Cozy comfy gamers, grab your hoodies and PJ pants along with this book!

In Pixels and Paint, Emma, computer programmer and black sheep of her family, gets pulled into making an app for a local art museum. By happenstance, Emma keeps bumping into a local artist who agrees to teach her how to appreciate artwork.

I really enjoyed that Emma was analytical and into video games. This is not something I normally see in romance books. As a cozy gamer myself, I loved the scenes where she’s snuggled in her blanket playing video games on her console.

The main issue I had with this book was how slow it was in the beginning. It felt as though I was reliving many of the scenes afterwards in the characters’ heads, rather than experiencing the scenes play out in the moment. This aspect did change about 50% of the way through the book. By this point, the banter between the characters became light and there were several sweet scenes that had me smiling.

There was one scene (having to do with a “square”) that felt out of place for a Christian book and more typical of a secular romance. I would have preferred if that scene was not included.

If you enjoy Christian fiction and are looking for a sweet contemporary romance, this one may very well make you smile.

I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

Content - difficult family relationships

Language - none

Spice - none

Tem um tempinho que ouço falar dos livros da Kristi, em especial os de época, que não costumam ser meu forte mas já haviam me deixado curiosa sobre. Então, quando me deparei com esse lançamento contemporâneo dela esse ano, já aproveitei a chance de leitura. Honestamente? Não sabia muito o que esperar da leitura, exceto por saber a autora escreve romances clean e com cosmovisão cristã também. Isso por si só já me agradou, digo logo de cara, mas vamos falar mais a fundo do que achei.

Pixels and Paint é de fato um romance clean e bem leve em outros contextos também, incluindo o quesito interação do casal, que se aproxima aos poucos e desenvolve uma amizade bacana antes junto, mas o livro é mais do que o romance como foco. Ele está ali, na verdade, só para ajudar nossos protagonistas a, ao mesmo tempo em que lidam um com o outro, se permitem enfim colocar em cheque à respeito de questões que ou eles viviam ignorando a resolução ou simplesmente não percebiam existir. Isso é mais forte principalmente em torno da Emma, nossa mocinha que vive um certo complexo desde a faculdade, por sentir que não atinge as expectativas da mãe, diferente de sua irmã que seguiu a carreira da família no design e não na programação.

Muito ligada em tecnologia, Emma já é um tanto distante no quesito arte, ainda mais a exposta em museus, depois de anos sendo arrastada até eles por sua família e se sentindo tão deslocada. Os dilemas dela dentro e fora desse âmbito familiar, pessoal e até profissional são de longe um dos pontos altos do livro, ao nos colocar tanto para ver um pouco do que ela sente e passa, tanto por culpa dela quanto da família, quanto, ao mesmo tempo, nos faz refletir sobre, para além de todo o gosto por arte e seu significado, o nosso propósito com o trabalho que fazemos, não importa qual seja ele.

Nosso mocinho, por outro lado, já precisa se permitir se desapegar um pouco desse significado em tudo o que faz, e, com a ajuda da Emma, acompanhamos o Carter começar a descontrair mais, se divertir mais, e ver a vida com mais leveza do que a pressão de antes, uma vez que a simples presença da Emma em sua vida também o ajuda com o bloqueio criativo que vinha sofrendo e ele se sente de novo voltando a pintar do jeito que realmente gosta, com o propósito que, no fundo, seu coração anseia, mas que já tinha um tempo não ocorria com muita facilidade. Carter também não é lá muito fã de tecnologia e mais ainda quando ela entra em choque com a arte como na proposta de Emma para os tours no museu, mas aos poucos o vemos se dar conta de que tudo é questão de equilíbrio e de como é feito, até que ponto permitimos algo ou não. São dois personagens um tanto opostos, vendo assim por alto, mas é interessante como, ainda assim, eles também são tão parecidos em outros aspectos, em especial no social, e é bom vê-los se abrindo e se desenvolvendo de verdade com a ajuda um do outro e mesmo sozinhos também em alguns momentos.

É nesse ponto que, particularmente, a história acaba funcionando mais se suas expectativas não ficarem no romance, porque mesmo existindo sim e sendo até bem fofo, não me cativou tanto quanto eu esperava, diferente dos plots individuais da Emma e do Carter e da relação prévia deles enquanto tratavam sobre a tecnologia no museu. Então, quando o romance começou a acontecer, foi bacana, mas ainda não foi de cheio na trama, senti que o foco estava mesmo era no desenvolvimento do casal, o que já vale super.

Só uma ressalva para o final que é uma gracinha, mas ao mesmo tempo senti ser meio apressado em um momento ou outro, especialmente rumo a uma certa resolução ali, e que, aliado com o plot do romance que não me ganhou como esperado, colaborou como um todo para eu ficar com aquele sentimento de "faltou algo" no final, sabe? Mas isso não tira o mérito da história até ali e, no mais, eu com certeza recomendo a leitura, e inclusive já quero o livro da irmã da Emma, a Amy, porque especialmente depois dela no final desse, imagino o quão interessante seu plot deverá ser futuramente.

Ok - I'm not USUSALLY a fan of contemporary fiction.. I read only a few here and there, and only if they are clean romance, and no bad language...and possibly have a good 'rom-com' vibe.
This book is officially my favorite contemporary rom-com(ish) of all time!
To be honest, the beginning was a little shaky for me and it took me a while to get fully invested in in this story. But then page after page I was getting into it more and more! Pretty soon, I was scheduling my day around being able to read as much as I can to see what happens next!
The romance is clean with nice kissing. No questionable content at all - thank you very much!
The storyline is really great - and pretty original (to me!).
I laughed out loud several times. I also cried just a bit near the end when things got super emotional and Carter and Emma are working things out.
I love the gentle references to God and faith. There could have been a little more in my opinion - but that's just a thing for me personally.
I received an ARC from the publisher, but am not required to give a good review.
This review is my honest opinion. I genuinely loved this book!
I highly recommend it! I know I will read it again!
💜 💜

Kristi Ann Hunter your first contemporary romance novel was a huge success at least for me it was. I loved Carter and Emma's relationship! I loved that it was realistic as far as starting a faith filled relationship. My favourite part was when they met by chance at church. This book was just stellar. I look forward to reading more of your books in the future. Thanks for risking it and writing this book.

I wanted to love this book. I adore Kristi Ann Hunter's regency romances. Unfortunately, this one just failed to catch or hold my attention. I found the FMC weak and whiny and I had a hard time connecting to her.

Unfortunately, this story wasn't for me. It was really hard to get through and I had to force myself to finish it. I really wasn't a fan of Emma's dynamic with her family; her sister, her mother and aunt were just way too pushy towards an adult like Emma. I couldn't relate to her, she seemed like a pushover and could barely speak up for herself. I prefer strong, badass FMCs. Carter, the artist MMC, came off very rude at times to Emma. That plus their miscommunication was a no go for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for my honest review. I really wish I liked this one better than I did!

It's a cute story but I find the story development quite slow for me.

A huge part of the story deals with the toxic relationship Emma has with her family. Emma lacks boundaries and is a serious people-pleaser when it comes to her family. Whenever Emma is with her family, she has trouble saying no and tends to hide some parts of her identity from them. With that much focus on her family, I feel there's not enough closure in that aspect. But perhaps there will be more in future sequel from the sister's perspective.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Content notes: kissing only

I didn’t enjoy this particularly. The characters were a miss and i couldn’t connect with any of them. The story just didn’t pan out as well as could have been. The FMC was also very eh. She gave a little “pick me” vibes in the start.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.

Beautiful amazing gorgeous fun


Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

I found Pixels and Paint very boring and I had trouble motivating myself to finish it. The FMC seemed obsessed with being a slob as a means of rebellion against her fashionista mother and sister. I am not particularly interested in characters who spend so much time in their own head. Although I don't find it hard to believe the MMC would be interested in the FMC romantically or otherwise, I did wonder if any man, or artist, would spend all that much time caring about educating anybody with so little interest in their interests.

This story just did not work for me. I appreciate the opportunity to review it, but will not be posting this review on Goodreads or Amazon.

This story was so sweet! I loved the characters and how the author brings two very different characters to life. I loved the artist vs. someone very analytical view points.

I love reading Christian fiction and have found that RomComs have really been my favorites lately (very much comfort reads for me), and so I was excited to see this one. I feel like there are just not a ton of Christian RomComs out there... not nearly as many as I'd like anyway. As such, I had really high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, I really struggled to get into this one at all. I did find the pace seemed to be a bit slower than I typically find in the RomComs that I've been reading lately, or perhaps I just didn't relate to the main character... or perhaps it's even just that my expectations were TOO high... but whatever the reason, I just couldn't get into this story at the moment. I've seen MANY other great reviews for this one, so perhaps its just my current mood and I can come back and try again later and fall in love with it... but for now, it was just an okay read. Not wow, but not a bad story... just not my cup of tea.

**I received a complimentary copy for consideration. All opinions are my own.

I loved the relationship between nerdy, techy Emma (who I read as autistic coded, not sure if that was the intention) and artist Carter who has lost his muse, and finds inspiration in Emma and how she interacts with the world around her - especially her disdain of the art world!

Both characters develop through their relationship and acceptance of each other - Emma learns she doesn’t have to mask to be accepted by friends, family and co-workers, while Carter learns that alternative experiences and ways of seeing the world are valid and worthy of celebration.

This was a bit of a departure for me as I don’t normally read clean/religious romances - but I really enjoyed it!

I saw so many loving this book and I am trying to read more Christian Fiction but I found this extremely hard to get into. I couldnt make it past the 2nd chapter. It was boring and I hated the overall language of this book. I felt like the writing was intended to be sophisticated to fit the whole artsy vibe but I did not like the writing style at all. I tried multiple times to give it a sincere and honest effort but I just couldnt force myself to continue. Every book isn't for every reader and unfortunately this one was not for me.

This book was a little hard to follow in the beginning. I’m not computer savvy, so all the computer programmer/designer, bidding for a project stuff was confusing to me. I also felt like the multiple meet cutes were dragging. I didn’t like Emma’s relationship with her family, and wanted more of a redemption with them. I thought the concept was cool, and I will read other Rom-Coms by this author, this one just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for an early copy of the book for review. Ask thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ooh this was a fun read. I have long been a fan of Kristi's so when she announced a brand-new book and her first contemporary story, I was all in! I loved pretty much everything about this book-my only complaint was at times I absolutely wanted to throttle Amy and Carter. Emma was such a quirky and complicated character; it was interesting getting to know all the sides of her and how that affected her relationships and everything. There was a depth to this story that was super cool. I can't wait for Amy's story!

I was really sad about this book. I wanted to like it so badly but it just did not fit me. Pixels and Paint is written by Kristi Ann Hunter and it is a contemporary romance.
I had a harder time connecting with the characters and so I was unable to really get into the books. The characters frustrated me a little bit because I didn't really understand them. However the storyline seemed interesting and the characters can be relatable to others. Unfortunately this was just not a good fit for me so I was unable to finish the book.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, a positive review was not required.

This is a nice book about the clashing world of art and technology with a romance setting. I liked how two completely different people were brought together, one being an artist and the other being a totally practical person working in technology. Emma was likeable, I could relate to her on her view about art, but sometimes it made me crazy that she couldn’t stand up for herself against her family. I liked Carter, too, although he was a bit prejudiced about people who don’t feel the way about art like him. Eventually, both of them realized their mistakes and brought their worlds closer to each other.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the book.

This book is a battle of traditional vs. modern, and while I don't typically go for sweet romances, I'm glad I gave this one a chance. Our FMC's family doesn't quite understand who she is - and her experiences with the MMC give her the opportunity to help put that into terms everyone can understand.

THIS BOOK WAS SO CUTE!! I loved reading this so much! I loved the concept and the characters. The romance was really cute as well and I would definitely read from this author again!