Dave has never expected to be back in his hometown, taking a bartending job. That's what he did, and that's what he's been doing for 2 years. Buy when, one night, Vivian walked into his bar, things definitely started looking up. But she is a pragmatic list-maker, and she does have a checklist for the perfect man, that Dave does not fit in at all. On top of that, she is only there for one week. Can she throw it all away for a steamy weekend fling?
This is an insta lust, opposites attract, long distance relationship, spicy romance. It is marketed as a "cozy Holiday vibes romance", which I do not agree with. Although Halloween and Thanksgiving are considered Holidays, the cover screams Christmas, and December only happens in the last 50 pages and the book literally ends 5 days before Christmas, so that part was a bit disappointing because I am 100% a Christmas girlie. I thought the FMC was very stubborn and somewhat uptight. But I loved the MMC, Dave, and his golden retriever attitude. Of course, I was not a fan of the third act to break up, that was based on mostly lies, miscommunication and, frankly, overreaction. I would've liked to go more in depth with both the main characters and both of them together, their relationship. And even if I would've liked to see them together more in the book, it was fun to see how they dealt with this long distance relationship; the chemistry between them is real... I liked all of the side characters (at least all of the likable ones). Overall, it was a fun, entertaining, quick read!
"I'm in simply because you are."
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and of course the author for gifting me this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really loving all the festive books on Netgalley, even though it's only October, and this was another great one! This was the perfect christmas holiday romance book and I loved the total opposite personalities of Dave and Vivian 'V' and how they both sparked that initially attraction which led to them ultimately learning a lot about themselves (and each other).

Loved that it was a super quick read with a nice amount of spice and romance

Don’t let this innocent cover fool you. This was one spicy holiday romance! We got V and Dave for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. First of all, V and Dave are the definition of opposites attract. They are drawn to each other from the start and honestly I just loved them. V being an over-thinker was her one downfall and Dave not wanting to fail had my heart breaking for him. He is an incredible man though. Their chemistry was off the charts.

How can you not fall for a love story set around the holidays? Maybe the one tough spot for this one was the long distance relationship aspect but it didn’t take away from the characters stories. I was hooked from Dave and V first seeing each other in the bar. I binged this book especially when the spice kicks in so quickly. I really really enjoyed this one and if you want a perfectly spicy, holiday romance then this one is for you!

I enjoyed "A Higher Standard" by this author, so I figured this book would also be great. The Christmas cover also drew me to it. But Christmas plays no part in the book until the very end where there's a scene close to Christmas, so the cover is VERY misleading and not really a holiday romance. Despite that, this book was just okay for me. It honestly took me forever to read and was a bit boring. It just kept dragging because nothing was really happening with the plot. Dave and Vivian live in different states so most of the book focuses on their long distance relationship. I had a kinda long-distance once with my husband (2.5 hours apart), so I appreciate that the author wrote a book that involved one. But outside of the chemistry in the bedroom, I just wasn't feeling the love between these characters.

I did like Dave and how cute and vulnerable he was oftentimes. He was pretty insecure when it came to his job, so I get why he didn't tell Viv he was looking for another job. But she completely blew things way out of proportion and that just made me dislike her even more. She was a nice enough character, but I didn't like how she treated Dave's job. She knew what job he had when they met and she voiced how he could be doing something more productive with his life. So I didn't get her being so mad at him for holding in his search when he didn't want to disappoint her. Even her friends told her she was being an idiot.

The ending of the book was the biggest letdown. They make up, Dave makes some weird public profession of his regret for being an idiot and expressed his love for Vivian. And that was it. No epilogue to show how things worked for them after he noted he was getting a job closer to her in the coming months. No resolution with the bar job he hated. No life actually living together. It was just a very boring ending with nothing to make reading this book worth it.

That said, I'll still read more from the author because I know the last book I read really was great and even though this one was a letdown, I know the author can do better.

E.F. Dodd has nailed the humanity of these characters. This book was a refreshing and relateable story. I love a good escape novel, but this author does such a good job connecting with the real world and to breathe life into the characters and situations that it was such a good read.

V felt like any of my girlfriends, living this out. Did I find myself yelling at the characters to communicate? Yes. Absolutely. Who doesn't yell at their friends in their stupid moments? I've never felt that urge quite as much as in this book, because the situations and emotions were so real.

Adding more from this author to my TBR immediately!

Thanks to Netgally for giving me early access to an
ARC in exchange of an honest review! DNF at like 1%, the writing was bad and i thought it was a sweet fluffy hallmark type christmas book 😭 when i searched abt it i was disappointed to found out it was actually a spicy book, spicy books are not for me. I HATE spicy books with all my heart lol. So i couldn’t bring myself to read it 🫠

Really easy book spicy romance to read. I did think the couple were unlikely though.
Nice and quick. Very good to read as a filler book in between very heavy dark reads. One thing I did not particularly like is how quickly the two characters fell for each other, kinda insta lovey and you didn't get to bond with the characters as much as I would've liked to. Otherwise I recommend if you want a spicy romance like this for in between heavier and longer reads! Thank you very much for the Arc and thank you NetGalley

This book was just simply okay for me. I struggled to get through it and finish it. It was good, but nothing grabbed at me and it wasn’t a book I had a hard time putting down to read something else.

This book I just couldn’t get into. I tried so much, but the characters and the plot were exhausting. The MMC and FMC are actually decent people and their relationship trajectory is panned out pretty well. However, every other character was just too much, too on the face for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC of this!!

Book Review

Almost Perfect

By: E.F. Dodd

Pub Date: October 31, 2023



V was in Rochester with girlfriends when she walked into a bar and saw Dave for the first time. She was only supposed to be away from Wednesday-Sunday, but all plans changed once Dave got her number. They flirted for a bit at the bar, and then spent the rest of her stay together. Vivian had already changed her flight twice, she had to get back home. V and Dave wanted more than just their long weekend. Could they make a long-distance relationship work? Even if they did make it work, her parents would never approve of Dave.

My thoughts: This was a super quick read and good from beginning to end. I loved the main characters and felt bad for Dave in his work situation. I thought V was a great strong character that didn’t ignore her needs or wants for whatever Dave needed. V had always experienced success in everything she did, Dave never did. He was smart and went to a prestigious school but had never experienced career success. The characters are relatable, and their chemistry cannot be ignored. The only question is can sparks last forever in this opposites attract romance.

QOTD: What is your favorite holiday?

⭐️⭐️/5

thank you netgalley for the ARC of almost perfect in exchange for an honest review.

i don’t typically gravitate towards this kind of romance, but i decided to give this one a shot. it wasn’t an immediate love for me, nor did i ever find myself in love or captivated with this story. i don’t feel like the characters were really even in love & it started with such a strong sexual connection that it felt almost forced.

i am also NOT a fan of the third act break up & felt as if this one was way over dramatized.

i also feel like the cover was a tad misleading, could just be me.

Perfect for fans of one night stand to lovers.

Vivian meets Dave, a bartender, when she is on a trip with her friends. They decide to have a night of fun, but one night becomes more.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. There was no slow burn to this book and the relationship was long distance most of the time, so I didn’t really like it. There was also like no conflict, which kind of made the book a little boring. The characters were good though, and I like how it spread out the sections of the book based on holiday. Overall, I didn’t really like the book and I probably wouldn’t recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

My first E.L. Todd book but definitely not my last. I loved this book! The characters were so well written. Love at first sight is one of my favorite tropes and it was done so well on this book. It hit all the things, fun, spice, witty, respect and love.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

I enjoyed Almost Perfect almost as much as I enjoyed E.F. Dodd's "A Higher Standard." I didn't know it was part of a series of companion books, so I'll definitely be looking for the others!

Almost Perfect is a meet cute of V and Dave. They are the stereotypical high-brow/low-brow couple. But they make it work, despite the distance between them - both physically and emotionally. Weirdly, my only complaint about this book was that I wished I had more background on the other characters - but I believe those are probably the companion novels. I desperately wanted to know more about Kez and why she was stalking her ex's reunion!

To sum up, if you need some light and fluffy to escape your family during the holidays, this book is a perfect read.

This was so cozy, heartwarming and romantic – with just the right amount of spice. I loved how Vivian and Dave seemed to have nothing in common but still turned out to be such a beautiful match. Their dynamic and chemistry were amazing and watching them fall in love gave me all the butterflies and feelings.
What made me adore this book was how they treated each other. Yes, there's some conflict in the third act but aside from that they communicate so well! Vivian and Dave act like the grown-ups they are, respecting and encouraging each other every day – even during their conflict!
Also Daves family is so adorable! The Thanksgiving scenes made me feel so at home! It was great to see how welcoming and happy they were!
Would definitely recommend this to all romance lovers who crave something healthy and heartwarming!

Dave Richardson's life hasn't turned out the way he thought it would - he didn't expect to slink back to his hometown of Rochester two years ago and take a bartending job, nor did he think he'd still be tending said bar. Everyone thought he'd achieve great things, including himself. But when Vivian Walters walked into his bar on a random Wednesday night and got her number, things were looking up for the first time in a long time. Even if she was only in town for a long weekend.

If there's one thing Vivian 'V' Walters liked almost as much as designer heels, it was checklists. They'd served her well her entire life, from college to med school, landing the perfect internship followed by an even better residency, and finally, her dream job. So far, though, her checklist for the perfect man hadn't panned out, but that didn't mean she'd chuck it out the window for a weekend with a hot bartender... right?

After reading several of E.F. Dodd's books and reading about these two as side characters, I was excited to hear they were getting their own story. That said, I was immediately reminded just how much I love V's friendship with her girl gang. The instant connection between these two was palpable and I loved seeing it come to fruition. Their story has everything from sweet, emotional moments to tonnnnns of spice. Based on the cover I expected this to be centered a lot more around the holidays but that portion is only the tail end of the story, so rather than expecting a holiday romance, go into it with that knowledge!

Overall, another heartwarming and spicy novel from E.F. Dodd! Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I would like to thank NetGalley and the author for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I unfortunately had to DNF at 10% as I tried to read and ignored that this book was in third person, which is a big no-go for me, but I did attempt but still couldn't get over it.

First off, this ARC was provided by the publisher & author via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Honestly, I read about 15% of the book and had to pause, and read a couple of other books and came back to it. Since it was ARC, I did feel like I needed to give it a good shot, and it wasn’t until maybe halfway through the book before it got more interesting for me. This is why I’m giving it a 3.5 star.

Dave was a hottie from the beginning, I really did enjoy his character, and I get that V (Vivian) is supposed to be this straight laced woman and sure, i think the first 50% was supposed to built up this angst and slow burn…. But it was more of a fizzle for me and I personally didn’t feel that angst. I was rather annoyed with V in the beginning.

However, once they Finally became a couple, that’s when the story picked up for me. The open door scenes were 🔥🔥🔥 🔥🔥 and I really appreciated the author’s depiction of long distance relationships and the struggles that come with it. The ending was written REALLY well, and Im not spoiling it for anyone.

This is my first time reading a book by this author, and Just because it wasn’t ‘perfect’ 😉 for me, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a try.

This book, while fun, left a lot to be desired in the end. The “conflict” between Vivian and Dave wasn’t much of a conflict at all and their whole relationship progressed rather quickly on what seemed to be a lot of surface-level interactions. I would have enjoyed seeing just a bit more backstory or depth for Vivian and Dave and the side characters. The conflict between Vivian and her mother was too neatly resolved and didn’t feel genuine.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I wasn’t expecting the book to be such a spicy romance based on the cover, but it was a pleasant surprise. I did enjoy the spiciness sprinkled throughout and how caring Dave was during some of these encounters.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a super easy read. Simple, spicy romance between an unlikely couple. V is a doctor from Charlotte while Dave is a bartender from Rochester. They meet while V is on vacation with her two best friends and the story goes from there.

However, the storyline isn’t grabbing and unique. There wasn’t really anything to get you to really fall in love with the characters. They don’t really spend the time getting to know each other between the spicy scenes. The whole thing felt rather superficial. I also anticipated much more of a Christmas theme as advertised instead of the last 10% of the book or so.

I struggled to finish this book because there wasn’t anything that really drew me in and there’s only so many times you can read about his job and her mom’s approval.