Love Me Do by Lindsey Kelk is a quick and easy rom com that was the perfect choice for my day of lazing in my backyard. (Sadly not with a pool, but in hot miserable Missouri summer sun)

The story of Phoebe and Ren is great and all, but they didn’t have as much alone time as I liked, but that’s okay because the side characters were, to me, the stars of the book. Bel and Myrna made me laugh out loud and I think the real love story is the relationships that Phoebe develops with them.

There are pop culture references, two sisters finding their way to a better relationship, and of course, the happy ever after we want. It was a terrific book.

I’m off to read Ms. Kelk’s other books now!

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

3.5 stars rounded up. This book was difficult to decide how to rate. I enjoyed everything about this book, except the romance.

Giving vibes of ‘The Holiday’, Phoebe comes from London to LA to visit her sister, Suzanne, who ends up leaving her alone as she has to travel for work. Phoebe finds herself in a mess when she tries to help set her sister’s trainer, Bel, up with her handsome neighbor, Ren. She also befriends another neighbor, Myrna, who is a former star from the golden age of Hollywood.

I loved Phoebe and Myrna’s unlikely friendship. It was one of the highlights of the book for me. I also loved the moments later in the book between Phoebe and Suzanne. They were really heartwarming and showed a strong sisterly bond. I found Bel annoying, but she had a good heart.

My problem with the romance was that I just didn’t buy it. It’s difficult for me to feel invested when most of the time spent on the romance plot portion of the book is Phoebe trying to help Bel date Ren. There wasn’t enough time with Bel removed from the situation for me to believe the depth of Phoebe and Ren’s feelings for each other.

While the romance didn’t work for me, the female friendships and sisterhood bonds provided enough that I enjoyed the book overall. Also, I don’t know if my mind just automatically thinks in Taylor Swift lyrics, but I’m pretty sure there were some little Easter eggs in here to her songs. Even if it wasn’t intentional, I gave bonus points for the vibe I got.

This book was a little hard to get into because I felt like I couldn’t relate to Phoebe; however, I am so glad that I stuck with it. I am more like Phoebe than I thought, and I was crying at the end of the book. It’s an amazing, fun read.

I honestly went into Love Me Do blind - all I knew was it was by Lindsey Kelk (an autobuy author for me) and had a super cute cover with summer / vacation vibes.

As usual, Lindsey didn’t let me down. She delivered another heartwarming romcom filled with a sweet cast of characters, some wonderful sisterly growth moments, and a slow burn romance I was rooting for.

I love how her FMCs all just feel relatable and authentic, they tend to heave average jobs and lives, slightly clumsy, and muck things up a bit — you know, not be perfect 🤷‍♀️ In this case, we have Phoebe who’s gone out to LA for a super long overdue visit with her older sister.

Phoebe was relatable and I loved seeing her grow unexpected friendships during her stay with Bel and Myrna. I loved her messy matchmaking attempts and the growth we saw with her relationship with her older sister too.

Phoebe and Ren were so cute together Manda it was fun seeing them interact and grow their connection throughout too. If you’re looking for a lighthearted summer or vacation read, look no further.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read an early copy! 💜

I fell in love with the world in this book. I had originally planned to read some of the book yesterday, pause, collect my thoughts, then finish the book today but i couldn't put the book down and ended up reading straight through it in one sitting. Pheobe was sweet and anxiety driven and easy to relate to. Then your introduced to Bel who has this glorious larger than life personality, she's just so contagiously happy i think everyone needs someone like Bel in their life. Of all the people in this book i absolutely didn't think id become so attached to Myrna so quickly, she's so glamorous even in her attempts to separate herself from the modern world and so loving in her own brash way. Then there's our dear Ren who sees the world through rose-colored glasses. Everything he finds even slightly intriguing becomes all-consuming so quickly its like one moment he's being introduced and the next he's absolutely enraptured in it. I wish i could go back and read this for the first time all over again just to relive the feelings i experienced through this book.

The most perfect summertime read! What’s a more quintessential summer time activity than exploring LA, lounging poolside, hiking, picnicking in a cemetery, birdwatching with the hunky next door neighbor, befriending a former Hollywood starlet, or dressing up as a mermaid for a kid’s birthday party?? Love Me Do was such a witty, sharply written story about unlikely friendships, adventure, sisters, and betting on yourself with a side of birdwatching and romance. The entire cast radiated charm, adding immense warmth and joy of the story.

This elder millennial was in heaven with all the pop culture references from Friends to Britney to beanie babies to She’s All That (one of the greatest films in cinematic history), but when you can seamlessly work in The Land Before Time and our collective love for Littlefoot, that’s a true literary feat. There’s even some millennial pink on the insanely gorgeous cover!

Going in, I knew this was a vacation style romance (the FMC is in LA for two weeks) so I was prepared for insta love, which is typically a trope I don’t enjoy, HOWEVER, much like stories with similar setups (The Holiday), I really enjoyed it for the fun, breezy, charming read that it was. I DO wish there had been an epilogue, but I liked how the ending was resolved.

I haven’t had this much fun - I laughed out loud more times than I can count - reading a book in a while and I fell in love with Phoebe, Suzanne, Bel, Ren and especially Myrna. Truly, I want to be besties with Myrna. This was the first I’ve read from Lindsey Kelk and I can’t wait to dive into her backlist titles!

This is a book of firsts for me…
First time reader of a Lindsey Kelk book.
First time receiver of an ARC. Thank you, NetGalley & Harper Collins!

Lindsey Kelk has been a sleeper author for me. How? How have I never heard of her!
A slow burn romance but the many laugh out loud (Cheez-it’s or OJ, anyone) moments made up for the mild spice. Phoebes was entirely relatable. Well done!

Oh this book was really delightful. I loved that it wasn’t mainly a romance. Phoebe got to have good realizations about herself and gained two friends of different generations. I so want to be Myrna Moore when I grow up (I say as a 33 year old, haha.) Falling in love with a cute guy was a bonus. It truly was great to read.

Thanks as usual to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was an adorable story! I loved all of the characters but Myrna was my absolute favorite. Everyone needs an older friend like her! Ren and Pheobes story was great to watch unfold!