Meet Josie, healing after a unexpected split. Meet Cameron, unexpectedly single after a party. Josie meets Cameron and through their shared time together both begin to heal and realise that they can love again. There is just one snag, each of them hides a secret. Cue lots of fun, laughter and romance as only Kristen Bailey can write.
An extremely funny and enjoyable read that is difficult to put down, another corker from Mrs Bailey.

Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

I LOVED THIS!! It’s hilarious and sex-positive and so cute! I haven’t laughed this much reading a romance in a long time and this one has so many laugh out loud moments throughout. I love Josie and her family and how much they care about each other. Josie and Cameron are adorable and their nerdiness and witty banter made this top-notch for me. I thought a book centering on a miscommunication and lying about who Josie is would maybe be annoying, but it’s not at all. It’s believable why she decides to lie. The whole book is delightful and charming and I can’t wait to read more of this author’s books!

*Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

"He likes me? Like is a strange word in any case. I like ham, for example. It doesn't rule my world. It's a very middling emotion. But I think I'm here because I like him too."

Josie Jewell is a beloved, hard-working boss babe with a heart of gold- despite having it broken 2 years ago when her fiancé abandoned her. Since her break-up, she's moved back in with her hilarious parents, who are former adult film stars and founders of a multi-million dollar sex toy store, The Love Shack (which Josie currently runs).

When she (literally) bumps into video-game designer Cameron Cox at a Halloween party dressed in the same costume, they quickly bond over their shared love of movie trivia and soon, sparks fly. The problem? Josie's keeping her family business and her job a secret and her lies begin to spiral. And as it turns out, Cam is keeping a big secret of his own.

What I liked: I legit fell out of my chair laughing at this book. It is chock full of sexual innuendos, great one-liners and a band of bold & brash characters that are guaranteed to make you smile. Even though the story was light-hearted, there are significant themes about sex education woven in and the way that sex was discussed was casual yet empowering. Josie's family was so loveable- especially her crude grandmother and meddling mother and they really contributed to the LOL content.

What I didn't: Very little of this book is actually about Cam and Josie. Honestly, they only have a few scenes together. Most of the story involves Josie interacting with her family or spending time by herself thinking, so if you're looking to read about a deep romantic connection, this may not be the right fit. And, despite sex being a huge topic of jokes and discussion throughout the book, this is a closed-door romance which is great, but seemed like a bizarre choice given the context.

Read if you love:
*sex-positive books about self-love
*hilarious meet-cutes
*dirty jokes

See also: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (YA), Set on You, The Roommate

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Sex Positive Romantic Comedy. This is a fun, *just* under 300 page romantic comedy where much of the both the sex positivity and the comedy comes from the fact that our heroine runs a sex toy company and is the daughter of porn stars. So if that kind of humor isn't your thing... this likely isn't the book for you. For the rest of us though, it was freaking hilarious, literal laugh-out-loud-even-while-your-sister-in-law-is-sleeping-in-the-next-room-as-you=read-the-book-overnight hilarious. But it also has a degree of angst the way so many romances, and particularly those featuring Millenials, must. Truly just a fun book that never gets *too* deep but hits most every note romance readers have come to expect. Very much recommended.

Ok, yeah this book was pretty good. Was it really funny at time? For sure (if you also exclude all of the Millennial/Gen Z jokes), but did I understand half of the British slang/jokes/references? Absolutely not. The romance felt a bit subplot, like at certain point I felt like even Josie didn't seem to care to much, and moved on pretty quickly. I also feel that everything I know about Cameron (excluding the whole nerd thing) was just kind of thrown at me somewhat randomly, and I was just like huh? But overall it was pretty entertain, and I adored Josie's family they were definitely the highlight of the book, though I felt like needed a bit more closure about Cameron's family/past, Mike, etc.

I’ve never read anything by Kristen Bailey before so I thought I would check this out. This book was cute but the entire thing revolved around some part of the sex industry. If that’s offensive to you, this book is not for you. Josie was the sweetest character and it gave you a good picture of the different aspects of her life….the good, the bad, and the ugly. Kristen made a character you can fall in love with and root for the whole way through.

I LOVED it???!

It was so perfectly funny and delightful and sometimes the right amount of cringe and it tells a VERY important lesson.

Do NOT lie about your work to someone you wanna get serious with because it shall only bring the most supreme form of chaos and restlessness??? And hilarity of course!!!

Well! That was a really fun read! My first experience with this author.
Some of the terms were a little new and confusing to me as rhey are UK specific but it made things interesting.
I enjoyed Josie and Cameron. There were some really sweet moments with them and some heat too. I liked the sex positive focus in the book and the overall stories involved.

5 stars for Great Sexpections by Kristen Bailey! As a huge fan of the Callaghan Sisters series, I was really looking forward to more books from Kristen Bailey and she delivered! Great Sexpectations is a hilarious rom-com starring Josie who works in her family’s business of sex toys and meets Cameron, a video game developer. I absolutely fell in love with the characters especially Josie’s parents and grandma. I laughed a lot, cried a little, and I can’t wait until it comes out so I can buy a physical book to add to my KB collection. A huge thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC!

2.5 stars

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for a copy of this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

The synopsis of Great Sexpectations sounded witty and promising. However, I didn't find myself connecting to the story enough to find it all that funny in the end.

I did appreciate the sex shop focus and the life Josie experienced as the daughter of ex-porn stars. I thought this was a unique approach and on a foundational level, it helped this story be more than just a lot of tedious dialogue. Watching Josie grow and move on from her past trauma surrounding her identity, career choices, and the associated stigma from her parents was rather rewarding.

I appreciated the positive approach to sex education and normalising enjoying pleasure and safe practices with sex. The message this book gave on the topic was my favourite part about it.

Sadly, I just felt this story spent too long attempting to be funny that it got cringey really quick. The dialogue - both internal and with others - was long-winded at best and often turned to unnecessary thoughts. I lost interest early on in this novel, and that affected my approach to the romance and overall character development.

Ironically for a book with such a heavy focus on sex and porn, the spice is barely there. I don't need spice in my romances, but it felt like it was missing from this world because of the constant innuendoes and discussion around pleasure and tools to achieve that with. I have since noticed this book isn't labelled as a romance, and this is no doubt why it's very closed door on the subject.

This book just wasn't for me. I think the humour is very British, and from past experiences with other British women's fiction, I think it's simply a genre that doesn't gel with my reading tastes.

After Josie got dumped by her ex through a note on the fridge, she hasn’t let herself get close to anyone. But when she meets Cameron at a Halloween party, who turns up in the same Ghostbusters costume as her, it’s virtually impossible to stay away.
Cameron, a curly haired video games designer with dazzling blue eyes, the sexiest dimples and the same encyclopaedic knowledge of movies as Josie, seems too good to be true.
And maybe he is Because there’s one teeny tiny problem as Josie falls madly in love. Cameron has no idea that Josie lives at home with her ex porn star parents and their dog Dave, or about the minor detail that she works for their sex toy empire. After her ex broke up with her because of the family business, Josie decides to tell a little white lie.
A really great romcom truly enjoyable read definitely recommend
Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture
I just reviewed Great Sexpectations by Kristen Bailey. #GreatSexpectations #NetGalley

This is such a fun read. It made me laugh and the romance was super cute. I would say the story was more about Josie and her family rather than the actual romance but it was still extremely entertaining. It’s massively sex positive and a great light read. There are so many amazing supporting characters that I can’t even pick a favourite. Josie was such a lovable protagonist and I would love to be besties with her, and not just because her family are hilarious.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I bloody love Kristen’s books, I’m always laughing hysterically while reading. If you’re looking for a sex positive, fun romcom read with of laughs, cute moments and great characters then look no further than this book (or any of Kristen’s books). I binged it in a couple of hours because I just refused to put it down, Josie is such an incredible character. I adore her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for sending me a copy of this incredible book.

Thank you to Bookouture and Kristen Bailey for sharing this ARC with me through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Josie is a child of two ex-porn stars who runs an online sex toy retailer full of various toys, lingerie, seasonal condoms, and the like. She meets Cameron on Halloween where they find kindred geeky spirits in each other after both coming out of difficult breakups. They bring out the best in each other with their senses of humor and love for Ghostbusters.

For as much as these characters talk about dildos, vibrators, and porn, I definitely expected more romance from this book marketed as a romantic comedy. The relationship with Cameron was more on the back burner. It felt more like a family saga with the amount of in depth looks at Josie’s relationships with her parents, brother, and grandmother. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all quirky and ridiculous in a lovable way, but I was expecting a different type of story.

Overall, I loved the sex positive message that radiates throughout, all the different forms of love that is shown between the family members, and the support and camaraderie shown between coworkers.

A romance bloom between two different people in this likeable comedy. A CEO of sex toy business shop, Josie Jewelle. She’s bothered to let herself off guard once again in love after an awful breakup with her fiancé.

One night, Josie attends a Halloween party organized by her brother. She finds herself meeting a curly-haired video game designer with dazzling blue eyes and sexy dimples, Cameron Cox. He seems too good to be true for Josie. But, this newfound love has been tested with their disclosure levels.

Which of them is lying and hiding the true parts of themselves? Will this be just a matter of time until the truth comes out?

Hmmmm. It was unbelievable that this was expected and unexpected! Given the idea of the book title, I was expecting something hot and steamy. However, I started reading this book with a good laugh. There were reasons why I had troubles putting this book down because (1) the innuendo conversations are enjoyable. And, (2) I loved the fact that there was also an underlying message that conveyed about sex positive takes and being comfortable on your own skin. It was surprisingly unexpected that it was informative and had brought “good vibes” talking about taboo topics. It felt like I was listening to a fun and entertaining casual conversation in a podcast.

Overall, it’s fun, light and easy to read. I’ve devoured myself to it. This book is recommendable for readers who are eager of light and fun romance novels.

When you see a book on a shelf with the title "Great Sexpectations" your brain should only go that it's a sexual take on DICKens (come on I had to do that) but what you get is so so so much more better. Josie is a closed off girl owning a business started by her parents of adult toys who previously were huge in porn industry (pun intended). She finds it difficult to fall in love but eventually and magically does and hence the story begins.
It's written so beautifully that you feel like you are Josie and it's just so much fun to have all sexual jokes and double meaning stuff written so casually. It's not just about sex but it also breaks down the taboo that we carry with topics like porn, sex education, adult toys etc. I really loved Sonny (her brother), a huge part of me was kinda worried that he'd be a dick to her sister because he's all famous but he won my heart oh so many times. I will have to say though that with the whole secret trope the story was a little predictable but the main surprise did get me back on hook, however it was a little slow up to building that. Having read the book, I believe all those mini stories and the wait was absolutely necessary.
Reasons why you should read this book:
• Book about sex (positive)
• Super funny sexual jokes (I got half of my arsenal from here)
• Cute Harry styles kinda lead
• Super cute family bonding
• Really strong female lead

This book is an absolute fun read with a nice long lollipop to suck on and a cold drink to calm yourself down while you get the reference.

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Free book in exchange for an honest review

Josie finds herself in a predicament, at a Halloween party she finds herself drawn to a stranger (Cameron) in a matching costume. Josie has inherited an online sex shop from her ex pornstar and sex positive parents, which isn't the icebreaker it seems. After not initially coming clean to Cameron her little white lie snowballs until the whole family are in on it and she's in too deep, but as the couple get closer she realises that she really likes him so what is she going to do?


This story was lovely, we've all told a little white lie here and there and we've all been embarrassed by our parents but seeing this play out with Josie and her family and how it impacts her relationship with Cameron was heartwarming.
We've all got secrets and sometimes it's just not the right time to come clean but the truth always comes out and how we deal with it is what our character is based on.

this book was so much joy. i have such a fun time reading it. and it was funny as hell. this book is the definition of romcom.

josie’s character lovable. maybe she was keeping her true identity for too long but it was understandable. i loved her relationship with her family and their whole background story.
cameron was fun either. he was so easygoing. maybe all happened too quickly between him and Josie but actually I didn’t mind.

this is a perfect book for a good vibe and fun. Thanks to netgalley for the arc!

Thoughts:
This book is fun to read and it is filled with so much of love. Read a short and sweet rom-com after a long time and after a very long lagging rom-coms.
This potrayed how kind, sweet and lovable can some people from adult industry be behind their jobs, and how much trouble and hate they face because of their work.
Josie's family is such a fun group of people to be around with. Nan is the coolest though. I am happy that Cameron found a family he needed in them.
This book also talks about Sex Ed, Women's pleasure and being proud in things that we are doing.
The last chapter is the cherry on the top. Such a cinematic scene between Cameron and Josie. So cute.

Thank you Netgalley, Author and Bookouture for the arc.

After being harshly dumped via a note left on the refrigerator blaming her and her eccentric family for the relationship ending, Josie is hesitant to date again. When she meets Cameron at her soap opera star brother’s Halloween party, she avoids sharing the details of her family’s online sex toy empire. As she realizes she has feelings for Cameron, she struggles with coming clean. As everything comes to a head, she discovers that she isn’t the only one leaving out important family details.

Bursting with innuendo, this book had me laughing out loud with every turn of the page. The characters were relatable and the pacing was perfect.
This is a cute rom-com with a lot of fun built in.
Even with all the sex toy and sex positivity talk in this book, the spice level was about a 1.