A romance that makes you second guess all your life choices? Where do I sign?!

I loved this one. And maybe I’m turning into a romance reader because this one checked a lot of boxes for me. Not too spicy (but um, spicy), great main characters, left on a cliffhanger and just second chance at love tropes all over.

A few things I didn’t love:

1. Brick? It must be a family name….but anyway, he’s so masculine. Literally everything he does is masculine. He breathes in a masculine way, his masculine gaze settles on Aspen, the way he pours water into a glass (I made that one up but you get it). I feel like there are so many ways to describe men and we can do better with the adjectives. ALSO along that note, the many times their gazes slammed into each other was funny. Listen, its happened to me in real life and I totally get the sentiment but it was something was was, imo, a little overused.

2. ASPENS SISTER NEEDS MORE AND I NEED TO READ THAT BOOK. THE END.

3. The ending of the feud with Maleficent was a little far-fetched. In a small town like that, there would have at least been one f-bomb thrown.


Thats it. Thats all I had beef with. I loved the writing style, the plot, the whole thing. Ugh. I’m a romance reader. Don’t tell.

Book of the Month is a romance involving Aspen, an author struggling to write her next book, and Brick, a tour guide dealing with his failing business. The two decide to make a fake-dating arrangement for the summer.

The setting and premise are what initially interested me in the book. However, I struggled a bit to connect with the characters and understand their decision-making. Even though Brick was painted as this desirable and attractive heartbreaker in their small town, I just did not find his character to be very likable. Also, some things in the book just seemed to be overly sexualized, including some of the interactions and conversations between the two main characters. For these reasons, I found it difficult to get into the story and didn't end up finishing it.

However, while it wasn't my cup of tea, I do recommend this book for readers who enjoy summer romances with the fake-dating trope.
recommended for readers who like

Thank you to NetGalley and Blue Box Press for the ARC!

Aspen a New York Times Bestselling author has been having a tough go. Her first book was a huge hit, but her next two books didn’t sell as well. She is in need of some inspiration to help her write the next best book, but she feels that she needs heartbreak in order to write it. Aspen decides to spend the summer with her sister in the Outer Banks, NC (OBX), with hopes of finding what she needs to write this next “Book of the Month”, and she believes she’s found it with the towns heartbreaker. She offers to help Brick a local business owner for Wild Horse tours in Corolla, as the tour business he inherited from his grandfather is failing, in exchange for him helping her. Aspen asks Brick to “fake date” her, to essentially get her to fall in love with him and for him to break her heart, so that she would feel all the raw emotion she did when she wrote her first book. With Brick’s agreement, they begin to date and he gets to fix up his business with financial help from Aspen. Who knew they might actually like one another.

This book was an easy read, but some of the intimate scenes just seemed unrealistic and forced. Two people possibly falling for one another for more than just the sex, made it seem like that’s all they did was have sex when they were together and that’s all they thought about.

I wish Brick’s story had come out sooner in the book and we didn’t have to hear over and over again that he wasn’t a good person, he just breaks girls hearts, and he uses them for his own fun. Making him look like a bad person, instead of just misunderstood.

Overall, this book was a good read.

Thank you Net Galley and Blue Box Press for this eARC for my honest review.

I could not put this addictive modern romance down! I loved the hilarious banter between the characters and the sweet little things Brick does for Aspen. I loved the level of spice - it was tasteful but still heated.

“Book of the Month” is by Jennifer Probst. I thought from the publisher’s summary that this book would be right up my alley - a frustrated writer looking for inspiration decides to find inspiration with the hot bachelor. Of course there’s a twist - he doesn’t want a relationship and keeps brushing her off - until she gives him a proposition … and things start going in unplanned directions. I thought this would be a quick and easy mindless read. Instead I found that I became rather bored with some aspects of the main female character - which was sad because I did like the insights into being a writer. I did like the main male character - but maybe I just like blunt sarcastic tossed in with grumpy? I wasn’t too pleased with some of the author’s descriptions (I get it, the main male character is hot and sexy … and the main female one “average looking”) and the pacing was odd (repeated information along with uneven pacing). I think this book could be read poolside (or at the beach), but for me this wasn’t the book I had hoped it would be. But while I would pass on reading it again, it was an interesting idea and I did finish the book.

My first book from this author and I loved it! I will 100% be reading the next one when it comes out next year to see what happens with Aspens sister.

This book was refreshing, fun, cozy and enjoyable from start to finish! I was eating it up and didn’t want to stop reading it.

Everyone that was in this book made it better and more wholesome, heartfelt and interesting. I always love a dog or pet in a book but Dug was different and brought an extra spunk to the story. As well as Marco, the weed smoking business owner who’s actually really intelligent snd super kind. I adored his character a lot.

I think my only negative comment would be some of the names like Brick Babel…yeah I’m not a fan at all but I am 100% a fan of him! He’s the type of guy you wanna read about and fall in love with. No dark sides for him just pure perfect golden retriever who knows how to please a woman and has sexy confidence.

Thank you NetGalley and Blue Box Press for my E-ARC.

To me, Aspen felt like June Hayward before she became Juniper Song (Yellowface) -- just mediocre. And blaming her mediocre-ness on everyone around her. She was not enjoyable to read at all.

I attempted multiple times to continue to read this novel however, I had to eventually mark this one as DNF. I always want to give a book the benefit of the doubt and stay hopeful that I will feel more connected to the story but that did not happen for this read. I was interested in the description of the book however, the dialogue between the fmc and the supporting characters was not my cup of tea. The writing was overly descriptive at times where it did not need to be and I couldn’t get behind the overall plot line of the book.

I really enjoyed this book. I love the books that Jennifer Probst writes. I have read so many of them because there is never a dull moment in them. This one was steamy and romantic. The ending was better than I thought it would be. I'm grateful that netgalley and the publishers let me read this in exchange for an honest review.

Small town, gossip, rivalry, chasing dreams, and making deals that are destined to backfire in the biggest way. Quite the rollercoaster as true love sneaks in where no one expects it. Good summer read with a fun cast of characters.

I requested to read and review this book for free from Blue Bell Press. I loved this book. It was fantastic. There was romance, drama, mystery and suspense! A perfectly well rounded story and hilarious. Bonus there is a second book coming out that is looking just as promising! Aspen is an author who has had one hit and a few other good stories. She is looking to write another hit. But will she stumble upon the perfect story that she needs. Will her ideas lead to another best seller or will her idea flop. Brick has had a lot of tradegy in his life in a very short time. Can anyone help him turn it around or will he need to start over again. Love or maybe infatuation brings out some many different things and change they way we see something good and bad. Can the town of OBX help or hurt ? This book is for a mature audience and can be read anywhere!

Enjoyable romantic comedy with a struggling writer FMC, looking to recapture her 1st success and a beach town tour operator MMC, trying to keep his inherited family business afloat. When Brick's Lothario reputation, unjustly earned around town following a nuclear breakup, hatches an idea that what Aspen needs to create is heartbreak, she makes him an offer to do just that by the end of the summer so that she can write another bestseller. In return, she'll fund the plans he needs to make that can be a lifeline to his business.
The interactions between the main characters were sweet, swoony and sultry. The supporting cast were well developed, especially Aspen's sister and Marco, Brick's business neighbor. Aspen's chemically enhanced book signing was hysterical and the highlight of the book. My only quibble is that I thought the end was a bit rushed, For my first read of this author, I found it a fast, fun read and look forward to checking out some of her other titles, including the next one in this series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blue Box Press for providing this eARC!

This is my first ARC review and I couldn't be more excited. Scrolling through available ARCs, the cover caught my eye so I immediately requested to read it. To my surprise, I was approved. Seeing that this was set in the OBX was appealing because of going there on vacation so much when growing up and now I wanna go back.

This story follows Aspen, who is a best-selling author in New York, struggling to write a new book. After a less than pleasant book signing, she decides to spend the summer in the OBX with her sister where she meets the town heart throb that everyone warned her about, Brick.

Throw in a fake romance, wild horses, sea turtles, touristy tours and more, and you get this book!

The only reason I gave this book a 4 star is because I'm not really a fan of the book title...but I digress. When this comes out in October - read it!

Thank you NetGalley and Blue Box Press for this eARC!

I really enjoyed Aspen and Brick’s story. Aspen was an incredibly relatable character who thought she was living the dream but soon finds out there’s so much more to life. She’s down on her luck and tries to turn her life around with an INSANE idea and it was a fun ride.

Brick was a great MMC - moody, broody, and sexy as hell. He complemented Aspen so well and I LOVED their banter. I also loved that we got his POV as it helped bring everything full circle.

Overall I thought this was a great read. It was fun and sweet, and packed a punch in all the right places. This is perfect for fans of Meghan Quinn and Elsie Silver. I definitely recommend!

This book scores a 10 on "could't put it down-ness". It is a great story with wonderful characters. I was rooting for Brick and Aspen as if they were my actual friends. Thanks for a great read!

This book was very fun! I really enjoyed how witty and funny the writing was, it definitely felt like the rom-com it promised it would be.

The side characters were the best - they were sweet, extremely likable and an amazing support system for the main characters. They also added a sense of community to the story and made me feel like I was a part of it. Then the main characters were great too! I related a lot to Aspen’s creativity blocks and the anxiety and doom that comes with it - making her feel so much more real to me. It was also very interesting to see a little bit of the behind-the-scenes that goes on in the book industry. As for the MMC, I unfortunately did not feel all that connected to him by the end of the book. I definitely sympathised with how he had been villanised by the town and his other struggles but I wish we had gone deeper ito his character because he felt a little brushed-over.

My main critique of Book of the Month was the cringy word choices; the author would honestly have some overly-creative (ifykyk) descriptions for certain things that I disliked. Also a lot of expressions were described as being masculine or feminine which weirded me out because of how much those words were used as an adjective.

However, Aspen and Brick’s romance was cute and I thought that for the larger part of the book it was nicely fleshed-out and well-written. The ending is where I do have to say that it was rushed, especially with a third-act breakup we knew was coming; I thought we could have seen in more detail how it truly hurt them being apart from each other instead of skipping past that.

Finally the premise was one I loved, is it far-fetched? Maybe. But that honestly added a level of escapism to this romantic comedy that I was not expecting and surprisingly loved.

✨read if you like:
fake dating (kinda)
grumpy/sunshine
hallmark vibes
beach/town setting
dual POV

The story of Aspen Lourde is a slow burn, but once the tension ignites, the narrative doesn’t let go. Probst masterfully blends the humor of romantic comedy with the harsh truths of life, creating a tale that’s both swoon-worthy and deeply resonant. Aspen's journey to rediscover her passion and voice is one that any writer can relate to, as she pours her soul into her prose. Her character evolution, from a lost artist to a woman who embraces her own story, struck a chord with me as a fellow aspiring author. The steamy encounters between Aspen and Brick Babel are electrifying, but it’s the emotional depth and vulnerability that truly make this book stand out. Brick, with his irresistible charm, is the perfect counterbalance to Aspen’s drive, making their chemistry undeniably captivating.

Book of the Month || Jennifer Probst

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC! Overall, this was a decently cute read but there were some flaws in the storytelling that took away from a better rating. The plot and the building up of Aspen's backstory felt incredibly rushed and skimmed over; leaving me, the reader, wanting more. Additionally, as someone who has been to the Outer Banks for the last 25 years, the building up of the setting also felt rushed and inauthentic. While there was a lot of name dropping of places throughout the book, the description of these iconic restaurants, attractions, etc., felt like just reading the synopsis of a Google review. There was so much potential to truly bring the Outer Banks and the magic to the readers and it fell flat throughout the book.

Overall, a cute, easy read. I especially wanted to keep rooting for Brick after learning there is more to him than meets the eye. There is also potential for a "sequel" or spinoff with the sister's story, which I think, if done right, could bring more reader's into the fold.

**ARC Review: "Book of the Month" by Jennifer Probst**

*Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)*

Jennifer Probst delivers a captivating and emotionally charged romance in "Book of the Month," a story that blends the complexities of love, creativity, and self-discovery into a page-turning narrative. Set against the picturesque backdrop of the Outer Banks, this novel explores what happens when a writer in desperate need of inspiration stumbles upon the perfect muse—and realizes that real life doesn't always follow the plotlines of fiction.

Aspen Lourde is a once-celebrated author struggling to replicate the success of her heartbreak-driven bestseller. With the pressure mounting from her agent and publisher, Aspen knows she needs a new story—and fast. But without any fresh romantic drama to fuel her writing, she finds herself in a creative rut. Enter Brick Babel, the town’s brooding heartthrob with a reputation as wild and untamed as the horses that roam the beaches. He's everything Aspen needs to ignite her creativity, but there's one problem: Brick refuses to play along with her plan to manufacture a heartbreak worthy of a bestselling novel.

The premise of "Book of the Month" is both unique and compelling, drawing readers into Aspen's world as she navigates the fine line between reality and fiction. Aspen's desperation to reclaim her literary fame leads her to propose a fake romance with Brick, a man who has his own reasons for agreeing to the charade. What starts as a calculated move to save his grandfather’s tour company quickly evolves into something much more complicated, as genuine emotions start to surface between them.

Probst masterfully crafts the chemistry between Aspen and Brick, creating a slow-burn romance that feels both authentic and inevitable. The banter between them is sharp and witty, providing plenty of laugh-out-loud moments that balance the deeper emotional undertones of the story. Aspen’s journey from being a woman driven by professional success to someone who rediscovers the importance of genuine connection and self-awareness is beautifully portrayed. Brick, on the other hand, is a refreshing hero—complex, guarded, but ultimately vulnerable in a way that makes him impossible not to root for.

The novel also explores the ethical dilemmas that come with turning real-life experiences into art. Aspen’s internal conflict over using her relationship with Brick as fodder for her next book adds a layer of tension to the story, making readers question whether some stories are too personal to be shared with the world. This theme of authenticity versus artistic expression is handled with nuance, giving the narrative a depth that elevates it beyond a typical romance.

"Book of the Month" is not just a love story; it's a tale of self-discovery and the risks we take when we blur the lines between life and art. Jennifer Probst has crafted a novel that is as thought-provoking as it is romantic, with characters who are flawed, relatable, and utterly unforgettable. Fans of contemporary romance will find themselves captivated by Aspen and Brick's journey, and by the end, they'll be reminded that sometimes, the best stories are the ones we never planned to write.

Interesting to read a different story line in romance. Some of it felt rushed or thrown in to live up to the typical romance plot line. I liked the setting and Brick was a good guy. All in all, would recommend for a light read.