Jo is a professional spin instructor for Haven (think Peloton). She is livestreamed to homes everywhere. Her workouts are legendary. Her Instagram account is verified, and her hair has an account of its own. Silas is a journalist for a lifestyle magazine with preconceived assumptions of fitness instructors, especially the trendy, influencer types.

I land on a 2.5⭐ rating here, right down the middle and not a bad review for a debut novel. I appreciated the mental health representation that was abundant and well done throughout the book. I enjoyed Jo as a strong female main character. Silas, on the other hand, did not deliver much. Overall, I felt there was a lack of character development for both characters, especially Silas. I do not feel like I truly got to know either of them on any level higher than basic surface information. I was never fully invested in the characters, and with that I had a hard time buying into any sort of romantic chemistry between them. It just wasn’t a believable relationship to me. I personally don’t enjoy lack of communication as a plot device, so the third-act breakup was difficult to get through. And it was entirely too predictable.

This was a dual perspective story. The audiobook narrators felt a little flat to me, although this may have been the material influencing my listening experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

“Big Midwest Energy” has got to be my new favorite phrase🤣 Jo and Sylas had the best banter the whole book 👌I love how in the beginning Sylas doubted her and why everyone was obsessed with her, but was quickly shown why. The mental health representation was great too! The one thing I didnt care for was the 3rd act breakup. 🙃 I hate those. However, it was turned around by hearing what Sylas wrote in his article 😍 3.75 stars rounded to a 4 ☺️

This was such a beautiful heartfelt story from plot to characters everything came together so beautifully. The mental health rep was so beautifully handled, I resonated with the FMC a lot in some parts. I loved watching the couple come together and them being vulnerable around each other; sharing parts of their lives with each other, it's not often that I root for the couples from the get go but as the saying goes "when you know you know "😂🙆🏼‍♀️
If you enjoy witty banter Romcom with emotional depth then be sure to pick this up!

I loved this story; it dealt with anxiety very relatable, and I feel like many people will see themselves in the main characters. The cycling was a nice touch, and it was great that the focus of participating in the classes was more about becoming confident in oneself rather than for weight loss. From the moment our two MCs met, there was something that was calling them towards each other, and I'm glad that after a misunderstanding, they were both able to work through the situation in their way before coming together and speaking about it.

It was a touching story about the importance of mental health in such an open and vulnerable way. Jo's friendship with her girlfriends is beautiful. They could talk to each other through difficult situations while considering each other's feelings and being very supportive.

Thank you to Estelle from Forever for the ARC and Hachette Audio/Net Galley for the ALC~

I couldn't have asked for more perfect narrators for the characters they did a perfect job capturing their personalities!

3.5 ⭐

Jo is a popular spin instructor. Silas is a journalist and "part-time hater." When Silas is assigned an article to explore why spin instructors are so popular, his goal is to show why it's a waste. We follow the two learning about themselves and falling in love.

🎧🎧🎧

This is Ana's debut novel, and I definitely will be reading more of her work. It was written in a way that made it very easy to immerse yourself in the story. I envisioned myself in the spin class. I loved the good representation of mental health. The characters and their struggles were realistic. I enjoyed the narrators, Maria Liatis and Kellen Boyle. They did a beautiful job bringing the characters to life!


💫 slow burn
💫great mental health representation
💫 found family
💫dual POV

A delightful rom-com for anyone looking for something in the vein of "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Truly a lovely delight.

For the most part, this book was okay. I personally just hate the “I’m keeping something important from you” in romance books because you just KNOW there will be a 3rd act breakup and sure enough that’s exactly what happened.

The plot is super unique. I love that Jo is a spin instructor and Silas is a journalist. I liked the mental health rep because it does feel true to depression and how it affects everyday life.

The romance fell a bit flat for me. I didn’t really feel the chemistry between Jo and Silas. They felt more like crushes but nothing worth pursuing.

The audiobook is done really well with the readers. Their voices are very clear and easy to listen to. I could speed up to 2x and understand them.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the free arc

This was such a pleasant surprise!! I read a lot of romance so it can feel like I’ve seen it all, but this felt new and fresh. Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for my advanced copy — out 4/29!

Up Close & Personal
By Ana Holguin
Narrated by Maria Liatis and Kellen Boyle

Published April 29,2025

I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t stop listening once I started it. Silas. A journalist was assigned to write a profile on Jo, who he thought he could stereotype. He was so wrong and I am obsessed with the story between them. Silas was sent to write about Haven Studio that is a company focused on fitness classes, with its main focus being spinning. He meets Jo, one of the faces of Haven Studio, and one of the most popular and well known spin instructors for Haven. At first Silas thought he could read Jo, but he was so wrong and he soon realized she was absolutely nothing like what he thought she would be.
I LOVED the huge focus on mental health and overall well being that Ana wrote in. Especially the focus on depression and anxiety. Jo is someone who can be related to easily, she has her own inner battles she suffers from but still loves what she does and shows up daily to help change the lives of the millions of Haven Studio users. I honestly wish this book hadn’t ended because it was that good. I really hope that Ana writes a sequel of some sorts for this.
This is my favorite type of romance to read because the story and relationship and heat built up with that slow burn.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc and alc.

This was a cute romance. I liked the main characters. My only comment is I felt that the romance seemed to be slightly rushed (for my taste). As for the audiobook, I liked both the male and female narrators. Overall, this was a really enjoyable read and I would definitely consider reading more by Ana Holguin in the future!

In this athletic and heartfelt romcom, a burnt out celebrity spin instructor, Jo De La Cruz, is challenged by skeptical journalist Silas Anders to prove her job isn’t a scam. Determined to win him over, Jo invites him into her world only to discover he’s far more than just a critic. As they bond over workouts, late night diner runs, and shared vulnerabilities, sparks fly. But when Silas’s article gains traction, Jo must decide if she can trust him or risk losing both her heart and her reputation.

This was a cute, slow burn romance novel. I really loved that mental health, specifically anxiety, was one of the central themes in the story. The supportive female friendship and the New York setting were also highlights for me.

While the slow burn was a bit slower than I would like, and the romance felt a touch melodramatic at times, overall it was an enjoyable read (or listen, in my case).

The audiobook, narrated by Maria Liatis and Kellen Boyle, was a lot of fun to listen to! They did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life.

Thank you NetGalley and HachetteAudio for this ALC!!

Up Close & Personal
By: Ana Holguin

The vibes:
- famous spin instructor (big Peloton vibes) + journalist writing about her
- slow burn
- he takes care of her after an injury
- mental health and therapy rep
- found family
- dual POV

This was a sweet story with some meaningful themes! I loved the behind the scenes of FMC’s career, and the MMC secretly writing an article about FMC gave How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days or 27 Dresses vibes! I gave 4 stars because I very much enjoyed it but the miscommunication conflict trope was very avoidable. I listened to the audiobook and the narrators were great!

Content warning: anxiety and depression, cyber bullying, difficult family dynamics

Thank you to NetGalley & the author for access to this ARC in return for my honest review!

Jo is a high profile spin instructor at a major stationary bike company with a waitlist a mile long for her classes. Silas is a jaded journalist that thinks Jo is nothing more than a pretty face with an over the top attitude to gain social media followers and members of her spin class. That’s why when Silas tells Jo her job is nothing more than yelling at people from on top bike, she knows she has to prove him wrong by making him experience it first hand. After trying out a class with Jo, Silas realizes that she is so much more than just a spin instructor and wants to write an article about her. Jo agrees, especially because after 10 years of battling her own mental health she thinks it will be the perfect way for her to express herself. But as the release of the article draws near, Jo questions if Silas was even honest with her at all as they got to know each other.

Overall this was an okay listen. The narrators did a good job of bringing the story to life. The storyline itself was the typical romance, including a third act breakup that went from zero to 100 pretty quickly. I never really felt like I connected or sympathized with either MC, so I wasn’t as invested in their love story as some others I’ve listened to lately, but overall it was an enjoyable read.

Thank you NetGalley, Hatchett Audio, and Ana Holguin for the ALC!

Thankyou to NetGalley and Hachette for providing me an arc copy of up close & personal!


This powerful debut novel offers a raw and authentic portrayal of anxiety and depression, capturing the emotional struggles of its characters with striking relatability. Through a beautifully paced journey from strangers to friends to lovers, the story explores the complexities of connection and healing. It also delivers a compelling commentary on the damaging effects of social media on mental health, making it both timely and thought-provoking.

Audiobook provided was very well spoken and thoroughly enjoyable.

I need to stop requesting audiobooks for things that aren't mysteries because I'm not always in the mood. third act breakup was annoying but the rest was cute.

Spin queen Jo De La Cruz has it all fame, fans, and flawless hair. What she didn’t plan for? A stubborn, cute journalist who’s way too good at keeping up (on and off the bike).
This book is packed with flirty banter, diner dates, thrift shop adventures, and major heart. Warning: you will want to sign up for a spin class after reading.
Fast, flirty, and full of feels highly recommend!

The audiobook was so fun to listen to the narrators had a great way of making the characters stand out and make them feel likable.

4.5⭐️

This is a review of the audiobook.

I really loved the focus of mental health in this book. That's not a topic anyone wants to talk about and as someone who also struggles with mental health issues, I always get excited when an author has great representation in their book!

I'm a sucker for a dual narration audiobook. I loved the female narrator right off the bat but it took me a while to get used to the voice of the male narrator. Definitely not a favorite of mine but tolerable.

Overall, I really liked this book and would love to read more by this author.

Where do I even start. I adored this book. It took a second to get into, but once I did, I didn't want to put it down! I loved the slow build romance, but I really adored the importance of mental health. Making it important to have those conversations and emphasizing the growth that comes with expressing those feelings. I loved Jo so much as a character too, her story and character growth was everything I never knew I needed in a main character!

Hovering around 3.5 stars
I had an ALC of the audiobook, and the narrators both did excellent jobs (this is duel, not duet narration). Though I did have to listen on 1.75 speed because their reading was a touch slow for my taste.

What I liked
-the mental health rep (anxiety & depression, but especially anxiety gets discussed a lot through the story, and its done quite well imo)
-I liked Jo as a character
-as a Latina, I love seeing the rep
-the conversations around exersising, body image, and the toxicity in health spaces
-Jo's reaction and anxiety spiral to the 3rd act break up (while I hated the breakup), felt realistic

What I didn't like as much
-characters felt a bit flat. I really liked Jo, but Silas felt a bit one-dimensional, as did many of the side characters
-this did unfortunately make it hard for me to connect to the characters and care about their journey
-Silas started pissing me off around the 65% mark. He had all this guilt about his behaviour, and instead of doing anything about it, he just kept wallowing in it! He wasn't acting like a professional, career journalist, and it really started to get on my nerves
-the 3rd act break-up was really knocking us over the head with the foreshadowing, yet it still somehow felt un-earned

Overall, this is a cute romance between a journalist and a spin coach that features pretty extensive conversations about mental health and being in the public eye (as well as parasocial relationships). I would reccomend it for a quick read!

🎧 Audiobook +📗 E-book: Up Close and Personal -a standalone

✍🏾 Author: Ana Holguin- debut author

📃Page Count: 368

📅Publication date: 4-29-25 | Read: 4-27-25

🏃🏾‍➡️Run Time: 11:35

🌎 Setting: NYC

👆🏾POV: 1st person dual Jo and Silas

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Multicultural, Adult Fic

Tropes: male/female friendship, mental health, friends to lovers, mutual attraction, slow burn, workplace romance

⚠️TW: anxiety/depression disorder, therapy, online harassment, mental breakdown, MS-H's father

🗣️Narrator: Maria Liatis and Kellen Boyle voice all the characters with standouts from Jo and Silas. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrators worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrators paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

Summary: Jo and Silas meet through a mutual friend Derek, who is marrying Jo's BFF Amber. Jo asks Silas to do a story on Haven Fitness Studio because he is a skeptical journalist who believes Jo is just a "so-called influencer."

👩🏾 Heroine: Johanna "Jo" De La Cruz, online fitness instructor/spin class- Haven Home

👨🏾 Hero: Silas Anders, 30, a journalist @ the Metropolitan Magazine

🎭 Side Characters:
*Amber-Jo's BFF, getting married to Derek
*Serena-Jo's BFF/moves to Japan for 3 mos.
*Derek Miller-Silas' BFF/old college roommate
*Zoe "Z" Friedman- Jo's mentor and boss
*Colin-Silas's boss and friend

🤔 My Thoughts: This really spoke to me as someone with the same disorder as Jo. From the therapy sessions, to taking medication, and using her coping skills i.e. journaling, going to a museum, taking Mike's class, and breathing. Silas also suffered from depression, so he understood Jo on another level. They kept things professional longer than I expected so when they finally did the deed, I felt the longing and release. There was a big misunderstanding which caused a 3rd act break-up, but it helped both of them. It's a HEA, but I think I want Serena's story!

Range of Emotions 😊😭🤣😔
*Spice: 4/5 🌶️
*Emotion: 5/5 🥲
*Couple: 5/5 🧑‍🤝‍🧑
*Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) | Forever, Hachette Audio, and Ana Holguin for this ARC & ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.