were done. For example, the weight/body image message it was trying to incorporate, it just missed the mark. Our main character Sora is midsize and we love to see it but between Sora herself and every other character in the book making comments about her weight/size it became too much. She is so worried about everyone else's weight/diets/size that it becomes overstated and i found myself rolling my eyes a few times. It was all just too much, and at points it left me feeling uncomfortable.

I did like the chemistry that she had with Jack but, with that said that was all I liked about them. Jack was not a likable character and he just seemed off to me. Also don't get me started on the stupid third act break up like really it was so predictable it was almost comical. I'm not a fan of third act breakups in general but this one was just bad.

The reason I finished this is that I enjoyed the narrators, guy and a girl, who read/acted out the book. They made listening to it enjoyable other wise it would have been a DNF for me.

How do I say, without saying, that this was one of the strangest books I have ever read...?

Sora and her obsession with bacon had to be one of the strangest things I have seen. If I had made tally marks for every time the word bacon was used in the book, there would have easily been over 100 in the first half of the book. I love bacon like the rest of the world, but I think I am turned off from eating it for the forseeable future because of how many times I had to read about it in this book.

Also I am a huge fan of representation of all sorts being in books. All races, body sizes, religions, etc should have a place in the books we read everyday, but in this book we got a long and rambling description of every. single. characters genetic makeup and lineage. It was way too much.

And we haven't even gotten to Jack. Oh Jack, the supposed cinnamon roll of a man. He seemed loveable.....at first. That is until he was weird AF (jk if he used this term one more time I was going to implode) about his relationship with Mal, and the role he played in her comeback.

Oh and why did the ENITIRE book revolve around weight. As a bigger girl myself, I understand how weight can have an impact on all parts of your life, but why did we have to focus on Sora's weight, Jack being chubby as a kid, the dogs weight, how little Mal is, etc. ITS TOO MUCH.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to access an advanced copy of this title.

I wasn’t sold from the beginning, so it was hard for me to actually follow the narrative and the characters and try to follow on their narratives. Mainly, I think the book was just too fast paced, and not enough detail. We don’t wallow with Sora on her struggles, and neither do we with Jack. We meet them, get to know their struggles, and just start resolving them. The conflict also felt a bit juvenile, from the perspective of the adults in their late 20s, early 30s. It just didn’t capture me how I thought it would. I tried to root for Jack and Nora, but the premise for their relationship working being that they know each other from grade school is just... weak. Did not bind me to the characters and show me that they actually have a strong foundation for a relationship because they were literal children. It happened before puberty, and they didn’t even date or keep in touch throughout the years. Since the “discovery” part of the book is brushed through, it’s hard to get attached and see how their relationship can work.

The one thing that made me keep going was the writing. I think the author took the serious moments seriously, but managed to keep an air of levity in the narrative still. This silly style, combined with the deeper moments, added to the narrative and the characters.

Overall, I think this was a good middle-of-the-road book. If you don’t know what you want to read next or just want a short read to pass the time, this is a book for you.

Sora is a writer for a magazine and decides Valentine's Day is a joke and writes a story declaring #gosolo for the whole month of February. She collects a huge following to everyone's surprise. The meet-cute between Sora and Jack was very cute and gave me high hopes for this book. Sora is over men, over her mom constantly telling her to lose weight and diet with her, and over her sister, Nami, demanding Sora have a date for her upcoming wedding. She looks terrible one night, buying a ton of bacon because who doesn't love bacon and tequila when she runs into a thin woman that she fights with via looks. Sora is basically fat shaming herself but wallowing in her feelings too. She moves to the bakery area where samples are being given out by a gorgeous man, Jack. Enter her ex-husband, awkward greetings turn painful when the thin woman walks up and Sora finds out she's her exe's fiancee. Jack, who recognizes Sora as his elementary school crush, swoops in and pretends they're dating, winning Sora's thanks. But meeting Jack is terrible timing. It all kind of goes not downhill so much as hills and valleys. There are some cute, fun, and sweet moments, but there are a number of parts to this book that are not. I like bacon, but how many times was the word mentioned in this book, fifteen, twenty? Maybe more. Then there's the fat shaming constantly, not just of Sora, but by her as well, also, she's judgmental as heck. The aerial acrobat exercise scene was too overdone. It could have been funny, but the author explained it in too much detail, losing me in the process. It also seemed stupid for a novice to enter a clearly advanced class. I felt like it was just a contrived vehicle to get her to the hospital with Jack. The rest was cute, but the way there, not so much. Of course one thing leads to another, and they end up in the sack, it's just once, but Sora feels guilty. Jack feels like he's Sora's dirty secret. Now, the idea that two people who haven't seen each other since elementary school can't wait two weeks to go out, keeping her #gosolo promise, seemed ridiculous to me. Overall, there's a good amount of the book I liked, but a number of irritating parts, too.

Thank you to St Martin's Press, St Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

2.5/5 🌟

This book was a miss for me. I usually love all things cheesy rom-com but this one just didn’t hit the mark. I feel like the author had a great opportunity to shed light on midsize women in a positive way but it felt like the main character, Sora lacked REAL self confidence and she not only was body shamed by her own family but Sora also body shamed other women. As an Asian American woman myself, I get that sometimes our families comment on our bodies, eating habits and overall life choices without ever realizing their toxic behavior. I felt the author had the opportunity here to discuss this and possibly bring real healing between Sora and her family but it was revealed itself as a misunderstanding instead of growth/lessons learned. The author also mentions bacon way too many times. I am a lover of bacon but even I have to say it was over mentioned . It was funny the first few times but then the joke was killed by the over use. I wished this book was better because I do feel that it had great potential. The ending was cute but not enough to save the overall story.

Thank you to St. Martin’ Press Griffin and Netgalley for this digital ARC to honestly review.

I really loved this light hearted book. The first couple pages had me thinking the main character was a size 2 glitter-loving diva. I was prepared to hate her. But the story cleverly shifted and the two characters were revealed to be flawed, kind and amazing. I raced thru the book and was genuinely sad when it ended. I have been telling everyone to grab this book and be prepared to spend a wonderful day living with Sora and Jack as they fall in love. Huge thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I just enjoyed everything about this story. It was just so new and interesting to me. The characters come to life and the romance is just lovely. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys good books and:or romance’s best ideas.

See trigger warnings below

I received this ebook from @Netgalley as an ARC, but life got in the way, and I just finished this one. It was published on 1/31/2023, which means there is no reason to not immediately stop what you are doing and grab this one.

I seriously have never laughed so hard at a rom-com. I highlighted so many things because they were simply hilarious. I loved so many things about this story:

-Larry the one-eyed rescue pit (I, too, have 2 rescue pits)
-Sora's love of bacon (same!) and dislike for the commercialized love machine.
-The meet (re-meet? Is that a word) cute
-The Banter alone was amazing.

This one also has #solofebruary quotes as chapter headings. I feel like this book hit so many marks:

- Self-care, which now I have a new outlook on
- Taking care of your mental health
- Healing generational trauma
- Making room in our lives for what we want
- Real body types
- Being kind

Bottom line: Go.read.this.book.and.laugh.alot.and.swoon.alot.

***Trigger warnings***
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Childhood cancer and miscarriage

While I really wanted to like this one, I struggled to really get into the story and with the likeability of the characters.

Sora Reid is tired of being in relationships where she gets her heart bruised. She decides to do away with men for the whole month of February and uses her experiences in her freelance writing job to inspire other readers. When she runs into Jack Mann whom she has known since elementary school there is an instant attraction, but how does that fit in with her go solo initiative?

I love childhood friends to lovers stories so much so I had high expectations for this one coming in, but it kind of fell flat for me. I had a really hard time liking Sora for some reason. I feel like that was compounded by the audiobook narrator who read Sora who seemed to read older than I pictured her being. I liked Jack but he wasn't enough to carry the story for me.

Thank you to Recorded Books and the publisher for providing me advanced copies in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to love this book because the premise was so cute, but unfortunately it just didn't work for me. There was a ton of strange focus on body image that didn't seem in line with the heroine's personality, and the whole solo February didn't make sense as the book went on. It seemed like an arbitrary deadline that didn't mean much, that the heroine didn't stick to anyway. And while the writing wasn't terrible, the style didn't work for me. I know this is debut, so I would be willing to give this author another try in the future.

Sora has a history of making bad decisions when it comes to the men in her life which are only made worse by the lack of support and understanding she receives from her family. With the demise of her last relationship which should never have started she has decided to embrace being single for the month of February however fate has other ideas when Jack resurfaces into her life.

Jack too has made questionable choices when it comes to his romantic past which has affected his career as a chef. He remembers Sora from high school, and he soon realizes that the teenage feels he has for her are still there but will bad timing destroy what they could have together?

This story will have you feeling for Sora and Jack but at the same time despising a lot of the secondary characters who are intent to derail their success both when it comes to them as a couple and their careers.

The Second You're Single by Cara Tanamachi. Pub Date: January 31, 2023. Rating: 3 stars. In this dual POV rom-com, Sora finds herself practicing being single for the entire month of January but Jack comes in to test the waters and sparks fly. Sora is a struggling female that I related a lot to as a single female myself. I loved the portrayal of how the world is made for couples and not really for single people. Even though this ultimately was a romance in the making, I really identified with Sora's struggles as a single, successful female. If you like blast from the past romances with a sweet side of baking, then pick this one up! Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review. #netgalley #thesecondyouresingle

I loved the BIPOC representation, specifically having an Asian protagonist! I think this book had all the things I normally love in a romance : a great meet-cute, a second chance romance and a heroine who doesn't let society's unrealistic expectations dictate her life.

That being said, for some reason this book didn't stick the landing all the way for me. I can't quite say what it was exactly. I liked both Sora and Jack as characters and loved the premise of their love story. I think maybe Sora's constant negative talk about her body felt like too much and steered close to the line of being fat-phobic. I also didn't care for the knock against pole dancing -- as an amateur pole dance competitor.

But again, I didn't hate the book, but I have complicated feelings about it. It also didn't pull at my heart strings and the characters didn't stay with me after reading. If you're into second chance/childhood friends-to-lovers and looking for a fast-read, this book might be up your alley.

I’m giving this book a rating of 2.75. While I enjoyed the overall premise of the love story and loved Jack’s character, there were some problematic aspects of the story. Sora is a midsize character and as someone who is midsize themselves, there were just a lot of unnecessary, offhanded comments about body size, weight loss and eating habits in general. Sora not only has her size discussed by other characters but she is also very quick to judge characters who are skinnier than her, almost as a way to make herself feel better about herself. And then you have Jack, who used to be a little chubbier in school, is now tall and muscular and surprise, now attractive. This story just put too much of a focus on body size and I wish it had focused more on Sora & Jack’s relationship and Sora’s self care journey.

I received ane-galley of The Second You're SIngle by Cara Tanamachi from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Second You're Single was such a timely read as I was reading it in the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day. I liked the premise of it - Sora Reid is a freelance writer who has decided to #GoSolo for the month of February, in part because of her personal life and also for work. She is writing a daily piece on this #GoSolo journey and it ends up gaining a lot of tractions and attention from others who decide that perhaps #GoSolo could also benefit their personal growth. And of course, this is when Sora meets Jack, someone she knew from her past who could very well be someone she can see herself developing a relationship with. Sora gets caught between wanting to stay true to her goals and to her commitment to her fans of #GoSolo and also the way things are developing with Jack. I thought that it was an interesting dilemma that Sora found herself in as she has to decide how to best navigate between personal growth, personal relationships, and being a source of inspiration for other women.

The Second You're Single had everything going for it for me to like it. The main character, Sora, is a midsize woman living darn near my own Chicago neighborhood that has struggled with her love life in her adulthood after divorcing her husband. As she's walking down the grocery store aisles, she runs into a childhood friend, Jack, who is working as a baker while he saves us for his own bakery. There seems to be a spark, except Sora has sworn off men during the month of February.

To be frank, this book was a letdown. There was a LOT of fat phobic comments from so many different people throughout. It was written as if it was supposed to be empowering through the #SoloFebruary movement, but the way the characters talk about Sora was a huge turn off for me.

While the novel was a quick read, I won't be recommending it to my friends, sadly. It just fell flat and left a bad taste in my mouth.

I was gifted a free copy of this book by St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed above are my own.