Sadly, I don’t think this one is for me. 😔

Decided to DNF at 25% after being really excited to read this rom com… Perhaps my high expectations got in the way? It’s hard to say.

I just couldn’t connect with the characters and, personally, don’t find innuendo-laced humour funny…

However, while it’s not my kind of rom com, I do think romance readers that are a bit more comfortable with smut could have a lot of fun with this!

Unromance was excellent! Such a fun read, kinda meta romance novel going through romance tropes. The couple was really cute together and the story was fun. Definitely would recommend, again, it was excellent!

all i have to say is, if i was Sawyer, Mason woulda had me folded night 1. i simply could not be unromanced bc i would’ve fell in love with him too quick. i loved how mutually beneficial their relationship started & loved even more how it blossomed into their own paths of self discovery. the dual povs really gave a whole new meaning Sawyer & Mason’s perspectives on love and the plot’s backstory highlighted how their path shaped their present. it was such a lighthearted yet spicy love story and i was obsessed from page 1!

Unromance by Erin Connor is such a gem! This debut novel was so much fun to read and it was easily a 5 star book!

I loved the non-romance romance watching Saywer and Mason fall for each other in this slow burn. The tension and banter were perfect in this book and the use of tropes for each chapter were so delightful.

I loved the setup and idea for this book and the writing and storylines were so much fun. This was a little on the steamier side and the tights scene!

So make sure this is on your January book list when it comes out January 14th!

A big thanks to Forever for an advanced copy and I can't wait for everyone to love this book!

Wow, I’m so freaking happy I got to read the ARC for this book. This has been the most enjoyable holiday-ish romance I have ever read. The characters are all so lovable and genuine. I loved how real they felt in their previous trauma. Ugh I will be recommending this book forever. It was so good!

Sawyer Greene is a successful romance author—or she was, until a painful breakup left her with nothing but writer’s block and bitterness toward love.
When Sawyer gets trapped in an elevator with a handsome stranger, she's determined to see it as not a meet-cute, but a chance encounter with a charming man whom she will sleep with exactly one time and never see him again. Easy enough right? At least until she runs into him again... but maybe they can help each other out.

Recently-dumped TV heartthrob, Mason West, needs to stop being such a romantic. It's not working for him, clearly. Perhaps this jaded romance novelist can help ruin romance for him—one rom-com trope at a time– and he can help her find romantic inspiration for her next book.

This was a fun read! I loved how Sawyer's story aligned with theirs in unexpected ways. I liked that this didn't follow "classic" romance plots, it was a unique storyline.

Thank you NetGalley, Erin Connor, and Forever Publishing for the ARC of this book for my review.

Thanks to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and the author for a free eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This novel held a lot of promise but seemed to fall flat for me. I think this had great potential as I really enjoyed the sentence blurb of each trope at the beginning of every chapter which also served as a hint as to what would occur in the chapter - a "meta" way of demonstrating how most romance novels are structured. However, the driver of the plot, where the female main character, Sawyer, tries to ruin romance for Mason West, while funny, did not make sense to me. The scheme made a lot of sense for Sawyer's purposes of completing her book though - but it seemed like reaching that a self-proclaimed romantic wants to go on romantic dates to "get it out his system".

I didn't feel a whole lot of chemistry from the main characters, Sawyer and Mason, which may have been another reason why this didn't pull me in. In particular, I was not a big fan of Sawyer. She came off as immature and at the edge of waiting for something to go wrong - the third act "conflict" seemed to be her making a big deal out of a problem out of a minor thing (i.e., the film rights). Mason seemed a bit one-dimensional as well.

This book, I fear has ruined romance for me in the best possible way.

I laughed. I sobbed. I commiserated HARD with both Mason and Sawyer. I am both of them, miserably. I love a MMC who is an unrepentant romantic! Honestly, we love an emotionally stunted FMC. (Would’ve loved to see more healing from her relationship with Sadie, though.)

Anyway I will be telling literally everyone about this book, I have passed away.

Sawyer- a romance writer with writers block and doubts about romance in general- and Mason-an actor who was just dumped-meet cute in a stopped elevator. What starts as conversation and a one time thing becomes a relationship where Sawyer tries to disabuse Mason of his romantic tendencies but.....The twist that Sawyer identifies as bi is well incorporated. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. It's trope-y, it's fun, and it's funny.

i honestly have such mixed feelings about this book. i really loved it in the beginning but as the storyline progressed i quickly lost interest. the fmc was written in a way that tried to be relatable but came across as cringy, which ultimately ruined my opinion of the book 😭

thank you netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

perfect for romcom lovers!! this felt like a fun Hallmark movie that was a montage of everyone’s favorite romcom tropes

This is everything I could want in a romcom book! I loved the banter, it made for such a quick and fun read! Don’t get me started on the chemistry, because I was obsessed! There was a perfect self-awareness to the book that made it so refreshing to read! Mason was such an incredible MMC! I’m still shocked this was Erin’s debut because it was truly incredible!

Thank you to Forever Publishing & NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC for an honest review.

I read the blurb, figured it’d be a solid 4⭐️ romance, but I’m walking away hopelessly obsessed with Sawyer & Mason. And it’s not that the author is completely revising the romance novel, she’s actually pretty upfront that this story is about two silly people who believe THEY can outsmart the most basic romance tropes & cliches. I think you can do the math here. But there was just something about the deep dive we got to take into each character’s psyche that made their relationship so wholesome & believable, despite the fact that they were connecting via cliche tropes.

Sawyer is my favorite kind of romance fmc—witty, determined, but truly caring underneath the hard exterior (and a part of the queer community!). I did want to flick her in the head at the beginning with the whole “I don’t have time for dating” when in fact, that’s pretty much what they’re doing for the entirety of the book, but bby girl just needed to arrive at that conclusion in due time. I get it. And Mason is the perfect golden retriever to Sawyer’s black cat energy. The epitome of if he wanted to, he would. He definitely came off as love bomb-y in the beginning, but I grew to appreciate his navy beanie energy and his protectiveness of Sawyer.

Some other smaller details that truly brought up the rating to 5⭐️ for me personally were all the Jane Austen/Pride & Prejudice references (the millennial in me was screaming), the wintery Chicago setting, and the lewd banter lol.

I will happily be adding the Mrs. Erin Connor to my list of auto-buy romance authors. And to think that this was her debut!

Unromance is a quirky and cute story of a hopeless romantic and a skeptical author. Mason, our MMC is an actor. I love a celebrity romance but aside from a few bits of tabloid press this isn't a big issue. His more defining feature is that he's a romantic. He falls in love easily and often so when he ends up stuck in an elevator with Sawyer he see the beginning of a love story. Sawyer sees yet another over played trope. She's prickly and I love her. She's a talented romance writer plagued by years long writers block. With a long over due book and nothing to show for it she teams up with Mason to ruin romance. The story tackles one trope a chapter with an explanation at the beginning. I like how that tied it all together. I've also noticed romance books about romance books are becoming a thing. Maybe that's a trope now! I think this will be an enjoyable read for most, plus it's sexy. There's great chemistry! While not a holiday romance it takes place mostly around the holidays. I read it in December which was the perfect compliment to the story's timeline.

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for this eARC.

Unromance by Erin Connor

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 2/5 🌶️🌶️

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing), Netgalley, and the author for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a cute, fun, entertaining read! Unromance features Mason, a recently dumped actor, who gets Sawyer, a jaded romance writer, to ruin romance for him. The book kicks off with the perfect meet-cute: a stuck elevator. Since they aren’t looking for love, they have a one night stand instead. Then, after another meet-cute, they agree to help each other out. Sawyer will ruin love for him with one romcom trope activity at a time while Mason will inspire her to get back to writing.

Unromance perfectly and adorably encapsulates the romance genre while simultaneously examining romcom tropes in a hilarious and engaging way. From every romcom reference to the holiday vibes to the activities the MCs do for their list, it felt so wholesome, cozy, and lighthearted.

Overall, this is a wonderful grumpy sunshine romance and an amazing debut book! The MCs have such good chemistry, Sawyer is so entertaining/funny, and Mason is absolutely great! I also really loved how every chapter focuses on a quintessential romance trope and then the MCs experience that trope. I would definitely recommend this one and can’t wait to see what the author writes next!

Unromance by Erin Connor was a sweet little romance about romances.
Sawyer is a romance writer who no longer beleives in romance and is struggling with writer's block. Mason is a TV heart throb who is looking for true love.
Each chapter had a different romance trope in it. This was a super cute idea and I really enjoyed both the FMC and MMC. The writing was great, and I was shocked that this was the author's debut! I'll definitely be looking for more from her.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc.
This title releases January 14!

True rating: 4.5
This book was an utter Delight! I absolutely loved Sawyer & Mason and their whole story from elevator meet-cute to the "ruin romance" list to their HEA! I am always thrilled when I enjoy secondary characters nearly as much as the leads, and this book did not disappoint. Lily, Alissa, Kara, Luis and a handful of others really fleshed out the lives of our main couple and made the story so much richer. This is a fabulous debut novel from Erin Connor and I cannot wait to read whatever she writes next. Huge thanks to the Forever team for first putting this book on my radar and then granting me access to read and review in NetGalley.

Honestly, I could not bring myself to fully finish this book, I made it about 75% of the way through and just gave up. The premise was intriguing and I usually love a good rom-com. However, the writing felt too juvenile for the material being written, and it made me feel a little icky to read it. It felt really predictable, and I didn't really care about either character. For a debut novel, it could have been worse, but it just didn't really hit. Maybe I wasn't intended to be the main audience?

Probably 2.5 stars, rounded to 3.

Unromance is a deliciously spicy romcom. Two people NOT looking for love go on a series of "cheesy" romantic dates, many famous from books or movies. It starts with a meet cute in an elevator to holding signs just like in Love Actually. You'll giggle, swoon and root for their HEA.

It's a bummer this wasn't released during the holidays as it takes place over Christmas and New Year's.

Thank you, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) | Forever

From the first meet cute, this was an adorable romance. The characters were well crafted and relatable. The many tropes that Sawyer and Mason explore in the name of research and curing romance are so well written. The characters have definite chemistry and there are several spicy scenes. I also loved the many rom-com movie references that were scattered throughout this one.
Thank you to Forever for the opportunity to read an early copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.