This book was just an okay read for me. Full disclosure time at the start of this review - I only got this book because the title and the cover intrigued me. Also this is the first book of Ms. Connor's that I have read.

Mason freshly dumped by his co-star girlfriend meets Sawyer and the pair start off with a bang and a one night stand. The pair have another chance encounter where they enter this pact to defy the typical romance book/movie activities to prove they will not fall in love by doing them but what happens when one person in this pact does catch feelings??

Sawyer is a romance writer that is over deadline and struggling to even write a word. She enters this pact in hopes to get her creativity flowing again. What she does not expect is to depend on Mason to get her creativity going and then grow feelings even though she feels that her work interferes with her love life.

So this book was just okay for me. I wasn't in love with Sawyer's character as I felt that she was a bit self centered while also using those around her and avoiding her real issues in life. Mason on the other hand I felt was too nice since he put up with a lot more than the average person would have. I also thought that the story at times dragged a but and I had a hard time staying invested in it.

In the end this was just an okay read for me. I'm not sure if this will be an author that I would pursue more from.

This book was so cute and I loved how poke fun of romcoms it was. Such a cute love story and it kinda seemed like a Hallmark movie

I really enjoyed this book! It's reminiscent of Emily Henry's book vibe except this is dual POV. It felt really cosy and real and it was honestly soooo beautiful! I loved it! Very cute read.

Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Audio, Forever and Erin Connor for giving me a chance to listen to an advanced listener's copy of this lovely book!

I've been in a romance mentality lately, and I've really been enjoying romance books. One that stood out to me embraces all the classic tropes, featuring a male main character (MMC) who falls hardest and first—he's love-crazy—while the female main character (FMC) is jaded and focused on her career, reluctant to fall in love. This story goes beyond the cliché where it's only the man who makes the grand gestures.

The characters are Sawyer, a successful romance writer struggling with writer's block, and Mason, a successful actor who just experienced a breakup. Their meet-cute happens in an elevator, but it’s not as cute as it sounds. They encounter each other a few times and ultimately decide to make a pact: they'll help each other by going through all the classic rom-com grand gestures. They hope that this will inspire Sawyer to write again and help Mason curb his tendency to fall too hard too fast.

I found the spicy scenes to be well-executed, and the romance was sweet without being too overwhelming. I appreciated that the male character is portrayed in a more vulnerable role than is typical for this genre. While this book is definitely a romance filled with banter, arguments, and family drama, it also delves into themes of self-discovery and the boundaries between personal and professional life, showing how these boundaries can look different for everyone. Overall, it's a fun, sweet, and humorous rom-com!

This is one of the best romance books that I have read in a while!! I absolutely loved everything about it. The vibes were immaculate, and I loved how it turned every romance trope on its head. The banter was top tier, and both main characters were so easy to love!! I was easily drawn into the story from the beginning because the narrators both did such a wonderful job bringing the story to life. 5 stars!!!

I read this before but as an audiobook? I loved it even more!! This truly is a feel good story and I loved all the romcom vibes of it and the it of angst. I keep recommending this one to my friends.

I thought this was a delightfully fun romance, and I loved the chemistry between Mason and Sawyer. I thought the narrators of the audiobook did a great job as well.

Many Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC/ARC.

I devoured this immediately, the narrator was great, the writing was stellar and I fell in love with sawyer and her mind immediately.

A campy, on-the-nose meet cute to open a book about a romance writer who definitely believes in love is just about as scrumptious a cold weekend cozy read I could ask for--and on top of that, set in my sweet home Chicago!

"Chicago winters were a bitch, but that's what whiskey was for!"

Too real. Unromance was an absolute delight. Readers who love reading about reading will love it extra. I loved all the characters, especially our main girl Sawyer, and genuinely wanted to share a beer with them. Erin Connor is going on the list of auto-buys for me--a voicey writer who makes me laugh.

The audio book had consistent and perfectly emphatic narration.

Thanks to MacMillan Audio & Forever Pub for the gifted copies.

Unromantic is an adult romance of a bisexual and a soap opera star and their lack of long term relationships

Great book. Couldn't stop listening. Thank you for giving me the chance to read in advance. I was in love with all the characters.

unfortunately this wasn’t for me. I had a hard time connecting to the characters and I know I’m not expected to connect to every character I read about but I had a hard time connecting even to their connection to one another. I thought the audio book was really well done though!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ALC of this novel.

4/5 ⭐️
1.5/5 🌶️ (was going to go with 1, but gave an extra .5 for the tights scene alone 🫠🥵)

This book focuses on the relationship journey of romance author, Sawyer, and actor, Mason. They meet while being stuck in an elevator together. Sawyer has had trouble writing her next book and Mason was just dumped (twice!) by his actress/costar girlfriend. They team up to help each other. Sawyer hopes she’ll get ideas for her next book and Mason hopes to get over his ex and not get so swept up by every relationship he’s ever been in.

They visit a lot of romance tropes and somewhere, along the way, they fall for each other. Well, it can’t be that easy can it? We’ve gotta have a third act breakup AND a grand gesture to top it all off. I was also happy to see that when we visit the couple a year later: Sawyer HASN’T moved across country to be with him and they’re giving it a go long distance, they aren’t engaged/married or even hinting at it, and best of all NO pregnancy. It lets the reader imagine what they want for the characters. That was refreshing.

I do want to add that I’d never heard these narrators before and they both did a great job!

Wow!! This book was so well written, the best book boyfriend, the clever interspersed references to romance tropes. It’s a love letter to the genre!!

Sawyer broke up with her girlfriend 3 years ago and hasn’t dated since. She’s been a moderately successful romance author, but she has writers block. And it’s set in Chicago!! (Exactly where I listened to it, so it was obviously meant to be).

Mason very recently broke up with his costar girlfriend, he is a hunky TV doctor and the son of a soap star, Mason really loves love.

Then the meet cute; they get stuck in an elevator together. The plot goes from there; a one night stand then inevitably running into each other afterwards. Add in Sawyer telling Mason the tropes as they come to life.

This is really a five star audiobook; easy to follow the plot of audio and well acted. This is multi POV, so the Sawyer narrator and the Mason narrator alternate. I especially enjoyed the Sawyer narrator — it’s always a challenge to do witty banter with one voice, but she does well.

Full disclosure— I am more of a “fade to black” person so I did skip past the smutty parts. I can’t speak to if they are great or not. It’s a personal preference, just not for me. I’m not saying the spicy parts are bad, I just don’t know, I skipped them.

Outstanding pop culture references, laugh out loud banter, realistic inner dialogue that bring the characters to life off the stage. Even though this book is about a male and female, I love that Sawyer is bisexual. It’s enough to keep the homophobes away (bye).

I kept seeing this book all over instagram and I’m grateful I got to listen to it- thanks to NetGalley and hachette audio for the Audio ARC. A best romance of January. (And there are so many great ones!!)

Quick Summary: An "unromance" romance made for loving

My Review: Unromance by Erin Conner is a 2025 contemporary romance.

About the Book: "When a recently-dumped TV heartthrob gets stuck in an elevator with a jaded romance novelist, he enlists her to ruin romance for him—one rom-com trope at a time—so he never gets swept off his feet and into the tabloids ever again."

In My Own Words: A reverse grumpy-sunshine duo set up an arrangement of sorts, only to advance toward love.

About the Audiobook: This novel was narrated by Mia Hutchinson Shaw and Lee Osorio. I loved this duo. They had smooth tones that invited me into the characters minds and experiences. The intensity, the timing, the playfulness, the communicated moods - it all translated well. Bravo!

My Final Say: This novel is the one you didn't know you needed in your life! It's funny-sexy-cool and then some. Highly entertaining, it's charm will blow you away or quite possibly make you swoon. Readers who enjoy rom-coms, cinnamon rolls, and meet cutes to more scenarios will love this story.

Other: When I previously reviewed the digital version of this book, I made a wish that I would love to be first in line for the audiobook. My wish was granted! I knew the audio would be insanely good, and I was not wrong. There is a difference in delivery. Hearing the story come alive with narrators made it that much more impactful.

Audiobook Rating: 5/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Re-read: Yes
Keeper: Yes
Favorites Shelf: Yes
Status/Level: 💖

Appreciation is extended to the author, to the publisher (Forever (Hachette Audio | Forever), and to NetGalley. Thank you for granting access to an audio ARC. I am grateful for the opportunity. I very much look forward to reading more from this writer.

5⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Wow’ that was fantastic! I listened to the audiobook and it had me completely engaged from start to finish. I listened at 2x speed as it was easily listened to at that speed.

I love the banter between the characters as well as the emotional journey each of them had to go through. I also appreciated the role reversal of sorts in how romance characters are typically portrayed.

The spice was also spicy but not cringy like so many other books these days. It added appropriately to the plot as opposed to being gratuitous.

I am thankful to have gotten the ALC for free from Hachette Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

An open-door adult contemporary romance that’s an ode to the classic rom-com movie. 
This was super cute and very entertaining!

Unromance is full of nods to some of the most popular rom-com movies as Sawyer tries to ruin romance for Mason (with his consent!), while he tries to bring a spark of romance back to her life to bust her romance-writer’s block, as they work through a checklist of romance micro-tropes. But no (more) sex, and absolutely no catching feelings allowed!! We all know how well that works out!

A good chunk of the story takes place in December with the MCs going on Christmas related outings. But overall it’s not so seasonal that it fully feels like a Christmas Romance. So no need to hoard this one until next December!

I read this via audiobook and the dual narrators, Mia Hutchinson-Shaw and Lee Osorio, did a great job bringing the story to life. My only quibble is that MHS mispronounces Christkindl every time, and it’s said often enough to be noticeable. The production quality was top notch, and everything came together to make this a very easy listen.

Thank you to @HachetteAudio for an ALC via NetGalley. Unromance is out now, available widely and in all formats!

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Hachette Audio for this advanced copy! You can pick up Unromance now.

I'd like to personally thank Erin Connor for pulling me out of my romance reading slump. I haven't been in the mood to pick up a contemporary romance in weeks, but from the moment I met Sawyer and Mason in that elevator, I was hooked.

Not only does Connor have a unique and compelling voice, but she also crafts such relatable and fleshed-out characters. I literally wanted to laugh and cry with Sawyer and Mason multiple times, and their dynamic was absolutely electric. I love how Mason was so emotionally vulnerable and just a true cinnamon roll of a man, which perfectly complemented Sawyer's acidic exterior and gooey interior. They were truly made for each other, your honor.

I also loved the premise of crushing a hopeless romantic's tendencies while inspiring a jaded romance writer for her next book. The use of epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter was an original way to acknowledge the tropes that the scene would address. It broke the fourth wall in the best way, and while you might expect a book that's all about recreating romance tropes to be cheesey, I actually didn't find it so. Connor perfectly balanced the ridiculousness of the tropes with the real-life emotions and implications behind them.

Lastly, I don't think I've EVER read a more healthy and relatable third-act breakup. It didn't feel silly or contrived to advance the plot, instead ACTUALLY contributing to the MCs' growth.

All in all, this might just be the perfect romance book, and y'all CLEARLY need to pick it up ASAP!

I loved the relationship between Sawyer and Mason, but I what I loved even more was their individual character development. They were both such believable characters, who we’re struggling with the opposite sides of love — desiring it, and being harmed by it — and the way they processed their own emotions and came together was so satisfying! I loved Sawyer’s healing journey and how it intertwined with her work and writing. I also enjoyed how unapologetic she was from the beginning, which doesn’t often happen with female main characters. The only two complaints I have is how quickly they fell for each other (felt a bit too insta-love for my personal taste) and I didn’t love the male narrator — which isn’t on the author.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and alc!

ugh! i wish i read this during the holiday season because whewww the romcom christmas vibes were immaculate. i do not say this lightly, because truly nothing can compare to the movie, but unromance reminded me of when harry met sally.

i really enjoyed the narrator for sawyer; the narrator for mason grew on me.

overall, i really enjoyed this romcom! (it could have had less ariana grande mentions though…)