I went into Follow Your Bliss thinking it was going to be a great, fun rom-com. The setup? Super cute. A wedding dress designer with commitment issues, forced to move in next door to her middle school crush? Sign me up. And honestly, the first few chapters had me hooked—fun banter, giggly moments, great energy.

But somewhere along the way, the charm wore off.

The dialogue started feeling less clever and more cringey. What was once funny quickly turned into nonstop innuendo, and the heroine’s constant sexual thoughts felt like overkill. I’m all for sex positivity and bold characters, but this just felt forced. Like the book was trying really hard to be edgy, and instead of feeling empowered, I felt secondhand awkward.

Jason, the love interest, was sweet and likable with a solid emotional backstory. I appreciated his struggles and how kind he was, but his constant need to impress his religious mom? It was a little much. He’s a grown man, yet he spent most of the book living for someone else’s approval. Meanwhile, Rose (our heroine) felt inconsistent. She had a cool job and a confident attitude, but I never really connected with her. I couldn’t quite see what Jason saw in her beyond surface-level attraction.

The heat between them kicked in way too fast. Like, they hadn’t seen each other in years and suddenly they’re mentally stripping each other by chapter two. The spice overtook the story before any emotional foundation could be built, and it pulled me out of what could’ve been a meaningful romance.

And don’t even get me started on the religious conflict—it felt wedged in just to stir up drama that the story didn’t need. The toxic ex subplot alone was enough.

I wanted to like this book. There were flashes of fun—like Rose’s custom ringtones for each character (adorable!)—and the premise had so much promise. But overall, it just didn’t land for me. The tone was off, the dialogue was too try-hard, and the romance leaned too far into fantasy for me to buy in.

If you’re into ultra-bold heroines, super steamy insta-lust, and don’t mind a little chaos, it might work better for you. For me, though, it was a miss.

I have a love and hate relationship with this book.

I wanted to read it because of the synopsis and the cover. I loved that the wedding dress designer is the one who wouldn't want to wear one down the aisle. That part, really made me curious about this book.

Their chemistry is instant, their banter is hilarious, and their emotional connection? So beautifully raw and tender. I adored Rose—she’s chaotic, heartfelt, and unapologetically herself. And Jason? He’s basically a golden retriever with rock hard abs. The way he falls for her? Heart eyes forever.

The character's love story was the perfect mix of emotional and spicy.

This book seemed exciting when I picked it up for a couple of reasons. The MMC is different from the usual: he’s a social media personality and is devoted to his religion. The FMC is bold, fun, and designs wedding dresses while being totally anti-commitment. That felt like a unique combination.

But for me, there were too many sexual jokes that made the characters feel more like teenagers than adults. My biggest issue, though, was how the MMC’s religious values and celibacy were a big part of the story at first, but later they’re dropped without much explanation. It felt more like a way to complicate the plot than actual character development.

Also, even though I usually love a family guy, it really bothered me that the MMC constantly disagrees with his mom but still seems obsessed with getting her approval for the woman he’s falling for. It’s literally all he thinks about when trying to make the relationship work.

All of this made it hard for me to connect with the couple or root for their story.

That said, if you’re into confident FMCs, sweet MMCs with golden retriever vibes, and lots of spicy scenes, this might still be your kind of book.

**I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review 💬 All opinions are my own.**

📖✨ ARC REVIEW TIME ✨📖
I just finished Follow Your Bliss by @Hollyrose and OMG I am NOT OKAY (in the best way 😭💖)

First of all—THAT COVER?! 🥹🎀 She’s beauty, she’s grace, she’s going on my shelf face-out FOREVER.

This story?? ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.
👰‍♀️ Rose = the most lovable bridal seamstress with a heart of gold
🛠️ Jason = swoony DIY king who had me blushing every other page 😳
The banter?? ICONIC. I was giggling like a fool at 2am.

What really hit me though was the way Holly portrayed anxiety—so real, so gentle, so SEEN 🫶 It felt like a warm hug wrapped in beautiful prose.

Sweet 🧁 meets spicy 🌶️ in the BEST way possible. Rose’s humor?? 10/10. Jason?? 100/10. Chemistry?? THROUGH THE ROOF.

Major love to Holly for putting clear trigger warnings on her site—protecting your readers is queen behavior 👑

I’m OBSESSED and already counting down to Heather’s story 😍💫

This is a cute story to read if you are feeling down and want to brighten your day. The story line is good and is very well written. And every woman wants a MMC good guy like Jason at one point in their life.

3.25 stars.

This book was honestly just a lot of fun (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) I couldn't put it down, it kept me so engaged. The writing flows well, in my opinion, it's a pretty quick read, and most importantly, I just loved the two main characters ˙ᵕ˙ I thought Rose was so sweet, I love a kind main character and her anxiety was so funny at times and relatable that it hurt, and Jason? Oh my GODS, what a babe ( ≧ᗜ≦) I was worried about how we would resolve the third-act climax, but I thought it was done really, really well, and honestly those 2 whole chapters were so good and angsty that they raised the rating another quarter star, I thought the whole thing was handled really nicely.

There were quite a few moments that made me laugh, a few that made me cry, and the way I was blushing?? Jason. Again. Wow (>/////<) ♡ I saw some reviews that said the book was religious, but I honestly didn't think so at all. The mother is very religious, but I felt like that came across perfectly in the blurb, and it never extended beyond her wanting Jason to date a "good church girl." So no, religion is definitely not a theme here in my opinion. I don't think just mentioning the name "God" makes a book religious, and I'm usually pretty sensitive to that stuff, but I feel like the author was really great about making it clear that only Jason's mom was religious, and even with her, there ended up being more to her story than that.

In fact, that's probably my biggest nitpick. I wish we'd gotten even more of the family and friend dynamics (outside of the mother). I was really interested in Becca's relationship with Jason, Jason's relationship with his father, and Rose's relationship with just about everyone else; her mom, Heather, Abby, even her sister Lily. I found them so interesting that I really would've liked to explore those moments more between the other characters ( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡)

I really enjoyed this story, I'm thankful to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC, and any book that can have me with my face in my kindle as I walk around outside and risk stairs is a story worth a good rating ( ⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝)

He helps her dig up a time capsule that she buried in middle school, saw that she included a bucket list, made a copy of it, and then STARTED TO COMPLETE EACH ITEM SHE HAD ON THERE WITHOUT TELLING HER AND WOULD ADD A CEHCK MARK WHEN HE HAD HELPED FINISH THEM. Let me say that again. HE WANTED TO COMPLETE HER MIDDLE SCHOOL BUCKET LIST FOR HER. ONE ITEM BEING TO GET HIM TO FALL IN LOVE WITH HER, AND HE ADDED LIKE 8 CHECK MARKS NEXT TO IT.

Read if you’re into:
He falls first ✅
Forced Proximity ✅
Mental Health Representation ✅
Mentions of Religion but not too heavily, in my opinion ✅
They support each others dreams ✅
FMC has no filter ✅
Funny/witty banter ✅

Warnings:
-FMC and MMC struggle with childhood trauma (FMC a child of divorce and MMC mommy issues)
-Christianity is definitely a focus in this story
-FMC struggles with anxiety/panic attacks and talks about this
-The spicy scenes are a little cringy with some of the verbiage used, in my opinion
-3rd Act Break Up

Overall this was a super cute, fluffy read. No heavy/dark tropes or topics. I liked our MMC Jason, he is a sensitive guy who loves his family. I could relate to the FMC Rose, as she struggles with anxiety and is unapologetically herself.

This book right here is on my top 5 must haves!!! Love love how Rose character is, Me as an Aquarius woman can relate so much to her. This was Funny, at one point i was almost at tears and good spice in it too. PLEASE MUST READ YOURSELF!!! was about to not read it do to the negative reviews and now i NEED a physical book!!!!!!

Thank you to author and publisher for the arc!

Surprisingly a fun and fluffy read with a tad of spice. I was surprised by how quickly I managed to finish this book, it was the perfect read for a slow Sunday.

I do have to say that even though it was an enjoyable book, a lot of the plot and tropes were predictable and a bit mainstream. I just wish it had a little bit more originality

DNF at 10%
This book is for someone but just not for me. I found myself already getting uncomfortable and not looking forward to seeing where the story went. I also just didn’t feel any sort of connection or enjoyment in the chatacyers

3.75 🌟 - Thank you to Netgalley, Holly Rose and Star Siren Press for this ARC. I will be giving my honest review. At the start of the book I thought I wasn't going to enjoy the book that much, because I wasn't a massive fun of the writing style often finding some of the dialogue a bit immature, but as we learnt more about the characters I couldn't help liking them. Jason is the epitome of the most perfect man and the way he treated Rose is just everything women look and wish for in a partner. Some things within the book were cringe, but also some moments were funny.

The amount of religious connetations/themes running throughout the book and Jason's family's faith made reading this slightly uncomfortable to me as I am an atheist. Luckily, after about 30% of the way through the book, religion wasn't mentioned as much (thank god).

The language within the spicy scenes was SO good. I've read a lot of smut & this was perfect. There was no disgusting language that feature predominantly in romance books which gave the book a refreshing feel. I also feel like this book was written for women by women, phenomenal, no notes.

Overall, I had a good time whilst reading this book and I'm interested to see what happens to Heather in the next book.

This was a fun book! I love any books that have a wedding aspect of it. And this one was wonderful. This book handled some harder topics very well.

I want to start off by thanking NetGalley and Star Siren Press for sending me an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review of my thoughts.

The first thing that truly had me so interested in seeing how it would play out was the difference in religion for the main characters. And how that would play into their relationship together and with their families. I think it was well portrayed, but it is not actually a main point within the storyline, so if that might deter you, I don't think it should.

Jason and Rose were so cute and sweet together, I like the dynamic of the two characters because they just fit so well together in my opinion. I didn't really like the dynamic between Rose and her sister Lily and Jason and his mom. Both had tension in their relationship based on how the sister or mother viewed Rose and Jason. It just felt off to be and came off super judgmental.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and was not bothered by the amount of curse words or sex jokes. but heads up, that is heavily present in this book.

💕𝓕𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓑𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓼 𝓐𝓡𝓒 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀💕

I loved Follow Your Bliss, the first book in the Dream House Girls series by Holly Rose! The book follows Rose, a talented wedding dress designer who has moved back home while she gets her budding bridal business off the ground. Feeling like she needs more space to work, she seeks out a rental of her own - if only places to rent weren’t so expensive! Enter Jason, a carpenter with a sexy social media presence who is also renovating a church into his home. With an extra apartment space to rent, Rose can hardly refuse his offer to rent the space to her!

Rose is a character who has obvious past traumas with relationships, including the absence of her own father in her life. Because of this, she chooses to keep men from getting truly close to her. Jason is still recovering from a bad relationship of his own, and he brings his fair share of trauma into the equation. However, he holds onto hope that he will find a girl that he can settle down with (and that his mother approves!)

The two characters compliment each other perfectly. Rose allows Jason to loosen up and experience the life he wants to live, while Jason helps Rose see that it is okay to be vulnerable and let others in.

I was a bit cautious at the beginning when religion was being brought into the equation with Jason’s mother. My fear was that religion was going to be used as a tactic to pressure the main characters to change to fit into the box provided by Jason’s mother, and while she did push, Jason ultimately chose his own path while staying true to himself and his faith.

There was a moment of anxiety representation in Rose that was handled beautifully by the author. Seeing a positive depiction in how Rose discussed her anxiety with Jason, and how Jason listened and responded appropriately, was really touching to see!

💕You’ll Love This Book If You Love💕
💕Golden Retriever MMC
💕Carpenter/Social Media Influencer
💕Deck Daddy
💕Anxiety Representation FMC
💕Wedding Dress Designer
💕Sex Positivity
💕He Falls First And Harder
💕Childhood Crush
💕Slow Burn
💕Spicy

**I received an advanced copy of Follow Your Bliss - all opinions are my own**

Follow Your Bliss is a delightfully spicy romance about a spunky wedding dress designer, Rose, and a hopeless romantic woodworker, Jason. This romance leans into the friends-to-lovers trope, with two old friends from school reconnecting many years later, as well as the under-one-roof rope, when Rose is in need of a place to live and Jason just happens to have a spare room in the home he’s renovating.

If you liked On the Plus Side by Jenny Howe or One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London, this is another delightful romance featuring a charismatic plus-sized woman you’ll be sure to enjoy. This was similar to the Take A Hint, Dani Brown series by Talia Hibbert, but with an American twist to it. I most appreciated that the focus of this book wasn’t on the main character’s journey with her relationship to her body, but that when it came up in natural moments of self-consciousness, it was clear that the romantic interest found this concern utterly absurd because of how beautiful he found her.

The build-up to the characters finally getting together was great and you really did feel the romantic tension building in delicious ways. I found it really satisfying to see the ways in which they both supported each others’ careers and were invested in each other’s success. I was also really pleasantly surprised by the ending (won’t give it away) and felt that it really was true to these characters and felt well earned.

Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I was absorbed from the start. The spicy scenes were well-written and believable, I was rooting for the characters, the underlying messages about body positivity, empowerment, and sex positivity were great, and this was just a really fun read. I’m certainly going to keep an eye out for this author going forwards! :)

It started off really good! I went into this thinking I was gonna love this book, but it wasn't for me personally.

It was ADORABLE in the first few chapters.
Their banter had me GIGGLING when they were still in the "this is just a crush" phase.
But the more I read, the more I felt the dialogue was leaning more towards cringy territory.
I do appreciate an unfiltered character in books, but it felt so forced it had me audibly sighing and telling my kindle “WE GET IT” every time.

I did love how the fmc has an assigned ringtone for each different character in the book, it felt like I was in on an inside joke whenever her cell rang😅

All in all, although it didn't work for me, I encourage others to give it a go, fans of zero filter characters, spice, explicit language would enjoy this.

think some people will really like this book, but I don't think it was for me. It was entertaining, but lacked substance:

The actual premise was cool, because the FMC (Rose) is a wedding dress designer, but is a commitment-phobe; due to her parents getting a divorced and her mom influencing her ideas of men onto her and her sister, which is fairly common and real. I think her character was little to inconsistent at times and I would have loved it if we had more of her getting back into dating journey.

The MMC (Jason) is a artictect and has a whole brand/social media, where he makes custom furniture and sells them. He was sweet, but I couldn't help getting the ick from him and I totally understand he was a mamma's boy, but that was the entire book was him living up to his mom instead of his own thoughts and wants. Granted he did after the 3rd act conflict and it made some sense, but you're in your twenties, grow up.

The religious aspect I think was thrown in because the author needed a reason why the mom didn't approve of Rose, because his ex would have been enough.
There is some OWD, the woman wouldn't take no for an answer and we never got an apology, nothing happens between our MMC (Jason) and her and he doesn't entertain it.
Before I get into the review; gentle reminder: you might enjoy this book more than me so please don't let my review put you off 🙏🏻

I'm so in the middle with this one... this was cute until it wasn't...as much as I'm all for being unfiltered and by "all for" I mean I'm literally the most unfiltered person you could meet in real life😂but there's a fine line between being unfiltered and overdoing it... which unfortunately is what happened here... The amount of sex jokes, the dialogues between the protagonists just felt so forced, I felt as though the author milked this behaviour to the point that I was like OKAY WE GET IT YOU'RE OUTSPOKEN AND PROUD lol 🙆🏼‍♀️

Jason is so sweet but his family drama, the religious mum drama just sucked the fun and cuteness out of the book, topics like this aggravate me ( in fiction books ) they're often portrayed judgemental or overdone in my opinion.. because how many times are we gonna mention your mum doesn't like me??? Don't get me started on the mama's boy who's scared to face his mum??? I didn't even know how I feel about the ending anymore even though I loved the romance plot so much

Rose loves designing wedding dresses, she doesn't trust men and only casual dates. a hurricane is coming and her friend Jason talks her into going to Florida with him, to avoid the hurricane.

Holly Rose's "Follow Your Bliss," the introductory book in the Dream House Girls series, provides a hot and compelling adult contemporary romance with a good dose of comedy and emotion. Although the "dream house" aspect may be an overall series trend, this novel targets intensely on the growing relationship between Rose Guidry and Jason Soniat.

The writing skills of the author are flawless and through her captivating writing style I was engaged throughout the book with without getting bored at all. I could visualise the plot unfolding little by little in front of my eyes. It was a great read for me while drinking a cup of coffee.

Rose, a gifted wedding dress designer who's come back home after her city big dreams didn't quite work out, has the emotional scars of old heartbreak and a strong conviction in staying away from romantic entanglements. Her present assignment creating the wedding party dresses for her old friend brings her face to face with Jason, the bride's brother and Rose's ancient middle school crush.

Jason, a likable and crafty social media do-it-yourselfer, is willing to wade into dating again after a hurtful past relationship. He's also set on earning his mother's seal of approval for his new girlfriend, a potential obstacle since Rose has tarot card readings, tattoos, and professed commitment-phobia.

The chemistry between Rose and Jason is electric from the beginning, sparked by witty repartee and playful flirting. When a hurricane compels them to evacuate jointly, their relationship intensifies quickly and turns into a hot and satisfying romance. Rose is masterful at creating those smoldering moments and the build-up of their physical relationship feels organic within the framework of their growing emotional connection.

But their return home as a couple is not without its challenges. Jason's hesitation to share their relationship with his family sets off Rose's long-standing abandonment fears. The resulting family drama puts their new relationship to the test, making both characters face their past wounds and entrenched habits.

Rose expertly balances the lighthearted and humorous elements of the story with the more vulnerable and emotionally intense paths of her protagonists. The dual-POV enables readers to fully grasp each character's motivations and insecurities, making their ultimate union all the more satisfying. Readers who enjoy the "forced proximity" trope will delight in the hurricane evacuation that ignites their romance, while readers who enjoy "small-town romance" will find the familiar patterns of coming home.
Comparison to Rosie Danan and Tessa Bailey seems appropriate. "Follow Your Bliss" provides much the same mix of hot romance, snappy dialogue, and realistic characters dealing with the messiness of contemporary relationships. The novel is sex-positive and avoids shying away from talking about the characters' lust, providing a fun level of heat.

Overall, "Follow Your Bliss" is a lighthearted and fun beginning to the Dream House Girls series. It's a nicely paced romance with interesting characters, hot chemistry, and a good emotional journey. If you like adult contemporary romance with humor, emotion, and a little spice, you'll definitely want to grab this book. It does a great job of laying the groundwork for what is shaping up to be a charming and interesting series.

This was a fun and cute story! The characters were very likable and real, and I really loved the parents’ role in the book as the older/wiser confidantes. The pacing was really good in the book, and a fun story to follow.