As a birthday gift, Megan registered Hallie to run for mayor. Hallie had no intentions whatsoever to run. When she overhears the current mayor, Fitz, with his campaign manager talking trash about her, she decides to go ahead and run. The further they get into their campaigns, the more Fitz and Hallie become attracted to each other. With outside interference, they have to figure out what’s important, their relationship or the town.
Opinion
For a book dealing with politics, it was pretty clean and sweet. Both main characters had honorable intentions (which is how we know it’s fiction. What political race has ever been run with honorable and clean intentions all around?) the romance between the two is a slow build and innocent in its simplicity. Fans of sweet romance will love this book.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Entangled Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book.

3.5 stars

ARC received from Netgalley for an honest review

When a small town librarian ends up in the race for town mayor, things are going to get a little heated.

And that's just between herself and the incumbent mayor.

I really liked Fitz and the way he is fighting against family and decades of his family running this town. He can see how things should be and works to make change.

Hallie though, I don't know, she was just flat to me. I liked her but I didn't feel.. anything really for or about her.

I liked the friends and townspeople. and I would read more about this town in the future if it comes.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Absolutely loved the book. Looking forward to its complete publication. The plot overall was very fun to read. Would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC of "Hottie on Her Shelf" by Christi Barth, scheduled to release on July 11th, 2022!

Overall, I would rate this novel a 3/5 stars. :)

This book tells the story of Fitz and Lucy, who are both running for town mayor. Fitz (and his family have been running the town as mayor(s) for many decades now, and Lucy is the town's librarian, who originally grew up in another city that Swan Cove tends to look down upon. Lucy's friend Megan is the one who decides to nominate her for a chance to run for mayor on Lucy's 30th birthday.

Lucy does not expect to fall for Fitz, and Fitz does not expect to fall for Lucy. Fitz's family does not approve of Lucy or where she comes from. Not to mention the fact that these two candidates are running for office against each other. Is it possible for a relationship such as theirs to survive? You will have to read more to find out!

While I did enjoy this story, I am not very big on politics, so I think that's what made me dock a few stars off of my rating. The spiciness level of their romantic relationship, however - was just enough for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Amara for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.5 stars. When I saw that this book was about a librarian I jumped on the chance to read it. But unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I feel like the relationship between Hallie and Fitz was rushed. I also did not like Hallie very much, I don't know why I just didn't. I couldn't connect with her. At times I felt that the writing was rushed, but also I different times, I felt like this story dragged and could have been over in fewer pages.

This was a quick read. It was small-town romcoms, then I recommend it.

This is an adorable story. Fitz is the mayor of a small coastal town where his family has reigned for years. He loves the city but does not love the job of mayor. Hallie is the librarian who after a drunken night finds herself on the ballot for mayor. It is wonderful and witty conversations as Fitz and Hallie go to battle. They find that they have a lot in common and the more they spend time together they fall further in love.

What a fun book! I normally don't like a lot of politics (like actual "elect me" stuff) but this small town mayoral race was loveable.

After a wild night out, Hallie's friend signs her up to run for mayor against Fitz Montgomery. Fitz had been the mayor of Swan Cove mostly because it's a family legacy and they've never run opposed. Doesn't help that they are rich and own most of the town.

Hallie is way over her head and Fitz helps to coach her in campaigning, but the more time they spend together, the more they fall for each other. Keeping it a secret while running against each other is fun.

They were just utterly adorable together. The sparks are real and their banter and smarts make them a great match!

“Hottie on Her Shelf” by Christi Barth
One Hot Campaign for Mayor
I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a run for office as much as I have this one. A truly fun contemporary romance with a dash of spice, and lots of twists and turns over bumpy roads. It was a real page turner, I just had to find out where the author would take us next. Oh, I do hope you enjoy your time in Swan Cove, ME as much as I did. Happy Reading ! !
NOTE: This review expresses my honest opinion.
I received an ARC of this story from the publisher via NetGalley.

QOTD: Without looking, do you know who your mayor is?
My A: Nope. And we have two, a day mayor and a night mayor. 🤣🤦
.
Stop what your doing, go add this to your TBR now!... Well, after you finishing reading this caption first. This book is one of my favorites of 2022 so far! The witty banter in this book KILLED ME in the very best way. I laughed out loud, snorted, smirked, scoffed, blushed... All the verbs. I devoured this book on one sitting, coming for the fun blurb and cover and staying for the crazy hit chemistry. The B&B scene. 🥵 I would've loved to see more of the actual campaigning events and really being the community into the story, but honestly who even cares about them anyways. 🤣
.
When I finished this book I looked at my husband and said "I love reading romance.". This book is a MUST READ.
.
BLURB:
Hallie Scott expected the hangover from her thirtieth birthday. She did not expect to find her calm, orderly life as Swan Cove’s head librarian to completely change overnight when her best friend added Hallie to the mayoral ballot because of one little remark. One. Now she’s going head-to-head with the small coastal town’s prominent “prince,” Fitz Montgomery…whose charm is about to get seriously checked.

All Fitz wants is to prove himself, beyond being the latest in the unbroken line of Montgomery mayors. Nobody, least of all Fitz, expected the town’s cute-as-hell librarian to step up and run against him. Hallie’s definitely in over her head, which is a problem, since Fitz wants a fair fight. But is he helping Hallie level the playing field…or arming his opponent?

Hallie and Fitz are on completely different sides. Their backgrounds, their lives, their ongoing ebook vs paperback argument. But they’re both about to learn that the art of war is nowhere near as complicated as falling for the enemy...

I want to be Hallie!

Head librarian Hallie Scott was expecting a hangover after celebrating thirtieth birthday, but she wasn’t expecting to find out that her best friend had entered her name for the upcoming mayoral election for Swan Cove. Hallie planned to delete her name from the ballot until she overheard the mayor and his campaign manager saying she wasn’t qualified. Mayor Fitz Montgomery hadn’t expected someone to run against him, so he decided to teach Hallie all about elections to make it fair. But would it be a fair election with them helping each other?

Hottie on Her Shelf was very much opposites attract romance when they are running against each other in a small-town mayoral election that was so fun to read because they both wanted the best for Sawn Cove!

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

Hallie Scott did not expect to find her calm, orderly life as Swan Cove’s head librarian to completely change overnight when her best friend added her to the mayoral ballot because of one little remark. Now she is competing against Fitz whose surname is Montgomery and a Montgomery has always been the mayor of Swan Cove, a tradition that Fitz reluctantly is trying to uphold.
Hottie on my shelf is a fun read between 2 people who started off as enemies, softened a bit to rivals and then became friends who also happen to share some amazing chemistry. I enjoyed the banter between them and I really liked how they actually hear each other and not just listen. A well developed story with some strong characters. I felt the ending was a tad bit rushed, but other than that this was an enjoyable read.

Enemies is lovers is just such an elite trope! And a book that talks about books? love it! I had so much fun reading this story. As I have recently turned 30, I really related to Hallie. I laughed out loud reading this book and really enjoyed the relationship between Hallie and Fitz. A really fun romcom read!

Small town Romance between Hallie Scott and Fitz Montgomery. Hallie gets added to the mayoral ballot by her best friend, so she gets thrown into competition against Fitz. The same Fitz who is following the legacy of his family name.

It was a cute and funny book but there was not pizzaahh. I kept waiting to fall in love with the characters but they were just not it for me.
However, it was a pretty fun and easy read.

Thank you for the advance review copy of this book.

I was very excited by the premise of this book, particularly as someone who likes politics, civics, and voting processes (I teach it for a living!) There were some great things and some things that didn't suit me:

Things I liked:
-Any time Hallie and Fitz were campaigning
-Fitz being genuinely concerned about his constituents and having a lot of integrity
-Fitz being in general quite an outstanding male lead

Things I didn't like:
-Use of the standard librarian stereotype
-I didn't really feel the chemistry between the leads - I think there needed to be some more banter/build up
-Sometimes it felt that the scenes and settings changed abruptly - something was off about the flow

It wasn't a bad read, but it lacked some of the spark I look for in romances.

This book was super wholesome! I didn't realize I got hooked until I was at the end of this book. I really liked the whole premise of enemies to lovers on the campaign trail in their small town of Swan Cove. This book does a great job talking about how affluent areas can impact areas that aren't so influential. The author does a great job of showing what small towns are like where one family holds all the money. She constantly talks about how it affects not only Swan Cove, but their neighbors of Crow Harbor that isn't as affluent. The book surrounds a mayoral race but talks about how an expansion of their harbor could have negative effects on Hallie's hometown Crow Harbor.

I enjoyed the book's take on Fitz's character and how he was doing something he didn't want to preserve the legacy. He talks about how toxic his family is and how much it drags him down. His character was one of my favorite characters to read about as it felt so real and refreshing to have a down-to-earth guy who wants to do good for the community and those around him. He's a super optimistic person and believes it is good for everyone.

Hallie is a strong female main character. She is smart and an overachiever. She is strong-headed and doesn't want to be seen as weak. She has a hard time accepting help but eventually gets help throughout the book. Hallie, just like Fitz, is down to earth as well and goes through a lot of hardships throughout the book. Her journey and the growth that comes out of it show how strong she is.

personally, I feel like the end was rushed and I would have loved to have an epilogue of Fitz and Hallie at the end. If you are looking for a nice quick, rom-com book, this one is for you!

This is my first opportunity reading something by Ms. Barth and I was not disappointed.
The story caught my attention from the beginning and held it all the way through. Hallie is a librarian at the local library, but one drunken night takes her on a path she never imagined herself on. She ends up on the ballot of a local mayoral election and is up against Fitz, the current mayor whose family basically owns the town. He has already served two terms, and now with new and fresh competition he really wants to earn the vote on his merit and not just his family. Hallie is in over her head, but she truly wants change for her town. So when Fitz, her opponent offers to help with her campaign she accepts his help despite her skepticism. It doesn't take long for her to get to know the real Fitz, not just the one the town sees, and for the sparks to fly and for their opponents/enemies relationship to start developing into love. Both were such well-developed characters and there was definitely something more to Fitz than meets the eye. I enjoyed getting to know them and seeing their relationship grow. A fun first read for me by this author, I will certainly be looking for more!
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

The cover is attractive and fits this small town, steamy romance. Hallie Scott is the head librarian in the coastal town of Swan Cove, Maine. She wakes up hung over from celebrating her 30th birthday with her best friend to learn that her friend has signed her up to run for mayor. She is planning to withdraw from the race when she overhears some unkind things about her running from the current mayor and his assistant. So she decides she is going to give it her all.

Fitz Montgomery is the current mayor and has run unopposed for the last two terms. In fact a Montgomery has always been mayor of the town and he feels it is his duty to uphold the legacy. It helps that he is really a nice guy and a very good listener to his constituents. Problems arise when his parents and their cronies don’t want the status quo changed.

While all this is going on there is hot attraction and feelings between the candidates. And both are trying to figure out why they are running for mayor. I rate this 3.5 but I’m rounding down because a few things don’t make sense to me. His parents are ridiculously rich but it is more important to them that he is mayor than help run their business and properties? And he does have a trust fund but claims to make his own money. I wasn’t clear if he does anything besides being mayor to earn income. And lastly at one point he says that if he wins the race he will resign and give it to her. That isn’t how elections work. If he wins and resigns, there is another election or the city council selects a new mayor depending on their city rules. These are minor complaints in an other wise very cute story with likable characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and entangled Publishing, LLC for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t get into this book like I was hoping to. It just didn’t grab me—I started and stopped it constantly because I wanted to give it a fair chance but couldn’t read it for long. It wasn’t badly written or anything like that—I just couldn’t get into it.

This book had fun and wit, sarcasm, and enough play on words that made it a fun read. It also had the hottie male interest that is a must-have for me. In fact, Fitz was a bit of a surprise. I had him pegged as being a difficult and frustrating character.

But I was wrong. Hallie definitely had that covered. She was not a favorite of mine in the least. In fact, this story, while amusing and engaging, really missed the fire and spark for me.

In the beginning, it was growing but as the story moved forward, I felt he was trying way harder than she was. He was all in but she fought him every step almost to the ending. Barth lost me along the way.

Overall Hottie on Her Shelf was a fun read, but stories that have a bit more balance, spark, and fire are just more my style.

4 stars!

I totally dug "Hottie on Her Shelf" by Christi Barth, an enemies-to-lovers, political, spicy rom-com with characters who are more than meet the eye.

Hallie and Fitz live in Swan Cove, a small, rich town in Maine. Hallie is the town's librarian. For the most part, she keeps her head down, is quite reserved, and doesn't attract any unnecessary, unwanted attention to herself. She grew up in Crow Harbor, a working town just across the tracks from Swan Cove. Fitz is a Montgomery, a
Swan Cove legacy family that has all of its fingers in every town pie. Fitz grew up there and is currently the town's mayor, having run unopposed in the last several elections. After a night of booze-fueled ranting about Fitz's inadequate job as mayor, Hallie's best friend enters her into the mayoral race as a birthday gag. With every intention of quitting the race immediately, Hallie overhears a conversation that makes her go against every bone in her body to stick out the rest of the race come hell or high water, even when she knows she likely won't win against the Montgomery machine. What Hallie did *not* expect is that Fitz might not be the person she initially thought he was and that she might get more than she bargained for with Fitz Montgomery.

"Hottie on Her Shelf" was a real treat to read! I'll be thinking about the witty banter between Hallie and Fitz all year! There is one scene involving a very famous book... and all I'll say is: SWOOOOOON!! This book is as successful as it is because the characters are so well-developed. Author Christi Barth did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life! I believed in both Hallie and Fitz as individuals and as a potential couple. I rooted for them from the beginning, and my heartstrings were pulled on more than one occasion. Their chemistry starts off rocky because not only are they political rivals, but there are many other factors working against them, including their wealth gap, their many miscommunications and differences of opinion, and Swan Cove's small-town penchant for thriving on drama. Through it all, I really felt that they cared for and respected one another despite their differences and their different backgrounds. Sure, the story might be *a little* predictable, and it might wrap up a *little* too quickly, but I didn't mind because it is so well written. It's full of humor, and heart, and has a great commentary on nepotism, particularly nepotism in politics. My only wish is that something bigger and better would have happened to Fitz's horrible, egotistical, selfish, dirtbag parents. Otherwise, this is a really fun, breezy rom-com that you'll most likely enjoy!