Book review 📖

📜Book Of The Month
✍️Jennifer Probst
📠Blue Box Press
📚Romance/Women’s Fiction
🗓️Pub date: October 22, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨Thank you @NetGalley and @1001darknights_blueboxpress for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

✨Author Aspen Lourde needs another best-seller, yet she’s out of ideas. Her last best-selling book was based on her own disastrous love life and the heartbreak that ensued when her relationship ended.

✨Taking a breather and in the hopes of finding fresh ideas, she decides to take a couple months off and visit her sister in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

✨Enter Brick, business owner, local heartthrob and heartbreaker. Rumor around these parts has it that he makes women fall head over heels for him and then lets them go.

✨When Aspen sets her sights on him as a potential muse for her new book, she wonders if she can make him break her heart and she can help him with his failing business. It’s a win-win, right?

✨This was a fun end of summer read! I love the backdrop of the Outer Banks, the subplot of the wild horses, and just overall feel-good summer beach vibes!

#netgalley #bookofthemonth #jenniferprobst #blueboxpress #romancefiction #advancedreadercopy #arc #bookreview #bookstagrammer #fallreleases

I loved this story so much. It was a page turner that had me falling in love with Brick and Aspen. I really enjoyed the growth each of them had to go through to get to their HEA. The side characters were a wonderful addition to the story and I’m looking forward to seeing more of them in future stories. I definitely see this become a “Book of the Month” book club book. Thank you for bringing us a heartwarming story!

I liked the premise of this book, unlikely as it sounded when I first read the blurb. I enjoy books that have anything to do with authors, writing and how tough it is to make bestseller status. The steamy romance was the topping, although I felt some of the romantic bits were over the top. One example:

“She blinked and tried to fight through the sensual brain fog. The pheromones drifting from his male aura were off the charts.”

However, the book delivers if you’re looking for a fun read with a heroine who dares to take a chance and a hero who’s trying to do the right thing despite an undeserved reputation and a too-pretty face.

Thanks to Netgalley for my ARC copy.

When I first read the description for this book, the premise seemed interesting—a writer with a bad case of writer’s block, Aspen, pays a notorious womanizer, Brick, to break her heart so she can write about it. This book was a pretty middle-of-the-road summer romcom. It's something you can read by the pool with a drink in hand and enjoy the spicy scenes (and there are many spicy scenes, though many of them are outright extremely pretty cringey) and the relative lack of conflict. It’s pretty easy-breezy to get through. That said, it fell a little flat for me overall.

The pacing felt a bit uneven—there were repetitive interactions that would drag on for pages and pages, and then all of a sudden a month would pass in a single paragraph in a way that was disorienting. The final act and resolution also felt very rushed compared to the rest of the book and I think it could've been drawn out more. I also wish there was a little more time spent into character building beyond just saying a million times that Aspen is completely average looking and not pretty in any way and Brick is super sexy. Also, was this author paid to include promo for the Gallup Strengths Finder test? Because it was mentioned by name several times in a way that literally felt like product placement, lol. Same with the “Write Better, Write Faster” course by Becca Syme? They just felt like unnatural callouts and strange to have real-world stuff mentioned in that way. And I do wonder how difficult SEO is for a book titled “Book of the Month,” though…and I feel like that title doesn’t even really connect with the story.

The writing voice in this book was just not really to my taste, which is fine. The overuse of “masculine”/“feminine” and “male”/”female,” which a few other reviewers have mentioned, was literally impossible to get past for me. And surely there must be a way to describe brown eyes other than “cocoa-brown,” which seemed to be written on every other page? The good brown-eyed women of the world deserve more varied descriptions than that! Also, the fact that the main character’s name is Brick Babel….and his competitor is literally named Maleficent…I rolled my eyes.

“He was a walking, breathing, talking temptation, fogging any brain with a drop of estrogen.” [I am obliged to point out that men also have estrogen]

“You should come with a warning label. Dangerous to any persons with estrogen resulting in side effects such as brain fog, butterflies, and a desire to throw yourself off a cliff.”

“She blinked and tried to fight through the sensual brain fog. The pheromones drifting from his male aura were off the charts.”

“His grin held male appreciation.”

“She gave a feminine snort.” [Really?]

**SPOILERS** Anyway, you get the idea. I think one of my biggest gripes with this book, though, was the way so much of the conflict around Brick’s reputation was about women lying? I know gossip and the rumor mill can be damaging to people and their reputation, but the way it was framed was like look at all these CRAZY women who are warning each other about a MAN that did them wrong!! Look how insane they all are!! just left me feeling kind of ick. And the inclusion of a line about one of them lying about having PTSD? I don’t know. I just feel like creating this imaginary situation where a group of women all lie about a man hurting them and lie about having PTSD is probably something we didn’t really need. **END OF SPOILERS**

I know this review just sounds like me being a major hater, but it wasn’t a terrible book. Just not for me. I’m not really an Emily Henry stan, but I would definitely recommend her books instead of this if you are looking for beachy rom-com vibes but with more character development and better pacing.

This book is very slow! The synopsis gives all the details of what happens. Aspen can’t seem to write another book, goes over tropes she thinks are good and can write a story with. Then lives the small town beach front hard to get romance. Slow, and hard to keep my interest.

After her first book Fifty ways to leave your lover went viral Aspen Lourde hoped she would be riding on the trail of success with any books she rights but when her next book tanked again Aspen has no reason not to call herself a fraud.

Her readers want to the sequel to her first book but what the world doesn’t know was that Fifty ways to leave your lover was based on her real life experiences and she has no desire to go back to her pain ridden past.
After her agent encourages to try a new scenery to spark her creative juices Aspen packs to stay with her sister for a summer in outer banks.

There she meets the towns supposedly resident Heartbreaker Brick Babel and decides he is the answer to her problems. She comes up with a plan.

A whirlwind summer romance

All Brick has to do is make her fall in love with him and break her heart. After all it was how she wrote her first book but problem is Brick refuses to entertain her.

He knows his reputation in town, knows that most of the women has made it some sort of game and he refuses to further the rumours and gossip including playing Aspen’s game.

But Aspen is sure he is what he needs and she isn’t above Stalking him and showing at his business. But Brick proves much more stubborn than she is until Aspen hears his tour company is on the verge of bankruptcy, she offers him a deal: fake a whirlwind summer romance, then ditch her her, drama guaranteed. In return she would offer him the money he needs to spruce up his business.
Brick desperate to save the business he inherited from his grandpa agrees to the ridiculous plan.

It was a cute little romance that I enjoyed. I was a little intrigued by the plot and wanted to see how the author would execute it. Most of the women were not endearing to me. I was a bit disappointed with their actions. It was frustrating when I was proven right above my earlier assumptions that no one knew a thing a Brick and they didn’t apologise for ruining his reputation all over town. They were all riding on assumptions and pettiness. I was satisfied with the romance and glad Aspen finally got the healing she deserves.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I just love Jennifer Probst. Book of the Month was her latest book. As I expected, it was great! A five star book!

I was immediately drawn in by the intriguing title. After skimming the blurb, I decided to give it a try, and I’m glad I did. This novel shares a similar charm with Lucy Score's Knockemout series, but I found the storyline here to be more compelling and original. The concept of hiring someone to break your heart as a plot device for writing the next great novel was both unique and engaging.

Probst excels in developing her characters and avoids the common pitfall of dragging out misunderstandings. The central conflict is established early on: he was hired to break her heart, but the real question is whether he can follow through. This clear conflict keeps the story moving and adds depth to the romance.

I also appreciated that this book sets the stage for a series, promising more stories with characters introduced here. However, one aspect that initially disrupted my immersion was the characters' names. It took me a few chapters to get past the name choices. For example, the name "Brick" kept evoking the character from Anchorman, which made it difficult for me to take him seriously. Similarly, "Aspen" and "Sierra" felt a bit uninspired to me. Despite this minor hiccup, the overall experience was enjoyable, and I’m looking forward to the next installment in the series.

3.5 stars

Book of the Month is about Aspen, an author whose first book was a NYT bestseller, and Brick, the "bad boy" of Corolla. Aspen wrote her first book after having her heart broken by her then fiancee - who set met when she was his student. The two books that followed didn't see the same success and now that she's healed from that relationship, she wants to move on even as her fans and publisher are asking for a sequel. After her publisher suggests a change of scenery, she goes to visit her sister in the Outer Banks. Still not inspired, she believes the best way to get back into bestseller writer mode is to have her heart broken again. There is a support group for women who have been hurt by Brick so he seems like the best choice. Brick is uninterested in hooking up with women and just wants to save the business he inherited from his grandfather's. They come to an agreement - Brick will break Aspen's heart and she'll provide the funds for him to revitalize his business. But...Brick isn't quite the bad boy his reputation says he is and he really falls for Aspen. Will she chase true love or another bestseller?

I had a hard time getting into this book. While I understand Aspen's desire to create another bestseller, I found her methods immature and would expect more self realization from someone who admits to basically being alone in NY most of the time. I also didn't like her persistence when Brick was obviously not interested in speaking to her. Obviously, we wouldn't have gotten the rest of the story if neither of those things had happened and once they got together, I was much more invested. They had great chemistry and were able to help each other start to heal from previous relationships. I would have liked a bit more backstory with Aspen and her teacher and her life in NY. I liked that the story was told from both Aspen's and Brick's POVs because I think I would have felt differently about each of them if I wasn't getting insight into their thinking. I also really enjoyed many of the secondary characters - Kane and Maleficent were stand outs to me although one of my favorite scenes (and where I started to become more invested) was when Aspen was given pot brownies before her local book signing. I ended up really liking the book so I would recommend reading it, going in knowing that you may have to push through a bit in the beginning. I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series!

3.5 stars ⭐️ I enjoyed the storyline and plot of this book!
My reasons for deducting points:
1. The beginning felt too insta-love between our main characters. It felt too easy and unrealistic.
2. I did not like that we didn’t get any info on Sierra and Kane. We just breezed right past their introduction.
3. Zaney Zoo felt awkwardly inserted into the story.

I think the characters were done well otherwise.

This romance has a lot of feels and some adult heat on the way to its HEA. Aspen wrote a best-seller after she was traumatically dumped by her first love. Her next books haven’t done as well, and Aspen’s career as a writer may now depend on her writing another best-seller. She travels to OBX (the outer banks of North Carolina) to stay with her sister for a few months, hoping to battle writer’s block and find inspiration. Brick had moved to OBBX when he inherited his grandfather’s tour business. He’s struggling with finances for the dying business and dealing with baggage of his own, including a reputation with the women of OBX for being heartless. These characters reach a deal: Brick will be Aspen’s romantic muse for a few months so she can write another successful heartbreak story, and Aspen will provide him with the money he desperately needs to get his business on its feet. They find themselves developing genuine feelings, despite their expectations and initial agreements. This romance is well-written with very likeable characters. I was rooting for Aspen and Brick to find happiness together. I received an advance copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Not a huge fan of the romance genre, but this one had a good story that kept me reading. The premise of the book was intriguing - an author manipulating her circumstances in the chase to write the next big seller. That was the part that kept me hooked.

The usual tropes were there, which I guess is just part of the genre, even though it makes for a pretty predictable ending. And some of the parts, including "tagging" actual reader influencers, were very awkward to read. But perhaps part of that is because it's uncomfortable to think about the things authors have to do to sell their books these days, even when they're so well written like this one was.

It's definitely steamy, definitely an interesting and colorful cast of characters, and definitely set up for the sequel, which I will definitely be curious to read.

3.5 * I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author. For me this was a slow build but I became invested in how the characters would move forward. I thought the female protagonist being the financially secure successful character was an excellent choice. It flipped the normal romcom story line and I enjoyed the change. I also enjoyed the set of quirky characters and the way the author worked in the natural surroundings into the plot.

A new fan of Jennifer Probst. Read a few of her others and she’s hickory becoming a new favorite. Thanks NetGalley for an ARC.
Quick beach read. A romantic story with a twist. I’m hoping for a sequel.

This was a nice easy, quick beach read!

This story follows Aspen who is trying to get out of her writing slump and pen another bestseller. She goes to stay with her sister in North Carolina for the summer and decides to be able to write a good book, she must have her heart broken and chooses the hottest most unavailable guy in town, named Brick. You read that right. Brick. I almost have no words. Except I do. Because that name is dumb and ridiculous and I can’t believe I read an entire story where I had to read this as the MMCs name for 300+ pages.

So Aspen hires Brick to break her heart at the end of the summer and you can guess how this story goes. And you would be right. Brick is obviously just a misunderstood cinnamon roll. Albeit a hot one. And Aspen is not hot. And we are told how not hot she is numerous times throughout the story. She thinks it, Brick thinks it. Like we get it, Aspen has a really big nose, is not attractive, she’s not Brick’s type and he would normally never look twice at her. But there’s just something about her that this super hot guy is intrigued by, and it’s definitely not the cash money she’s throwing at him to save the failing business he inherited from his grandfather who died.

Also I’m not super familiar with book publishing, but it seemed highly improbable that someone who had just one amazing book was worth as much money as Aspen. Especially since she only released two other books, both of which apparently were garbage and didn’t sell well. My girl sold only 10 copies to the bookstore at her one book signing.

I mainly didn’t rate this higher because I really really dislike when stories infuse too much pop culture in them, and this book did way too much of it. Once you mention TikTok in your book, I’m out. Automatically won’t rate higher than 3 stars. But it was cute and quick and perfect as a palette cleanser book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

A fun romance with an interesting twist of an author trying to write a best seller by having a romance that ends in heartbreak. In the beginning I thought some of the descriptions were repetitive and not very original, but by the end, I was rooting for the couple to find their way together.

First book I’ve read by Jennifer but will definitely be checking out more from her. I really did enjoy Book of the Month! Loved the character growth of the FMC and the spice was perfect. It added to the story and didn’t overtake the plot. Overall, a solid 4 star read that I would certainly recommend.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5 - 4 stars.
Thank you #netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this story.

I'll start by saying, I did enjoy this book. There was "something" lacking that didn't make me obsess over it like I thought/wanted to. The characters were all likable.

Jennifer Probst's *Book of the Month* is a triumph that will captivate readers from the first page to the last. With wit and emotional depth, Probst delivers a story that's both delightfully romantic and introspective.

Aspen Lourde, the once-celebrated author struggling to recapture her past success, embarks on a summer adventure in the Outer Banks to reignite her creative spark. Her choice of muse, the irresistibly charming Brick Babel, is both romantically walled off and desperate to save his family business. The dynamic between them is electric, fueled by a contractual arrangement that gradually reveals deeper, more genuine emotions.

As their story unfolds, Probst skillfully crafts their evolving relationship with a balance of humor, tension, and heartfelt moments that keep you eagerly turning pages. As the summer comes to an end, you’ll find yourself desperate for the answer to the question on everyone’s mind - will Aspen choose a best-selling sequel or a chance at true love? This novel is a must-read for fans of contemporary romance.

While I found some dialogue with some of the side characters falling a little bit flat, I couldn’t stop thinking about Sierra (Aspen’s sister) and Kane (Brick’s best friend). One moment between them in a bar immersed me into their story and the sneak peak of The Reluctant Flirt left me ready to pre-order the moment it’s available.

Aspen, our bestselling author FMC, is paired up with Brick the local heartthrob in this adorable romance. It's on the lower angst side of romance with really enjoyable characters that fit together. A beautiful, entertaining read!