An entertaining story keeping you laughing whilst Tara looks for her Mr Right from a whole bunch of rubbish exes.

I absolutely loved this book. Tara is so relatable and her character growth throughout the book without changing her personality made her all the more loveable. If you like grumpy MMC’s with a soft spot for the heroine along with some pining and Taylor Swift references then you should definitely read this!

It's been a while since I have read anything with much of a steam factor, and sometimes, I need to remember what I am reading and where!
Okay, so that sounds like this is a bonk-fest of a book when it's not! However, some scenes are in there to leave you hot under the collar!
So, back to the book itself, Tara Chen is a nurse and a book influencer with a penchant for romance, but she can't find her prince.
After agreeing to move into her brother-in-law to be's old apartment to allow him to move in with her sister, she embarks upon a search of her exes to find someone to have that second chance romance with...
Thing is, life isn't a bunch of romance tropes, though if you look hard enough, you can probably find one to match what you are going through.
And sometimes, what you need might be under your nose the whole time.
Tara is a ditsy character who you can't help but like, and her tendency to go all out is interpreted by many so wrongly when all she wants is happily ever after.
Her roommate (sorry, being British, I find this hard... I'd say flat-mate as they don't share a room), Trevor, is a moody, surly firefighter with no romantic bone in his body. She knows his rakish type, with a different woman whenever he goes out. But he ends up giving the best advice, and they open up to each other in such a cute way!
Back to the steam... When the chemistry is there, OMG, you feel the heat turn up a notch!
Overall a fun book and I will definitely be putting Lea's other book on my TBR as a result!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

i read this book in three days, which is something i haven’t done in a while. i just sat there and read and i could not stop.

if that isn’t a sign of a good book, then i don’t know what is.

not only does exes & o’s have a cute cover, but is an all around cute romance book that fans of the genre will immediately embrace. it’ll be a new favourite for many, i’m betting. it’s even a book that the main character, romance aficionado tara would love — and become one of the many worn down novels on her shelves or left around her apartment. (tara would be an absolute boss on goodreads, just saying.)

i loved the build up of tara’s relationship with trevor, all while she searches for her second chance romance with her exes. the dynamic between them is fun and authentic and it’s so easy to root for them, especially as by the end, trevor has two absolutely perfect love declarations (maybe technically one is a declaration and one’s a grand gesture, but you’ll see what i mean.) i sat with the biggest smile on my face for the last few chapters. the pair were likeable as individuals, you want them to be happy and reading them being so was just such a delight.

its a engaging love story, with some serious moments (warnings are including within the first couple pages) and multiple taylor swift references. i’m prepared to read whatever amy lea writes from here on out.

Absolutely loved Exes and O's probably a little more so than Set on You! The story line was interesting, we follow Tara who is Crystals sister as she moves in with Trevor, Scott's old roommate. Their first encounter is funny and a little awkward too but the friendship they develop as the story progresses is so beautiful, probably one of the best slow burns ever. The pacing was great considering it allowed it to focus on the subplot of the story whilst also setting up the finale for when Tara and Trevor get together. Tara is on a quest to reconnect with one of her exes for a Valentines Day gala for work as a way to have a second chance romance. Being a bookstagrammer she updates her followers on this journey but it appears that she might not get the tropey romance she's being hoping for... Trevor is now my new favourite book boyfriend, this man has such a tragic backstory and deserves to be loved endlessly. Also he cooks and cleans so need I say more??

I love the premise of this one. Tara is a romance book lover, in search of her happily ever after. She decides to get in contact with all of her exes in hopes of finding her own second chance romance.
She has just moved in with Trevor, who has little interest in relationships or really settling down, and has a different girl over every week.
But the more they spend time together, the more they enjoy eachothers company and sparks begin to grow between them..

I was instantly invested in the story and it had me smiling from the beginning.
I really like Tara as a character, I thought she was so genuine and relatable and I loved the fact she is an avid reader and bookstagrammer.
The relationship between Tara and Trevor was great. You could tell they had an instant connection, although it took them a while to realise it. I enjoyed seeing them opening up to eachother and becoming friends first of all.

Overall, a really sweet rom com which I would recommend. I haven't yet read Set On You, Amy Lea's debut book, but I am excited to now!

This follows Tara Li Chen, a nurse in Boston who’s just about to move in to her sister’s partner’s apartment, with his roommate Trevor Metcalfe. The two have a rocky start on the first encounter, as Tara enters the apartment while Trevor’s having sex in the kitchen. After the awkwardness eventually subsides, the two get into a rhythm and develop a friendship, with Trevor even giving Tara dating advice. Tara has been single for over a year, after her engagement fell apart with one of the doctors she works with. As a lover of romance novels, Tara feels ready to start dating again and is inspired by second chance romances. This prompts her to get in touch with her exes and find out if there’s a spark with any of them. While she does this, Trevor is developing feelings for her and eventually, things start to heat up between Tara and Trevor.

I found this to be clichéd and the dialogue way too immature for a 30 year old character. It’s all very predictable, making it an easy and light read.

Thank you Amy Lea, NetGalley and Penguin Publishing for the opportunity to arc read.

Tara is still suffering after the breakdown of her engagement, after months of living in her sister's apartment the time for change is now. She's moving into her soon-to-be brother-in-law's apartment with his best friend/roommate, they both worth shift patterns so they'd rarely bump into each other except the day Tara moves in and opens the door to meet Trevor and his manhood getting frisky with a lady in the kitchen, the best meet-cute ever right?

After a bathroom protest and eventually being coaxed out with Cheetos, Trevor and Tara fall into a comfortable friendship as Tara takes a new approach to finding Mr Right, by approaching all the ex's. As all these dates go from bad to worse, the relationship with Trevor begins to develop into something more but she wants love and commitment whilst Trevor only wants casual hook-ups so it'll never work, right?

Tara is all of us book lovers, having unrealistically high expectations due to the unattainable standards that everyone's favourite book boyfriends create with their grand gestures of romance. Everything she does she approachs as a trope, and as the possibility of her 'second-chance romance' dwindle and the lines between a platonical friendship and a crush blur, the chance of friends-to-lovers with a forced proximity twist becomes oh so possible.

Trevor is a grumpy cinamon roll which is very rare, although he's not overly open with his feelings the compassion he shows towards his niece Angie is so sweet and it's the first breakdown of his walls Tara truly sees. From here on the small piece of information he's willing to share begin to form this picture of why Trevor finds it so hard to let anyone in, except one little talkative bookworm.

4⭐️
I really enjoyed this! I haven’t read Set On You yet so I went into this blind (though I do own a copy and will be reading it soon). I liked the author’s writing style and I found it hard to put this book down! I liked the dynamic of the exes list as a plot device, it’s very Clueless/Mean Girls in terms of actual realism but it was fun! The spice was good but I found it distracting that the author spoke in space metaphors and similes for those scenes (E.g. erupting this and galaxies that and parallel universes etc. just say she came hard, it’s okay 😅).

The trouble I had with this book was the characters, I liked Trevor a lot, but I thought Crystal & Mel were super snobby and unsupportive of the MC (Tara) and this is never really addressed. I liked that the MC learns to stand up for herself and she has the confrontation with Seth, and I like that she learns to accept her own enthusiasm after constantly being penned in as the ‘crazy’ ex who’s ‘too much’ – but I found the constant spiralling, insecurity and general whinyness of the MC off-putting. I get what the author was trying to do with the MC’s character but I don’t feel it was wholly successful.

Overall I enjoyed this a lot, it was a fresh take on a few well-loved tropes and an interesting, fun read.

The Good:
This is my first Amy Lea book but it certainly won't be my last. This book made me smile, swoon and made my heart skip a beat at times, it was also hot, which is never guaranteed with lovely illustrated covers like this one.

It initially reminded me of that movie with Anna Faris and Chris Evans where they are neighbours tracking down all of her exes and they proceed to fall in love. But where that movie was forgettable, this book stays with you for a long time. And it certainly makes the tropes a lot more justice. Who doesn't want to read about a sexy firefighter that also likes to fight and avoid his feelings? And a romance bookstagramer who cant help but want to find her own second chance love?

I loved their interactions and chemistry off the bat, their friendship and the way they took care of each other. Trevor's advice in dealing with guys and Tara's attempt to be cool and collected. I loved she figured out that it was never about her being too much (although she certainly was at times haha) it was about her jumping in relationships with people that weren't willing to love all of her. Both their vulnerabilities and their willingness to step out of what they knew for each other and how they had the tough conversations like adults made this a big LOVE for me.

The Bad:
Tara was frustrating at times, but I say that with love, and with the knowledge that we all are. It was a real representation of so many of us out there, who want to give and receive love and are perceived as intense or too much. I love that when it came to Trevor she was fighting all of her instinct and trying to follow his advice only to realize she just needed to let go and be herself. Overall they both grew together, and were better because of it.

The Ugly:
The only ugly thing about this book is that it had to end. I want more Trevor and Tara and will of course read the next book in the series, because I loved Amy's writing and because I need more snippets of their lives to know they are doing well.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin UK for sending me a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

The first thing I loved about this book was the fact it’s set the same world as Set On You. It’s one of my all time favourite things authors do. Plus, I found it so easy to get sucked into Tara’s world, probably due to my love of all things bookish.

I definitely think Tara would highly rate this book on her TikTok page. It has all the great tropes, forced proximity, grumpy x sunshine and friends to lovers (plus many more).

The character growth for both Tara and Trevor is done beautifully, too.

A fun and flirty read filled with a host of romantic endeavours for Taylor Swift to write a whole new album.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin General UK for the ARC.

p.s Pascal is a chameleon not a frog ;)

This swoon-worthy novel is intoxicating and will make you fall madly in love with the grumpy x sunshine trope and everything romantic. Amy Lea incorporated a fantastic level of comedy and somehow made this book feel like a massive hug! <3

This is one of the best romcoms I’ve read in a long time. Wonderful heroine who is fun and messy and insecure, coming off the back of being dumped horribly by her fiancé, moves in with allergic-to-relationships gruff, grumpy firefighter. It is funny and delightful, and incredibly emotional too, as they both have some trauma in their past. I absolutely loved the slow burn of Tara and Trevor getting to know each other - I couldn’t get enough of it. It is wonderfully, incredibly romantic, and I loved every page. I’d recommend this book to everyone.

Wow. I went into that book without knowing just how much I would absolutely adore it. I think most romance readers think you need to fall in love with the love interest ultimately, but I think you need to at least side with the protagonist first before getting into that. Most romance authors can do this, even when they're attempting to write a blank slate of a character for you to project on. Amy Lea (author extraordinaire), however, has gone beyond with this protagonist - not only making her relatable enough but so adorably quirky it's beyond any love I have for a protagonist in the romance genre. I love a funny protagonist with some attitude, but to also have a protagonist who has a hilarious inner-dialogue and unique mindset is quite the achievement to get on page in my opinion. I loved every second with Tara, even when she had me cringing along with other characters. I want all the happiness and love for her more than I do for myself! Is this a problem?

I loved watching Trevor and Tara's romance build. They've got such a great basis of friendship and Amy does well not to spoonfeed us with laying his emotions out throughout watching them fall in love. We've read enough romances to know how this goes, so when we get these little moments that might seem 'off' about Trevor's behaviour, we know he's seething with jealousy and internal conflict over his true feelings. The romance crew definitely know what's happening!
It's clear this is a romance book written by a true reader of the genre, trusting the readers will pick up on subtle hints and enjoy the game being played, building a beautiful romance with a trope-loving protagonist whilst simultaneously setting a different story entirely.
The effortlessness of Amy's skill to weave pure hilarity into internal rants and loving banter was so impressive to read. The climax was so realistic for what each of the character's struggle with and although there was drama, none of it will have you banging your head against the wall (which is rare in this genre). Honestly, I loved every second of this story. I'm already salivating over Amy's next book and hope to all hell I can read one of the first copies when it's underway!!

I love Amy lea her books are so feelgood. Really enjoyed this one. I can see why it's popular on tik tok.

Thanks for the arc I will be recommending

This was so sweet and a lot of fun. I highly recommend this if you enjoy romance books. My first book by this author and I plan on reading her debut now as well. Highly recommended.

Fun, exciting and another 5 star book from Amy Lea.

This book is a perfect summer chill out and read, it's a easy read and keep you on your toes.
I enjoy Amy books and love her writing style.

I would happily read this book again and also get Amy next book out.

A romance book that mentions bookstagram, book tropes and quotes the US Office? I was always going to be here for it. Let's be honest.

The female MC Tara is a fellow bookstagrammer with a passion for romance books who is in search of her happily ever after. She becomes hooked on the idea of a second chance romance and makes a list of her ex boyfriends who she reaches out to one by one to see their potential of fulfilling the role of her second chance love story hero but fate has other ideas in the form of her grumpy firefighter roommate Trevor. Despite their not so cute meet-cute the two of them build a relationship that ends up with the usually closed off Trevor slowly dropping his guard revealing parts of himself to Tara showing his vulnerable side. Showing vulnerability doesn't seem to be something Tara has struggled with..if anything I think it's fair to say she could be labelled as an "over-sharer" (the best kind of people usually are ;) ) In other words, opposites definitely attract in this book. There are a few spicy scenes in the book but nothing too much for those who aren't big on smut. I'd say it's just the right amount for the storyline. I loved the whole book but the epilogue specifically was pretty perfect imo. I'm yet to read set on you which is @amylea previous book but you best believe it is now sitting high up on my wishlist after reading this. The sneak peak into her next book sounds like something I'll also enjoy too so I can't wait for that!

I would struggle to be able to review this book due to issues with the file/download. The issues stopped the flow of the book. The issues are:
- Missing words in the middle of sentences
- Stop/start sentences on different lines
- No clear definition of chapters.

Not sure if it was a file/download issue but there were lots of gaps and stops/starts which really ruined the flow. I would love the chance to read a better version as the description of the book appeals to me. I would be more than happy to re-read the book with a better file or as a physical book as the book topic and genre are of interest to me. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

Thanks for my eARC of this book. I really enjoyed what I read but the formatting was such that I couldn’t continue reading. I will buy the ebook when it comes out.