4⭐️ A cute slow burn romance with a sunshine FMC who loves books and a grumpy hunk of a firefighter

Thank you to @netgalley and @vikingUK for an eARC in return for an honest review

So the author described this as being To all the Boys I loved before but adult and that’s a great way of describing this book. Tara loves the second- chance romance trope and decides that maybe she can have her own by writing a list of all her exes and tracking them down. Meanwhile she is growing ever closer to her roommate, Trevor, a closed off, fire fighter with a one night stand only rule. Here’s what you can expect:

💖Grumpy x Sunshine
💖Slow Burn Friends to Lovers
💖Book Influencer/ NICU Nurse Heroine who wants her own novel worthy romance and loves Taylor Swift/Disney/The Bachelor
💖Tattooed Firefighter MMC who ‘doesn’t do love’, can bake and ends up ALSO loving The Bachelor
💖…and they were roommates
💖Forced Proximity
💖Hot Tub Steam 🌶️

This was a really fun and funny book that was a quick and easy read with a happily ever after although it didn’t shy away from discussions of some slightly harder topics such as childhood illness, gaslighting, mental health and death of family members although I felt like the author approached these well.

It took me a while to read this but I really enjoyed it! I will say that the the formatting of the ebook made it so difficult to read... but that has nothing to do with the finished copy. Anyway, I loved the plot, it was fun! The main characters were brilliant, especially the female m/c. She was relatable and unapologetically herself. I loved Trevor as well, and what I found about him was that he was also realistic! Not something you usually get in romance books. I love the search for the ex and all the little side plots! I definitely recommend this book

The cover is also beautiful and of course I keep singing the song whenever I see the title!!!

Amy Lea does it again and has officially become an auto-buy author. This book made me genuinely laugh out loud, gasp, feel HOT and most importantly smile.

As a bookstagrammer Tara is very relatable I find her such a lovable character, and I fully understand and relate to the way she thinks and the decisions she makes. As someone who used to try to be the cool girl and pretended to dislike grand gestures and valentines day, but as soon as I decided to be my true self (A WH*RE FOR LOVE) I found the love of my life and the best man I have ever met who I am very lucky to call my boyfriend. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT.

I LOVE LOVE. I DO, it's why I love romance books, it's why I cry at tik tok videos of couples dancing in the snow, so yes, I fully believe this book was written for me, or maybe about me, who knows. All I know is I LOVE BEING A PERSON WHO LOVES LOVE AND I LOVE THIS BOOK.

Trevor is so dreamy, so kind, so funny, just THE PERFECT PACKAGE (with a perfect package apparently). I LOVED LOVED LOVED how their relationship developed and formed over time, I loved how they were roomate and friends first, I loved how he helped her try to reconnect with her exes even though he had feelings for her, he's JUST AN AMAZING PERFECT MAN OK!!

This was brilliantly written, the characters were perfect, the pacing was perfect, the plot was perfect, the humour was perfect, the discussion of romance book tropes was perfect, the spice was perfect. Can you tell I think it was just perfect? I love Amy Lea, I love these books, I can't WAIT for the next one! Please never stop writing and please keep on blessing us with these wonderful perfect characters!

OKAY BUT HOW IS THIS BOOK SO DAMN CUTE AND ADORABLE?! I think Tara might just be my spirit animal, honestly, I related to her on a soul level.

This wonderful book was absolutely fantastic! I loved Set On You so I already knew I was going to love this one too, I just didn’t realise how much I would love it. The characters were all brilliantly developed, Trevor is a prince among men, there was lots of humour and incredible banter, and lots of pop culture references to boot.

If you’re looking for a romcom that’s as brilliant as the cover is vibrant then pick this one up.

Thank you to Vintage and NetGalley for the e-arc of this one.

Firstly I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC 😍❤️

Exes and O’s tells the story of Tara Chen, a romance bookstagrammer who is unlucky in love. She’s had her heart broken lots of times in her life but still she’s open to the chance of love. After breaking up with her fiancé Seth she finds herself moving in to her besties fiancés old apartment. Enter the handsome fireman Trevor Metcalfe. Unlike Tara Trevor doesn’t do relationships, he doesn’t like to get attached and prefers says love his not his thing.

Tara makes the bold decision to try and reconnect with all of her exes as she’s sure she’s already met ‘the one’ and enlists Trevor to help her with her endeavour. But as they spend more time together Tara starts to feel an attraction to Trevor and, as he starts to let her into his life, she’s sure he feels the same way. Will he give love a chance or will she find it with an ex?

I knew I was going to enjoy this book before I even picked it up!! 😍🥰 The blurb pulled me in straight away and after 1 chapter I was COMPLETELY hooked!! Amy Lea has written the perfect man ❤️😏 I am in love with Trevor Metcalfe and I don’t care who knows it!!

There is not one page of this book that I was not absorbed in, I’m obsessed with both the characters and I know there’s no sequel but I want more!! 😂😅 I just loved it so much!!
How can I not give this book 5✨?? It’s perfection!!

I found both characters likeable, I found the plot engaging and I found the whole thing adorable and cute, loved it!! Perfectly funny

We met both Tara and Trevor in Set on you and I was excited to read their book.
While they had a not so meet cute first encounter, may I even say a very hilarious one, I loved how their friendship and relationship develops in this story.
It’s a slow burn romance that comes handy when you want to read more about young adults like Tara who makes a few mistakes but is always hopeful for a second chance romance with her ex. Turns out he’s not a good material for it. She’s an influencer and I understand her wishful thoughts of reconnect with the one she once loved but I honestly didn’t liked the fact that she had to post about their interactions so public.
I loved Trevor, he’s not the guy I thought he would be at the beginning of the story, he’s much more considerate and a sweetheart overall.
I loved Set on you a lot and I loved how everything turned out for Tara and Trevor in here, even if she was unlikeable to me at times.
Beautiful romance story that will fulfil those cravings hearts for a HEA.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

Thanks to NetGalley UK and Penguin for sending me this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Charming and funny, this slow-burn romance is perfect for fans of the genre

Since I read “Set on you” by Amy Lea, I have been very intrigued about Tara and Trevor’s story since we get a glimpse of both in the previous book. Of all of the characters in this Lea’s world, I could identify most with Tara since she is an avid romance reader like me. This book tells the story of a woman who had her heart broken 10 times and decides she wants a second-chance romance with one of her exes. Discussions of romance tropes in the middle of the book? Amazing! At the beginning of the book, I was really into the story and characters. Tara’s journey with her exes is amusing, and I was wondering how someone can be so optimistic when it’s constantly facing heart-breaking. On the other hand, Trevor is very quiet and introverted, the opposite of Tara. I like how both balance each other, and I love how their relationship was developed and evolves throughout the book.
Amy Lea has a great writing style, and I was even more pleased than “Set on you”. My only issue with the book (that made me remove one star down) is that I felt like Tara was very clueless and naïve at the age of 30. Let me rephrase it better. It was funny how she approached relationships; she is clearly a hopeless romantic. Despite behaving and doing stuff that sounds like a 15-year-old girl would do, around 70% of the book, she was still acting very immature toward relationships. I couldn’t believe she was like this because she only reads romance. After all, I only read romance and stopped being like that after I left my teen years behind.
Apart from that minor issue that didn’t work for me, I truly enjoyed this book. Trevor is amazing, the story is funny, and they have great banter.

I really enjoyed Amy Leas first book, Set on You as it had the right balance of plot to romance. I really hoped this one would be just as good but personally I just found Tara to be a really irritating character. It was a bit over the top and cringey in places and didn’t quite have the same impact as the first book.

Did I still enjoy it? Yes.
Would I read the third book in the series? Also yes.
Is it going to win any awards? (In my opinion) no.

This book me by surprise. I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did. What a beautiful story! I love how clearly Amy Lea reads romances as well as writes them. She gets it. She understands the recipe, and damn, she gets it perfect. I couldn’t adore Trevor and Tara anymore if I tried. A must read for romance lovers!

I breezed through this blissfully romantic novel with a smile plastered on my face. It was a love letter to love and all the hopeless romantics out there brave enough to keep believing in it. The story’s trajectory was predictable but I didn’t mind at all because I was swept up in the fun concept and charming characters.

This rom-com would not have worked without the right kind of heroine and luckily Tara was just that! She was kind-hearted yet relatable and became surprisingly inspirational towards the end. It was empowering to watch her realise that she shouldn’t feel ashamed of loving fiercely. Instead, she should be commended for having the bravery to strive for true love.

It was sweet watching Tara and Trevor’s romance gradually blossom, especially as it was built upon such a genuine friendship. As they grew to know each other better, they became more comfortable opening up. This was particularly rewarding in Trevor’s case as he definitely started out a little bit emotionally-stunted. However, he was always so thoughtful when it came to Tara. I didn’t know a hero could be both broody and cute at the same time. Maybe Trevor was a tad too dreamy but I let that slide as Tara deserved the all-consuming, fairytale type of love that she had always wished for.

The novel wrapped up perfectly and I appreciated its overarching message to not be ashamed to experience our emotions and embrace our passions.

OVERALL: This joyous read was helmed by a delightfully relatable heroine who you couldn’t help but cheer for on her quest for true love. It was sweet and hopeful, with just the right amount of whimsy.

After reading the teaser at the end of Set on You, I was DYING to get my hands on this and read Tara’s story.

Tara was such a fun MC read about, and a fellow bookstagrammer and romance lover to boot (I was in my element reading this). She’s the sister of Crystal and love interest of Trevor, who was Scott’s firefighter best friend. Trevor helps Tara on her journey to reconnect with her exes to see if she can find ‘the one’.

What ensues is a series of my favourite tropes:
• roommates/forced proximity
• friends to lovers
• slow-burn romance
• opposites attract

Tara was so entertaining to read about. Sometimes she was bit OTT for me and overshared a bit too much, but I loved how she was true to herself and she charmed everyone around her. I would’ve LOVED to have seen how Trevor reacted to her internally so this would’ve benefitted from being a dual POV in my opinion.

I can’t wait to read the next book in the series! Thank you for the advanced copy

*arc provided by Netgalley*

I seemed to love this book so much more than the first, so easy to get into and read. I really do wish it was a dual pov but I loved the fact it was a rom-com. It might have been a slow burn, but the spice was spicing when it happened!

3.5/5 stars!

'Exes and O's' is the most adorable rom-com with a main character who is incredibly relatable to any romance reader. After really enjoying Amy Lea's debut novel 'Set On You', I was so excited to read any future books which she writes in the future, and after finding out the synopsis of this one (romance book lover decides to try to find her second chance romance by tracking down her exes but actually ends up falling in love with her hot roommate) I knew I would love this book, and I definitely did.
I loved the relationship between Tara and Trevor. This book was pure rom-com perfection. I couldn't stop laughing throughout this book at all of the crazy things that kept happening, especially when Tara and Trevor met for the first time. I loved that Trevor was always there for Tara throughout everything and how you could clearly see the connection between the two of them.
Tara was such a relatable main character. I absolutely adored her. I loved the references to so many of the romance books which I have read and loved. I loved Tara's grandmother, she was so adorable and funny.
I just really loved this book. The cover of this is absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to have a copy of this book on my romance bookshelves because I just absolutely adored reading it.

Tara is a hopeless romantic and a sucker for hopelessly romantic fiction. But she finds herself single and starting over again after another failed relationship.

Inspired by her grandmother's second chance romance, she decides to revisit some of her exes in the hope they can rekindle something and find their happy ever after.

But there's a slight hitch. Her incredibly hot and caring room-mate. Who she can't deny falling for. But he's made it a abundantly clear he doesn't do love.

Can Tara being herself change his mind?

A delightfully light read, but with some real truths about toxic relationship dynamics and mental health, I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

Firstly this was my most anticipated read for 2023 and I was hugely let down. This was not an enjoyable book and I ultimately dnf'd it at 40% because it was honestly putting me in a reading slump.

The premise of the book is really good but the execution did not work. I loved Amy Lea's Set on you and the reason I think it worked was because the influence lifestyle was Crystal's career, she was inspiring and head strong. Tara is none of those things. She's whiny, obsessive and a little stalkery.

There was potential in the second chance dates as if these had been written in a romcom style it would have worked but because it was a serious tone the dates weren't enjoyable to read and were awkward. You would think Tara would learn and develop from her conversations with her exes but somehow she get whinier and expects them to all still want her. She seems a little delusional.

Her romance with Trevor was sooo slow and not in the fun way. Trevor wasn't that interesting tbh and I didn't read him as a heartthrob. I just couldn't put any more time or patience into this as it was dragging me into a reading slump.

I think it felt insulting to romance readers because I feel like Tara is a stereotype of what people assume that we are like. As if we cannot separate romance novels and real life.

It didn't feel like Tara was growing from the experience and her relationship with Trevor had no chemistry. And as much as I love romance novels I don't want to read about a stereotypical romance reader who is actually unlikeable and messy.

Honestly, such a disappointing read.

Exes and O's at a glance:
Bookstagrammer heroine!
Grumpy tattoed hero.
Slow Burn
Open Door
Disney refs.

First off. I LOVE books about bookish people, so the fact that Tara is a bookstagrammer instantly made me want to read this book. All the banter about tropes—I am here for it ALL.
The meet-cute was hilarious. Trevor is a grumpy, but soft on the inside reformed badboy, who of course, tooootally falls first! SWOON.

Overall: An excellent, fast-paced, fun read.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for my eARC of this one ✨

Some of you might remember from last year that I really enjoyed Amy Lea’s first book Set On You - a fun, cute, steamy romance that was perfect for a cosy winter read. SO obviously I was excited to get my hands on a copy of the second book in the series!

If you liked Set On You, I think you’ll find a lot of the same things to like here - the characters are all connected from the first book, as we focus on Tara this time around. The same focus on how friends and family support us and drive us crazy is here, and the same easy relatability of Tara in her worries and thoughts. The book also continued important discussions on race, which was so well done.

I found the discussions on gaslighting and emotional manipulation here so well done. A lot of it hit quite close to home for me, so I’d be aware of that going in, but I found it really refreshing to read Tara’s arc and see this issue dealt with.

Some of the same issues as Set On You are here too, which for me let the book down. It is absolutely amazing to see a different kind of female lead in these books - someone who isn’t super skinny and perfectly polished. This body positivity is mostly only for the women, though. Attractive men are literal firefighters, or close to it in their physique. I would have loved to have seen something a little different in this one, and maybe we’ll get that in the third book.

If you like romance novels, especially if you enjoyed Set On You, I think you’ll love this - it’s fun, it’s got more than a little spice, and it’s a good restorative escapism read! I read this over the Christmas break, and I think a holiday is the perfect setting for it.

I was SO looking forward to reading thisbook but unfortunately, due to formatting issues I was unable to. I plan on purchasing this book so that I can enjoy it, as it sounds fabulous.

Review is based on the blurb

Happy release day @amyleabooks 🥳🎉 Exes & O’s is available in ebook now and the paperback is available in the UK on the 19th! Thank you @penguinukbooks for sending me an eARC. ✨

AD/Review: Exes & O’s had the feel of an early 2000’s romcom film but with 2023’s values. One moment I was laughing and the next my heart was melting at the sweetness.

Nurse and romance bookstagrammer Tara wants to find love and decides to try and engineer her very own second-chance romance by getting in touch with all of her exes. Tara was so easy to empathise with throughout the ups and downs of her journey and I really enjoyed seeing her come into her own by the end.

Tara is dramatic AF at times and I loved it! She wears her heart on her sleeve and stays true to herself. Anyone who’s been told they’re ‘too much’ will appreciate this one. The gaslighting Tara experiences is awful but sadly I think a lot of people will be able to relate to her experiences.

While some of the scenes felt quite heightened there’s plenty of quiet moments to bring everything back down to earth. Anyone who’s been on an awkward date will give a few sympathetic giggles at Tara’s experiences.

Fireman Trevor is Tara’s flat mate and is very much closed off to the possibility of love. As the ex search brings Tara and Trevor closer together we learn why he’s so reluctant to open up.

The slow burn romance between Tara and Trevor was killing me in the best way! There’s less spice in this than in Set on You (Crystal’s book) because the relationship dynamic was completely different and they’re in the friends secretly pining for each other zone for most of it. That said what spice there was is well written and really moved their relationship and the story forward.

This was a joy to read and I can’t wait to read whatever Amy Lea writes next!

Read For:
• Roommate romance ❤️
• Nurse and bookstagrammer FMC 🩺📖
• Fireman MMC 👨‍🚒
• A memorable first meeting 👀🙈
• Date disasters 😂
• The return of Grandma Flo and other characters from book 1

Rating: 5/5🌟
Steam Level: 3.5/5🔥