3.5

I lived in the North Country for nearly six years and parts referring to the weather, the name of the retail store, the mall in Watertown all brought back those memories. I enjoyed living there.

I enjoyed the narrator chosen for this audiobook.

This book was great the first half. Right up until the two main characters got together. The male mc did get back and forth more than the story let on. One scene it seems like he was over the ex, but the next scene he is still pining for her. After that There were good parts and awkard parts as storylines were being tied up. It didn't flow as well for me.

The characters were entertaining and the friends/family you want in your life.

I think I may have enjoyed this more if it was dual POV and not narrated dual POV. I did get a sense of what the characters were going through and how they felt, but I enjoy when it is the character themselves talking and not just narrated. Personal preference.

Overall this is a cute rom-com and if you love rom-coms you'll enjoy the references to classic movies.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book.

I must admit that I was cautious before starting this one. It has received mixed reviews, and lately, at least in terms of rom-coms, I've had more fails than hits. I did, however, end up liking this one. It goes beyond your average rom-com. I fell in love with the incredible family that I found on the pages. The supporting cast members are the cutest kind of meddlesome.

Though I would have preferred a bit more accelerated character development on the part of the male lead, I enjoyed the gender flip with the man getting the makeover.

The references to the romantic comedies I watched growing up and to Gilmore Girls also gave me a lot of warm nostalgic feelings.

Please go elsewhere if you enjoy spicy. This is squeaky clean.

I listened to this as an audiobook, and read along. I enjoyed the narration. Thank you so much to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All of the thoughts above are my own.

This was a fun closed-door romance. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did an excellent job. I loved the dual POV, the small-town wintry vibes, all the romantic movie references and the found family trope, however, the supporting characters could have been a little more developed and distinctive. I did appreciate the backstories for both of the main characters especially Leah, which gave the story more depth. I admit I haven't watched all the movies mentioned so a few references were lost on me but it did make me want to watch them, on a VCR no less. LOL!
 
Thank you to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for the advanced listening copy!

I got an early ARC of this book a few months back and just had to listen to the Audiobook too. Sometimes Audiobooks make or break a book for me. THIS. WAS. FANTASTIC. The narrator did a fantastic job. They weren’t all over the place. They did the sister and her friends perfectly. I just… ugh. This made me love the book even more.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for early access!

Comfort food. Was it high literature? No, but it was a sweet story with a nice tale of friendship woven through it.

The Rom-Com Agenda had me hooked with the detailed and quirky descriptions from page one. The cast of characters were easy to follow and all had unique attributes that made them special and relevant. And the two main characters, Eli and Leah, were such wonderful characters to fall for as readers. I loved the juxtaposition between the two of them and how their differences brought them together, and how the commonalities between them made their bond that much stronger. Sexy scenes are mostly closed door, with excellent hints and buildup into the scenes. The occasional cuss word was much appreciated. Great read!

The audiobook narration was by one reader who did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life and created a consistency for ease of listening.

Thank you Dreamscape Media for an advanced copy of the audiobook.

This book had me in its grip from the start. We have Leah who falls for Eli who is hung up on his ex who dumped him. She goes along with his families crazy idea for a makeover to get the ex back. Along the way she falls in love with him and eventually he opens his eyes and realizes Leah is the girl from him. Leah finally has someone to love her and keep her grounded.

I wanted to like this book so much. I have to also say, the only reason I didn’t DNF this book was because i was gifted this as an audiobook from Netgalley. It was not my cup of tea. Honestly the writing was annoying, and so were all the characters. The story was predictable and its just felt super forced. It honestly felt like even the narrator was over this novel. I don’t want to say more, because I don’t like bashing novels.

Thank you to NetGalley for an audio arc of The Rom-Com Agenda in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own.

For a lover of rom-coms, this is a given!!! This one ticks all of the classic rom-com boxes:

(1) The one who got away - We all have one
(2) A makeover - Literally LOVE these
(3) Lots of cuteness & of course, LOVE!!!

Very sweet, likeable characters that you want to root on. It's not the best rom-com I've ever read, but wasn't bad either - a really good middle of the road story that I would absolutely pick up if you're searching for a new read.

This book was so cute!!

I loved the narrator and enjoyed the story quite a bit. I’ll def recommend to rom com loving friends like myself.

The Rom-Com Agenda was a cute read. A girl who falls for a guy who thinks he’s in love with someone else, while she helps him towards his goal of winning her back. The cast of friends in this novel were all so interesting and fun to learn about!

This book caught my attention from the very beginning. I'm a sucker for a cute rom com these days and this book was exactly that!
Leah Keegan is a lovable main character. She is a bit of a loner but yearns for a place to belong. She grew up in the foster system. She has no family, no friends, and her foster mother,whom she was caring for during her final days, just passed away. As she is going through the house, boxing things up, she is also taking on any and all odd jobs to save up money to move forward. I mean, the girl works at least a half dozen places all over the small town! I love it!!
Eli is the main male character who is desperately in love with Victoria. Victoria is some random girl he met on the job one summer, they dated for a few months and she ran off to Rome to do research - but not before Eli awkwardly proposes to her and she breaks his heart. He refuses to give up on her though and the main storyline of the book revolves around Eli's friends and family trying to give him a makeover and turn him into husband material. They believe with a little work, Victoria will return from her trip and give Eli a second chance when she sees how perfect of a man he's been trained to be. Hopefully.
Eli and Leah have a chance meeting at one of the odd jobs Leah holds and Eli's sister ropes Leah into helping him with his makeover project. The group becomes a stronger circle of friends as time goes on and they spend all this time together. Leah doesn't really think Eli needs to be changed for anyone, but she goes along with it. Eventually she starts having feelings for Eli but Eli- as frustrating as it is when Leah is perfect and right in front of him- still only wants Victoria. *eye roll*

This book is adorable, wholesome, full of charm, some humor, and all the feels. I love that Leah found a family, a place to belong. All the side characters were fun and lovable too- it made you want to hang out with these people and enter their friendship circle. Eli was maddening, but overall likeable. Patrick, Leah's foster brother was also annoying; but he wasn't in the story too much. I thought the storyline with Victoria and Fabrizio was incredibly cheesy, but the rest of the story made up for it, and I am glad all the loose ends were tied up, all characters had an ending.

I listened to the audio version and I think the narrator was fantastic! A++ for her performance. She was also really easy to listen to.

Thank you #Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Publishing date Jan 10th 2023! - AVAILABLE NOW! It's worth the read!

The Rom-Com Agenda follows almost 30-year-old Eli Masterson and Leah Keegan in the town of Willow Cove. Eli has been dating Victoria for the past four months before she announces that she is going on an extended sabbatical in Rome. Victoria is okay with ending things whereas Eli was dead set on marrying her. Leah happens to overhear this break-up and feels sorry for Eli. The main story then takes place about five months later where Eli is still pining over Victoria and determined to win her back. His sister and friends agree to help him where they run into Leah who works at many of the shops they visit. The sister invites Leah to join them for drinks and she ends up part of their scheme to help Eli.

Leah was an interesting character as she was put in the foster system after her mother was unable to care for her. She landed at the home of a foster mother who raised her and after her death she cannot wait to earn enough money to move away. She is excited for the possibility to be part of a group after being alone for a while, which was sweet. The more time she spends with Eli, the inevitable happens in true rom-com fashion. The one thing that I had trouble understanding is Eli may have told one version about what happened on the pier when Victoria left him, which could be why his group believes more in helping him. Leah knows the truth and how Victoria was adamant that it was over for good, and she was not as invested. For me, it needed further exploration as it would give more insight into why the friends indulge Eli who pines over a girl longer than they were in a relationship.

As everyone is determined to help Eli, there are some fun discussions of many 80s and 90s classics. These were fun nostalgia additions for me to “relive” some movies that I have forgotten about over the years but enjoyed when I initially watched them. Through the novel, Eli is still set on Victoria being the one for him for longer than my liking. He and Leah begin to develop feelings for each other, but I felt I needed more to understand why Eli was still going back and forth between the two women. While Eli does fall fast in love, which can happen, I feel that he never fully grows before Leah becomes a romantic option. For me, it seems that if he and Leah broke up, he would pine for her forever until the next girl came along. This may not be the actual case, but I feel I needed something added to the story to show how this potential new relationship is different. Overall, I loved the concept of the novel and the references to all the rom coms! The writing was interesting, and I would read more from the author even though I needed a little more from the romance between Leah and Eli.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to read this novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. I'm a HUGE rom-com fanatic, even if I haven't seen all the movies listed in this book. But for being an adult romance (with a male protagonist over the age of 30), this felt like such a YA story. I have no issue with fade-to-black sex scenes, and sometimes even prefer it, but this whole story just felt too young for me, even though I am the same age/younger than our main couple.

Leah was a pretty good character, and I liked her quite a lot. But Eli... he was so annoying. As were all the friends/siblings, who all just acted far too young for their ages. Eli is 31 and still doesn't realize that just because a woman is pretty doesn't mean you should propose to her after 4 months and then keep pining after her for 8 more while she's in Rome. He just gave me the ick, so I really didn't care if they ended up together or not in the end (which is sad, because I'm such a sucker for a good friends-to-lovers book).

Instead of reading this, just go watch an old, beloved rom-com instead.

"The Rom-Com Agenda" by Jayne Denker covers all the standard troupes' Rom-Com lovers know and love. As a lover of the friends-to-lover and found families troupes, this book hit both in a lovely, and unique way. This isn't a book that feels like other rom-coms. A solid 4-star book, readers will enjoy.

Things I Didn't Love:
The first few chapters were a little slow and took me a little time to get into the story. I wish there was more of a grab from the jump, but once the story picked up it was hard to put down.
Eli grated me a bit in his dopey love obsession for a woman he actually barely knew. It felt like a stretch that he'd be so desperate and hang on for so long.
The audiobook had an odd feedback/echo throughout the entire book that made the listening process a little annoying and took some time to get used to.

Things I Loved:
I truly loved how the author unveiled Leah's story. It was so heartwarming to see how much she loved her foster mom and the care she took in her final days and beyond.
I also really loved how Leah's birth mother's mental health was spoken about - it gave sensitivity to a tough topic without casting a negative image on the struggle of so many.
As much as I hated Patrick, I really appreciated the author's effort to reflect what real families look like, jerky family members included.
While Eli wasn't my favorite character, his dedication to his family and willingness to go along with his crazy sister's plan, were very endearing. And for his nieces to be so crazy for him, helped win me over.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book and would rate it a solid 4 stars. There were just a few things that held it back from a full 5 star but I very much look forward to reading future books from Jayne.

Thank you so much to Jayne Denker, NetGalley, and Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book hits every trope because just like the title suggests its all about Rom-Coms and their antics and that is what makes it so good. It isn't trying to be any one type of book or copy anything all while taking pieces from what we love most.

Things that fell flat.
For some reason the first chapter of the book was slow for me, but once the story started picking up that changed!
Eli's sisters are crazy. I get wanting the best for your brother but they truly seamed like that wanted to change every single part of him. Although not gonna lie I side with them when it comes to needing dishes in your house. YOU NEED MORE THAN TUPPERWARE!

Things that worked
I loved that they talked about how Leah's mom loved her as best as she could but her own mental health issues made it hard for her to take care of her. It wasn't that she didn't love her daughter. My heart broke for her the whole time.
I was mad at her foster mom and first for giving breaks to her stupid ass son but part of me wonders if she just gave up with him and instead put her time and energy into the girls.
I loved the whole General Leah/Leia bit. It made me smile
I love Eil's whole family dynamic and how much they truly love there mom and how much his nieces love him.

Overall I am going to give this book 4 stars. It was great but there was just a few spots that kept it from being a full 5 stars for me. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Jayne Denker’s “Rom-Com Agenda” had me laughing from page one to the last sentence in the book. I was so sucked into the protagonists “General Leah’s” and Eli’s stories that I finished it in one day because I couldn’t put it down.

It was totally a life imitating art situation, as after a brutal breakup, Eli wants to win Victoria back. His squad hear him, and make Eli agree to a makeover, to include learning from every 80’s, 90’s, and beyond rom com out there. The first step of the makeover involved a trip to “Thousand Island Dressing” clothing boutique, one of Leah’s bajillion part-time jobs, which is the unintentional meet-cute of the century. Leah holds her own and is hilarious, while proving herself to be “the one” when she hangs onto the hat, even though he doesn’t know that for months.

With all of the lessons in love and dating and being a leading lady/gent/person in a film (or life) being illustrated through rom-com movies through the years, it was so relatable and giggle-inducing. The author had me at hello. LOL Well done, Jayne Denker!!!


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC!!

What a sweet Rom-Com! I binged this audiobook in one day because it was so good and the narrator was great! The storyline is a fun one of friends to lovers + found family. Such sweet tropes.

Eli + Leah first meet when Leah accidentally eavesdrops on Eli getting denied a proposal to a girl named Victoria. That crushed him for a long time. Long enough that his friends and family made a project of him and gave him a makeover to make him more husband material. While I don’t love the whole makeover concept (because everyone should be accepted for themselves) this one was fun because it got him and Leah connected again. From the start Leah was trying to show Eli his worth and help him understand that Victoria isn’t the one for him. He was stubborn but eventually saw what was right in front of his eyes the whole time. I LOVED the “homework” of watching Rom-Coms and the VCR comeback? Classic! And also the Gilmore Girls references…perfection!

Leah finding her family within her friends was enough to make my heart swell. She finally found where she belonged. Such a strong and fierce lady!

This book was the perfect amount of sweet, dramatic, emotional, and hilarious. While at first I was overwhelmed with the amount of characters, I have to say I love them all - all the character’s developments in this book were great. I’m a fan of this author’s writing style and will be on the lookout for more by her!

Thank you NetGalley for this early audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

I wanted to love this so badly, in fact, as someone with a little bit of a rom-com obsession, I expected this to be a 5-star read. I loved the idea of it - guy gets dumped by the love of his life so his sister and friends rally around him to make him the ideal man of rom-com dreams to help him get her back. An amazing plot that unfortunately fell flat for me.

My list of issues with this book is pretty extensive:
-To start, all of the characters seem extremely one-dimensional. We know nothing about Eli or his friends except for the fact that Eli is in love with Victoria and his friends hate her
-The author seemed to be aiming toward a more YA crowd with the word “woke” being used 5 times in one paragraph
-Eli’s obsession with a girl he dated for less than 6 months who is clearly not interested in him was bizarre
-Eli’s sister and his friends were insufferable. Their insistence on making him an entirely new person to win back a girl they didn’t even like felt gross and just plain mean
-The characters themselves felt like just that - characters. They didn’t feel like real people, they all felt like exaggerated tropes
-Leah’s foster brother was a nightmare
-Leah having a job at every business in town just felt like a convenient way to have her show up in every situation. It felt clumsy and awkward

This book was not for me, but if you are obsessed with 90’s and 00’s rom-coms maybe give this one a shot, you may have a different opinion than me!

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and Jayne Denker for the opportunity to review this book!

The Rom-Com Agenda is my first ARC through NetGalley! This delightful Rom Com by Jayne Denker tells the story of Leah, a former foster child that is trying to find her way in the world and Eli, a lovesick outdoorsman who is trying to win back the "love of his life" while failing to see that the perfect girl is right in front of him!

This slow burn love story features the friends to lovers and found family tropes and is a clean romantic read. Eli deals with his sister and friends forcing him into a "makeover" over all areas of his life in an attempt to win back Victoria, the woman he proposed to (and rejected him) before she boarded a plane to Italy. Leah stumbles across this group by chance when she is working in one of the stores where the girls bring Eli into for his clothing makeover and quickly becomes an integral part of their friend group.

Eli spends far too long pining over his ex before realizing that Leah may just be the perfect woman for him after all. I won't ruin the rest ;)

I really enjoyed this author's writing style, the narrator was fantastic and I am happy to recommend this book to anyone who loves a good old fashioned Rom Com! 3.5 stars. Thanks to Dreamscape media and NetGallery for the advanced audio of this book in exchange for my honest review.









Thanks to Dreamscape media and NetGallery for the advanced audio of this book in exchange for my honest review.