One of my favorite reads of the year! So deeply romantic and heartfelt, I blushed, swooned and cried my way through this book in the space of 24 hours. And I officially have a new book girlfriend with Jude who I absolutely ADORE - the butch bookseller of my DREAMS. I love books with celeb romances and I love books that have the tension building from the first encounter because you just know it won't stay golden forever. Camille Kellogg's way of writing is so deeply full of love - i'm now officially certain I will love any romance they ever write. IDK if the characters were more in love with each other or if I was more in love with this book tbh. Now to go recommend to as many people as possible.

A classic tale of romance and heartbreak, this was such a warm blanket of a story. I loved how sweet and unsure both Jude and Kat were at the start without being naive about the realities of their lives, and how it allowed them to each come to terms with the changes they needed to make in their lives by the end of the story. Both Jude and Kat made the choices they needed to (for better or worse) for the story to be complete, and it watching them in their respective pain was as painful as it was gratifying. Their chemistry was through the roof and the spicier scenes only brought it higher as the book went on. A definite must-read for fans of gushy love stories and heartfelt life rebuilding alike.

The Next Chapter was the queer romcom I needed. Cute, messy, and full of classic miscommunication. Queer homages to "clasic" romance movies are my JAM.
As long as you can accept rom-com/lesbian U-haul levels of insta love. Honestly, the whole plot was very rom-com, and I love rom-coms, so this was great to me.
My only complaint was that I wanted a little more on how the decisions they made in the book affected them in the epilogue.

The Next Chapter is a sapphic romance novel between a bookseller, Jude, and a former child actress, Kat, who is coming out as queer while trying to revitalize her career. The super cute cover and setting grabbed my attention as I was browsing for LGBTQIA+ romances to read in June. Unfortunately, this sophomore novel was not for me.

Kat and Jude have a great meet-cute that sizzles with chemistry. However, that spark quickly fizzles out and never returns. The story includes some tender scenes, particularly among Jude's friends and coworkers, and touches lightly on disordered eating and anxiety. I do feel like this representation was not explored in depth enough for inclusion, but I am also pro-normalizing conditions with which many people suffer. I also am not a fan of an entire relationship being built upon a lie. I think it is hard to salvage much from such circumstances.

I did not read the synopsis fully before picking up The Next Chapter, and I will admit that I am not a fan of the celebrity-normie dating trope. I think our society idolizes actors and influencers too much as it is. Plus, I do not understand the draw of being famous and having all your privacy stripped away. Anyway, this relationship type is not why I found the novel lacking.

I was personally insulted by the celebrity sighting scenes in this book. They are completely unrealistic for being set in New York. If they had occurred somewhere else, I could find them believable. However, people crowding and pestering a celebrity for photos or autographs in a non-tourist area (in a bookstore, nonetheless) is highly improbable. People do not react that way in this city where celebrities are just other New Yorkers.

My largest issue with The Next Chapter is that neither of the two protagonists are in a place where they are ready to date. Jude and Kat both have a lot of work to do on themselves before they can focus on each other. The relationship included so much miscommunication, lying, and avoidance that I found myself actively rooting against Jude and Kat staying together. Their problems are resolved too quickly and neatly for the chaos that proceeds the third act break-up. While this novel, like most romances, is a HEA, I can see the real epilogue being a flaming break up where both are emotionally destroyed.

Overall, The Next Chapter is a book about a trainwreck of a relationship that should rightfully not have prevailed. As a result, the story is both unbelievable and unsatisfying. I generally do not recommend it, unless this is the kind of novel you prefer.

The Next Chapter by Camille Kellogg falls firmly into the category of romance novels where I’d like to knock the characters’ heads together and scream ‘Communicate!’ I thoroughly enjoyed the developing romance between Kat, a former child star who has moved to New York to revamp her image, and Jude, a bookstore manager still stabilizing from her mother’s passing and a subsequent breakup. But Kat is constantly only sharing half-truths with Jude, which makes it hard to truly root for her. And poor Jude is so in her head that my heart just broke for her.

Still, I enjoyed watching Kat and Jude grow both within and outside of their relationship as the chapters, which are told in alternating POVs, progressed. The path to their HEA, though a bit predictable, still felt earned. Now that they’re through the lying and half-truths and on solid relationship ground, I’d love to read a follow-up of these two thriving and truly reconciling their different worlds. 3.5*

Jude lives a normal lifestyle. Works for a book store and open about everything LGBTQ+ related and in books. Then there’s Kate was a child actor that trying to make a break now she adult. Also discovering herself after hiding for so long. One sided fake dating what could go wrong. I dislike a few things about Kate main character. The most was how she use Jude for her rebrand. That she didn’t grovel that much after all the problems she caused. I did like how you got to know her past and how she working through her struggles. Jude deserves the world after everything that happened in the last few years. Like how she stood up and held her ground. The chemistry to me wasn’t really there. I did like how Camille discussed that fine to discover yourself at older age. Also how fine to question your identity go out there’s discovery yourself. The other things I like was the friendship. They make an amazing found family. How they always support each other.

I thought this book was ok. It didn’t have anything that made it feel really special or anything that really had me hooked from the beginning. The writing style seemed a little juvenile and all of the miscommunication at the beginning almost made me stop reading it right then. It just felt like the author wasn’t sure where the story was actually going or how they wanted to get there, so they just made both main characters unable to communicate like adults. I did like that the author was so honest about the struggle the queer community goes through.

Thank you NetGalley and The Dial Press for access to this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Oh my gosh, this book was SO GOOD. I wasn't expecting to get as emotionally invested with the characters as I did, but I was definitely crying at some points, while also laughing so hard at others! Jude and Kat have some unbelievable chemistry throughout the book! And while they did struggle a lot with communication throughout, I like how the author resolved the issue. The found family component also made my heart swell like the Grinch. And I appreciate how seriously the author took child actor mental health. It's a topic that isn't addressed enough, and an industry that needs more rules and limits. I overall adored this book and highly recommend it!

One character is too comfortable with their comfort and the other doesn’t know who they are? And they’re girlies?? And they’re GAY?!

So basically, late 20s and 30s lesbians, this one’s for us. 15/10, took me by surprise.

This was a new author for me and I really enjoyed this book. The characters, the plot, and how they found love was so well done! Just an enjoyably quick pride romance!

Thank you to NetGalley and @TheDialPress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Next Chapter by Camille Kellogg is a sweet and quirky queer rom-com with a classic “celebrity meets civilian” setup, but with a fresh twist.

Katrina and Jude are easy to root for. Kat is messy and a little lost, trying to figure herself out after a childhood in the spotlight. Jude is grounded, introverted, and deeply loyal, though clearly stuck in her own comfort zone. When their worlds collide, fame and flash meets quiet bookstore charm. It’s awkward, funny, and kind of magical.

The Notting Hill inspiration is clear, but the story stands on its own thanks to the cozy queer bookstore setting, found family vibes, and some genuinely tender moments between the leads. Their chemistry feels natural, and their emotional growth adds a nice layer beneath the rom-com surface.

That said, the pacing is a little uneven in parts and some of the conflict feels a bit too neatly resolved. Still, it’s a comforting, inclusive, and thoughtful read that doesn’t take itself too seriously while still delivering plenty of heart.

If you're looking for a cozy queer romance with character depth and a bit of celebrity glam, this is the book for you!

3.95 Stars rounded to 4!

#NetGalley, #TheDialPress, #TheNextChapter, #QueerRomCom, #CamilleKellog

I loved the friend group of Talia, L.J, Rhys, and Jude. The love and care the characters portrayed for the arts made me so happy. There were valuable teaching moments sprinkled through the story. This filled my appreciation for the messiness of humanity.

You ever read a book and melts you away with the love ??? Yup, definitely your book to read. This is a great summer/fall!!!

Kat is a former child star trying to rebrand herself and finally come out as queer. Part of her PR strategy is to visit and post about going to a queer bookstore in NYC. When visiting the bookstore she meets Jude, one of the booksellers. They hit it off but were both too shy to exchange information. Cue sliding into the insta DMs, going on dates, finding solace in each other and helping the other grow and live true to themselves.

I thought the book was very sweet, but the chemistry between the characters was missing for me. I could not buy into them having feeling for each other there was not enough substance to convince me. It was a sweet read but nowhere near a stand out for me

I enjoyed this book ! It took the bookstore genre and celeb romance genre and mashed them up which I really liked! There were moments when I wasn’t super pleased with the actions of either main character but they worked through things and made it out the other side - with a Notting Hill esque grand gesture / ending. So perfect!

Notting Hill but make Hugh Grant's character a butch lesbian, which obviously I'm here for. Jude and Kat come to life on the page from their meet cute to their HEA. I truly enjoyed this. They're obviously coming from two very different lives, but they find this peace in each other that they've never had before. Their love story is quiet and charming and soft and full of heart. As much as I loved the tension between them, I found that I loved the little moments of them lounging around Jude's apartment more. I love that their relationship is so messy. They're both learning how to be together, how to communicate, and how to navigate heartbreak and life changes. It was very realistic for being a celebrity romance.

Celebrity romances are so much fun because there's always an element of outside drama. Can my non-celeb partner really put up with what being with me means for their private life? Am I worth sticking around for if that means being in the public eye? Camille Kellogg captures these feelings so well in Kat all while juggling Kat coming to terms with her sexuality and her very public coming out. Her life's a mess and she's far from perfect, but she's so damn endearing. I couldn't help but root for her.

Jude is stuck. She's running her late mother's bookstore with her best friends, but she's also struggling with panic attacks, dating after a not-so-great relationship, and the ever present grief from losing her mom. I love that her arc revolves around learning to accept change; it's hard to admit that you need to change, but Jude eventually leans into change in such a brave way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts <3

I adored this sapphic romance!! So delightful. I'm legit mad at how good the Netflix show she made up sounds and that I can't watch it. The book was so fun. I loved the side characters. I'd happily read a follow up about Rhys & LJ.

Yeah, no. I was so disappointed that the author didn't finish the whole eating disorder problem. That is such an important part of Kat's story, but it was not finished, I was really looking forward to seeing that representation in a book, but that was a big miss for me. Kat completely lost me when she referred to Jude as "a woman who couldn't even handle an introduction". The author made is sound like she made it up to Jude at the end, but the lies were so big I needed more crawling from her at the end, it was wrapped up way too quickly for me. But what I did enjoy is the writing style and the friend group!

I knew from the very first chapter that this book just isn’t for me. I think it could be very enjoyable for other readers, though.

Thank you anyway to Netgalley, Random House, and the author for the ARC in exchange for it honest thoughts.

this sweet story of two women moving forward after painful pasts, actress Kat is trying to segue from teen stardom to an adult career while coming to terms with her sexuality, and Jude is a bookseller mired in grief after losing her mother. They’re both clinging to the people they think can help them recover the best things from their pasts - for Kat, her manager, who wants to maximize her fame regardless of the cost, and for Jude the new owner of her late mother’s bookshop, who might someday let her buy it back. But as their budding romance encourages them to articulate and accept their true desires, they begin to realize that happiness requires moving forward, not back.

I really liked how down to earth this story was, despite Kat’s fame, and I loved how her and Jude’s careers were given equal attention and weight. I also enjoyed the broad cast of secondary characters, who provided moments of poignancy and humor as well as contributing to the plot, and the story’s breadth made it a fast and smooth read. But with so much going on - two protagonists, each with careers and friends/colleagues and enemies and parents and emotional issues - there wasn’t time to delve deeply into any of it.