To me this falls in the category of “clueless” style adaptations where you don’t necessarily need to know that it’s coming from Jane Austen’s “Emma” to enjoy it. I thought that “Emma” being an AI was particularly poignant, if flawed, portrayal given the current era and it definitely gave a fun twist given that the first book in this series included time travel back to the regency period. I say that the AI portrayal is flawed because by design AI is based on a set of given parameters etc (a lot of other stuff that doesn’t belong in a book review when in books you have to suspend some amount of reality). Overall though I thought this was really fun. The one thing that strikes me as a bit off though is the power play situation. Harriet is undeniably in a position of power over Gale by being older and holding the keys as it were to the EMMA system that’s required to improve his game play in hockey. She also puts herself in the same position of power in their sexual encounters. While I do think this is a fun switch up when it comes to how the usual power dynamics come about in most romance books, it still felt a tiny bit icky to me. Overall though this was very fun and I really enjoyed it (to the point that I shared some passages squealing to my non reader sister).

The E.M.M.A Effect is a swoon-worthy, laugh-out-loud romantic adventure that had me hooked from the start! Lia Riley mixes humor, heart, and a bit of chaos to create a story that feels like the perfect blend of fun and depth.

Emma is relatable and lovable, and the chemistry with her love interest is off the charts. I loved how their connection developed—it’s sweet, real, and definitely keeps you turning pages.

If you're into quirky, heartfelt romances with a dash of wit and charm, this one's for you!

🌸 Final thought: A delightful, fast-paced romance that proves sometimes the best love stories are the unexpected ones.

ya know... this book was fine. not necessarily bad, but just didn't capture my attention like some other releases of this year have. it's supposed to be Jane Austen inspired & while i suppose i see some of the references, i don't think it should be marketed as such. it kind of just missed the mark on all of the tropes it was supposedly trying to create.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Avon for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

So - the mixing of hockey & STEM for a romance was far too good of a premise to keep me away for very long. Add in the fact that it's said to be Jane Austen & Ali Hazelwood adjacent? Oh yeah- I am in!

On execution.... uh, no. There was no Jane Austen in this book, and an AI thing being named after one of her books did not count. Sorry, but nope. And then for Ali Hazelwood... um she writes fun, steamy, interesting STEM romances... this one was incredibly boring.

The mix of first-person and third-person also drove me absolutely insane. It was confusing and there was NO point. It was just a hassle to read. I do believe that this will likely be fixed prior to publishing, and that's a good thing! May give it another shot once it's published.

Very cute. Some brief nods to Austen’s Emma, while not a retelling. My only gripe is that, holy cow, the MMC (Gale) needed serious therapy. Like, way more than an AI algorithm or the love of a good woman could solve. I wish there’d been a positive mental health rep in there. Other than themes of grief, abandonment, inadequacy, etc., it was fluffy fun. Thanks to Avon for the ARC.

This is a good, cute and spicy romance story. It has the right amount of sweetness, cuteness, tension, and spicy scenes.

The characters (Harriet and Gale) in this story are lovable and go through individual struggles and somehow end up together in the end despite these struggles. Harriet is a STEM girly with an AI software that she is trying to program to help hockey player know how to improve. Gale is a hockey player that has been struggling with his game recently. Harriet and Gale knew each other growing up, Harriet being Gale's siblings friend, but they have not kept in touch. Harriet reaches out to Gale to use him as a trial run for her AI system, which leads to them spending more time together and the rest is history.

This story does have discussions of AI in it (I know a lot of people in the reading space are pretty against it), but the AI portion is not really super integral to the story, so it is something that can be skimmed over or briefly read through.

I love that this story crosses hockey with a woman in STEM. This book is a perfect combination of STEM and sports.

This story would be perfect for someone looking for a quick, easy, and fun read that has an interest in STEM and Hockey Romances.

I loved the science driven AI developer and the NHL star banter. I loved that it was a he falls first romance, those are some of my favorite types. This FMC is smart and strong and knows what she's doing in her field of work and that's inspiring. I love strong female characters like that. Overall, I really enjoyed this read and am interested in move works from this author. Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager via Netgalley for this ARC!

This book was unfortunately a miss for me. I really enjoyed Puck and Prejudice, so I was excited to read the next book in this series. The idea for this one was great, but the execution was not so much. It was honestly just a bit boring. Nothing was really happening for a lot of the book. The stuff that was happening felt clunky and weird. Both characters lacked depth which in turn made their relationship lack luster.

The Emma Effect is one of those romances that sneaks up on you with heart as much as with heat. At first glance, it’s got all the hallmarks of a fun, contemporary rom-com: a quirky premise involving AI technology, a hockey player in a slump, and a second-chance sort of dynamic rooted in childhood connections. But as the story unfolds, Lia Riley layers in family drama, resilience, and vulnerability that give this book more depth than you might expect.

I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, as romcoms are not my go-to genre. I cannot wait to pick up more books from this author!

Is the AI storyline plausible? Nope. But it is adorable? Yes.

This was a unique spin on a hockey romance. It started off very cute and promising, but unfortunately it fell flat from there. I think the book could have benefited by being longer to have better depth to the storyline and world building.

Part of the storyline revolves around the “Chads”. They were a group of very bro-minded individuals that sought to undermine her. It would have been nice to dive a little deeper into that since she is a successful woman in the STEM field and would have had a good opportunity to show more of her confidence and skills at being a leader.

I also wish we would have had more detail with their love story. Either showing a little more insight into their past or developing their current relationship before dropping the I love you.

The writing was nice but could benefit with more depth. I did hate the switch between first person and third person

I was so excited for this book but my expectations were not met, sadly. I love the concept of Jane Austen inspired romcoms but this one didn’t hit like Puck and Prejudice did.
Major issues for me:
- scenes felt like they didn’t flow together and the events were just picked to have them happen with not real impact on character development
- so many spelling and grammatical errors. I know this is an ARC so there will be mistakes but I’m hoping the editors do a thorough review again.
- there was a weird switching back and forth between points of views. 1st person? 3rd person? From Harriet to….a narrator? I got confused and annoyed.
- everything felt too formulaic for my taste and not as original as book one in series.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the ARC

2 ⭐️ ⭐️

I went into this book really wanting to enjoy it, but unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me. The premise had potential, but the execution fell flat. I found the pacing uneven and struggled to stay invested in the storyline. The characters also felt underdeveloped, which made it difficult to connect with them or care about their journeys.
While I can appreciate the effort put into creating something different, overall this wasn’t a story that kept my attention or delivered what I was hoping for.

This author has been an auto-read for me and this one did not disappoint! A sports romance filed with chemistry, banter and found family that has you hooked from the start. I enjoyed the writing, the characters development, individually and together, along with the plot line that moved quick enough to keep you engaged- without feeling too rushed!

Sports, science mixed together to create a love story for reader who likes a strong female protagonist. This book struck all the right notes for me, hot trouble hockey guy. Sexy, smart female scientist. Both friends from the past but find present day love. Definitely will be recommending this to my Beach Reads and Bubbly Book Club!

I love a STEM romance which was what immediately grabbed my attention with this one as I love a romance with a unique plot. That being said, I do think The E.M.M.A. Effect could have executed its plot better. I found this book's pacing to be all over the place between the time jumps and repetive plot points. It was a fast read and easy to get through which is always a plus, but I do wish with such a cool plot there was greater attention put on the quality of writing here.

This book started off so strong for me plot wise, but towards the middle / end it just took a bad turn for me


This is a personal hill for me to die on, but I hate how they portrayed Harriet’s bff.s relationship with her dad. Like did he abandon them, why is she going through everything alone?!
I also hate how conflicted Harriet was to lose her bff if she went for it with her brother and then she’s just like fuck it lets ruin the friendship
Major spoiler here too but I hated how Harriet’s job found out and how they treated her after. Like that was a walking HR nightmare and there is no way a professional business handled it that way.

There were just too many plot points where I went really in my head

Refreshing to see an age gap where she is older! I thought the AI piece would be a deal breaker because I like to pretend it's not a thing, but I still enjoyed the book despite that.

It's not fair for me to take away stars because of my own personal feelings of AI use and ethics, but I do think it's important to explore these things in fiction responsibly, so the sentience piece is a bit of a tough pill to swallow. But, as I said, I will not take away stars for it. It's here to stay whether we like it or not.

Yay for girl boss PhD rep!

As someone who loved Puck and Prejudice, I was very excited going into this sequel, but I feel like you really can't call it a sequel because it is completely different from the first book. The characters didn't have the same chemistry and the storyline was actually so painful to read. I felt bored and honestly did not care by the end. Really disappointed.

This was such a great continuation of the first book that follows a side character from book 1. I really enjoyed the woman in STEM aspect of it and it did give me some Ali Hazelwood vibes, but I wish we’d gotten more romance scenes instead of just a lot of EMMA explanation and back and forth. The will they won’t they part of this book just dragged on too long and then we really only get one and a half spicy scenes after Harriet goes through this whole self discovery of what she likes in the bedroom. The cats were cute and I loved Gale so much and I think the serious themes surround Gale and his father were handled very well. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and if more from this series keep coming out, I will be reading them!

the concept of this book was very interesting and kept me entertained. AI developer x best friends brother, when going in for testing the software determines they are an almost perfect match.

seeing their relationship grow was a bit of a let down. sometimes they had all the chemistry, other times they didn’t have any. their emotionally connection just wasn’t fully there. the third act also felt forced.