I love Rachel Lindsay from Bachelor nation and was excited to see her foray into romance (especially with her nod to Alexa Martin’s help!). The fun twist on the Bachelor storyline with a healthy dose of “real life” mixed in was fun to read. The writing was witty throughout and well paced. I admittedly lost steam and struggled to power through the final half, but it was a sweet book nonetheless. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review. This is out in March!

⭐️Rating: 3/5
✍🏼Author: Rachel Lindsay
📖Genre: Chick lit, Romance, Women’s Fiction

💭𝑀𝓎 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈:
The first few chapters were really good, then it fell flat towards the middle and I must say… I was disappointed at the end. Ultimately this book is about self discovery, which I appreciated. As a big fan of the Bachelor and Rachel Lindsey , I had higher hopes for this book. I felt like it was mirroring a lot of her life in a way, and I kept getting distracted by that concept and saw the main character as Rachel.. instead of Maya (the fictional character). I’d be interested to see what others pov are who may not be as familiar with Rachel Lindsay/ The Bachelor.

I also felt that RL’s writing style was hard to follow, were times when I got very bored and struggled to keep interest.

I think the main character was relatable, we all feel like we are going through the motions sometimes so I would have liked to see a different outcome that was less predictable. I did enjoy the nod to the Bachelor franchise of course, and actually really loved Delilah’s character the most.

This had potential, and I think most people will enjoy this light read. It’s not something I think I’ll want to re-read/ pick up a hard copy of in the future. However; I look forward to seeing more from RL as she continues to grow in her fiction writing.

Thank you NetGalley and Dell Publishing for the digital copy of the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I liked the characters and storyline was interesting and easy to follow.
Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

To be honest, my expectations were low, but Rachel Lindsay wrote a great rom com!! Is it cheesy? Yes. Some moments are very hallmark movie while many are incredibly genuine and personal. Lots of character development for our main character that felt incredibly relatable.

Readers might be drawn to this story because of the Bachelorette connection, but the storyline doesn’t really need it after the first few chapters. At times, the “blog posts” about the show felt unnecessary, as did leaving the option open that Maya might still go on the show. That aspect did provide a unique setting and an opportunity for Rachel Lindsay to shed just a little bit of light on the experience.

Overall, I enjoyed this story! Somewhere between 3-4 stars for me.

This is the second book by Rachel Lindsey I’ve tried to read and her writing style is just not for me. She’s too dry, not lyrical enough. I appreciate the story here but it was boring to read. I love Rachel though!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I don’t want to spoil anything, I really enjoyed this right up until the end. I wasn’t to happy with the ending but I enjoyed the story getting there.

i loved this book so much oh my gosh!!! maya is such a relatable character and i loved watching her grow and find herself and what she truly wanted!! she’s such a strong character and i absolutely loved kai, delilah, and ella as well!! literally i want to be apart of this group of friends😂 and i do hope that kai and maya got their happy ending cause they were so perfect together!!

i definitely recommend this book! it was a quick read for me and it was super fun and relatable and i just loved everything about it!!💗

I’m personally not someone who follows Bachelor Nation except for looking at the line ups and that infamous gate vault. That being said I was expecting this book to more be based off of Lindsay’s tenure as a Bachelorette and was pleasantly surprised that instead I got to meet an amazing cast of characters. I loved Maya and Ella especially since they definitely reminded me of me and my sister at times. The ending was perfect.

I was having a very fun time with this book up until the end. Why are both characters on the cover and is it marketed as a romance if the characters don't end up together? It's so misleading. I enjoyed her journey but it felt like when she would go on inner monologues they would miss part of her story. It also felt weird that her friends kept bringing up going on the show as if Kai didn't exist and they didn't all think he was perfect for her.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC i requested this ARC because i loved watching rachel on the shows shes been on and i think shes great! So when i saw she was writing a romance novel which romance isnt really my go to i had to request it and im glad i got it.

This book was so good. I honestly loved the little spin on it and had bachelor vibes with her friend getting on Real Love and then following the main characters journey on her relationships and life as well. I didnt know what was going to happen at times because it had ALOT of content lots of storylines and i loved so many of the friendships and girl power this book had. Also LOVED the little drag race UK line. I will say i wanted to see more of the journey with the show because i loved the concept but i will say this was the perfect romance novel lots of twists and turns and not forced it kept you reading to see what Maya does. I really hope rachel writes more books because honestly this was a great read. It touched down on so many important topics and knowing your worth and are some people worth you.

Great great read rachel!

Romance lovers you will love this one.

Real Love is a charming story set in Miami that explores friendship, romance, family relationships and, ultimately, carving your own path.

Maya is about to turn 30. She is great at her job and is feels content and stable in her long-term relationship. Her comfort soon dissipates as she watches her best friend, Delilah, thrive and find love as the lead on the reality show competition Maya turned down. Is Maya really actually happy or just living according to societal expectations? We follow her as she grapples with this realization, strengthens her relationship with her younger sister, and meets an intriguing and kind man with many talents (cooking and glassblowing - what a combo!). We also follow Delilah's journey on Real Love with mini recaps of the show.

I enjoyed reading this and witnessing Maya figure out what she wants to make of her life - it is a light, breezy, and fun story. 3.5 stars.

Real Love by Rachel Lindsay was a quick, cute and entertaining read.

The writing was solid. IMO I believe Lindsay did an amazing job creating her characters and keeping my engaged throughout.
This story mainly resolves around the reality TV The Bachelorette!
I thought was fun and entertaining.
I like how the story resolves around friendships and finding what makes you happy.
I also enjoyed the cast of accompanying characters.
Reading Maya's story was a delight and I'm thankful for the opportunity to read it.

Rating: 3.5

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Random House, Ballantine & Dell,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and #NetGalley. Thank you to the publishers, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Hilariously entertaining and entertaining.

I'll be honest that I read this entire story before realizing the author was on the Bachelorette! But I had fun regardless. I enjoy stories surrounding reality TV and women finding themselves. I wonder if my opinion would have been changed if I knew the authors back story prior? But I still had fun with it and enjoyed reading.

Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for this ARC. I honestly didn’t even realize that our author is the very same Rachel Lindsay of the bachelorette. But this book’s background plot is a Bachelorette tv show. This tv show plays a large role in our main characters story line, although she isn’t in the show in the book. I would describe this book as a story about a woman finding herself, changing up her life, and taking control of her future (with a love story as a subplot). In this book you will find a strong sisterhood representation, the ups and downs of friendships, hard relationships and leaving someone that doesn’t truly love you. In this novel you will find heart, emotion, and something I think anyone can relate to; the feeling of unease when it comes to the unknown sometimes. The feeling of not knowing which choices will be the right ones, but also that sometimes the wrong choices steer you into being who you were meant to be. My review will be available on Goodreads and Storygraph on Oct 25 2022. It will also be posted to Amazon once the novel is published.

2.5 rounded down. This novel had some promise in the beginning but lost me about 30% in. It’s clear this is based fairly heavily on Lindsay’s life; if you read her book of essays, you’ll easily spot the parallels. I liked Maya as a protagonist but I didn’t always feel her motivations made sense. The changes she was going through never felt organic. Much of this book felt forced, aside from the friendships/sister relationships which I definitely enjoyed. I would read another of Lindsay’s fiction, but I hope she doesn’t try to tackle too much next time as it felt a bit muddled overall in this.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.