3.5⭐️
Thank you NetGalley and Putnam for the eARC of this cute read! If you love a good rom com that sucks you in from the beginning, this one is for you! Such a cute story about the column writer, Lana Parker, and the unfortunate timing of her ex coming to work at the same place. I loved watching their work place rivalry and work through their past relationship hurts. It’s your typical feel good rom com that is easy to enjoy.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Just My Type! Lana is a relationship journalist stuck writing what she knows and not what she loves. She is a serial monogamist who is tasked by her boss and the ex that changed her outlook on love. She and her ex compete for a coveted position at a news publication that will get her out of the relationship beat and into the things she likes to write about. I liked the story, but it was a little too nerdy for me. The author clearly likes Marvel and comic con type stuff. I did enjoy Lana's character progression discovering why she is so relationship prone. I think the resolution between her mother and her was rushed and did not make sense that a phone call and a conversation resolves years of her trauma. I did read this book fairly fast and it was a page turner.

When I requested this book through NetGalley, my interest was peaked, because Abby Jimenez’s next book “Yours Truly” was originally supposed to have this title instead. The premise of “Just My Type” being a past love/enemies to lovers trope a bonus. I’m thankful for the coincidence/change of book titles, because I got to read a great book. Now that my disclosing is done… let’s dive in.

Lana Parker has a reputation, but not necessarily a bad one. She is committed to being committed. She jumps from one relationship to the next, and even is a writer for Always Take Fountain’s relationship column. One might think that she loves love, but she is miserable. She wants to write about her love of pop culture, but is a people pleaser, and doesn’t stand up for herself.

Interestingly enough, Lana is presented an opportunity to write about what she wants… if she wins a competition against her ex. Coming off a terrible breakup, on what she thought was her engagement night, Lana accepts the challenge-writing about being single. Her opponent Seth Carson is tasked with settling down. In a vaguely similar to style to “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” the two must write about completing challenges. All part of a promotion for the website.


I highly enjoyed the book, but then again I also enjoy “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days.” Lana and Seth have a second chance romance that is worth the read. All tied together with a beautiful HEA. I’m thankful that the mixup happened, and urge you to take the chance that I did. I also plan on reading “Lease on Love,” because I have yet to do so.

I read this in a span of couple of hours because it was so entertaining. It was a unique cross between How to lose a guy in 10 days and Legally blonde (well only the beginning but still). It was witty and heartwarming. And I liked the chemistry between Lana and Seth. You can tell they were clearly high school sweethearts by how much they really know each other even after all those years apart.

I would have loved to have heard Seths perspective too, I felt he was actually a good love interest and had depth and an actual personality instead of just being the usual 'Grump'.

Overall loved it! A cute rom-com, perfect to get you out of a reading slump even!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam/ G. P. Putnam’s Sons for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This is a classic work enemies to potential lovers story and I am here for it! In the summer, I'm looking for light and funny and this book checked all those boxes. I've never read anything by Falon Ballard before but I'm for sure going to change that!

I wish I could give half stars as I would rate JUST MY TYPE as 4.5. Better than a solid 4, but not quite a perfect 5 stars. I was a huge fan of LEASE ON LOVE and couldn't wait to get my hands on JUST MY TYPE. Thank you!

JUST MY TYPE is a very well done second-chance romance. It deals with previous high school sweethearts who are pitted against each other in a work competition. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's an enemies to lovers trope, but there is still some lingering animosity over their previous breakup. It handles each characters' growth very well. It also showcases the mistakes that were made along prior to reuniting and each character feels real and relatable. Like Ballard's previous LEASE ON LOVE, I want to be friends with Lana, Seth, May, Corey, and the rest of the group. I always love a book that has so many wonderful Marvel and romance novel callouts throughout too.

Falon Ballard has now officially been added to my list of auto-buy authors. I can't wait read all her future books.

Adored this! Thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnam’s Sons, I received an advanced copy of this novel by Falon Ballard. About two writers who engage in an (un)friendly competition of dating articles, I found Lana and Seth’s story to encompass everything I look for in a romance. It was compulsively readable, had electric tension, and was full of expert banter. More importantly, however, I was charmed by how Ballard made this story Lana’s above all. There’s nothing I love more than watching characters go through some hardcore soul-searching, especially when I have so much fun along the way. Lana’s story is very rewarding: it’s a second-chance romance, it’s incredibly witty, and it’s a world that I had no trouble diving into. In particular, I loved Lana’s voice. She’s truly relatable to me; this was a book written by a book lover, for book lovers. The way Lana connects with the pop culture around her made me connect with Lana herself better. On top of that, Lana was funny and charming, and she had me wishing I could be her best friend. This book was an absolute win in the character department.
Sometimes I find that, in the romance genre, you get a wonderfully written characters at the expense of the plot, but I didn’t feel that way at all about Ballard's novel. The plot was engaging and moved quickly enough that I never lost interest. If anything, I would comment that the pacing in the second half of the book felt a little too fast for me, in terms of the development of the relationship, but also in how the series of articles progressed. I would have liked to see a bit more of their articles and how they as people would put into words what they learned about dating.
All in all, though, I gave this 5 stars because it was fun, undoubtedly entertaining, and had me rooting for Lana all the way through. Hers is a journey I won’t soon forget, and I would absolutely love to read more from Ballard in the future.

Ok. I haven’t read many books in my life. I really only started last year and have only read around 100 books, but I want this to be known. This is my new favorite book. Before this book my favorite was dead romantics which is now in 2nd place. This book has everything you could wish for a strong female lead who has problems but solves them and becomes a better person for herself. As well as a sexy love interest who is the epitome of a book boyfriend that everyone needs. Parker has issues but unlike everyone she actually tries to evolve and better herself. She has many obstacles to face but god damn does she do it well. Seth is like no other love interest I have read. He made mistakes but they were always for Lana. He did everything for her and he couldn’t live without her. She was his true north and it was a true art piece to read about their love and their challenges and most importantly their self love. Fallon Ballard or someone who’s works for her if you are reading this, it would be totally crazy to send me your book. Like no pressure but a lot of pressure lol jkjk. But seriously I will never stop talking about this book.

Just My Type was a sweet, swoon work place rival romance!

Lana is journalist writing relationship advice for a company she's been with since college. After her latest long term relationship ends her boss and mentor ask her to stay single and give her readers a new perspective on relationships! Her boss drops a bombs that their company has been bought out and they will have to train a potential new employee for the new company.

Enter Seth, new trainee and former high school sweartheart of Lana. After seeing their chemistry Lana's boss decides to pit them against each and fight for the position by completing a list given by the other competitor. Lana has to stay single and learn to be okay alone while Seth must learn to be in a committed relationship and end his no strings attached lifestyle.

I really enjoyed this book. I'm a sucker for rival to lovers and this one had the added bonus of second chance romance. The book did have a few lulls that had me wanting to skip to the conversations but overall I'd read it again and recommend to friends! It was witty and super sweet!

SWOON! I loved everything about this. The writer world it is set in, competition, exes to lovers which kind of was enemies to lovers, friendship dynamics, a strong female lead... IT WAS EVERYTHING.

If romantic comedy is your thing, this has to be on your TBR. It just does. Read it.

Thank you netgalley for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I devoured this book. It was such a quick, rivals to lovers, second chance romance that I couldn't put it down. The characters had history, they had issues, and they had a deadline and I was here for all of it. This book was a great mix of humor, romance, and personal growth. This was a new author to me but I will be picking up her other book and keeping an eye on any new publishings.

The description of this book really caught my eye and I thought a romance about two journalists was gonna be right up my alley, but unfortunately this just didn’t do much for me. I wasn’t a big fan of the main character, Lana, and I felt the whole story was cringe in many ways. I found Lana really immature and the way she handled being around her ex boyfriend felt so over the top and petty. I also didn’t feel any connection between Lana and Seth, we were told that they had this huge relationship all throughout high school, but we weren’t shown it. The thing I like about other second chance romance books I’ve read is when they take us back to when they were first together and we get to see them as a couple. Since this book didn’t do that, I felt nothing for them.

There was definitely potential within the deeper plot of Lana and her mother, but once again I just wasn’t as effected by it as I was hoping to be.

+ Thank you so much Netgalley/Putnam Books for sending me this digital arc!

Main characters: Lana and Seth
Plot: Lana begins with an Elle Woods moment of thinking she is getting engaged and instead is dumped. She then finds her high school sweetheart has joined the staff at her office. They are pitted against each other and prompted to try to flip the script on their ways of dating in a competition. The winner gets the dream job at the newspaper that has recently acquired their site. Obvious shenanigans ensue as we watch the story unfold from Lana’s POV.

What I loved: So fun to see Thor references throughout the book.

I really thought I would love this one. The first half of it was so much fun - I was laughing and everything. The second half though... The second half was excruciating. Not sure why, I was just tired of the characters and romance. So maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for this book, but it wasn't for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

Thank you so much to Putnam books for providing a free digital arc in exchange for an honest review. It was a privilege to read for you!

I started out hopeful but this book became less and less enjoyable with every chapter. I will try to keep this spoiler free because this is an anticipated release and I want readers to make an informed decision.

The plot of the story was interesting. Kind of an HR nightmare, but interesting. The protagonist was a flawed woman who experienced genuine character growth. I was rooting for her.

But so much of the writing was so cringey. There were things in this book that made me genuinely uncomfortable. The tone deaf dialogue about privilege. Many of the descriptions of sexual tension were extremely awkward and uncomfortable.

And most importantly, and I really hate that this has to be said, a straight woman trying to coerce a gay man into kissing her because “it wouldn’t mean anything to him” is sexual harassment. No human being is entitled to another human beings body no matter how little you think it may mean to them.

This could have been a cute story. It had all of the potential in the world to be a fun rom com with a little bit of spice, but the writing was just not good.

4.5 ⭐️

“A part of me will always love Seth.”
“Then wouldn’t it be fair to assume a part of him will always love you?”

Just My Type By Falon Ballard was a fun book filled with a workplace rivalry and unfinished history. Lana Parker is a thirty year old journalist writing pieces that she doesn’t love. Seth Carson is a popular journalist that seems to be living the dream, traveling the world, and writing. The two used to date when they were in high school and had a recent run in at their high school reunion that seemed to leave things even worse because neither of them seem to be happy about seeing each other when Lana’s boss has Seth working for ATF, the company Lana works at, for the next couple months. They’ve been tasked to compete against one another to secure a spot at working for Chronicle. They both want the job. The catch? They have to follow a series of rules that the other assigns to them. For Lana, our serial monogamist, she is tasked with going out and experiencing new things as a newly single girl living in LA. For Seth, our serial dater, he is tasked with having to try to settle down and essentially become “boyfriend material” when he’d rather do anything but that. Lana needs to learn to be alone and Seth needs to be able to keep someone around for more than five minutes.

I loved the entire book from the IKEA date to the sunflowers. This book was warm and happy and felt like I was reading about my own friends and having to watch them try to find their way back to each other. There were moments that were frustrating but they felt so real because I can only imagine their frustration with not being able to get the timing right. Their love for one another was precious and the epilogue made me tear up. Another thing that I absolutely loved about this book was all of Lana’s friends at ATF and May. They were all such amazing friends and were always looking out for Lana. They were also hilarious in the group chats and I found myself laughing out loud. They truly wanted the best for Lana and were always there for her whenever she needed them.

I loved the rom com references such as Legally Blonde, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, and When Harry Met Sally. They added an adorable touch to this already adorable book. I hope one day we get a little novella of Seth and Lana in the future, I would love to read about how they are doing.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC!

This book is what I would say is a perfect example of a rom-com! We follow the story of Lana, a serial dater, and Seth, who’s got a fear of commitment. Let’s throw in the fact that they’re high school sweethearts with a pretty painful breakup, and you’ve set up the perfect base for a great second-chance romance!

After 12 years of being apart, these two are finally reunited and then forced into a work project that puts them into some “friendly” competition. Yeah, it’s anything but friendly. Both are dealing with their own heartbreak that keeps resurfacing in relation to their breakup from years ago, so they end up take the resentment out on each other in the form of the challenges they each have to complete.

While participating in their own individual tasks, they start to realize that maybe they weren’t as over each other as they once believed. Old feelings boil to the surface and the sizzling chemistry between the pair becomes too much to ignore!

Lana is still trying to discover what it’s like to enjoy being alone, but can’t deny the feelings she has bottled up. Seth is accepting the fact that his issue wasn’t with commitment itself, but maybe not being able to commit to the one person he’s always loved. Are they able to finally put aside their difficult past and step into a happy new future with each other?

Overall: I really enjoyed the buildup of this story. The tension and chemistry between Seth and Lana was great and I felt everything along with them. Their highs and lows, it all tugged on my heartstrings and made for an enjoyable read!

Main tropes included: second chance, forced proximity, & workplace romance

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this review copy!

Wowie wow wow! That was such a cute and fun read!!! There were so many things that I really enjoyed about this book so let's hOP INTO IT.

Katie's Short & Sweet Summary GO: We open with Lana getting her heart pooped on when long time beau dumps her when she thinks she is getting engaged. One, that sucks. Two, that sucks more considering the blog that she writes is focused predominately on romance. ENTER HER HIGH SCHOOL EX. SETH gets a job at the same place that Lana works, and they are soon pitted against each other in a battle of tasks to earn a coveted writing position. She has to stay single and good ol' Sethy boy has to prove he can actually be the type to settle down. Obvious we have some romance in there too, but this book is so much more than that!

There was a bunch that I liked about this book! First off, it was such a hooky start. The way that this book opened immediately sucked me in and made me want to keep reading. It was also such a fun and breezy read. I could have easily sat down and read this in one sitting (I however chose to read it while I was going to sleep and I may or may not have actually fallen asleep with my Kindle still on).

Now I do have to put my critic hat on because while I LOVED this book, there were a few things that I didn't enjoy quite as much. They are a bit spoily though, so don't read past this line if you would like to avoid those.
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SPOILER ZONE!!!

Okay, so I wasn't a super big fan of how early the love confession happened. I mean, it was very obvious that that was going to happen considering the genre of this book, but I still wasn't expecting it to happen THAT EARLY. I also was a bit weirded out when it came to Lana's one-night-stand task and Seth...ahem..."helping" her with said task. One of his is to literally not sleep with anyone for the duration of the competition and it was just IGNORED up until the "big reveal" at the end. Considering Lana cares so much about him, it was SUPER bizarre to me that she didn't even THINK about this (you know, since she was the one who wrote his tasks). And for him to not even bring it up either??? I don't know it was weird. I get it was to help with the big reveal of who got the job at the end, but it fell a little short for me.
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All that being said, I did really enjoy this book! Super fun and easy, and it felt like the perfect book to cozy up with. I definitely recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin Group Putnam for providing me with an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Relationship columnist Lana is a serial monogamist who has just been dumped by the latest in a string of mediocre boyfriends. She receives a challenge from her boss to stay single for awhile, both for writing material and personal growth. This goal is quickly complicated when her high school boyfriend Seth— not just an ex, but THE ex— is transferred to her office and just so happens to be competing against her for the promotion she’s always wanted.

Lana grated on me in the beginning, but I grew to really like her and the chemistry between her and Seth. The pacing was great with this second chance love story. It gave me shades of the film How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days and also Ashley Windstead’s book Fool Me Once.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was thoroughly impressed by Ballard‘s debut novel, Lease on Love, so I was extremely excited to read this one! And I absolutely loved it! This book is filled with strong friendships, fun coworkers (with a group chat, of course), a second chance romance, and tons of laughs! Ballard‘s writing is top-notch, witty yet emotional!