For the first part of the book I felt very impartial and I literally wrote in my notes "It's okay… but I am a little bored. But I don't think I'll rate it low because it’s not like I'm hating it or like there is anything in it that annoys me. I’m just a little disappointed and underwhelmed." I really thought the rest of the book was going to be the same so my mind was already made. Well, I was wrong...

It had started becoming a little more interesting towards the beginning of the second half (which made me hope that it was going to become a great read) and then BOOM, the drama hit and it became even more disappointing than it was in the beginning.
Ari’s insistence has always been present but it got more and more annoying with time, and obviously it ended up with her ignoring Nina’s boundaries AGAIN and telling her connections about Nina’s script. I get wanting the person you love to follow their dreams but they need to do it on their terms, when they are ready. Ari literally said “If we waited for you to get comfortable with things, we’d be waiting forever.” How hard can it be to just respect someone’s boundaries???
When Nina lets her know she already replied to the email to explain that the scrip isn’t ready Ari says “you don’t get to make those kind of choice for me”. Be fucking for real now… how hypocritical.
And then Ari makes her feel bad because she told Nina in the beginning that she always needed to be in control?? And Nina folds and feels bad for her?? Ari is a control freak and apparently that means that she’s allowed to do whatever she wants with other people’s lives but God forbid Nina enforced her boundaries. Nina isn’t a model of healthy partner either, but come on…
This turned so toxic so quickly wtf.

Plus, this drama happens 75% in, and then the two of them literally do not speak to each other again until the last chapter. The whole break up was just stupid and made no sense, and the story could have simply ended in the following chapter if they just talked to each other again after their argument instead of both ignoring the other for no reason.

The book got a little better in that one last chapter, because they meet and actually apologize. But I can't say I'm satisfied, either. Toxic relationships get to me even more when they're sapphic (it's my trauma, sorry) and I'm not going to root for them even after they got back together because we are given no proof that Ari will suddenly stop being like that (or that Nina will also get a character development out of nowhere).

This was a fun read of two people figuring themselves out and growing together as well. I really enjoyed the friendships in this story as well. Overall, I really liked this story and the glimpse of Hollywood life.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Final rating 3.5 stars

I had a lot of fun reading Ari and Nina's story! For Her Consideration follows Nina, an aspiring writer who has a job in publicity for celebrities in Hollywood. As an up-and-rising actor, Ari reaches out to get more clarity about the email account that Nina is curating. After they begin to spend more time together, their friendship blossoms into something more.

I absolutely loved that Nina is surrounded by a queer found family (except for her hilarious and supportive Aunt). My absolute favorite part of the story is that Nina is an unapologetically fat character and constantly affirms her body. I would've loved to have gotten Ari's perspective, but I am looking forward to what Amy Spalding writes in the future! I recommend this for anyone looking for a cute celebrity/non-celebrity sapphic romance.

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will start this review by saying I am a cis-het women, so not the target audience. However my issues with this books are that the pacing is boring and predictable (I am so tired of the finale breakup and reconnect in the last chapter) as well as the unlikable main character.

The pacing is typical of a romance and I am ready for a change.

The character is so frustrating in her choices, it does not make since for her to abandoned her friends because a toxic girlfriend said that no one liked her. There was no character building and she still defended that girlfriend in the end. Like girl, she sucks it is okay to say it.

Thank you to the author, Kensington Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a sweet romance between an aspiring screen writer working for a talent agency, and the talent. This is obviously against the rules, and things do not run smoothly - our heroine had her confidence shattered by a breakup a few years ago, which caused her to retreat into her shell, and the "talent" is a diva control freak. There were certainly times when I wanted to shake the heroine awake, thinking no one on earth could be so obtuse, but the interactions both romantically, in the friend group and with the heroine's aunt and her friends in the senior living center rang true. I did find the friend dynamic a bit puzzling - not one person reached out when our heroine dropped off the map? But I loved the fact that our heroine grew in the course of the story, taking advantage of therapy and slowly opening up. Overall, an entertaining, fun and romantic read!

3 stars

Ugh, I wanted to love this because it has every trope I love but... it didn't work for me mostly because I desperately needed Ari's pov to understand why she liked Nina. And yes Nina has an interesting story but... someone told her she was "toxic" and instead of being like "oh then let me work on that", she just... embrace that? And became even more toxic???? It was so confusing because Ari was like a ray of sunshine and she wooed Nina with gifts and treated her right and Nina just... was there. And I don't buy the "I don't believe/ know if she is attracted to me" stuff because *points at the obvious* Ari blatantly flirt with her!!! It was just super confusing and that's why I need the other's pov to understand it.
Also Nina's friends?!?!?!? What the heck was that friendship?!?!
If that was friendship then I don't want it. The way they don't care about Nina was appalling.
Still, I liked some of this book, especially the ending where not everything in Nina's life was "fix by the power of love and having a girlfriend" which made the story realistic.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review

I had a ton of fun reading this book, which is my main takeaway. I read most of it in a day and it gave me an afternoon that passed in the blink of an eye.

Nina was a main character that I enjoyed spending time with, I felt like I knew her at the end of the book. Sadly, that wasn't the case with Ari – I would have liked to know a little more about her, her roles, her life and career in Hollywood.

This book had really great minor characters as well. Lorna was lovely and I wish I had a queer friend group like Nina does.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Featuring ~ single 1st person POV, LGBT ~ lesbian, celebrity, curvy girl, found family, friends to lovers, some steamage

Nina & Ari
Nina is helping Ari, as part of her job, when they start to develop feelings for each other.

What I liked:
~ how Nina was curvy and proud
~ how Ari was out and proud
~ Nina's fun job ~ writing emails for celebrities
~ Aunt Lorna ~ she was a great side character and her and Nina's relationship was lovely

What was meh:
~ I wish Nina would have gotten over her breakup a lot quicker than she did ~ 3 years is a bit of a long time IMO
~ 3rd act breakup was for the birds
~ I would have liked dual POV, or at least a couple of chapters from Ari

Overall, I liked this one. I'd give this author a whirl again for sure.

I was fortune enough to receive a kindle and an audio copy to review.
Narrated by Sophie Amoss for 10 hours and 45 minutes. I was happy with her performance.

dnf 10%
I am so bored. Every time I pick up this book I don't enjoy it and I am tired of struggling to want to read the book. I like the idea of the story, but the execution is gravely lacking. The writing style is single POV stream of consciousness and it does not work for me at all. Page after page after page of long paragraphs with very little dialog or things actually happening is just tedious and boring to read. I wish I could have gotten into the story. I wish it would have been dual POV to get me out of Nina's head, but alas.

Nina was on the receiving end of one of the coldest breakups I’ve read. Dumped - in public - by long term girlfriend Taylor for personal failures that had been compiled into a 12 point list that had been emailed to her earlier.

To make matters worse, that list *really* got into Nina’s head. Now time has passed and she’s cut herself off from all her friends, moved out of LA to her aunt’s old condo in the suburbs, and her main source of outside contact is the e-mails she writes on behalf of (and as) various celebs for the talent agency she works for.

When up and coming queer icon Ari Fox expresses concerns her emails don’t sound enough like she’s the author, Nina is tasked with spending some time with her to fix that. Not that it’s much of a hardship, as she’d been harboring a celeb crush for ages.

It took me a minute to warm up to this one - *maybe* I let Taylor’s judgment get in my head a little bit too, and worried Nina was going to be a little too flighty/flaky a MC for me to root for - but once I got into it I was All In. There is some steam, but this story is as much about Nina getting her life back on track as it is about her budding romance with Ari, and I love that for her.

This book is a testament to how much found family you can fit into a romcom. Between Nina’s own recently reclaimed crew, her Aunt Lorna’s at the retirement community, and even though you don’t see them as much Ari’s own. And I’m awarding the best bit part in an ensemble cast to both Ride Share Karl and Steve the invisible cat.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC!

Nina is queer woman working as a email writer in Hollywood, and living in the suburbs. After a bad break-up she has decided to avoid dating and her friends because her ex left her feeling like she's toxic. When Nina is told that Ari Fox, Nina's celebrity crush and fabulously out queer woman, is unhappy with her work. Nina and Ari find themselves instantly connected and despite Nina's doubts the two start dating.

I absolutely loved this book! Nina relearning how to love herself and move past her horrible self-perception in the wake of a terrible break up felt very real to me. Her self esteem took a huge hit and she was made to feel like this horrible burden but when she finally decides to truly work towards finding the things that make her happy I was honestly so happy for her. Ari is also great, the fact that she seems frustrated with her life a points and unable to delegate because she really wants to be her truest self and hates feeling fake was very relatable. Ari's friends and aunt are also delightful and felt fleshed out, her aunt pushing her to reenter the world and stop hiding and her friends pulling her back in after losing her for years was very sweet.

Overall i love the story especially due to the elements of healing from a toxic relationship and self love.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

4 stars!

"For Her Consideration" by Amy Spalding is a slow-burn sapphic rom-com about finding yourself, knowing your worth, found-family, and enjoying life while you still can. I loved the main characters, Nina Rice and Ari Fox! I believe their dynamic and interactions will sustain me through many lesser books. They both experience such terrific character growth throughout the course of the story. I rooted for them the entire time! I looooved their flirting and all of their sexy scenes together. Some people will not like how long this story takes to unfold, but I didn't mind it. All of the secondary characters were wonderful! I loved Lorna, her retirement community buddies, and all of their shenanigans (think: ed1bles). I also thoroughly enjoyed Nina reconnecting with her old, long-time friend group, who she "ghosted" after a bad breakup with her ex-girlfriend. By far, my favorite part of this book is that it doesn't punish Nina or make it a flaw that she loves herself while being plus-size! Do you know how rare that is in fiction?! Most books give backhanded compliments about their plus-size main female characters, but Amy Spalding takes tender care of our beloved Nina, who embraces and loves her curvy figure. I also love how Ari is unabashedly herself. She is such a funny character, and even when she's being controlling about her career or honest about something, it's always straight to the point, with no fluff or filter, which leads to some laugh-out-loud moments. More of that, please!

The only part of this novel that bothered me was the third-act-conflict. Not only is it ridiculously predictable, but it's also unnecessary. It's infinitely frustrating when authors allow one character to break up with another without any communication about the breakup! What!? Not even a final conversation?! Someone just gets to have the final say and that's that?! I didn't love this! Regardless, I remained engaged and interested in this story, its characters, and the relationships from page one until the end of the book! Can't wait to read Amy Spalding's back catalog!

Finally, I thought Sophie Amoss did a fantastic job with the narration for "For Her Consideration." Her character work is fabulous and kept me engaged and interested in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amy Spalding, and Kensington Books for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

I really really enjoyed this book!!! I felt like I was one of Nina's friends. It follows Nina during the aftermath of a really awful breakup. I loved Nina's friend group, it's her found family. I really enjoyed the progression of her and Ari's relationship it was just so perfect and relatable in my opinion. The book follows Nina as she goes through just surviving after the break up to actually finding what she wants. It was body positive in a way that was just perfect in a way that was real in her inner thoughts things that no one ever thinks or wants to say out loud and I'm so glad authors are pushing back the envelope lately and showing these parts of body acceptance.


Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review as always, all words are my own.

Content warnings (not a complete list):
Graphic: sexual content, toxic relationship (past relationship, not between main love interests); Moderate: alcohol, panic attacks, mental illness; Minor: emotional abuse, car accident

This was a solid sapphic romance. While this isn’t a new favourite, I did really enjoy it. I liked the character of Nina and found her struggles realistic. I can see how this wouldn’t work for a lot of people, but it worked for me. I also really liked the strong friendships and found family. I found the character of Lorna, Nina’s great-aunt, to be really funny and a nice addition to a cast of characters mostly in their late twenties and early thirties. I liked the strong relationship between Nina and Lorna. I did like the relationship between Nina and Ari, but it wasn’t as strong as I would have liked. Ari was overly pushy towards Nina in a couple of places. She pushed Nina into what Ari thought her dreams and ambitions should be, even after Nina said she wasn’t ready and wanted to take her time. Both Nina and Ari made big mistakes, leading to the third act break-up, but I thought there wasn’t enough time given to both of them working out their issues and showing they’ve changed and wouldn’t do anything like that again. Overall, this a good book with an enjoyable romance. I would recommend this to fans of sapphic romances with a strong focus on friendships, not just the romance!

I love the concept of this sapphic Hollywood romance. Based on the description I was excited to reach this book.

I loved the job Nina had and the vibe that Ari gave off - I loved their dynamics together.

The whole beginning with Nina getting broken up with by her ex seems a bit much. I am not sure I needed a whole chapter on it seems like a lot. Also, I don't understand how Nina was able to become a hermit and completely separate from her friends to the point that she didn't even know that they weren't talking to her ex

Furthermore, she seemed to not care that much about her ex's opinions which turned her into a recluse

Once Ari and Nina were together I was a bit bored with the storyline - I don't think this story needed to be as long as it was.

I would have liked to hear some of the stories from Ari's POV

All in all the book started on a high, levelled out in the middle and ended with a bit of drama

This is kind of fun, but I honestly didn't want them to end up together... I thought Ari was just not super likable as a character and didn't undergo the personal growth that I needed from her.

Spalding has a winner with this 2SLGBTQIA+ romance; it’s the perfect melding of romance and women’s fiction. Not only are Spalding’s characters incredibly likeable, Nina’s Great-Aunt Lorna is a treasure, but Spalding handles the heavier topics (be sure to check the CWs) with a deft hand. All the while keeping everything balanced with plenty of great banter and seriously steamy sexy times. If you love a good friend-to-lovers romance with plenty of heart and swoon worthy sex, then run don’t walk to pick up this book.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books, Kensington in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

i’m disappointed 🥲. i always have some expectations for sapphic books but this one let me down. i liked nina but ari was a big no for me. i didn’t like how quickly they got together since i live for my slow burn. nina was so insecure about being in a relationship it felt weird for her to actually date someone. it was fine, just not something i enjoyed that much. 3⭐️

This is a fun, thoughtful queer romance. The main character, Nina, I lovable from the start and your heart breaks for the way she views herself and how unkindly she has been treated. It is easy to connect to her through her hardships and the hit she has taken to her self esteem. Although the book explores such themes, it remains lighthearted and full of queer joy. Nina’s friends and relationship with her aunt are nuanced and beautiful. The romance that develops throughout the book is realistic and yet still exciting. Overall, I really enjoyed the development of characters throughout the book, the writing, and the story.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but it just fell flat for me. The concept was great and I loved the LGBTQIA rep but I just wasn't getting into the MCs journey. Ari was a great character but I couldn't see the chemistry with Nina. I enjoyed the side characters more than the main characters story, which is a bummer for me and why I'm rating it the way that I am. Normally I enjoy a dual POV more because you can get insight on what the love interest is thinking, but this was all done from Nina's POV.

This is just my opinion and shouldn't hinder anyone else from trying this book out. Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for giving me an early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered freely.