Aspen’s first book is a best seller. But her second and third book leave a lot to be desired. She feels the pressure to write another hit. She comes up with a plan to fall in love and have her heart broken. Enter Brick, he has a reputation as a heartbreaker. They make a deal, and the outcome isn’t exactly what they had planned.

I love books about books and writers, so I jumped to read this. While I loved a glimpse into the writing process and Aspen’s dilemma, I found the character’s solution shallow. I really had a hard time getting on board with it. Too much in this book was unbelievable. A totally made up support group? Paying to have your heart broken? Totally understand writing what you know, but I have too much respect for writers to believe this. This had a little more spice then I usually read, so I can’t comment to the exact level. I did find it annoying that certain words or actions were repeated throughout. I bought into the friendship between Aspen and Brick more so than the relationship. I did enjoy the OBX location and the sister relationship. The book sets you up for the sequel. While the plot didn’t work for me, I did enjoy the writing and character development and would give this author another try.

Thanks to Blue Box Press and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley for review. My opinions are my own.

4/5 stars

This book was absolutely so fun! I adored it. Fake dating (but also… real??) turns into feelings… excellent dialogue, great characters… I could go on and on…

I didn’t love the “support group” - the only reason this lost a star. Otherwise, fabulous read.

I found the book to be an entertaining romance. While Aspen's reasons for starting the romance with Brick was unusual, their connection was very real. I found the story a little slow to start, but I became invested in their relationship and knowing how it would work out. I enjoyed the story more with each chapter. I liked the supporting characters and am interested in what is in store for Aspen's sister. There were plenty of laughs and lots of emotions through the story. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

The beginning of the book was slow. It took me a while to get into, I almost DNF'D. This book was very predictable and over the top, pretty much too perfect. I think so much time was spent on building Brick's business, and not enough time was spent on the other characters. I would have loved more about Aspen's and the "arch nemesis", especially their conversation and when she was supposed to go to her office, but we never got the rest of the story there. I didn't find the romance between the main characters believable. It felt over the top, and in the end, it was too perfect.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, sweet, steamy and kept me reading. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next book by this author.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Book of the Month
Author: Jennifer Probst
Source: NetGalley
Pub Date: October 22, 2024

Happy Publication Day to Book of the Month. While it is entertaining, I am weary of stories where the lead female character gets involved in a fake romance scheme to fall in love with the lead male character. I wonder if it is worth faking love to have your heart broken when things don’t go as planned. Finally, I wonder why this story features a romance author (the LFC’s profession) who contrives a real-life personal saga to break her writer’s block and have material for her next book. Is anyone that desperate? Book of the Month was an easy read and should be a successful release. I also know my feminist flag might be at full mast on this one. #romance #fake #writer #desperate #sizzle #instaLust #BookOfTheMonth @netgalley #theMakingOfABestSeller #romance #chicklit #booksaboutbooks
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I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, and the authors for the opportunity to read this novel.
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#book #books #bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookreviewer

I love a book about a book.

Started off a bit slow for me but I enjoyed it.
Cute summertime Romcom
I found myself rooting for Aspen and Brick. Yes, that’s his name. 🙄

That being said I’m looking forward to reading Sierra’s story.

First off I love Book of the Month and am an avid subscriber ! I enjoyed this book, but I think reading it until the bed is really important. Sometimes I was annoyed and frustrated and worried that the Mac would give up on her dream for a guy. The ending really made it worth it.
Aspen Lourde is a famous author because of her first book,
But after two flops she has to figure out how to get her writing mojo back. She doesn’t want to do a sequel because that’s what her readers want. She decides to go spend time with her sister in OBX and find someone to break her heart. Getting her heart broken is what worked last time. The person to do it is Brick Babel. The hot guy with a bad boy reputation. It doesn’t hurt that he makes her heart go crazy.

Thank you to Blue Box Press for the ARC opportunity.
3/5 stars
The plot and characters kept my attention. I enjoyed the OBX setting and how the story included local wildlife stories. It felt like there was an understanding of the area.
Curious about Kane and Sierra’s story!
Favorite Supporting Character: Marco

Thank you to NetGalley, Jennifer Probst, and Blue Box Press for the ebook. This charming and flirty rom-com is perfect for anyone who enjoys a lighthearted story with a touch of spice. If you're a fan of feel-good romances, you're sure to love this one!

4 Stars!
Aspen Lourde is a romance author living in New York. She loves her townhouse in the West Village, but lately could use a change of scenery, so she’s going to visit her sister for the summer. She’s suffering from writer’s block, and hopes spending time at the beach will inspire her to find her muse again. Her fans didn’t resonate with her new stuff, so while she’s in Corolla she needs to write something different. Something fresh and exciting that will land her a new contract. She wrote her last bestseller after a bad breakup. Back then the words had poured out of her effortlessly. Now she was struggling to feel anything real, and worried her creativity was gone. Maybe she just needed to feel the emotions of heartbreak again to get back on the must read list. Find a summer affair to solve her dilemma. The pressure is on to create something that translates to the pages of a book, and can become the new book of the month. She has to prove she’s not just a one hit wonder.

Then she crosses paths with the town’s most talked about bachelor, Brick Babel. He has a reputation for being a heartbreaker, and was pure temptation. The man should seriously come with a warning. She feels a magnetic pull, and a spark that can’t be denied, so she’s determined to get him on board with her plan. As she spends more time with this moody, unattainable, gorgeous guy they determine strict rules and boundaries. Soon their arrangement becomes complicated when an unexpected plot twist just might include love.

Book of the Month by Jennifer Probst is a heartwarming, grumpy/sunshine, fake dating romance about family, love and beautiful connections. It’s a fun, flirty story full of emotion, amazing chemistry and fabulous banter. I really enjoyed these characters and can’t wait for Sierra’s book! <333

Small Town romance ✔
Grumpy guy ✔
Dramady ✔

This has all the fun f eels .
A very popular, # 1 New York Times bestseller now has a major, stressful job of fulfilling one more contract, a third book to win over the hearts of the people and do what she did with her first bestseller.

The problem is, she's lost her mojo, she's in a funk and can't get out. So she decides to go to her sisters, get out of the city, out of her depressive life and take a break.

Her sister Sierra lives in a small, beach town. Everyone knows everyone. After having some much needed sister time, she decides what she needs to write that award winning book.

This is where the fun starts. In comes Brick, yes the name says it all. The love hate that starts winds up being a little more than they bargained for.

Not saying any more . Fun, steamy, did I say STEAMY?!! read. Love Aspens sister tho, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading Sierra's story!

10 stars! Thank you to Netgalley and Blue Box Press for this wonderful book.

4 Is Having a Fake Relationship Worth It Stars!

Imagine being a new author and having a massively successful debut novel which is based on your own disastrous love life and then not being able to come up with a follow-up book that will do as well or even better!?

This is the situation for Aspen Lourde and her solution is to go to the Outer Banks to try to be inspired… she gets inspired alright in the form of Brick Babel! He’s a book hero come to life. The only problem is that he’s not interested in anything Aspen proposes until Aspen finds his emotional Achillies Heel and Brick agrees to her plan.

When I dove into this book, it moved a little slow for me, but I knew that Ms. Probst would deliver on this one so I kept reading and I was very happy when we got into the heat of the story because Aspen and Brick start to really connect and what’s supposed to be fake takes a turn which isn’t something either of them were expecting.

I loved how their romance progressed and how each of them began to question what they really want out of life; especially Aspen. Is having another hit book worth more than finding a love that is unexpected and making her believe that love can be everything she always dreamed it could be? You’ll need to read this newest book by one of my favorite authors to get the answer and so much more in this wonderful book.

Intriguing and compelling story about an author researching her next book material.
Emotional and heartfelt this story takes a close look at the things we do in romance. The premise of the story is looking is fake dating as part of said story material but when things don’t turn out as planned well this story becomes something more than a romance.
Our heroine is willing to take some risks to get what she wants.
Is it worth it?

Are you compromising yourself?

Doing what you have to do to get what she wants is closely explored.
What happens you’ll have to read and find out!
Ad this read evolved and developed was so entertaining!

This was a real page turner with some unexpected surprises adding some umpfth to the story.

One of my favorite sayings is....men plan, God laughs. BOOK OF THE MONTH feels like it fits here. Aspen's boyfriend dumped her and broke her heart. She used the experience to write a bestselling romance. But now Aspen's publisher is expecting another book and she's got no idea how to start. So she decides to reset her life and experience a doomed romance again. This definitely reminds me of a HallMark movie. Her problem? The man she has chosen to break her heart is not cooperating. The rest of the story? I'm not telling. Jennifer Probst does an excellent job of building her characters into people you could believe. This makes her books so much better than a run of the mill romance. Yes, the story may be a little silly, but romance makes adults pretty silly, so read and enjoy this SIGH worthy story.

Aspen has a problem. Her debut novel was a smash hit but her next two books were dudes. If she can’t find away to recapture the magic her writing career may be over. That first novel oozed passion and authenticity. Why? Because it was based on her real life experiences. To recapture that magic she hatches a crazy plan to have a summer fling and milk it for authenticity. Too bad the man she goes fishing for isn’t biting. But he has issues of his own to deal with so instead of a real romance Aspen proposes a fake one. A plan so crazy it might work…unless real feelings start to get in the way. This was a really fun romance. I love stories where one of the main characters is an author, and fake dating is one of those classic tropes I can’t resist so this one really appealed to me. This definitely made me want to check out more of Jennifer Probst’s work. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of Book of the Month.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book-of-the-month-jennifer-probst/1145830075?ean=9781963135244&bvnotificationId=2146378d-90a8-11ef-b5e3-0ea8ad306d2b&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/321781889

Has potential to be very saucy, but was a little slow to start for me. I also found the meta commentary about being an author a little distracting from the main story. The side characters are very good and would have kept me reading. Ultimately I did not finish after getting 60% in, this plot was not for me.

3.5 Stars!

Book of the Month by Jennifer Probst is a solid read. It is a well-written novel and the wild horses of the Corolla landscape left me breathless.

Aspen Lourde may end up a one-hit-wonder if she cannot write another profitable book.  She desperately needs a jolt of creativity and a change of scenery. So she leaves New York City for the Outer Banks to visit her older sister, hoping that inspiration will strike. Aspen believes her first book was successful because it was based on her own heartbreak and subsequent emotional upheaval.  So as sad as it sounds, she is prepared to fall in love again and end up broken-hearted for the sake of a bestseller. That is where Brick Babel comes in.

Brick is a very handsome local and his reputation with the women is well known, however it is exaggerated. He owns and runs an unprofitable adventure company that he inherited from his late grandfather. Brick is a bit of a grump and due to a past relationship, has no desire to fall in love. Deep down he is a softie. Aspen sets her sights on wooing Brick and overtime they fall in love.

I honestly did not like Aspen once she focused all her efforts on Brick. Her priorities were in the wrong place and I did not like her attitude. Brick turned out to be a warm and loving man and I especially liked his drooling dog. The secondary characters added a lot of personality to the story. The epilogue left me smiling.

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

I thought this was a fun and light read!

The plot was great. I love when the main female character is an author, and I definitely love a fake dating trope. It took me a little bit to really get into it but once I was through the first 1/4 of the book, I didn't want to stop reading. The story was one that kept me engaged and I was excited get back into it after taking a break. There were definitely moments of out loud giggling while reading and there were also moments of complete frustration with Aspen (MFC). I feel like the ending was a little bit pushed, and Aspen was a little too pushy even when she was trying not to be. Right at the very end, I got the annoying post breakup girl vibes, and I didn't love that. Overall, I really did enjoy and would recommend! I absolutely plan on reading Sierra and Kane's story when it is available!

Thank you NetGalley and Blue Box Press for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in return for my honest opinion!
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thanks netgalley and the publisher for the arc! I got to about halfway through the book, which was fun even if a bit absurd at times. I dnf it at 52% because it was quite slow, I was struggling to read it and I was really disappointed. While reading, I felt a bit of self-denunciation regarding what are now the standards of booktok and also of authors who want to be successful. I felt that this book, like those of the protagonist, also wanted to narrate with its difficulties the problems of today's authors. thanks again, I hope one day I can finish it and give a different valuation