Story Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Audio Narration Rating: 5/5⭐️
Spice Meter: 0/5 🌶 (Closed door)

Celebrity Crush was a sweet, humorous, entertaining story!
The audio was a fun listening experience. The narrators, Andrew Eiden and Stephanie Willing, were energetic, and their performance was engaging.

The romance between Emmy and Jason was cute, and they shared great banter. It was obvious they were attracted to each other; They had that spark. They were, however, immature at times, and I found the development of a deeper connection was slightly lacking.

Overall, Celebrity Crush was a delightful listen and read. It was lighthearted and charming. If you enjoy pop culture, celebrity gossip, and the celebrity/fan romance trope, be sure to check out this debut rom-com.

Release Date: February 11, 2025


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*Complimentary ALC for review provided by Hachette Audio. All opinions expressed here are honest and entirely my own.

Genre:
Rom-com

Tropes:
Celebrity MMC
Single Parents
Closed Door/Fade to Black

2.25 stars because while there are a lot of problems, I had fun for a bit and I think the writing on a sentence level was pretty good

This was an interesting one for me because for a good portion of the book I was thinking "okay this is cheesy and cringey but I'm having fun, probably 4 stars" but then about 75% in the 3rd act breakup happens and they are so mean to each other for a while after. I felt the last 25% of the book ruined all of the character and relationship development completely. And then I was explaining this book to some friends and had some more thoughts...

OK spoilers incoming so look away now. The TV show the MMC is on is called Lost Star Dance Troupe Saves the Universe and it is exactly the title...a sci-fi show about dancers saving the universe through dance? And isn't like just marketed to kids ala The Wiggles? I cannot imagine HOW a show like that has multiple seasons (but also I would watch at least one episode lol). And then the movie adaptation of a very common romance novel turns out to be a musical with Duran Duran songs? What? WHAT?! And the author wasn't even aware of that until she goes to the studio near the end of the filming? And also there was this really cringey hug competition at this huge Hollywood party between all of the guys in the show with the FMC that ended so strangely because the show runners were there and the MMC didn't want them to see him being lovely to her? The Venn diagram video was also so weird like why did she have to explain what it is so many times? And why is Hugh Jackman such a pinnacle of manliness/romance in this book? When I think of a swoony celebrity, Hugh Jackman can't even crack the top 10.

OK now the breakup catalyst, she jumps off a yacht to save a dog in the ocean and he just abandons her because his ex girlfriend announces her pregnancy AT A PARTY, ON A MICROPHONE. Why is the fact that someone just JUMPED OFF THE YACHT not a huge ordeal at this moment? Then she gets out and is basically told by someone else that she can't talk to the MMC because TMZ has photos of the MCs topless and hooking up in his backyard that everyone thinks she sent in even though there is nothing in this woman's life that would make anyone think she would send in photos of her mid 30s mom boobs out into a gossip rag, she is an author and in NO WAY do I think that would be a good look for her. But nobody believes she didn't do it and I cannot wrap my head around that. Sure her agent or publicist was saying they should use their relationship to get her book some press but the only things she posted were very not scandalous things they agreed to together or one single photo of her drinking a smoothie with bed head and a blurry MMC in the background. So the MMC seems to get back together with his pregnant ex even though she is still with some other guy AND he doesn't even think the baby is his.

Now months later its time for the movie press tour and the MCs meet again. She has tried to tell him multiple times it wasn't her that sent these photos in and he won't believe her. They are doing this game show together and they are both being outright hostile and vicious ON CAMERA to each other. He even says to her that his goal is to tank this press tour and get the LA premiere cancelled. At this point, I am NOT rooting for a reconciliation. He is also WASTED and drinking from a flask constantly ON A TALK SHOW EVEN. She drives him home because again, he is trashed. She tells him again she didn't send in the photos and shows him the smoothie photo she posted and suddenly he believes her and decides he wants her back. She says no and just leaves even though this has been all she wanted while they were apart?

OH AND I forgot that she wrote this scene in her book about the guy getting into a bar fight and getting arrested which happened in his realm life and was buried so nobody really knew about it. But everyone know he was the inspiration for this book and with the smallest amount of digging, anyone could have found that out. THIS would have been a much more believable reason for the breakup and for him being fired from this dance show (which he blamed her for because of the hook up photos).

So to get her back he does this incredibly public flash mob with all kinds of his fans there which I'm sorry but that is so manipulative in this case. They get back together and dance a salsa? But then the pregnant ex girlfriend there with her boyfriend who, get this, is not only the actual father of the baby but is ALSO the father to the FMC's 12 year old daughter that she NEVER TOLD HIM ABOUT. And this pregnant ex starts going in to labor at this weird flash mob event thing and tells the MMC "oh its not actually your baby" and he's just like "ok cool" but now they have half siblings together which is kind of a huge deal?? WHAT IS HAPPENING?? So much random things happen in this book that could've used more time to be fleshed out (or cut entirely) but instead we keep talking about Marvel actors and Hugh Jackman...

But you want to know what was good? The audiobook narrators. Fantastic, really.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ALC

Emmy Ellison wrote a real-life inspired book around her celebrity crush. When she gets the chance to actually meet her crush, her life takes off in unexpected ways!
Dear God and Tom Hanks, this book is fantastic! The story was humorous and witty and really pulled me in. I love the pop culture and sci fi references. The characters in the story were well developed and had such great chemistry. I can't say enough good things about this book. I'll definitely be recommending it. This is the first book I've read by Christy Swift and I will absolutely be reading more from the author.

I listened to the audiobook version and found it very well done! The narration by Andrew Eiden and Stephanie Willing was so on point! The characters were easily defined and the voices fit the characters so well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

ARC/ALC BOOK REIVEW

Celebrity Crush by Christy Swift

Thank you Forever and Negalley for the #free eARC and ALC of this book!

SYNOPSIS: “Author Emmy Ellison is a sucker for a page-turning happy ending, but she’s no longer counting on one for herself. If she stays focused on her career goals instead of her love life, she just might find success. And now that her latest novel is about to become a movie, she’s determined to become the latest social media sensation.

When her secret celebrity crush (the real-life inspiration for her romantic hero) accepts the starring role in the big-screen adaptation of her book, she’s determined to team up with a fake dating scheme—now that he’s in need of some good PR of his own. Ideally, she can ride the wave of popularity all the way to the top of the bestseller lists. But when the harsh spotlight of fame exposes the truth, will they try to turn their on-camera chemistry into a real-life relationship?”

REVIEW: If you like celebrity gossip magazines and a comfortable, predictable romance, this book is for you! While I did not love it, it still had all of the wonderful underpinnings that I look for in a romance.

Overall, the plot was charming and fun, which is exactly what I look for in this type of story. It was an easy, feel-good read, but I found myself wanting more from the plot. I’m all for predictable and easy but this plot was just too perfectly wrapped up.

Unfortunately, I found our two MCs to be a bit hard to root for. However, the side characters were very engaging!

The constant space and nerd references were too heavy-handed and just far too much for my taste. While I love a punny moment in a romcom, there is art in subtly.

I listed to the audiobook of this one, and I felt that narrators Andrew Eiden and Stephanie Willing did a great job bringing the characters to life.

Publisher: @foreverpub
Pub date: 2/11/25

This was a lighthearted, Hollywood actor x romance author debut romcom that made me laugh and delivered an emotional punch to boot. Single mom turned author, Emmy Ellison never expected to get to meet her celebrity crush IRL but when fans uncover he's the one she based her book's hero on, the PR team takes advantage, flying her out to LA to meet him and help promote her book. What follows is a whirlwind weekend together that blows up in her face. Can they salvage both their images and find true love in the end? Good on audio, this fade to black romance was cute and fun, the perfect snack for a February romance. Looking forward to seeing what Christy Swift writes next. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I loved the premise and I found myself rooting for them to get together the whole time. You knew what the third act breakup was going to be through the hints but I loved how they came back together.

Celebrity Crush by Christy Swift was a cute, fairly lighthearted celebrity romance. Emmy Ellison is a romance author whose debut novel was inspired by her celebrity crush—and the world wants to know which heartthrob was her inspiration. When she finally meets him in person, in front of a live studio audience, no less, her crush kicks up a notch. He’s a walking PR nightmare—but he’s trying to turn over a new leaf and clean up his act. So Emmy decides to help him out with some social media promotional posts. He will come across as relatable and her book gets even more exposure. But will this crush turn into something more lasting?

Read this if you love single parent romances, celebrity romances, and romances that involve authors of romance books. There is some on page smooching, but it’s more fade-to-black than I expected. (Not a bad thing, just a thing.) The narrators Andrew Eiden and Stephanie Willing both delivered great performances. Andrew Eiden is one of my favorite narrators and can always be counted on to knock it out of the park.

Did I *love* it? Was I 100% invested in their relationship? No. There was a big secret she was keeping from him and I never like that particular micro-trope, and I don’t love jealous exes who are lying liars, but it was a cute enough read and I enjoyed listening to it. Thank you to Hachette Audio for my ALC.

Fun, witty and enjoyable. Loved the insta-love they had going on, moved the plot rather quickly. Had lots of cute moments with each of their kids and that creepy doll even in books that doll has the same creepy effect.

In theory, this book should work for me. It's a romance featuring a famous person and a non-famous person and one of the characters is an author. Unfortunately, I found this book to be deeply cringey and difficult to enjoy. Some part of that could have been due to the audiobook narrators. It is dual narration, which I appreciated, but I did not find that either narrator really fit the characters' voice. DNF at 25%

I really wanted to love this one, but it was a miss for me unfortunately.

The premise is great, and I generally LOVE a celebrity romance!
I enjoyed it at first, thought it was cute.

Ultimately I didn’t feel like I connected with either of the main characters - it lacked depth.
I found certain bits to be problematic as well.
The chapters that started with the podcast were super cringey, especially in audio.

🎧audiobook thoughts:
Stephanie Willing + Andrew Eiden (aka Teddy Hamilton) are both fantastic as Emmy & Jason, which is why I didn’t DNF this one.
I enjoyed their narration, and just kept hoping for the story to turn around.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing), Hachette Audio & NetGalley for advanced copies.
All opinions are my own.

This was a good, cute romance. Scheduled pub: Feb 11th.
Thank you to Forever & Hachette Audio!

Would recommend if you love:
-Celebrity romance (MMC is an actor)
-Single parent
-FMC is an author & influencer
-a liiiiittle bit of mixed media with the vlogs/ interviews/ etc.

The romance was cute in this. It felt very real as both of the main characters had their own 'issues' in their background. Emmy got a little dislikable in the middle of this when she felt like she was entitled just because she got shut down in the past and she thinks she works so hard. Idk, it felt weird. Honestly, neither one of them were super loveable for me but lots of readers will love these two.

Side note: the blurb mentions the fake dating trope. I didn't see any fake dating. The dude didn't want to try based on his image.

I enjoyed both narrators. The female narrator put a good amount of 'extra' into this like with the giggles of the two women that did the talk show. And I mean, Andrew Eiden-- we already all know he's amazing.

Emmy wanted to have a fabulous Hollywood career but she got pregnant and left LA before she had a chance to become a break into the industry as a writer. Now, mom to a teenager, Emmy writes a book using a fictitious version of her celebrity crush as the male lead character and it's a huge success and is going to be made into a movie - sending her back to LA. Once her crush is been exposed on live TV she schemes to have a fake relationship with him which also helps him since he has had some bad PR lately. Of course as in all romance novels - the fake relationship leads to complications.

This was a cute novel (a really fun audiobook) but it was a bit too far fetched for me to fully get into. The "chemistry" between them had no real build up so I couldn't buy into it. I enjoyed that the characters were slightly older and both had kids but that also added to my issue with their decision making. The narrator was my favorite part of the reading/listening experience for me and therefore I was absolutely entertained during the listen (might have done some laundry to continue to listen) but just didn't love the story in the end.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the ALC to review

Thank you, NetGalley, for an ALC of Celebrity Crush in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.5 stars
Celebrity Crush is the story of Emmy, a romcom author and influencer who uses her platform to discuss the MMC of her own book, saying it was inspired by a real celebrity, Jason. Jason, on the other hand, is an author trying to stay above water since he is surrounded by drama and bad press and will embody the "celebrity crush" to help his career. Of course, they will develop feelings for each other.

Overall, the story is a fun and easy-to-read romcom. I enjoyed the fact that both main characters were flawed and they were trying to improve each other.
However, the star of the book for me is not the main characters but the two podcast hosts who comment on the situation from an audience point of view. Their insertions were super funny and the narration really shone there. I loved how Stephanie Willing interpreted them and for that alone I rounded up the rating of the book to 4 stars. I really couldn't get enough of them! Another honorary mention goes to Emmy's kid that was adorable.

3.5 rounded up

This was cute but a bit cringy. I really enjoyed the main storyline. Emmy and Jason’s social media campaign was super cute. They had a nice banter and good chemistry between them. But the fact that they moved so quickly in their relationship was a turn off for me. Especially when you add two kids into the mix.

The narration for the book was good. My only major complaint of this being an audiobook was hearing them say hashtag so many times vs reading #

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette audio for this ALC!

So much YES! for Celebrity Crush. There was so much to like about this light-ish hearted romance. I loved that the main character was not 22, but a tad older, nowhere near as old as me, but not just out of college. The main character has life experiences and has faced adversity. She seems to be in an uphill battle. I was cheering for Emmy ALL the way until the end. I also really enjoyed the complex feelings and Emmy's self-discovery.

Emmy Ellison has a celebrity crush. She transforms this crush into a romantic novel. When a bunch of male celebrities gather to figure out who is the celebrity crush, Emmy gets the surprise of a lifetime, meeting her celebrity crush. Her only request is that she gets to hug him. And, boy does she hug him!

This was so cute! I really enjoyed it! I wish it was longer, Ha!

I listened to the audio version, which was narrated by Andrew Eiden and Stephanie Willing and they were AMAZING!! Bravo!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the advance listen in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Kudos to the author Christy Swift. This was such a cute book!

3⭐️ !!

Emmy Ellison, single mom & author wrote a romance book about a romance with her celebrity crush! She went viral on social media & finds herself on a talk show talking about her new book & ends up meeting her celebrity crush & known bad boy, Jason.

Some things I loved:
- Single Mom
- Jason’s effort with his son
- Jason & Emmy’s friends / the quirky cast of characters
- Social Media, virality, hollywood culture felt very current & like it was breaking the fourth wall many times
- The twist at the ending & how everyone tied together! Crazy!!

Some things I didn’t love as much:
- felt a little insta-lust
- I didn’t love Jason as the MMC, just fell flat for me & seemed confused why Emmy would be obsessed with him after his past
- third act break up

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the early listening copy!

I wanted to love Celebrity Crush, especially because Forever publishing has fantastic debuts coming out beginning of 2025. However; I found the characters to be immature and was not enjoying the dialogue in the first 10 percent of the book. Unfortunately, this book was not for me but it may be for those who enjoy cheesy celebrity romances. I will give Swift another try with her next novel! The narrator combination of Stephanie Willing and Andrew Eiden however; brought passion and love to the story in a way that I would definitely listen to this combination once more.

Just like its title, Celebrity Crush is a bright, bubbly and buzzy rom com.

Emmy’s journey from wannabe to famous author to meeting her Hollywood crush is fun and entertaining. I found Emmy and Jason quite abrasive at first, and there were some really painful plot points but this did add credibility to Emmy and Jason’s eventual conflict. It also left plenty of space for redemption and a satisfying HEA!

The audiobook really made it for me with this read. The narrators did a wonderful job of dramatising the emotional experiences of Emmy and Jason, making them feel surprisingly relatable (eventually). Their rendition of influencers and media personalities were grating and a great satirical contrast to the main storyline.

Thank you Hachette Audio for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

This was a fun listen! I wanted more of the dual narration in the conversations. The couple places it was utilized we're great, and I know I'm not alone in wanting that more overall in audiobooks.

Story was good and fun.

After romance author Emmy Ellison meets her celebrity crush (and the inspiration for her novel) Jason Connor, she can’t believe her good fortune. With Emmy’s popularity on the rise, Jason agrees to star in the move version of her book but what happens when a harmless celebrity crush turns into something more?

First and foremost, I would like to note that I probably would have DNF’d this one had it not been for the audiobook. The quality of the narrations were great and both Stephanie Willing and Andrew Eiden captured Emmy and Jason very well. I have listened to Andrew’s narrations before so I went in excited to hear his take on Jason. As always, it was a pleasure to hear him bring another romance MMC to life. Stephanie was bubbly and brought out Emmy’s easy, chatty nature. Despite the fact that I avidly disliked Emmy and Jason as characters, Stephanie and Andrew made them feel less one dimensional with their vocal choices.

The book’s pacing is quick which lends well to an audio format. I am bumping up my star review because of this, as the audio kept me engaged even when I was not connecting to the story as a whole.

Thank you Hachette Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.