Unfortunately for me and this book, I did not like our time together.

I decided to finally read this on orthodox easter because I felt it fitting and at first I was kind of on board but the more time I spent with Chelsea, the less I liked her. She was all about things her therapist told her to do but basically felt like the list was a crutch that she depended on to feel like she was making moves to heal herself from her past. I felt like the main cast was okay but it all felt rather flimsy. By the end of the book and ESPECIALLY at the end of the book, I was over it. I didn't like Basil's way of handling the Greece trip and I liked the way he handled the actual trip even less. Chelsea is desperate for someone to stick around and he knows this and no, he should not form his life or decisions around catering to her insecurities but he should definitely not have done what he did in the way that he did it. It was such a strange thing to read too, knowing our characters haven't known each other for more than a year.

Overall I just was bummed. It was nice to have some Greek culture thrown in here but I also felt that that wasn't even close to what I'd imagined too. This book made me feel a lot of things and all of them are conflicting.

Chelsea has zero interest in commitment, in fact she avoids it at all costs. On a dare, Chelsea is tasked with having a completely honest conversation with a man. Basil is taken with the woman who chooses to engage with him instead of his blonde buddy with the Hollywood worthy looks. It’s all fun and games until real feelings enter the picture.

Will Bas’s intent to have a meaningful, lasting relationship with Chelsea crack her icy heart or will it drive her away?

The cover for this book is deceptively whimsical, and while the beginning of the story involves the humorous meet cute described above, there are some pretty heavy themes particularly with regard to Chelsea’s traumatic upbringing with a volatile father and an alcoholic mother. Sympathy for her situation wears thin as her insecurities mount. Her treatment of Bas at times borders on cruel and her expectations unreasonable. Bas is the consummate cinnamon roll, feeding Chelsea bodily and emotionally.

I received an advance reader copy from the author and netgalley, and I’m sharing my honest thoughts.

I loved this book, from start to finish. It's the perfect blend of spice and romance, and I loved the main characters. It's well written and very easy to read. Overall I absolutely loved it, I would have liked a bit more of the travel included but the book was amazing and definitely a five star read.

The cover and title are adorable and I am in a - self proclaimed - greek obsessed era!
The romance wasn't for me - and the plot was not very engaging. I think I am also realizing that romance ins't necessarily a genre I enjoy - so take everything with a grain of salt.
Basil was not my fave.

Mary Ann Marlowe whisks readers away on a charming journey filled with laughter and heart in "Holding Out for a Gyro." The story revolves around a protagonist grappling with her fear of love, only to find unexpected sparks with a Greek chef. Marlowe's narrative is peppered with wit and warmth, making it a delightful read for those seeking a romantic escape. While the storyline may tread familiar ground, the genuine emotions and engaging characters keep readers invested until the last page. "Holding Out for a Gyro" is a comforting reminder that sometimes, love finds us when we least expect it.

I really thought this was going to be something I enjoyed based on the title but it just didn’t work out for me. I didn’t like any of the characters, Basil was kind of annoying to me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for this ARC.
The premise of the book sounded great but the story fell flat for me. I had a hard time loving any of the characters. I understood Chelsea’s childhood trauma and glad to see she found her way through it at the end. But i felt like her relationship with Basil was exhausting and she basically didn’t try at all until the very end. It was just too much Basil letting Chelsea get away with whatever she wanted.
I was also confused by Elizabeth and Evan’s relationship. They were on and off and no explanation at all. But i did appreciate the ride or die besties relationship Chelsea and Elizabeth had.
I was hoping for a lot more Greece, but most of the book took place in the Fall/winter. Very disappointing.
Overall it was ok. I was happy to read the entire book but wouldn’t probably recommended.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I enjoyed this it was a one sitting read for me. I could not put it down.

This book hooked me in from the first chapter. I loved the character development and how the story progressed.

2.5 stars

Sadly, I didn't love this.
I had such a hard time connecting with any of the characters. In fact, most of them - especially Chelsea- irked me. I get she had family trauma, but that doesn't make it okay to treat people, especially Basil - the way she did.
And speaking about Basil, that insta love... I don't mind it, if it's done properly but here it was more insta lust than love.
The only thing I did like was the friendship part. It was cute.
Overall, this was not a favorite.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

oh. my. goodness. this book was absolutely incredible!!!! i had so much fun reading this book. it was lovely and wonderful and amazing. thank you so much to netgalley for letting me read this book before the publication date!!!

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

This book is about Chelsea and her freedom of commitment when it comes to love, and life choices. Her therapist suggested that she make a list of things that she wouldn’t normally do and slowly work on checking them off. With the help of her best friend, she can get more than she would have ever thought, and with the help of her bff who supports her she adds things onto the list that she wouldn’t normally do. This has them going to a bar and picking up two very sexy men and from there you will watch the story unfold.

This book was a fun read. I liked the plot, the characters were interesting, it was dual POV, romance, he falls first and a sexy Greek male. The pace of the book was consistent, I really enjoyed the titled chapters, and they were always something to do with the list and checking. I thought Marlowe’s writing style was great and flowed.

The characters were great alone, but I did feel that it with Chelsea and Basil was a little off, and only at times. Other times I loved their story and I love the growth that both of the characters had by the end of the book and throughout it as well. Chelsea was really annoying to me at the beginning, and I just hated her attitude but the more and more that I got to know her character I could understand why she acted the way that she did. You will come to see Chelsea is just really a stubborn, hardheaded FMC. Basil was a great choice for her because he had so much patience and understanding but he still had things to work on in his own life. I liked that they both were there helping and pushing each other to be the best version of themselves.

If you love rom coms, with a strong FMC, banter, laughter, learning to heal past trauma, travels and a sexy Greek male you should read this book.

I want to thank NetGalley and Entangled for the opportunity to review this book.

I had a great time reading this book, it had everything that I was hopping for from a romance element in Greece. It had everything that I was hoping for when reading the description and I enjoyed the way Mary Ann Marlowe wrote this. The characters felt like they were realistic and I was engaged with their story.

I love Mary Ann Marlowe, her books have the perfect amount of adventure, spicy, humour and romance.

This book follows the story of Chelsea and Elizabeth and their quest to complete their list and challenge each other out of their comfort zones. Enter Bas, a handsome stranger that Chelsea hooks up with one night as part of crossing something off of Chelsea and Elizabeth's list.

As I previously stated I love Mary Ann Marlowe's books, however as much as I did enjoy this book, it didn't hit the mark like her previous books. What I loved about this book was the lists and friendship between Chelsea and Elizabeth. I loved how they could challenge each other and be so supportive of each other.
Unfortunately for me I couldn't get onboard with Basil's and Chelsea's relationship, I didn't really 'believe it', I think it was the fact it was very 'insta love'.

Overall I did enjoy it, it was a nice easy read.

Thank you to the author for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes You Just Need A Push

“[R]unning away would never solve anything. Wherever you go, there you are.”

Thoughts:💡
This was a slow and easy paced novel with hints of spice. It explored the way a traumatic past can haunt someone in an authentic way. The FMC was an extreme commitment phobe but as the story progressed and she revealed more of the way she thoughts and stories from her past it was easy to understand why she was the way she was. It was still really frustrating, but it was understandable.
I loved the friendships in this book and I feel like it redeemed it in a lot of ways. There was open and honest dialogue among all the characters and when they misbehaved the characters didn’t give up on each other. They felt like very realistic characters with all their follies and it was refreshing to read characters that had real jobs and side hustles.

Fun Bits:
⚜️ Great Friendships
⚜️ Funny Banter
⚜️ Chapter Titles
⚜️ Soo Many Greek References

✨Note:✨Standalone

Full Content Warning:⚠️
Description of past neglect and emotional abuse of a child, Mentions of domestic violence in the past

Stats:📊
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Characters 💙💙💙💙💙
Contemporary Romance: Commitment Issues, Friends With Benefits, He FallsFirst, Travel Obsessed, Found Family, Grumpy Sunshine 📘
First Person, Present Tense, Dual POV

uggest this book will feature some greek elements. I haven't read a book by this author before, but I loved the greek vibes this book gives. I was really excited to start reading, but what will this book have in store?

"When it comes to love, it’s all Greek to her…"

Mary Ann Marlowe has a nice but slow paced writing style. In addition she uses some multiple complicated words, making that this could be a though read for non native english readers. There are many details in this book and lots of character development, making it a rather slow read. I did like the storyline, but felt like the pace could have been better.

Both Basil and Chelsea grow a lot during this story, which I really liked to read. I was hoping to read more about Elizabeth since I liked her character most in this story. I feel like both Basil and Chelsea have major issues and yes, they are trying to work on it but it just screams red flags through out the story. Basil just want Chelsea to pick him and will go very far for this, like he is obsessed with her. While Chelsea doesn't want a normal love life, but only hook ups, since she is traumatized and her therapy doesn't do anything to improve as it seems.

Since I had some trouble with the difficult writing style and the main characters personalities, I didn't enjoy this story as much as I hoped I would. I felt like this story could have been better if there were less details about the characters and more of a romantic spark in a slow burn way. Therefore I am able to give 3 stars to Holding Out for a Gyro.

I loved the premise of this and wanted to love everything about it.

I ADORED Basil and his family. He seemed like a great guy. Chelsea just rubbed me wrong through most of the book. The book seemed to drag a bit and then the ending seemed hurried.

I did love the friendship of Chelsea and Elizabeth. That seemed genuine and they seemed a good balance for each other. And I thought their bucket list was so fun and interesting.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Pub for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Holding Out for a Gyro by Mary Ann Marlowe is a Greek romance and the story of Chelsea and Basil.
 
Chelsea has some trauma and as a result hides away from life a little bit. This topic could have been shown a bit more in depth, but it rather focused on how to live with it. Chelsea is an interesting character whom you get to know and understand better with each page. I also liked seeing her friendship with Elizabeth and the two push each other to become better versions of themselves and that’s an aspect of the book I really appreciated.
 
At first, Basil seemed almost too perfect, and he has it all. He is a gorgeous model like Greek man who is also a chef. That premise is also very appealing to me, and you only get little glimpses through his pov and therefore it took me some time to warm up to him, but in the end it definitely happened.
 
I liked how the chapter headers always included a little challenge that pushed the characters to take some risks and look past their comfort zones. But the biggest challenge of all is love itself and the smaller challenges kind of lead up to it and that was brilliant in terms of storytelling. Furthermore, the spicy scenes felt very intimate and fun, and the characters definitely had a good time and I like seeing that. The romance is very lighthearted and sometimes the characters act a bit immature for their age, but I liked the story regardless.
 
Overall, Holding Out for a Gyro is a fun summer romance with very supportive and loving protagonists. 4 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

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

This was a fun book. I enjoyed it a lot!

Steamy, rom-com with some very real-life background to overcome
If you like witty humor, clever banter, passion and steam, you will want to read this book. The premise of the book is fascinating too. Because of Chelsea’s family, she has had difficult times dealing. Her therapist suggested that she make a list of things she wants to conquer in the upcoming year. Her bestie is Elizabeth and as a best friend, she performs the list with Chelsea but they take it one step further. They make it a challenge between them. If there is a loser, the consequences are not wanted…at all! Chelsea sees an opportunity to strike an item off their list when she sees two strangers sitting at the bar. Her challenge is to be perfectly honest with her stranger and Elizabeth is to lie to hers. What happens next is the “rest of our story.”
Chelsea is as surprised as Bas when he enjoys talking to the strange girl with so many hangups. He wants more. What he didn’t account for was her past predicting her future. She couldn’t trust her father so she doesn’t put much stock in trusting any man. Until Bas. He makes her want to trust and love. Can she overcome years of her own expectations? Does she become her own worst self-fulfilling prophesy? Read this book to find out. Even the author’s “Acknowledgments” was entertaining. I volunteered to review an ARC of it through Entangled and NetGalley.
My only issue with the story is Chelsea. Is she supposed to be so irritating? If so, this author should get 5 stars. In most places she is more bratty than uneasy in this new situation with Bas. The irony is that her behavior toward Bas is what is causing him to act just as she had expected him to act. She CAUSES it herself! Once she gets over herself and is not so selfish, she becomes a likeable character.