3⭐, 2🌶️

This book was cute, but nothing extraordinary for me. I'm writing this review a week after finishing the book and struggling to remember any of the plot or dynamics of the couple.

The branding of this as an erotic novella threw me off - there were like 3 spicy scenes total (it felt like a contemporary romance) and 8 hours, which felt like a full length novel. I did ejoy both of the narrators work.

Thank you Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I found The Pizza Man bizarre, messy, and honestly a bit of a wild ride from start to finish. Eddy Twice leans all the way into absurdity, and the result is something that feels like a mix between a fever dream and a late-night comedy sketch.

The book doesn’t exactly have a traditional plot; it’s more like a chaotic string of moments, characters, and thoughts that somehow (barely) hang together. It’s messy on purpose, which can be refreshing if you’re tired of formulaic stories, but also a bit frustrating if you like things to make sense.

The humour is hit or miss—it swings between clever and cringey, sometimes in the same sentence. You can tell the author is having fun, and if you’re in the right mindset, I'm sure the reader will be as well; however, it was not for me.

Thanks NetGalley for the ALC of this book.

TW: death of a family member, family members in hospitals, workplace abuse, harassment, funeral, drugs (off-page), open-door/on-page romantic scenes.

There was a lot going on, and at times it felt disjointed. Separating the book from the narration for a moment- it was very, very hard to get into. The female narrator often felt as if she was reading off the paper at points and her dialogue delivery just felt forced. The mismatch in the female and male felt off. There was no chemistry between them, not that there has to be since it is an audiobook, but in my experience, most audiobook narrators add enough breathiness and intonation to bring the story to life. That didn't happen here. I felt nothing for any of the characters aside from, "Is it over yet?"

About the book itself:
We have Bella, an overworked & under appreciated advertising agency employee, and Joe, the owner, chef, and delivery guy for Joe's Eatery (he's apparently a great chef, and a secret billionaire).

I continued to listen to see if it would get better; spoiler, it did not, at least not for me. The dialogue didn’t feel believable or realistic. Some tropes felt forced. I think part of the issue was the structure; even though it alternated between Bella and Joe’s chapters, the narrators still performed each other’s dialogue. So Bella’s narrator voiced Joe during Bella’s chapter, and vice versa. It didn’t work.

The duality of the family members in the hospital felt forced, and too coincidental. (don't want to spoil who's who for that)
Two stars is being generous. It wasn't my cup of tea, but it might be someone else's.

I read this via audiobook which certainly helped keep track of all of the moving pieces. However, it was confusing to hear Bella as American but (to my knowledge that was never addressed). I was really hung up on it. There was a lot going on and some of my lesser favorite tropes- including a quite deeply emotional family and traumatic with out of no where spice and insta love. I did really enjoy the male narrator and the characters themselves.

I received an arc copy from NetGalley and the publisher.

I thought that this was a decent read. The narration was pretty good and kept me interested throughout.

The plot was more instalove though and I didn’t feel as much of a connection between the two main characters. It felt a bit rushed at times which confused me.

First off, there is a topic that definitely needed a trigger warning but wasn't given one. Which I personally didn't like at all.

Overall the pacing off the book was incredibly off. Some parts were too rushed and others were stretched to a level that made me want to dnf. It was also boring and predictable to a degree that made the whole book feel like an unedited first draft.
These double pov's and constantly reading the same event twice was insanely unnecessary.

For the plot itself, insta-love is an understatement of what happened here. Bella and Joe's chemistry was none existent. Some of their interactions and dialogues felt unrealistic and not relatable on levels I cannot explain.
The humor felt so forced and random it made me wanna cry.

I thought the storyline was all right but the narrators really sold this book for me. Th character themselves were at times, annoying, but the narration was spot-on

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Audio ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and the author for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This one was so much better than the Makeup Girl. Even then everything was too quick yet not really?? It was a ONS?? but wasn't. Like I did like how organically everything came together yet it felt too weird? artificial? I don't know how to explain it I guess.

So Bella works as a social media marketing manager and meets Joe properly when she orders pizza for her friend and he comes to deliver it. But it turns out that Joe had already seen her and was attracted to her and was sad he didn't know who she was?

I was so annoyed at Bella for the way she was getting frustrated st Joe?? like Girl you know what is going on - seriously.... Anyways I was also annoyed at Joe for how taken for granted he was taking the whole scene to be??

The narrators were good at the characters, even though the accents sort of went in and out.

I wanted to like this book so much. The blurb was cute and grabbed my attention, but I had to force myself to finish listening. The narrators, Dan Hoskin and AJ Wilder, did an amazing job with what they had to work with and were honestly the best part of this experience.

The premise had real potential. Bella works at an ad agency where she’s unhappy, and she meets Joe, a charming pizza shop owner. What she doesn’t know is that he’s actually a billionaire. They bond after his father passes away, and she shares her experience with her mom being ill. I liked the connection there, but the relationship moved way too fast.

There were weird moments of self-doubt and a lack of communication that just didn’t feel natural. The story felt rushed, and the way their families were introduced didn’t flow. While I did enjoy the idea of Bella and Joe falling quickly, it didn’t feel heartwarming. It felt more like something was missing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for allowing me the chance to listen to this advance listener copy.

"The Pizza Man" by Eddy Twice is a fast-paced, quirky rom-com that gives us a lot to laugh about. The story follows a woman working in advertising who crosses paths with a pizza shop owner—who, surprise!—turns out to be the son of a billionaire (but we don’t find that out until later).

The MMC is adorably odd in the best way, and the banter had me literally laughing out loud at times. It’s got that full-circle rom-com energy that makes it feel like a cozy movie, and the side characters really brought some extra flavor. I listened to this one on audio and thought both narrators did a great job capturing the fun, flirty tone.

That said, a few things didn’t quite land for me. The plot moved very quickly and I found myself wanting more time for the relationship and story to build. And while there was one hilariously awkward scene that made me laugh, the choice to make the FMC a 30-year-old virgin felt unnecessary and out of place overall.

More concerning was a subplot that vaguely hinted at a sexual harassment dynamic between the FMC and a business associate, which was never addressed or resolved. It felt tossed in and left hanging, which pulled focus in a story that was otherwise focused on humor perfectly mixed with emotional moments. While the book keeps a rom-com tone, there are some deeper threads, like the MMC’s father passing and the FMC’s mother being ill, that add emotional weight, even if they aren’t the main focus.

Still, if you're in the mood for something quirky, fast-paced, and full of personality, I recommend this book.

This is why I don't give a lot of thought to reviews before I read a book. I enjoyed this one a lot and I am really glad to have read it.

There are a lot of edits missing, clearly marked parts where the narrator indicated a repeat to get it right but both versions are left in. The first couple times I thought I was losing my mind. haha It was still great narration!!!

2.5

⚠️ no content warnings on audio - death of a parent

Unfortunately this one just didn't work for me. I am glad I had the audio but I really struggled with it. The timelines constantly confused me and there were many times I just couldn't connect. There were so many very very short chapters. So many tropes shoved into such a short book.

This one just wasn't for me but I'm sure it's for someone! It was also labeled erotic on netgalley and it is far from that. It has open door spicy scenes but minimal.

thank you for this ALC

I would have enjoyed this book much more had I opted for a Kindle version. Unfortunately, I found the dual narration to be lacking; it came across more like AI than a human voice. I found this irritating.

Joe notices Bella when she comes into his pizza shop. They meet up again when Bella's advertising company does a job for him. He is dressed as a pizza. The premise of this book sounds good, but to be honest, it just jumped around way too much for me, and I wasn't invested in the characters enough to concentrate.

If you're looking for a short, funny contemporary romance, it would be worth picking up.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Feel a little like this was a pizza with all the toppings. Too much going on for me to enjoy. Might give it a second chance but at this moment I just couldn't get into it.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc.

The cover and on NetGalley is very different than on Goodreads. The one on NetGalley fits the content of the book a lot better.

This book was an easy read. Bella is overworked, underappreciated. Joe recently opened a pizza shop, and is smitten with Bella from the moment they meet.

Bella has saved herself for "the one", which I find interesting to be mentioned in a book. However her first sexual encounter doesn't really match that claim, so I kinda wonder why it's in there.

Overall, it was a cute read.

Bella is in advertising and meets Joe at work when he is in an ad for his pizza restaurant dressed as pizza. They both have family crises and end up bonding together. (Not sure why the Goodreads summary says her name is Lily--looks like a different book's summary there)

Not really sure what this was, there was a lot of really awkward interactions when they do interact and then all of a sudden they were hooking up. She has a lot of really strange interactions with several men around her to be honest and gets into some really weird situations. Really didn't like the virgin shame, that's real antiquated. She is really immature, he leaves after they hook up for the first time because his dad is dying and she is upset that a few hours later he hasn't texted her...what? She thinks he's ghosting her because it's been a few hours and then he sees him hugging someone at the hospital. Or when she accompanies him to his father's funeral and she's mad he doesn't give her all his attention...seriously?

Audio has some editing errors that were pretty obvious, even with the narrator indicating he messed up and repeating.

Cute, quick read that was light enough to keep me listening, I just didn’t connect with the characters. I wish I had read this and not done audiobook version; the narrators made it hard to listen to. Both of them felt flat, monotone and even robotic at times. I was so distracted by hating their voices, it took away from the book itself. I would not recommend this audiobook.

I went into this expecting a cheesy good time, but unfortunately it was more like cold leftover pizza edible, but not exactly satisfying. The premise had potential (escort mixup? sign me up), but the execution felt halfbaked. The chemistry was more “microwave dinner” than “wood fired romance.”

Also, not enough actual pizza. False advertising.

I struggled with this book and did not finish it. I was bored and could not get invested in the characters. The book is in the erotica genre, but I did not get to any spicy scenes. I am not sure if spice would help as the character interactions seemed very young adult.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒊𝒛𝒛𝒂 𝑴𝒂𝒏 by Eddie Twice
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was such a cute story romance, and I love the secret billionaire trope!! 🤗. I also loved that the characters dealt with real-life-problems.

I think my biggest critique with this book would be the lack of character development. The 2 main characters were a little two-dimensional & unrelatable making it difficult for the reader to connect with them. The characters’ lack of depth, I think, made the narration difficult. There were also a LOT of secondary characters which made it difficult to keep track of everyone and how they fit into the story. (Another thing that really pets my peeves is the use of the sentence:” I could care less.” 😖)

I loved the premise for this novel, and think it had true potential, but overall felt unfinished to me.

Tropes:
*Strangers to Lovers
*Secret Billionaire
*Workplace Romance
*Death of a Parent
*Dual POV
*Mild spice

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing Co-Op for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

#netgalley #thepizzaman #audioarc #arc #audiobooks #romancestagram #giftedcopy #booksandhappy #bookreview #honestreview