*ARC review*

I think most of what I liked about this book were the references to movies I enjoy (particularly Better Off Dead!) and the fact that I actually live in this region of New York State. Catching the nods to north country and CNY places was the best part.

I think the book suffered in the last third. The beginning was ok, the setup was good enough but I really couldn’t understand why Eli hung on to Victoria for so long. It made me dislike him a bit for stringing Leah along.

<spoiler>
Once they get together there really isn’t a big climax I feel. I didn’t need the scene in the airport (shout out to that guy in the dinosaur bar-b-que shirt though). I felt like we were as resolved as we needed to be with Victoria. Focusing just on Patrick’s shenanigans would have made more sense. I don’t know that Eli needed the airport moment to have his realization. Just fell flat to me.


Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and St. Martin’s for the ARC!

Thank you to @netgalley for the e-ARC of #theromcomagenda by #jaynedenker.

Here’s the premise: Eli Masterson, an outdoorsy type who runs kayaking trips, has fallen for a girl who is totally, eminently wrong for him. She’s a classy art professor. He’s, well, a man-child.

So she (her name is Victoria) dumps him. And his well meaning family decides he needs a #makeover in order to make him her type of man. Preppy sweaters. Classy wardrobe. Must learn about art. It’s hard to do in his far-flung piece of the USA, but his family is determined.

Enter Leah Keegan. She was raised in #fostercare. Has just cared for her foster mom during her battle with cancer. Is working about a billion jobs in an effort to get the money she needs to move out of town. And she’s crushing on Eli even while acting like she’s just a friend. To the point that she helps him watch classic 80s romance movies and ends up on a fake Valentine’s Day date with him.

It all works on paper. I did not like this #book in reality. I think it was Eli - who was truly hung up on Victoria - that really turned me off. Reading about a man-child doesn’t interest me. Give me a complex man dealing with his demons over someone too stupid to see what’s in front of his face. The book was also far more plot driven than character driven. Leah could be an archetype - that’s how sweet, good and kind she is.

So that’s a nope from me. Do not recommend. But if you like fluffy cute books, it will work for you.

This book truly felt like a romcom! I enjoyed the credible development of the friendship between Eli(MMC) and Lia(FMC). I enjoyed their banter, which felt organic and not at all forced.

The main premise — Eli changing himself for someone who doesn’t want him — is definitely kind of ridiculous. However, romcoms usually have elements of silly. This book was not an exception.

I really liked that despite the challenges Lia faced, she didn’t told resentment over them.

My only complaint was Eli’s stubbornness when it came to remaining fixated on Victoria despite her obvious disinterest and HIS obvious interest in Lia.

Audio feedback — I wish there had been more narrators for the different characters so that the back and forth didn’t get confusing during some conversations. Otherwise an enjoyable listen.

Read if you like
✔️Banter
✔️Pop culture references
✔️Dual POV

Rating: 3.5/5

Leah is used to being alone. But Eli, who desperately wants to win his ex, Victoria, back, needs help, and she accepts to guide him in the process.
This is as cute friends to lovers, small town romance. It was an original light read, filled to the brim with amazing references. But the burn was sloooooow, and the ending was rushed. I would've preferred if Eli got his sh*t together sooner, his moping and pining for Victoria got old very fast, and I thought it was annoying. But I loved Leah's character. I listened to the audio book, and the narration was great.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The premise of the story was cute, however I wasn’t a fan of the male character. His wannabe macho personality, and not having any emotion or femininity left me with something to be desired. I want to read about a man who already loves rom coms, but this guy watched ONE, by accident, and is being forced by his sisters to watch more.

If you're in the mood for a sweet, funny, and simple romance, The Rom-Com Agenda is the book for you! This is a friends-to-lovers romance in a small town with a loveable cast of characters and constant references to rom-com movies.

3.5/5

What would you do if you were trapped while a proposal was going all wrong? Leah obviously chose to stay hidden while Eli proposed to Victoria after dating for 4 months right before she was to go to Italy for Sabbatical for a year.

Months later when Eli’s friends help give him a makeover to win Victoria back Leah inadvertently gets pulled in to help. What starts out as just a stranger offering tips ends up turning friendship into more. The journey that Leah and Eli go on bother together and as individuals is fantastic.

The narrators did a great job building the tension and moving the story along.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a copy of this audiobook. This is my honest voluntary review.

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.**