I knew from very first page this book would not be for me but I try to give ARCs the benefit of the doubt. Since I did finish it I give it 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. Minor spoilers ahead. The FMC (Margot) thinks the MMC (Oliver) has a lot of “red flags” but she’s the one with a prior relationship of sleeping with her boss and using that to try and get a promotion while the MMC *checks notes* is passionate about the nerdy parts of his job and hasn’t seen Dirty Dancing. Overall Margot spends most of the book telling the reader that she and Oliver would never ever ever work and aren’t compatible at all but they get along fabulously in every scene and I never quite understood what the conflict was supposed to be. Margot also is so very sure that she’s incredible at her job and deserves a promotion but doesn’t remember that her contract has a long pretty basic noncompete clause in it? I could go on. I know the author is jumping from YA to adult books but the writing style still felt a bit YA-esque. This also is a good case of not judging the book by the cover-this story is a solidly cartoon graphic cover territory and the cover doesn’t match the book at all. This is my first and only book grom this author but if you’ve liked her other books maybe you’ll like this?

LOVED this book!! The story was so interesting and kept you on your toes. Margot had great character development coming to trust herself in her decisions. I liked that the author allowed us to see her come to the realization that Oliver had been trying to tell her the truth from the start but it was her who made him hold back. Third act break ups sometimes ruin books for me, but this was well done. My only set back in this book was wanting more growth with Margots relationship with her sister. While we saw some in the epilogue I was missing it in the final chapters.

I was intrigued when I came across this ARC as a “Read Now” option on NetGalley as I have read Kasie West’s YA books in the past, so I was curious about her adult novel debut. (Note to self- check Goodreads for your reviews and ratings. Had I done that, I may not have given this a go.). As I remembered my experience with her books, they were sweet and cute fun.

So- I was not prepared for the opening scene to be a steamy hookup in a car at the end of, by all reports of our FMC Margot, a crappy date. She met Oliver, our MMC, via an unnamed dating app. He slows down their hookup because he’s wanting not just a one night stand, but conversation and a connection. Which pisses Margot off- she whose whole point of being is supposedly finding the love of her life via a “meet-cute” worthy of becoming family lore. In my mind, what’s a greater meet-cute than a date going horribly wrong magically writing itself with chemistry and conversation? According to Margot- that’s not good enough.

So she deletes the horrible dating app, proceeds to screw her boss and NEVER realize she’s his dirty little secret as he adeptly manipulates her with his sexy attention every time she makes a limp-noodle effort to ask for a raise or promotion. (The best part of this book for me was her relationship with her bestie and roommate, Sloane. The jar of bad decisions that is mostly filled by Margot having to pay when she is an idiot with her boss was a delight.)

Whenever she’s being neglected by her boss or feels lonely and bemoans the fact that, at age 24, (child please, your brain isn’t fully developed yet, you’re hardly an old spinster!) she re-downloads the app and always gets matched to Oliver. THIS is a great meet-cute.

But NO- she never speaks to him again until 3 years later. This begins the best part of the book and their relationship- their messages and friendship building.

This is, unfortunately, marred by Margot never really respecting Oliver’s boundary that he doesn’t want to have sex, in spite of their seeming inability to keep their hands off each other, until they’ve TALKED and built a relationship. I respect that; Margot never did. She was always pushing touches and innuendoes and didn’t appreciate how nice he was being.

BUT THEN, THEN, the plot twist I saw coming from a mile away is what took the two stars away. I am not a fan of sibling double-dipping. Oliver is the college ex of her perfect older sister (who cheated on Oliver with the man who is now her husband). This is all kinds of messy. It was messy and STUPID that Oliver didn’t tell Margot this key bit of info because we had to live through a miscommunication trope on steroids. Boy, I don’t care if she says she doesn’t care about your exes- IT WAS HER SISTER! She says she wouldn’t have slept with him had she known, and that feels to me like Oliver did not fully give her all the info she needed to consent to the relationship.

But in the aftermath of that, Margot’s relationship with her sister and their big fight was not resolved well. Margot is keenly resentful of her sister, when Margot is the one who decided what school to go to, to not make a business plan and take her sister’s advice for starting a business. That resentment wasn’t resolved in a satisfactory manner for me, and it was frankly unnecessary.

Anyway, the messiness in the last half of this book took away from the initial enjoyment.

I didn’t end up hating the book, but I didn’t end up loving it.

I wasn't aware of Kasie West branching out to a new age range, so I was very intrigued to see this book for request. I've only read a couple of her books years ago but had stopped since I found them pretty formulaic. I was pleasantly surprised to start this book and find myself really enjoying it!

The characters are very well-developed; I enjoyed the protagonist's characterization the most, as well as her relationships with her older sister and her roommate/best friend. The romance was really good too! I liked their dynamic and they had a lot of chemistry.

Giggle-worthy banter paired with feet-kickin chemistry -- We Met Like This is a Romcom through and through.

Between our FMC, Margot, fighting chemistry with someone she wrote off three years ago, dealing with her life imploding, and figuring out who she actually is....this story had me hooked from the start to the end.

Margot's personality is so fun that it made her chemistry and banter with almost anyone that she interacted with pop off the page. She is Romcom gold.

Also, you know when you've figured out the twist that is going to dismantle the happy? And then you just read in horror wondering exactly how our main character is going to find out? Yeah, let's just say there was a LOT of anticipation happening in this book for more than one reason.

This was a perfect, feel-good Romcom with some themes about breaking the mold and believing in yourself, and I loved it!

overall: highly recommend
spice: open door

🌟 3/5

This book had me HOOKED for the first half… and then it completely lost the plot.

We start with a disastrous Tinder date ➡️ insane car make out session ➡️ three years of mutual ghosting with longing stares across the apps. The chemistry? 🔥 The premise? A girl obsessed with meet cutes who thinks app dating can’t be real love? Relatable. Perfect setup.

But then…

The entire theme of chasing a meet cute? Abandoned halfway through. The third act conflict? 😬 Unforgivable. Like, your boyfriend slept with your sister and didn’t tell you level of unforgivable.

Plus, insta success as a literary agent? Inst -love with no depth? Major believability issues.

✨ What worked:
✅ Addictive, smooth writing
✅ Modern without being cringey
✅ Solid premise and strong opening

🚫 What didn’t:
❌ Premise dropped halfway through
❌ MMC’s betrayal glossed over
❌ Superficial romance + unrealistic career plot

Final verdict? Half a four star book, half a two star one… So I’m giving it three stars and a mild side eye.

Would I read Kasie West again? Maybe. But not if I’m in the mood for emotional payoff.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kasie West, and Saturday Books/St. Martin’s Press for the eARC of this book.

I absolutely adored this one—it felt like a warm hug in book form. The back-and-forth between Margot and Oliver was charming, and I couldn’t get enough of their awkward, sweet re-encounters. It’s light but still emotionally satisfying, with just the right amount of depth to make it stick with you. Kasie West’s transition into adult romance totally works—her voice is still so genuine and funny. If you love comfort reads with heart, this is it.

Kasie West is easily an auto buy author for me. It was her books that got me back into reading after college and I was so excited to see this pop up.

Just like her YA novels this had heart, laughs, love, feels, and all the other things you expect from one of her novels. I loved the characters and the setting and of course I want more! The twists actually surprised me, and I'm glad we didn't dwell too long in the drama.

We Met Like This is a fun and breezy adult romance that has all the gooey feels I got all those years ago reading her YA novels. If you loved her then, you're going to love her now!

Thank you #NetGalley for the eARC of #WeMetLikeThis by Kasie West!

Margot is the ultimate hopeless romantic, clinging to the idea that her great love story has to begin with a meet-cute worthy of a rom-com. So when life keeps throwing Oliver — the guy from a terrible first date — back into her path, she fights the connection between them. Watching their relationship unfold was both hilarious and heart-melting. Their chemistry is undeniable.

What made this even better was Margot’s personal journey — chasing her dream of starting her own literary agency after her world gets turned upside down by a creep (and a$$) of a boss. Oliver, with all his support and golden retriever vibes, fit so perfectly into the life Margot was trying to build, even if she couldn’t always see it.

In terms of the supporting characters...Audrey, Margot's older sister, was insufferable. As far as bad sisters go, she’s high on the list. The lack of real resolution between her and Margot was frustrating and honestly pulled me out of the story at times. Some wounds can’t just be swept under the rug, and I wish that had been explored more. But, Sloane is the best friend and roommate every heroine should have. Ride-or-die, supportive, hilarious — she stole every scene she was in.

The only reason this wasn’t a full 5-star read for me is that some of the family dynamics, especially with Audrey, felt rushed at the end. I needed a better resolution after that emotional abuse. But the romance? The character growth? The sheer swoon of Oliver? Absolutely delivered.

Loved this romance of two people who went on date 3 years ago and had hot making out in a car but ended up going on another date. They keep matching on the dating app and finally start trying to be friends. He is a coder and she works at a literacy agency. But she also is seeing her boss. They start messaging and hanging out more and he has a secret too. Loved the romance and that they found a way together.
Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for letting me read this book and loved her 1st adult romance.

4.25 ⭐️
I’ve read almost every Kasie West book and grew up reading her books, so when I saw she was taking a foray into adult romance I was SO excited. We Met Like This did not disappoint. It was so easy to engage with and I was sucked right in. The characters felt so real and they had such a cute connection and banter. Margot and Oliver also had such good chemistry. This book also felt really unique in concept to me and not trope-y at all, which was refreshing to read in the adult romance genre. I will say that they were times when the pacing felt a bit slow and some of the plot was predictable, but that wasn’t a huge negative impact on the reading experience. Margot’s journey aside from her romance with Oliver was also really well written. I enjoyed seeing her come into herself and be able to assert what she wanted and stand up to her sister. I’m definitely hoping to read more adult romance from Kasie West, but she’s an auto buy author for me no matter what she’s writing!

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC of this book!

This fell somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars for me. I was really excited to see this book because I loved the Kasie West YA book I read and was curious about her venture into adult fiction. Overall, it has the same endearing qualities you get from her YA which I really appreciated.

As for the story, I didn't love that it started in the midst of a hookup. I don't mind that type of content at all, but being thrown into it was honestly a little jarring. I did, however, quickly recover and it didn't affect the book for me too much. I really liked the idea of them revisiting each other over a few years on a dating app and that Margot had to let go of her own idealistic conceptions of love, namely the *perfect meet-cute*. Their relationship and the slow(ish) progression honestly really made sense for the characters and I did really like them, with one caveat....

I HATED THE TWIST. Without any spoilers...... whyyyyyyyy???

Anyway, not my favorite twist ever and I wish there was more honesty about the situation from the characters upfront, but alas...

The twist didn't entirely ruin the story for me, though it did probably take 1.5 stars off of an otherwise likely 5 star book. I really loved Margot and Oliver, but the twist did make me a little upset with one of them. While I try not to give away what happened, I will say that there was NO CHEATING INVOLVED between Oliver and Margot and that isn't at all the red flag of this twist. So if that specifically is not for you, you're still safe to read this.

Overall, with the exception of that one thing, I did really love Margot and Oliver and it was fun to read about them falling in love.

Thank you NetGalley and Saturday Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First off I am so glad Kacie West decided to jump into the “adult world” of books cause this was sooo good!!!! I’ve read some of her other YA books also good but this one had my in chokehold from the first page! I absolutely adored Margot I loved her character she was so real and funny. Then along came Oliver…again and watching their relationship develop page after page was so beautiful to read. I loved it all!

I've been a big fan of Kasie West's young adult books since the beginning and was excited to give her first adult romance a try. Thanks to a "read now" option on Netgalley, I grabbed it and was immediately shocked to discover a spicy opening scene. I'm a closed door romance reader, so this one isn't for me. I think she'll find some new readers with her foray into the spicy adult genre, but her long-time and loyal fans (which might even include YA readers) will be stunned, and possibly disappointed, by the content.

I was really sad and disappointed when I started reading this book. I love this author’s YA books, as do my daughters and so many other teenagers of all ages. We love her books because they’re clean and engaging and lighthearted with sweet romance. I was so excited to see she had written a book not in the YA category and believed that I was going to get the same clean read as I’ve come to appreciate from her. But I was really shocked and saddened and had to stop reading by the second page. The opening is very explicit. I couldn’t help but think that there are going to be so many young girls and fans of this author’s books, who like me are going to think that the book will be a safe and clean read, only to read the exact opposite of what they were expecting. I was seriously so shocked! I know that there are readers out there who read this level of heat and that’s fine for them. But I hope that the author/publisher will put a warning for readers who will see the author’s name and think that it’ll be a clean read like all of her other books, so they will know that there is explicit content.

Content: I only made it through the first couple of pages and the main couple is making out in the car with the guy having his hand “in her”, sucking on her nipples and I’m sure there’s more but that was just within the first couple pages.

I received a copy from the publisher. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

This book wasn’t a fit for me. I think the writing was great but I didn’t enjoy the story. The whole premise of them meeting on a dating app three years ago and somehow rematching with each other over the years is a lot of fun. However I found nearly every character to be unlikable. By no means am I expecting perfect characters in a romance but there’s just so much happening here not just with the fmc but the mmc and the side characters. I also really didn’t like the twist and conflict at the end. The book I don’t think did a great job balancing the self discovery journey the fmc was going on with the romance. It needed to be more of one or the other.

I’ll probably give this author another chance if she writes another adult romance.

📱 text messages
🤍 strangers to lovers
📖 book about books (in a way)

single POV
3/5 stars ⭐️
1.5/5 spice level 🌶️

I am very sad to write this review since Kasie West is a favorite of mine. The books I've read are normally sweet and fun and clean. This was book was not. I usually vet my books pretty hard because I do not read books with open door/spice and this was a read now, so I thought I was safe with this author, but the book started off with way too much heat for me and I did not finish. I will need to stick with her YA books, but still vet them.

I absolutely love everything Kasie West writes. Her first foray into the adult romance genre was amazing! I couldn't put it down. I love Margot and Oliver so much. The relationship build up is perfect and I love a strong independent FMC. I preordered it as soon as it was announced and was lucky to receive an eARC through Netgalley. I will always support Kasie West. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.

3.5⭐️
ARC REVIEW!!!!

I really enjoyed this book it was very fun and cute the way Margot and Oliver would banter was everything I loved their relationship and how much he believed in her she definitely needed someone like him. Sloane was also an absolutely lovely character she was the perfect best friend and what this book needed probably my favorite character!! Now the drama of this book was not my favorite her family just overall was not great to her and so unsupportive in my opinion she forgave her sister way too quickly I think the whole ending brought down my rating a little. I also wasn’t a big fan of the history between Oliver and her sister it just felt a little unnecessary to me! Overall a cute quick read that I enjoyed!

We Met Like This was such a perfectly balanced book.

I appreciated how true the story felt to the confusion and frustration of your twenties without feeling too trope-y. The dramatic moments were really well paced throughout the book, which made it a quick and engaging read. The relationships were compelling and I felt feelings toward characters along with Margot. And I really enjoyed the way the story wrapped up.

I thought this was a particularly great adult rom-com debut that left me satisfied and hopeful, like the best rom-coms are able to do.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saturday Books for the free E-ARC.