Anyone who watched and loved Dawson's Creek in the 90s will love this book! such a clever way to help us see that what's important and real is not the idealized version of romance on a screen, but what's right in front of you. And what you thought was perfect when you were a teenager can turn out to be something a little more problematic as a real-life adult. Not to mention the delicious rapport between the two protagonists!

my Joey & Pacey, Dawson's Creek loving heart is so happy!!
I wish I could jump into my favorite/comfort teen soap
The ending was too cheesy/cliche for 5 stars for me

This book reminded me so much of A Novel Love Story but better! The chemistry between the leads is undeniable. There's so much unspoken pining between the two since the beginning which made up for amazing tension. Would recommend to my friends and followers!

I don't know of an author better than Kate Robb at taking a premise that seems absurd on the surface, and making it work. This Spells Love was great, and Prime Time Romance did it as well. The magic piece isn't important, but the feelings between the characters steal the show and keep you in love with the story.

Thank you Dial Press and PRH Audio for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own.

This Spells Love was an absolute favorite of mine and while I enjoyed Prime Time Romance, it lacked some of the magic for me that This Spells Love had.

Josh and Brynn end up in an alternate reality in her favorite tv show, Carson’s Cove. They are forced to play two of the main characters if they want to ever get home. This was a little confusing to me as to whether their appearances changed or how they became the characters. Once they’re in their new roles, they begin to develop feelings for each other. Brynn/Sloan keeps getting into trouble because she’s supposed to get Sloan her happily ever after with Spencer. The person her character was in love with when the show abruptly ended.

This reminds me a bit of A Novel Story when we see that our favorite books/shows are not as perfect as we’d like to believe.

I liked the person Brynn helped Sloan to become and how she fought for what she thought was right even if it’s cost her being able to return home.

I liked the romance between Brynn and Josh but it was a little too instalove for me as they had no real romantic connection before this incident.

I will still definitely check out new books from Kate Robb!

Haven't we all wished we could go into the world of our favorite tv shows? How fun would this book be if it really happened to you? I loved this whole story, and I couldn't put the book down. Highly recommend for those of us with comfort tv shows.

3.5! the concept of this was really interesting and i loved how layered it became as the story went on. the commentary on our favorite 2000s shows was a great addition to the love story, which had great chemistry.

Brynn is our main character who is newly single, she has found comfort in her fave tv show, Carson's Cove. It's the one steady thing in her otherwise topsy turvy life right now. One evening while watching the show Brynn & her roommate Josh find themselves magically transported into the heart of the show and have transformed into the shows MC's Sloan & Fletch.

As they navigate their new world and try to get back home I just didnt feel the romance or the chemistry. Brynn spent more time with side characters than she did with Josh, and while they had some deep moments, I couldn't feel their connection at all.

Overall I enjoyed the book, but by the end I definitely liked it more than I anticipated.
Prime Time Romance by Kate Robb is a whirlwind of nostalgic bliss.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Brynn's life is not going how she expected it would. On the eve of her 30th birthday, Brynn - recently divorced and forced to live with a roommate so she can make her mortgage payment - would rather spend her time at home on the couch watching old episodes of her favorite show Carson's Cove. Despite an abrupt cancellation after the fifth season finale (leaving many fans distraught), at least Brynn knows what to expect with Carson's Cove. Things always have a way of working out how they should. That is, until a birthday wish finds Brynn waking up in Carson's Cove. And not only Brynn, but her roommate Josh too. Not only waking up in Carson's Cove, but they've each been inserted into the storyline as town sweetheart Sloane and badboy Fletcher respectively.

Turns out, someone wants the series, and characters, to get the ending they deserve before it was cancelled. Namely, the show ended before the aforementioned town sweetheart Sloan could make her feelings known for equally revered town golden boy Spencer. Brynn and Josh decide to play along hoping a quick resolution will mean a quick return home. However, even the most idyllic fictional town must weather a few storms that tend to throw everything off script. Do Brynn and Josh risk flipping the script or their hearts?

This has been one of my favorite reads of the year so far. I was really surprised by this one. I feel like I was clearly the target audience because it literally hearkened back to ALL the teen shows I loved to watch in the late 90's / early 2000's. I loved picking up all the little Easter eggs sprinkled throughout. Some more blatant than others, but all delightful to find.

Also, the book doesn't shy away from the fact that many of the things we swooned over as teens are completely cringe looking back on them with adult eyes. This is done in such a way that doesn't completely drag what was, but instead kind of honors where you are as a young adult as well as growing up to maybe know better. It's an interesting rumination on how we often tend to look back on the past with rose-colored glasses. But if we look at things from a older, wiser perspective oftentimes you find that things weren't so perfect.

Any particular fan of Dawson's Creek will completely understand how things play out between Brynn and Josh (aka Sloan and Fletcher). I had it pegged from the moment they learned their respective roles to play in Carson's Cove, so I just enjoyed seeing how things played out.

I did like the fact that, while they each have their own storylines, those stories are very near a mirror to one another. They're each unhappy with how their lives have gotten so off track from where they believe they "should" be. For Brynn that's her marriage that didn't work out, and for Josh it's losing the family business. They have this innate understanding of one another, whether they acknowledge it or not, and I think it makes them a wonderful team in trying to solve the predicament in which they've now found themselves. This is helped by the fact that we get both Brynn and Josh's points of view, which is something I always enjoy.

This was just the book I needed at just the right time. I think I enjoyed this one more than Kate Robb's previous book. There was something so familiar yet also completely unexpected about it.

This book was adorable! It was so fun to be inside a fictional world. I have always wondered what it would be like to live in one of my favorite TV shows. Brynn was relatable and Josh was the perfect book boyfriend. I would definitely recommend this one to all my friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Dial Press for an eARC.

Would you wish to become a part of your comfort TV series?
In Brynn's case, she unknowingly makes a wish on her 30th birthday to become the main character in her life-long comfort show. She wakes up in her favorite character's bed and has to live her favorite character's life. Her roommate, Josh, also wakes up in the local bartender's bed with a run-down bar to fix. Will they finish their characters' stories or will they start their own?
This is a perfect book for lovers of:
A Novel Love Story
Funny Story
Gilmore Girls
Riverdale
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
and so many more comfort shows!
I loved the set up of this book, and I loved seeing all of the flaws of our favorite shows showed through the eyes of a real woman and fixing the toxicity of these characters. However, in doing so, the author did point out all of the negative parts of television and created a negative atmosphere. The pacing of the book also took me a while to get the hang of because the main conflict was very much back-and-forth.
Such a fun read and great for anyone wanting to escape!

Full of 90's and 200's teen drama references and vibes, along with a healthy dose of "and they were roommates"

Brynn is newly divorced and turning 30. She has been unlucky in love, and her life is a huge mess. She lost all her close friends in the divorce and the ones she has now are not exactly ones you can confide in or depend on. What she does have is her favourite teen drama from her teen years, Carson's Cove, even if it ended on a cliffhanger and got cancelled before the love interests got together.. After a failed night out for her birthday, her roommate Josh helps her home and watches an episode of Carson's Cove with her. At midnight an unexpected birthday cake is delivered and she makes a wish to have her dream life and love.

Both her and Josh wake up as characters on Carson's Cove, and the only way to get home is live as their characters, the girl next door, and town sweetheart Sloan, and the town bad body Fletch, and get Sloan and Spencer the ending they were supposed to have. As time goes on Brynn and Josh realize maybe the expected ending is not wha should have happened, and maybe there are feelings between they never explored. Will they stick to the script and let this play out the way the show is supposed to, or will they find a connection between them they can't ignore.

This was honestly the definition of a fun, goofy, silly time and I could not be happier to have read it. The book was definitely a step up from the authors debut, her writing and characterization got stronger. This spoke to me teen heart with all the teen drama vibes and really made me nostalgic for all the shows of my youth. The chemistry between the characters although believable could have been stronger, there was a lot of self growth with the characters individually but the growth together was a little thin. Overall it was just a good time, the sprinkle of magical realism really hit, and I can't wait for future books by the author.

I truthfully feel bad only giving this 3⭐️ as the infinite number of pop culture references made me giddy, and I really loved the idea of this one, but the story line and majority of the plot development lacked so hard for me, and I’m sorry for that!!!

Brynn’s life is a disaster thanks to her recent breakup and all she wants is her comfort show, Carson’s Cove. That is, until one bar night, her roommate Josh and herself get transported into the show to fix the ending, based on one of the actor’s disgruntled feelings over how it abruptly ended (and thanks to an Uber Eats birthday cake delivery and forcing Brynn to make a wish).

Truthfully I started losing interest in this at 25% and struggled until it picked back up around 73% (and 🌶️ at 75%!). The premise of getting stuck in a tv show to give characters their happy ever after could have been good but I found that it focused too hard on Brynn (aka Sloan) ending up with Spencer and forging friendships that weren’t meant to be. Thankfully she has her realization and gets to return home, in addition to getting her romance with Josh, but the meat of the story was messy for me.

Having said that, I need to emphasize that people do get their happy endings in this one… it just takes a bit to get there. If you’ve ever watched teen dramas, those parts will resonate with you in this book along with all of the references to them!

Thank you to the author, Random House Publishing, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have some history with teen dramas. One Tree Hill is one of my favorite shows of all time (I quite literally squealed when I saw One Tree Hill is coming out with a spin-off), Gossip Girl was an obsession, I watched Degrassi every week, and my friends and I pretended we were the characters from Pretty Little Liars for like two years. I haven’t seen Dawson’s Creek, which the TV show in Prime Time Romance is heavily inspired by, but I understand how a TV show can impact someone. 

My history with dramas is one of the reasons Prime Time Romance initially stood out to me. I thought the concept was unique and interested in seeing where Robb would take it. 

In the beginning, I really enjoyed myself! During the introductions of the two characters, I found both to be relatable in their own ways. I could see where romance could be in the cards for them--their chemistry was so strong! I thought this was going to be a major win of a book for me. Sadly, things took a slight turn.

To me, the pacing was the biggest issue. All of the information about the TV show bogged down the storyline. I took a break from reading this at around the 45% mark, and I almost called it quits then. It was hard to feel anything for the characters when the story was so focused on building the background for Carson’s Cove. Every time I had to read more about the show, I felt more disconnected from the two main characters. It also caused the side characters to be very one-dimensional (which I understand was the point, but it took away any of the tension). 

“You can’t start the next episode of your life if you keep rewatching the old one.”

A few weeks later, I decided to continue. I am glad I didn't give up on the book because I enjoyed it more than I initially thought I would. The story improved for me, and I ended up giving it three stars. I still have issues with the story, but as the characters started to grow beyond the TV show, it became a little more interesting. Josh was by far my favorite character in the book. I related to his fear of failure, and the connection to his real life and TV show life was well done.

I am glad I decided to read this one. While it wasn't a total win, I thought the premise was fun. I also thought the takeaway in the end was worth it, and I can see how other people will adore this one.

I never ever thought I'd be one to enjoy magic realism books (fantasy isn't normally my jam), but I am proven wrong every time I pick one up, and Prime Time Romance is no different! I lovedddd Kate Robb's debut, This Spells Love so I JUMPED at the chance to read an ARC of her sophomore book.

A young divorcee, Brynn, is still sifting through the heartbreak of her marriage and part of her coping process is re-watching her favorite show from her childhood, Carson's Cove (picture Dawson's Creek). When she spends the night of her 30th birthday watching an episode with her platonic roommate, Josh, an unexpected delivery shows up at her door - a birthday cake with a single candle - waiting for her to make a wish. Brynn takes the opportunity to wish for no more plot twists, for a life that she was supposed to have and is shocked when her and Josh wake up as characters from Carson's Cove and are expected to play their role in order to be sent back home.

I happened to read A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston right before this one and it's veryyyy similar (so if you're a fan of one, you'll likely be a fan of the other) and I love this idea of being sucked into your favorite fictional town and seeing it outside of the rose-colored glasses the MC once viewed it in. In this story, I enjoyed Brynn's journey though portraying the show's main character, Sloan, and I thought her connection with Josh was so so cute.

Kate is working her way into auto-read territory and I'm so excited to see more from her in the future!

I was very excited to read this book. Kate Robb’s first book was a favorite of mine last year. (If you haven’t read it go. It’s magical and funny and fantastic). Unfortunately this one did not give me the same feels.
It might just not be for me (or for me right now). The premise - newly divorced Brynn wants a happily ever after, but life didn’t turn out that way. She now lives with a roommate, Josh to afford her mortgage and is coming up on her birthday. A mysterious birthday cake shows up, and she wishes for her happily ever after. She ends up waking up in her favorite teenage TV show and craziness and ensues from there. Fantastic premise But the execution was a bit dull. Didn’t feel the romance/chemistry from the main characters. Was hoping for a bit more.

3.5 ⭐️. If you love 90-00s teen dramas this is for you. Perfect for a cute and fast read to forget about anything.

Did i like everything about this book? No. But did I still have a great time? Absolutely yes. If you like 90s teen TV nostalgia, you'll love this. Josh was adorable, I wanted more more more of him!

If Kate Robb writes it- I’m reading it, buying it, screaming from the rooftops about it (hehe IYKYK).
I was unfortunately interrupted by the need to sleep otherwise I would have finished this book in one sitting. It’s Dawson’s Creek, it’s Gilmore Girls (yea, team Logan, too Kate) it’s every series we grew up with and the nostalgia played my heart like a fiddle. You know how ONCE UPON A TIME (the show) combined allll the fairytale stories, I give you Primetime Romance.
Read it. Go do karaoke. Come back and read it again..

Note: Team Josh forever.

I def liked this spells love more but Kate Robb books are a BUNCH of fun!!! You can tell that she has a true understanding for all things pop culture and knows how to weave that understanding into a pretty fun romance.

I wish there was more depth in the story and that we got to know how the magic worked a little more. But other than that this was a good time and I’m excited to see what Kate does next!