I very much enjoy Victoria Walters' books, and this one doesn't disappoint! I love the literary connection with each of her novels. This one is an enemies to lovers between a literary agent and a best-selling author. Their journey is fun, a bit spicy, and overall a satisfying read. I recommend this sweet novel and others by this author! Enjoy!

I ultimately enjoyed this book, but it took a while to get into it. Freya was so wonderfully bubbly and I wasn't feeling Jake at first but that should be expected with all the drama he was dealing with.

The characters were fun and you can feel the intensity between the two main characters. Victoria Walters always writes her characters well rounded and I love the pop ins from previous books. There was a lot of drama in between the romance that went on a little long but the outcome was welcome!

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the e-ARC. This review is my own opinion.

Is romance just a cliche or can people really fall in love?

This was a lovely story which started of relatively slowly setting the scene and the character’s involvement in the story but that’s where it turns up the heat - literally with excitement, tension and a hint of spice.
Freya works at a publishing house as an assistant to Hayley who is a bossy woman who takes her teams ‘win’ as her own work to gain credibility to boost her place in the publishing industry. When an author, Jake appears and Hayley orders Freya to accompany him to an event to try and rescue his career instead of going herself, nerves seem to take over for Freya who wants to prove her worth and not mess anything up for either of them.
Everything starts to go wrong at the airport for poor Freya leaving her shamefully red faced with embarrassment and doubting herself and if she is doing the right thing, but this is the start of a week long drama to prove herself to not both Hayley and Jake but the publishing world as a professional agent herself.
After things going badly they start to improve but then after a jealous author messing everything up due to the drunken green-eyed monster rearing its head, is everything over for Freya??

This was an amazing slowburn grumpy and steamy romance.

I love Victoria work, everything just read itself in one sitting.

A must for this summer.

thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for the copy 💕

although it took a little while for me to get into, I absolutely loved this book and absolutely flew through it! I loved the dynamic that Freya and Jake had and the relationship and how it developed and grew throughout the story was absolutely perfect. I also really liked the topic of Freya overcoming the hardships of her career and growing from them as well as how it seemed Jake grew as a person. also the epilogue was super cute omg!!!

Cute story and loved the NYC setting. Felt it dragged on a bit and was overly predictable. Did not review on socials.

Another amazing book by Victoria Walters. I loved Freya and Jake and their whole dynamic.

When Jake is caught out saying that he hates romance books, even though he's a very successful romance author, he realises he may have messed up, enter Freya who is brought in to try and save the day. If only Jake wasn't so grumpy her job would be a lot easier!

I also loved that we had a glimpse of what Liv and Aiden were up to now....and just putting it out there, without spoiling....I think we need at least a novella of the lead up to what they did at the end of this book lol....how's that for vague?!

Great read, light and lovely, highly recommend

I found this a bit boring, and didn't like the power dynamic difference between Freya and the MMC. It felt like a forced and unfeasibly for a lasting HEA.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwell for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Freya is trying to find her place in the literary world, working as a PR assistant tasked with salvaging the reputation of a romance author. She struggles with self-confidence but slowly starts to find it as she gets to know Jake and uncovers the reasons behind his unintentional career sabotage.

I enjoyed the plot, though it took me a while to connect with the romance. At first, the characters seemed to be going through the motions, but once they became truly vulnerable with each other, the connection felt authentic. One of the highlights of the book was its glimpse into the publishing industry and the behind-the-scenes roles that support authors. I’m not sure how much of it was fictionalized versus a realistic portrayal, but it made for an engaging read regardless

3 stars.

I really like Victoria Walters's books. This was not my favorite (because of the drama) but it still was an enjoyable read.

I’d say this books was about growing up as a person. Of course the romance was in important part too, but I think that Freya learning to be honest with herself was really essential in this book.

WHAT I LIKED: I liked the main characters, and the descriptions of publishing world were interesting!

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: All the drama in the middle! Too much for me. And I hated Hayley!

WHAT TO EXPECT:

Pov: heroine, 1st person
Heat: open doors
Pacing: slowburnish
Communication: miscommunication
Third act: break up (but it was actually quite early, almost in the second act)
Ending: HEA

Main characters:
* She's an assistant literary agent, he's a writer
* Age gap
* Opposites attract

What?
* Forbidden love
* Forced proximity
* Grand gesture
* One night stand turned more

Where?
* Traveling together
* Workplace romance

Drama?
* Family drama
* Imaginary love triangle

Other vibes:
* Book about books

At first I wasn't sure I'd enjoy a book about a klutzy woman but once the story got underway and Freya demonstrated her competence at work I got sucked in and really enjoyed this book. The two main characters had wonderful chemistry and I enjoyed the way their relationship developed and how they communicated with each other. I also loved the settings in NYC as a romantic backdrop for the story. The ending was very satisfying on both a personal and professional level!

This is my first Victoria Walters’ novel, I really enjoyed her writing style, making this a quick and easy escape into the publishing world. A glitzy New York literary conference, a grumpy bestselling author, and an ambitious younger assistant are tasked with saving his reputation. Long Story Short has all the right ingredients for a swoon-worthy bookish romance. I enjoyed the creative literary conference backdrop. You get to see the behind the scenes, glitzy glamour of the publishing world. I enjoyed the side characters’ getting their happy endings. There were so many heartwarming moments. Their subplots added emotional depth and authenticity, bringing a touch of warmth to the story. Ultimately, Long Story Short is a light, easy read perfect for a weekend escape. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of Long Story Short.

🎆Book: Long Story Short

🍨Rate: 5 Stars!

😻Praise: I really love this! Can you imagine reading a book that captures you from the first syllable or the first sentence? You just know when your literary loving heart it's going to be good! Freya works are magic to help her boss Jake Richards a major romance novelist with a certain situation involving book romance loving community and his publicist.

🎉 Another grumpy sunshine book that naturally has my heart! The goodies in this book are the descriptions of where they go and what they're doing! I felt as if Nora Efron was narrating this book! Jake is definitely a grumpy bear! With Freya sunshine raised trying to break through his rock exterior it definitely made for a good basis! This book was designed to grab your attention and take you on a flight and it did its job! Beautifully!

🥰Extra: I definitely wanted more! And that's a good thing! I hope there's a sequel! Two souls growing together over time who are the polar opposite is the natural best genre I am always gravitated toward!

💓Bravo!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance reader copy of Long Story Short by Victoria Walters in exchange for an honest review.

Long Story Short is an enemies to lovers story of a well-known romance author and an aspiring literary agent. Jake Richards is a best-selling romance author who has recently made a mistake that is causing his reputation and career to be on the lie. Freya has been sent on to a romance conference with Jake to try to save his career.

It is a sweet story but I struggled with the execution and character development. Many phrases were repeated over and over which did not add to the plot or quality of the book. Characters were weakly developed and I didn't find myself rooting for them much at all.

Long story short, long story short, was a good book. There was moments of cringe and some parts I skipped (then ultimately read) but a frequent aspect of the romance genre is that it redeemed itself with the love story. Twists and turns I did not see coming cropped up, and ultimately it was an easy, feel-good romance that I enjoyed. 3.5 stars

📖Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖

Victoria Walters’s book is both charming and filled with wonderful romance all revolving within the world of books. There are spicy moments and just a little suspense to keep the reader moving forward. As with other books, her books are embedded in a plot surrounded by books and romance appealing to romance readers everywhere. Any book lover will find charm and delight in the romance of her books.
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Freya, an aspiring literary agent, is tasked by her boss with helping Jake Richards, a romance novelist who has found himself in a nasty position with his publisher and the passionate romance community. As they set off to New York for a literary convention, Freya is weighed down with the pressure of doing damage control and restoring Jake’s reputation. Not only does Jake need help, this is Freya’s chance to prove herself to her boss.

Unfortunately, Jake is not the easiest to work with, a rival author appears and Jake is holding in a secret he wishes to keep to himself. However, the way Freya sees it, his secret might just be what is needed to begin his reputation redemption. The truth is what the readers need. As Freya and Jake work closely together, their chemistry to one another becomes slowly stronger. There are so many complications with the situation and Freya is afraid to give her heart away.

Book lovers will definitely fall of this book!
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🌸Also available on Audible with narration by Geri Allen🌸

This is a cute rom com! Freya has dreams of being a literary agent and is given the chance of a lifetime, to help romance writer Jack Richards to fix his reputation and career. Yall see where this is going right??? But it's so fun and those spicy scenes were spicy!!! There were a couple of moments that made me mad at Jack (don't tell her to calm down damn it) but overall, I enjoyed it! Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for my digital ARC!!

You can’t beat a boy meets girl romance or in this case man meets woman in a New York romance.
I love Vicky Walters books and this is a fun and sexy romance.
I really liked Freya. Her honest and direct attitude was refreshing and the fact she’s a bookworm and a romance reader too sealed the deal for me.
The book agency/ publishing world sounded fascinating and I loved the sound of the conference set in New York.
The chemistry between Jake and Freya was undeniable but it was interesting seeing them work through their professional and personal relationship with the background of the romance conference keeping them on track.

📚 The Good:
The chemistry blueprint is one we all love: grumpy boy meets sunshine girl. Nate’s layers and Phoebe’s optimism are meant to clash, only to melt into something tender. The New York setting adds an irresistible charm—coffee shops, park benches, rain-slicked streets that feel like they’ve witnessed a thousand stories. The idea of the romance has all the makings of a classic.

❤️ The Not-so-Good:
But somewhere between the pages, the magic feels a little muffled. The narrative meanders at a slow pace, which, while reflective at times, struggles to build that much-needed romantic tension. Phoebe, despite her sunshine persona, fades into the background in key emotional moments—feeling more like a sketch than a vibrant lead. Their romance, rather than making hearts race, stays lukewarm, as if waiting to fully bloom but never quite getting there.

📖 The Verdict:
Long Story Short has a lovely plot idea—two broken souls finding each other in the city of dreams—but it needed more grip, more sparkle, more heart-thumping connection. If you adore slow-burn stories with atmospheric settings, this might still work for you. But if you’re looking for chemistry that leaps off the page, this might feel like a missed connection on a rainy New York evening.

This is a cute story about people who write books and the publishing world of being and author and an agent.
It starts with a couple of meet cutes, yes a couple.
We have 25 year old Freya who is an assistant to a literary agent and aspires to be an agent herself soon. She is sent to New York to accompany the bestselling Romance author Jake to a Romance conference in the hopes of saving his career after a damning article was written about some derogatory comments he'd made on the genre.
It seems unusual that for me at least, I was more interested in the non-romance plot i.e the resurrecting of Jake's career and everything surrounding that that the relationship the 2 characters developed. Perhaps because there was more drama in that than in the Romance?
In any case a solid book and a great insight into the publishing world for most readers who are curious.
Many thanks to Boldworld books for providing me with a copy of the book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.