I seriously loved this book. The banter between the main female and every character was amazing. Including the banter between the main female and herself in her head. I loved the sarcasm; I loved the witty playful conversations. I laughed out loud on numerous occasions. I’ve got some age on the main female, but I absolutely related to her in so many areas. An introvert that is just trying to make it. Trying to find her place within her family, and find her person. Find friends as an adult, and most importantly, find herself.

I’m a sucker for a love story, and this book had a good one. But I have to say, the heartfelt story between our main character Mallory, and her grandpa was the real story. It was absolutely adorable and felt so sweet and sincere.

There was a lot of parts that were dragging a bit. Maybe it could have been edited a little. But anyone who is looking for a cozy book and who dreams of ignoring/quitting your mind-numbing job to escape to the beautiful sunny beaches of Florida, give this book a go.

This book was such a fun and enjoyable read! I would definitely consider it a comfort read!! I don’t know what I was expecting, but this exceeded any expectation. This book fully captured my attention and my heart from the start. If I could give it half stars, it would have been a 4.5 and not just a 4 star!
The only reason it was not a 5 star for me was the political/pandemic stuff thrown in. I am not a fan of reading anything with reality topics in there as I feel like reading is a way for me to escape reality. Even with saying that though, the way the author wrote these topics in were so casual and graceful that it actually did not bother me like it normally would. It almost helped to make the characters that much more relatable.
I felt like the main characters captured my heart from the moment we met each of them and they were so relatable that it kept me sucked in that I couldn’t put the book down. I loved reading about the blossoming relationship between Mallory and Gramps even more so than with her budding romance with the respectful and loyal Daniel. This book reminded me of the lifetime movies I grew up watching with my mom. Such a fast read and the banter was so fun!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

If you get it, you get it. If you don’t, you don’t. That’s how I feel about this book. This might be my new favourite comfort read.

If you’re looking for something plot heavy and fast - this is not it. It’s so much deeper than that. It’s the story of Mallory and her growth as a person. She’s a true introvert and the depiction of this was spot on. I connected with many of her feelings. She is stuck in an unfulfilling corporate job but when she is given a cottage in Florida from her grandma who passed away she gets to experience an entirely different way of life. She has to face the emotions that come with this.

As for the romance part - I thoroughly enjoyed it. The MMC Daniel is the perfect person to balance out how introverted she is. It was refreshing to read a male character that doesn’t want the loudest girl in the room or the ‘life of the party’.

I can’t wait to read more from Lauren Appelbaum!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! ✨

not the title being a self call out ✋😭 i read this after seeing it floating around bookstagram and i need appelbaum to write MY love + life story please and thank you!! i couldn’t put it down and after this i will be reading everything from her!!

Mallory Rosen was living the dream - working remotely for a tech company in Seattle. But when she inherits her grandmother’s cottage with the stipulation that she care for her grandfather, Mallory takes off to Florida. There she builds a relationship with her grandfather, finds some romance, and learns how she wants to live her life. Cute, quick read.

I absolutely adored An Introvert's Guide to Life and Love! It was a cute, light, perfect for summertime kind of book. The book did have depth as we watched Mallory grow in herself and form relationships with those around her. I lost my grandfather a few years ago so watching her relationship with Gramps grow closer really tugged at the heartstrings and made me miss my grandpa something fierce! Daniel was the epitome of a perfect book boyfriend. He was there for her when needed but also knew when to step back and give some space. I loved the chemistry! There were also little moments thrown in that just added extra oomph. The exercise class was hilarious! The visual in my head had me laughing out loud. Mallory's birthday present to her grandpa about made me cry. So sweet! Overall, thoroughly enjoyable and will definitely re-read in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the development of Mallory trying to find her place in life when the world tells you to have it figured out. The way she came to terms with what was right for her by looking at her own mistakes was a nice touch. I love that she got her sense of closure too. Daniel made the perfect book boyfriend. It’s all in his actions even the ones that we didn’t directly see. The tension of them fighting what they felt was done so beautifully and it felt mature. I really liked the banter that they had between them.

If you want a romance for introverts that has tension and active seniors this might be for you. This book is about coming home to one’s true self.

If you’re looking for a relatable, introverted character with an awkward personality, stop searching, this book is for you.

I related so deeply to Mallory, it almost worried me. She’s your typical introvert who struggles with social interactions and works remotely from home. While she’s not passionate about her job, she’s grateful to have it and appreciates being able to work from home without issues. Mallory feels comfortable with the routine she’s built in Seattle and never sought to aim for more, until her grandmother’s passing leaves her with a house in Florida. Forced to leave her comfort zone, Mallory travels there to check out the property.

What started as a weekend trip, ends up lasting a month, during which Mallory begins to feel more like herself. She experiences friendship and life beyond being locked in her house with a job she dislikes.

I enjoyed seeing Mallory step outside her comfort zone, slowly making friends, getting to know her grandfather better, and meeting Daniel. Their relationship developed gradually, with feelings growing between them, even though they knew what was at stake when Mallory discovered Daniel was her client.

I liked how genuine their connection felt. Daniel, an extrovert who thrives on small talk and socializing, made Mallory feel comfortable enough to open up. And don’t get me started on how Daniel offered to help with the house renovations. You could tell how much he cared, even if he kept his feelings hidden to spend more time with her. The ending was heartwarming, and I’m happy Mallory found her happiness and calling. It was lovely to see her take life one day at a time, figuring out what she truly enjoys.

I'll be honest, this book took me a while to finish. I love stories about navigating grief and can relate so much to a wildly introverted FMC, but I struggle with characters that feel the need to lie to make themselves more interesting or as compensation for their perceived struggles. I do appreciate when the MMC is wholesome and genuinely a good person, and An Introvert's Guide to Life and Love gave us that in spades.

Will I read this again? Probably not, but I'm thankful to have had the chance to at least once.

I had a good time with this and it was a quick read but some parts were frustrating. I really enjoyed the relationship between the fmc and the grandpa that was my favorite part. Some of the other relationships and side characters just weren't developed enough for me. One weird part was dismissing bisexuality as a college experiment which seems like a dated option. Overall it was still pretty cute and an easy read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I completely devoured this book and believe I have found a new comfort read. The story follows Mallory, a self-proclaimed introvert with some awkward, yet endearing, social skills. Following the death of her grandmother, Mallory inherits her grandparents' home in sunny Florida. The catch? Mallory needs to leave the comforts of her solitary, WFH life in cozy Seattle to ready the house for renters and to take care of her grandfather, Leonard. Once in Florida, Mallory discovers that there is more to life than just clinging to the life you are comfortable with. She makes friends, bonds with her grandfather, challenges herself with renovating the house, and even finds romance with Daniel, her family's property manager.

As I mentioned already, this book is a solid comfort read for me. While I did not love Mallory's tendency to lie when faced with an awkward or difficult social situation, I still enjoyed reading about all these life changes through her perspective. The author does a very good job showing a different side of introverts. Rather than writing Mallory as an aloof, afraid-to-see-the-sun-and-talk-to-another-human-type of person, the author paints Mallory as a woman with self-doubts that likely fuel her solitary nature. Mallory doesn't really seem shy; she is just comfortable in her daily life. Being in Florida obviously pushes her out of that comfort zone, and the story overall reads like Mallory coming into adulthood, even though she is already solidly an adult age wise.

I especially adored the secondary characters in this book, like Leonard and Daniel. Leonard's journey with grief is realistically portrayed, and my heart just hurt for that man. Daniel is a sweetheart....nothing over the top, but just a wholesome male main character with literally no red flags that you don't often see in contemporary romance these days. It seems that so many contemporary romance male characters veer into the bad boy or morally grey territory; or conversely, it seems that there are a lot out there with lots of emotional baggage to a) add emotional depth to the plot and to b) balance out the female main character's own baggage. Daniel doesn't have this, but much of the emotional punch really hits from Leonard's grief journey as well as Mallory's growing attachment to Leonard.

I highly recommend this book to readers looking for an emotional and unique contemporary romance with a quirky main character and endearing, familiar supporting characters.

I am very grateful to the publisher for sending me this ARC to review. I loved every page of this book.

Really enjoyed this! Such a cute, quick read that made me laugh and cry. I really liked how the heavier topics like grief and self-doubt were handled balanced with romance, new friendships, and humor.

‘An Introverts Guide to Life and Love’ by Lauren Appelbaum is a contemporary romance book releasing in Sept 2025. It follows a woman named Mallory who is a self-proclaimed introvert who has basically adapted her entire lifestyle into a solitary one, post-pandemic working from home in Seattle. Upon her grandmas death, she learns her grandma left her home in Florida to Mallory, with the condition that she look after her grandpa. Mallory ventures to FL to learn that the home needs a lot of work, so she hires a property manager named Daniel to help her with the renovations. Mallory also starts to build a relationship with her grandpa, helping him learn to be independent, and at the same time, she learns that she can do things for herself too! Along the way, she also starts enjoying time with Daniel and makes new friends.

This book can be described as:
- [ ] Slow Burn
- [ ] No-Low Spice
- [ ] Awkward Introvert x Charming Extrovert
- [ ] Fish Out of Water

Although this book was a sweet, easy to read book… I don’t think I would classify it as a contemporary romance book. The romance in the book was a sub-sub-plot in the story. It really came behind the main points: the FMC finding herself and learning to live outside of her solitary, post-pandemic lifestyle and also building a relationship with her grandpa which really took center stage. Although there were a lot of very charming parts, the grandpa was very sweet and Mallory seemed to make friends easily… it was just a little too slow for my tastes and unfortunately, not very captivating to me. I would still give this book 3 stars as it was well written, and a good story overall, but I am not the type of reader this book deserves.

This book was me in a book and I connected with it so much. I am an introvert, recently lost family, and work from home accept when I have art class. The romance was well written and I enjoyed the story a lot.

Thanks for the invitation to read this but I could not stand the main character. I thought she was pathetic and cringey, and I just found it really hard to care about her problems.

5 stars? I don't know. I loved it. I read it at the right time, in the right place, and finished it feeling warm and happy. Plus, I love a hot ginger.
Mallory is endearing. And the senior crew (and Wally!) were such stars.
Plus that workout sounded
hilarious, but only to watch. I would need the baby animal version.

4.5 stars - I honestly loved this book! This story follows Mallory as she inherits a house in Florida while she tries to balance her remote work based in Seattle, helping her Gramps settle into life as a recently widowed introverted senior, and preparing her home to be ready to rent. She hires property manager, Daniel McKinnon, to help her manage the home and sparks fly! But Mallory needs to decide what comes next when all employees are called back to in-office work.

As an introvert, I related so much to Mallory. I would read quotes from the book and my husband would reply "that's definitely you". Mallory's actions and thoughts were explained and I felt for her because her family's opinions of her just weighed so much on her - especially the disappointment of being the only non-lawyer in the family. I loved seeing Mallory's character development throughout the book - reflecting on herself and discovering her own identity and interests. I think that as someone who is an introvert, the way that Mallory and Daniel's relationship developed was well suited to their characters. Then, there's her relationship with her Gramps. It was really cute and had me evaluating my own relationships with my grandparents. I think their bond was so precious and watching her Gramps navigate grief after the loss of the love of his life was so sad but reflective at the same time. This book touched on a lot of different themes, but it really does tackle life and love (and not just romantic love - familial love too!) Overall, I really enjoyed this, it felt cozy and satisfying.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

*Instagram review will be posted on 7/30/2025*

I'm technically giving this book a 3.5 star rating. I thought the book was super cute. I loved the relationship between the fmc and her grandparents. I liked most of her internal dialogue. Overall it was a very cute story. I think there was a couple things that took me out of the story in some parts. The first being that she used a pronoun on a person she had never met or spoken to. For me, I don't understand how you can assign a pronoun without knowing they want a pronoun used. In this situation, its stated that her neighbor was someone she never spoke to because she's so introverted. I feel like this was added by the author unnecessarily. There was no reason for it. The other thing that stood out to me was the comments made by the mother about Florida, mainly her political views. My take on this is that no every reader is going to agree with you. Therefore, any and all politics should be left out of the book regardless of your personal opinion. It had no bearing on the story and once again, felt unnecessary.
The romance I didn't fully believe. It felt very platonic.
Overall, the story was great. But for me the most enjoyable parts of this had to mainly deal with her relationship with her grandfather and the renovating of her house. Those parts I liked a lot.

Thank you Forever and the author for giving me the opportunity to arc read.

This was a cozy, heartwarming story. The slow-burn romance was charming without being over-the-top. I loved how the story took its time developing the bond between Mallory and Daniel in a way that made it feel real and relatable.

One of my favorite parts of the book was the relationship between Mallory and her grandfather. The tender bond between Mallory and Gramps added so much depth to the story. I also loved the way her grandpa's grief was handled with such care. His grief wasn't brushed aside and we got to see him slowly heal from the loss of his wife.

If you’re looking for a feel-good read that explores love and human connections, this one is definitely worth picking up.

Thank you NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and Lauren Appelbaum for this ARC.

3.5 stars!

This was cute! A sweet story about an introvert who grows out of her shell, and learns more about life & love. Overall I thought the story was cute. The plot did feel slow to me at time and I had difficulty feeling hooked in till about 50% of the way through. The romance was sweet, and Mallory’s relationship with her grandfather was so endearing. This book is great for those who love character focused stories.

I also expected a little more romance just due to the book cover (looks like a romance cover to me).

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and the author for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!