This was a feel-good read that reminds me of Dawson’s Creek meets The Good Place.

After making a 30th birthday wish, Brynn ends up in Carson’s Cove, the set of her favorite 2000’s teen drama, with her roommate, Josh. However they aren't there as themselves: she is playing one of the characters, Sloan, who fans believe never got the happily ever after she deserves, and he is playing the bad boy Fletch. So what happens when Brynn (now Sloane) begins to fall for the wrong guy?

I love how Kate Robb always puts a unique magical twist in her books, and the concept of this was unlike anything else. She made the story of Carson’s Cove come to life with fully developed subplots and a full cast of dynamic characters. I loved Brynn and Josh together, but I would have loved even more angst and heartfelt moments between them as their love story moved pretty quickly.

Read if you like:
-2000s TV nostalgia
-Magical realism
-Lighthearted reads
-Friends to lovers

Ahh! I loved this book so much! What a fun story to follow! I feel like I was watching a tv show myself instead of reading it. Kate Robb does an amazing job of making you feel like you're living the story. Prime Time Romance is about Brynn and her roomate Josh who get stuck in a well know tv show Carson's Cove, a comfort tv show just like Dawson's Creek or Riverdale. It's up to Brynn and Josh to give Carson's Cove the ending it never got. Such a unique story and I had so much fun reading it. Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for this advanced copy!

I think this was specially engineered to appeal to me, so it would have really needed to miss the mark for me to not have a good time. I loved her last book, This Spells Love, and this was a great follow up. I absolutely loved Pleasantville, and grew up on Dawson’s Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and even Vampire Diaries, so I enjoyed all the homages to my favourites. I will say I don’t think this version did the Pleasantville concept as well or as in-depth, and some would say you should never do the same thing unless you can do it better, but I nevertheless had a fun time with this one.

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

Prime Time Romance by Kate Robb has such an interesting premise. For everyone that enjoys teen soap shows and if you've ever wished you could wake up in your favorite show, this book is for you. Even though this would be an amazing thing for so many people and it is such a thought-provoking storyline, I never fully connected with the story. The "real-life" experienced by Brynn and Josh in Carson's Cove didn't correlate to the episode they watched at the beginning of the book, I had so many unanswered questions. But, that aside, there were a lot of really cute and fun moments in the book that I enjoyed, I just wish some things were explained fully.

This was such a fun and unique read filled with the whimsy and throwback feels. The story will remind you of the 90's movie Pleasantville by being thrown into your favorite tv show premise and then you have all of the references my favorite tv shows growing up made this story that much more enjoyable because it was my own little easter egg hunt as I read realizing what shows were being referenced. I liked Brynn and Josh together, I just wish the book was a little longer to be able to see the relationship develop better as it felt a little rushed, but I loved seeing how Brynn evolves in the story. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a little 90's/early 00's nostalgia.

What would you think if you found yourself in the middle of your favorite TV show playing a character you know and love in a world that means the absolute world to you? Your job should you choose to accept it is to give your character the happily ever after with everyone on pins and needles waiting for before it got canceled..

This is what happens to our main character Brynn makes a wish on a birthday cake and gets herself and her gorgeous roommate Josh pulled into Carson's Cove. A fictional place that has given Brynn so much comfort through all the hard times. She is excited to play her part and get that HEA. Josh while having watched a few episodes has no idea what he's getting into. Both Josh and Brynn have no idea how much they need this, and watching them fall for each other along the way while trying to fulfill the purpose of the show was so much fun, and had me kicking my feet in glee at all the moments between our couple, and I thoroughly enjoyed this from beginning to end.

Thank you Netgalley and dial / prh for the e-Arc. I fell I love with Kate Robb writing and her 2nd book didn't disappoint. I love the way she writes time travel and romance it fully immerses you in it and can easily see it adapted.

Suggest giving it a try

4.5/5☆

This was a fast easy read that I enjoyed. I didn't love it, but I liked the concept and I like magical romance like this. I think the idea of thinking that a fictional world is perfect is something we all fall prey to, so I like that this book took that idea and turned it on its head and really got the main characters thinking about what would really make them happy in their real lives.

This book was just ok for me. I don't feel like the characters were fully developed, and the relationship between them felt forced. The book had a cute premise, and I loved several of the early aughts Easter Eggs, but the way the story played out in the Carson's Cove universe felt outdated and past it's prime.

Overall I liked this one! I do think This Spells Love sucked me into the story more and kept me wanting more, but I did still really enjoy it!

This one had an intriguing premise, but unfortunately it just fell flat to me. I wanted to be invested in Brynn and Josh's relationship, but I just wasn't able to buy into it. It felt very insta-love-y to me, which was a problem since it was being presented as the more "real" alternative to the fictional romance between Sloan and Spencer. Honestly I think a love story between the real Sloan and Fletch would've been more interesting and believable.

This is my 2nd Kate Robb book and I love her alternative reality romances. They are so unique and fun and this one was perfection. I am a total closet Dawson Creek fan and when the characters wake up in perfect Carson Cove it was like living out a Dawson Creek episode. It gave me so many giggles because it was so spot on with the "blond boy next door", the best friend ( that may not always be so nice), the pigeon holes that characters get stuck in like Fletch and Luce. My favorite was the no swearing. It reminded me of the show The Good Place where they couldn't' swear. Cracked me up.
I really like Josh as a character although he was a little one dimensional but over all I think he had a cool back story with the lose of his family bar and him getting transported back into the bad boy that runs a bar. I love how hard he works, and how he was so good at it. I think the real world element of no matter how good you are the pandemic kinda messed with us all. I think his transformation gave him the kick he needed to go after his dream again.
I loved Brynn. She was a little clueless and a little blind when she first gets transported to Carson Cove, kind of how she is a little lost and little scared of her life after her divorce. As she works through the idea that she needs to grow up and so does the character of Sloan - maybe the boy net door isn't perfect for her, maybe friends come in different places and bring Strawberry wine, Maybe you don't' need to go home to win the town beauty pageant to be fulfilled. Maybe you need to be realistic and see what is right in from you.
Very Cute, good writing, quick fast paced and kind of adorable and a little bit spicy. Not always predictable but you know you are going to get your HEA.

This was a cute book! Definitely not what I expected but it was unique and fun and I LOVED the character development.

The concept behind this book was so fun - I always do enjoy magical realism and this was no exception...it is always kind of fun to ponder a situation that feels a bit attainable but wouldn't actually happen in real life. I loved how much this story reminded me of Dawson's Creek (intentionally - the author says so in her note at the end) and I enjoyed the characters, but it's always a bit hard to root for one male lead character while the female character is blind to what's in front of her and that was the case a bit here.

I'll still be checking out all future books from this Canadian romance author though as I enjoy her plotlines a lot!

I loved This Spells Love, so I was really excited to read this book! It definitely set my expectations a bit high.

I will say that this would be a great read if you love/loved teen dramas set in small beach towns. I think I would have liked it more if I grew up watching them and had a better understanding of them.

The magic in this book left me with so many questions. I love fantasy books, especially ones with romance, but there has to be a certain amount of logic behind the magic and how it works, and this book did not have that.

It was an entertaining read, with flawed characters and protective love interests, so I would still recomend it to anyone looking for a book with a HEA.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book was an absolute delight!! Magical realism story of roommates who get sucked into a fictional small town teen soap after a birthday wish is granted. Carson's Cove is all the Dawson's Creek vibes, with some Buffy, One Tree Hill, Saved by the Bell, and 90210 sprinkled in. I was kicking my feet at all the references and then you add Brynn and Josh's love story throughout and I just had a goofy grin the whole time. I inhaled this story, it was such an easy read!

Aside from the fun 90s/00s TV Easter eggs, it also had great character development! Watching Brynn and Josh learn they are enough and deserve happy endings was beautiful. We all know when we watch TV, or movies, or read books, we wonder what the characters are doing after we leave them behind. This was such an interesting way of seeing that the happily ever after doesn't always mean it's perfect, or the grass is always greener.

I loved Kate Robb’s first book, This Spells Love, so I had very high hopes for this, especially with the Pleasantville-esque premise!

The magic element in this definitely left me with more questions than answers… but I could get over that! I do feel like I wanted a slower build-up (and therefore ultimately more satisfying) romantic connection between our two leads, though, and that was a much larger hurdle for me.

There were a few other inconsistencies with the concept, but they are nit-picky and not worth mentioning here.

Overall, I had fun! I can’t say I enjoyed this one as much as her first book, but I will most definitely be reading her next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press for the ARC!

Newly divorced and about to celebrate her thirtieth birthday, Brynn finds herself sick of heartbreak and living with a roommate - Josh. She plans to ring in her birthday curled up on the couch, bingeing her favorite 2000s teenage drama Carson’s Cove. The show ended on an unexpected cliffhanger and the two main characters never declared their love for each other, but to Brynn, the show is comforting and perfect.

When a birthday cake unexpectedly shows up at the door to their apartment, Brynn blows out the candle and makes a birthday wish. Her wish: happily ever after.

The next morning, Brynn wakes up in Carson’s Cove. Josh is there, too. In order to go home they must finish Sloan and Spencer’s story. Brynn will be Sloan and Josh will be Fletcher Scott aka the town’s bad-boy. Sparks fly, but between the seemingly wrong pair. Brynn starts to fall for Josh. Do the two have what it takes to flip the script and make it home?

Read if you like:
- 90s/00s vibes
- roommates
- small town

This was super cute. As a millennial, I loved the inspiration behind Carson’s Cove. The nostalgia. The comfort. The magic. Definitely recommend if you’re in the market for a fun, whimsical, rom-com - don’t hesitate to pick this up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Random House for a free digital copy of this book. This is my honest review. Publication date: September 3, 2024.

Brynn's life is not going according to plan. She is divorced, and she is living with a roommate named Josh. Brynn and Josh work opposite shifts so they rarely interact.

On the night of Brynn's 30th birthday, a man drops off a cake for her, and she makes a wish. The next day, she wakes up in the fictional town from her favorite TV show, Carson's Cove. The show is very similar to Dawson's Creek or any teen show from the lates '90s and early '00s. It was so nostalgic and lots of fun to see all of the familiar tropes of these type of shows.

Brynn is shocked to find that her roommate, Josh, is there too, but they aren't themselves. They are now characters on the TV show. The magical realism element of the story added so much to small town vibes and forced proximity too.

I loved the dual POV in this book, and the slow burn made me feel so much for Josh and Brynn. The story had some unexpected twists and turns, and it made me cry too.

I had so much fun reading this book, and I definitely recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an ARC.

I loved This Spells Love, and this one had such a great premise that I was excited to read it. Unfortunately, this one just fell flat for me. I didn't connect with the story and characters, and the romance between Brynn and Josh just wasn't enough for me.