I'll admit upfront that I absolutely loved the cover of this book and it was one of the reasons why I wanted to read it, plus when it comes to communications-I love texting. However, don't let the cute cover fool you because this story is not all cute and has its struggles in dating, friendship among women, misogny at the workplace and more so women in tech space- so there is quite a lot going on and I personally at some point got thrown off by the awful offensive language in some of the texts the heroine, Lark, received but I rarely DNF a book and kept reading till the end-where I'd say it kinda fell into place.
It's not your sweet, cuddly, oh so cute romance because Lark struggles at work trying to prove herself and her ideas as a Programmer and is also trying her best to make sense of her relationship with her friend, crush, possible boyfriend, Toby- and has meddling friends who are also struggling with their dynamics. I would recommend this to readers of contemporary romance who know that relationships are not a straight line and it takes work with lots of assumptions and mistakes along the way.
Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

Thank you for allowing me to review this.
That being said I’m kinda disappointed in what I read. I couldn’t finish this which is upsetting because I hate quitting a book. It’s written as friends to lovers but I had the hardest time seeing any type of love connection between the two main characters. I DNF around 40%

Thank you you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me the opportunity to read an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very interesting premise and I have to say the cute cover really drew me in.

This was really fun, it’s a sex-positive debut with a romance that treats sex work with respect, you see the MC, Lark really come into her own- she learns to love her new side hustle and really begin to own her own sexuality, which is such a refreshing thing to see.

Obviously texting is a huge part of this story and for the most part and Amber Roberts absolutely nailed it- sometimes I find text threads to be a little cringe inducing but these were pretty good! This story is probably most relatable to women in their 20s or 30s, experiencing toxic workplace culture, dating apps, unsolicited pictures and most importantly: finding yourself. There’s lots of representation here too which is wonderful: women in stem, LGBTQ+, female friendships. Just to name a few.

I didn’t vibe as well with Lark as I’d hoped, I found her to be mildly infuriating at times and she did cause a lot of secondhand embarrassment for me. I also didn’t buy into her romance with Toby as much as I’d wished for either, it was cute but honestly, it felt a little strange that a friend had orchestrated an online sexual exchange between Lark and Toby without Lark knowing. But aside from that, this is a fun, amusing, quick read and it does pretty much what it sets out to do.

Marked at DNF at 60%.

Honestly, I wanted to DNF this at 20%. I was really hoping it would get better, and it just didn’t. The main character was very bland in my opinion and did whatever her rude best friend said to do, even if it was the last thing she wanted to do. It’s supposed to be friends to lovers, but Lark and Toby seemed to have no connection at all. I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style or the fact that the texting parts were actual pictures. The reason I gave 2 stars instead of 1 was because of the diverse characters and it including a women in STEM.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC copy.

Lark is a programmer at a tech company where most of her coworkers are highly misogynistic men. When the opportunity to lead a project comes along, Lark jumps on it, desperate to prove herself and finally get the respect she deserves.

Unfortunately, right as she's sharing her screen to pitch her idea to her team, she receives an unsolicited nude picture, which of course, pops up on screen for everyone to see. Lark loses her job and, thanks to her jerk of an ex-boss who blackballs her name, can't find more work. That's when her friend Teagan suggests the idea of sexting for money. Though the idea initially makes Lark uncomfortable, she goes for it. Meanwhile, she's also juggling her relationship with her friend and long-time crush, the newly-single Toby. Things get more complicated when Lark begins to grow close to a mysterious man she meets on her sexting app.

I really loved this story! It was so great to watch how every character experiences growth. The way Lark became more comfortable with her sexuality and grew into her own person was so satisfying, and I loved watching her friendship with Teagan evolve. Speaking of Teagan, I hope she gets her own book in the future because her personality was so fantastic! On the outside, she's happy-go-lucky, but she has this secret heart of gold that we only just scratched the surface of. She really reminds me of a female version of Barney from How I Met Your Mother, and totally stole every scene she was in.

Of course, while I loved the friendship dynamics of the girls, the romance was also a joy with plenty of swoon worthy moments and nerdy references to go around! Not to mention, the spice! I can't wait to read more from this author!

Our main character, Lark, works in the tech industry, and is one of the few women in her company. Like many women in a male-driven environment, she constantly deals with misogynistic comments and harassment on a daily basis. She finally gets an opportunity to progress in her career, but when something goes wrong, she ends up being fired.

Lark’s best friend Teagan suggests that she get into sex work to make some money while on the job hunt- specifically a texting(sexting) app where others pay her for dirty talk and companionship.

The main romance surrounds Lark and her male best friend Toby. Toby recently broke up with his girlfriend, and is rekindling his friendship with Lark. Of course, Lark is also talking to multiple other people on the sexting app, including one that she develops feelings and desire for.

I loved that this book included a bisexual main character, themes of pro-feminism and pro- LGBTQ, features women in STEM, and a side character that is a lesbian. So much diversity and inclusion that many romance novels wouldn’t even dare to include.

This book had all the bones in the right places, but I can only rate it a 3⭐️ because I never truly fell in love with the characters. Teagan was like nails on a chalkboard for me the entire novel. I love a strong, extroverted woman, but she completely crosses the line to annoying and controlling for me. Lark is a pushover and is incapable of any action without someone telling her what to do. And Toby….well I can’t tell you much about him without spoiling the end for you, but I haven’t forgiven all his actions yet.

Overall, this was a fun, lighthearted read that I recommend if you love

💻Women in STEM
📱Unique sexting plot
💕Feminism
🌈Pro LGBTQ+

🔥🔥🔥🔥 This isn't your average romance story, it's spicy, messy and will make you wonder who she is really falling for. Her best guy friend or some stranger that's texting her?

Thank you to NetGalley for supplying me this book for free.
I’m glad that I got this for free, because I would be pissed if I paid for the mediocre carousel ride that I just went on. I understand that this was a friends to lovers story, <spoiler>but if someone I knew violated my privacy like that or was remotely like Teagan? They’d be gone from my life, </spoiler> and that is what is so frustrating about this book because the fmc constantly puts herself through this, especially with her bff! It made the story really hard to enjoy.
Well, that and the constant bashing of sexist men, but what else are you going to fill the book with especially when you’re writing a book where the main character is a sex worker. I hate sexist men just as much as the next woman, but oh my god. Find other things to write about.
I started not liking almost every character by the end of the book and wasn’t rooting for the main couple.
Some of the jokes did hit for me. However, as a zillenial, a lot of them did not.
I like romcoms with unique premises. I’m sorry, this one was not executed well.

I enjoyed the sex-positivity in this book, but unfortunately didn't feel much zing between the main characters.

Also, the text bubbles were really difficult to read :(

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Intriguing, entertaining, fun and even a little bit spicy. Lark’s story was really good to get through. I felt like her very unexpected employment and not so much unexpected relationship with her best friend Toby definitely made my day a little bit brighter. While the plot twist was a bit expected as I see it, the story in itself felt really engaging and fast paced so I didn’t bore myself not one minute.
Toby was absolutely amazing and I easy fell for him from moment one.
The friendship between this very crazy and fun group of women trying to find themselves happy moments and a happy life.
Plus these people (and especially Lark and Toby) are all big nerds like me so … best friends always and forever !!
I loved how this book put the value of understanding each other and speaking freely and openly with each other before anything else to build a good and healthy relationship that can last everywhere in any situation.
I so much appreciated the story as it was presented and I had a really great time reading it !!

Maybe it's because I started reading this book on the day I had a headache and already started and DNFed two other books but I couldn't get into this one either so I stopped reading it at around 10-20 %.
I didn't feel connected to the story, I also didn't love the formatting. The texts in the book were in clouds as you see on your phone but it was also so teeny tiny that you can't see the text at all. It put me off the book because I just wasn't in the mood to zoom in every time and it really puts off your reading experience. So, it is me and maybe some will like it if they can overlook that, personally, I just can't.

I did enjoy this book I really did, it took me a little while to get into it but once I did I flew through it. I laughed at so many points in this book I could relate to Lark so much. Don’t really wanna give too much away, but if it sounds interesting to you go for it. I would deffo recommend

This was such a fun, sex-positive debut from Amber Roberts! Her voice jumps off the page and feels authentic from start to finish. I loved seeing a romance where sex work was treated with such respect by the author and all the characters. It was treated as a legitimate job and seeing Lark come into her own sexuality and grow to love the sexting business was such a great, refreshing arc. Because texting and messaging was such a prevalent part of the story and there were big portions of the book that were focused on them, I was so happy that Text Appeal truly nailed it from language and attitude, to the absolutely amazing screen names for all of Lark's clients.

I can't wait to see what she does next!

TEXT APPEAL is a super fun, voicey romp of a romance that follows Lark, who takes up sexting after she's laid off from her coding job. I loved the feminist undertones of this and getting to watch Lark take more accountability for her life and what she wants while also coming into her own sexuality. I love strong female friendships in romance and a good friends to lovers arc, Toby was a super sweet love interest and I loved getting to see him and Lark re-connecting during the book after drifting apart due to one of his ex-partners.

A delightful, voicey, sex positive romp about an out of work programmer who begins a sexting side hustle to make the ends meet and ends up finding the connection of her life!

Fans of friends to lovers and You’ve Got Mail will enjoy Lark’s journey as she juggles her feelings for the screen name she can’t wait to text back and her BFF she’s suddenly seeing in a new light.

I really enjoyed how Robert’s stayed true to the kinds of messages people receive online. They felt authentic and real (even the scummy ones). I’m glad she didn’t gloss over that dark part of the internet.

This definitely felt like a rom meets women’s fic/commercial crossover so fans of stories that straddle the line will love it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove for providing an ARC in return for an honest review.

“Text Appeal” by Amber Roberts is about a self-taught coder who, trying to make ends meet, takes up sexting with some interesting results.

What I liked - The cover - it’s adorable, it’s cute, and from it you know that somehow computers are going to be involved. And a romance. I also liked some of the geeky references (of course you watch Indiana Jones if it’s playing; and the opinion about the Star Wars films). I also liked Teagan - we all need that one friend who will be organized like crazy, love us like crazy, help us like crazy, and put up with us seemingly no matter what (even if she or he comes across as a Mack truck occasionally). I think the general plot outline was a good one. I liked the representation also.

What was meh - Why name the best friend and the love interest with the same first initial? Yes, Toby and Teagan are different, but I would’ve preferred Colby and Teagan (or Toby and Meghan) in order to quickly keep the two characters apart (especially in scenes involving both characters). Additionally, I don’t know why the text messages in the Kindle version were graphics (which required clicking and expanding to read) opposed to text - rather bothersome especially when reading at night (black on darkish grey difficult to read). I’m not sure there was much tension between Lark and Toby - maybe simmering longing? It kinda fell flat for me. I was also surprised that Lark didn’t come up with faux names for Toby and Teagan - Teagan isn’t a common name, who is to say that the person she was texting to couldn’t’ve done a Google search for Teagan with other clues Lark dropped? Be careful out there folks!

What I didn’t like - Lark’s work experience. I worked in tech about a decade and my partner for about three times that amount. Yes, there are stories about women being discriminated against - but Lark (and the receptionist) would’ve had a case as it was so blatant. Additionally other things regarding her job were just too out there - is there really a “regional no hire list”? And legally no office can give a reference, they can confirm you worked for the company and from when to when & that’s about it. The NDA sounded a lot over the top - while you may not be able to give specifics, you can always give a general summation (I programmed, this many lines of code, did this general thing). And when her boss returned and insisted she work on the program - no way in heck; that was so OTT. And Lark’s justification of the price she charged and wanting going forward was fine, but not how she justified it (“I get paid $3/minute on my other jobs” - I’d’ve said “That’s really odd. Who charges by the minute besides 1-900 folks?”). I also didn’t like how Lark never seemed to take responsibility for things that happened - even when it was pointed out to her (“you told him to tell his friends” … “technically you quit”).

Overall, a 2.5 read, but I’ll round it up to 3 stars as it was slightly better than “okay,” but I do wish the insides of the book had lived up to that adorable cover!

I enjoyed the premise and the idea of a sex positive book putting a nice positive spin on sex workers and providing a new POV of the struggles of women in the workplace, however this was not what I expected. The writing was good and the book opened well but it dragged on for a while before the actual plot gets going and once it did I didn't feel the chemistry between the characters and felt the FMC was too awkward and uncomfortable about the topic of sex for the story to even make sense. I feel like I am in the minority for not enjoying this so a lot of people will definitely enjoy this but it wasn't for me.

The pace was off and the entire story dragged. Some awful amount of time is set to establish any kind of connection between the main couple. The sex worker plot was introduced after what I felt was a much convoluted narrative around Lark's toxic place of employment.

I liked some of the sexting aspect as Lark was trying to navigate her newfound sex worker skills but most it felt pretty random and added nothing to the story. All the while nothing was really happening with Toby.

I enjoyed what I was able to read of it, but unfortunately I was not able to finish it due to some formatting issues with the pictures embedded in in the novel. From what I was able to read, I think it will be a very enjoyable novel.

Text Appeal balances a plot too ridiculous to be true, while still being relatable to the point of well-targeted second-hand-cringe. There were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and times when I had to put the kindle down from anxiety. (I'm a laughably empathetic reader and cringe is my kryptonite.)

When an unfortunate string of patriarchy-lead events causes Lark to lose her tech job, her friends help her get into sexting for pay - regardless of her sexual inexperience and crippling embarrassment. At the same time, her friend and long-time crush Toby is finally single at the same time as her, and they spend a lot of time dancing around each other - building up an almost frustrating amount of tension for everyone involved - including the reader.

This story has a lot of elements that folks in their 20s and 30s can identify with: online dating, apps, unsolicited pictures, dreams not working out, toxic work culture, and the casual everyday experiences of misogyny and prejudices based on sexual orientation.

The inherently spicy content ranges across all spectrums of cringe, amusing, and sexy. The topic of sex and being a sexual person is well validated and humanized in a way that a lot of readers can appreciate.