PRIME TIME ROMANCE is a fun, light-hearted romance about a woman who finds herself in the world of her favorite 2000s teen soap.

The plot and setting in this novel were so nostalgic for a reader -- making me wish I could jump into the setting of my favorite 2000s tv shows!

I'm not a big magical realism reader, so I did sometimes struggle a little with the concept of the characters being stuck in the town and having to find their way out. But this is definitely a "me" problem!

I loved reading a book with a female main character who shares my name!! I don't see my name in books often, so it was really fun for me!

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Pub date: September 3, 2024

Thank you @netgalley and Random House for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’m officially a fan of Kate Robb!
I had the pleasure of reading her first book, This Spells Love as an ARC and LOVED IT.

I was fortunate enough again that I was able to read this ARC as well. Robb did not disappoint. I love her writing, dialogue, and loveable characters.

The setting was unique and fun, even if it wasn’t my favorite.
I really liked the homage to the 90s TV shows mixed in as Easter eggs throughout the story.

A great light romance read!

I LOVED this book. Kate Robb does such a great job weaving an intriguing story that readers will fall in love with like I did!! I would highly recommend this read to anyone who loves romance books!!

DNF for me at 58%. I think this is definitely a case of it’s not you, it’s me. I am realizing that the very specific trope of being transported into the world of your favorite tv show is just not my jam. The concept is cute, albeit a little cheesy. And if this is something you like, I would recommend. The town is cute and our main characters seem to have some chemistry. I don’t want to give this a star rating because I didn’t finish, but it is required for Netgalley.

✨ The Vibes ✨
Your favorite YA TV series with a rom com twist

📖 Read if…
✨ You always wondered what happened after the finale of your favorite show
✨ You wished Schmigadoon was about rom coms instead of musicals
✨ You loved The Good Place

Kate Robb has nailed the formula for combining smart, witty, emotional romance with just the perfect amount of magic sprinkled in. And Prime Time Romance has all of that and more!

The book follows Brynn, a recent divorcée, and her roommate Josh as they find themselves in the world of her favorite teen drama (think Dawson’s Creek) after a birthday wish goes awry. They have to stick to the script to give the show the happy ending it deserves, but of course, have to deal with the feelings that arise between them along the way.

This was super cute and will definitely be a book I revisit again and again! While I loved the romance between Josh and Brynn (obviously), I was an even bigger fan of the larger non-romantic themes, like how to be OK and find happiness, even if things don’t turn out the way you initially planned. Robb also includes SOOOO many references to other teen dramas throughout the story, which adds even more fun to the story.

Prime Time Romance is available now. Thanks to the Dial Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5⭐

This was okay. Definitely not memorable for me. I think Sheldon's character wasn't necessary to the plot. I kept asking myself why he had the capability to send Brynn and Josh to Carson's Cove and why he was forcing Brynn and Josh to complete the happy ever after for Sloan and Spencer. We could've just had them magically appear in Carson's Cove without Sheldon as a go between. I also struggled a lot with the romance here. There was no chemistry whatsoever. Brynn and Josh's feelings for one another just developed out of nowhere and all of a sudden they are calling each other the love of their lives. I wasn't fully invested in the story or characters which is very unfortunate, because I really enjoyed her previous book, This Spells Love. I did like the concept of getting sucked into a tv show, but the execution didn't quite work for me.

What would you do if you were sucked into your comfort TV show?? And then made to play the staring role??

Well that’s what happens to Brynn and her unsuspecting roommate, Josh, after a late night binge watch on her birthday! Brynn is then made to play the role of the girl next door returned to her hometown, and give the show the ending it never got back in the day! But things aren’t quite what they seem in this early 2000s town. And Brynn and Josh might want to shake up the love interests anyways 👀

This book was fun! But the longer it went on, the weirder it got. It was a little flat, and unfortunately I kept comparing it to Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston (where her favorite book series comes to life) and it just fell short of expectations when held up to something similar.

However, if you were a big fan of early 2000s teen dramas, this one might really scratch an itch in your brain! I wasn’t that big into them, so it just didn’t do for me what it might do for others.

Thank you to @netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for access to this eARC! This title is out now!

This was interesting. I went into it expecting vibes like Pleasantville the movie. You know outsiders coming in and making everything go haywire.

I always loved a good wish made that goes wrong and this was very similar. I enjoyed seeing how they were going to get back on track to get home and how our fmc slowly fell for Josh. I was nervous with how it would go after the opening with the crap friends.

There were moments that felt over explained but when you’re explaining another show inside a book you kind of have to. I did enjoy the juxtaposition of having the perfect guy on paper or the perfect guy for who you are. 3.75/5 rounded up

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.

I loved the little magical aspects and just how cozy it made me feel. The perfect book to snuggle up with!

Genuinely I love Kate Robb but I struggled with this book. I just didn’t feel the chemistry between the main characters as much as I thought it should. No butterflies while I read it sort of thing. All in all it wasn’t bad but it not going in my top reads for the year.

I wanted to love this, but I found myself struggling to get into the story for so long. I kept trying to start, and something about it kept me from diving in. Finally, I sat down and just read. Then I was in it, but it lulled heavily in the middle. The connection of “Sheldon” was frustrating for most of his appearances. I was rooting for Brynn and Josh, but I didn’t know how it would resolve for Sloan and Spencer. I was a very big fan of Brynn’s solution to the conflict, and I appreciated her breaking the patterns of the show. Ultimately, my complaints were similar to ones I had with Robb’s first book. I will still read her writing again in the future though because she eventually pulls it out

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC!

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

As a huge One Tree Hill fan, I thought I’d love Prime Time Romance, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The concept of getting stuck in a TV show was fun, but I think it would’ve worked better if the main characters were somehow themselves in the show, rather than replacing existing characters. It just felt a bit off.

I also love magical realism, but would have preferred the magic to be unexplained and mysterious. The whole "bad guy” or puppet master trying to control everything, felt unnecessary in a romance.

That said, the nods to Buffy, Riverdale, and other teen dramas were fun. Overall, it was a decent read, but not 5 stars.

I was super excited for this book. I only made it 30% in before putting it down. It just ended up not being for me.

The beginning of this book was so great and I really liked the premise for the story line, but it really wasn’t for me. I was hoping for stronger character development and plot. Wanted to like it!!

Brynn is having a tough go with life. She's been recently divorced, lost friends and us living with Josh in order to afford rent. Her one solace in all this turmoil is watching her favorite teen soap opera, Carson's Cove with Josh. On the night if her 30th birthday, a stranger brings a cake where she makes a wish for her happily ever after. When Brynn and Josh wake up, they find themselves in Carson Cove where they have turned into Sloan and Fletcher, the main characters in Carson's Cove. What they soon find is that in order to leave, Brynn (Sloan) and Josh (Fletcher) have to give the main characters their happpily ever after.

This book gave such strong Pleasantville and Dawson's Creek vibes. I was really looking forward to this book and the premise of it, unfortunately, I don't feel like it really hit it's mark. I feel like the characters could have been more fleshed out and an ending that was somewhat more comprehensive. Regardless of that, there were some very funny moments (like not being able to swear) and spicy moments.

I received this advanced copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

Brynn is on the eve of her 30th birthday and sick of heartbreak after her divorce. Instead of getting back out there, she spends her nights bingeing her favorite teen drama from the 2000s, Carson’s Cove. When Brynn makes a wish on a mysterious birthday cake, she wakes up the next day to find herself - and her hot roommate, Josh - in Carson’s Cove. The more time the two spend in the fictional town, the more they realize they have feelings for each other - and that things might not be as perfect there as they thought.

A twist on Dawson’s Creek meets Pleasantville should be catnip for certain pop-culture obsessed readers, but how well this book works will depend on their ability to suspend disbelief. The world-building is missing something, making the jump in the narrative a bit jarring, and the romance never fully gels on the page. The characterization also feels thin, as though the people inhabiting the world are only half-fleshed out. It will likely work for readers who prefer no spice on the page, but it might fall flat for those looking for more depth in their characters and their connection. The book's highlights are definitely the Easter eggs that Robb sprinkles in, but it's not enough to sustain the novel as a whole.

Overall, it was cute book. It wasn’t something I loved, but wasn’t mad about reading this. I would be interested in reading future novels by her and would recommend this as an easy whimsical type of romance.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted e-copy.

I absolutely LOVED This Spells Love, so I was really excited to read this one! I enjoyed it, but I read it right after Christmas and I'm not sure the timing was right for me.

This book gave HUGE Dawson's Creek vibes, and I was totally here for it. I loved that show when I was in college, so it brought back some big nostalgic feels for me.

Brynn and Josh are roommates, not really friends but cordial to each other. Brynn makes a birthday wish, and they both wake up the next day living in this fictional town from Brynn's favorite show (that had been cancelled years earlier). In order to get back home, Brynn needs to give her main character a happy ending and end up with the boy next door crush.

Obviously it won't be that easy, since her and Josh have some chemistry that grows as the book goes on, but she was supposed to be having sparks with Spencer.

I really liked the premise of this book, as I loved the shows like Dawson, Felicity, etc. But there was something about Carson's Cove that hit me wrong. I'm not sure if it was because I never actually watched that show (because it's FICTIONAL and doesn't exist) or what, but I didn't like the characters, and the town itself gave me some super creepy vibes. Also the fact that this book takes place about 10 years after the show "ended" gave me a weird disconnect between Brynn and the characters.

Although I didn't like this one as much as This Spells Love, I still had fun with it, and will look forward to the next book by this author!

3.5 stars, rounded up

Prime Time Romance was just the vibe I was looking for. Cute, fun with side of feelings. Brynn is newly divorced and turning 30 and in general struggling when she ends up making a wish that sends her and her roommate Josh straight into the fictional Carson's Cove, her comfort show. This has Pleasantville vibes so if you enjoyed that movie you will enjoy Prime Time Romance. Brynn is given a mission to "fix" the ending of Carson's Cove (which was cut off abruptly a la My So Called Life). Only things aren't what they seem. As Brynn tries to give Carson's Cove the ending it deserves she starts to discover what she really wants, which appears to be in direct conflict of what she needs to do to get back home. I had so much fun reading this and seeing Brynn discover herself and discover that things aren't always what they seem.