I have really enjoyed the last two books I have read by MacLeod. There is something witty and relatable about her characters.

Take this one for example. Poppy has, for a long time, felt like the family misfit. Her mother has made no bones about being ashamed of the fact that her daughter is a sex therapist - though that is a whole misunderstanding that I feel would spoil something by revealing.

Sacrificing a full week of holiday to spend time with her family in Cornwall as her youngest sister is getting married, and she is not looking forward to the event at all. The thought of being with all these judgemental people who make her feel less than is not at all appealing - and you can totally understand why.

Of course, it starts with her being almost late for the first night because of traffic and other events outside of her control, but her mother is on her immediately.

As the black sheep myself, I can identify with a lot of what Poppy feels as she tries her best to make the most of the time away from work and solving other people’s problems. But as the week goes on you see her family opening up to her more, including the sister she always struggled to get on with, Rose. She offers her family advice, comfort and support and this building of relationships is exactly what they all needed.

Sam…oh Sam is the light of the book in my view. Poppy isn’t really looking for a relationship, but he manages to show her that he’s not just in it for a one-night stand, though there were a few moments when I felt a bit of dread he was going to prove to be just like feckless Stuart - the younger brother of her sister Lily’s fiance, Dan.

We get a wide array of characters in the book, from Poppy’s parents to Rose’s children who are 10 and 6. And wow, if these are the sort of things that kids are doing now, what the heck is up with their parents? The whole conversation that Poppy had with her 10-year-old niece, Olivia about sex was terrifying!

If there is one thing I had to pull out and say I wasn’t 100% happy about, it’s the abrupt ending. This does seem like a MacLeod thing as I have noticed it in previous books. I would like a bit of closure, rather than a fade to black, but I guess that’s a personal thing.

I was really excited to read this book. It started off well with describing Poppy's job and all but I think it really is what the title describes it to be because there was no romance in the beginning or first half of the book. But I would like to thank you for the knowledge I got on female anatomy from this book.

A nice beach read, perfect book if your not looking for too much romance, this book focuses more on family interactions. I loved the FMC Poppy she is quite hilarious and relatable. The family dynamics were interesting and there is quite some family drama. I loved the character development within the family and Poppy. I enjoyed the sex therapist aspects of the book. The only thing I did not like in this book was the snarky comments Poppy’s mother made about her profession (it irritated me) and the overly descriptive paragraphs as they would throw me off sometimes. Highly recommend you give this a read 🙌🏻

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for sharing this novel with me. I appreciate it 💕

Single Sex Therapist Poppy had been invited to her younger sisters wedding in Cornwall. She is also required to share a house for the week with her parents and siblings. Poppy is usually the black sheep when it comes to her family. The week takes many twists and turns and after her sisters wedding, her relationships have all seemed to have changed.

This is a delightful rom-com, packed with everything required for a light and airy read. From the first chapter of the book I was invested in how the story was going to turn out.

Phoebe Macleod, is able to capture the reader into her writing very easily. Her characters in this book are very easily relatable to most kinds of people and I'm sure anyone reading would be able to connect with them.

I really enjoyed this book, it was sweet and light hearted. It's a wonderful rom-com which isn't actually a rom-com.

An (Un)Romantic Comedy may be my first read by Phoebe MacLeod, but it will not be my last. The story reminded me a little of The Family Stone with the complex family dynamic. It follows Poppy, who is a 33-year-old sex and relationship therapist, which immediately caught my attention as a reader since this is not a career I usually read about for a character. As the seemingly black sheep of her family, Poppy is about to face them as a group when she is with them leading up to her younger sister’s (Lily) wedding in Cornwall.

Poppy’s family was full of unique characters where some were more likable than others. Poppy’s mother was the least likable of the bunch, but her role in the story is essential as it does help to create some great character development and plot. There is a lot going on with the family as it seems each secondary character was going through a lot. As the cast of characters is large, it did take a bit to try and keep everyone in order. There are not only Poppy and her mom, but she also has her siblings, Rose, Lily, and Andrew, plus her extended family that includes nieces/nephews.

As for the romance, it plays out more in the background when Poppy meets Sam, a surfer and single father of Jessie. The two characters did have good chemistry and shared a connection, but there is not a lot of page time for the reader to also connect to it. For me, an epilogue or maybe a few extra pages in the main story would have helped this element of the story. Given the title, it does deliver on a romance that is not a romance. The story itself was a fun and light-hearted read that went by quickly in a good way. There was some difficulty balancing between the family dynamics side and the romance, which I wish was done with a little more care. Overall, this was a fun read and a great introduction to the author.

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

This has to be my favourite Phoebe MacLeod book to date.

The only small issue I had was the timing as it felt longer than 6 days but that actually worked for this book as it is about getting caught up in attraction while on holiday and another phone issue conflict (which I didn't enjoy).

I love all the characters and their different personalities. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Poppy mend and build a better relationship with her parents and sisters. I love how supportive she is even when they are cruel to her. Her love for them - even though she hates them you can see she loves them dearly inside. The pacing of the romance was so well done in this book. But overall I love how educational the book is as Poppy uses her profession to help those around her. A good mix of romance, comedy and familial love - definitely recommend (especially since its so easy to read I finished it in a couple hours).

Phoebe MacLeod is slowly becoming an insta buy author for me.

This is my first book by the author. The cover and title were the first thing to catch my interest then the blurb really had me curious!

Poppy is the central character in the story of a dysfunctional family sharing a holiday house together in the week leading up to the youngest child's wedding. Poppy is happy to attend her sisters upcoming wedding but is dreading the week with her family. What follows are the usual sibling arguments interspersed with relationship growth as the siblings spend some time together as adults. A massive misunderstanding is cleared up between Poppy and her mother that leads to some healing. Add into the mix a holiday fling that feels like it could be more and Poppy has a week full of frustration, anger, laughter, love, lessons and learning.

This is all wrapped up in humour and is a light and easy story to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading more from the author.

Read this book if you like:
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 family drama
💁🏼‍♀️ a very self aware female MC
🤍 romantic comedies
✨ a light, easy read

What I loved:
Poppy’s commentary about her family throughout the book is honestly hilarious. You can relate and feel exactly how she’s feeling heading to her youngest sisters wedding and having to deal with her family dynamics. She seems to be the most level headed of all her family members and yet they judge her for her career choice. I giggled a lot just at the simple fact that this family was SO quirky!

What I didn’t love:
Truly I feel like there was more character development than there was plot. While I enjoyed the lightness of this book it did feel a little flat for me - I needed more drama or some turmoil! That being said I did really enjoy reading all the British jargon (as a Canadian) and I definitely need to read more books from British authors!

I didn’t like anything about this book.

The first several pages focus on the FMC, giving a counseling session to a couple about their sex life. There’s nothing wrong with that if it was done right, which I don’t think it was. It could have helped to give us an understanding of the character and what she does, but it was taken too far. We did not need an entire chapter, several pages detailing their entire counseling session. Just a couple pages or a couple paragraphs would’ve been perfect to get the content across without being too much. It just made it really cringy and turned me off at the entire book.

A book should have a good strong start, but this just lost all interest for me. I couldn’t even go in reading if this is the kind of writing the author does

This is a delightful gem from beginning to end. I have been captivated and completely unwilling to put this one down.

In this book we meet Poppy who is getting ready to navigate a week of family get together a for her sister's wedding. Now we all know how stressful this can be. However for Poppy this is even worse because Poppy, well Poppy is a sex therapist. Her family completely do not understand her at all. Poppy constantly bickers with her sister. So things are not good at all. But then Poppy meets Sam.

I really liked Poppy and the way that she stood up for herself. I loved the romance element and how she got around the family dynamics too.

Such a great storyline with a strong female lead.

This book was super adorable and I finished it in one day! If you’re looking for a fast and cute romcom, look no further!

An (Un) Romantic Comedy follows the story of Poppy as she navigates a week with her family ahead of her little sister's wedding. Now, I get that a week with your family as an adult isn't the dream vacation we all would hope for - but for Poppy it is the worst case scenario. As a sex therapist, she is wildly misunderstood by her mother and is constantly bickering with her sister and is trying to balance all of this while making it through the week. Until - Poppy meets Sam. Another romantic tale of boy meets girl, and we get to watch as they figure out what to do about the attraction between them. While the book is incredibly lighthearted and the story is good, it also manages to tackle some really difficult topics gracefully and respectfully all the way through the book. The way that Poppy's job as a sex therapist is discuss was amazing as we get to see the real benefits of her practice, as well as tackle some of the misconceptions that most people would have about her profession. Seeing Poppy stand up for herself and her job was my favorite part of the book. With a satisfying ending that I adored, I was able to finish this book in no time and enjoyed every minute of it.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Phoebe MacLeod for this eARC of An (Un) Romantic Comedy in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

The (Un)Romantic Comedy had a great premise. Some really good characters (Rose was weirdly likeable. Don't ask me how or why). It would have been an enjoyable read if not for the storytelling part. I struggled with seamlessly falling into the story because the events just felt artificial at times. But there were some very genuine moments which made me feel all warm and fuzzy. The times when Poppy reconnected with her family so very unconventionally but still so strongly. (Poppy was the definition of a cool aunt.) Not only was this a work of fiction, to me, it was so very informational too. There were a lot of things I picked up and I'm happy to find romance books focusing on sex ed. I was hoping to see more of Poppy and Sam, but it was deceivingly less throughout the book.

Thank you Netgalley and Boldwood books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well, I unexpectedly loved this book. I simply could not stop reading it; I kept saying just one more chapter until I finally gave up and just decided to finish the whole book, sleep be damned. The characters were so great and the therapy info was so on point. More importantly, everything was realistic.

I enjoyed this book it’s a lovely light hearted funny book. I loved the characters they were fun and interesting. Would definitely recommend

Thank you NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The (Un)Romantic Comedy felt like a Hallmark movie + The Family Stone all wrapped into one. It honestly reminded me how much I loved The Family Stone back in the day. I think it helped that I read the reviews ahead of time, so I knew not to expect a lot of romance. Most of the story focuses on Poppy, a 33 year old sex therapist, and her relationship with her family and her perceptions about her own jobs. While they are away for a week getting ready for her youngest sister's wedding, Poppy gives advice to many of her family members related to her job.

Although I am an only child, I still felt the book was very relatable. The siblings all had their unique quirks. I have to admit that the sister in law, Zoe, was probably my favorite character. MacLeod did a fantastic job developing each character. I also think the plot was perfectly paced. My only complaint is I was hoping for a different ending given the title, which is probably an unpopular opinion.

If you are looking for a light and easy read, family drama, some romance, and unwarranted sex advice, then this is the novel for you!

This was not the story I expected. Some of the story was too cliche. I did not warm to the main character Poppy. She was good at her job. Just did not hit the mark. We all know families are tricky and a week in a massive house in Cornwall would be interesting. A pleasant read

1.25/5 stars! As a therapist, I was excited by the premise of this story. I was also curious how it would play out as the premise mentions Poppy using her professional skills on her family, which is not a thing ethical therapists do due to multiple relationships. So those were my thoughts heading into this story. This book was not well structured, with overly descriptive paragraphs constantly distracting the reader. And the description of what therapists really do and how they do it was not accurate. Unfortunately, this was a no for me.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

3.5 stars. If I ranked this book as a romance, it would get 3* at best, since the romantic relationship is pretty scarce in the book. So much potential that got lost in all the other stuff. If I ranked this as a chick-lit story, I would maybe give it 4*, but some of the good stuff got lost in describing pragmatic things in life (do we need a paragraph describing taking the cat to the boarding kennel or loading the dishwasher? NO). The family dynamics was interesting, and Poppy dealt with them well, but, I'm still puzzled why such nasty unpleasant people should get such easy let offs. There were a few funny parts, which I liked. Overall, a decent beach read, but don't be expecting romance or open door scenes. *I received an ARC of this book and this is my voluntary and honest review.