So many kudos to this book for being one of those that I'm really sad is over. Loved every minute of it and the conclusion was good, well-paced and satisfying. But I'm sad that I can't just keep reading it.

What an adorable love story this was. Admittedly, its a lot more spice than I usually go for, but that's ok. The spice fit in nicely with the character arcs and the relationship pacing. Its also somewhat skippable for anyone who's not into it, but I also think that its worth mentioning that I appreciated the actual writing in the spicy scenes. In some romance novels, I've read spice scenes where the tone shifts entirely, the narrative style is totally different and the characters change to the point of having entire personality shifts. None of that was the case here. I'm grateful that these scenes felt like they fit in with the rest of the book.

I was kind of expecting not to like the reality-show focus of this book, but it was more of a background piece or kind of like a setting so to speak to the interactions between all the characters and in fact, it seemed like a lot more of the when down off-camera than anything did during the reality show scenes in the book. I can't be certain having never been on a reality show myself, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's fairly accurate to many reality show contestants real experiences being on a show.; the drama and excitement that plays out on camera is just a part of the experience of being on the show.

I was hopeful that this book was going to avoid the third act break-up but was disappointed. At least this one felt kind of original by throwing in some unexpected (though not unfitting) drama. Very appropriate for a story centering around a reality show.

I also appreciated that the Happily Ever After wasn't rushed. I've already read too many romances where there was only a short epilogue's worth of cozy scene at the end. Chip Pons gives us a full like 5% of the book at the ends for all the fuzzy feels.

And I will also say that the quality of the writing here was good. From the prose to the plotting and pacing. Chip Pons should keep writing books because he has a good handle on writing an engaging story that keeps the reader invested.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a fluffy, but also spicy, queer romance.

Team #Thasher all the way. What a sweet and spicy romance. Asher and Theo were well written and the story moved at a great pace. I really enjoyed reading this one! Thank you for a great read!

Asher’s boyfriend Clint bails on him at the literal last minute
Not just on their trip that he’s currently checking luggage for, but their entire 7 year relationship
Oof.

This leaves him brooding in an airport restaurant, newly single and without a partner for their planned stint on reality show Epic Trek

Theo is a pilot who has just been temporarily grounded due to excessive hours and complete lack of work/life balance.
In an unlikely turn of events, a lost coin toss to decide ownership of some mozzarella sticks has Asher managing to convince him to join him on his flight out

And Theo is *shockingly* chill about all this, even enthusiastic
He hops the plane without questions, and when he does find out more immediately signs on to play the boyfriend role and help Asher win this competition show

If you liked The Fake Dating Game, and want something similar but with more travel, adventure - and spice - you should check this one out for sure

It was fun following their travels and their attempts to win challenges. Hiding the truth about their (lack of) relationship from the host, competitors and audience, all while being coached in how to better win the social media voters by those in the know.
And, like all good fake dating stories, things get even more interesting and complicated when the feelings turn real.

Outside of hgtv I don’t really watch reality tv, but I feel like I would have tuned in for this one. Watching them find love and a home in each other was super heartwarming
Fun read, with a great HEA

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for the arc!

Thank you, NetGalley & Penguin Group Putnam, for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was such a fun, heartfelt rom-com that totally delivered. I loved the reality show competition angle—so entertaining—and it made the fake dating trope feel fresh and exciting. Theo and Asher had amazing chemistry right from their chaotic airport meet-cute, and I was rooting for them the whole way. As someone who loves reality TV, this book hit all the right notes: drama, hilarious challenges, and sweet emotional moments that snuck up on me. It was the perfect mix of laugh-out-loud fun and deeper character growth. Definitely a great pick if you love queer love stories with heart and humor.

📖 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄𝙩 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙮 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙋𝙤𝙣𝙨

“𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳—𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯—𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.“

This was such an unbelievably SWEET romance! Strangers to lovers at its finest. From the very first meet cute I was HOOKED on Asher & Theo’s story.

Asher gets dumped by his long time boyfriend at the airport as they were ready to depart for a reality show competition. Taking back some power in the situation, Asher decides to go anyways, the only problem was the show was expecting a couple to compete.

Theo is officially grounded from flying because he’s a workaholic. Down in the dumps he wasn’t expecting a mozzarella sticks tradition to bring him a new adventure!

“𝘔𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.”

The way this book is written was phenomenal! I loved all of the competitions and the characters we meet along the way.

The chemistry between Theo & Asher was freaking BRILLIANT. Every single special moment between them had me giggling and kicking my feet at the cuteness. From now on, every time I see a tomato I’m going to be laughing. 🍅🤣

This is a slow burn romance that kicks into high gear towards the end! The ‘good boy’ praise brought me to my KNEES. 😮‍💨🤭🔥❤️‍🔥

“𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘺,”

This book truly radiates everything I love about queer love stories! I need all my book pals to hop on this flight and read 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄𝙩 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙮 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙋𝙤𝙣𝙨!

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
✨ 𝘗𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘹 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳
🤭 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴
🫶🏼 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦
💖 𝘍𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
❤️‍🩹 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘈 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘱
🛏️ 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘥
🔥 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘯 + 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘦
✌🏼 𝘋𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘖𝘝
🍅 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘍𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴

A fun little MM romance, full of adventure. Asher gets dumped at the airport on the way to start filming an adventure challenge reality show. Theo is a workaholic pilot who was just told he needs take a break from work. and so it begins! This book felt a bit long, but overall it was a fun ride.

This was the perfect mix of a fun, good time while also having deep, more emotional moments as well. The entire premise of the tv show competition was fun and refreshing. Theo and Asher’s relationship felt well paced and I was rooting for them from the beginning.

The third act breakup felt a little dramatic and the ending felt a little long but I did really enjoy that we spent some time with Theo’s family and we got to see those heartfelt conversations.

Overall, definitely recommend for a fun rom-com! I think this is a perfect summer read!

Chip Pons you have left me speechless. I have been stewing for the past 30 minutes since putting the book down trying to put into words how I felt about this book and it's impossible, but one thing's for sure, I loved it!! This book was so much fun to read but also had so much heart and depth within the story. I found both main characters, Asher and Theo, to be incredible lovable and I caught myself smiling multiple times as their relationship progressed. It definitely hit on some more emotional topics such as a forced outing and the lasting impact that it had as well as anxiety, but this is a book that you are gunna wanna pick up on release day and not put down until you finish!

Read if you like:
- Fake Dating
- LGBTQIA+ Romcoms
- Grumpy x Sunshine
- Forced Proximity
- Spiiiicceee

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This was one of the most unique romances I have read, and that's a massive compliment. I've never read a plot like this and I had the best time. The romance was super sweet and the spice was some of the best I have ever read. Asher and Theo are adorable and I hope everyone reads their romance and falls in love with them as much as I have!

I first off want to say thank you for the opportunity to receive an arc so close to the pub date. I was so excited when I got the email saying my queen BK Borison loved it and I was eligible to read it. I did write a review on goodreads which I will link below and will also post on socials but I wanted to write a real feedback review here because I believe these netgalley reviews should help the author and not just be copy paste of what they already saw on goodreads.

First off I loved how relatable these characters are. The real and tangible struggles they go through is something so relatable, feelings of not being enough, not being lovable, not being able to be too big or too loud. These are real things people go through. I also loved that their whole identity was not their queerness. Obviously as queer people do they have dealt with trauma and struggles because of their queerness, but that is not the sole plot of the book. I feel that in quite a lot of queer media that can be an easy fallback and I appreciate that it was not the case here.

I blew through this book because it was such a fun heartwarming and easy read. It was also so fun to read about a reality show, and a gay couple on a reality show which we need more of. The show was quite fun, and I enjoyed so much learning about the supporting characters of the other contestants and the sassy producer Jo.

Some feedback I have that is constructive (And mind you I adored this book so don't change a thing) Is I think that there definitely could have been a little more buildup of the world around Theo and Asher. Yes we knew about Asher's relationship with Clint and what his life became, but what about his friends, and the people in his life that weren't Clint's friends. He briefly mentioned a few friends when he was trying to find someone to go on the trek with him, what part do they play in his life? Who does he lean on? And if there's truly no one delve into that. Theo, we get a bit more since we spend so much time with his family, but what about Mark and his wife? They're like family and we barely learned about them. As well as the other contestants.

As for their day to day while in the present tense of the book, we get to know Ellie and her mom well, and Jo and Arthur to a degree, but what about other contestants? Some are briefly mentioned but I would have loved to get more of what was going on around them and how they interacted day to day with others in their day to day. I think sometimes in books we can focus so much on the relationship it's hard to build a character's daily life outside of that more. We also had Bianca and Jackson sabotaging the competition brought up multiple times like it was going to be a plot point and then it just never went anywhere which I thought was a shame because it could have been cool to include. As well as not skipping over so much of the actual show, I know not every challenge was important to their romantic development but even one or two more challenges or elimination ceremonies in between just to show the trajectory of their couple growth would have been neat. I think the book was a decent size and having another 50 pages to add some of that in would have been cool and not made it too long of a book.

Overall I absolutely ADORED this book so much and I will be telling everyone to read it my roommate already has it in her want to read list on goodreads. If there's ever any NYC events for this book I will be there in a heartbeat. It was a stunning book. 10/1o

a lot of strong and fun vibes with this high-octane, high-flying, effective romance betweeen two fun characters. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

I really enjoyed this book! The set up was fun and I liked reading about the reality show and all the locations. Asher and Theo felt very real and their relationship was realistic for such a sped up timeline. All the side characters surrounding the competition were great and I would love to see Ellie and Jenn again. My only complaint was I would have actually liked a little more surrounding the competition and the eliminations. It felt almost like an afterthought in the beginning of the book.

The dramatic moment in Act 3 felt a little insane and I wish someone had just sent Theo the videoclip of Asher telling off Clint instead of all the drama. But I liked that they worked it all out quickly.

This was my first Chip Pons book and will not be my last! Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Got an advanced reader copy of this and ate it up and left no crumbs. This was such a feel good read and I enjoyed every minute of it. Funny, sweet, swoony, spicy and romantic. Theo & Asher were absolutely perfect together and their story was so good. It gave me vibes and feelings of when I read Red, White & Royal Blue.

Chip delivered on this book and knocked it out of the park!

Talk about a meet CUTE. I adored this book. Shoutout to Julie Soto for recommending it, and to the publisher who approved my ARC.

Winging it with You follows Asher as he leaves for an around the world reality tv show with his boyfriend (think Amazing Race). At the airport, on the way, he gets dumped by his long term boyfriend. Trying to come up with a plan and drinking and eating away his feelings, he gets approached by a burnout airplane pilot, Theo, who wants his mozzarella sticks (last order from kitchen). He says he’ll do anything for them, and anything he does. Theo and Asher leave for their grand adventure. Traveling the world, going on very cool adventures, and falling in love, this book made me laugh and had me super engaged the entire time. I especially loved when Theo processes his family trauma - I thought that was so well handled.

Definitely recommend this one!

Also - Chip Pons, a bookstagrammer? My future???

Chip Pons has done it again!! I loved every second of this adventure filled, swoony romance. I laughed, I cried, I didn’t want it to end!

Admittedly, I'm a sucker for a book centered around a competition, whether it's a <i>Great British Bake Off</i>-inspired baking competition or this <i>Amazing Race</i>-inspired contest. I eat them up. Add in a romance -- nevertheless a queer romance -- and I'm gorging on it.

All in all, this book is fine. There's just enough of the actual competition to keep that interest sated, but there's also quite a bit of behind the scenes shenanigans. I would've liked Asher and Theo to be less insta-love, because their relationship does give off major rebound vibes since Asher was dumped by his boyfriend literally two or three hours before meeting Theo, but they're sweet together so I'll give it a pass. I also would've liked to see some actual consequences to Dalton's behavior and to dive deeper into both Asher and Theo's past relationship trauma, but again, I'll give it a pass.

This book is an easy, quick, and entertaining read, which is just what I needed.

Winging It With You by Chip Pons is an absolutely adorable rom-com with so much heart!! I really loved this story. The way Chip Pons told it made it feel so personal that you really see Theo and Asher getting to know each other, building trust, and falling for one another in the sweetest, most genuine way.

I definitely cried during the climbing challenge scene. I had to literally stop what I was doing because the emotion hit me so hard. It was beautiful and vulnerable and everything I love in a slow-burn romance.

Also, major shout-out to the Little Reference to Limoncello—my favorite drink! And the mention of The Cranberries? Perfect. It’s like this book reached into my soul and built a playlist and drink menu just for me.

The spice level was just right—not over the top, but still very sexy and emotionally grounded. The kind of steam that makes you feel something.

And Theo? Total book boyfriend material. Kind, funny, sweet, sunshiny and vulnerable in the best ways! He completely stole my heart.

I absolutely loved their HEA. I spent the last few chapters in happy tears, just soaking up every soft, joyful moment. I even cried right through the acknowledgments. So good. 100 stars.

Highly recommend this one to anyone looking for a queer romance that’s equal parts swoony, heartfelt, and laugh-out-loud cute.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

This book. The only way I can think to describe it is: romantic. Immersively, heart-stoppingly, tear-jerkingly romantic. I was not expecting a book set in what is essentially The Amazing Race to punch me in the gut like this, but oomph. Chip has written a story that is not only extremely entertaining, but also makes you believe that love-real, earth-shattering, life-altering love–is always worth the risk. I will be throwing it at all my friends with wild abandon.

Winging It with You was hands down one of the sweetest books I have read so far this year. As an avid watcher of The Amazing Race, reading a book based in a tv show just like it was so much fun. The progression of Theo and Asher going from strangers, to fake boyfriends, to real feelings honestly felt natural and I found that impressive with the relatively short amount of time they spent together on the show (when you know, you know). With all of that being said, Theo is the ultimate book boyfriend and I would literally die for that absolute marshmallow of a man.

I loved Theo and Asher, it was a perfect representation of golden retriever and black cat energy, neither was over the top. I’m not a huge fan of 3rd act break ups but this one made sense especially since it was Theo’s MO. As someone who enjoys traveling all the challenges, cities and activities were fun and exciting. La Tometada festival scene was one of my favorites. Both characters stepped outside their comfort zones and learned to love themselves. It was lighthearted while also addressing topics we can all relate to. Just over all great read that leaves you feeling happy at the end.