My sincere thanks to Forever/Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read Up Close & Personal by Ana Holguin. I give my unbiased opinion of it in the following review.

Silas is tasked to do a story on Haven which is a fitness industry with high end classes both in person and by streaming. Jo is one of their dynamic spin instructors, and he most wants to get an in to interview her. As luck would have it, one of his oldest friends is engaged to a friend of Jo's so Silas gets himself invited to a party where Jo will be. To his surprise, Jo volunteers to be interviewed without him even asking. What's up with that? He already has it in his head that she and others like her are not all that. His vision for his article is anything but complimentary, but it doesn't take long before he realizes that what he thought would be an easy article is anything but. There is far more to Jo than meets the eye.

I really liked this book a lot. There was depth to these characters that I really appreciated. Both struggled with mental health (anxiety and depression) and the author handled these topics realistically and with care. The details and the feelings were doled out gradually, but with enough tension that I wanted to keep reading. This was an excellent debut, and I hope many readers will give it a go.

What a time this was! I had so much from start to finish with this rom com. I loved the characters so much and that’s a big part of loving a rom com. If I can’t root for the FMC and the MMC, then what’s the point? Holguin writes great banter and I felt the emotion of these two falling in love. Excited to see what Holguin does next!

This one was just OK for me. I did like the anxiety rep from Jo, and could relate to her anxiety of seemingly having everything, but not knowing what the next step is, and not wanting to let down her fans/followers and the company she works for.
What didn't work for me was how rushed the climax and ending were. There was more telling than showing, and yes, Jo rushed to conclusions, and needed to go back to therapy and work out how she judged herself and inferiority, but I would have liked that to happen a little earlier.
I also liked how Jo was able to prove Silas wrong about the work she does. He's definitely the grump to her sunshine, and being a former reporter myself, I got why he was so jaded. It's a tough industry!

- forced proximity
- slow burn
- low steam
- WDTK? Ch. 22

I loved this debut from Ana Holgiun. This was such a beautiful exploration of mental health, with the most unique spin on it. Jo - a fitness influencer - is jaded and hurt from years in the spotlight. Silas - a journalist who hates the vapidity of celebrity culture - sees an opportunity. This was a set up that built a beautiful foundation for their relationship. The way Ana handled both mental health, and what it means to trust/communicate in a burgeoning relationship, was beautifully done. Her characters were fleshed out and layered. What started off as two fairly stereotypical characters quickly became so much more as Ana expertly wove real human emotions, feeling, challenges into them. I related so much with both characters, and felt myself wanting nothing but joy for Jo...even if she couldn't always see it for herself. I will absolutely be reading more of Ana's work - she's such a promising voice in the romance genre and I'm so thrilled to follow her journey!

I was not expecting how much this book focused on mental health while still making it such a cute romance, but I loved how Ana approaches the topics of anxiety and depression. So many authors are afraid to write about those topics directly so it is highly appreciated.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc and alc.

This was a cute romance. I liked the main characters. My only comment is I felt that the romance seemed to be slightly rushed (for my taste). As for the audiobook, I liked both the male and female narrators. Overall, this was a really enjoyable read and I would definitely consider reading more by Ana Holguin in the future!

4.75! I had such a fun time reading this! Jo is an instructor at a SoulCycle-like fitness company. The public adores her, but behind the scenes, she’s struggling. To make things more complicated, a journalist named Silas is investigating her and wants to write an exposé on her job.

It took me a little while to get into the book, but once it clicked, I couldn’t put it down. I loved Jo from the beginning—she’s such a relatable, easy-to-love character. She’s full of energy and warmth, yet quietly battling anxiety and the challenges that come with it. Beyond the romance, what really touched me was Jo’s journey of learning to live with anxiety without letting it define her. Holguin did a phenomenal job portraying that experience through Jo, making her feel like a real, fully human person.

As for the romance, I really enjoyed the slow-burn dynamic between Jo and Silas. They’re both hesitant, which makes their eventual connection feel earned and meaningful. One of my favorite tropes in romance books is when love appears when the characters least expect it, because to me, it feels like faith. I’ll admit I was unsure about Silas at first, but he won me over with his vulnerability and how deeply he fell for Jo. He’s a yearner, and I love a good yearner.

This is definitely a book I’ll be rereading!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Up Close & Personal was a slowww burn in the best way. There was one scene where he shows up to her spin class without telling her he’s coming and the way she smiles when she sees home. Ana Holguin really had me kicking my feet and squealing.

🚲 Celebrity Spin Instructor
🗒️ the cute reporter who’s interviewing her
🍎 Set in NYC
🧠 Mental Health rep
💜 forced proximity
🩷 pining

**Thank you Forever Publishing for my gifted book**

4.5 stars - rounding up! I cannot believe this is a debut novel. Up Close & Personal is so well-written and enjoyable. The FMC is a spin-instructor who has anxiety and the MMC is a broody part-time hater aka contrarian who always goes against what is popular/mainstream. Personally, this book is a breath of fresh air. Being an avid fan of a home fitness program myself (the bike and strength classes at Peloton) this was a really fun read for me. Jo works for a company named Haven but it did give me as a reader a different perspective of fitness instructors that are live or recording fitness classes and some of the scrutiny they most likely endure.

Jo and Silas are perfectly flawed main characters. Their banter with each other is so cute and funny. BUT one of the best aspects of this book are the side characters and specifically the friend group Jo has. I love Amber and Serena and was cracking up at times. I would love it if we saw more of these two in the future.

The mental health representation is superb to me in this book. There is enough depth to understand the severity of what the character(s) are experiencing and I liked the overall representation.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and think that it is a fantastic debut novel.

I really enjoyed this debut romance novel! First of all at this point I really don’t want to read any romance that’s not a dual POV. Our two main leads Jo and Silas both have their point of view narrative and we got to see/feel their building romance. As always, I don’t think any romance novel is complete without female friendships and I wish we had got to see more of Joe’s two best friends who lit up the page every time they were written about. If you like slow burn romance but I definitely recommend this book for you!

Thank you #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A romance about online personas and the perception of others with a great couple? Hell yeah and sign me up!

3.5-4 stars!
Thank you Forever Publishing and Ana Holguin for this ARC of Up Close & Personal! I will be giving my honest review.
This gave such 2000's romcom set in NYC vibes and for that I LOVED it. In my mind, the characters were James Marsden (27 Dresses version obvs) and lowkey a younger Zoe Saldana?!
I must say though, this book took me a while to get into. But once I did, I really enjoyed the story and the romance between Jo and Silas. I think what kept me from liking it right away was the MMC starting their relationship off on lies and deceit. He felt sleezy and judgmental and it gave me such an ick that I had to put the book down and I didn't pick it back up for a couple days.
HOWEVER! I do think he redeemed himself. He was such a simp for Jo and I loved watching him squirm and grovel and become someone that was worthy of Jo.
I liked Jo from the get-go. Even though the only thing the two of us have in common is anxiety. She truly endeared herself to me through her vulnerability and compassion.
I saw the third act breakup coming from literally chapter 3 or 4. I knew as soon as he wrote that rough draft that it was going to come to bite him in the ass. His reluctance to come clean over and over again made me feel like I was going crazy.
Overall, this book was cutesy and emotionally charged, and by the end had me tearing up watching Jo pick a path that was right for her and not for others. I sense a Serena book coming in our future perhaps?

This was an enjoyable and relatable read. The book deals profoundly in mental health. The reader is exposed to Silas’ past struggles with depression on one hand, and on the other there is a significant amount of the book spent with Jo’s daily battle with anxiety.
Silas thinks he knows who Jo is based on her public image, but gets proven wrong quite quickly. A nice friendship forms between the two characters and slowly blossoms into something more. Jo’s character is the one that undergoes the most growth; she’s not particularly happy with her current job, but isn’t sure where she wants to go next either. Her journey towards a new beginning, while battling anxiety, is worth the read alone. The slow burn romance is just the icing on the cake.
My only issue with the book is that I found Jo’s reaction in the end quite predictable. I would not have thought the issue was major at all, but when Silas brought it up a few times, I just knew where is was going lead - I found the refusal to communicate a little frustrating. I felt that the story could have been complete without the third-act breakup. That being said, this is not a reason to not pick this book up. The books contains many memorable, reflective and swoon worthy moments.
Many thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for an early digital review copy of the book. The opinions expressed are honest and my own.

The Before I get on to the review let me just gush on how beautiful this cover is, that's initially what pulled me in.

The prose is something different than anything we've read before and that's why I'm such an advocate for diverse writing. The FMC is a fitness instructor and the MMC is a writer. I really the background and insight into the fitness world and the journalism world.

This is a great debut for author Ana Holguin, and I can't wait to see what she has in her future. It has a great mental health representation, found family, and the chemistry between the 2 MC's was palpable. I just loved the banter. I look forward to reading more books from Ana Holguin!

Thanks to Forever for an early copy in exchange for an honest review, as always, all words are my own.

Happy pub day to this novel!! I finished it last night, just in time! Thank you to netgalley for my copy.

I’m giving this a 3.5 rating, but rounding it up on GR. Elements I enjoyed: him being a journalist, her being a spin instructor. I don’t think I’ve read a novel with a spin instructor main character before! He (Silas) came in with some preconceived notions about Jo & being a spin instructor that were proven untrue. I like that he evolved as a character, especially once he started to care for Jo beyond a client/interviewer relationship.

Other things I enjoyed:
🌼 Jo’s friend group
🌼 The spin instructor classes (felt realistic and I am inspired to try a spin class now??)
🌼 The writer/journalism approach of it all
🌼 She evolved emotionally by the end of the novel

Thank you again to Forever and Netgalley! I’m excited to see what Ana will write next!

A cute book about a journalist and a fitness instructor. The mental health inclusion was nice, but there were times where it felt like the characters were reciting facts off a NAMI webpage. Miscommunication trope is probably my least favorite, as I always want to yell at the MCs to just SPEAK to one another.

Overall, a cute book. Could use a little more editing for the dialogue to flow and not feel so stilted at times.

This book just wasn’t for me. I read up until 42%. At that point it was just starting to become a romance, the previous feeling more like contemporary fiction to me. That isn’t a bad thing, it’s just not my genre. The book is well written and the discussions on mental health are well depicted. I was just not finding chemistry between the two leads and at almost halfway through the book I’m just not invested enough to continue. The first 42% focused so much on their jobs that I lost interest.

I enjoyed this fun look at an exercise company and the instructors who run the classes.

The chemistry between the two main characters is great and how their relationship develops is sweet.

If you are looking for a slow burn romance from a debut author, put this book on your TBR.

Thanks to @netgalley and @readforeverpub for the advanced reader copy.

Up Close & Personal is a fun debut by Ana Holguin that comes out tomorrow - April 29th.

Silas is a jaded journalist and his coworker's obsession with the famous spin instructor Jo ends up in him getting assigned to write an article about her. Jo has been trying to step outside get comfort zone and agrees to the article, but as they get closer during the assignment will it come back to bite them?

While I liked it diner scene on the cover, this book didn't match what I expected. I would have loved to see more of the spin instructor aspect on the cover since that was a huge part of her book.

I enjoyed this story and the mental health representation was carefully woven into the story in a really authentic way. While I didn't like the third-act breakup this was a slow burn and I loved Jo. She was a firecracker with the best friends. Also having never done anything Peloton - I liked the spin instructor aspect especially the handling of the pressure that comes with her job. Silas was a little vanilla but overall I enjoyed this romance.

Thanks to Forever for an advanced copy of Up Close and Personal.