In a book slump? READ THIS BOOK. Feeling dejected in love? READ THOS BOOK.

Tara is too goofy for her own good sometimes but that’s why we love her 😭 and Trevor…you alphabetizing, cheeto providing, bachelor watching, croc loving, cleaning machine 🥹🫶🏽

A slow burn, strangers to roommates to friends to friends pining for each other silently to LOVERS that keeps you shouting YOU LOVE EACH OTHER!!! with the turn of every page.

Also, that final line? OOF. Amy…YOUR MIND!

im pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn’t really liked the first one in the series, most of all being bc of the writing and the pop references but this second book was great!!

the story was fun, swoony and comforting. I felt like it was a love letter to us book lovers. and since it is really set in the context of reality the pop references didn’t bother me at all

exes and o’s is the perfect book if you are searching for a quick but cute romcoms

Rating: 4.5/5

I liked Set on You, but I LOVED Exes and O's. Something about Trevor & Tara resonated with my soul in a way that most books don't. Will be reading and daydreaming about this one forever,

After reading Set on You last year, I really didn't think Amy Lea's next book could top it. I'm so glad I was wrong — because Exes and O's is fantastic and it happens to be my first five star read of the year!

There are so many things I love about this book — Tara is a fantastic main character. I love that she's a hopeless romantic who wants to go on a quest to rekindle her past love connections to get her chance at a second chance romance. Trevor is so great too and I love seeing him let down his guard throughout the book because of Tara.

The romance is swoon-worthy and is perfect for fans of slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance tropes. The batner is perfection and the overall plot is just so fun. I just adored this book and I can't wait to read whatever Amy Lea comes out with next!

I despised the first 70% and was ecstatic for the final 30%. It moved way too slow and I was so frustrated with the FMC for most of the book.

𝗘𝗫𝗘𝗦 & 𝗢‘𝘀 was my first read of the year and it’s a cute, enjoyable friends-to-lovers rom-com.

Check this one out if you enjoy:
-Roommates-to-friends-to-lovers
-Slow burn romance
-Forced proximity
-Grumpy/Sunshine
-Disney
-Bookstagrammer rep
-Firefighters

I didn’t realize this is the second book in a series when I started reading it; however, this had no impact on my enjoyment of the book. It can absolutely be read as a standalone.

Tara loves reading second-chance romances — so much so, she embarks on the daunting, often-awkward task of trying to create her own real-life version. Aiding in her pursuit of reinvigorating past failed romance is her roommate Trevor, who, of course, isn’t one for commitment, let alone lifelong love. Will Tara and Trevor both get what they really want?

From a diverse MC to a sizzling slow-burn relationship with an obvious HEA, there’s a lot to like about this book. It’s not perfect — Trevor isn’t the easiest to root for, especially in the beginning when he’s depicted as a womanizer. Plus, the whole storyline about his ex reappearing in the picture is off-putting and never completely explained or shut down. It’s also tough to read a few of the scenes featuring Tara and her exes — some of those guys really are the worst (ahem, Seth) and don’t deserve a second of her time. I struggled to keep going with the book because of this, especially at the jump. (Almost DNF after a couple chapters, but made myself keep going and found the plot more and more engaging as it developed.)

Spunky, saucy and every shade of fun, Amy Lea’s Exes and O’s is a light, easy-to-read rom com. It doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it doesn’t need to. What matters is that it works, tropes and all.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: E-book/Audio

4 stars - I liked it!

Thank you @prhaudio for the complimentary audiobook and @netgalley and @berkleyromance for the #gifted E-ARC!

Trevor!! can we say new book boyfriend! This book was a lot of fun! I loved the nod to bookstagrammers, pop culture references, forced proximity, and how the plot played out by the end! I enjoyed how much growth the characters had throughout the book, and the nods to Set on You!

I preferred Set on You, but I will definitely continue to check out her books! They’re always so fun!

This was a cute slow burn romance.
Bookstagrammer Sara Chen has had her heart broken ten times by ten different men—all of whom dumped her because of her “stage-five clinger” tendencies. But Tara is still determined to find The One. Tara decides to revisit her exes in hopes of securing her very own trope-worthy second-chance romance.

Boston firefighter Trevor Metcalfe will be the first to rush into a burning building but the last to rush into a relationship. Love just isn’t his thing. When his new roommate Tara enlists him to help her reconnect with her exes, he reluctantly agrees

And our romance goes from here. Like I said, cute. But more about self discovery than romance? Maybe a fiction book with romance as a side character would be a more accurate description!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Amy Lea has done it again folk! Not only a scorching hot slow burn (get it? Cause he's a fireman 🤣) But also just so goofy and FUN, and beautiful. This book is a love letter to every girl that was sold she was "too much," "too emotional." and needed to lower her expectations. And a big FU to gaslighting assholes. Plus she's a romance bookstagrammer so there is SO MUCH delightful trope talk, romance book talk, and just romance readers will love this book so much. Not to mention all the fun cameo appearances from Crystal and Scott! Now here’s to hoping there will be a book three for everyone’s favorite plus size fashionista!

Amy Lea strikes again with a feel good romcom! This book had me laughing out loud, swooning, and crying. Tara is an extremely relatable character and so unapologetically herself, it was great. The chemistry and tension between her and Trevor was immaculate. The friendship they develop was so sweet and I loved peeling back the layers and getting to know more about Trevor right alongside Tara.
Overall, this was an amazing romcom that is easily one of my new favorites. I can’t wait until Amy Lea’s next book comes out!

Not much is on Tara’s side. She has a broken engagement and is moving in with a roommate she doesn’t know well. Trevor is her soon to be brother in law’s best friend and is also a firefighter, but he wants nothing to do with relationships, but let me tell you I loved him!
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When Tara was described as a “Stage 5 clinger” I have to be honest, I was not sure I would like her. It turns out I was wrong. I loved her. Tara sets off on a quest to find her own second chance at love by revisiting her ten exes, all with Trevor by her side. Does she really need a second chance romance when she has Trevor right there?
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This one was just fun and I read it in one sitting! I really loved the play on all of the romance tropes. Also, if Grandma flo Instagram live knitting to a soundtrack of Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B doesn’t award her MVP of this book I don’t know what does.
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This book is out today!!

Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
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An avid romance reader falls for her seemingly playboy roommate in Exes and O’s. Amy Lea’s sophomore novel takes book influencer and NICU nurse Tara Chen on a journey through her exes as she tries to find love where she thinks it may have once been. Of course, the true hero is her partner in crime, roommate and commitment-phobe Trevor Metcalfe.

Trevor is a hero worth sighing over. The sexy firefighter loves deeply, is a great friend, accepts people for who they are, and has hidden scars that make you want to hug him. In other words, he’s romance catnip. I loved how he was with Tara as a roommate, friend, and finally romantic interest. He adored her for who she was and didn’t think she needed to change herself. While Trevor is guarded, Tara wears her heart on her sleeve. She’s openly romantic and wants desperately to get a romance novel-worthy happily ever after. When her grandmother marries her childhood flame, Tara seizes on the idea of going through her exes to find “The One.” Her new roommate is her sometimes-reluctant wingman. Of course, he’s also the perfect guy for her and their slow-burn romance proves it. I admit, I had a harder time getting attached to Tara because she didn’t click with me personally, but that’s really reader preference.

Exes and O’s reminded me a lot of the Anna Faris-Chris Evans movie What’s Your Number? and that was fun. Tara’s journey through her exes was entertaining even though the real starring part of this book were her scenes with Trevor. All in all, I enjoyed Exes and O’s because Trevor had me totally hooked and Tara did grow on me, quirks and extra-ness and all. I’m very much looking forward to see what Amy Lea has in store for the Chen sisters’ friend Mel.

If your are mood/seasonal reader like me add this one to your February TBR and plan on reading it before Valentine’s Day. Otherwise cue this one up right now and get ready because Trevor is about to be your next book boyfriend.

This was such a great read. I loved both Trevor and Tara. And their easy bantered with each other from the start. Their first meeting is nothing short of laugh out loud. And some situations Tara gets herself into will have you face palming. The ending of this is so swoony I still have heart in my eyes over it.

Melli’s Book Breakdown
🤍Roommates
🤍Bookstagramer Heroine
🤍Firefighter Hero
🤍Steamy

UMMM THIS BOOK. I’m really picky about contemporary romances, especially single-POV, but this absolutely knocked it out of the park. I adored Tara and Trevor and the entire concept of her trying to reconnect with her exes. It does swing towards the contemporary-fiction-y side of romance (like Emily Henry and other single POV contemporaries), but I thought the romance was present enough and really well developed.

AGH. TREVOR. That is all I have to say. He’s not my type but OOH would I risk at all just for him.

Also how are there not more romances about romance bookstagrammers?? I worried it might give me a bit of the ick since it seems easy to get too on the nose with it, but it was somehow perfect.

The ending was perfect and I just need to say for the record that I was listening to the audiobook and when it got to the epilogue I realized what was happening and quite literally shrieked and fell sideways into the nearest wall. I lost my mind for a second. I needed life alert because I truly had fallen for Trevor and could not get up.

CW: sexual content, toxic relationships, stigmatized use of “crazy”, misogyny, medical content, abandonment

It seems to be that I never know where to start. Let’s just dive in with the pop culture references. I have a love-hate relationship with them. I see how it can build relatability and foster a relationship between character and reader, but long term, it isn’t sustainable. I will say though, Taylor Swift references are always welcome. She’s a timeless icon. Somehow we switched gears to Olivia Wilde. Now there’s a lot of history there. Good or bad? Only time will tell. As for the mentions of booktok, bookstagram, and booktube…it’s becoming more normalized, so it was less startling, I’ll give it that. There will never be a “good time” to introduce what are now our societal norms, so we’ll just have to adapt eventually. I’m just choosing sooner rather than later.

As for the caliber of writing, it was questionable. However, the character dynamics made it 100% bearable. The banter between Trevor and Tara was nothing short of incredible. That being said, there was absolutely no chemistry between the two. Not a single spark. There was barely any lead-up to their relationship. No stolen moments of knowing glances. No constantly brushing up against one another. No conversational slip-ups. I mean it when I say we got absolutely nothing. All of a sudden it was like a switch flipped and we discover he’s been secretly pining for her this entire time *fake gasp*. It just wasn’t believable. I wanted to love them, I truly did. But there was so much lost potential in their dynamic that being a character-driven story, it just fell flat for me.

Speaking of characters, God do I love Tara. She’s just like us - a book obsessed, hopeless romantic. She’s so relentless, it truly is admirable. I very much appreciate her character arc and the portrayal of double standards between men and women in relationships. Giving very much The Man by Taylor Swift.

Trevor, unfortunately, just didn’t do it for me. There was nothing about his character that stood out to me. He seemed like most of the men I’m very unfortunately acquainted with. I just don’t believe he truly loved Tara as long as he said he did. He slept with how many women in the months since he met her? It’s giving I was with her, but thought of you the whole time…not a good look. He also made so many suggestive comments about other women TO Tara. It doesn’t take a woman in STEM to see that the math just isn’t adding up.

I may be playing devil’s advocate here, but I think Tara and Daniel would’ve made a better couple than Tara and Trevor…

I do commend the author though because this was one of the very few interconnected standalones that’ve actually read as one. Not having read Set On You, the book's predecessor, wasn’t a setback in the slightest. Sure, the sudden name drops weren’t very smooth, but they never are. There isn’t a clear-cut way to introduce a new character with an entire book's worth of backstory. That’s why I almost always recommend reading a series in its entirety rather than as sporadic standalones.

The pacing was perfect at the beginning of the novel but started going downhill once we got to the 65% mark. It was a slow burn up until it became a raging inferno. It was moving so fast that I started to get whiplash.

I will say, adding a dual POV, even toward the last couple of chapters, could’ve added a lot more perspective to the story. It may’ve made Trevor a more believable and likable character.

As for our conclusion, it served. It was everything I’ve ever wanted in an epilogue. Though, I would’ve appreciated it more if it wasn’t so out of place. We went from witnessing the beginning of a very unstable and unclear relationship to an out-of-the-blue engagement.

Overall, it wasn’t a very memorable read to me, earning it only 3 stars, but it was an excellent palette cleanser! A nice change of pace, if you will.

Thank you to Berkley Romance and Amy Lea for providing me with this ARC. As always, all opinions are my own and are not influenced by early access to this title.

If you’re looking for a heart-eye emoji inducing book, this is it. It’s a love letter not only to people who just love love, but also to bookstagrammers.

Tara Chen is a romance novel obsessed nurse. Over and over again she’s failed to find true love, and she’s convinced the modern meet-cute is dead. A year after being dumped by her fiance for her so-called stage-five clinger tendencies, she’s finally starting a new chapter in her life. She’s swapping apartments with her sister’s man. Things should have been super awkward between Tara and her new roommate after she walked in on him mid-kitchen hookup. Instead, she and Trevor hit it off and become fast friends. Trevor agrees to help Tara find “The One”... and she’s turning to a tried and true trope–second chance romance. She’ll test the waters again with ten exes, trying to find out where things went wrong.

Firefighter Trevor is used to putting out fires all over town, but what happens when sparks ignite in his own heart and he can’t seem to douse them? Trevor is by far one of the sexiest, softest, sweetest male MCs I’ve read in a romance.

Get ready for a slow burn, but worth it! Tara and Trevor’s relationship seemed fully fleshed out by the time we reached our guaranteed HEA, and seeing them really get to know each other as friends first was such a sweet treat.

The side characters were a nice balance to the story. It was delightful to catch up with Tara’s sister Crystal and Scott from Set on You. The exes were a great mix of silly, sweet, and salty. Tara’s side gig as a bookstagrammer/vlogger felt so validating. (I also do a bookstack fundraiser for a heart cause near and dear to me!)

Finally, THE EPILOGUE!!!!!!!!! Omg. My heart felt like it was going to flutter right out of my chest. A-freaking-dorable. Thanks to Berkley for the invite to be on the blog tour for Exes and O’s and NetGalley for the digital copy.

I don’t usually have a lot of luck with rom coms because I’m convinced I’m dead inside. This book, however, is a rom com that I absolutely adored. A firefighter and a book influencer? Stop it right now! These characters were a delight individually and even better together. There was great banter, just enough steam, and (important to me:) a great storyline.

I didn’t realize this was a sequel until I had already started it but I don’t feel like I missed anything crucial to the story. I enjoyed this one so much, though, that I will go back and read the first in the series.

4 ⭐️ Adorable and so relatable


"He's not just the hero of my dreams. He's the hero beyond my wildest imagination. The best part? He's nonfiction."


WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ roommates to friends to lovers
✨ forced proximity
✨ slow burn romance
✨ miscommunication (but resolved quickly!)
✨ amazing sexual tension
✨ 🌶️🌶️.5/5 spice


Yeah, I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t met my husband at 19, this would 100% be my story. Lol I saw so much of myself in Tara it felt like this book was some multiverse shit of my own life.

What I loved:

The entire premise of the story was ridiculously fun Seeing Trevor and Tara team up to help her rekindle a relationship with an ex only for it to backfire and for them to fall in love was everything I didn't know I needed! I loved watching them go from roommates to friends to lovers. Their relationship developed so naturally, and the romance progressed in a very realistic way.

Tara is incredibly relatable (to me at least). From the gossip girl and bachelor references to Tara being active on Booktok and Bookstagram to her being willing just to be herself and risk rejection (even if it’s because she loves hard), I never related more to a character. I feel like the author wrote a different version of myself as the lead and that was surreal reading because sometimes I wanted to throttle Tara, but other times I wanted to high-five her and comfort her. 🙈

Trevor was a hard nut to crack, but once Tara does, there’s so much to explore. I actually didn't really like Trevor in the beginning. He just seemed like a huge, detached player with little personality. But as Tara (and the reader) get to know him, you realize quickly there's so much to him. He’s one of the good ones.

The sexual tension and spice were perfectly balanced. Because they started off as friends, there was a lot of time to build the tension, so when they finally get together it's so rewarding and explosive!

Trevor’s declarations of love (both times) are swoon-worthy! There's nothing more satisfying than when the closed-off, no-relationship guy becomes an absolute simp and makes a speech. But in this book, we are blessed with TWO very touching declarations of love. 💕


I actually haven’t read the first book in this series, and I still loved it so just know that you can 100% enjoy it as a stand-alone. UPDATE: I have read Set On You (book 1). You can check out my review here: Set On You Review.

My only complaint is that the beginning is a bit slow and things don’t really pick up till about 50% however this pace does give this story a more realistic feel since Tara and Trevor needed to grow a solid friendship first, so in the end, it all made sense.

I absolutely loved Set on You! I love how this series is following influencers and Tara who has a bookstagram but she’s also a nurse. This part of IG isn’t really lucrative unless you have any tips I don’t know about.
I’m halfway through this book and love Tara she reminds me of how hard dating was. I feel like I went through all the gaslighting douchey bros with double standards too.
Totally love Travis the firefighter who happens to be her new roommate. He’s helping her stay on the non crazy train. Ugh I hate when guys call girls crazy cause they start to like them. Like what did you think would happen.
I don’t think I could ask my prior relationships why we didn’t work lol. But I admire her for attempting that second chance romance.
This was a light-hearted sweet romance but you had to get past her toxic prior relationships. Tara had to grow and work on herself a bit to get past the fear of rejection (we all have it). Once she put herself out there it got 🔥. 😊
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

Thank you berkleyromance and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.