Long Story Short is a light, fun read with a beautiful setting (hello, New York!), romantic moments (I see you, meet cutes) and a dash of spice.

The premise held a lot of potential - an aspiring literary agent accompanies her favourite romance author to a book convention in the hopes of saving his reputation he put in jeopardy… but despite the descriptive writing, odes to rom-coms and some flirty banter, I felt myself pulled out of the story more often than I’d like, not getting the chance to really connect with or root for the characters. This said, I enjoyed the writing style and the tropes within the book and will absolutely read more Victoria Walters in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the e-ARC!

The premise of this book was promising. An assistant to a big agent for authors goes on a trip to a romance conference with a romance author who tries to save his career. The thing is I became more interested in the non-romance plot (Jake’s career) and the settings (the publishing world) than the romance in itself. The characters didn’t have chemistry and there was a lot of unnecessary and irrealistic miscommunication. It all felt a bit cliche, a bit too much, and I felt as if I was reading a fan fiction, I guess the style was not for me. There was also a looooooot of inner thoughts and description and I think some of it could have used a bit of editing. It was however a fast read, the chapters were not long so that was good. Basically, I feel like the set up had a lot of potential, but fell flat for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In this fun new romance novel, readers follow assistant literary agent Freya Harrison as she gets her chance for her career big break at a big-time romance conference with best-selling author Jake Richards. Jake is hardly the easiest client, but fixing his reputation will finally let Freya prove her worth and move up in the publishing world. With potential PR disasters around every corner, Freya is not sure if she can handle the walking disaster that is Jake Richards, even for her career, but she has to stick around if she wants her chance at success. Full of tropes and great character dynamics, readers will love the complicated emotional storyline in this novel and sympathize with Freya’s difficult position. The characters are the stars of the novel, and the changing relationships between the characters really pull readers into the story. The tropes add a lot of tension and drama to the book and the characters’ relationships, and Walters has done a fantastic job bringing this story to life. With exciting elements, plot twists, and a great relationship, romance readers and fans of Walters’ other books will love the fascinating characters, unexpected complications, and entertaining premise of this literary-focused new romance novel.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy of Long Story Short. I want to be transparent upfront that I did not finish this at 25% after realizing the book was not meant for me in its intended audience.

I was very excited to read this based on the tropes but it fell flat for me. I liked the premise and tropes promoted. However, I'm a firm believer in not reading more than 25% of a book if it's not working for me.

Overall this book was not for me but those who are more into the slow burn, reputation redemption from rudeness, and quick romance.

It is no secret I am a big fan of Victoria Walters, and this book certainly didn't disappoint!.
I adore the grumpy x Sunshine trope, and this book portrays it perfectly... add to that some forced proximity and you have the ingredients for a perfect summer read!.

Full of intriguing characters, and a storyline that flows beautifully from beginning to end, this is a book I will certainly be recommending to others!.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this book. It was super easy and cute - but something was missing. The characters were ok and the spice was welcome. Maybe the characters weren’t developed enough? I think it’s a good summer holiday read where you don’t have to think too much?

a decent romcom. I enjoyed the story and l.iked the fact it was short and sweet however I felt the writing was a bit stilted in places and so found it hard to fully engage with

Unfortunately this book wasn't my cup of tea.
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I received an arc for this book without requesting it, but it does sound very interesting.

Some of the tropes in this book that are included, and making me curious about Long Story Short are:

-Enemies to lovers
-Grumpy x sunshine
-Forced proximity
-Slow burn
-He falls first
-Reputation redemption

This was a fun, lighthearted romance. A nice light summer read. I took me a bit to get into, I had a hard time buying into the instant attraction between the two main characters, it seemed too easy. But I enjoyed the dynamic of the two characters after they came together. I was also content with the ending. An easy read, I enjoyed it.

This book fell a little flat for me! I was very excited when I got the approval but it wasn't exactly what I expected. I think I just didn't fall in love with the main couple.

ARC review:

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 4/5 stars
🌶🌶🌶 - spice

Long Story Short is a story about Freya and Jake who are a literary agent and a romance author respectively. Jake is a client of the agency that Freya works for. His writing career is in danger because of his dismissal of writing and enjoying romance. Freya has five days at a conference in new York to help him. But what happens in new York will stay in New York or will it continue back home?

I enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it. It's cute, realistic as well as romantic! I love Freya's character development throughout the book. I loved that even though it has a third act break up, it didn't end up feeling like every other romance book. Freya actually has been given some character, individuality, and honesty. It's actually refreshing!! Book is going to be out on 19th May! So excited for this one.

I really wanted to love this one and I was very thrilled to read it, but honestly? It fell kinda flat for me. The idea had potential, but the execution just didn’t hit. I’m all for a grumpy/sunshine vibe and a good age gap when done right, but this one felt forced, rushed, and honestly, kinda immature for the characters’ supposed ages.

Jake came off so rude, especially in the beginning. And Freya was giving clueless and cringey energy, speaking personal things loudly as if no one would hear her speaking was very icky for me. It was hard to take her seriously, especially in a professional setting.

The biggest issue was their relationship overall that didn’t feel real. They barely had time to connect, didn’t feel like they bonded on a deeper level and honestly I had no idea what they even saw on each other. His “big secret” as to why he hated romance was a bit childish for me for a man his age and her pushiness for everyone to know his business was annoying. They’re written as falling for each other, but I didn’t feel the chemistry or see those deep convos that make a romance believable. Felt like they didn’t even knew each other.

Overall, it had a cute concept and some solid moments / side plots, but the main couple just didn’t work for me.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was an easy, trope-filled read with some fun moments. I enjoyed the grumpy-sunshine dynamic and the slow-burn romance, but I didn’t fully connect with the characters. Jake’s redemption felt a bit rushed, and the chemistry didn’t always land. A decent read, just not a standout for me.

I just loved everything about this book. It had some great tropes in it.

Love the New York setting. I though Jake was a swoon worthy sexy author. He and Freya went so great together. It was just a perfect book for me and the best book I've ever read just loved it so much,
Can't wait to read Victoria's next book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this book. I enjoyed the premise of a want to be literary agent attending a conference with a struggling author to try and restart his career after a fateful flub. I enjoyed the slow burn romance and the NYC backdrop, especially as a NY native, it’s fun to see familiar places in books. However this book was a little flat for me- the characters lacked the depth which would have made this one a winner. Everything seemed surface level and the FMC Freya was urging the MMC Jake to be honest, yet even her statements were holding back. I know that the slow burn is part of the premise of the book but it made it frustrating to read that both characters lacked communication when she was preaching to him so frequently that he needed to honestly and openly communicate! I’m giving this one 3/5 stars and would love it to be rewritten with more depth, which I think I’d really enjoy.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute, fun book. I enjoyed it a lot!

Freya has had her big break getting to go to a romance conference in New York to look after one of her publishing house’s top clients. The only problem is, the client is arrogant, condescending and has practically ruined his career when he came out and said he doesn’t believe in romance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Freya’s job is to turn the public opinion around over the weekend by having Jake be on his best behaviour. And if she can do that, her boss has promised she will be able to take on clients of her own. But will Freya be able to clean up the mess Jake has already made and save both of their careers.

I really liked the concept of this book, I liked the sub plot with Jake’s career a lot and at times more than the actual romance. But I did also like how the whole book is build in the romance world too.

Thank you Victoria Walters, Boldwood Books and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. Long Story Short is out now and it’s definitely worth a read if you’re a romance fan!

In the book we see literary agent Freya finally given a chance to prove herself at a big romance conference in New York, the only catch is she has to manage one of her agency's big romance writing clients Jake Richards. Jake is arrogant, condescending and currently trying to fix his reputation after being I've heard saying writing romance for "fools is easy money"

As you can imagine, due to Freya being a true can of the genre they don't get off to the best start but after spending some time together and seeing cracks in Jake's exterior they find working together harder but for very different reasons!

This enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine, workplace romance published on the 19th of May and I think it would be a fab summer read! (However I must say I'm not sure about the age gap between Freya and Jake... Not sure it's my thing?! Happy for discussions around this though!?)

Long Story Short was a charming romance between Freya, a literary agent, and Nick, an older bestselling author. Victoria Walters is a new to me author, and I’d love to read more of her books in the future

#LongStoryShort #NetGalley
Publication date- May 19, 2025

First of all I would like to say thank to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I did enjoy reading this book as a quick easy read but it wouldn’t be in my top books I have read this year. I think the characters needed more depth to them as I just wasn’t gripped by either character. It was a a good story and setting but personally for me I just needed a bit more.