Would you date your exes to try and find second chance love? Tara is an avid booktoker and bookstagrammer and like most of us, she also has her favourite romance tropes. Inspired by her grandma who found second chance love, Tara decides to work her way through her list of exes. On top of this, she has to move into a flat with a guy she’s never met before, Trevor, who has a different girl over every week and is absolutely not looking to settle down. Will she get her second chance love or are the sparks with her new flatmate worth exploring?

This book really pulled me in from the start, I giggled throughout the it and I completely devoured it! In a way I kinda wanted less of the exes and more going on with Trevor but then whole point of the book kinda goes away. The book has quite a few pop culture references so keep that in mind if you don’t like that but it didn’t bother me too much. This was my first Amy Lea book and I’m excited to read Set On You now as well, overall it was a really good read and I highly recommend it!

I really enjoyed the focus on Tara's love of books, and the analysis of different romance tropes within this romance book - very cleverly done. I liked that the romance journey wasn't easy, and that there was a lot of reflection on the past and chasing doomed relationships, as this was far more realistic than a lot of romance books.I wasn't a huge fan of the transcripts from Tara's live-streaming, as it often felt a bit stilted, but otherwise it was an enjoyable read.

A great follow up from Set On You.

Amy Lea is a fan of grand gestures and without spoiling, the one in this book had me heavily hinting to my husband that maybe we should renew our proposal.

I loved so many of the tropes; the slow burn, the forced proximity, the angst moment at the 3/4 part of the book where it looks like they won’t live happily ever after, loved it all!

An enjoyable romcom, filled with great tropes and easily readable. I liked the nods to Booktok and Bookstagram, and it was filled with humour and likable characters!

This is a very cute, forced proximity, grumpy x sunshine, slow burn romance. I'm not normally into the player trope, but I think it was very well done here.
The dynamcs between Tara and Trevor were sweet and funny and I liked that they were good friends before anythig happened between them. I loved Tara and how she was a hopeless romantic and unapologetically herself..
I really recomend it to people who enjoy romcoms and specially if you liked the movie What's your number..
The book is full of pop culture references and that's the only thing I didn't love.
It was a very fun quick read and I'm looking fowards to discover more books by Amy Lea.

"The corner of his mouth quirks up when he notices me blatantly ogling him like a tiger awaiting a hunk of raw, bloody meat."

A great fun romance that was devoured within one sitting!

The female lead is an enjoyable, upbeat character who is searching for a date to a Valentine's Day Gala and next relationship; a history of unlucky in love but not ready to give up. I liked the approach of a female character who wanted the romance not through desperation and nothing else in her life, but looking for romance because that's what she wants in her life.

Our male lead is more secretive who unravels more slower throughout the story but is still very likable and is a humorous partner in crime for the female lead.

The story plays on the female lead as a book influencer and therefore the book includes a lot of romance tropes. I do not think it was over played but intertwined well with the story. The build up of the tension and romance flows smoothly and made it so enticing to sit down and read it all in one evening.

Definitely recommend for lovers of modern romance books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin General UK for an eARC, I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Alex play ‘Blank Space’ and ‘New Romantics’ by T Swift simultaneously please 🎵
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Just went I thought Amy Lea couldn’t get any better, I read Exes & O’s. This book is written for those who have ever been labelled as a ‘crazy ex-girlfriend’ and is a love letter to romance lovers alike.
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Following on from Set On You, Crystal and Scott are moving in together, which means Tara is moving out. Logically Scott offers to ‘swap’ and she moves into his old apartment with his firefighter co-worker Trevor. However, when she moves into her new apartment, meeting her new roommate goes tit’s up… quite literally 😂
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Tara isn’t giving up on love and instead of re-exhausting dating apps, she enlists her new roomie Trevor to help her find her happy ending. She takes a leaf out of Flo’s book and goes through a list of her exes in the hope of having her very own second chance romance story. All I’m going to say is… it’s Trevor who’s on the cover right? Through their escapades, their chemistry continues to grow until it becomes undeniable.

From their first conversation the humour and banter between the main characters is spot on! I was laughing out loud on several occasions. My cheeks were hurting for a considerable period when I was reading because there are so many cute moments, I couldn’t stop smiling!

Also yes, we do get to see Crystal, Scott, Grandma Flo and Hillary of course. I can’t remember what breed of dog she us but I’ve always imagined her like the dog that's in Mary Kate & Ashley’s New York Minute.
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This book won’t hit shelves until January but when it does pick it up, I promise that you won’t be disappointed. I can’t get to see who Amy brings to life next ❤️

thank you to penguin books and net galley for the arc of this book.

ok lets be real can Amy Lea do any wrong in my eyes? no. She's instantly become an instant buy author for me and this book is no different. I will be buying the physical copy don't you worry.

This book is everything I could have wanted and more. A romance book about a bookstagrammer?? helloo?? I related so much to Tara it's unreal (sometimes the way Trevor called out her hopeless romanticness I felt attacked).

Tropes:
- Social Media Influencer (I love this let me pretend I am one of you)
- Forced Proximity
- Friends to Lovers
- Slow Burn

It is a single POV book which is different to many romance books that I read but I love Lea's writing so much - It's almost as if I can guess what Trevor is thinking without needing the storytelling to be split between the two characters.

Tara goes on a questionable journey to reunite with her ex boyfriends hoping for a book worthy second chance romance. Now second chance romance isn't my favourite trope but I do love forced proximity (Hello moving in with Trevor). Trevor helps Tara and tries to teach her how to not scare men off on the first date and make her realise that not every man likes the mention marriage and babies from the get go.

Tara is such a relatable character it was hard not to love her, and I mean who doesn't love a closed off, grumpy, I show no emotions love interest? The two compliment each other perfectly and I cannot be more in love with them if I tried.

I gave this a four stars because at times it felt a little bit too mopey on the exe's (keeping all of the things they gave her) and I just wanted to hit them both so they could see they had EACH OTHER. Another reason being Crystal and Scott still have my heart <3

I cannot recommend this book enough. Please go and get it.

I haven't read Amy Lea's first novel, but I enjoyed this one! It was sweet and charming, and although it was predictable, it was a fun ride anyway. The sex scenes were a bit cringe, but overall it was an easy way to pass a few hours.

Thank you for the ARC for this book!

This is mega slow slow burn at its finest! The tension... Eugh!
Tara and Trevor are so cute together and love the whole instagram/booklover personality that as book lovers we can relate to instantly.
Really lovely fun, flirty and cute book.
Great for a quick and easy read! ❤️

Thanks so much for an ARC of this book!

For me, this book exceeded the slowburn trope. I was all for the tension and chemistry between Tara and Trevor. I adored both of them. I also liked how the plot was carried out; it was quite entertaining. Though I also wished for Trevor's POV as well. This book was far superior to Amy Lea's debut novel Set on You, which I DNF due to my dislike for the fmc, Crystal. In this book, I still felt the same way about her.

P.S. I believe Trevor should have seen a therapist about his issues.

Honestly, I'm still really looking forward to reading this but the formatting of this arc is making it impossible to read! Looking forward to reading it on release!

Tara is determined to find The One. The only problem? Classic meet-cutes are dead, thanks to modern dating apps. So Tara decides to revisit her exes in hopes of securing her very own trope-worthy second-chance romance.

This is a cute, humorous and addictive forced proximity room-ance! It was a quick easy read with characters you just couldn’t help but like.

I loved Tara and Trevor’s chemistry, it’s undeniable and made for such a good read. I’ll admit it did start off a bit slow for me but it definitely picked up and I couldn’t put it down.

Amy Lea has created the perfect man and his name is Trevor Metcalfe 😍 It’s so hard not to love him.

I loved the Bookstagram/book lover representation. It’s like I knew Tara as part of the community.

The story is told from Tara’s POV. I feel sometimes she seemed younger than she actually was, I kept forgetting she was supposed to be a 30 years old but that didn’t take anything away from the story. Her character really develops throughout the book and I was always rooting for her.

Overall if you fancy a fun, flirty romantic comedy then this is the book for you!

Amy Lea strikes again. I didn't think I could love another of her books as much as I did with Set On You.
Exes and O's has everything included that you would want it to. From a fireman to a nurse falling for each other. The book is a slow burn but with everything that was happening, happening, you just want to plough on!
If there was one thing that you could take from reading this book, it is that you just have to be yourself. You will find the right person.. someday. You can't let go of what you dream just because you think you have found the right partner. Be yourself and your love life will fall into place.

This is the perfect novel for all romance lovers.

Exes and O’s by Amy Lea ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘He’s been borrowing the thrillers I haven’t had the heart to read because I don’t take plot twists well’

I felt seen by that line 😆

Exes and O’s follows Tara Chen, a NICU nurse and a romance bookstagrammeer, who decides to revisit her exes in the hope of finding a second chance romance. She has taken inspiration from her gas granny who found new love with her childhood sweetheart. She enlists her new flatmate, firefighter Trevor, who just happens to be v handsome. Trevor has no time for relationships but plenty of time for giving Tara some feedback on her dates.

I loved this book. It’s set in the world of bookstagram which I have never come across before and am here for! I’m a total sucker for an inspirational granny plot line and I adored that. I just wished she featured a little bit more.

This is a great romcom & such a lovely easy read full of laughs. I thought the exes were so well written and really believable. There’s some great exposition about the concept of ‘crazy’ women which I think is so important 👏🏻 I definitely would have liked more depth to the non romance bits of the book like Tara’s job - we all know NICU nurses are total heroes! But I usually find this in every romance novel.

I can’t wait to read Amy’s first book Set On You after this. I had no idea until book books Instagram that this is set in the same universe as the first book, which is about Tara’s sister! Please give us more! Thank you so much to Penguin and Viking for the advance reader copy of this book. It’s out on 19 Jan 2023.

If I loved Amy Lea's first novel, then I don't know how to describe my feelings for this one! The cover is so wonderfully cute and cozy, and the book followed exactly the same.
Moving into a flat with a stranger is scary to anyone, but I don't think any of us would mind moving in with Trevor the Firefighter. Tara and Trevor's friendship was so fantastically sweet, and natural. With only Tara's perspective in the book, we only see Trevor falling for her in moments, and while they're obvious to the reader, Tara's obliviousness felt genuine and true.
Knowing how important TikTok was to Lea's success, this book really reads like a love letter to all things booktok and bookstagram, which was lovely. The social media posts were so well integrated, and delightful.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

I really enjoyed this book; it was such a fun and lighthearted but very real read. Tara Li Chen’s obsession with romance novels and her need to experience a love like the ones she reads about was incredibly relatable. On a journey to find such a love, she attempts to reconnect with her ten exes, enlisting the help of her moody but lovable new roommate, Trevor Metcalfe.

I immediately fell in love with Tara and Trevor’s friendship, from their very first conversation on opposite sides of the bathroom door. Their sarcastic banter and constant back and forth had me laughing out loud throughout. I loved watching their relationship develop, how quickly they picked up on each other’s quirky habits and became familiar with each other. Like Trevor always buying Tara a packet of Cheetos, or asking about the book she was currently reading; and Tara slowly learning about his past and Angie.

The tension when both characters started to realise their feelings for one another built so well and it was very satisfying when they finally got together! Trevor was an amazing love interest, loving Tara for exactly who she is.

While I think the transcript excerpts of Tara’s videos were slightly unnecessary and the conflict between Trevor and Tara was a bit underwhelming, their resolution and Trevor’s love confession more than made up for it, as did his grand gesture in the epilogue.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait for it to come out so everyone else can enjoy it too!

This was so much fun! I actually preferred this over book one. It's a different dynamic and pace. The banter in this one was so good!

I really felt for Tara, and whilst we deal with problems in very different ways her struggles and insecurities were very relatable. Trevor was a really cute hero as well.

The thing I like most about these books is that you really do feel the connection between the love interests. And the men are actually GOOD, decent people. It brings a different level to their connection.

The only minor complaint I have for this series is that for some reason the sex scenes don't really do much for me. No idea why. You spend a lot of time building to them and then they end up being pretty tame. I don't mind that per say (well, i guess i do) but the blurb on the first book was saying this was steamy and. It's not THAT steamy.

Once again I really want to read the sequel. I'm hoping this series gets better and better with each book as the author continues to hone her craft.

I loved Lea’s first book ‘Set on You’ so jumped at the chance to get my hands on an ARC of this and it didn’t disappoint!

In her first book, Lea took on body image in romance and in her second she tackles the over-zealous, love-obsessed female protagonist we often in see in media depictions of relationships. What is refreshing with Tara though is that she isn’t ashamed of her want and need to fall in love and she embraces it head on.

Without spoiling too much, this reads like a love letter to romance and romance readers. Its meta approach to all of the tropes is refreshing and the characters are well-written and likeable. Trev trumps Scott for me I’m afraid! I can’t wait to see what Lea comes out with next

I need my memory wiped so I can read this again and fall in love with Trevor and Tara all over again. This is literally one of my favourite reads of this year, it was cute, not too spicy but not boring and it had a woc lead!! Tara’s journey of finding love and realising that love isn’t something that you can force and Trevor getting over his fear of not being enough and revealing that love isn’t perfect made these two characters perfect for each other.

Once again I LOVED this book and Amy Lea is a literal queen <3