Just My Type - e-ARC Review
⭐⭐⭐/5
.
QUICK LOOK: Enemies to Lovers, Second Chance Romance, Journalists, Work Competition, “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” vibes
.
SYNOPSIS: Lana is a 30 year old journalist who writes a relationship column. Seth is a journalist who just got hired at the same company…and he just so happens to be Lana’s highschool sweetheart that broke her heart. Their boss pits them against each other in a writing competition, complete with challenges all about dating.
.
WHY 3/5:
This book had some endearing moments and little details that I love in a romance. A sunflower means something so dear to this couple, and I love that they have special memories linked to this symbol.
.
I will admit, my primary reason for rating this book as 3 stars has to do with the lead character, Lana. She takes “hot mess” to a whole new level and I really wanted to see her grow more throughout the book. At 30 years old, Lana has jumped from one committed relationship to the next since she was 14 years old and has never taken time to get to know herself. While the author and characters push Lana to this realization and she admits multiple times she needs to spend time alone and discover who she is, she never really does that. During a few weeks of supposed single time, she breaks her goal of being single to sleep with her ex, whom she has so many unresolved feelings for. She tries to market it as a one night stand, but when it’s with your ex that doesn’t work…once again she made another mess.
.
While I think the author was going for a sort of rival or enemies to lovers situation, Lana was so immature that the fighting felt way more like petty, junior high fights than banter.
.
I also felt the set-up for this story was a little too hard to believe. The fact that Lana has a giant break-up and the next day her ex starts working at her office AND her boss pits them against each other in a “How to lose a Guy in 10 days” style dating competition all just feels so hard to believe. I feel like the author could have written it to have a slightly more believable lead up.
.
Thank you @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse. I was given this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

As a journalist, anytime I see a book with MCs who are also journalists, I get every shade of excited about reading it. And that was absolutely my energy going into Falon Ballard’s JUST MY TYPE.

Lovers to enemies to lovers? Ex’s pitted together to compete for a coveted column? A quirky tale of joint self discovery for two people that couldn’t have more different views on relationships? Yes, yes and yes. The description won me over so quickly.

Until the execution of the story lost me about halfway through. I just couldn’t get into the writing, and struggled to feel in any way connected or empathetic to either of the MCs. I expected the opposite, especially given the career in common element. Not for lack of trying, too. I started and stopped this book several times over the course of a week, hoping that it would draw me in at least once. (It didn’t.)

Another challenge was the way I battled to get behind shipping Lana and Seth. IMHO, they had almost zero chemistry or genuine connection — aside from their ability to banter over Slack and a collective lust — and yet we’re supposed to believe they stayed hung up on one another for more than a decade? Plus, I found Lana as an MC to be pretty unbearable. It’s absolutely flawed that she tried to shoot her shot with Seth at their reunion while being in another committed relationship. I couldn’t get past that, or find it in me to root for her and Seth to fall back in love in general. Which, of course, ends up happening, and in a pretty anticlimactic way.

I usually live for reads like these, but I could barely finish this one. Even now, I’m still wanting to somehow chalk my poor reading experience up to bad timing, or something along those lines. And that’s still very possible, I won’t rule it out. It’s also entirely possible I’m not the right audience for this.

All in all, I think there’s definitely people out there that will adore JUST MY TYPE — I’m just not one of them.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!*

"I’m the spinning needle of a compass and you’ve always been my true north, Parker."

*3.5
this was just so so cute and i really enjoyed it! it's a second chance romance but the type with not too much angst and lot of banter and bickering, which i totally loved! i honestly flew through this because of the characters, their history and the whole competition, but also because of the writing! i hadn't read the author's previous novel but after just my type i think i'm going to give that and her following works a chance. lana is a serial monogamous, always going from one serious relationship to other and throughout the book we find out the reasons why, which are related both to her history with seth and her relationship with her mother, a topic that was also dealt with in the book. i recommend this book if you're a fan of second chance romance, especially if you enjoyed the fixer upper by lauren forsythe, they are different in storylines but i picked up the same vibes while reading them!

arc provided by PENGUIN GROUP Putnam in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶

i stumbled upon this book while browsing on netgalley and was instantly hooked! It is my first book by Falon but i am certainly going back and reading her first book because this one was exceptional!

this had so many tropes that i love in a romance book. enemies to lovers, second chance, work place romance, bets… they all delivered!

Lana and Seth were high school sweethearts but broke up a few weeks into college. This led to Lana falling into a pattern of serial dating and Seth never committing to relationships. One thing leads to another and suddenly Seth is working and vying for the same columnist job as Lana.

They are thrown into a competition with one another where they need to give each other a task list to prove they can not only be the better writer but prove they can be the better version of themselves. Seth needs to prove he can be committed to a serious relationship and settle down whereas Lana needs to prove she can stay single and be happy on her own.

I loved the pace of this book, the backstory and how we slowly learned more and more about why Lana and Seth ended. I also loved the humor and banter while also still being able to have serious moments and conflicts throughout the story as well. However, my ABSOLUTE favorite thing about this story was all of the Marvel references, as an absolute Marvel nerd myself i felt such a close connection with Lana and loved her even more.

if you love a cute second chance romance with some great back and forth, amazing pop culture references and the “it’s always been you” trope, this book needs to be on your shelves!

thank you to netgalley, Putnam group and Falon Ballard for providing me this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review!

Just My Type- book review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“𝙸’𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑, 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚛.”

I started this book at 9pm and never stopped reading it. Not going to lie when I got to the premise of the story or “competition” I was like ehhhh. WAS I WRONG. This book is about love, friendship, and finding yourself!

This was “enemies” to lovers, second chance romance meets how to loose a guy in 10 days. Dare I say…this book was even better than Lease on Love(and you all know I LOVED that book!)

Lana Parker never got over her first love, and at the age of thirty finds herself at the end of her serial monogamous lifestyle after getting dumped when she thought a proposal was in her future…night ends with Lana blacking out.

Next day at work who walks in but not Lana high school sweetheart who broke her heart, oh and they are going to be in a competition for their own writing section. Lana has to complete 10 tasks to start her single life and Seth has 10 tasks to help him get ready to settle down, what could go wrong?

“𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘢. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶.“

As they spend more and more time together the lines start blur and they have to dig into their pasts to see if they have a future. Along the way Lana finds herself on a path to self discovery and a past she never thought would resurface!

I am a sucker for a good romcom and this checked all the boxes for me. Run do not walk to get this book come Feb 7…I know I will be 💞

Thank you Netgallery and the Penguin Group for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks, NetGalley!

If you’re someone who enjoyed The Hating Game and/or Funny You Should Ask, you would probably enjoy this book. It gives a good blend of pop culture references (at times cringey) and workplace fueled rivalry leading to love.

At times, the story felt rushed and quickly smooshed together for no reason and at the same time other aspects were drawn out too much. Also, the aspect of someone truly finding themselves and being comfortable being alone over such a short period of time is beyond realistic, especially when they didn’t do many things along through the challenges.

Overall a good read that’s lighthearted, makes you chuckle at times, and puts a smile on your face!

While I haven't had the opportunity to read "Lease On Love" yet (it's sitting on my TBR Shelf!), I was beyond excited to grab "Just My Type." The cover is unbearably adorable and Falon Ballard has been on my must-read list now for a while.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was Lana's journey--she spend so much time in relationships that she ends up feeling like she's lost herself. I think so many of us feel this way in our mid-twenties to early thirties, and it was really nice seeing the representation of these feelings in a rom-com, which tend to be overly cheesy and upbeat. That being said, I would have liked the character depth to be a little bit...more. I don't think I connected as well with these two characters as I could have, and I sometimes had a hard time visualizing them, especially Lana.

While the plotline in this novel is a little predictable, I really enjoyed the idea of the lists. I also really liked the co-workers all talking to each other in the message threads, and I'd love to see that with actual text bubbles in the final copy of the book.

One note I do have is that I did not like the way that Lana's character reminds the reader of her love for the Avengers. I'm not sure it really adds anything to her character (and I say this as a HUGE Captain American fan), and I thought the parts where she mentioned something like "thank Loki" in the middle of the text was really distracting and a little odd. I just didn't necessarily feel that it fit her character given how I saw her.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'm excited to make a feature post on my blog as it gets closer to it's publication date. Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam for the Advanced Copy!

Just My Type was so much fun! Rivals-to-lovers second-chance romance, with just enough angst to keep things interesting.
The story is peppered with the cutest moments (fish, sunflower, ..)! I loved the character growth of Lana, and absolutely enjoyed the story told from her pov. Although a couple of times I wished that we had Seth's pov, this is still a well-rounded, and well-written romcom, with a wonderful (and less wonderful) cast of both main and secondary characters.
I really enjoyed both of Ballard's books, and look forward to the next.
Thanks to the publisher and author for the ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Lana and Seth were high school sweethearts until they broke up at the start of college. Seth comes back into Lana’s life when he shows up at Lana’s workplace as a new writer.

I don’t really know how I feel about this book overall. I actually didn’t want the two main characters to get tighter. I thought Lana was actually a little selfish and self-pitying, and I thought Seth was too. The buildup and payoff wasn’t what I expected. They clearly had trouble communicating, but of course they have their happily ever after. Side note - the friends were super funny on the side.

This was a quick read, and it was okay. Sometimes the conflict in these stories is so quick to be solved, like what happened to the #longtermpotential girl?

I think this book would have been more interesting if they stayed broken up and actually found other people to be with.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Journalist Lana Parker's dream job is finally within reach. All she has to do is win a competition her boss made up to get coveted columnist spot. Enter freelance journalist Seth Carson, Lana's ex-boyfriend, first love, and current adversary. The challenge: writing an article series that goes against dating type. Tasks will be given to help serial monogamist Lara learn how to stay single, and teach Seth how to settle down and become boyfriend material. The catch: they have to complete the tasks together.

Okay I adored this book. It was not only hilarious, but it was such a heartwarming story of personal growth as well. The writing gripped me from start to finish; I devoured this book. Watching Lana and Seth navigate the competition as rivals while dealing with all the mixed feelings for each other?! Seriously. Hashtag get a room 🔥 (iykyk)

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚:
🌻 Second chance romance
🌻 Childhood sweethearts turned bitter exes
🌻 Enemies to lovers
🌻 Workplace competition
🌻 Delicious banter
🌻 Group texts
🌻 Strong friend groups
🌻 Therapy positive books

Such an enjoyable read. I hope you add this to your list!

I’ve never read Fallon Ballard before, but after reading this one, I know this won’t be my last!

This story offered a slightly different spin on the second chance trope, and I love that the MCs had to do self-work before being able to come back together. I admit at first I WAS NOT a Lana fan, but as the story went on, I really came to love her and feel for her. I loved Seth too and he killed me with the quiet pining! I really appreciated that this story normalized going to therapy and that it showed us a good deal of Lana in therapy and figuring her shit out.

As much as I loved the message in this story of it maybe not being the right time for two people, but I really didn’t enjoy the ending, and I wanted more from it and was a bit disappointed by it despite how much I loved the story.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam. All opinions are my own.

✨ARC Review✨

“When I decided to relocate and settle in one place, I didn’t even have to think about where to go. I’m the spinning needle of a compass, and you’ve always been my true north, Parker.”

I absolutely LOVED this book, and I am shipping Lana and Seth so hard! The book starts in a very “Elle Woods-esque” scenario with an expected proposal turn breakup. Lana is a relationship column writer and now finds herself pitted against her high school ex and now colleague, Seth for the ultimate relationship competition.

They are both writing columns, hers on how to stay and embrace being single, and his on how to settle down. The terms are they each have to give the other a list of ten things to accomplish for their challenges…that is until the tables turn. As they navigate this competition, they spend time with one another. They find themselves reminiscent of the past, and maybe even hopeful for the future. They dig deep, and acknowledge hurt, but more importantly they learn about themselves, and realize things maybe they knew all along, but weren’t willing to admit.

Just My Type is the true embodiment of a “rom-com”, both equally hilarious, and a nice slice of steam! I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that my inner nerd was so happy to see some Star Wars and Marvel references, so “Thank Thor” for that! (IYKYK)

What’s On The Pages:
-forced proximity
-second chance
-competition
-sunflowers
-banter
-slow burn
-fish named Harry & Sally

✨Rating✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Steam: 🔥/5 (a couple of short open door scenes)

A special thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for this eARC! Just My Type is out February 7th, 2023!

I'M OBSESSED WITH THIS BOOK!! Just My Type has it all: workplace drama, enemies to lovers, second chance romance, amazing self exploration. We follow Lana who is a romance columnist and longterm monogamist. After a breakup she challenges herself to be okay being alone but soon her world is turned upside down when her high school sweetheart Seth comes to work at her online newspaper. Soon they're put in a workplace competition to get the spot of a column in the city newspaper. Seth's challenge: find a long term partner, Lana's challenge: stay single and love herself.


This book is so freaking cute and such a joy. Absolutely recommend!!

4.5/5 🌟

I really really liked this book! I’m used to reading multi-povs lately, so it was a nice change that this book was only told through Lana’s perspective. I really liked Lana & Seth together and their connection and banter gave me all the feels. I felt like Lana & Seth really grew throughout this book and I was soo happy with the progress Lana made learning about herself. This was such a cute second chance romance in my opinion!

I adored the added group chats throughout the book as well! They were so comical. I also liked the writing excerpts at the top of each new chapter. I thought it was a nice touch, but they weren’t necessary to read. I love that they were added to the top and not placed within the pages of the chapters where you’d feel forced to read them (at least I would lol).

4.5 stars rounded up. I was a huge fan of Lease on Love, so I jumped at the chance to be able to read Just My Type a little early. Ballard def has a formula, and there are certainly some similarities to Lease on Love. I think the female leads, in particular, are quite similar. But I didn’t mind the similarities at all, and I really loved Lana Parker as a character. Just My Type is a second chance, enemies to lovers, slow burn, workplace romance. Yes, Lana and Seth could also do a better job of communicating their feelings with one another, but I wouldn’t class this completely as a miscommunication trope. As both characters really had some growing to do that didn’t have anything to do with their lack of communication. This book reminded me a bit of if Fool Me Once, by Ashley Winstead, and How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days had a baby. There were a lot of funny moments in this, and I really love Ballard’s writing style. I also love a girl that can reference the Real Housewives and Marvel characters. And finally, this one had great found family vibes. This is told solely from the female MCs POV, which I didn’t mind, but also wouldn’t have minded Seth’s POV either. All in all, this is a sweet romance where the characters show wonderful growth, have a lot of laughs, and ultimately find their HEA. All in all, I highly recommend.

Just My Type is just my type of book!

Lana and Seth were high school sweet hearts that break each other’s heart as they go off to college and 12 years later they’re working at the same place and theres a competition between them that might reignite old flames.

Falon Ballard has done it again! You will find yourself rooting for Lana and Seth and wanting to be part of the friend group at ATF.

The group chats perfectly give you a view to what’s happening at the office and with the competition without being to wordy. LA is another character that you will get to know as Lana and Seth complete their assignments.

This was for me what you deserve each other was for people. Like? They fell for each other again , all while having banter that doesn't necessarily border on fucking villainous. also I have a thing for dudes named seth with blue eyes (snl era seth meyers I miss you).no but seriously? I loved this so much, thank you net galley for the arc. L&S you've been delightful <3

Having just finished Lease on Love, I was beyond excited to get an ARC from NetGalley to read Just My Type. What a fun read from a great author!

I want to preface this by saying I am the biggest snob when it comes to second chance romance. I normally haaaate anything with friends to lovers, second chances or in this case, both. However, this book wrecked me. I adored Seth and from the beginning and it was obvious there was more to the story than Lana let on about their past.

I did find Lana to be frustrating several times in this book but it wasn’t enough to make me put it down. Honestly, I loved this book a lot more than I expected to. This is a great book and a great romance read. The fact they’re both writers is also just perfect.

I would highly recommend this book.

I was so excited to be given the chance to read Just My Type, this is the first ever ARC I have received! I am not quite sure how I was chosen but I am so happy I was because Lease on Love is one of my favorite books!

This book was literally everything I could have wanted and more. I was so invested in not only Lana and Seth’s relationship (also I am such a sucker for second chance romance! I love that they already loved each other and have all this history but also they have grown and are still growing and can grow together!) but also all of Lana’s relationships! Her friendships were top notch and so supportive and healthy and just everything I needed!

I cannot express how thankful I am to have been able to read Just My Type!