This book wasn't for me, but this doesn't mean it's not for you. Clearly, others really loved it.

Reasons it didn't sit well with me:
This doesn't really fit as a romance. Yes, there was a main love interest, but it was more of a side story than the main story.

The outlandishness of Indiana's fake persona had me rolling my eyes. I felt like the level of ridiculousness (delivering a baby, flying a plane, dying) made me feel like it was a screwball comedy. Again, might be for you, but for me, I just couldn't take it seriously.

The villains had no subtlety or layers. The boss was extreme, on Disney-level supervillain. Clearly, there is sexism in the workforce, and esp. in tech, but there is some level of competence/subtly in the discrimination in real life - the black-and-white nature of the treatment which made this story fall flat.

The hardest for me to swallow, was the complete lack of respect for workplace etiquette/understanding. Why didn't Ana talk to anyone about her grievances? Why didn't the other members of her team? How is she rewarded for badmouthing her boss to the company she is trying to land? in a public setting? How is any of this okay? I understand the other bosses might have seemed to be in support of Melvin, but if the whole team complained, at least it would be logged with HR. Instead she gets rewarded for circumventing the proper HR reporting systems? Phew. Yeah, that took me out of the story in a huge way.

The only part that had me reengaging with the story was when she saw her boss, Melvin, trying to steal her work. This had echoes of the movie Working Girl, a movie I loved during its time, so I thought this was an updated version.

This may be for you if you like: sexism in the workplace settings, screwball comedy, and women in tech.

This is Anastasia Ryan’s second book and this is the second book by Anastasia Ryan that I loved. I finished this in almost one sitting I just couldn’t get enough.

Indiana is a woman in a man-dominated world. When a simple mistake has her remote team thinking she is a man she gets more opportunities than ever before. The stories about the great Indiana keep getting more crazy and more unbelievable digging the real Indiana into a hole I didn’t know how she was going to get herself out of.

She is not in this mess alone. Two of her friends and her love interest on her team are in on it and help to make up some of the crazy stories. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when some of them were told.

There are so many times Indiana wanted to come clean but the “boys club” nature of her job made it impossible. I felt for Indiana and this book definitely made me think more about how so many people are mistreated in the workplace.

So many books claim to be romantic comedies but very few nail both the romance and the comedy side of the story. Not Bad For A Girl definitely killed it on both sides. I already mentioned that I was laughing out loud at different parts and with Indiana’s relationship with Shane, I could not have been more invested.

I can not wait for Ryan’s next book

💕Hearts don’t get full. They grow.💕

Indiana Aaron is a 27 year old woman who works at a male dominated tech company. The company doesn’t seem like a stellar place for someone like Indiana “Anna” to work. When a manager carelessly mistakes Indiana as an Indiana Jones type dude instead of a very female Anna, who is she to correct him? Anna then finds herself in several funny sticky situations to conceal her true identity.

I truly don’t know how to classify this story - maybe comrom instead of romcom. Romance is a subplot to the workplace dynamics explored throughout the story. For sure more com than rom.

I relate to Anna’s difficulties in trying to find balance in speaking her mind while not crossing the imaginary “that’s too much _____” line. While keeping humor front and center, several common workplace issues people face were tackled. I laughed more times than I can count reading this. The relationship Anna has with her father and original coworkers is enviable and endearing. I have 2 fish tanks, and I get Anna’s fish obsession! 🤪 I do think a lot of unnecessary emphasis is put on Anna’s body size. I had a lot of sympathy embarrassment for Anna which wasn’t always awesome. She knew she was digging herself a hole and just kept digging. 🫣

Audiobook: The narrator was good. Pace was easy to keep as is or speed up as desired. I liked her impression of a male chuckle.

I’ll never not appreciate some solid LOTR references. Check out this fun, easy read!

Audiobook Arc provided by @netgalley, @byanastasiaryan, and @dreamscape_media for my honest review. Thank you!

4 stars!

"Not Bad for a Girl" by Anastasia Ryan is an excellent book, but don't go into it thinking it's all romance because it's not! I had a good time reading this one. I greatly enjoyed the characters, the situations, the resolutions, and the humor. Gosh, this book made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions! Wonderful wit and jokes throughout. I think this has the perfect mix of seriousness and levity. Ryan explains in great detail how every woman on this planet has been treated at one point in their life (I guarantee it). This book will insense any woman who reads it, and if they aren't angry after reading the way the main character Indiana (aka Ana) is treated, well, they are either lying or benefitting from their proximity to the white supremacist patriarchy. It explores what it's like to be a woman in a male-dominated field of employment like computer coding. As the plot goes along, Ryan shows how Ana is treated differently and is seen as "lesser than" her male counterparts in her workplace simply because she is a woman. Men don't take her seriously. Men think she's the coffee matron. Men think she's a man because of her first name. Men make assumptions that she is worse than her male counterparts when she is the best coder at her job. Men benefit from the labor of women, even when they are less competent than women. It *should* enrage everyone. I appreciate the supporting characters, from Ana's dad and his burgeoning relationship with a woman at their long-term care facility to her two (often scheming) best friends Heidi and Patrick. This book has it all. Loved the women in STEM representation, loved the disability representation with Ana's father, loved the banter between Indiana and the main male character, Shane, and I loved the geeky and nerdy references! I will say that I wish the love story had been a little stronger, but I still think Indiana and Shane make a cute enough couple. I also particularly enjoyed Jesse Vilinsky's audiobook narration and will seek out other books read by her. I think she brings levity and light to the characters Anastasia Ryan created!

Thank you to NetGalley, Anastasia Ryan, and Dreamscape Media for the complimentary ALC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

💻Not Bad for a Girl 💻

We love some women in STEM rep!
This was a story of Indiana, an outspoken female coder who goes by Ana. When she is reassigned to a fully remote team, her misogynist boss assumes she is male based on her name. Ana notices that the small change opens up her opportunities and recognition that she’d previously never had available to her. Using it to her advantage, she makes a name for “Indiana” on a great new project for the company. When her boss tries to take credit for her work. Ana and her supporters concoct silly schemes to protect Indiana’s identity and help make sure credit goes where credit is due.

This one is a strong message about female empowerment in STEM. There’s a swoony romance woven in, but the central theme is about Ana’s journey in the workforce and I loved seeing it. As a woman in STEM, I felt for Ana and her trials. I laughed out loud at the antics. I celebrated with her when she realized she wants to take back her female identity and pave the way for future women.

I listened to the audio and greatly enjoyed the narrator. At 2X speed, I loved hearing all the different voices and characters at play. The audio made the story fly by and I loved it.

Check this one out if you’re looking for
💻 Women in STEM rep, female coder
💻 Endless Lord of the Rings references
💻 Swoony workplace romance
💻 Hilarious, supportive friends and family
💻 Fish mom content 🐠😂

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this ALC! My opinions are my own.

Not Bad for a Girl is a 5 star for the comedy alone, I giggled through 90% of the book!
Jesse Vilinsky was amazing! I loved each characters different voices &

Indiana "Ana" Aaron is a tech girl in a "bros" world. She's not afraid to tell it like she sees it, which gets her in trouble with her bosses.. So much so they transfer her to a remote team. Day one, her new boss makes a mistake & is blaming the whole team for it. When Ana cant help but correct him on it, he replies to the whole team, Thank you Mr. Aaron. Without correcting him the whole gender thing snowballs into a bunch of lies about Mr. Arron being a hockey player, navy seal and many other manly things.. Her friends help when they can, sometimes making things worse, like telling her boss "you just missed him, Mr. Aaron just delivered a baby"!

This book was so funny & is a great look into how differently men and women are treated differently in any job. Despite women representing 47% of the labor force, women still make 17% less than men on average.

Thank you to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for the advanced audio book! & Thanks to Anastasia Ryan for writing my favorite comedy of the year!

Not Bad for a Girl
By: Anastasia Ryan
Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky
Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Release date: 01-30-24
Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Fantastic. A great story. I was cheering for the characters. It was more than a romance. Such a great story. The narrators immersed you in the story. I didn’t want to stop listening.

This is book had me covering my mouth, to try not to laugh out loud and smile like an idiot while at work. The romance in this was soo cutee. Ana and Shane own my heart!! I loved seeing her dads life and him finding someone, it was so cute and so sweet. The best part of this book though was every story about Indiana, they were always so out there and so funny.

Jesse Villinsky is one of my all time favorite audiobooks narrators so i was really excited when i heard her voice!!!

I devoured this audiobook and absolutely loved Ana! There were so many fun secondary characters as well and this workplace comedy made me laugh out loud. The author has a talent for developing bosses that readers love to hate! While Melvin Hammer was a bit over the top, he clearly represented too many bosses out there who steal credit and don’t respect women’s abilities. This book was extremely entertaining and also very timely with regard to women in STEM and overall gender equality issues.

Professionally, Indiana “Ana” Aaron is a woman in a man’s world. She’s excellent at IT and coding, but not always great at relating to her male coworkers and bosses. She’s not afraid to speak her mind though, and after she offends her boss, winds up assigned to a remote team no one wants to be on.

Working from home, her camera off during zoom calls, and a first name that evokes Indiana Jones all lead to her new boss mistakenly assuming she’s a man. Instead of correcting him, Ana decides to roll with it. With the help of her friends, she invents a larger-than-life persona for Indiana: pilot, emergency back-up goalie for the Avalanche, and other crazy hijinks. I was simultaneously laughing out loud while being anxious that she was going to get found out and also rooting for her to take down her jerk of a boss.

As a woman who works in a male-dominated field myself, I totally identified with Ana and found myself infuriated by the sexist nonsense she had to endure. Luckily, there was plenty of raucous laughter to cancel out my flares of irritation at the patriarchy. This book is a hoot! It has a romcom vibe but the romance is just a side plot and the workplace shenanigans take center stage, which is awesome! Ana’s friends are fantastic, and her relationship with her dad is adorable.

I both read and listened to this book, and both formats are so good! Narrator Jesse Vilinsky did a fantastic job of bringing Ana and the quirky cast of characters to life in the audiobook version!

This is Anastasia Ryan’s second workplace comedy and after loving this one and her debut, “You Should Smile More”, I can safely say I would read absolutely anything she writes in the future! Many thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and Dreamscape Media for providing me an advance copy of this book.

When Indiana first gets confused for being a guy (it can happen when working remotely), she decides not to say anything. It's hard being a woman in the IT field after all. But then things spiral out of control and EVERYONE wants to meet this super guy. What will Indiana do?

This was such a fun audiobook to listen to! At times I felt angry at everything Indiana had to go through but I loved her happy ending and how everything came together for her. This was such an uplifting read with lots of humour peppered throughout. My best friend currently works in IT and she always says that she mostly works with guys so I could fully relate to some scenarios from this book. I'll be looking out for more by this author since I really enjoyed this one!

I love how the author showed how gender discrimination affects women in the work please. It was definitely a funny and sweet story with just a small side or romance.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for this wonderful opportunity, and amazing story

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC audiobook for an honest review.

This is my second Anastasia Ryan book and this one is another hit for me! I know there is nothing earth shattering about this book, but there is just something special about the author's writing that makes me happy with its sweet, silliness and over the top situations that makes me smile. In today's world, you sometimes just need that simple joy. The narrator does an excellent job of capturing all the characters and truly bringing them to life.

Our heroine, Indiana (Ana) works in a man-oriented work force. When she is mistaken for a man due to her name, she doesn't immediately correct the situation. Soon the legend of Indiana starts to evolve, each tale grander and more masculine than the last. Which is hilarious because Ana is a tiny female who is not even remotely a man, let alone Indiana Jones incarnate...

The romance is sweet, the relationships with the side characters, especially between Ana and her dad were a perfect addition. And the evil, misogynist boss is worth booing and hissing...you definitely cheer for the good guys to take him down!

If you are looking for a campy, feel good, comedic romp that is guaranteed to make you smile, check this out!

5 stars

Indiana Aaron is sick of being overlooked at work because she's a petite outspoken girl despite being a top notch coder. So while working remotely and the assumption is made, that Indiana is a guy, "Ana" doesn't correct it. But the longer she lets the lie go, the more ridiculous the legend of Indiana Aaron becomes around the office. A lot of over the top scenarios make for some hilarious situations! The book has a strong feminist message and unfortunately the misogyny and gender discrimination will ring too true to too many. Despite the serious theme, this is a witty crazy story. Quirky friends whose help really doesn't help, a loveable father and some unusual pets provide the humor and a cute and considerate co-worker provides the romance.

Jesse Vilinsky was a fabulous narrator bringing the different characters to life and I think she did a phenomenal job!

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Books, Sourcebooks Casablanca and Anastasia Ryan for entrusting me with this fun and gifted arc!

Not Bad For A Girl was the perfect blend of women's fiction and romance. I thought the balance of both made for an amazing book. I loved You Should Smile More, but I think the author surpassed herself with this upcoming release.

Indiana (Ana) is one of the best FMC’s I’ve read, she said what's on her mind and took no sh*t from anyone. She wasn't scared to speak up and confront the men who were unfair to her. I also loved the romance that bloomed in this novel, it just added a little more to the story.

Although this book was laugh out loud funny, cute and sweet it also touched on real life issues that still occur in day to day business settings. I love how she was able to intertwine everything and made it all tie together nicely.

Ryan has a way with words that will keep you hooked and invested from page 1. She also knows how to tackle the tough subjects without overbearing you and making it heavy. This was a fantastic workplace comedy sprinkled with a bit of romance.

🎧 The narration by Jesse Vilinski was chef's kiss. She did such an amazing job with all the characters but she killed it withIndiana. She truly brought to life Ryan’s humor and had all the intonations on point. Highly recommend the audio!

✨️Thank you to @netgalley, @sourcebookscasa, @dreamscapemedia & @byanastasiaryan for my free ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I was expecting more rom-com but I enjoyed it. This is definitely more of a workplace comedy addressing sexism in the workplace. Some of the bits were a bit crazy but the overall story has a good message.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher.

Ana, a coder, is moved to a remote based team. Her full name is Indiana, and her boss assumes she is male, referring to her as Mr. Indiana Aaron in an email on a Friday afternoon. She does not immediately correct him. By Monday, all of her friends have taken the mistake and embellished this entire fictional life Indiana. While Ana is gathering the courage to tell her boss she is female, she learns that is extremely misogynistic and she is sure he will treat her differently if he discovers the truth.

The premise- dealing with misogyny in the workplace is great. However, the book is a bit too out there, which I feel like weakens the message. It is funny if you suspend reality enough- I mean Indiana puts out fires (literal fires), delivers babies, pilots planes, is a backup NHL goalie, etc...

The audiobook is narrated by Jesse Vilinsky. While absolutely no complaints about tone and stuff, the pacing was difficult for me. The narrator pauses at the end of each sentence. That is literally one of the worst things to me- because if you speed it up enough to completely overcome it, the actual speech becomes too fast. I listened at 1.75. Speech was fine, pauses still too long.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

The concept of this novel immediately grabbed my attention. I was intrigued by the potential dynamics of the romance within the story, anticipating a blend of romantic comedy and women's fiction.

To my pleasant surprise, the story leaned more towards women's empowerment, and I absolutely adored that aspect. It skillfully depicted the countless challenges women face in male-dominated fields, shedding light on the prejudice they often encounter despite their undeniable talents. However, the romance was sorely lacking, and there were some unrealistic moments that seemed disconnected from the overall message the novel wanted to convey.

As a listener, I found myself losing interest from time to time. Yet, I must commend Jesse Vilinsky for her outstanding solo narration, which managed to bring me back to the story.

My feelings towards this novel are somewhat mixed, as there were parts that resonated while others fell short. Overall, I believe this audiobook would be a fantastic choice for those who enjoy very light romance and women's empowerment themes.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced audio copy of "Not Bad For A Girl" by Anastasia Ryan in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Indiana “Ana” Aaron is an IT specialist and coder who doesn’t always fit in. When she speaks up to her boss one too many times she ends up being transferred to a remote team, and knows this is her last chance to blend in. Then when he new boss praises her work and thanks her as Mr. Aaron, she doesn’t feel the need to correct his assumption. Now the legend of Mr. Aaron is taking on a life of its own and it’s becoming way more complicated to set the record straight.

I loved this book and flew right through it. I received this as an ALC and loved listening to it. Although a lot of the situation felt over the top, I just couldn’t help but adore Indiana’s character! She had so much personality and quite the mouth on her… not that everything she said wasn’t warranted. I found myself relating to her and really enjoying her wit. This is my first Anastasia Ryan novel and it will not be my last. Jesse Vilinsky (the narrator) was perfect for this. She had me listening to this story with ease and had me chuckling throughout the story. This is a good one to read and/or listen to! Not Bad For a Girl is out 1/30/24.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for my advanced copy and giving me the chance to review it honestly.

Happy reading!

After being passed over for a promotion and speaks her mind in the company meeting and ends up getting transferred to a remote team. Ana once again speaks her mind and her new boss mistakes her for a Mr. Aaron’s. Now this story wasn’t what I first though. I though it was a cute office romance romcom instead it’s about Ana fighting for her rights as a women.. romance it’s like on the side.

Ana made up a whole persona and her friends made it worst trying to help her. It was funny I was laughing so much about all the shenanigans everyone was created about Mr. Aaron’s.

It was kinda slow at first but once I hit 50% the story suddenly was very easy and fast.

Loved Ana and the way she stood up for herself.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscapes media for providing me this audiobook arc in exchange for a honest review.