Truly enjoyed getting inside the brains of Jo & Silas.
I was hesitant at first at Silas' self-described "contrarian" personality, but ended up appreciating both characters for where they started & their growth journeys throughout the book.
Definitely more of a slow burn- at times I questioned the pacing and length of the book - but I appreciated the time spent building complex characters and situations.

This was my first Ana Holguin book but certainly won't be my last!
Audio notes - always love a dual narration! Both voices matched their characters well.

This was such a sweet and fun read! I absolutely loved that Jo was a Haven (a Peleton-esque exercise company) star. It was fresh and so interesting to be pulled into a whole new world that I know nothing about. And I loved watching Silas transition from, frankly, pretty judgmental to a full on convert.

2.5⭐
Thank you so much to Forever and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this. All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

I'm really torn on how to rate this one because I really enjoyed the first half of this book. But the latter half caused me to dislike it more and more as it went - in fact I pretty much skimmed the last chapter & epilogue. 2.5 stars feels a little harsh but in the end, I really just didn't enjoy this one.

The setup and themes for this were fantastic. I love seeing other sports (in this case cycle) in romance outside of the typical hockey, baseball, etc. And this deals heavily with mental health, found family, and the fitness industry.

Overall I think this handled the mental health aspects well. The heroine, Jo, deals with anxiety and the hero depression. On page it discussed the stigmas around mental health disorders and not feeling shame or embarrassed.

But I just never get on board with this romance. Because the hero was the most bland milk toast of a love interest...

Seriously what was his personality? We got lots of insight into Jo but outside of the hero being a writer and some vague mentions of college he could have been replaced with literally anyone. There was nothing there.

On top of that, the final conflict was dangled over our heads too often and too blatantly. I spent the entire book just waiting for that bomb to drop and grew annoyed and frustrated every time it was brought up.

While this definitely wasn't my favorite book, I do think there was a lot of potential here. There was nothing bad or blatantly offensive, it just lacked the character depth and development to make me feel anything for their romance. So I'm definitely still interested to check out this author's next book.

Jo is a cycling instructor who is basically a celebrity because of how life changing her classes are and Silas is the reporter who is ready to take her down to prove that there has to be something dark behind the industry. That was not my favorite part of the plot. It made me feel pretty icky.
I appreciated how quickly Silas realized he was wrong and how genuine he was in getting to know the true Jo.
After I got past my personal dislike of the premise at the beginning, I couldn't help but enjoy the chemistry between Jo and Silas, the way this story explored the dark side of celebrity, and the important way it addresses mental health.
All in all, I was happy that I listened to this story.

Thank you to Net Galley, Hachette Audio, and Ana Holguin for an ALC of this story.

With the mental health conversations this could’ve been a great book. Instead it’s overshadowed by a white man who tried to sabotage a Latina’s career and then realizing oh wait, maybe I don’t have to be a jerk after all.

Nothing like a white man thinking he’s better than everything people enjoy. I hated the MMC from the beginning and barelyyyy tipped closer to indifference by the end of the story. Not only was he mansplaining the entire time, his intentions were to “expose” her/her industry and then made her think their plan was all her idea! Like PLEASE STOP. No man should be trying to explain beauty standards to a woman, let alone a woman of color!! Less talking for white men please.

That being said, I did like the FMC and wish she could’ve found a happy ending with someone else!! I rushed to get back to her POV every time the story switched to the MMC. Unfortunately though, we get little to no Latinx representation which is something I was really looking forward to. All of our lived experiences are so different and that’s beautiful, but it’s not until the MMC finds out the FMC’s last name (beginning of the book) that there’s a hint of Latinidad mentioned. And then nothing else until around 50ish% where she mentions her parents are from a small town in Mexico. I was hoping for a lot more.

The mental health representation, specifically on anxiety, is one of the only things that kept me going because I was veryyyy close to DNFing towards the beginning. Watching the FMC open up about her anxiety is what connected with me the most. When she said, “We love drugs!” I felt that.😌 (shoutout to my anxiety meds)

Oh, but “Adam Sandler chic”, EW. FREE PALESTINE!!

If you enjoy romance and any type of workout classes, such as Peloton, then this one is for you! Jo is one of the hottest and most sought out spin teachers in NYC. Silas, a journalist, is writing an article about Jo. I loved that Jo had real anxiety and some mental health stuff that she must overcome every day, some that stems from being a “celebrity” spin instructor. The relationship and romance that buds between Jo and Silus is adorable. He is so supportive in her well-being. This was a slow burn romance that was fun to read. This was a great debut from Holguin. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

I quite enjoyed it, but I did have a few complaints.

There were a few moments where it just didn’t hold my attention. However, the story itself was interesting. The characters were engaging, I liked both of them, as well as the chemistry between them. The writing style was also good. What bothered me a little was the miscommunication towards the end — definitely not my favorite trope.

But overall, it was quite an interesting and light read.

This was a really cute book! Minimal smut if that's not your thing, while still making it feel like nothing was missing story wise.
Jo is a fitness instructor at what is basically a Peloton studio. Silas is a journalist tasked with writing a profile on Jo, but he thinks the whole industry is just an influencer filled cult. Together they learn from each other and find romance along the way. This would be a great beach read for your upcoming summer vacations!

I took away 1 star only because Jo irritated me not even giving him a chance to explain lol

The voice acting was great in this! Both male and female actors had nice normal voices, no annoying quirks and both had good personality. I would listen to books read by either of them again!

Jo is at the top of her game as a cycling instructor with devoted fans all over her take her classes at home every day and hang on her every word. Silas is a writer best-known for hating cauliflower rice. When he is tasked with writing an article about Jo and what makes her fans so loyal, the two are set on a path of figuring out not only each other, but themselves in the process. As a fanatic of a certain real-life at-home cycling company myself, I loved Jo and getting an inside peak into her life and how she got to where she was. Silas is a kind and lovable cynic and I found myself rooting for him to not only fall for Jo, but for the at-home fitness industry as a whole.

This was a cute romcom and I really enjoyed the audiobook with the dual narrators. Overall the book itself was pretty formulaic and very slow burn which almost made me lose interest, especially with the third act breakup which could have been avoided if they just spoke to each other. Overall though I enjoyed it and it kept me entertained.

This one was definitely a slow burn. I appreciated how the story handled mental health and the vulnerability in both characters.

As. SN, I’ve been noticing this trend lately where characters are clearly not white, but there’s this vague mystery around their racial or cultural background. In this case, it felt a bit distracting, especially since it didn’t seem to impact the plot or the relationship dynamic in a meaningful way. I found myself wondering, what purpose is this ambiguity serving?

I kind of wish we didn’t get Sirus’ POV. I think his secret and the eventual betrayal would’ve hit a lot harder.

Set in NYC, this debut romance features a popular pelaton esque spin instructor influencer who gets vulnerable with the journalist that is writing a feature article on her life. Full of excellent mental health rep (the FMC has anxiety and panic attacks and manages them with therapy and exercise) and some great swoony moments, I really enjoyed this one aside from the deceptive way their relationship begins. Good on audio and highly recommended for fans of authors like Kate Goldbeck or Rachel Lynn Solomon. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

CW: anxiety, panic attacks and depression plus a parent who dies from MS

2.5 stars ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆

although enjoyable to listen to, this somehow didn’t really feel like a romance book.

honestly i was more invested in the mental health plot lines & fitness community critiques more (i still feel like the book could have dove in a bit more on those fronts as a whole, especially since silas’s piece for the magazine felt like a fluff piece that was obviously biased cause he likes jo, i definitely feel like he could have done an article discussing both sides of the fitness community like the pros and cons of what it puts out) i do think that part of the book had HUGE potential to really make an impact but idk it still felt a bit flat to me.

i wish the romance had felt more genuine and deserved, unfortunately the romance seemed like it came on all of a sudden.

the third act break up was really annoying to read, i’m personally just not a fan of miscommunication and silas really did give me the ick and seemed like he was playing the victim card a little too strong for a bit. he easily could have told her the truth when she was clearly trying to take things further but his best bet was to sleep with her first and then tell her over food???? and then when she sees the draft and freaks out and ns leaves he starts love bombing her with flowers and tries to quit his job? girl be so for real. pity party of one, you caused that.

This story was cute and had an interesting storyline. I enjoyed Jo as a character. I unfortunately thought the romance was a bit generic and Silas was sort of one note as a character. I wish we would've learned more about him and his backstory like we did with Jo.

3.5 stars, thoroughly enjoyable and substantive romance novel. Dragged in the middle without really any twists and turns to justify the length. 25% shorter and this is a slam dunk! Def recommend reading — or listening, as the narration was excellent, added to the depth and likability of the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for an opportunity to read this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! Jo is a founding instructor of Haven, a Peloton-like streaming fitness platform. She has become a celebrity through the platform and she struggles with anxiety, especially the “what if” type. Jo was so relatable and I loved her character, as well as how her anxiety was portrayed. Silas is a journalist who is working on a story about Haven, and he ends up surprising Jo with his authenticity. There is an aspect of Silas withholding some information from Jo in the beginning. I am usually very bothered by the MMC being untruthful to the FMC, but it wasn’t a problem for me in this book. I loved that Jo and Silas developed a true friendship before feelings ever even emerged. Their slow burn was full of great banter, cute adventures around NYC, and true connection.

The audiobook is narrated by Maria Liatis and Kellen Boyle. Both of these narrators were new to me, and they were great! Their voices matched what I imagined for the characters, and they each voiced all of the characters so well. As I read and loved this book with a combination of e-book and audiobook, I recommend it in any format you typically prefer!

Thank you to Ana Holguin, Forever, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for the gifted e-ARC and gifted ALC; all opinions are my own.

Read if you like:
💕 Celebrity fitness instructor FMC x journalist MMC
💕 Group fitness classes
💕 Anxiety rep
💕 Supportive female friendships
💕 Slow burn
💕 Dual POV

A sweet romance about two MCs who need to look inward to find where they need to me. The MMC tricks the FMC into writing a news story about her wildly successful fitness career. He believes she is shallow and her fans/followers are vapid and fan-crazy. She challenges all these thoughts and more.

The FMC struggles with her future and career. She experiences online bullying because of her very public job and needs to learn to trust herself again.

Thank you to Ana Holguin, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Text-
I don’t know why but I kind of got a “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” vibe from the MMC. Maybe because he’s a writer? But yeah, I kind of didn’t like him. He comes in with STRONG preconceived notions about the FMC. I didn’t like the sneaky/scheming aspects of him.

The FMC seemed okay. I liked that she was good at what she did and her followers genuinely liked her.

The side characters didn’t feel that flushed out. Some of the scenes with them felt like filler.

Overall I liked the premise even if it felt predictable. The mental health rep was nice to see.

Audiobook-
The audio was okay. I’ve gotten spoiled with audios who act the book out more than just reading it. But you do get duel POV and two narrators.

This was such a fun romance that started with an interview of Jo by Silas about being a fitness instructor but turned into so much more. I loved their relationship here. The reader really gets to see these characters go from strangers to friends to lovers in a way that felt authentic and so supportive. I really loved how Silas showed his caring nature throughout this story. I thought the behind the scenes view of being a famous fitness instructor was fascinating. Jo had so many complex layers due to her job and I liked the pace at which she slowly opened up about her journey with her job and mental health. This was a stellar debut, and I look forward reading this author again in the future.
I also loved the dual narration here. I always feel that it adds so much depth to a novel. I could hear the tenderness of Silas from Kellen Boyle's performance. For Jo, Maria Liatis managed to capture her full range of emotions wonderfully.

Jo is a famous spin instructor, riding both in the Haven studio in NYC and streaming into thousands of people's homes everyday - she's an inspiration to many. Silas, a slightly grumpy journalist, is assigned to write an article about her for his magazine and goes into it assuming that he will be unimpressed with both the culture at Haven and Jo herself. However, like the good reporter he is, he begins taking the classes and getting to know Jo better. Very soon he realizes that there is more to Jo than just amazing hair and high energy, and Jo begins to fall for Silas as well.

I get the spin culture, I'm in it -- I go to Soulcycle way too much and my instructors know me so I was intrigued by this one. It's cute and it fully kept me entertained, especially the audio which was great with dual POVs; but it wasn't anything super special. I get that romances are comfortably predictable, but this one was just too predictable. One of the things I like most about rom coms/romances are the fun ancillary characters - they add humor and that extra element to the story; except I didn't love the friends here and the relationships felt a little flat. Cute and entertaining but not memorable.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the ALC to review