3.5 stars

This book has one of the best friends-to-lovers dynamics I've ever read. I'm slowly turning into a friends-to-lovers reader, who would have thought? I loved following Trevor and Tara as they got to know each other, became the closest of friends and then helplessly fell in love. There's depth here between these two characters and you can personally feel it growing bit by bit. It's definitely because this is much more of a slow-burn in comparison to Set on You, but I was really there for these two. The tension was great! They were perfect for each other and honestly, I think this book was much more well-written.

I laughed and swooned and was really really into this book from 20% in. I had kind of a rocky start, but after that point I just couldn't stop. The ex search central to this book was a little silly, but FUN, especially because it was the set up for the funniest scenes in here. I can forgive the cringy stuff (Tara making the search public on her social media....hello are you okay??) as it was such a delight to see Trevor get fully on board and react to Tara's stupidity during the dates lol. But even when Trevor and Tara were just together at home, doing nothing special, that just warmed my heart and kept me glued to the pages.

Unfortunately there were some things I didn't really enjoy too (some of them repeats from this author's debut novel), mainly:
- continuous mentions of romance tropes in a particularly annoying way (in a way that maybe makes booktokers happy? Me thinks)—like, could you even be more in the face than this? I don't think so. Subtlety, we don't know her. Same thing for book character stereotypes. I know Tara is a bookstagrammer but there was no reason to go there so heavy-handedly.
- I'm sorry but I just can't make myself like the social media parts. It sound so staged and fake. Also, this time I include the grandma in this point because she was ridiculous with the followers obsession. I KNOW this series is called The Influencer... I didn't really know what I was getting into when I started the series okay? My bad. Leave me alone, I can't go back now lmao.
- the third act conflict, though, was the worst thing that could have happened to this book. It was so bad it ruined the book for me and that makes me sad. It was unnecessary and frankly stupid. I'm not one that hates miscommunication regardless of the book or the situation, sometimes it works and I like it, but only when it makes sense.

Overall this one started as a dud, proceeded to steal my heart in the middle, then faded a little toward the end. I'm sad about the ending because this could have been not a favorite of mine but something close. I see Amy Lea has not stopped including sex in the most unhygienic places or some of the cringiest dirty talk ever lol, but her writing has definitely gotten better.

Oh well isn’t this just a warm hug in a book?!

Exes and O’s is taking top spot of my favourite book of 2023 so far. It’s a bookstagrammer / romance lovers dream come true in a book.

As a romance obsessed queen, Tara goes on a journey of hunting down all her exes in the hopes for her own “second chance romance” - one of her favourite tropes (me too, girl). Of course, Tara has been looking at these exes through rose-tinted glasses, so the dates don’t exactly end up where she plans. Tara instead, without realising it at first, enters a very slow burn romance which her new roommate.

As a protagonist, Tara is painfully relatable at times, with her hopeless romantic endless optimism. She’s a clingy “crazy ex girlfriend” in a pretty cringe way, but I totally got it. I loved the banter and friendship between the two MCs, and could clearly see how their relationship developed through their chemistry and mutual respect for each other.

It’s adorable, hilarious and completely heartwarming ❤️ Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Technically this is book 2 in the “influencer” series. I haven’t had the chance to read book 1 (Set On You) yet but absolutely will be soon after loving this one.

Read it if you love:
❤️ Friends to lovers
💙 Forced proximity/room-ances
❤️ Slow Burn
💙 Men in uniform (firefighter) 🔥
❤️ Hopeless romantic heroines
💙 Grumpy/sunshine
❤️ Grand gestures
💙 He falls first
❤️ Swiftie references

It took me too long to get around to reading this… which is regret so much! This was perfect. I loved all of it. Tara and Trevor were the most perfect characters and definitely my favourite ’trope’. This is the first book I’ve read from this author but it won’t be the last.

I kid you not, this book did not sweep me of my feet - IT SENT ME ZOOMING ACROSS THE ROAD MATEEE

I loved this, it was so good. Genuinely, EVERYTHING was written perfectly, in fact, I'm going old school and writing a list. Also since Tara writes lists, I'll do it too x
- Trevor, 11/10. Like what do you meannnn he liked her from day 1? And wow the things he did for Tara, CHEFS. KISS. He literally went to a restaurant when her date didnt show up, he remembered the fact that she wanted Mcdonalds specifically. He had her back - ALWAYS. And this man was head over damn heels for her.
- the link between her grandma's love story. One word; seamless. SEAM LESS.
- the way Tara's story didnt seem random and actually flowed from the previous book. The Seeds were pretty much planted in the previous book.
- bookish themes: she wrote this for the booktok girlies, we know it, and we appreciate it
- giving a lil epilouge situation from Crystal and Scott's story 🤌🏻
- the plot itself? SO UNIQUE, genuinely, who can say they have read a book like this before? A girl who makes a list of her ex's in hopes to achieve a second chance romance??
- Forced proximity and friends to lovers and boy obsessed

Do you notice how there isn't a list of bad things? Yeah, you have your answer about how I feel about this book x

A book about books, about a reader, about tropes in romance novels and about Bookstagram. I loved all these aspects of this book.

After Tara’s break up with her fiancé she moves in with a friend of a friend, the handsome firefighter Trevor. She believes in romance, he likes one night stands.
When Tara decides to look up her ex- boyfriends to see if she could have a ‘second chance’ romance, she asks Trevor to help her find them.

A wonderful premise for a romance book and I very much liked all the references to books and Bookstagram. It took me a little longer to like the main character. To me Tara was not very interesting. I am happy I finished the book though as the final part of the book was absolutely worth it!

Sweet, cute and fun! I am a sucker for a slow burn and friends to lovers, and this book had it all. Having loved Tara in Set On You, I was thrilled when we learnt she was getting her own book.
It was an easy fun read, but at times I wanted a little more from the characters, as sometimes I wasn't sure if Trevor felt the exact same and with slow burns, I have to feel that piping tension.
Did enjoy though, fun read and would recommend it to others I know who loved Set On You.

This was cute, but oh so very slow and sadly the romance was not very believable. Tara, the main character, was desperate and childish when it came to relationships. Trevor, the love interest, was a stereotypical dude who wasn't interested in anything long-term until he met Tara. They both have baggage they have to deal with, but I feel like it was never actually properly dealt with. I'm not looking for characters who miraculously deal with everything from their past in the span of three chapters, but a little bit more than what this book gave us would be nice.

The final conflict between Tara and Trevor was so unnecessary and tbh sort of ruined the book a little bit. Add to that the fact the forced quest for a second-chance romance just keeps going on for much longer than needed. It felt like T&T were fighting their attraction for so long, they then got together for a nanosecond and then had a silly conflict that would have derailed the entire happy ending if this had been real life.

The pop culture references also became kind of annoying after a short while. When TikTok goes the way of the dodo, this book will be a historical artefact...

Amy Lea is quickly becoming one of my favourite new authors - Exes and O's was a cutesy read that I absolutely flew through. Being a fan of romance books, reading a book essentially about romance books and falling in love AROUND the books themselves was inception-y for me! Will be throwing myself at the rest of Amy's books now!

This book honestly really was not for me. I felt that this book was written to relate to BookTok and what is "trending" on there.
I thought I was going to love this book honestly and was quite surprised when I did not because of all the good reviews it had.
I mean it is not a surprise her relationships are not working out...she is annoying.
Both the characters had no chemistry and I just did not feel they were meant to be.

1.5 stars

I absolutely loved this book and the style of writing. Witty, humorous and so relatable, I couldn’t help but fall in love with both the main characters just a little bit. This really is a ‘stand-apart from the others’ type of chick-lit, and I couldn’t recommend it enough.

This was my first Amy Lea book, and it definitely won’t be my last! Though I typically prefer dual POV books, Tara’s single POV was so fun! Tara is hilarious and relatable and not in an overdone “quirky fmc” way. The banter, the deadpan back and forth were the perfect foil for the very, very slow burn to the romance. Plus forced proximity trope is always top tier!

Exes and O's is the second book in the Influencers series by Amy Lea. In this installment, we follow Tara, a romance-obsessed bookstagrammer who is determined to find the one even if it means going back through her exes in hope of a second chance romance! Tara moves in with Trevor following the events of Set on You (the first book in this series) and he appears to be the very opposite of everything Tara stands for - a womanizer who doesn't believe in love and scoffs at the idea of romance.

Exes and O's has everything I could want from a romance novel - it's a slow-burn roommate to lovers with a ridiculously hot male lead and a very relatable female lead! I read it all in one go as I just had to know where Tara and Trever would end up and the final chapter and epilogue had me crying happy tears. It was great getting to see the Chen family again and it was sweet seeing Crystal and Scott plan their wedding (I want an invite!).

Definitely some trigger warnings but I know the print version has all of them included in the front which I absolutely adore - I wish more publishers would do this!

Overall a 5 star read and I cannot wait to read the next installment!

This is a very well written book with a smoothly developed plotline. At first I thought it was gonna be a slow read, but once I got through the initial background of the first few chapters it was an enjoyably quick and easy read. Although the book feels quite short nothing is rushed or dragged out. It has a perfect timeline for every new detail.

Although this book is part of the "Set on you" series there isn't really a need to read Set on you before diving into this book. Of course, if you plan to read all the books anyways definitely read Set on you first so you can enjoy Crystal and Scott's relationship and dynamics development. The author does a great job doing a mini recap of the relationships with side characters and backgrounds without you having to read her previous books.
I would recommend reading Set on you first as it does add to the enjoyment of this book and it in itself is a really good read.

I felt as though both the female lead, Tara, and the male lead, Trevor, are really relatable and loveable characters. Tara is us as the reader. She is quirky, reads romance novels, has a bookstagram and is a generally emotionally rounded character who I felt connected to from the very start. Trevor is the perfect broody male but his emotional development with Tara is extremely endearing and made me love him as a character and not just as the main love interest.

Overall the pace of this book paired with these characters made for a very seamless and enjoyable read. And I can't wait to read the next book to get a taste of Mel's character in more detail as this book sets a good lead into the next book, The Catch.

3/5🌶 on the spice scale !!

Exes and O’s follows romance lover and book influencer Tara as she searches for her ‘one’. Jumping from one failed relationship to another, Tara takes it upon herself to get in touch with her inner romance heroine and live her own second-chance trope. The first problem? She’s not sure which of her exes should be her leading man. The second? What should she do about her hot roommate?

If you’re a fan of the Chris Evans’ and Anna Faris movie ‘What’s Your Number?’ this book is definitely for you, with a similar premise and character vibe.

Overall, Exes and O’s was okay, with a fun premise and enjoyable characters. My biggest issue was that the focus on romance books and tropes felt like it pushed past paying homage to readers and toppled straight into cringe. This isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but it definitely made Tara feel a bit two-dimensional.

Regardless, it was a fun read!

(thank you Net-Galley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

This was the first book I’ve read by Amy and I really enjoyed it. Not something that I wasn’t absolutely hooked into which was a shame as I had a higher expectation but still thoroughly enjoyed the read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
1 smut (spice)/5

First of all thank you NetGalley for the ARC 💖

I loved Amy's debut SET ON YOU so much!! And I really enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it as much as SET ON YOU. Not because it was bad but because I struggle with slow burns and this was a slooow burn.

Our FMC, Tara, was funny and sweet and her book/trope obsession was so relatable...though her want for a second-chance romance with one of her exes wasn't relatable for me. Haha...

And MMC, Trevor, was so cute and grumpy and HOT!! And the way he helped Tara with going on dates with her exes while you clearly got glimpses of him falling for her made my heart pound!!

That being said because it was slow burn, all the romance between them happened in the last 30% of the book so I was left feeling underwhelmed and craving more of them. Though it was cute overall, and seeing Trevor vulnerable made me ache for him!

I just needed more romance.

This was an interesting read that had the potential to do well but it just missed the mark for me. Tara was written okay and I found the romance was fine but it just felt kind of underwhelming and missed the mark for me. I felt like the pacing didn't work fully and certain moments could have been rewritten or done differently and there would have been a greater impact. I don't think this was bad by any means, just slightly underwhelming.

I loved this book. Everything about it was just perfect. Both Tara and Trevor are such lovable characters and their friendship was so wholesome. Tara felt relatable and like someone you want to be friends with. Having her be an avid book blogger who is obsessed with the romance tropes made this story 10x better. It made the dates more fun. There are also some fantastic side characters, especially Tara’s Gran and Trevor’s niece.

Tara’s journey revisiting her ex’s just made me fall in love with her even more. She’s constantly told she’s too much in some way or another, which I think a lot of women can relate to. As for the third act breakup, there was no forced conflict or unnecessary miscommunication. It added to the story and didn’t make me angry. This book is equal parts cute romance and laugh out loud fun. I highly recommend and I will be reading the first book asap.

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

I loved this book!
I could really relate to Tara and thought she was really likable.
A great plot and sat nicely with the debut novel without it being too involved.
4*

Absolutely laugh out loud Brilliant book. If you like forced proximity/friends to lovers/roommates sort of trope this one is for you! Couldn’t recommend it enough