This is the first book by Melissa Ferguson that I ever read. I loved the writing style, it's honest and genuine, but what I didn't like is that the book reads like a shameless self-insert. I would give it a higher rating if I read this on Wattpad.

Melissa Ferguson has done it again! This is an excellent insider view on the publishing world, wrapped up with a smidge of romance and some excellent sisterhood.

I'm not sure I massively believed the romance aspect just because we skipped the whole development of Jack's friendship and he never seemed to actively be nice? I felt like Miss Benedict was the most developed character and that felt odd. It almost felt like The Bridge and tour parts of the book could have been two separate books for the amount of detail they required. The situation with Parker felt entirely irrelevant.

Overall I enjoyed this book, Ferguson's writing is sublime and flows beautifully and I finished it all in one sitting.

I LOVE Melissa Ferguson! She is a favorite author, so I was excited to read her newest title, The Perfect Rom Com! This one did not disappoint!

Bryony is an aspiring writer and also an ESL teacher at The Bridge, a nonprofit started by her Gran to teach English to immigrants and refugees. Her first novel tells the story of The Bridge and how her Gran started this incredible organization. As Bryony attends a writers conference (in Nashville! My home!) to pitch her book about The Bridge, she is quickly rejected by each agent she meets that day. However, she throws a “Hail Mary” with Jack, the last agent, and she ends up with a ghostwriting gig for one of his existing clients. Bryony turns the author, Amelia Benedict, for whom she ghostwrites, into a best seller.

The one stipulation for agreeing to the ghostwriting job for Jack’s client is that Jack will pitch her book about The Bridge to publishers. After months and years of working together, Jack falls for Bryony and unbeknownst to her, she falls for him. With a boyfriend living on another continent, Bryony doesn’t realize it….until she does. However, when Bryony finds out that Jack hasn’t pitched her book about The Bridge to a single publisher, while making Amelia’s novels top sellers, she leaves Jack behind. Will they find their way back to each other? You have GOT to read this one to find out!

I enjoyed this clean, captivating and clever rom com! As a book lover, I loved a book about an aspiring writer and a peek into the book publishing! I could
NOT put this one down! It was fabulous!

I recently tried Melissa's book for the first time. While it was a good, fast-paced read, I wouldn't say I loved it. In my opinion, the book is overhyped. The writing style didn't particularly impress me, and the characters were just okay. Overall, it was a decent read, but I'm not a huge fan. Thank you for sending me an advance review copy (ARC).

I've read all of Melissa Ferguson's books, but there was something extra special about this one that landed it firmly as my favorite of her novels. I don't know that I can put my finger on it, but I seriously LOVED everything about this book. It just hit the spot for my reading mood and I ended up bingeing it unexpectedly. I simply didn't want to put it down, it's that good. It was just a great escape, exactly what I hope to have happen when I pick up a rom-com. Low stakes, but high reward. Dynamic characters and a really fun plot for a bookworm.
Told through Bryony's POV, I felt like her character was relatable and even as she was navigating everything, it was impossible not to feel the chemistry between her and Jack. It was just fun. I loved the plot and the characters as a whole. The romance was nice; the way they danced around each other in denial (friendzone/work place romance) and then Jack making his move and his end grand gesture … yeah, I was here for it. It put a smile on my face.
I received an advance reader copy of this novel from Netgalley and Uplit Read Tours. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a clean romance.

The Perfect Rom- Com is nothing close to romantic. The cover alone is worth a thousand stars, it's so beautiful and MISLEADING! I picked it up and thinking 'wow this looks like it's something straight out of a Cary Grant movie!' Woah buddy was I WRONG! This story deals with the book publishing industry and ghostwriting for a super snobby actress. She's so self centered she drives around on a tour bus with her face plastered on it like a presidential campaign bus. Ugh, it doesn't even seem real! There's also an ESL class to save and a long distance Russian boyfriend that we have no idea exist because there's just nothing there.
I don't know what I read and still don't understand the whole story, just that third act break up was so so so stupid.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was very meh for me. I really liked the premise but it didn't deliver. It is definitely far closer to chick lit than romance and was missing some much needed romantic tension between the main characters. I didn't hate it....I do love some good character development but it stopped with the FMC. The side characters blended together, which stinks because some of them started out really likeable and interesting! There is so much potential in this book and it has such a cute cover, but I really wanted more out of it.

I enjoyed the story more than the romance.

Bryony Page desperately wanted someone to read her story based upon her grandmother's life. Bryony loves teaching ESL at the small community center which her grandmother started, but funds are running low and the fact they might have to close down is making her pretty desperate. Bryony just needs one "no thanks" to become a "we love it." She knows the sale of her book would focus a spotlight on The Bridge as well as add much needed funds to the coffer. So she waits with the other "vultures" hoping that someone chickens out of their meeting with a book rep or maybe got lucky enough during the conference and already received a contract, damn them. Problem is the only one who seems to have free time--a lot of free time--is Jack Sterling of the Foundry Literary Agency. Jack is notorious for his very tiny list of authors that he represents. If he doesn't think you are amazing enough to be worth his time, he will send you on your way, quickly. Bryony knows he will be amazed by her story...and he's absolutely not. But before he sends her on her way, he shows her another manuscript and asks her what she thinks.   She has nothing to lose so she tells him exactly what is wrong with it before she storms out.

While Jack still isn't interested in Bryony's story, he thinks Bryony has what he needs to be one of the ghostwriters for NY Times best seller, Emilia Benedict. Seems Emilia doesn't actually write her own books and Jack can see that Bryony has writing potential and he needs someone to write those million copy best sellers for his company. Bryony agrees because the money will at least help keep The Bridge funded for awhile longer but only if Jack agrees to try and find a publisher for her book as well.

Two years later and Bryony has become the sole ghostwriter for Emilia Benedict since every non-Bryony book has failed with critics and fans. The biggest problem they all face is the fact that Emilia hasn't even bothered to read any of the books that she supposedly writes. And when Emilia fails to answer any of the questions correctly at the meet & greet on her latest tour, the publisher forces Bryony to hop on the bus with Emilia to coach her through the rest of the tour.  It is going to be a disaster because the one person who isn't a fan of Bryony's writing, it is Emilia Benedict herself.

THOUGHTS:
I enjoyed this story which is publishing centric. It is a peek behind the curtain of my favorite hobby and puts into perspective any wish I might have to be a writer. Even if I had a talent and a unique idea, I don't think I have it in me to fight amongst the thousands of books written each year for a publisher and to survive all those "no, thank you's".

In the two years Bryony is ghostwriter, she wrote a lot of very successful books. I felt it truly wasn't fair that Bryony is writing those wonderful novels for someone else, especially someone who doesn't appreciate the work. She did get paid  really well, as she got a percentage of the sales, but still. The problem for her is the fact that publishing as Emilia Benedict, there is already an audience and those automatic purchases. We all have our list of authors that we buy and read whatever they put out there. Trying to convince the publisher, who is more interested in profits, and agency, who are more interested in profits, that they should allow Bryony to publish these books as herself would be a very hard sell as it could be an instant hit or it might take her years to collect the same audience as Emilia Benedict.  No one is willing to lose that kind of easy money when they don't care whose name is on the book jacket. 

As far as the romance, Bryony and Jack are like an old married couple. They go out to dinner a couple times of week and Jack has even joined Bryony's bowling team. Jack even goes with Bryony on the tour bus with Emilia to make sure she doesn't get mistreated.  Problem is, they actually aren't dating, and the why is kind of stupid. Bryony has a "boyfriend" who she was seeing for four months before he was transferred to Russia to each English to students and two years later, he really hasn't come back but Bryony's very faithful to this ridiculous relationship. What would have made more sense is the fact that we hear in the beginning of the story that Jack was in trouble for dating one of the ghostwriters who suddenly quit when she realized Jack wasn't that interested in anything more. Apparently Jack has dated a few co-workers and writers which caused some problems.  A better reason to keep them from actually getting romantic would be the fact the literary agency and the publisher would have drawn the line at Jack pulling this same stunt with Bryony, their literal cash-cow. Obviously, if Jack dated Bryony, broke up with her, and upset her, she might walk away so the very real threat against a relationship could be for Jack to keep his hands to himself. They can then grow close without getting physical giving us that will-they or won't-they that everyone likes in their romance.  Especially when the absent boyfriend officially calls it off and all we get between Jack and Bryony are a few chaste kisses. This book had the Scoville scale of a bell pepper.

Sorry to say there wasn't much Rom in The Perfect Rom-Com but I did enjoy the story.

This rom com was a delight from start to finish. The story gripped me from the jump and brought a whole range of emotions, with plenty of surprises along the way. I was invested in the romance, the FMC’s personal journey with her ESL school, and the fun behind-the-scenes of the publishing world (accurate? Idk, but it was fun). Melissa Ferguson has been a bit hit-or-miss for me, but this was a definite hit.

4.5 stars

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

2.5 stars, which I think is generous.

I was excited to read this ARC. I loved Melissa Ferguson's Meet Me in the Margins, and although I didn't like Famous for a Living, I had hopes that this one would be better. Sadly, my hopes were in vain. This is not good. Ironically, the book is about an author who is unable to see the flaws in her own writing.

The story has a lot of potential, but it falls short in so many ways. Too much MC internal monologuing, too little character development, and an ending that defies belief. For a book that's supposed to be a romcom, there's very little rom or com. There's no buildup to the romance and no indication of why we should root for these two characters to be together. The writing and dialogue are clumsy. There might have been a couple funny moments, but not enough. I can think of two sweet moments that made me smile, but those do not make up for the overwhelming disappointment of the rest. I spent a lot of the book wondering why the editor wasn't doing his or her job; this reads like a rushed first draft, not a book by an author with multiple published titles.

It's a short book (less than 300 pages) but it took me almost a full week to read because I didn't want to pick it up. If not for the fact that this was an ARC and I felt like I should give it an honest try, I would have DNFed it in the first 30%.

The Perfect Rom-Com is a lighthearted, cozy romp that will appeal to lovers of literary romance and books about writers.

I first want to preface by saying I don’t give out 1 stars often.

This book had so much potential, I kept reading hoping there would be a turning point but there wasn’t. I got 50% of the way through and was still waiting for the romance.
I also felt that the characters didn't have much depth to them to the point that they all just merged with one another. We were missing key scenes which they talk about but we didn’t get in the book, I was really disappointed that we didn't read more about the build up of their relationship as it would have helped them have more chemistry and overall would have made the book feel more like an actual rom-com.

Honestly this just wasn’t for me and I wouldn’t recommend it.
Thank you Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the ARC

This book is really Bryony’s journey, in my opinion, and less about the romance of Bryony and Jack.

I liked the book publishing setting, Bryony’s ESL teacher background, her personality, and her quirky sister. I disliked the long-distance boyfriend who served as a barely there, weak plot point.

I felt unsure about Jack; I loved the bowling league, but needed more romantic gestures from him. I liked him at the beginning, not as much in the middle, and then had redemption in the end.

The middle of this book was just an average 2-3 stars, but the ending is a satisfying resolution.

I am a fan of Melissa Ferguson and enjoy her writing style. But, The Perfect Rom-Com would not be my top recommendation of her books.

Thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy.

OH Melissa, you get better and better with each book! I really loved this one and it's definitely my new favorite! Bryony wants to get her book published SO badly, but nobody at the writers conference is interested. She meets Jack, a hot shot agent, and he isn't interested either, but she makes a last ditch plea and it sort of works. He doesn't pick up her book, but he asks her to ghostwrite for a best selling romance author. Turns out, Bryony has a knack for this, and she turns this author into a household name and big time bestseller. She and Jack become quite the pair of BFFs too, neither of them realizing that there's a bit more to their friendship than they anticipated.

I loved Jack and Bryony together, both their friendship and then more. The big breakup made me so sad, even though I was expecting an HEA.

I definitely recommend this one if you like romcoms. It's closed door/fade to black, which isn't usually my favorite, but I know it's how Melissa writes.

Having read a couple other Melissa Ferguson books, I felt a bit let down on the flow of this one.The storyline appealed to me but parts of the storyline dragged on and at the end, felt a bit rushed; I'd have liked to have seen the ending stretched out a bit more. Ferguson's earlier book, Meet Me in the Margins, felt like a much better written book that followed a similar storyline/trope; I had hoped this story would be more like it. There wasn't much of a love story for a book titled The Perfect Rom Com. I feel like having a bit more of Jack's point of view would have helped, especially considering a couple twists in the book he was directly involved in.

The Perfect Rom-Com is a clean, feel good, slow burn rom-com that, for the most part, lived up to its title. It has a unique plot, a behind the scenes of the world of writing and publishing and the trials, tribulations, and rejections that come with becoming an author. To be honest, with that title, I was worried it would be full of cliches, but thankfully it wasn’t. It was uplifting, super cute, and had a good balance of humor, romance, and self discovery.

Bryony is an aspiring writer and an ESL teacher assisting immigrants and refugees. Having little luck getting anyone interested in her own manuscript, she takes a job as a ghostwriter to a famous author who doesn’t appreciate her or her hard work and is an entitled, toxic person. She is just buying time while making a name for herself without breaking contracts. Thankfully, she has Jack, a literary agent who has become more of a best friend than work colleague.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Not only was the plot charming and unique, the diverse cast of characters were well developed and easy to fall in love with. I adored their relationship and the swoon worthy and witty banter. However, I felt like it was a little repetitive and the lengthy monologues took away from the story.

The narrator, Karissa Vacker, did a phenomenal job with giving several different characters their own voice making it easy to follow and listen. I loved the southern slang accent she gave Gloria, and she made Amelia’s voices just as annoying and arrogant as I felt her character was. As always, she did a great job with pacing, tone, and inflection which really helped to set the scene and bring the story and characters to life, delivering a flawless performance from start to finish.

Thank you @prhaudio @thomasnelson @uplitreads @netgalley and @ourfriendlyfarmhouse for the #gifted eARC & ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @uplitreads and @netgalley for this free digital copy 💖.

✨What is about:
Bryony Page, a teacher and writer, has written a debut novel raising awareness for The Bridge, her grandmother's financially-struggling organization where she teaches ESL full-time. She attends a book conference in the hope of finding a literary agent to take on her book. She doesn’t do well on her pitch with one of the most ruthless agents in the business Jack Sterling. She stumbles into correcting another author's work in a last-ditch attempt to make a good impression with the agent, and she is spot on. He then makes her a proposition to be a ghostwriter for a socialite. She turns that writer into a household name and best selling author, and now the agency can’t let her go, all the while the only things she wants is to get her own book published.✨

💭My thoughts:
This was a light, quick, and interesting read. It felt more like a story of self growth rather than a romance though. I liked seeing Bryony’s journey, but I could not get behind the attraction or romance between her and Jack. It almost seemed to come out of nowhere, and I also felt Jack did a lot of strange things people in love don’t really do to the one they are in love with. I felt a lack of chemistry in Jack’s interactions with Bryony, and also like we never got to really know him. It was however really nice to see Bryony reach a goal and grow throughout the story. If you like stories about the world of book publishing and are a writer yourself, I think you might connect and enjoy this story a lot more than I did. It was interesting to see how much writers go through sometimes to get that coveted book deal.

3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (Rounded up to 4 stars)

Read if you like:
✍️Stories about writers
✍️The publishing world
✍️Slow burn
✍️Forced proximity
✍️Workplace romance

⚠️CW: Death of a parent, infidelity, grief.

I was absolutely swooning over this very cute romance between an aspiring author and book agent! Although some parts of this book were a little predictable, I really enjoyed reading this!

THE PERFECT ROM-COM is amazingly well-written and filled with relatable, well-developed characters. I was drawn to Jack instantly and deeply invested in both his professional and personal relationships with Briony. I also loved to hate the spoiled, ungrateful author for whom Briony is a ghost writer, and I rooted for that character to get her comeuppance as much as I rooted for the couple. I think this is Melissa Ferguson's best book to date!

⭐️⭐️⭐️
0/5 spice

First off, I would like to say thank you to NetGalley, Melissa Ferguson, and Thomas Nelson Fiction for providing me with an E-ARC in return for an honest review.

Tropes:
📖Friends to lovers
🚍Forced proximity
📖He falls first
🚍Workplace romance

The Perfect Rom-Com is a cute contemporary romance that centers around Bryony and Jack. Bryony is our FMC who is a ghostwriter for another one of Jack’s “authors”. Jack is her literary agent who has fallen more than he ever expected to.

I liked that Bryony was passionate about her writing and getting her book out there to tell the story of her grandmother and the program that her grandmother started. I liked that Jack was open to helping her, until the end when he lied. She is loyal to her family and to her students that she teaches. However, I don’t know how the ex played a part in the storyline. There was never conversations or interactions. He was only mentioned a couple of times prior to the “breaking up”. I feel like there could have been more added there.

I’m unsure of my feelings toward Jack. On one had, he had Bryony’s best interest at heart. He wanted her to succeed and become that best ghostwriter that she could be. He stood up for her at meetings when no one else would. On the other hand, I knew there was something sneaky and conniving about him. At the end when I found out that he had lied to her about sharing her manuscript, I was ready to give him a few choice words. He didn’t communicate with her the way he should have if he was so in love with her.

I also had trouble with the title. The title states that it’s the perfect rom-com and I do not believe that it was a rom-com. The romance that you expect in a rom-com was not there. There were a few parts in the story that had me ohhhing and ahhhing, but a majority of the story was backstory and not the actual relationship building that is what makes a romance. The comedy that you expect in a rom-com was not there. Yes, there were a few moments that I could myself giggling, but most of the book was lacking.

Overall, if you want a quick book to read that I would consider a palate cleanser, then this book is for you. This book is truly about a female who wants to enter the world of book publishing, standing up for herself, finding her gumption and passion, and finding love at the end.

Goodreads review posted on 2/11/25
Amazon review posted on 2/17/25
IG review posted on 2/10/25