This is a really different take on a romance. Alexa Martin is so funny! I love the humor in all her books and this is no different. Really great story with awesome characters. Emerson is a kindergarten teacher who signs up with a MLM to make some extra dollars. But this don’t work out exactly how she had hoped. But she finds her self and her strength!

Alexa Martin is a GEM and this book was fantastic!! Did I ever think I’d get emotional over a book about MLMs?? Nope! But I sure did! There was so much happening in this book and it was done SO WELL! It was silly and goofy and everything about Petunia Lemon was WILD. But it was also full of heart and struggle and being independent and strong and refusing help but also refusing to NOT help everyone!

It felt a little light on the romance overall, but that’s not to say that the romance story wasn’t there! Because I LOVED Emerson and Luke. Their push and pull, instant connection to sort of enemies, to parent/teacher dynamic, to very slowly but surely cutie little lovers!! I thought their journey was sweet!

I think the most endearing part of Emerson (and truthfully what I think people most people will NOT like about her) is how open and forgiving she was. The fact that she fell for this MLM scheme was of course silly, especially with her best friend telling her as much, but also that’s EXACTLY what has happened to so many people, and it just felt SO realistic. She was STRUGGLING and she just wanted a seemingly guaranteed way to get out, and she was the perfect person to be taken advantage of unfortunately.

I am such a fan of Alexa’s! I’ve read almost all of her books now! Of course I haven’t read the one I actually own, which tracks for me honestly. But I love her writing and can’t wait to see what’s next!!

Thanks to Berkley for the free finished copy!!! I am so so grateful!

I had so much fun with this book! The plot was not what I expected at all if I’m honest but that’s not a bad thing. It’s definitely not the standard romcom by any means and it reminded me a lot of the MLM documentaries I’ve seen online. I really enjoyed the plot and it definitely kept me engaged.

It’s hard to describe this book if I’m honest. The FMC will definitely be polarizing for readers. I think I a lot of people will find her frustrating and naive for falling for the promises of Petunia Lemon but I think that just made her a more realistic character. She represents hundreds of thousands of women who have fallen victim to MLMs.

While I did end up really liking the romance I do wish it had been a little less abrupt when they finally did get together. They went from insta-lust to hating each other to magically liking each other again. I wish the hate to love part would have been more gradual. I think the chemistry between the two characters could have been developed more.

Overall, a solid read and I’ll definitely check out Alexa Martin’s books in the future.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the gifted arc

I am so unbelievably disappointed in this book - I truly love Alexa (as a human and an author) but this book revolved around a very naive and immature woman who makes bad decision after bad decision and I am still not 100% sure why???? It is a little funny and the idea of an MLM as the background is genius, but the pacing was off right from the jump. I wish there was more in the beginning before jumping right into bed - I love a one-night stand but give me some discussion first please! The single dad vibes were great but I struggled with their romance - it doesn;t feel like they will be together much longer after the end of the book. Overall, I am disappointed.

My fave author does it again with her witty female characters. amazing book boyfriends, and great girlfriends.

Story: 4.5 Characters: 5 Engagement: 5
Recco: yes

"Great sex, late night snacks, and breakfast? Maybe the perfect man does exist!"

"All I needed was a good wine, good cheese, and good friends. And lucky for me, I have a surplus of all three."

Highlights:
- Writing is like a bestie telling you about her crazy life speaking directly to you
- Witty fun with laugh out loud spot on observations.
- So many quotables--many below
- My food spirit animal twin: from old fashioneds to wine to margs paired with sweet potato fries to nachos moons over my hammy, she loved the drinks and snacks
- Boyfriend goes from pure steamy to jackass to sweet in range
- Always a girlfriend to be there for supportive hijinx

Lowlights:
- Concerned about these multi level marketing schemes in real life and the mean girls that are part of them

Quotes I liked:
"I THINK I'VE girl bossed a little too close to the sun."

"if there is one thing that can tempt me in life, it's nachos and margaritas,"

"Tequila is my frenemy. I love her so much, but she always leaves me with regrets,"

"Imay be a lot of things, but no fun isn't one of the I'm a delightful, hoot and holler, fantastic freaking hang."

"I'm nothing if not responsible... just not financially or romantically."

"Unfortunately for my personal life and my waistline, food and a good craft cocktail will always beat out any and all competition,"

"As a kindergarten teacher, I'm very much team read whatever makes you happy,"

"You'd think an elementary school art teacher would have a cleaner vocabulary, but she uses swear words as liberally as the glitter she encourages the kids to add to every project."

"His eyes are so bright and so green that looking into them feels like a vacation."

"Girls supporting girls at its finest.The Spice Girls would be so proud."

"I have a feeling I'm going to need spirits to lift my spirits too."

"Because even though my brain knows I hate him, my body is struggling to remember."

"Just like my poor little car, I will ignore this until it causes me to backfire, malfunction, and possibly die."

"His quiet laughter is just ike a glass of whiskey. smooth, rich, and a balm to sy nerves. One faste and I could never be sober."

This author is new to me, but I will be keeping an eye out for anything else they publish. I loved the story and the characters. The pacing of the story was great and the characters were relatable.

“Whoever said growing up was fun lied. Adulting is a scam.”

“I’m here for a good time, not a long time.”

“The worst part of all? The only person I have to blame is myself. Well, me and Elon Musk.”

A book on standing up for what’s right.

Hmmmm unfortunately this book was not for me. Emerson our main FMC was really annoying to me and very irresponsible. I mean we all like to shop, but I couldn’t believe how roped in she got. Like I felt second hand embarrassment reading this. Lucas was also super cheesy and over the top. Him and his ex wife’s relationship was a bit concerning and seeing his personality with her…gave me weird vibes.

The thing that lacked soooo much for me was the chemistry between these two. I felt honestly there was NONE. One minute she was so mad at him and the next they were all over each other? Typically… I’ll eat that up but the presentation just wasn’t set up for me to believe these two actually “fell in love” with each other. I felt the story lacked a lot too, it was very predictable like I definitely knew how the story was going to play out; but then, there would be some random mention of something that really had nothing to do with the story.

I don’t know I found this really hard to get through and the “rom-com” of it all was just too cheesy for me.

Thank you for the free book, Berkley Romance!

In this romantic comedy, kindergarten teacher Emerson meets a dreamy one night stand, Luke, while attending a conference for MLM business Petunia Lemon with her boss. Emerson is insulted by Luke’s views on the company and leaves in a huff, and later finds him again when his daughter ends up in her class. Although they try to fight their chemistry, they end up being unable to stay apart. Emerson also finds that things at Petunia Lemon aren’t what they seem, and she and Luke agree to work together to try to bring it down.

I enjoyed this cute, lighthearted read from Alexa Martin. There was a lot to love about it, from diverse characters to a Denver, Colorado setting, a single dad, and a main character who was a kindergarten teacher. However, it did require a large suspension of disbelief on the reader’s part that an intelligent, educated professional like Emerson was unable to see the pitfalls of Petunia Lemon despite repeated warnings from others and obvious red flags. A large portion of the story revolved around the MLM storyline, and it just seems so obvious and hard to believe that anyone could still be pulled into this kind of scam in present day. Maybe if this book had been set in the past it would have been more believable. As a former kindergarten teacher myself, I also struggled with the idea of Emerson dating a student’s parent without seeming to have much concern for her student’s feelings about that. They discussed how it wasn’t against school rules, but given that Emerson was a caring teacher in so many other ways, this didn’t quite fit that it was never mentioned. However, despite these things that didn’t work for me, I still found it to be an enjoyable, quick, and easy read that was filled with light-hearted fun.

This was a cute and quick read.

Emerson, a hard working but struggling teacher gets caught up in the world of a predatory MLM all while navigating a romance with Luke-the dreamy MMC who is out to take down said predatory MLM. Wish we saw a little more relationship development between the two but overall enjoyed this book.

Thank you NetGalleh and Berkley for the free arc!

Emerson Pierce is a kindergarten teacher who suffers from people pleasing. When her principal invites her to a Petunia Lemon convention, she has a hard time saying no. Once there she feeds off the energy of the crowd, and signs up to be a consultant. While riding the high, Emerson goes to the bar for one last drink where she meets Luke Miller. Their instant chemistry leads to an amazing night together. In the morning Emerson learns that Luke is an investigative journalist who is trying to expose Petunia Lemon for the scam it is.

I enjoyed this book. Living somewhere where MLMs are huge, this book had me laughing. I’ve been to many a party and received many a message trying to be recruited. It honestly felt spot on to the pressure and community that these companies create.

I’m sorry. I couldn’t finish the book. It’s full of filler and useless information having zero to do with the plot. Which sucks because it had the potential to be good but there a so many paragraphs full of things like of this one time this thing happened” or this is why I hate this one thing”, and I just can’t stick with a book like this. Like I said the potential is there. A one night stand ending up as their kids teacher should be great, but I can’t get though the filler.

Emerson, an optimistic kindergarten teacher, and Luke, a himbo journalist, share one wonderful night together, until Luke discovers Emerson just signed up to be a 'sister in skincare' and sell Petunia Lemon products. They part ways and expect it to be done, until *gasp* Emerson is now the teacher of Luke's daughter. And even better, his ex wife is a fellow 'sister in skincare'. Forced proximity ensues, and Emerson starts to remember why they had a strong connection. As she struggles with teaching, attending Petunia Lemon meetings where she just HAS to buy their latest and greatest things, and fighting her feelings for Luke, she wonders where her priorities should lie.

Tropes: forced proximity, single dad, one night stand, sunshine/sunshine

Emerson was SUCH a wonderful and refreshing character. She had an immense passion for teaching and building educational foundations for her students, and even when she was at her lowest and going THROUGH IT, she still remained optimistic and supported her students. As a fellow educator, I appreciated how realistic this approach to school was; there are always going to be some people in positions of power in education that manipulate and abuse their power for control and forget their why (I'm sorry, I had to). Also the fact that she had to get a second job just to pay bills and live is another reality. I hope other educators read this and related, and maybe someone with power will PAY EDUCATORS MORE *please*

Luke was the perfect leading man. He cares deeply for his daughter and knew exactly how to be supportive of Emerson without controlling her or being overbearing. He allowed her to come to her own conclusions about Petunia Lemon (spoiler, it sucks and is a major scam, like any MLM) and was there for her when she needed him.

I also want to talk about the side characters. Keisha was a fantastic friend, and I loved that she communicated so freely and helped Emerson see reality when she needed it. She wasn't afraid to call things out, but she did so from a place of love. I also loved how well rounded the other teachers and Petunia Lemon sellers were; they had backgrounds and motivators and honestly I'd eat up a spin off of any of them.

The major themes of this book were community, finding your passion, and calling out toxicity. Emerson surrounded herself with a community of people that supported and encouraged her passions, while also being able to communicate when there were problems. Petunia Lemon thrived on creating a fake community to keep everyone roped in, and shut down anybody or any takes that didn't align with their 'vision'. I think that's also a play on how feminism can be weaponized to control a narrative and shut down any callouts for problematic behavior. Even if it's uncomfortable and difficult to hear, people should be able to give feedback and call out problems they see without retaliation or blame shifting.

I read this book in about 6 hours, and I absolutely can't wait to see what Alexa Martin comes up with next.

I didn't really read the blurb for this book carefully, I just grabbed it because I like Alexa Martin, so I was actually kind of surprised by the storyline here based on the title. Kindergarten teacher, people pleaser, and just generally delightful human Emerson Pierce gets roped into going to a skincare convention by her boss over the summer, and before she knows it, she's paid hundreds of dollars to be a representative for Petunia Lemon. Decompressing from the day at a rooftop hotel bar, Emerson meets super hot Luke and they hit it off so well that they go right back to his hotel room. The morning after, she learns that he's an investigative journalist and he happens to currently be investigating... Petunia Lemon. She's offended, he's disappointed, and they part ways for good... until he shows up at the end of the first day of school to pick up his daughter, who happens to be in Emerson's kindergarten class. They end up calling a bit of a truce, all while Emerson gets sucked more and more into the Petunia Lemon pyramid scheme, and things get more complicated. I really liked Emerson as a main character (gullibility and all), and thought the hookup to enemies to friends to lovers path worked well here. Still not sure I understand the connection between the title and the content, but that didn't reduce my enjoyment of the book.

An unexpectedly funny yet heartwarming book! In “How to Sell a Romance” we follow kindergarten teacher Emerson Pierce as she joins MLM Petunia Lemon after being persuaded by her school’s principal Nora, and slowly but surely realizes the company might not be everything she hoped. In hopes of taking down Petunia Lemon, Emerson joins forces with Lucas Miller, who is not only the father of one of her students but also a journalist writing a takedown article on the MLM. While acting as their inside spy, Emerson and Lucas’s relationship develops into something more but in the end once all is revealed it could lead to their downfall. Overall, this book had way more humor and heart than I was expecting. Emerson and her friend Keisha are both super funny, and Lucas is literally the perfect book boyfriend. The book also did a great job showing the exploitative nature of MLMs for people who are both familiar and brand new to these types of companies. My only critique is that Lucas and Emerson don’t actually start working together to take down Petunia Lemon until ~60% into the book. I wish this would have happened a little sooner so we could have seen more of the inner workings of the MLM and Emerson collecting evidence. Otherwise, an easy read that I think romance lovers and MLM haters will enjoy!

This book featured incredibly compelling language from the start that had me completely intrigued to keep reading. The romance part is such a slow burn that it does feel like more of a women's fiction novel than a straight-up romance. But, digging this one nonetheless.

One day, I was perusing #NetGalley, hunting for something anything that would satisfy my romance-loving soul. Enter Alexa Martin’s How to Sell a Romance. No need to read the description, because hello? INTERCEPTED! Loved it. Instant approval. Instant excitement. Immediate reading.

Three days later? I am in awe.

Confession: I Had No Clue What I Signed Up For

First off I don’t know how the title connects to the story. Maybe I’m not emotionally smart enough to get it, but guess what? It doesn’t matter. The story? Amazing.

I dove in without reading the blurb (IYKYK), expecting romance first, MLM side drama second. Emerson Pierce is a kindergarten teacher who loves her job but hates her paycheck. She stumbles into Petunia Lemon, an all-too-familiar beauty MLM promising financial freedom and sisterhood.

And I thought: Ah, yes. She will meet a handsome man. Love will ensue.

What I didn’t think? That Petunia Lemon was about to be the ENTIRE plot. So naturally, I hit Chapter 5, put the book down, and thought: Wait is this a thriller with romance or a romance with thriller vibes? Time to read the synopsis.

Turns out? It’s absolutely the book I MUST keep reading. Because guess what? It features the single dad trope and his daughter, Isla, is the cutest kindergartner.

Meet Lucas Miller |A Man on a Mission
Lucas is an investigative reporter with a personal vendetta against Petunia Lemon (because his ex-wife drained their savings on MLM dreams before filing for divorce). Determined to expose the company, he infiltrates their convention only to collide headfirst with Emerson.

Cue sparks, chaos, enemies-to-lovers tension, and binge-worthy storytelling that I could not put down.

Final Thoughts: Yes, I Get It Now
After finishing, the title finally clicked it’s a perfectly ironic twist on the idea that both MLMs and romance sell fantasies. Emerson joins an MLM thinking it will change her life. Lucas enters her life with his own baggage. And suddenly, we have a book that hilariously explores how both MLMs and romance sell people a dream—whether it’s financial success or a perfect love story.

Verdict: Must-Read!
Alexa Martin delivers a fun, fresh, and socially relevant romance that feels like bingeing a docuseries on MLM scams—but with extra steam and heart.

3.5 Stars

I’ve read a few of Martin’s books now and each one is just delightful. I love that they mix romance, comedy, strong female friendship, and a dose of real life problems to create a balance that has you craving more. I found How to Sell a Romance to have all those things and an interesting premise set around exposing an MLM skincare company which created some great scenes. A great novel to take on vacation or sit with on a Friday night.

Thank you Berkeley for the e-arc. All thoughts are my own. I enjoyed this book the romance, spice, and the characters had me hooked.

There are some aspects of this that definitely worked for me — Martin's comedy as a writer is always delightful, and she really knows how to deliver on the banter, plus I really loved the insta-attraction connection (and the steamy scenes!) between Emerson and Lucas. But so much of this felt like two different books combined into one, with the MLM plot either taking a backseat to the romance or vice versa, that it resulted in a bit of whiplash for me as a reader, and for the most part I was primarily interested in the romance aspect, so as a whole it didn't quite gel for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this edition from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a difficult one to get through. The female main character was irresponsible and immature. It was as if she had the maturity of a fourteen year-old. There wasn't anything I liked about her. I didn't understand why Luke was so into her. When they first met, they jumped into it so quickly that I didn't believe the chemistry.

Being an educator and someone who is a leader in our local chapter of the union, there were too many things that were inaccurate to me to ignore. This book reminded me that I need to steer clear of books set in education because I can't help but be critical of inaccuracies.

I have a friend who enjoyed this book, so I think this a case of it's not you, it's me. This one was not a good fit for me.