3.5 ⭐️

From Park Avenue to the Parks Department— the world’s most beloved social media start is about to get a rude awakening.

Famous for a Living was a cute read that took a deep look at the influencer culture and the effects social media addiction has on our lives. Overall I liked the premise of the story and think it’s unfortunately relative to our current world. The characters were well developed and likable, I just wish there would have been a little bit more in the romance department between Cat and Zaiah.

What I enjoyed;
📱 Small-Town Montana Setting
📱 Opposites Attract
📱 Found Family
📱 Self Discovery

I struggled with the formatting on the kindle app and it definitely altered the reading experience, however I know wont be an issues with the final copy.

Thank you to the NetGalley, UpLit reads and the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was an enjoyable easy read, I wouldn't say it's a romance as there doesn’t feel like that it’s the main focus of the book to me it felt more like womens fiction. I loved the setting of the national park inMontana and the small town vibes. This book focuses a lot on the impacts of social media and being addicted to your phone and I found that aspect so interesting! It's got a lil side romance but not much and there's no spice if that's your thing. I really liked the ending it felt pretty realistic and the epilogue was really sweet!

I didn’t love this book. It seemed way too similar to the premise of it happened one summer to me.

It was cute, but don’t think it’s something I would read again.

I’ve been reaching for more lighthearted reads as life as been hectic and “Famous For A Living” really hit the spot. This story was a mix of romance, family and working through the hard parts of life. The addictive nature of social media and the grip it has on Cat’s life is easily relatable to today’s society. This book had you questioning your own habits and choices and the questionnaire/tips at the end capped off a perfect read!

A sweet, easy-to-devour book about love and the shortcomings of fame. I finished this book in the span of two days. It's a quick, easy read that'd be perfect as a tagalong to any summer vacation.

I love the cover, the premise and the author - I could not get into this book and had to put it down, DNF.

Famous for A Living is pure Melissa Ferguson in every best way. Never have there been such opposites as Cat and Zaiah. This book focuses on more than the romance and the stunning Montana parks, delving into the psychological effects of social media.
The secondary characters will make you laugh and the bonds formed between old and new friends will warm your heart.

“There is no honor in falling. Just failing to take the risk.”

Melissa Ferguson knows how to write rom-coms. I found myself crying through the book - one minute from laughing so hard and the next minute clutching my heart in sympathy. The author made the wintery landscape of Montana mountains so real with its beauty, hidden dangers, and below freezing temperatures. The camaraderie and ridiculous fun found amongst the park rangers and the townspeople of Kannery are addictive. Though narrated in first person present tense by Cat, we get to know Zaiah pretty well through their interactions. And Zaiah is definitely a worthy hero. The supporting cast of Uncle Terry, Mina, Jax, Kevin, Peggy, and Mark is awesome and I’m hoping for a sequel about Mark. And, of course, we can’t forget Serena, Cat’s best friend, who is a little scary and over-the-top but so necessary in pulling the entire story together.

I really enjoyed the story but unfortunately didn’t gel with Cat. I think I’m too old to fully understand an influencer’s life. Her stream of consciousness narrative lost me more than once during the story but her innate desire to help people really came through in her actions. She does have moments of epiphany, which help her realize what’s truly important.

It’s a fun clean romance (no faith threads in the story) to enjoy on a blustery Saturday morning with a steaming cup of coffee. I received the book from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All opinions are my own.

Cat Cranwell is beloved in the social media world, with millions of followers she calls her "dearest family" is in for a rude awakening when a sponsorship goes horribly wrong and she ends up shunned from the community. Two months shy of her thirtieth birthday, Cat is forced to find her way in the world the old-fashioned way: by getting a 'real' job. Her only living relative, Uncle Terry, offers her a position on his staff at a small national park in Montana to get away from the city, so she picks up and moves from Park Avenue to the Parks Department. What she doesn't realize is that her new role is to be the social media strategist and her job is to save the Kannery National Park from being absorbed into the Glacier National Park and she needs to boost their number of visitors FAST. At least one of her new colleagues, the ruggedly handsome Zaiah Hudson, is around to show her the ropes.

This was my first Melissa Ferguson novel, but the amount of wit and charm written into these characters is definitely putting her on my radar. All the supporting characters were lovely, and the growth that Cat and Zaiah both go through in their own ways was really inspiring. This book tackled some heavy topics surrounding social media and the dangers of being overdependent on it in a really thoughtful way. I would say this book leans more Women's Fiction than Romance, so if you're looking for a book filled with more romance this probably won't be what satisfies that for you, but the blossoming romance was sweet, transparent, and honest in a way that was really refreshing!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

When I started this, I wasn’t really sure it was my cup of tea and I found myself speed reading so I could get to my next waiting novel. But a few chapters later and I was IN. I slowed down a bit, even reread some passages because I just wasn’t ready for it to be done. The family of characters in MT were my favorite. It made me want to be a part of it. To sink into their world. To live in a secluded area, forget the pressures of everyday life (and my phone) and just truly be in the moment. Thank you @melissa for this book and for the reminder to live in reality which is not something that can/should be done virtually.

Such a cute book! It is perfect for a quick read. I enjoyed the premise of a fallen from grace influencer falling for a mountain man. The moral of the story is so relatable too, that it makes you think twice about what your read and post.

As a social media addict/influencer living in the mountains of Idaho (near Montana) this one hit reallllly close to home! Melissa Ferguson has a tremendous ability to write relatable characters that are sweet, funny, and still somehow human! I loved the subtle romance and hilarious experiences shared by city girl gone to the mountains!

I just could not finish this. I got to about page 100 and didn't feel like I was engaging enough with the characters to enjoy it, sadly.

Famous for a Living is an engaging novel with a very convicting storyline about society’s obsessive use of social media and encourages the reader to step away from their phones and enjoy nature and the people in their lives. Cat is a social media influencer who experiences being cancelled in NYC and flees to Montana to help establish a social media presence for Kannery Park where her uncle works. I enjoyed her time in Montana and how she connected with authentic people and experienced small town living. The cast of characters were all unique and the author did a wonderful job developing them and their relationships together. If she were to do a series I would like to see Mina, Jax, Kevin to get their own stories. The best part of the book was how it made me evaluate my phone use and am I present with the people in my life. The romance was sweet but not fully developed. I personally felt like the romance was rushed along in the second half of the book and therefore she wrote an epilogue to tie it up neatly.

Cat is a content creator who needs to get away from New York when it’s discovered that her business partner has been involved in illegal activities… and she’s implicated as well. So she goes to stay with her uncle, the park ranger, for awhile and help him with the park’s social media.

While there she meets quirky coworkers and gets an amazing(ly involved) roommate. Mina made me laugh out loud. And she meets another park ranger, Zaiah, who has some opinions on her social media lifestyle and isn’t sure she’s cut out for this outdoorsy lifestyle.

Really enjoyed this book! Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for Famous for a Living to come out May 16, 2023.

this was a cute book and a fun read, I really enjoyed it!

thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an advanced copy of this book!

This was a cute book. The storyline, the characters, all good. I guess I was just hoping for a bit more romance, and more spice! This aspect was lacking a bit for me, but other than that, I did enjoy this book. I would rate 3.5 stars/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson - Fiction for the ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

This book is very fun and wholesome (truly, if you are not a spicy book read this book is for you!). The influencer storyline is really popular right now so I was kind of expecting the story to feel a little stale but this is the first book that really addressed “social media addiction” in a very non-threatening way so it was interesting.

The book doesn’t get super deep with the characters relationship. This is considered “women’s fiction” so the story really focuses on Cats growth as a person than her relationship with Zaiah but she’s such a likeable character that I wasn’t disappointed.

This is a fun and easy read. You could easily devour this one in an afternoon.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What a fun book! It was an interesting story. And I loved the relationships between all the characters. It was a cute and easy book to read.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This rom-com novel dives into the life of heroine, Cat as she falls from grace in her profession as an influencer, and proceeds to move to Montana to rough it out in a national park where her Uncle works. There we meet a cast of park rangers and love interest, Zaiah, who is quite uncertain about Cat and the world of designer and city life that she comes from.

This novel explores important and interesting topics such as the dangers of social media, its climate, and the rise to fame that comes with pursuing social media as a profession. On top of this, there is a charming fictional national park and a cast of side characters to swoon over. The cast of characters and the sweet moments we see between them really built the story and made it hard to put down. This book definitely read much more like women's fiction, and the romance was minimal and focused towards the end of the book (last 25% or so). I think that it did a wonderful job at diving into the natural landscape of Montana and unpacking lots of serious topics which I enjoyed as the romance was a much smaller part than I expected. While I enjoyed the story overall, there were certain points when the transitions had me confused and it took me a moment to be caught up, but I think this could have been an error due to the printing of the book online. As mentioned, the romance felt like a small side plot at best, and that made it difficult to develop the romance when it got very little screen time. I think as a comedy and slice of life, women's novel this book would be perfectly marketed, but as a rom-com the lack of romance and chemistry let some of my hopes down.

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