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Member Reviews

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Okay, I'll admit, this was an easy quick read. I wasn't fully committed to the story though. There was a lot of protentional, but it just felt like there was too much going on.

I am a sucker for stories where he falls first, and Elijah totally fell first! But the whole romantic side of this story felt forced. The mystery side felt a little under developed and the whole reason why the "bad person" does what they do was just... "whhhaaaatttt???"

It was an easy read, perfect for a travel day or day at the beach - but I wasn't instantly sucked in... I actually kind of forgot I read this book and started re-reading it... whoops.

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I enjoyed reading this, though it wasn’t my absolute favorite I think the plot had so much potential to be an amazing book, it just lacked a little bit. This book had a good mix of rom-com, enemies to lovers, slow burn, forced proximity, a little suspense, which are all things i love and personally seek out in books that i read, but it also had a slight insta-love element that i did not love. Overall, i was invested in the story and would have loved to read more about our characters in an extended epilogue. I would definitely recommend this to someone who is looking for a light easy to follow romance with thriller/suspense elements.

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This was an enjoyable romance, even if it was predictable.

The mystery running in the back ground of the story gave it an added edge.

The characters were well developed and there were some laugh out loud moments.

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Autumn is a musical prodigy who suffered an accident a decade ago as a teen and still managed with chronic pain. She is now preparing to go on tour and for her first solo when Elijah suddenly appears. He begins moving in to share her home temporarily. He’s there for a short time on business with his gaming company. A tidbit her landlord friend forgot to mention and okay with her prior.

She’s grumpy and used to order, he’s sunshiney and their banter is humorous. It’s easy to see he falls for her rather quickly and she takes a bit to warm up to it. It’s some forced proximity that brings them together ultimately. In the meantime she’s preparing for her solo and busy when it’s discovered by Elijah she’s had some stalker-like activity the last few years she’s brushed under the rug. Mysterious roses and notes appearing with the last one a possible threat. Elijah insists on talking to police.

There is some mystery here, but not enough angst to cause sleepless anxiety to the reader. The spice is pretty low key. The primary plot and little twists kept me engaged. The writing is really good and the pacing is good although maybe a little fast with the romance. There wasn’t too much build up between them. I really liked Elijah and Autumn and felt like their backstories developed them. I’d like to get to know them a little more, but it moved rather quickly.

I read the digital arc copy from Netgalley but would love a physical copy. The cover is stunning! Thank you to Netgalley, CallaghanWrites independent publishing and Author Kate Callaghan for the opportunity to read and give an honest review. Reviews left on Netgalley, goodreads, Amazon, tiktok, Instagram and Facebook
#NetGalley #MsPerfectlyFine

Publish Date June 8, 2023

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So I didn't know this was technically a romance suspense book. If I had known that, then I wouldn't have been so put off when it took that dark turn.

I really enjoyed Autumn's chronic illness aspect. I liked that she was private, that she had a routine that needn't be disrupted. I could relate to that much. Elijah was cute, a bit of a jerk at times, but he was tolerable.

However...

Everything just felt so forced. Their attraction felt forced. The reason they had to live together felt forced. Her accident felt forced. None of it felt natural the way a romance should be. They hated each other one chapter, then the next they're like obsessed with each other. The beginning started off so slowly... and then it picked up out of nowhere, and then the next thing you know Nina is trying to kill Autumn, meanwhile I was absolutely confused and shocked. And a random stranger coming to live in your house? I would have gone to a hotel for the night.

this would have been better off without the suspense/homicidal bff subplot. There were so many other things to explore—her parents and why they never went to her shows, Elijah's relationship with his dad and that whole backstory. I feel like the worst parts were what were focused on.

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Ms. Perfectly Fine was not for me.

I will preface by saying - I didn`t realize it was a YA book - and did spend most of the time reading thinking it felt like a YA novel. While I usually do enjoy the genre, this one felt like the writing lacked maturity and was repetitive.

While I always appreciate a book that represents characters that need to be represented (so that those of us that don't live that experience can better understand their reality) - this story felt like too many things were being thrown at it.

Rather than have a stalker aspect to the story - perhaps the incident in the beginning of the book could have served as the "mystery/thriller" part of the story. Because the stalker part just didn't feel like it was working for me.

I appreciate that Netgalley provided me with an advanced copy in return for my honest review. I don't think I was the target audience - the story felt a little too superficial and didn't catch my attention in a way that kept me reading.

Apologies for the negative review.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC copy.

This was a lovely fun and easy read! A cute heart-warming romance that i thoughrly enjoyed.

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I am struggling a bit to give this book an accurate star rating. Mostly because I loved the love story between the two character and I am a SUCKER for the guy falls first trope but... everything happened at 500 miles per hour.

The person who think could be the villain is introduced way early on and the author makes it so obvious this person is fishy that you know its too obvious to be them. Then you are immediately suspicious of the other person who it does end up becoming.

The romance kicks off within minutes of them meeting. Like way too quick for comfort but they are soo cute I try and let that slide.

Heather's "reasoning" for her name change, sus actions etc are incredibly weak and the best friend's motives are petty at best. I cant even remember her name I was honestly eye rolling so hard at most of her time "on screen". Side note, was Garrett necessary to the story at all?!

Despite all of this and never being 100% sure where the book was taking place (I assumed Europe somewhere since Euros were mentioned a few times) the book was enjoyable and cute and full of Romance tropes. An enjoyable, quick, read overall but I probably would not read again.

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🦋 Autumn is a pianist. She is coming back on stage after 10 years. She lives alone in a house rented by her uncle Tim.

🦋 An incident 10 years ago has left physical as well as emotional scars in Autumn's life. Because of which Autumn prefers to stay alone.

🦋 One day Suddenly Autumn has an invader named Elijah in her house and she is forced to share the house with him.

🦋 Elijah is a game developer, He needs a place to stay as he is moved into this city for business purposes.

🦋 Elijah has his own secrets from his past.

Does Autumn let Elijah live in the same house? Will Elijah make peace with his past? Will Autumn be able to perform on stage after 10 years again?


A sweet love story with a dash of suspense. The story flows well, starting with a past memory and then the present with a suspenseful climax. Autumn's pain shown heart-wrenching. Elijah is adorable. Love it when Elijah says " I am always here" and " you are not getting rid of me now or ever" . The banter between the two was fun and entertaining. Though the climax was predictable I enjoyed reading it. Overall a good read.

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I absolutely loved it! It drew me in from the beginning. Autumns character is well written. From being independent and broken to stubborn and work driven. Elijah’s amazing! The way he helps and care for autumn even from a distance!

I was pleased with this one!

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This story has a little but of everything and it makes it such a fab read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be reccomending it.

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Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing this ARC for review. All opinions are my own.

The saying don't judge a book by its cover has never been more apt. Judging by the cute cover I thought this was a romantic comedy, I was shocked by the prologue and realised this was in fact romantic suspense. I liked the prologue but I found the book to be really slow going. I didn't find the forced proximity set up to credible - your landlord can't just sublet your place, even if you don't have a written agreement. A better set up would have been if Autumn was renting half of the house and the landlord had never rented out the remainder and then one day he had but not she was renting the whole house and the landlord, who we're told is super wealthy rents out half the house to some guy. Both the landlord and guy - Elijah seemed like jerks for this. and having other random character's tell Autumn she was being unreasonable didn't change my opinion.

Elijah came across as jerkish, immature and petty. There was no compelling reason why he needed to be sharing the house with Autumn except the plot demanded it. The landlord was wealthy and would have been able to put him elsewhere, he also could have stayed with his mother.

Because I didn't like the Hero, I wasn't really into the romance. The suspense part was slightly more interesting but ultimately this book wasn't for me.

It was fairly well written and if you like books with a blend of romance and suspense this may well be the book for you.

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Loved the set up, and didn't realize by the cover this was gonna be a little mystery and a bit suspenseful! The characters are cute, there is some spice, nothing super crazy but it is there and its easy to skip if you prefer no spice. The relationships between characters were well done, and definitely a good summer read, if you like a mix of romance and mystery. Would pick up a hard copy for sure! 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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This book started out soooo slow. I was nearly ready to give up. But then it got interesting about a quarter of the way in and I had high hopes. However, the last half of the book was just not very good. It was too sappy… I love a romance, but I often found myself rolling my eyes. 😂 I think characters need flaws and things that make them interesting. Elija was too perfect and agreeable. Also I think they fell for each other waaay too fast. There needed to be more of a build up, more of a burn. The relationship between them while fun, seemed too rushed and unrealistic. The suspenseful story surrounding them fell flat for me. The dialogue between the characters was also just flat, boring, and scripted. There just wasn’t enough friction.

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Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an advance reader's copy of this book. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

I truly did enjoy this book. I had a fun time reading it, and I would definitely recommend it. Although it had a bit of a slow start, I soon found it to be entertaining and engaging. Elijah was very sweet by the end of the book, and I was definitely rooting for their romance. I appreciated how the book didn't just focus on the romance, but also focused on Autumn's friendship and life apart from Elijah. Also, the chronic pain representation was very important and educational. (And I loved the Taylor Swift references.)

However, there are a few bones I have to pick with it.

Firstly - at the beginning of the story, both Autumn and Elijah are extremely unlikeable. While Autumn's irritation is understandable, Elijah often comes off as petty and immature. He is shockingly inconsiderate, and doesn't seem to realize that his arrival is nothing but a massive inconvenience in Autumn's life. So many boundaries are crossed - Elijah picking Autumn up when they barely know each other? Elijah eating Autumn's pre-prepared food without asking? Autumn using Elijah's bank card without asking? While they did eventually apologize for these things, I still felt like they, as adults, should know better. By the end, Elijah had become much more understanding and caring, which was a relief.

Secondly, I did not find the initial romantic tension to be believable. They fell in love entirely too quickly for an enemies-to-lovers book, and so much of their initial "love" seemed to be solely based on physical attraction. However, I did appreciate how they did eventually connect emotionally and truly learned to care for each other.

Thirdly, the writing felt unpolished. Many sentences - especially dialogue - felt stilted, and it made it rather hard to read the book at times. The conclusion was also written in an underwhelming way.

One final comment - neither good nor bad, just neutral - I hated Nina from the beginning. It seemed very clear to me that she was a false friend, and I was, indeed, correct.

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I quite literally do not know how to express how much I enjoyed this book. Enemies to lovers? Check. He falls first? check. Hates everyone but you? Check. A suspenseful tale of forced proximity with chronic pain rep, a VERY stubborn FMC, and no third act breakup, which is always a score for me! I can't wait to get a trophy copy for my collection!

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If you want to escape from reality for some time, i’d recommend you this book. I laughing and cried and gasped trough out the whole book.
Autumn tries to recover and come back to stage and live after her accident. And that’s all ahe wanted to concentrate on but
she never expected her landlord to rent out one of the apartments of her townhouse to Elijah. However Autumn refuses to give it up and Elijah is equally stubborn.
It’s a cute enemies-to-lover trope

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Let's talk about this cover - STUNNING! Super cute! The cover and the book's description really caught my attention at first!

Autumn and Elijah are forced to live together while Autumn has been alone for a while. I enjoyed Elijah's personality and energy in trying to get Autumn to like him, but sadly, I wasn't connecting with Autumn. Autumn was just fine. I do love a good banter, though!

I was really drawn to the mystery plot of the story, but after reading it, it felt like so much was going on; maybe it wasn't needed. And lastly, in the beginning, this grumpy sunshine is going on with the relationship, but within a few chapters, they are in love. I felt this could have been drawn out a bit more because it seemed quick for me.

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I should start by saying that the book was not all bad. If you enjoy a quick and easy book that requires little thought, then this is a great book for that. You might like this if you just want a book that you can get through in just a couple days.

Unfortunately, however, there are quite a few criticisms I have for this book, and it all starts with the beginning when a man moves into a woman's house, she doesn't verify that he is supposed to be there with anyone, and just leaves him there and goes to practice like it's not a big deal. First of all, renters have rights. A landlord cannot do what was done here legally, and even if he could, she still didn't even know that the landlord had actually done the thing to begin with because she never actually verified it.

I won't go into spoilers; however, I don't think avoiding them will much matter if you decide to pick up the book because everything is exactly as it seems from start to finish. The "love" moves far too quickly, the characters treat each other terribly, the dialogue is not believable, and the explanations are far too heavy-handed for my taste. A little subtlety and trust in the audience to be able to pick up on clues would have gone a long way with this read.

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🎹Ms Perfectly Fine🎹 by Kate Callaghan - Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Omg. I LOVED this book. If you’re looking for a fab summer romance with a hint of thriller, this is for you!

Tropes:

🔥Grumpy (Her) x Sunshine (Him)
❤️He falls first and harder
🌹Hates everyone but you
😈Forced Proximity
🥀Suspense
💋Enemies To Lovers
🌞Healing
🥺Chronic Pain

I will admit, some of the romance aspects felt a little rushed, and Elijah really did act like a dick considering he’s literally just barged into this poor woman’s home and moved her things without telling her but I’ll forgive him because he’s a sweetie. Autumn is a delight and I adored how she was just so petty, even when she decided she maybe didn’t hate Elijah after all 👀

But it was the thriller aspect of this novel that gripped me: who is leaving Autumn cryptic and threatening messages in the form of roses? I’ll admit, I absolutely thought I knew how it was and why they were doing it and my kindle notes are congratulating myself on being so very clever, but needless to say I was DEAD WRONG.

A really good summer read, highly recommend!

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