Chandra Blumberg was such a sweet surprise!
I have a love-hate relationship with the friends to lovers trope. I adore the slow burn, the tension, and waiting until the very last chapters for that swoonworthy first kiss. But let’s be real, I spend half the book yelling, “Just tell them how you feel already!”
I liked this in this friends to lovers it wasn’t driven by miscommunication but more about the real fear of losing a meaningful friendship.

I loved this book. I love the characters even though at times I got frustrated with the fmc you could still relate to her and understand where her motivations are coming from. I thought it was really interesting that the main character was a romance author and that they were exploring different tropes in a real world way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Love is an Open Book is a funny, fun friends-to-lovers slow burn more than 10 years of friendship in the making. I adored the trope tests and found them to be a great homage to the genre Blumberg obviously excels in, but there were times Mia's narration was a little too on the nose, like mentioning third act breakups and having Mia and Gavin have their fight right at 75%. Considering how aware of the romance genre Mia was, I was hoping to see the confines of the genre subverted a bit more. These characters were so reluctant to risk ruining the greatness of their friendship that I wish we'd had more time to see their relationship shine, but this was a perfectly fun summer read for a book lover.

Listen… Chandra Blumberg really said "what if your best friend was secretly the love of your life and you were both too emotionally intelligent to ruin the friendship until fake dating made it unavoidable?" and I said… fine. Ruin me.

Mia is a bestselling romance author with a brutal case of writer’s block. Gavin is her ride or die BFF, cinnamon roll disguised as a man, and apparently the perfect research partner for “testing” romance tropes.

Fake dating? Forced proximity? Fish out of water?
Yes, they do them all.
Yes, they catch feelings.
Yes, I screamed.

This is friends to lovers done right…. just two people who love each other so much it’s terrifying. I was grinning like a fool one minute, clutching my chest the next.

Tropes Served Hot:

💞 Friends to Lovers

📝 She’s a Romance Author

💌 He Falls First

🏡 Forced Proximity

💝 Fake Dating

🔥 Mutual Pining

Thank you again to @HTPBooks @htp_hive@readmirabooks for the book mail 💌 #HiveInfluencer

Mia and Teddy had been close friends before trying for more, but after his confession that he was more attracted to her sister, their relationship and friendship fell apart. And that was the night she met Teddy's roommate Gavin. While consoling her over her heartbreak, he somehow falls for her himself, but if friendship is all she's willing to give he'll take it. Nine years later Mia is a famous author with a tv series based on her books. The final season is supposed to be based on two best friend characters finally giving in to love, but no matter what she does, the story just won't come. Gavin suggests fake dating and testing out some other tropes to give her ideas, but once she starts to look at him as potential dating material, even if it is fake, she can't turn back. Maybe friends can become lovers with an HEA.
Gavin is the loyal protective best friend every girl should have, but he's an even better boyfriend. His secret pining for years was hard to read and I'm so glad this golden retriever softie got his HEA with the woman of his dreams!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

3 ⭐⭐⭐

This started out really cute and I liked the premise. It felt a little different from what I usually pick up, and I was excited about it. But around the 50% mark, I lost interest and the pacing slowed.

I really liked Gavin, he was such a sweetheart and truly loved Mia, but Mia annoyed me as an FMC. I think Gavin deserved better.

This was my first read from this author, and while it wasn’t my favorite, I’m still open to trying more from her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Friends to lovers is my favourite trope, and in my opinion, the superior trope. So of course I’ll read this book. I’ve read a lot of friends to lovers stories so I know what makes one good. This one was just okay. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. It still hit the right spots, and frankly, the characters nor the story were not the problem, it was the writing. There was just more of telling than showing. And the pacing was a little off. I wished some scenes were longer and not just cut short and immediately skip to the next scene without a natural progression or conclusion. I saw the vision, it could be better.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, sweet and kept me reading. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

It takes a lot for me to get behind a friends to lovers trope. This one had me...for the first 77%.

Mia & Gavin have an adorable "meet cute," only for Mia all she can see is that it happened on the night her friend turned boyfriend broke up with her for her sister. Yup. We start with some mess. That experience with the friend who would become her brother in law made Mia swear off dating a friend. Too bad for Gavin who fell for her the moment he saw her.

It's been 10 years. Mia and Gavin are now best friends. I will give Gavin ALL the credit. He is not waiting in the wings for Mia. He's not hoping she changed her mind. He doesn't even believe in the "Friend Zone." (Which is total BS anyway.) He respected her decision not to date friends, and decided "That's okay. I will be friends with you." Honestly, I feel like if the crazy scheme that brings them together in this book never happened, he would've continued to respect the boundaries she set up.

Mia has become a best selling romance author. Her trilogy even became a hit TV show, but she's been asked to give two BFF side characters an HEA for a fourth season. Too bad she doesn't believe that friendship can set up a lasting relationship. She's been blocked for months on the book and her deadline is approaching. She needs something to shake up her regular routine. Luckily for us, the thing she decides on is fake dating Gavin for inspiration. They put themselves in typical book tropes: workplace romance, forced proximity, fish out of water, etc. Along the way, the line between real and pretend starts to blur.

I found the concept pretty believable. Gavin's respected her boundaries for years. These new scenarios allow him to express his secret feelings for her. Mia's allowing her own repressed feelings to bubble to the surface. But once they get together...it all gets messy. It wasn't miscommunication, but poor communication. I believe that switching from friends to lovers isn't a piece of cake, but the way it imploded so fast...rubbed me the wrong way. It made for a frustrating 3d act.

Also, this wasn't just fade to black. This was fade. I don't know what happened between them. The only intimate act described is making out. Now, if they aren't ready to have sex or are taking it slow, that's fine. I love a progression. But nothing is mentioned. We are adults. If adults are having sex, you be able to talk about them having sex. And if they aren't ready...that's also a conversation worth showing your readers. But this isn't Schrödinger's bang: both real and not real.

A cute friends-to-lovers romance with a unique approach!

Loved the incorporation of the tropes and the tension/build-up of characters being pushed together and pulled apart.

I think we can all get in our own way like Mia and everyone needs a Gavin in their life, if not romantically, at least platonically!!!

A secondary name for this book should be Trope City. There are tropes on tropes on tropes within tropes and on top of tropes!

Our fmc is a force to contend with. She is an organized, type-A, (accidental) plant-killer, hates change kind of woman. So when she's stuck in writer's block and forced to try her hand at something new in the hopes of rekindling her faith in the friends to lovers trope, she turns to her best friend—the person she relies on the most in the world.

The extremes Mia goes through to write her book are comical, her heart guarded against falling in love. It makes it all the more fulfilling when her guard starts to slip.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves tropes, loves angst and pining, and is looking for a cinnamon roll mmc to add to their book boyfriend list.

Love is an Open Book by Chandra Blumberg is a rom-com through and through—a classic friends-to-lovers storyline starring Mia and Gavin.

Mia’s a romance author who’s having writer’s block trying to write her latest book, which is going to be a screen adaptation. If she doesn’t get it written, the studio will. But the characters have special meaning to her, and art is paralleling life in many ways. She and Gavin have been friends since college, and she doesn’t want to muck up a decade-long friendship. What will happen if one of them wants more?

Weaving multiple storylines into the main arc, we meet family and friends and learn about Gavin and Mia’s hopes and dreams. There are scenic descriptions to enhance the setting. We also get an inside peek into romance tropes and Mia’s process when writing.

There are layers to the characters as they deal with challenges and highs. The story sometimes bogs down due to Mia’s outlook on life and her need for control. It was endearing to see how their relationship mirrors those of her characters that she’s struggling with. We get closure and a happily ever after in the offing, but I wish the epilogue went on a bit longer since I didn’t feel like everything was wrapped up as neatly and romantically as it could have been.

Love is an Open Book is a rom-com embracing the friends-to-lovers trope and had me rooting for Mia and Gavin to get their happily ever after, starting with page one.

Love is an Open Book by Chandra Blumberg is a rom-com through and through—a classic friends-to-lovers storyline starring Mia and Gavin.

Mia’s a romance author who’s having writer’s block trying to write her latest book, which is going to be a screen adaptation. If she doesn’t get it written, the studio will. But the characters have special meaning to her, and art is paralleling life in many ways. She and Gavin have been friends since college, and she doesn’t want to muck up a decade-long friendship. What will happen if one of them wants more?

Weaving multiple storylines into the main arc, we meet family and friends and learn about Gavin and Mia’s hopes and dreams. There are scenic descriptions to enhance the setting. We also get an inside peek into romance tropes and Mia’s process when writing.

There are layers to the characters as they deal with challenges and highs. The story sometimes bogs down due to Mia’s outlook on life and her need for control. It was endearing to see how their relationship mirrors those of her characters that she’s struggling with. We get closure and a happily ever after in the offing, but I wish the epilogue went on a bit longer since I didn’t feel like everything was wrapped up as neatly and romantically as it could have been.

Love is an Open Book is a rom-com embracing the friends-to-lovers trope and had me rooting for Mia and Gavin to get their happily ever after, starting with page one.

I rated it 4.5 stars but rounded to 5 stars here and on other sites.

The review is posted on NovelsAlive.

3.5 stars!! A friends to lovers book that really examines what it means to to make that transition, for better or for worse!

Romance author Mia is in a rut. Her next book is due, she's got pressure coming at her from the producers of the tv show based on her hit trilogy, and she's lost faith in love. Enter best friend and plant daddy (the book's words, not mine) Gavin, who may have always been suppressing some feelings and never thought it would be possible for them. The two decide to do a trope test to see what may find her inspiration...

I've got to say the first half of this book with the yearning and the careful navigation of that boundary line was SO fun!! The flirting that felt a little too real. The near misses of kisses. The true safety they had in each other. Unfortunately, once that line was crossed, I feel like some of the momentum slowed down and tensions rose in a way that actually kind of surprised me for besties for a decade. I loved the characters though, so it more than made up for it!

Thanks so much to Chandra Blumberg and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Love is an Open Book by Chandra Blumberg is the sweet story of two friends named Mia and Gavin. Friends since college, Mia has never wanted it to be more after a failed relationship with a friend left her broken hearted. Years later, she’s a romance author struggling to write a friends to lovers book. However, Gavin offers to act out romance tropes with her to help her find inspiration. Along the way, Will acting become real life?

I really enjoyed this book. I thought their friendship was sweet and well written and was rooting for them the entire time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for access to an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Love Is an Open Book by Chandra Blumberg uses the tropes of friends to lovers, proximity, and fake relationships. Mia Brady and Gavin Lane have been friends for years, all the while hiding their real feelings for each other; he fell first but doesn’t want to derail their friendship. When romance writer Mia struggles to finish her next project, she and Gavin think that a fake romance will give her the material she needs to finish this story that oddly mirrors their real-life dynamics…love for the supporting characters. Even though Mia’s stance became tiresome at points in time, I enjoyed the cute journey Mia and Gavin took on their way to a committed relationship. This book is the second one I have read by this author; Stirring Up Love was also entertaining.

Thank you to NetGally, Chandra Blumberg and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest opinion.

Rating: 4.5/5
I love the Friends to Lovers trope, especially when the MMC has been pinning for the FMC for quite some time. That’s what happens in Love is an Open Book. The story is unique in that Mia is a romance author who is struggling with her current book. She enlisted her best friend Gavin to help her with the tropes. While doing so, she starts looking at him a little differently. There’s so much that, as a romance reader, resonates, and she goes through the writing process and what works with the tropes of her characters, leading up to an HEA. I loved that Gavin had this nerdiness to him, but when Mia’s eyes opened, she finally saw those forearms and the muscles. There were several funny scenes I found myself chuckling out loud at from Gavin leaning in thinking Mia was going in for a kiss when she wasn’t—oops.

Love is an Open Book was fairly fast-paced without any drama. It was a fun, light, easy read that I enjoyed.

I love a best friends to lovers trope!

These two were so adorable, I loved all their hesitation to finally cross that line. I like the practice with me type of premise, it really forces this proximity and we get to see the chemistry between them.

I also love the over the top type of ambiance of this book. Such big and deep feels.

I will say that it was just a taaaaaaaaaaaad bit too slow burn. At some point we need an equally intense 'eff it" moment, since they were so careful for so long. I think it could have been a bit sooner so that we can watch them be as a couple for a bit longer.

Beautiful romance nonetheless!

I want to start this review with I love Chandra Blumberg’s writing and this book lived up to those expectations, but as someone who has a love/hate relationship with friends to lovers plot lines, this one hit all of my usual points that make me not like this trope. However, i still gave it four stars because of the characters individually, the plot devices to move things forward, but also the emotional angst that did exist even when it annoyed me.

Gavin and Mia meet when Mia is trying to go back into Gavin’s apartment to get her manuscript back after breaking up with his roommate. He helps her steal it back, and then the rest is history. They have a strong, solid, friendship, that has transcended a lot of issues, conflicts, and changes. One thing I hate about friends to lovers, is when one is in love with the other, but holding back to protect the relationship. I think that starts to leave cracks in the foundation as the trust, and respect seems to break more often than not in this book, and we see it slowly with Gavin and Mia as it is part of the reason he starts to get annoyed with her. However, I actually found that he handled everything pretty well, and loved how he stood up for himself, that was easily my favorite part of the book. I love it when the characters stand up for their feelings and take the risks.

However, he went and ruined it by thinking he had to apologize and that’s my other biggest pet peeve, is when you are taking a risk and willing to risk it all for love, then wouldn’t say you made a mistake, and you should not have to come back from that. I hated that Gavin felt he had to apologize especially when he handled it quite respectfully. Mia has a lot of trust issues and she needed the push, the reason to take a risk, she had to lose it all to understand why she also needed to trust the journey and not worry about the end. In the end, I did really enjoy this book, but my usual issues with friends to lovers stopped me from loving it.

If friends to lovers is your thing, highly recommend checking this one out!

Ok wow. I would say Friends to lovers when is done right is so satisfying. I would said the audio was phenomenal and I enjoyed greatly. The voices well done. Loved how the Narrators did each of their parts and how easy was to follow who was who.
The plot was so cute. and the beginning so good. I love how you see this two best friends helping each other and realizing than aside of wanting more they are also falling deeply in love with each other. I like how the whole story develops and the ups and down. overall definitely a super cute rom com . and I will be recommending .

I absolutely devoured this book. It definitely helps that friends to lovers is mt absolute favorite trope. But Mia and Gavin were such relatable MC's. Gavin was just the ultimate book boyfriend and the best friend you could ever ask for. Mia is the girl you want to be friends with and someone you can't help rooting for.

Their relationship is one you end up relating with so you see why they have their issues with getting together but once they do its just so perfect.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an EARC in exchange for an honest review as always, all words are my own.