I have thoroughly enjoyed Nina Kaye’s books before and am delighted to be sharing my review for her latest romcom. This is a book which most definitely has a proper comedy element as one of the characters, Shep, is an aspiring stand-up comedian in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

I really enjoyed the setting of Edinburgh of course, there was a great sense of place. Nina Kaye really captured what it’s like to be here during the Fringe with so much going on, the streets being packed, being spoiled for choice for shows, having leaflets thrust at you on the High Street. Of course, as someone who actually lives here, sometimes it can all be a bit of a pain and there’s a collective sigh of relief across the city when it’s all over for another year! It was interesting to read about what a struggle it can be for smaller shows and performers to get noticed and how important getting a bit of online or printed publicity can be. I did enjoy the snippets of Shep’s comedy we got to read about. Comedy is very subjective of course but it did make me laugh and I’d definitely go to see him at the Fringe.

Lea is Shep’s accidental landlady and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of her. Sometimes I didn’t know whether to feel sorry for Lea or irritated with her. She never seemed to stand up for herself even when people were frankly being rude to her. On the other hand, her low-self esteem meant she really didn’t have the courage to do that. It was lovely to see her blossom and grow in confidence throughout the novel and begin to appreciate her own self worth. What came through strongly was that even in a city and one that is so busy and buzzing during the festival, it is still easy to be lonely and as an adult, it can be difficult to make friends.

However, through another chance meeting, Lea does begin to make some friends and become part of a welcoming group. There was a bit of intrigue here as Becca and Tess seemed so lovely but the other member of the group, Sal was so different and always seems to be distant. I wondered why the other two wanted to be friends with her. At times she was truly horrible and I wanted to know what exactly was going on to make her the way she was.

The book has an interesting take on how romance is often portrayed in novels as Lea and Shep get together almost immediately. They know that their time together is limited because he’s only here for the Fringe but does either of them want it to end. Both are reluctant to share exactly how they’ll felt in case the other didn’t feel the same way. This could be a case of bad timing. What if they are the right people meeting at the wrong time. What will happen if Shep does get his big break?

All of these elements combined to make a really enjoyable read for me. Lea and Shep were such a sweet couple and of course I wanted things to work out for them. Stand Up Guy is another great read from Nina Kaye with some deeper themes sensitively explored but with a charming romance at its heart.

I love Nina's books and this one is no exception. Quirky title and hoped it would as good as it sounded. In fact, it was amazing. A lovely, cosy read for those autumn/winter nights. Thank you for the ARC.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

Lea is a somewhat anti-social, insecure, research scientist who lives alone, and finds out via social media that the guy she's been dating is moving to Australia. They have a bad breakup over text, and she goes into town, pretty weepy, and encounters a guy named Shep, who she eventually asks to move in with her. Shep is a comedian who is trying to get discovered. They become friend and then more than friends. And also Shep tries to help Lea find some new girl friends.

This book...ugh. I wanted to like it because it was a fast-paced, British read. But I found Lea just so off-putting. She's so insecure and her inner monologues of doubts are so clearly NOT what is actually happening that I wanted to reach through the pages and shake the woman to be like "grow a flipping spine!". Shep was a good love interest, very supporting and empathetic, until the third act break up where he does something wildly out of character and then the "get back together" is like 3 paragraphs long.

The pacing was odd. The girl friends were awkward. Lea does grow, but the juice wasn't worth the squeeze for me. That being said there are some cute parts and it's not awful. Just didn't strike my fancy.

Lea has had a string of failed relationships and she is tired of it. When she runs into comedian Shep who needs a place to stay, it feels like fate. As Shep gets closer to getting his big break, Lea is afraid it is just a matter of time before Shep leaves and her heart gets broken.

This was not the first novel that I have read by Nina Kaye. When I saw this Stand Up Guy was written by Kaye, I snatched it up immediately because I enjoyed her last novel a great deal. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this one as much. I did not like the character of Lea from the beginning and I could not stay engaged in the reading. I'm not sure if it was a timing or mood issue, but the book did not hook me as her last one did.

I do recommend that others give it a try. I do plan on trying it again in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo Romance for this ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Self-proclaimed lonely gal Lea offers a place to stay to out-of-towner, stand-up comedian Shep. They very quickly strike up a fling, but with an expiration date on Shep’s stay in town, can the romance last?

Oh, where to start… This book… was not it for me. I think the primary issue I found with this book was that the romance was incredibly rushed. We went from strangers to bedmates within the span of a few chapters, with absolutely no buildup and no chemistry to make the jump believable. I could not root for the romance because it felt so superficial.

In terms of the characters - FMC Lea also drove me nuts. As soon as something starts to go her way, Lea finds a way to undermine it and focus on the negative, or the possibilities of all the bad things that could come. I love a gal with flaws, but Lea was hard to love. MMC Shep was okay, but it was hard to understand what he saw in Lea besides free room and board and a pal with benefits. Honestly, I don’t feel like we got enough of him to even really form an opinion.

Also - a slightly petty pet peeve of mine, but why did so many chapters have to end with a question mark? It felt like a teenage girl pining in her diary, and not in a good way.

I’ve pondered a rating, and I think I’m finally settling at two stars. It was readable and at no point did I feel like I could not finish the book, but it was just not for me. I’ve heard positive things about this author, so am wondering if this is a fluke. I would not recommend this to anyone.

Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are my own.

📚 Read if you like: forced proximity, comedian MMC, temporary roommates, closed door romance

I really liked the premise of this one and the setup is great. However, it ended up feeling just a little flat for me personally. Lea is very lonely and is in her head a lot. This means she talks to herself a lot too, which frankly isn’t a weird thing to do, but she thinks it’s super weird and she ends up “being caught” talking to herself a lot and she’s oh so embarrassed and I’m like babe WHY just own it! Shep is funny and warm and I wish we got the story from his POV too! There’s also handwritten notes - I don’t know why, but I’m really a sucker for them. Shep leaves them for Lea and I love that!

Transparently, I started skimming once I hit the 50% mark. I wanted to see how it ended but it was not capturing my attention and I would have otherwise DNF’ed it but I wanted to do the ARC justice. I do think it’s a sweet, closed door romcom that fans of Beth O’Leary would enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a lovely book! Lea meets Shep and ends up offering him a place to stay. It soon becomes apparent that he is doing her a favour too, as he opens her up to new people and gives her the company she craves.

I enjoyed reading about their relationship and cheering on Lea to take a risk. The backdrop of the Edinburgh festival and stand up comedy also made a nice change. The descriptions of Edinburgh really brought it to life. Despite primarily being a romance book, it was refreshing to see the problems of loneliness and bullying explored as well, I think we had just enough insight into how Lea was feeling.

There were a couple of instances with characters where I wasn’t convinced they’d get away with their behaviour for so long, but mostly I liked the cast that came together. This is a lovely feel-good read, perfect for escaping the cold, grey days of winter and I shall look out for more by this Author. Thank you to Canelo for my copy.

This was a really sweet romance that also weighs on some deep topics. I really enjoyed this one and would highly recommend.

3.5 stars rounded up, I enjoyed the meet cute and unique premise of this book! There was definitely some good character development. However, I was missing something “more” here in terms of the story line. Overall a quick and light read!
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️

Lea has had failed relationships and doesn't have friends that she can hang out with after work or on the weekends. After another relationship that has failed she journeys out during the festival to spend some time on the town by herself. She notices a man who is looking rather down and approaches him. Enter Shep who is there as a comedian to get his break, but it looks like that is going to slip through his hands since his place feel through of where he was staying. An unlikely pairing happens between Shep and Lea.

I enjoyed the unraveling of this relationship of what can happen when expectations are put on it and how it can change over time. There were parts were I definitely cringed at some of the things said, but it wasn't enough for me not to enjoy the book.

Thank you #NetGalley for the advance copy!

This was a different sort of romance. The heroine is lonely and very insecure. Lea is embarrassed that she doesn’t have any friends to hang out with when she gets dumped rather cruelly by the guy she’s been dating. Then she meets Shep, a stand-up comic wannabe. This all takes place in Edinburgh during their famous Fringe Festival when the city hosts all sorts of entertainers and pop-up restaurants. I loved the sense of the city. It just seemed such a fun time and a beautiful city to explore.

I really liked having a hero with a different sort of career and seeing him work to make a go of his career as a comic. I got a bit weary of Lea’s insecurity and self-doubts. I could see why she fell for Shep. He seems like a lovely and fun guy, but I’m not quite sure what he sees in her. She’s kind and helped him out when he needed a place to stay during the festival. And, apparently, she’s very pretty. She was supportive of his work as a comic, but she also just seemed so insecure and constantly was engaging in her internal dialogs as she second guessed everything he said and she said. It just got a bit tiresome.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

This follows Lea who meets Shep in an awful meet-cute and somehow end up being roomates. Shep is a silly goofball full of smiles and laughter while Lea is a bit if a workholic and very shy. I loved how their relationship slowly formed with friendship and giggles. One of my favorite things has to be how Shep always teased her and tried to make all aspects of her life better. This was such a sweet ,cozy read with a huge golden retriever boyfriend . I definitely recommend

A fabulous romance to start off the year. The characters were endearing and the plot felt organic. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for a review.

Me 🤝 love interests named Shep

How stinking CUTE was this one!?

First of all, Lea was incredibly relatable as I too have been a lonely adult woman. My heart broke for her in the beginning with that absolute wanker of a man Paul who led her on, and when a man (later we find out he’s Shep) called her a lonely gal. Shep is actually a bit down on his luck, and Lea offers her home to him. After some misunderstandings (is he a murderer? A robber!?), they fall into an easy friendship turned more.

I just fully, fully enjoyed this book. I laughed quite a bit during this one and also teared up at a few scenes. The humor is great, the banter is solid, and Lea truly grows as a woman. The scenes at the end (with Shep and the ladies) show just how far she’d come. I fully recommend picking this one up at the end of the month! It was such a quick and delightful read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I real challenging read for me. I went in incredibly optimistic as it was my 1st book of the New Year... and then became a strong possibility as my 1st DNF. Even as I paused to read other winning books, I thought this was not worth it. Even at 84% of the book I thought about abandoning but persisted because it's far too early in 2024 to give up.

Welp. there wasn't much that I enjoyed, and I really wanted to, so I kept reading. Lea's woe is me and then her displays of overcompensation (many small moments that included a tenner into the pot, etc.) was A LOT. Granted, it's not uncommon to have flawed characters but there was so much cringe in Lea and Shep felt like a very conveniently manufactured and shrewd character in sussing out Lea's hiccups that I didn't find either very likable.

Honestly a really cute and original rom com. The plot didn’t feel forced or tired and the characters were interesting. Be advised there are some uncomfortable topics covered in the book including bullying. But still overall a light read that was easy to enjoy.

Kaye’s latest book is not only enjoyable, filled with funny one liners plus it touches on topics that are relatable to the reader. The main character, Lea, spends too much time at work and hanging out in her apartment - alone - because she has no friends around her. The friends she has live far, have careers & families. Thus, Lea finds herself very lonely which lowers her self-confidence and assuredness in herself & her decisions.

On a rare occasion Lea forces herself to visit the local festival in her town. While out she happens upon a struggling comedian named Shep. She takes a chance and speaks to him but that does not go well. She walks away, only to come back to him. Eventually, Lea learns Shep has found himself in need of lodging while trying to make his mark in the comedic world. On a whim, she offers to help him plus it has the added bonus of her not being alone all the time.

The story just becomes crazier from here. The banter back and forth between the characters is great - the comedic one liners come out of both of them. There is romance, gained friendships, succeeding at dreams and finding self-confidence & learning to stand up for one self.

It is just all around good! Definitely give this book a read!!

This was a DNF for me. I got about 20% into the book and couldn’t carry on. I loved the premise of the book as it’s a new one for me with the comedy involved, but I couldn’t gel with the FMC. A lot of people are lonely and don’t have much of a social circle, but this woman invited a stranger to live with her after he slagged her off. And the talking to herself and the woe is me attitude. I just couldn’t carry on honestly.

Really loved this book and all it offered me. Full of laughter and tears, this book took me on a journey alongside Shep and Lea. There is so much that you can relate to making this book brilliant!

Stand Up Guy by Nina Kaye is a contemporary story of the challenge of adult friendships in a transitory world. I expected to tell you that Stand Up Guy is a relatable rom-com, and it is. I loved that the story is set uniquely in a standup comedy world and that there is plenty of witty banter, as expected.

But what hit me the most was the more relatable story about the main character, Lea, and her feelings of loneliness. All of her college friends have gone off to start their careers wherever those careers took them, except for one friend, who is married with young children. This sums up the challenges of having friends as an adult to me. There is so much transition - people moving and life circumstances changing - it’s hard for the modern woman to keep up, much less have the time to get out there and meet new people.

Combined with the theme of loneliness is experiencing bullying as an adult. Those middle school bullies don’t typically have a change of being as adults - they continue bullying when and where they can. And there are specific areas where I’ve noticed they thrive and gravitate to. I loved how Lea handled the bully in her life. It’s so empowering!

I’ll be honest - the romance fizzled for me - but the other themes are so powerful they more than made up for it.