Thank you Net Galley for this ARC. Bryony is an aspiring author who wants to publish the story of her Grandma establishing a ESL program/school. To do this, she attends a conference to showcase her work to publishers. At the conference, Bryony meets Jack. This meeting goes sour quick as Jack tells her her story won't get published. Later they meet up again and Jack asks Bryony to review a book he has. This leads them to working together and making a deal. Bryony will be a ghostwriter for a famous author and Jack will present her work to a publisher. This leads them to working together and ultimately falling in love. This was a fast and sweet read that was filled with fun banter and great side characters who gave the story depth.

This was a bit slow for me at the start but I really enjoyed the last half. Jack was sweet and it was cute to see how long he'd been pining for Bryony. But a few things were hinted at but not clearly laid out - like was he making up fake girlfriends the whole time? And did she realize that?

I did not love the name Bryony - it seemed out of place with several of the other character names (like Jack, Susanna, Parker, Amelia, etc.). Bryony was very uptight and kind of irritating. She was very controlling and didn't listen to her agent when he obviously knew the industry better than her.

I did like how passionate she was about The Bridge and the love she had for her students. I wish we had more of the Wednesday night bowling league time! The students made me laugh.

The miscommunication at the end was problematic. I never understand why people won't hear someone else out and let them explain when they have made a mistake. Even though the big reveal was justified given Amelia's poor behavior throughout, I felt like it was unlikely her agent and team would go to such lengths in taking themselves down along with her reputation.

Overall it was a pretty quick read with some quirky characters.

Thanks to Net Galley for the eARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing company for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson!

First of all, let me say that my own ego would not let me be a ghost writer for anyone. In such an introvert but you worked hard for that, get your credit!

This book was a 3.5/5 for me. The chapters are doable, the female main character is sweet and I really felt entwined with her dilemma . I like how you can see Ferguson’s passion in Byrony’s job. The male main character is desirable if not a little cocky (but aren’t they all?!).

If you’re looking for a fun, quick and cozy read, this may be what you’re looking for!

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction, NetGalley and Melissa Ferguson for the ARC. I received a complementary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in the review are my own.

This book is available for purchase now!

4.5 stars!

The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson was such a joy to read! It had me laughing out loud, swooning over the romance, and feeling all the emotions. But what really stuck with me was Bryony’s passion for helping people integrate into the U.S. and learn English. As a non-native speaker myself, that part hit me right in the heart—especially in such a divided time. It was such a beautiful reminder of empathy, kindness, and embracing diversity.

And that ending? I loved it! It left me with the biggest smile on my face. But I have to say… I was so frustrated with how everyone treated Amelia like she was the best when she was honestly so unlikeable! I wanted to shake the characters sometimes, but honestly, that just shows how real they felt. Melissa did an amazing job making them all feel like actual people—flaws, quirks, and all. If you love rom-coms with heart, humor, and a little something deeper, this one’s definitely worth picking up!

I had an amazing time reading this book and I’m so grateful I got to read this ARC! Is my second Melissa Ferguson's ARC and I hope it wont be my last! Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction and Melissa Ferguson for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley! It was an amazing experience and I’m so happy to share my honest review.

This was a great read! I loved it! It has a truly despicable villainess in Amelia. She is so self-centered and awful. I couldn't wait to see justice meet her. Bryony was gutsy and unique. She does incredible work helping immigrants learn English and makes time to write to try to save her Grandmother's agency. She doesn't expect the offer she gets for her work, however.

I loved Jack and his patience as he seeks to help Bryony. There were a couple big reveal scenes and I delighted in both. The romance was incredibly sweet and poignant.

As someone who loves books, I found it fascinating to get a sneak peek into the publishing world. It made me wonder how many ghostwriters are out there. I understand it for a celebrity who wants to get their memoirs out there but not in this context of an ongoing relationship. How crazy is that! I laughed when Amelia would get tripped up for not doing her homework on her "own" books.

I thought this was a fun book. I'd highly recommend it. Thank you to Thomas Nelson for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson, and enjoyed getting to read it through NetGalley. I love Melissa Ferguson's writing style. While this book itself wasn't rom-comish, it is a pursuit for the Perfect Rom-Com. The book grabbed me from the very beginning and I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed it so much, I also grabbed the audiobook on Audible, and thoroughly enjoyed the narrator. This book made me laugh, made my heart hurt for Bryony, and also made me feel the gooey feelings. I also enjoyed the references to another of her books, Meet Me in the Margins.

Bryony Page is an aspiring author and ESL teacher who’s sure her manuscript would be a hit if she could just get someone to publish it. After countless rejections by other agents, Bryony accidentally impresses agent Jack Sterling and lands herself a gig as the ghostwriter for romance author Amelia Benedict. After Amelia’s books explode in popularity and Bryony’s contract requires her to go on a publicity tour, she finds herself in close quarters on the tour bus with the publishing team – including her hottie agent Jack!

This is such a charming, heartfelt read that’s more than just a romance! Bryony is a great character, and I loved the way the author shows us how special Bryony is through those whose lives she touches, especially her ESL students. The romance is a slow burn, but there’s some great banter between Bryony and Jack along the way. The glimpse behind the publishing curtain is really fun (and it makes me wonder if any of my favorite authors secretly have ghostwriters!). The way it wraps up everything in a bow and gives everyone the outcome they deserve is perfect escapism and very satisfying!

Perfect for fans of:
• Strangers to Friends to Lovers
• Workplace Romance
• Slow Burn
• Forced Proximity
• He Falls First
• Closed Door Romance
If you love books about authors or were a fan of The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center, The Perfect Rom-Com might be for you!

Many thanks to UpLit Reads and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the #gifted book!

Bryony Page has finished her first manuscript and attends her first writers conference hoping to sell it so that everyone will learn about The Bridge, the organization her grandmother started where Bryony herself teaches ESL. It’s struggling financially and if she could get published, the profits could help keep the doors open. Her pitch doesn’t go as well as she’d hoped, since it isn’t any one genre and has an astounding word count. In a last-ditch effort to be seen, she corrects another author’s work and hits the nail on the head.

Even though Jack Sterling doesn’t want her book, she’s shocked when he offers her the chance to ghostwrite for Amelia Benedict, a popular rom-com author. She agrees to write Amelia’s books if Jack agrees to try to sell her book.

Bryony ends up turning Amelia Benedict into a bestselling author, something no one could have predicted. She has become priceless to the Foundry Literary Agency, and she might be priceless to Jack as well. What will he do to keep her?

I loved this book! What better way for an aspiring author to get her start than to ghostwrite for someone who becomes a bestseller? I was invited to read an advanced copy of this book and look forward to reading other books by Melissa Ferguson.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for allowing me to read to an ARC of this novel. #NetGalley #ThePerfectRomCom

This story was cute and entertaining! The plot was a fresh idea and the characters were fun and easy to like. While I think that this was a cute and fun story, I discovered that this author’s writing style is not for me. This is personal taste! The main thing I struggled with is the lack of actual dialogue between characters and the excessive amount of inner dialogue of the main character. It was from one POV, so the heroine would frequently trail off on long and wordy inner thought monologues that went on page after page before answering someone’s simple yes or no question. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this style of writing, I just know it’s not for me. I enjoy back and forth fast paced witty banter! Gilmore girls style sparring, and the inner dialogue situation really slowed the pace of the story for me.
There was a romance that was happening, although a 2 year time jump didn’t allow the reader to participate in the initial sparks of this budding romance. I wanted to see more romance on the page and I wanted to know it was intentional! All that said this was a cute story, there is plenty to recommend to rom com readers. The perfect Rom Com has Friends to lovers, miscommunication trope, sarcasm, and a lighthearted feel that I think a lot of rom com readers will enjoy!

This was such a fun rom-com! This is the third book i've read by Melissa Ferguson and I really enjoy her writing. They are such entertaining romances, and they are closed door which I really like! My only issue with this one is that I wish we had got more of Jack and Byrony's story on the page, as most of their friendship was backstory that was alluded too but we didn't get to experience it first hand. I loved all their banter that we did get though. Lots of the focus of this story was on Bryony's journey and not just on the romance, which made the book feel more natural and I was invested in the plot. The ending felt a bit crazy and far fetched, but ehh it's a fun romance book I don't really mind if the conclusion is a bit unrealistic lol. I'd definitely recommend giving this one (or Melissa's books in general) a go if you are after a closed door romance!

For the most part, I absolutely LOVED this book. The banter between Jack and Bryony was truly top tier and, ugh, the build-up to their relationship was so so good. There’s also something about a pining man that will get me every time …
That being said, there are some drawbacks. First, there was too much “fluffy” stuff at times - a very in-depth description of the people/things going around the character rather than a focus on the plot (however, this has more charm later in the book).
My main issue is ultimately the third-act issues between the two MCs. Not to give away too much, but Jack’s betrayal is a rough one and one that took some serious time (I mean … a whole two years?!). So while I know he was ‘down bad’ for Bryony and he claimed this was a way of protecting her, I just think it was the ultimate betrayal to Bryony given her emphasis and love for the book. So, yes he sorted it out in a grand romantic gesture (a serious romantic gesture!!) but he did still lie to her for a while… I think we as readers still forgive him but have to point out that he’s not the perfect MMC one initially thinks he is. It’s because of this that the book moved from a 5-star read to a 4-star read.
Ultimately, I still really loved this book. I was gripped by the characters’ stories and was rooting for the MCs to get together throughout their friendship. I will definitely be picking up books from this author again!!

Bryony Page is an author who’s written several best selling books. You’ve never heard of her? That’s not a surprise considering that Bryony is a ghost writer. She writes books that get published under someone else’s name. Bryony has written a book about the ESL program her grandmother started but she’s never been able to get it published.

Bryony writes for well known romance author, Amelia Benedict. Amelia’s agent, Jack Sterling, keeps a close eye on her and spends a lot of time with Bryony. Unfortunately, Amelia doesn’t read the books Bryony writes, so she can’t answer questions about them. Bryony and Jack need to keep her in check as they all go on a book tour.

This is a slow burn romance, but it’s very satisfying when they finally get together. I enjoyed the inside look at the publishing industry, and the ending was great.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

I love books about books and I love romances. Melissa Ferguson has brilliantly blended the two worlds together in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐦-𝐂𝐨𝐦.

Bryony Page teaches ESL to adult immigrants at her grandmother’s organization. But her dream is to be an author. In fact, she has her manuscript in hand; now, she has to get it published. When she bravely approaches one of the biggest agents in the publishing business, Jack Sterling, he rejects her lengthy novel. But he does offer her a ghostwriting position for one of the biggest rom-com novelists.

I couldn’t get enough of Jack and Bryony! Sure, Jack’s her agent, and they have worked together for years, but let’s just say they work very closely and have become friends. But when Bryony feels like it’s time for her to walk away from ghostwriting, tired of being unseen and unrecognized, it's Jack who has been watching and waiting all along. Ugh, my heart.

I also adored Bryony’s students; they were funny and sweet and added so much personality and charm to the story. This book is not just a workplace romance; it's a journey of self-discovery and a peek into the publishing world. It has substance, yet it has humor, wit, and warmth - truly a delight!


Thank you @uplitreads and @ourfriendlyfarmhouse for a spot on tour and a gifted book and ebook via NetGalley.

3.5 stars - This was a good story! You have to suspend disbelief a lot, but I did enjoy the characters and most of the story. The side characters made the story for me (the students and Gloria and Penny!)!

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

I really don't like to leave negative reviews because I know authors spend so much time on writing and perfecting these stories for their readers. But as a reviewer who had the opportunity to read this prior to release, I wanted to hold up my end of the deal and provide an honest review. Here it goes:

1) The first half of this book (literally the first 52%) was so slow and hard for me to read. It took until they were on tour for Amelia for me to even somewhat engage with the characters. There was a lot of emphasis on Bryony's manuscript, which i get the premise of the book is about her getting her manuscript published, but it was beat to a pulp and honestly, I didn't even want to read her manuscript by the end of the book.

2) There was a very unnecessary and confusing time-hop in this. It starts with Bryony meeting Jack at a publisher's conference and trying to convince him to publish her manuscript to jumping 2 years in to the future and her being a ghostwriter for a popular Romance author and suddenly her and Jack are the best of friends. You see absolutely NOTHING about their relationship development, considering Bryony loathed Jack during the first couple of chapters. This jump really did a disservice to the book IMO and we don't see Jack and Bryony working together at the beginning, get to witness their friendship grow so much that they are even on a bowling team together, and we don't get to see any early developments of a romantic spark between the two until 2 years in to their working relationship/friendship and all of a sudden they love each other? No. Did not work for me.

3) Amelia was awful. She was a spoiled brat that everyone had to bend over backwards for because her daddy owned half of the publishing industry. She was the face of the romance novels that Bryony was writing but never had any idea what any of the books were about. Hell, at that point I'd stop scheduling any kind of book tours cause she was a disaster and everyone on her team kept letting it happen. WHY?

4) The whole talk show reveal at the end where they turn on Amelia and put Bryony in the spotlight was super cringe to me. Like, that's not realistic at all. I'd have a hard time believing that anyone would burn a publisher's daughter in such a public fashion as what happened in this book. Amelia was horrible and honestly deserved it, but it just wasn't done in a believable, root-for-the-underdog way.

All in all, this one was a no for me but I know there are a lot of positive reviews out there on this one so maybe it was just me.

2.5 stars.

As everyone knows, I love books about writers and writing. I kind of wish we got a bit more of her writing process. This romance was super cute, and even though from the beginning I kind of knew what was going to happen, I didn't really guess the why! While this plot was super cute, I do feel like some depth was missing. I kind of feel like there was a lack of communication in regards to their relationship, and while we got a lot of them hanging out, none of it felt...romantic? Something was lacking for sure, and I think that was it. 3.5 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

I requested this book from NetGalley because the premise of the book sounded so good. Bryony, an aspiring writer attends a writers conference hoping to find an agent to help her publish a book to help her grandfather's financially-struggling organization where she teaches ESL full-time. She's turned down by everyone. After having a terrible interview with Jack, an arrogant agent, he asks her to review another author's work. She gives a spot-on assessment of the work and he offers her the opportunity to ghost-write a popular rom-com author's next book. In exchange, he'll help her find a publisher for her book. The book then takes a time leap and we find that Bryony has ghost-written several successful books but wants out.

The book is more about Bryony ghost-writing the book and her struggles with the author she is writing for. The first half of the book is really slow and didn't have anything to do with romance. Bryony had a long-distance relationship with a boyfriend, but we hear almost nothing about it and he never makes an appearance. At the end of the book Bryony and Jack realize they are in love. There is almost nothing to indicate the two have feelings for each other and there is no chemistry between the two. There is a touch of romance, but again, this is only in like the last 5% of the book.

Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. It just wasn't what I was I was expecting. Perhaps if I went in with different expectations, I would have liked it more. I did like the ESL students Bryony teaches and the way they look out for her and support her. The book is well-written and a quick read. Check the book out for yourself, you may like it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction. All opinions are my own.

Fun, quick and witty rom-com that I enjoyed! I love the cover of this book also. Character development was good and kept me hooked theough the entire book!!!

A quick and enjoyable read. Favorite aspects were definitely the banter, and friends to lovers angle. Also Gloria, I want a whole book of the quirky sister. But the whole idea of a “perfect rom-com” being one that has love and levity but also true depth and meaning is definitely something I agree with through all my rom-com reading.

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