Leah and Eli met under strange circumstances. Leah overheard Eli's break-up with Victoria and months later in an effort to win Victoria back Leah inadvertently gets roped into helping him become a better Eli for Victoria. There's just one issue: Leah ends up liking Eli more as she gets to know him better. Eventually Victoria ends up in a relationship with an Italian she met while away and Eli realizes he's fallen for Leah. It's the epitome of a rom-com. The narration is great and funny. It was an enjoyable listen.

Loved the idea of this book. Most of the time it's the woman getting the makeover for a man instead it's a man wanting to get a makeover for a woman. If you love Rom Coms you'll love this.

This was a cute fluffy romcom. I'm a big fan everything romcom, so I was glad to get a chance to read this. I'm more a fan of enemies to lovers, but friends to lovers is really cute too, and that's what this was.

The Rom-Com Agenda follows Eli, who just got dumped by his girlfriend, and Leah, an adult whose last family member just passed away. It's supposed to be a classic friends to lovers story, with tidbits of a "found family" kind of trope. Eli is obsessed with winning his ex-girlfriend back, who has literally moved half-way across to the world after dumping him, so his friends put together a makeover scheme to make him more "attractive" to his ex-girlfriend.

However, it really fell kind of flat for me because Eli spent the majority of the book just being obsessed with his ex-girlfriend and waffling back and forth before finally deciding Leah was the one for him. But for me, my biggest problem with the story was that Eli didn't have this sudden "realization" about how great Leah was until after his ex-girlfriend told him that she was in love with a new guy and Eli basically had 0 chance of winning her back. If I were Leah, and heard that, I would never feel like Eli "chose" me. So the happy ending didn't seem realistic to me. Hence the 3 stars.

I listened to the audio book version of this and I think the narrator did a decent job but couldn't make up for the pitfalls in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for the advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I listened to this book on audio, that may or may not have colored my opinions. I did enjoy the narrator and found the book very easy to listen to on the go.

Pros:

I love that while this is a makeover story plot that the author made some very important aspects. Having the makeover changed to the man really felt refreshing as it so often is women who feel they need to change what they look like and how they think before they can be loved. I’m also really happy that the main male character didn’t fully change himself.

The found family in this book is lovely and I hope to read more about the characters in the future. It’s one of my favorite things when an author can develop the relationships amongst a group in a way that makes you want to join in on their fun.

Cons:

I didn’t have a lot of problems with this story. I try to say something with every book for balance though so I would say that I’d like more of a solution at the end for a certain rude character. I wanted to see him get a little bit of punishment for being cruel but I understand that wasn’t the point to this story and truly not necessary to the outcome hopefully in a future story!

2.5 Stars. I requested The Rom-Com Agenda by Jayne Denker from NetGalley just for the title and cover. RomComs are my favorite trope both in books and movies, so this sounded perfect. It started out really strong but sadly didn’t stay that way.

Leah was great, I loved her character. She came back to town to help her foster mom while she was dying. Being a foster kid made her have trouble making friends and having roots, so after her foster mom dies, she works every odd job she could find to make enough money to leave town and move on.

While doing one of these odd jobs, Leah overhears Eli getting dumped by his girlfriend. He proposed after only a few short months, because she was leaving for Europe. He wants to win her back, so his sister and her friends are helping by giving him a complete makeover. But everywhere they go, Leah is working there and she end up getting roped into the makeover.

One of the ways they are trying to help him is by making him watch a ton of rom-com movies so he can learn from them, only Leah is the only one with a VCR. Leah clearly liked him yet all he did was pine away for his ex in Europe. I mean he was obsessed with his ex for the majority of the book! Leah deserved so much better.

Likes:
•I liked Leah so much, and I loved her foster back story.
•Her found family in Eli’s family.
•I liked the old 80s/90s movie references.

Dislikes:
•He pined away for his ex almost the whole book!
•A few subplots were started and kind of left hanging.
•It was very long for the story told at 11 hours.
•Eli was a total wimpy guy with a nothing personality.
•Single narrator/3rd person.

The Narration:
Erika Schindele was new to me and did a great job with the material. It was just a very strong 3rd person (if that makes sense? Sometimes you really notice, sometimes you don’t) and I felt like a male voice doing his sections would have helped.

The Down & Dirty:
The Rom-Com Agenda was an OK read for me. I put it down once and listened to another and came back to it hoping it was my mood, but it wasn’t. I wanted to punch Eli in the face and knock some sense into him for pining away for his ex and not seeing what’s in front of him, and I was mad at Leah for putting up with him. Though I can't say I really didn't like the book at all, I still wouldn't recommend it.

Rating: 2.5 Stars, 0 Heat, 4 Narration

I knew I would love this book as soon as I read the premise. I loved the main characters and thought their development was really fleshed out. I thought the audiobook was really well narrated, and I loved the pacing of the story. I was also happily surprised that there was no "miscommunication" trope, which is something I've come to dread reading contemporary romance novels. Now I'll be over here impatiently waiting for a companion novel about Delia and Grey. I highly, highly recommend.

I love a great rom-com read, and a rom-com which lends homage to all the amazing 80s rom-com movies.....event better! While the plot wasn't entirely unique (girl waits for boy to come to his senses), it did not detract at all from the loveable characters. This is heartfelt, witty, and entirely entertaining. The narrator did a fabulous job of keeping my attention and bringing the characters to life. This is a cute one that I would definitely recommend for all the lovers of feel-good rom-coms! Thanks so much to Jayne Denker, the publisher, Dreamscape Media, & NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC audiobook!

A fun romantic comedy. The story is told in multiple points of views but in a great and engaging way. I was hooked through the entire thing.

I loved the chemistry between them in this book. it kept me reading and I never wanted to put it down. I can't say enough good things you need to read this one.

I really enjoyed this book. I love the coming of age trope, and even better when it's mixed with a little romance. There is just the right amount of heavy subject matter, young love, and humor.

What a fun, sweet, and just cute-as-can-be romantic comedy. Jayne Denker delivered a lighthearted and slightly spicy beach read that will be a win for any romance lover.

It all starts when Eli asks his girlfriend to marry him just before she leaves on a year long work trip to Rome, and since they have only been together for about 4 months she rightfully says no. Now all he wants is to get her back and he decides he will do anything it takes like a total makeover from his friends, and movie homework of watching romantic comedy movies. Leah gets entangled in their scheme since it's such a small town and soon is part of their friend group. She is dealing with her own trauma of losing her foster mom to cancer and packing up her house because her foster brother is going to sell as soon as he can. After Eli and Leah spend more and more time together they start to see each other in different light and can learn a lot from each other.

I thought the small town feel or a touristy place did a good job of portraying what it's like to live in a town like that. I liked the friend group and how they were really trying to make Eli happy even though they knew Victoria wasn't for him. I also liked all the movie/romantic comedy references, and that airport scene at the end was great!

I didn't care for Leah's foster brother and how he treated her less than. I thought that Leah not wanting to put down roots in the small town because she thought she would be leaving was definitely relatable.

If you are looking for a small town, slow burn, friends to lovers, non spicy book you should check this out.

i liked this book. IT was wonderful and light. but kept my interest. it was a wonderful clean romance but also had enough back and forth to keep you interested

Thank you so much for an audio arc of the Rom Com Agenda by Jayne Denker narrated by Erika Schindler..

This novel was so good! It was so fun and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting this cast of characters, I could just keep reading about them! Definitely give this one a go if you love: friends to lovers, slow burn romance , themes of found family and small town romance. I loved the cast and seeing how they developed and changed. The narration in this book was so well done and I look forward to listening to more from the narrator and reading more from this author!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📼❤️
As someone who grew up watching Rom Coms (on VHS) this book felt like a love story to the classics!
If you loved You Can’t Buy Me Love or thought Duckie and Andie should have ended up together you need to read this one.
After Leah overhears Eli getting dumped by Victoria for falling in love too quickly, she finds herself drawn into Eli’s friends and sibling’s plan to make him over physically and mentally. The plan includes new clothes, man-scaping, and a long list of Rom Coms that must be watched. But little did she expect that joining in this plan would also give her life a makeover.
You will absolutely fall in love with all of the characters and be left wanting more! I will say the conflict at the end was not the one I was waiting for which was a happy surprise. I was waiting to cringe at the airport scene but instead I wanted to clap!
Definitely a must read especially as Valentines Day is approaching!

Eli is determined to win his ex back by any means possible, but isn’t sure how. With the help of Leah, a near-stranger, he takes on a challenge to become a rom com hero. With Leah’s help, he is introduced to all the best movie meet-cutes and grand gestures. However in the process, Leah and Eli begin to fall for each other.

As a rom com lover, I was so excited to read this one, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. Eli frustrated me as a love interest and main character and I did not find the romance believable. Had it not been for the audiobook, I’m not sure I would have finished this one. However, the narration was wonderful and managed to keep me engaged despite not connecting with the story.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Dreamscape Media for the advance copies.

This audiobook was okay, but wasn't my favorite. I found myself speeding it up a bit. I liked the characters but wasn't a giant fan of Eli.
The book was okay but I really would have liked it better if Eli got his stuff together sooner rather than later.

Leah Keegan didn’t mean to overhear the proposal. She had been cleaning up from one of her many jobs, just putting things away in the boat house. That was when Eli had pulled his girlfriend Victoria to the bridge, to tell her how he feels and see if she feels the same. Her answer was no. Victoria was about to head to Europe for a research trip, and she was focused on that. Besides, they’d only been dating for four months.

Leah had stayed out of the way of the conversation, although there was a moment that she thought maybe Eli had seen her. She hadn’t really thought about what she had overheard until days later, when she was working another of her jobs, at a clothing store. It had been slow at the store (really, slow in the whole town of Willow Cove, New York, when it’s not tourist season), but then a group of people came in all at once. It was Eli and his friends, and his sister was there to take the lead.

Although Victoria had broken up with him, Eli was determined to win her back when she gets back to the States. But his sister Jenna has determined to raise his game while she’s gone, so she has planned a makeover. First up is new clothes and a haircut, and then it’s on to learning all the great lessons of love through all the best romantic comedies. Leah figures out what Eli’s sister and friends are trying to do for him, and she joins in. But where Jenna is wanting him to go all in, Leah can see that Eli is a little overwhelmed and can help him find some balance in his makeover.

As Leah keeps popping up in this makeover, due to her many jobs, Jenna takes her on as a part of their gang. Leah works part time in the clothing store, the hair salon, as a maid, as a pizza delivery driver, as a server in the local bar. She is trying to save up money to move away and start her life again. Leah had only come back to town because her foster mother Kathy had gotten sick. She had been the one to move back and take care of her, and when Kathy had passed, Leah had decided to stay for a while to make money before going back to college. But she knows that at some point, Kathy’s son will come back to town and evict Leah from the house, probably so he could sell it.

When she moved back to New York, Leah didn’t have time for friends, and then she just didn’t know where to look for any. Planning on moving away at some point, she put her time and energy into working instead of into relationships. But when Jenna invites her into their group, Leah finds that she is excited to have friends again. And as she talks to Eli about his makeover, she finds that he is having to watch some movies that are her favorites. They start by talking about the movies and then glide into watching some of them together. The more time they spend together, the less Leah wants to move away. But she also knows that there is a time limit on their time together. At some point, Victoria will come back. And then, Eli will leave her.

The more time Leah spends with Eli, Jenna, and their friends, the more she wants to stay in Willow Cove and build her life from there. But when that timer goes off, what will Leah decide to do about her feelings for Eli and for all her other new friends?

The Rom-Com Agenda is the latest from Jayne Denker, and it is filled with lots of sweet surprises. Fans of romantic comedy movies will probably find some of their favorites on Eli’s list to study, from those teenaged comedies of the ‘80s to Cary Grant to James Bond to classics like Dirty Dancing and When Harry Met Sally. The friendship that develops between Leah and Eli is mellow and sweet and grows into the best kind of romance.

I listened to The Rom-Com Agenda on audio, narrated by Erika Schindele, who was masterful with the story. She brought all these characters to life and made them smart, kind, and lovable with her talent for reading. The chapters alternated between Leah and Eli, and Erika rocked both characters, giving them each a distinct voice and always with just the right emotion. I really enjoyed listening to The Rom-Com Agenda. It’s a great story, with lots of fun, some softball in the snow, a cat, so many movies, an actual working VCR, glitter, kickball, and a surprise snowplow. If you know who Lloyd Dobbler is, know who is known for saying, “As You Wish,” and saw that ‘80s classic Better Off Dead, then this may be the audio book you’ve been looking for.

A copy of the audio book for The Rom-Com Agenda was provided by Dreamscape Media through NetGalley, with many thanks.

This was a sweet book, my first by this author. It had a cute concept, reminiscent of an early 2000's rom-com, so it was easy to like.

The characters were very well developed, especially the MFC, Leah. She was very likeable, and with her past, easy to empathize with.

The MMC Eli, however, was a bit of a putz. He was a super cute, easy to love guy, who falls hard and would do anything for anyone. BUT it took FAR TOO LONG to pull his head out of his butt and move on from his last girlfriend.

I also loved the secondary characters.

A few cringey moments, but overall I really enjoyed this book!

*Thank you to the author, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the audio-ARC in exchange for my honest review.*