For some reason, I picked up and put down this book several times. I gave it one last try and am so happy I did!
This is a boy-boy romance but revolves around multiple romances. It is both light hearted and serious in the way the different romances and relationships work.
There is so much going on in this book that it keeps your attention even after you have finished it. And it deals with personal failures as well as accomplishments.
This is a funny, happy, romantic book with incredible characters. There is something for everyone!
Enjoy!

Really cute modern queer Emma adaptation. Very well crafted and enjoyable. I loved Bobby and his flair, body positivity and overly enthusiastic ambition as a self-appointed love guru. This wasn’t exactly a romcom as the romance was more of a side story, but more of a coming of age, meta story for book lovers of all ages.

The inclusion of Teresa Denys’ books was a nice treat.

The story follows Bobby, a hopeless romantic who is determined to have the perfect summer and has even made a list to make sure he has everything under control.

One of his hobbies is to help people find love and get couples together but he does not realize that sometimes people do not want others to intervene and tell them what to do.

The book and the story had a lot of potential to become a really cute and heartwarming love story. Unfortunately it is the romance that was missing. The romantic elements feel like just a quick add on but it is more about Bobby realizing he can not control every situation and every person’s life. Learning his strengths and accepting his weaknesses.

All the characters in the book felt a bit flat and even though I really liked Gladys. I appreciated all the representation in the book as well and having a male main character in a ‘romance’ book that does not fit the typical perfect main male character.

After the halfway mark I have to admit that the book started to drag a little bit for me and the dialogues felt at times a bit forced.

But this book has some positives as well. Bookstores and the power of books, Gladys and her personality, good messages like speculation will only cause you heartache and a lot of character growth.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

A good fun fluffy romance. This was a little stereotypical to me but aren't most fluffy romances? I liked Bobby and Luke's bather back and forth. "love grinch" made me smile everytime. The romance went how I thought it would but was cute and happy. It is reminiscent of "Emma" by Jane Austin with Bobby setting everyone up but not having someone for himself. If you like this kind of romance you may love it.

This became a "DNF" (did not finish). I gave up after the first chapter, which is far less than I usually do but I did not care for this character and the set-up/ situation was hard to understand. At first I thought he was a college freshman, then the details showed this to be the summer before college starts. I get that it's a small town / college but there should have been some background as to why he was involved with the project before school started. And the whole confession of love scene was like watching an awkward train wreck.

This book, how do I describe this book. I started out absolutely hating this book, I disliked the main character, how he acted the most flamboyant stereotypically gay and how a good portion of his personality dripped with borderline narcissistic tendencies.

I do not like to DNF books so I pushed through with finishing this book, it taking me longer to finish than books usually take me because it wasn’t until about half way through that I started to enjoy the book.

That being said I am glad that I finished this book, I did enjoy the ending and I came to appreciate the main character more.

If you decide to read this book, even if you don’t like it at first please try and finish it, I feel like the ending might change your mind.

Thank you Netgalley and Zando young readers for the arc.

I wanted to read this book from just seeing the artwork and reading the description. I hoped it would be as good as I'd hoped. It was better. I loved Bobby's story although I did worry (needlessly) that the weight thing would be another thing to make Bobby feel bad about himself.
I have to be honest and say I didn't really see a correlation with Jane Austen's Emma. But that may be because the original is not one of my favourite Austen novels. But I suspect that the real reason is I was drawn into this story so hard and fast that I never really had a moment to think about comparing it to another book.
Paul Coccia has written a beautiful story. One I can relate to even being the complete opposite of Bobby. I will be recommending this to friends and look forward to hunting down more novels by this author.
Thank you Paul Coccia and NetGalley for bringing this piece of delight into my reading life.

Recommended Reading by Paul Coccia is a charming, heartwarming young adult rom-com that offers a fresh and funny twist on the opposites-attract trope. With a plot inspired by Jane Austen’s Emma, this delightful novel follows Bobby Ashton, a queer teen bookseller who, after a spectacularly failed romantic gesture, finds himself navigating a summer of book matching and trying to recover from a public humiliation. The last thing he expects is to be swept off his feet by a handsome, romance-skeptical lifeguard. But sometimes, love arrives when you least expect it, and often in the most unexpected forms.

Bobby, a curvaceous, clever, and self-assured seventeen-year-old, is passionate about books and romantic gestures. He’s the kind of person who thrives on grand gestures and rom-com clichés, always expecting life to unfold like one of his favorite novels. When he finally works up the courage to ask out his crush with a romantic display that’s straight out of a movie, he completely misreads the situation, leading to an embarrassing disaster. The moment is so cringe-worthy that it could have been pulled from the pages of a bad rom-com, setting Bobby up for a summer of awkwardness and self-reflection.

Now, with his romantic dreams dashed, Bobby retreats to his uncle’s bookstore, where he spends his days recommending books to customers in need of everything from heartbreak cures to coping with difficult coworkers. It’s a quieter, more reflective existence, but it’s also the perfect setting for Bobby to heal and rediscover himself—until Luke, a brooding, anti-romantic lifeguard, walks into the store.

Luke is Bobby’s polar opposite: a cynical, good-looking lifeguard who is immune to the magic of romance and entirely uninterested in Bobby’s flirtations. As Bobby finds himself drawn to Luke, their connection plays out like a rom-com fan’s dream: the grumpy-sunshine dynamic, witty banter, and even forced proximity as they spend more time together. But after his previous romantic disaster, Bobby is torn between his natural instincts to use all his romantic knowledge to win Luke over and the fear of misreading the signs yet again.

Coccia’s writing is funny and full of heart, bringing Bobby’s journey of self-discovery and the complexities of modern romance to life with a mix of humor and sincerity. Bobby is a lovable and relatable protagonist—his wit and vulnerability make him an engaging character, and readers will root for him as he navigates his way through both romantic missteps and personal growth. Luke, on the other hand, offers just the right amount of skepticism and emotional depth to keep the tension alive between them. Their chemistry is undeniable, and the way they challenge each other’s views on love and relationships feels both natural and satisfying.

2.5

Brace yourselves, friends. I have some ranting to do.

Recommended Reading is a YA about Bobby, a hopeless romantic who’s desperate for a perfect summer—a summer that quickly goes haywire.
I was so looking forward to this book. This book could have been excellent, if only it hadn’t been a romance. I loved the bookstore element of this. I adored the side characters and the B-plots.
But I strongly disliked the central focus of the story, aka Bobby and his pursuit of romance (if you can call it that).
For starters, Bobby is a terrible main character. I love that we have a plus-size, gay, male MC. But surely we could make one with a better personality? Bobby is grating, one-dimensional, and feels like all the worst parts of the “gay best friend” stereotype in one main character.
All of the characters feel very one-dimensional, honestly, but the side characters were at least likable. I would’ve liked a different main character, or at least another POV to break it up.
This book is also one of the only books I’ve read where things are underexplained? Explain to me how I finished the book and knew next to nothing about the characters. The inciting incident of the book—a dramatic disaster that ends in heartbreak—is never elaborated on and is only mentioned a handful of times.
And, as I mentioned earlier, this book should NOT have been a romance. The romantic element feels like an afterthought. Bobby has absolutely zero romantic thoughts about the love interest. And, in fact, he spends the entire book convincing himself that he DOESN’T WANT a romantic relationship. All of the romantic feelings seem to be one-sided on the part of the love interest, who only gives Bobby vague (literally the vaguest) hints at being interested in him.
There was zero tension between the two, and they don’t even confess their love until the 97% mark (yes, that’s the second to last chapter). And even that confession felt weak because, again, there was ZERO romantic tension between the two. Bobby has a few times where he mentions that Luke is hot, and that's about it. The reader is supposed to put all the pieces together.
In conclusion, this book should’ve been just about Bobby working at the bookstore and giving book recommendations (the most endearing part of the book). Don’t read this if you’re looking for a romance.

CW: body shaming/fatphobia; underage drinking

DNF at 20%. The main character was so perfect even his flaws were painted as him being too perfect for this world. It was an absolute slog I cringed through the entire way as the MC, Bobby, complained with flamboyant language about his difficult life of making a ridiculous, stupid and costly mistake he barely seemed to own up to or feel guilty for, then complaining about the privilege of being handed another job off the bat to pay repairs AND keep his scholarship. Bobby comes off as disrespectful, immature, inconsiderate and entirely self-centred in every interaction he has.

This was a really cute read. I loved that neither compromises themselves for each other, but they still end up together. At first it seemed a little trite, but all in all it was written well and was definitely entertaining.

I enjoyed the rep in this book and also how the characters were unapologetically messy and flawed and unafraid to be themselves. I did find the writing to be a little simplistic at times however and also a little repetitive which took away from the story somewhat.

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Zando Young Readers; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

This is a sweet, lovely title and I deeply appreciate the inspiration taken from Jane Austen's Emma (though it is definitely not a rewrite by any stretch, which I think is beneficial). Bobby is as bright and sparkling and witty as Emma, and just as likely to get in trouble because of his fixation on romance. This is a cozy, delightful story with lots of family (born and found), friends, and even enemies learning to look beyond the book's cover. Big recommendation for romance fans/the YA set!

For sensitive readers, this book contains references to internalized fatphobia and personal judgments based on appearance.

I admit I picked this up mainly for the bookstore, and I almost put this down after the first 2 chapters. I didn't think I could handle an entire book of narration by an over the top extrovert moaning about his public humiliation after doing something I would find mortifying even if it went as planned. However, as Bobby developed as a character and the personalities of the quirky characters in his world began to shine I found myself enjoying this warm and fuzzy romance.

This was a cute, queer YA book that’s inspired by Emma. Bobby has had a lot of luck helping people around his small town fall in love… he just can’t seem to work his matchmaking skills on himself. After a failed grand gesture Bobby finds himself out of a job and without his place helping organize the big summer book festival. Working at his uncle’s small bookshop isn’t ideal, but he starts making connections with people through recommending books. On top of that there’s a cute new boy in town that Bobby keeps running into.

Bobby was a fun character to read about. He’s unabashedly a romance lover, dedicated to the people in his life, and he’s not afraid to work for what he wants. It was great to see his development throughout the book as he learns to ask for help and when to make different choices. In addition to Bobby there’s a great group of side characters who really round out the story.

However, I do think that this is one of those romance books where the romance isn’t the strongest aspect of the book. I did enjoy Luke as the love interest, it was fun to see him and Bobby have their banter and moments of growing closer. But in the end I didn’t feel like I got to see enough of them actually convincing me that they’d be a good couple. The book ends so quickly once they finally get together. Ultimately I felt like Bobby’s personal development, the work he was doing at the store, and his relationships with his family/friends seemed more fleshed out than the romance with Luke.

But all in all I did really enjoy my time reading this book. It was a cute, breezy store starring a fat, gay teen boy which isn’t something that’s present in a lot of books. It was also cool to have the book set the summer before college, that’s such an interesting point in a teenager’s life. People looking for a queer, bookish YA story should check this one out.

A sweet and lovable read.
Plus-Size representation. YA Rom-Com. Opposite attracts.
Bobby is a loving guy who is all for romance, while Luke is quite the opposte.
I really loved this one!!

DNF’ing this book at 10% through because the second hand embarrassment I got while reading it was at times painful to go on with.

Adorable and bookish and delightful, this book plays with the Emma type of character but make him gay, fat, and fabulous.

The rough start with a catastrophe of a grand gesture is absolutely worth pushing past because Bobby Ashton is so much fun to read about. I loved the cast of characters, the main character arc, and all the bookish references. I wish there had been just a little more banter because I really enjoyed Luke's back and forth with Bobby. The ending of the epilogue was a little abrupt. I loved Bobby's self positivity especially with his body and likes, and overall this was a very fun read!

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Recommended Reading delivers a lighthearted, feel-good YA romance with just the right amount of chaos. Following Bobby Ashton, a plucky and bookish protagonist with grand pre-college plans that fall apart spectacularly, the story invites readers into a world of second chances, unexpected friendships, and low-key matchmaking disasters. Coccia’s modern twist on Emma keeps things fun, with Bobby navigating romance, self-doubt, and a quirky bookstore job. Though some side characters shine more than the main love interest, the overall charm, humor, and heart make it a sweet summer read worth picking up.