😍😍 this was so good! I absolutely loved this one!! This was such a slow burn, but it was such a fun journey to read. I knew from the beginning it wasn’t a good idea for Tara to try to reconnect with her exes, but it was very entertaining. Trevor is amazing!! Playboy forced proximity is always a great trope to read, but Trevor was so much more than the trope. I really really want to read chapters from his pov! I needed more!

I can’t wait for everyone to read this in January. I am a little bummed this isn’t coming out on Valentine’s Day!

Thank you so much Berkley Romance for my gifted copy!

Thanks to Berkley Romance, the author, and NetGalley for the free gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Exes and O’s is Amy Lea’s second contemporary romance novel! And I definitely loved it more than the first one - it was way less cringy. I love a forced proximity romance that has friends to lovers - the tension was VERY high in this book which I LOVED.

I definitely could relate to Tara and her obsession with romance novels and unattainable standards for men. The main character Trevor was a great guy and definitely swoon-worthy.

I saw sooooo many 5-star reviews for this romance so I think a lot of people loved it a lot more than I did, the writing just gave me cringe vibes throughout so it was hard for me to LOVE it. Obvi most romances have cringe to it but for some reason both her books gave me a little more cringe factor than most.

But if you love a steamy tension-filled forced proximity romance with friends-to-lovers vibes and a little cringy romance then this one is for you.

This book was absolutely amazing. I loved the love story and the classic trope where a guy helps the girl date other guys and then they fall in love in the end. Actually, this book was filled with tropes. And I am a trope lover. Also, is Trevor my new book boyfriend? I think he just might be. He was amazing and I loved every single scene with him in it. If you do anything, please let it be reading this book. 10/10

this was very cute and fun! i loved the main character and i thought the romance was slow burn and believable. with the author's first book, i loved everything (background characters, food descriptions, subplots) more than the romance, and with this one it's the opposite - and i'll take it! i liked this one much more.

Do you read a sequel and automatically find yourself comparing it to the one that came before?

As much as there are many similarities between Lea's debut novel "Set on You" and "Exes and O's," they're also set well enough apart to be considered on their own. That's not to say that family and friends don't play a role in this novel but the action is (as it should) focused on Trevor and Tara. How tee-rific.

This is a room-mance with a generous helping of second-chance romance because Tara spends a healthy portion of the book trying to make her favourite romance novel (or movie) trope come true for herself: the second chance romance. We follow Tara through several unsuccessful dates and a few other iffy encounters - and Trevor too is along for the ride on at least two occasions. And then he goes from coach to a full participant in this charming and sexy (but not overly sexy) novel.

Things that stood out for me about this novel: It's set over the course of several months which allows us to really get to know the characters and for them to grow and develop too - it's well worth the wait!; I also love that the main character (Tara) didn't LOVE or HATE her job - in fact she seemed a little ambivalent about it - which is refreshing because I find most fmcs fit into one of those categories. And of course, how could I not mention how much I love that Tara is a Bookstagrammer!?!? Was Lea looking for bonus points or something? Well, she got them all!

YOU'RE KIDDING!!! THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD 100% made for romance book girlies. it was so so heartwarming and hilarious and i related to tara SOOO bad--in the way that she was obsessed w romance, the way she viewed life, the way she set her expectations, and the things people said to her!!! felt so realistic to our life and i was so so in love w this book. and TREVOR??? HOTTIE SOFTIE FIREFIGHTER?? YOU'RE KIDDING??? idk im just absolutely in love w this universe and this book and when it was over....i was so upset bc i wanted so much more!! the love confession, the steamy scenes, all of it !! it's just so amazing and i absolutely love it and i recommend it to anyone who lose romance novels!!

Delightful. Tara Chen is a NICU nurse in Boston and after a year is finally recovering from her broken engagement. It doesn’t help her ex still works at the same hospital. She become roommates with buff firefighter Trevor Metcalfe and of course there is a memorable meet cute. Tara has a list of guys from the past that she wants to make contact with to see if there could be the possibility of a second chance romance. In includes everyone from childhood best friend to college fling.

The book is told entirely from Tara’s POV but all along the journey Trevor is there to laugh with her, pick up the pieces or be a sounding board. She also shares her adventures with the romance book followers to who she live streams. This book is fun for romances readers as many of the typical tropes are discussed and of course some fit the story (forced proximity).

Trevor is a yummy sweetheart. He enjoys hook-ups and avoids anything with feelings. But he slowly shares his softer side with Tara. I like the communication between them. The epilogue is swoon worthy. This is wonderful, creative, romantic read for the start of 2023.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Amy Lea, Netgalley, and Berkley Romance for the ebook ARC. This is Amy’s second book, and this time it is centered around Crystal’s sister, Tara.

AND IT IS HILARIOUS. I truly laughed out loud so many times that my daughter told me I couldn’t read it while she was watching TV next to me. It’s so witty and hilarious.

The premise is that Tara wants to settle down. She’s a bookstagrammer and her favorite trope is second chance romances. So, she convinces herself that she should revisit the ghosts of relationships past to see if any could qualify for a second chance romance of her own.

Plus she’s moved in with a very hot roommate. So, y’know.

Honestly this book is wonderful. It’s creative, it’s got a bookish element, and it’s so, so funny.

Well done! I think you’ll all love this one!

I cannot let another day go by where I don’t tell you about this book! If you haven’t checked out Amy’s debut Set on You yet - you must! Such a good romance.

Right when I met Tara in Set on You I was SO hopeful she was getting her own book. Tara is a nurse and a bookstagrammer (see why I loved her immediately!?) She’s had no luck in love and being a huge fan of second chance romance books - she tries to create her own second chance romance by revisiting all of her exes with the help of her new roommate, Trevor.

SUCH a fun premise and it’s done so well. It was a blast seeing Tara go through her list of exes, and of course some embarrassing, and some hilarious situations arise. Trevor - the firefighter, womanizer - becomes Tara’s ally and friend- he watches The Bachelor WITH HER, becomes protective of her….and yup you see where this is going. He made me melt.

I love Amy’s use of pop culture references and her humour. I definitely laughed out loud a lot. Let’s not forget the steam - 🔥.

Trevor and Tara appeared in Amy Lea's excellent Set on You as the respective best friends of the main characters. Now they get their own book, as roommates who have a meet-horrifying but settle into a nice friendship. Tara decides it's time to figure out why her past relationships went wrong, and Trevor offers to come along for the ride. But spending all that time together, it's possible that the answer to Tara's future might not be in her past at all.

These two have sparkling chemistry and really enjoy each other's company, too. I was definitely rooting for them.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

I was left feeling sentimental and warm and S-W-O-O-N-I-N-G. This felt like a nod To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before but make it a sweet, steamy adult romcom 🥹 also Trevor Metcalfe *bites knuckles* firefighter by day, moonlights as Flynn Rider by night and so on? I'm weak in the knees for him🧎🏻‍♀️

Loved seeing the development between Tara and Trevor. I really liked Trevor’s character and how sweet and caring he is. Tara was funny and charming; I admired her courage and bravery. This was such a cute rom-com. I related to Tara a lot!

Loved this one! I dove right in & couldn't put it down. It was funny, sexy & highly addictive. I loved the chemistry between Tara & Trevor. Tara was a great character; she was funny & relatable. I enjoyed the slow burn of this book & was really happy with how the story played out.

Full review posted to links after embargo date.

This was such a great read! I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but felt it was a little oddly paced in places, and the conflict a bit underbaked. I think Lea is really in the swing of things here - Trevor and Tara are both fully formed characters, and I especially love that Tara’s a bookstagrammer who loves romance, but Lea doesn’t keep dropping real-life authors and titles in the book, which almost always feels like pandering to me. Trevor’s relationship with his niece is so sweet, and I loved moments where we got to see him through his best friend Scott’s perception.

I do think again that people may be frustrated with the communication style between the two, but it feels much better reasoned and handled than the first book did. Tara’s desperation for love is a little painful to watch at times, too, but it’s all part of her journey and I can’t imagine her another way. So fun, and I would love to see more from this friend group!

I enjoyed this one just as much as I'd enjoyed Amy Lea's debut, Set On You. I related way too much to the main character with her love for romance books and having no other hobby besides reading lol. I also related a lot to Trevor which was fun too in a way (if you've read it, you'll know what i mean) but overall, I really enjoyed this one and ended up reading it in one sitting, in about 5 hours

I enjoyed the premise of the ex list too and the way she was using that to hide her growing feelings for her roommate. I did think it was a lil too over the top about sharing that much personal information on her channel, as well as the information/ pictures of the exes without their permission but I do tend to get stuck on small details like this that don't affect the story whatsoever so that was just a me thing I guess. It also did irk me a few times just how self deprecating Tara got, specially in conversations with Trevor, but to be fair, she did go through a very rough past year and the emotional abuse from Seth over the years before that, so it did make sense.

I absolutely loved the epilogue though like I have to mention how great it was, like the way it connected everything from how they started out and their little inside jokes also perfectly sprinkled in. Just beautiful.

All in all, I did really enjoy this one, and had a great time reading it. I highly recommend it to all romance lovers who love second chance romance but even more to those who like forced proximity and roomances more!

A great follow-up to Set on You! Where Lea's debut was edgy, this roommates/friends to lovers was adorably sweet (though just as steamy). Exes and O's follows a bookstragrammer main character who loves romance books and is determined to live out her favorite second chance romance trope by tracking down her exes only to fall for her roommate instead. It was very "meta" and had me picturing the author, who is also a bookstagrammer, as Tara the entire time! It was fun to revisit Chloe and Scott from book 1. Although the book was definitely lighthearted, it touches on some serious topics like gaslighting, ableist language, and childhood illness. Fans of the author's first book are sure to be delighted! I look forward to Mel's story next.

In full transparency, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Set On You, but since Amy is a fellow bookstagrammer, I will easily read anything she writes. I was hoping to enjoy this book, but it was a miss for me as well. I found Tara to be rather annoying and I wasn’t really a fan of Trevor either, so it made it hard to root for them. I also found this book to long, I feel like a lot was done to set the story up that was kind of unnecessary. I’ll keep trying Amy’s books, maybe the next one will be a hit for me!

Excuse me, but this is forced proximity rom-com about a romance novel-obsessed heroine and a gruff but sweet firefighter that interrogates the concept of the "crazy ex-girlfriend!" Was it as good as that description makes it sound? Absolutely. If I had a single gripe about this book, it's only that a certain character didn't end up with a punch to the face, but what he did get was probably more realistic and just as deserved, so I can live that. Highly recommend!

⭐️ 3.5

So, I definitely have mixed feelings about this read. I really enjoyed Set on You last year, and believe I rated it 5 stars. So when I saw we were going to get a second book in the world with Tara as a the main character, I was super excited to see what her story was going to be like.

The first half of this book was a little slow for me. I felt like I could not tell where Trevor's head was at, and wasn't even sure if I liked him as mmc. I do love a good grumpy/sunshine read, and have been able to fall for fictional guys that have barely spoken a word throughout the entire novel but for some reason it was really hard for me to care for Trevor's grumpiness.

Once I got to the halfway point I started REALLY getting into it. I was able to easily get from 50-80% of the book read in one night, and even had a hard time putting it down. By the halfway point I was falling for Trevor HARDCORE, and was pretty much highlighting everything he said.

Lastly, I will say another downfall for me was the predictability within the book. There were many moments where I could easily guess what was going to happen within the book, which isn't something I'm necessarily looking for in my reads.

Overall it was a pretty average book. I don't regret reading it, but I also am not sure how memorable their story is going to be for me in the long run. I really enjoyed Tara's character and personal development. And while we weren't identical with our mindsets, there was a lot of me that I saw in her, which I really enjoyed.

I fell completely in love with this book! I really loved Amy's first book, Set on You, but I identify so much with Tara in Exes and O's, that I think I love this even more! It touched on so many types of relationship issues, and I know I'm biased, but I love that Tara is a book influencer like I am! I can't wait to read what Amy Lea writes next!