This book had a really cute premise, and I identified with Rachel's struggles. I wasn't super invested in the overall plot unfortunately, which made this a little difficult for me to finish.

However, the audio narration was very well done. Both leads had distinct voices that made it enjoyable to listen to. I also really enjoyed Lisa Lin's writing style and would happily read something by her again. Perhaps this one just wasn't for me!

When Rachel is transferred across country to head up a new team for work, she is given a warning. Learn how to effectively manage her new team or there won’t be a job for her to come back to. Unfortunately, Rachel has never found human interactions all that easy. So when she meets a guy in a bar that has southern charm to spare, they come up with a deal to help her connect with her team.

I listened to this on audiobook and I didn’t really enjoy the voice artist. She was kind of robotic and stilted in a way that didn’t allow me to get into the story. With the voice mixed in with the already socially awkward character just made it a bit too much, especially because she read both POV’s. I could not handle the Texas accent, it was hilarious.

I think that even if you take away my aversion to the voice artist, the story also felt a bit underwhelming. I didn’t feel much chemistry between the two MCs and even the 3rd act breakup was all a little, meh.
Though I will say, I always enjoy reading about the Asian diaspora and I did enjoy the female relationships within the book.

Thanks to #NetGallery and the publisher. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Genre: Romance
Format: Audio
POV: Dual
Spice: 🌶️.5 /5
Age suggestion: 18+

I'm a little late to this review but thank you to Dreamscape Media for this ARC audiobook via NetGalley.

I didn't know when I was reading this book that it was the second book in the series. But it was just fine as a standalone read.

This story is about Rachel, a more than socially awkward women, who enlists the help of Luke, a man she meets at a bar and has a one night stand with, for help improving her social and networking skills to keep her promotion at work.

The book is cute and easy to follow along from both of the characters' perspectives. Rachel has a low self esteem and Luke thinks Rachel is so perfect she deserves more than where he currently is in life. I feel like Rachel has been gaslighted by her family her entire life into thinking she'll never measure up or be wanted by anyone. Her awkwardness and social miscues were often made the main focus of the book and I feel like it made the romance of the story take a back seat. I wasn't Luke's biggest fan. I feel like the decision to be together was ultimately on his terms because he needed it to be the way he pictured it in his head. But a cute story overall if you are looking for a quick read.

Very cute story line. It look a little bit to get used to the writing style, so it felt a kind of sow in some parts. The character interactions really kept this one alive, for me. That being said, I would be willing to give this author another chance.

🌟Review Post🌟
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The Rachel Experiment by Lisa Lin
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Synopsis (from Storygraph):
As a financial analyst, Rachel Bai is more comfortable with numbers than people. When her boss promotes her to head a team in San Francisco, his message is clear—she has one year to build a successful team and become an effective leader. Rachel sets out to discover how to be more comfortable interacting with people, but a drunken night meant for research results in a mechanical bull ride and a one-night stand with a sexy stranger—definitely not part of her plan.
Attorney Luke Trudeau is intrigued by the mysterious woman who’s determined to put their night together firmly in her rearview mirror. So when Luke sees Rachel again, he proposes a deal: he’ll smooth out her rough social edges and teach her to charm clients if she’ll help him devise a financial plan to open his own practice.
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I listened to this on audio and loved the narration. The two different main characters were portrayed very well, as were the supporting characters. I loved the way Rachel and Luke’s relationship started and how it blossomed. However, I just found so many of the characters unlikable. Rachel, the main character just simply annoyed me. I found her whiny and unwilling to take responsibilities for her actions. Also, her family was the worst. There was so much guilt tripping, especially regarding her sister’s wedding and they tore her down so much. I’m honestly super impressed that Rachel didn’t lose her cool with her family over how rude they were to her! Luke and Rachel’s friend, Cecily, were my favorite characters. Also, this is the second book in the series, but I didn’t know that and read it as a stand-alone.
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Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Rachel Experiment is the second book in Lisa Lin’s From Sunset Park With Love debut series. Rachel Bai is great with numbers, patterns, cost analysis, statistics, and oversight. However, her people skills are less than stellar. Her company is sending her to San Francisco to lead a five person team. However, this promotion is provisional and her job in New York will not be waiting for her should she need it to be.
As Rachel settles in to her new apartment in San Francisco she decides to take a break and takes herself to a local pub where she meets lanky Texan and San Francisco attorney Luke Trudeau. The awkward Rachel ends up in an overnight excursion with Luke, leaving his apartment while he is still sleeping expecting to never see him again.
A few weeks later when attending a birthday party for her old neighborhood frenemy Cecily’s friend Adriane’s at a winery, who does Rachel encounter but Luke. As the two talk, they come to an agreement whereby he will help her with her people skills and she will help him with data and information regarding opening his own law firm.
The reader will enjoy the resulting relationship that develops between Rachel and Luke, with their friends, their colleagues, and their families. This is such a laugh out loud romcom! One of the best I’ve read. I loved the well drawn characters, the snarky and witty conversations, and the evolving relationships Rachel is able to make, perhaps surprising herself the most. I very much enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

Thanks NetGalley for this free book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Okay imagine that Spanish Love Deception and The Kiss Quotient had a less spicy baby written by someone more like Sarah Adams. I don’t think this book is for everyone, however I thought it was delightful.

Rachel was a socially awkward financial analyst who moves across the county for a promotion. She is nervous because this job is more “social” and on the night before her first day she ends up at a Texas style bar. She meets Luke, a southern charmer who is the best kind of golden retriever. They have a one night stand, and Rachel leaves hoping to never see him again.

They end up meeting up again, and decide they both can help each other. Luke will help her socially, and she can help him set up his own business. They grow close, and he attends her sisters wedding with her.

I was curious if our FMC was neurodivergent, but it was never mentioned. They played it off as social awkward, but the lack of picking up on any social cues seems like more. I think mentioning she was neurodivergent would have solidified the fifth star for me. It at times felt emotionless but overall a super adorable quick read.

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Spice: 🌶️

3.5⭐, 2🌶️

This wasn't as enjoying of a book as the first one in my opinion. Rachels' character is so unique, and while I loved her intelligence and learning to basically become friends with adults, her romantic relationship with Luke had no chemistry and didn't seen that realistic. Overall, its a solid book that was nice to read as an audiobook, but I'm not sure if I could have made it through reading to book on my kindle or anything.

So the narrator. Kat does a great job with Rachels character, but I wasn't a fan of her accent she used for Luke. The Texas twang was just to cringy for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for and ALC of The Rachel Experiment, by Lisa Lin, narrated by Kat Riley. This is my honest review!

I wanted to love this a little more than I did. I didn't feel the full chemistry between the characters that I had wished for. A solid 3 star romance and fun listen.

It was cute! A socially awkward Asian American analyst meets a Texan defence lawyer. They both have work to do on themselves and are determined. I had hoped for more depth but it was still a nice listen to pass the time.

🎧The narrator was pretty good with distinct voice for different characters. The Dreamscape audio production was great as always!

If you’re looking for a cutesy romcom give it a try!

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape for the audiobook ARC✨

Awesome book! It was so nice to be able to folow the love story of Rachel and Luke. Everything about this book makes it worth the listen! The attraction from the one night stand hookup, the humor, and their parents made this a great listen. Can't wait to listen to the next read from Lisa Lin.

I did not realize that this was the second book in a 'series' and luckily it did not matter. The books both stand on their own and follow completely different stories. The first book (which I haven't read) follows Cecily Chang. This one follows Cecily's friend Rachel Bai who is smart with numbers but not with people and Lude Trudeau a lawyer from Texas who is the opposite of Rachel

This could be a great story about an inter-racial couple who embrace each other's cultures and learn about their families and what not. It wasn't, there were brief blurbs about it but that's not at all what the story is about. This couple is learning about one another over several months as they make a pact to help each other with their deficits. By helping one anther they are able to navigate their worlds on their own and grow as people. Now was there a whole lot of great character development? No not really, it was mostly a socially awkward young lady who has no self-confidence and has a family that doesn't communicate well. This makes Rachel insecure in her life and she doubts every thing she does. I would not say that the story has a lot of substance, but it is fun.

The narration really didn't do it for me. I think the narrator was ok, but her spin at the male characters (especially the Texas character) were lacking. Also, if you're from a big city in Texas you are not generally going to have a thick southern accent, we are too big of a melting pot in the urban areas. That isn't the same in the more rural areas though. Anyway, I was not in love with the narration and it did not keep me intrigued in the story.

This is a fun romance book and a quick read, you have more of a slow-burn romance with very minimal spicy parts. You also kind of have the opposites attract vibe with friends who are there until the end. Not a bad weekend read.

What a great story! I loved the characters that @laforesta1 created.

Rachel gets a promotion at her job, sending her from NYC to California. She is extremely smart and talented, but just as equally socially awkward, and not good at interacting with others. Her boss gives her an ultimatum - successfully lead her new team or she may not have a future in her role. Lucky for her she meets a southern gentleman named Luke who is very good at interacting with others who is will to help her learn how to lead in exchange for assistance in opening his own law firm. She agrees.

I loved Rachel’s character - I found her to be SO relatable and I was rooting for her the entirety of the story. I wanted her to succeed so badly!

The narrator of this book was great - she did a fantastic job with both Rachel’s voice, along with Luke’s! I always enjoy when I can differentiate between characters by the narration, and this one did an exceptional job with it (in my opinion). I would definitely recommend this to my book besties! I can’t wait to read the other book I found written by this author :)

I really wanted to like this but it just fell flat for me and I had a hard time really getting drawn in.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to experience this eARC!

I struggled to stay focused, and almost DNFd more than once.

2.5 ⭐️, rounded up


Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book isn’t for me at this time. The story seems like it has potential, but I do not like the way the narrator is telling the story. It makes the story dull and I’m not feeling the emotion. She makes the characters sound whiney.

I hope to have time to read the book in the future.

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

I feel like this story was really promising, but was a letdown. It felt like a first draft that needed improvements - I'd love to read more from this author as she finds her footing. I had a really hard time listening as well, the narrator was enjoyable other than for differentiating the male voice, the Texas accent didn't seem comfortable for her.

It seems to me the author was skirting around not having to mention a diagnosis for Rachel, and would've been much more relatable if a neurodivergence or mental health diagnoses was mentioned. It seems to be a story with great autism representation if they'd blatantly mention it to understand Rachel's struggles.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this ALC

I really enjoyed the Rachel Experiment on audiobook, even more than the first book actually. I found this one to have better character development and background stories and stronger friendships.

Rachel is an expert in her work, but not so much with people. Luke is an expert with people, but not fulfilled by his work. When the two strangers meet in a bar by chance, Rachel thinks this is the perfect opportunity to do something she never would, after all it is a stranger. But, as fate would have it, they meet again at a mutual friends party. The two realize they both have something to offer one another and make an agreement to help each other out. In this opposites attract novel, you'll find yourself loving the difference between the two characters filling in what the other lacks in. I also really enjoyed reading Rachels character development in general. I love seeing the FMC find themselves and this definitely delivered in that aspect.

I really enjoyed listening to this on audio, at first the reader using a fake country accent for the MMC really threw me off and I wasn't a fan, but the more I listened the less it bothered me and it really became more natural. This is written in single POV 3rd person with one reader.

I found this book to be similar to The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. I would also recommend to fans of Chloe Liese and Lynn Painter.

Thank you Dreamscape Audio and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rachel by nature is quiet and knows exactly who she is. Socially awkward, happiest when working with numbers and doing all she can to deal with the barrage of barbs thrown at her daily by her family under the guise of love and culture. When an opportunity is thrust upon her to move across the country for a fabulous promotion she jumps at it, somewhat reluctantly. She will need to step quite far out of her comfort zone and has zero confidence in herself after a lifetime of being in the shadow of her sister, the golden child. She knows she needs help and after surprising the heck out of herself she barters with someone to help each other out. He is a down home Texan with what she calls a slight drawl(way more than slight to me). As they move through their plan things change. Enter annoying family, invasive nosy friend who have never met a boundary they didn’t cross and a total bridezilla and you’ve got a mostly fun story. I did have a hard time with how immature every single person in the book was personally (all successful in their professional lives) and how mean they all were under the guise of “it’s our culture so it is what it is”. It does wrap up nicely.