These were my first two Timothy Janovsky reads and I was not disappointed! I cannot wait to read through Janovsky’s backlog. I absolutely flew through both The (Fake) Dating Game and Once Upon You and Me. Both were quick easy listens that I could not put down. Holden and Leo!!! Ethan and Taylor!!! I cannot get enough of either couple and I cannot pick a favorite. If you are looking for a quick, sweet read with spice, representation, and topics such as grief and divorce I highly recommend picking up both of these!

I adore Timothy Janovsky’s books and this was a re-reading, really. And I like both novels more that the first time. E narrators were perfect, the emboyed the character perfectly.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

~Fake Dating Game:
The setup to this book was very cute. However, I feel the story was poorly executed.
I was not a fan of the sex scenes. Which was the majority of the reasons I did not enjoy this book. They were jumpy and with no build-up. Also very strange and not to my preference. They seemed to take away from the drama of the plot in my opinion and I ended up just skipping these.
Was also disappointed the game show came so late in the story and was very short.
Tropes: fake dating, friends with benefits, love at first sight.
While I felt like this was a rom-com going in this turned out to be more of a drama.

~Once Upon You and Me
I love the premise and setup of this story, makes for a cute cosy romance story. However, the characters were both bland to me. We got a plus-size single dad and his ex-wife's assistant. Neither of them have any discernable personality besides having ADHD and being understanding.
My largest complaint was the smut in this one. I think this is a me thing as I don't seem to like the way that Janovsky writes his smut scenes. I am sorry but watching p*** together and... will never do it for me. Ended up skipping all the smutty scenes in this story as they were all just strange to me.
Tropes: Age gap, Single dad, fairytale camp, Smutty, 3rd act break up, forbidden romance, forced proximity
The archery lessons were done so well. That was the redeeming quality of this book for me.

This was a really cute story and I wouldn't have guess going into a fake dating Supermarket Sweep inspired romance that there'd be heartfelt explorations of grief. I thought Leo was such a sweet character and really enjoyed all the elements about his half-Korean heritage. The story is a little insta-lovey, but was still a cute fun read.

Every book I read by Timothy Janovsky cements himself as an auto buy author for me! He has nailed the science of crafting the perfect rom-com with mental health rep behind it. I loved Ethan and Taylor and thought they were such a well matched pair. Taylor is so emotionally intelligent with the role he played with his siblings growing up and I love how he was able to be there for Samara and how that lead to such a dynamic of trust and respect to form between him and Ethan (on top of the lust and chemistry!!)

I always love seeing ADHD representation in books and I thought it was portrayed really well in this story. Ethan has been able to identify the things he struggles most with and which tips/routines work best for him, but he still feels a sense of shame having to admit that. I loved the way that Taylor was so easily able to show him "hey its perfectly okay that you're like this"

Thank you Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for an ALC of The (Fake) Dating Game & Once Upon You and Me