I have to admit I had to warm up to Kellen Boyle as the MMC. After finishing listening I still felt like he wasn’t the right match for Silas and sounded younger than the character. Kellen’s performance was enjoyable notheless. Maria Liatis I thought was wonderful as Jo and matched the character. So this audio was a 50/50 split for me. Thank you again for the advanced listen!

Up Close & Personal by Ana Holguin

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

Ok, I actually really enjoyed this book, and I was really expecting not to for some reason? It’s very obvious that this book’s inspiration was Peloton instructors. Our fmc is a “Haven” spin class and home bike streaming instructor. Our mmc is a jaded journalist set out to write a critical magazine article about workout influencers. It made me think of Cody Rigsby on Dancing with the Stars and how the world was introduced to a whole new kind of influencer when fitness became a major trend.

One thing I loved about this book was the main characters. I really liked both Jo and Silas as people and even better with a slow-burn budding romance. I initially thought that I may not end up liking Silas due to his “hater-boy” attitude about popular things, but I think Jo said it best: just because something is popular does not mean it’s not worthwhile. I truly appreciate that Silas gave her an actual chance and didn’t stick with his pre-conceived notions of Jo and the Haven company.

The mental health rep in this book was beautiful. The way the author handled depression and anxiety with care while simultaneously not creating a self-sabotaging character was fantastic. One of my biggest pet peeves in life and in books is when characters/people make bad decisions and blame it all on depression and anxiety. I do not think mental health should be used as an excuse to hurt the people you love and make poor decisions. I definitely think it can contribute, but at the end of the day, I cannot condone actively hurting yourself and others. Jo was a great example of how NOT to do that and how to take good care of yourself, to know your limits, and to lean on your support system when you can’t do it anymore. She had a great support system in Amber and Serena. I love me some girl’s girls.

Silas and Jo’s romance was so adorable! It was the perfect slow burn, the perfect amount of fun and banter, and the perfect amount of spice. The third act didn’t feel forced, and we could see it building from the beginning of the book. I feel like Jo and Silas both reacted very realistically and took accountability when it came down to admitting their wrongs. I truly believe being able to take accountability and responsibility for your actions and words is one of the strongest signs of personal growth. These two are on their way to self-actualization.

I liked both narrators for this book. It didn’t take long at all to fly through it. They gave the characters a strong voice, and I always love a dual narration.

I would recommend this book to fans of fitness and romance, books set in NYC, and people who like to read about strong, mature characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ana Holguin, and Hachette Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated are my own!

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with a copy of this audiobook and an honest review!

I am not super into fitness; I wish I were, but I'm not. However, I am a huge rom-com fan! I really enjoyed most of this book. It gives major *27 Dresses* vibes.(but without the evil younger sister). It also gives something unique and puts a fun spin on workout groups and organizations.

Jo is a beautiful person, and her anxiety is very relatable. Ana somehow manages to write Jo in a way where she's not perfect but is aware of her strength and beauty and has enough self-awareness to not be a two-dimensional cardboard cutout of a beauty blogger.

However, I found the romance to fall a bit flat, and I was extremely frustrated with Silas and his lack of honesty with his friends and with Jo. That being said, it was still a fun listen and worth reading because Jo, as a main character, sparkles through. This isn't anything new or novel, but it is a sweet story about learning to figure out your life and speak up for yourself.

When the book started off it read a little more women's fiction, it seemed to focus alot on the relationship between the FMC Jo and her friends and feeling towards them. Her in general I felt was pretty relatable, feeling stagnant in life and exhaused by her job, wanting change and to pivot in a different direction. Silas, the MMC was unlikeable from the very beginning. They meet because he wants to write an article, a deep dive on what he is calling the 'inner workings' of this Spin company that Jo works for. He wants to investigate basically how fake these people really are and write all about it, only when he proposes the idea of writing about Jo, to Jo, he basically makes it seem like its some harmless article, day in the life, kind of thing, Silas is basically lying to her from the very beginning.
He meets Jo under the assumption that she's some fake stuck up bitch, but eventually after several times meeting his feelings toward her begin to change when he realizes nothing he initially thought about her was true. This however does not change very much about the article he's writing. At no point did he tell her the truth, when the relationship was turning more romantic. He kept it hidden until she came across it herself and blew him off. Then this man proceeds to love bomb her which is the biggest red flag in existence. Showing up with flowers etc trying to apologize when he did nothing to change his actions when he should have known better!!!
Nothing about this book was especially romantic to me. I was not rooting for this couple and honestly hoped the author would put a spin on the story and make them *not * get back together.
I enjoyed the conversation of mental health representation, but that was pretty much it
We did not need another book about a man trying to ruin a woman's career.

I also did not enjoy the voices of these narrators. I enjoyed it being dual pov and hvaing two voice actors but their voices grated my ears and it felt a little bit like torture trying to get through this audio.

Yes to the bangs!!! Haha.
This was a refreshing audiobook listen. I loved the mental health rep throughout this book. It's very heavily discussed but discussed well.
The narrators did a great job and it's an enjoyable listen between the two of them. The banter was so funny and addicting, and the slow burn was sweet with just the right amount of build up without overshooting it. I enjoyed Jo's character growth and relateableness as a character.

Thank you Hachette Audio and Forever Pub for the ALC and gifted book!

Oh oh oh, this is cute!

Grumpy journalist Silas, ever the skeptic, has decided that Jo De La Cruz and her cult-like following is a scam. He does not believe this fitness instructor could possibly be as amazing as social media would let on. He agrees to write a piece on her for his magazine and uses below the board maneuvers to arrange a meet up with the instructor. What could go wrong?

Silas learns that behind the scenes, Jo is complex. She is even better in real life than online. Unfortunately, Jo discovers that Silas has not been 100% honest, and she is heartbroken. These two need to figure their junk out and stat. This is a really cute story.

Both narrators, Maria Liatis and Kellen Boyle are excellent.

Thanki you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the advance listen in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.5 stars rounded to 5.

A skeptic contrarian journalist named Silas tasked to write an article about Jo, a famous fitness instructor who’s always in high demand. After some “shortcuts”, he secured an interview with her, only after he tried one session on her class. He took the offer while having his own full prejudice in mind, but after spending time with Jo, he realized that he was very very wrong.

Meanwhile, Jo has been struggling to find joy and purpose in doing her job after a decade, and she thought that interview could be her gateway to tell her story. Then it’s started to get complicated when they both started to catch feelings, knowing full well there’s a strict line they shouldn’t cross to maintain their professionalism.

It was surprisingly really good! I love their banter & dynamics. It’s slow burn full of chemistry. Aside from fitness & journalism, it’s also highlighting the characters mental struggles which make the characters felt even more real. Jo, Amber and Serena’s found sisterhood was also soooo precious & wholesome and I’m glad Jo has them in their life. Serena was such an interesting character and she deserves to have her own story I think🥹 but I digress. The fallout was intense and emotional, though totally expected. I blame Silas for that lol he brought it upon himself. But what’s a romance story if it doesn’t have a happy ending, right?

The narrators were amazing too! Both Maria Liatis & Kellen Boyle did great jobs in narrating Jo’s and Silas’s point of view. I was absorbed into the story. All in all, I enjoyed this.

The premise of Up Close & Personal was just too fun for me to pass up - a jaded journalist challenges a celebrity fitness instructor to prove she’s the real deal and not just a scam. I just had to know how that was going to turn out!

Jo is a popular spin instructor at Haven, a company she is also part owner of. After a decade of hard work, she is at the top of her game and has huge waiting lists for her live classes, and her classes are also streamed into thousands of homes.

Getting to the top has come at a price though and Jo has struggled with her mental health at times, particularly anxiety. She does like a challenge though, so when journalist Silas Anders challenges her to prove she is more than just a cheerleader sitting on a bike yelling at people, she not only rises to the challenge, but she sets out to absolutely torch his expectations.

I loved that as soon as Silas realized he was dead wrong about Jo, he set out to really get to know the woman behind the bike and that they both ended up surprising each other.

I also appreciated how multi layered both characters were, sometimes strong but also quite vulnerable at times. It was also really sweet watching them slowly open to one another. They have incredible chemistry but the progression of their relationship is a slow burn, I’d say friends to lovers vibes. It felt realistic though, especially since both characters were dealing with some personal struggles, and I thought the author did a wonderful job incorporating mental health representation into the story both in terms of anxiety and depression.

I read with my eyes and ears and really enjoyed the audiobook narrators, Kellen Boyle and Maria Liatis. I thought they did an exceptional job, especially when it came to the more emotional and vulnerable moments between Silas and Jo.

Up Close & Personal is a wonderful debut from Ana Holguin, and I look forward to reading more from her!

This one was such a fun and refreshing read! I really enjoyed Jo’s storyline. Watching her open up about her anxiety, come into her own, and find real peace and happiness was incredibly rewarding. The mental health rep felt genuine and well-balanced, never overshadowing the charm of the romance.

Silas was a fantastic MMC- kind, witty, and genuinely swoony- but I did find myself frustrated by how long he sat on something he clearly needed to share. It wasn’t a huge secret or shocking twist, just one of those things that grows more annoying the longer it’s left unsaid.

That aside, the banter between Jo and Silas was top-tier- fun, flirty, and full of personality. Plus, I listened to the audiobook and loved the dual narration, which added a fun extra layer to the story and made the chemistry even more engaging. Add in the satirical peek into the world of cult-like fitness companies, and this debut really stands out as both heartfelt and entertaining! Thank you so much to Hacette Audio for a chance to read an advanced copy of this.

Jo has always loved her job as a famous spin instructor. But lately she’s feeling like maybe it’s not for her anymore. But who would she be without Haven? When she learns her company may be acquired and streamed to an international audience, she knows she has to get out. And then there’s Silas, a journalist hellbent in closing the truth about Haven. But he soon discovers Haven - and Jo - aren’t what he expected and there’s something between them they can’t ignore, While the narrators have sweet voices, they’re not my favorite. I wouldn’t purposely choose to hear them narrate a romance novel again.

When Silas, a journalist, decides that he will do a piece of Haven, what he less expects is Jo. Maybe all his prejudices were wrong all along?

When Jo meets Silas, she thinks doing an interview with him is the best way to challenge herself, but getting out of her comfort zone may not be the only thing that comes out of these meetings.

I always appreciate having representation on mental illnesses. It is super important to help normalising them, and it makes the reader feel closer to the characters, and it was not different this time. Jo having anxiety and how she fights against it was really inspiring and also makes a special remark that no matter how popular or perfect your life may seem, everyone has issues in their personal lifes.

That being said, I feel everything in this book is over explained, you go through every action with a huge description on feelings or past actions that, in my opinion, are not need in the story. If you go to a nail salon, it is not needed an explanation on why you went to a new one, I get that it is maybe to show that Jo is quite an overthinker but it was excessive in my opinion.

The dual point of view is a really good tool to show the inner self of the two characters, but in this case, it may me dislike both of them. Every action that would make me like Silas gets spoiled when I get to see what goes to his head, even Jo, seeing her through his eyes... it was like seeing a delicate flower instead of the strong character I feel like she should be.

On the audio part, I really liked the two narrators, except when Silas imitated Jo's voice, that felt too overacted, in my opinion. But other than that, they were super easy to understand, and both made the characters come to live.

Finally, I want to thank Hachette Audio, Ana Holguin, and Netgalley for letting me listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. This may not have been my cup of tea, but I am curious to see what this author writes next.

Up Close and Personal by Ana Holguin
Contemporary romance.
Streaming spin classes has gained Jo De La Cruz almost a million followers. But after ten years of training and urging people on their bikes to sweat, she’s tired of same thing and is looking for the next career move.
Silas Anders is a New York metropolitan journalist with a history of skepticism in his writing. When he’s assigned the story to figure out why Jo is so popular, he finds a common connection and arranged to meet her outside the spin classes. When she admits she doesn’t handle her own social media, she puts them both in a bit of an awkward position of getting to know each other both on and off record. The more time they spend together, the more they find in common. Will the final story make or break them?

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and an audiobook which was narrated by Maria Liatis and Kellen Boyle. I loved these narrators. Both did a wonderful performance with their POV using different voices for male and female and secondary characters. Emotions were clearly expressed making the reading engrossing and appealing.
I listened to this at 1.5 and slightly higher to more closely match my reading and conversation speed.

A romance with career focus assessment interlaced with falling in love and “limitless possibilities”.
Hot (as in sweaty - exercise sweaty!) and delightful.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Hachette Audio.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/d34f98f4-cd2e-49b1-839c-28d8cb72732f

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https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/up-close-personal-ana-holguin/1146129768?ean=9781538756881&bvnotificationId=97aeeee8-2889-11f0-91d3-Up Close and Personal by Ana Holguin
Contemporary romance.
Streaming spin classes has gained Jo De La Cruz almost a million followers. But after ten years of training and urging people on their bikes to sweat, she’s tired of same thing and is looking for the next career move.
Silas Anders is a New York metropolitan journalist with a history of skepticism in his writing. When he’s assigned the story to figure out why Jo is so popular, he finds a common connection and arranged to meet her outside the spin classes. When she admits she doesn’t handle her own social media, she puts them both in a bit of an awkward position of getting to know each other both on and off record. The more time they spend together, the more they find in common. Will the final story make or break them?

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and an audiobook which was narrated by Maria Liatis and Kellen Boyle. I loved these narrators. Both did a wonderful performance with their POV using different voices for male and female and secondary characters. Emotions were clearly expressed making the reading engrossing and appealing.
I listened to this at 1.5 and slightly higher to more closely match my reading and conversation speed.

A romance with career focus assessment interlaced with falling in love and “limitless possibilities”.
Hot (as in sweaty - exercise sweaty!) and delightful.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Hachette Audio.

I enjoyed this one! Silas was dreamy and Jo was such a badass. I appreciate how the author tried to keep a body-neutral mindset in regards to Haven, but there were some comments about “working off” food, and other little fatphobic comments. The mental health representation was gorgeous, though!

The narrators were fantastic and I look forward to hearing more from them!

Silas, a writer for a somewhat major magazine based out of NYC is a contrarian. If a lot of people love it, you can be sure that he will find a way to hate it. So, when he learns that his colleagues and friends are big fans of a local minor celebrity famous for her job as a fitness instructor, he decides to find out what makes Jo the spin instructor so special. Prepared to hate her based on his own preconceived notions, he quickly learns that there is so much more to Jo beyond the bike. Below the surface of what Jo shows her clients lie many secrets that she feels could ruin her career.

This book explores anxiety, depression, parasocial relationships and more while having some laugh out loud moments to help ease the heavy aspects. As a fitness lover, I really enjoyed the peloton-alike job that Jo had. It really put into perspective that behind the smiles and encouragement, the instructors that I see daily are real people who have real struggles like I do.

I did find Silas’s character frustrating a lot of the time. In my day to day life, I find contrarian people to be unlikable (and that’s the kindest way to say that, honestly). I appreciated that he grew over time after learning more about Jo but at times, it felt like he was just going to keep digging that proverbial grave by continuing to do dumb stuff rather than communicating.

I appreciated that the audiobook for this title had both a male and female narrator. There were a few instances while listening that the narrators tripped over pronunciation but there were no glaring issues. The delivery of some of the joke-y banter was great. I found myself laughing a few times, specifically over the recurring joke, “When you’re here, you’re family.”

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more from Ana Holguin!

Famous spin instructor meets skeptical journalist in this debut.

I appreciated the thoughtful mental health representation. Some parts felt a bit disconnected and needed more character development especially with the MMC. The middle dragged and admittedly got a little boring, but the ending was satisfying.

Note: this one leans into the miscommunication trope.

The audiobook was a solid experience, with both male and female narrators.

Excited to see more from this author in the future!

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

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook! I was genuinely impressed by the audio production— the voice actors brought so much personality and depth to the characters, making the story even more engaging.

I’ll admit, I didn’t like Silas at first. But his growth over the course of the story, and his awareness of that growth, really won me over. Maybe it’s the journalist in him—but I ended up appreciating his character arc a lot.

Jo was wonderfully written. I found myself agreeing with Silas’s initial thoughts on those spin classes (I laughed out loud), but I also really admired how Jo worked through her anxiety in such a thoughtful and relatable way. It even made me consider giving a fitness class another shot!

Their relationship developed in a refreshingly natural way—from friends to something more—and I appreciated how grounded that progression felt.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story. It was a fantastic listen—and honestly, I wouldn’t mind a Mike book next!

a slow burn romance with a writer doing an article on the hot spin instructor? SIGN ME UP!!!!!! 🤸🏻‍♀️

I really enjoyed this one! My favorite parts were the conversations around mental. A lot of times, both in books and real life, mental health is depicted as a thing to get over or heal from, but when you are mentally ill, it is more something to learn to live and cope with. And I think this book painted that picture so beautifully. Both of the main characters have struggled with their mental health and it was a breath of fresh air to see them talk about therapy, medications, going and getting through crises, and living day-to-day with diagnosed disorders.

Something else that I loved was the conversation around the internet and how it can affect you!

I really liked both of the main characters, and this book has a cast of side characters that are so fun to read about!! My only issue with the story is all the secrecy when there’s really no reason to lie.

THE AUDIOBOOK WAS AMAZING!!! Thank you Netgalley and Hachette for the ALC 🩷 I adored the narrators and how easy it was to follow the writing in their voices. They really brought the characters and the story to life for me. Something that came to mind for me was how easy it was to distinct the text messages from everything else! I feel like not every narrator does this well, but these two killed it.

Overall, a great debut and I can’t wait to read more from Ana!

I received an advanced listener copy of Up Close and Personal by Ana Holguin from NetGalley. This contemporary romance follows Jo De La Cruz, a popular spin instructor, and Silas Anders, a skeptical journalist digging into the fitness industry. As Silas dives into Jo’s world for his story, the two slowly develop a deeper connection that pushes them to confront their own insecurities and emotional baggage.

The book is well written, and the narration was solid, but I found it difficult to connect with the characters. Silas, in particular, didn’t come across as very likable, and Jo sometimes felt overly passive in her responses. The slowburn dynamic between them took a little too long to build for my taste, and by the time the romance came together, the emotional payoff didn’t feel as strong as it could have been.

That said, the story does explore vulnerability and personal growth and there is anxiety representation. This may still be worth checking out—even if it didn’t quite land for me.

I absolutely loved this slow-burn rom-com! We meet Jo, a very popular spin instructor, and Silas, who wants to do an article on Jo for this magazine he works for. It was just so sweet. I appreciated the representation of anxiety and depression. There were things about it that bothered me a bit, but not enough to even consider stopping reading. A great debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC of the audiobook for the opportunity to listen to this book for my honest review in return..

⭐2.75

I love the mental health representation, however the first introduction to Silas almost made me drop the book with how much I disliked him. I'm glad I didn't drop the book!

I think this is a decent romance and I am excited to see what this author comes out with in the future. I can only see this author growing and creating amazing romance books in the future!

The audiobook aspect of this was really good I liked the narrators and would listen to them read something again!