This book was an absolute delight to listen to! The narration was outstanding. Margo is in a dead-end job as an assistant to a literacy agent. In addition, she is on a search for the perfect romance. Unfortunately, things are not looking her way. On the dating apps, she keeps getting matched with Oliver, a man she had a terrible date with 3 years ago. I was so invested in finding out how Margo would find her way. I highly recommend this sweet book!

I loved this book! And the narration made it that much better!

Goodreads review: “ Absolutely loved this book! Kasie West delivers a romance that feels fresh, fun, and full of heart. The banter and chemistry kept me hooked, the twists were tasteful, and the audiobook narration made it even better. Easily one of my favorite contemporary romances so far!”

I just finished listening to this and I'm SO SAD IT'S OVER! You know those books where you just fall in love with the characters? This was that book for me. I loved the friendships, the romance, the family, all of it. I also loved how the author tied everything up at the end for me so I didn't have unanswered questions!

Margot is an assistant to a literary agent, Rob, and has been sleeping with her boss for the past 2 years, hoping it would go somewhere. She is also hoping to make it one day as a literary agent, and believes she clearly has shown her capability with all the help she has given Rob in vetting good books and providing feedback to authors. Despite all of these hopes and dreams, she is not getting anywhere with what she's got going on.

Margot has also been looking for love, hoping for the romantic meet-cute that she dreams of while scouring the various romance books she reads. Dating apps have NOT been paying off. The best thing she's gotten out of them? An intermittent connection with a guy named Oliver, whom she had a bad date with one time despite off-the-charts sexual chemistry, and keeps getting matched with, sparking humorous messages every time they are "matched" over the course of 3 years.

Margot and Oliver's most recent communication via dating apps has gone on a bit longer of recent--mostly commiserating over bad experiences on dating apps and aiming to give advice to one another to better their experiences. Things start to shift a bit when they exchange phone numbers and Margot finds herself waiting for his next message. Could they become something more?

"We Met Like This" is such a great read--and the audiobook was a wonderful listen as well with great narration by Katie Bloomwood. A 5-star read for me is one that I would read again--and I would absolutely read this again! I highly recommend this one!! (And how cute is this cover?)

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

This was cute!!! Definitely a light read and a cutesy little rom-com. The banter was cute, but it was lacking in depth overall. I feel like a lot of the third act was unnecessary, but the main twist was set up seamlessly from the beginning which I liked. I definitely recommend this to someone who wants to laugh and swoon!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced audiobook

Margot Hart wants nothing more than to become a literary agent and to fall hopelessly in love, preferably in one of the meet cutes she loves from romance novels. Instead, she finds herself out of a job and swirling through the dregs of the dating apps--except that she also keeps matching with Oliver. She had one disastrous date with Oliver three years earlier, but great physical chemistry, so they've kept up a sort of friendship that starts to turn into something else. But for Margot it's not possible that Oliver can be anything more than a friend, since they have almost nothing in common. Can Margot find her way, professionally and personally, to get her happily ever after? And might Oliver be part of that ending?

I thought this book was very sweet and took some unexpected turns that made me even more excited to keep reading/listening. The audiobook narrator did a great job of keeping the pacing moving and differentiating the voices of the characters (something that can turn an audiobook into a dud). There are some spicy scenes that also still come across as sweet. Margot and Oliver are lovable characters who you want to root for.

Tropes:
-friends to lovers
-he falls first

We Met Like This is out September 16, 2025

Dating app fatigue? Then this book is for YOU!

This book follows Margot Hart, a hopeless romantic who dreams of being a literary agent and finding her own love story. She hates dating apps but keeps rematching with Oliver, a guy she shared one disastrous date and one hot make-out session with years ago.

When she loses her job and crosses paths with Oliver again, chaos ensues. As Margot struggles to launch her own agency and get her life together, Oliver shows up with his perfectly laid out life energy, steady and supportive in ways most men haven’t been for her.

While there are some great real-life themes here—family struggles & judgement, career setbacks, best friend and roommate, financial stress—I felt the book relied way too much on sex- the doing of it, thinking about it and talking about it. It starts with it from page one and ends the same way, which overshadowed some of the emotional depth. The witty banter and exploration of personal growth were enjoyable, but I wanted more focus on Margot and Oliver’s emotional connection rather than constant physical chemistry. If they would have opened up more and been more transparent instead of relying on chemistry, perhaps so much could have been avoided. However, such avoidance of talking about issues is what helped with the huge twists causing such more drama with several characters.

Overall, I liked the humor and the look at real-life issues, but the heavy emphasis on sex made it less enjoyable for me. I give this book 3 1/2 stars.

This book is pretty light and was easy to listen to. Narration was beautiful. Giving it 3 stars because I couldn’t relate to the characters. I felt like the main character Margo was playing games and rejecting Oliver despite having feelings for him. There was also some family drama involved and very descriptive sex scenes that I skipped through. 3 stars for me.

I have enjoyed Kasie West’s ya novels so this was a no brainer for me to read this adult novel. It was more spiced than I was prepared. Multiple open door sex scenes. Even though it was clear to me that this was an adult novel I worry some ya readers will grab this one. The writing felt just like her ya.novels but with more language and sex. I enjoyed the story and characters. The narration was fantastic.

Short synopsis: Margot is looking for her fairy tale meet cute, but ends up just downloading different dating apps and matching with the same guy.

My thoughts: This is my first read by this author, and honestly I picked it up because the cover was cute. But also feel like the cover was somewhat misleading for the story overall.

This starts out literally with a bang, or almost bang… in a car. And we did learn really early on how sizzling the physical chemistry was between Margot and Oliver. I’m still not completely sold on their overall attraction to each other, and I feel like there were a lot of unresolved issues. Their banter was cute and flirty, and I did really enjoy the road trip scenes.

I did really enjoy the inside look into the publishing industry, and Margot standing up for herself and her own career dreams.

Overall it was a quick and was bingeable bingeable Rom-com for any romance lover!

Read if you love:
* Meet cures
* Publishing industry
* Soulmates
* Following your dreams
* Flirty banter

Oh I absolutely adoredddd this book!!! I devoured it in 1 day. I had no idea what it was about going into it and was so pleasantly surprised. This will for sure be added to my list of favorite romance books. I will be first in line to read Kasie’s next adult romance in the future.

What to expect:
-second chance-ish
-soft cinnamon roll mmc
-dating app struggles
-she’s an aspiring literary agent
-he’s a software engineer
-realistic family drama
-great supportive characters
-solo narration

The narrator was fantastic. In my opinion, solo narration can either be great or terrible, and thankfully this was phenomenal!! At no point did I actually remember that I was listening to a story with just one narrator because it felt so natural and believable. I would definitely listen to other books by this narrator in the future. I fully believe that a great narration amps my enjoyment of a novel up to another level.

I absolutely LOVED Margot and related to her on so many different levels. We are the same chaotic, messy person who just flies by the seat of our pants most of the time, always feeling like we’re flailing and don’t know what we’re doing. I know her struggles with dating and dating apps far too well. On so many different occasions I was like GIRL, PREACH. The dating apps feel like a cesspool, the vast majority of the time. But I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t now second guessing some of the men that I’ve gone on lackluster dates with over the years and have seen on the apps since - wondering if maybe one of them could be my Oliver 😂

I loved the juxtaposition of their personalities on each other. They are truly the epitome of opposites attract. I won’t lie, I was worried this story would have insta-love vibes or feel rushed based on the opening scene, but that wasn’t at all the case which I really appreciated. The development of their relationship felt so natural, realistic, and organic. It really felt like I was reading about two people in real life, not just another romance plot. I really loved the initial texting banter between them which allowed for organic development of their relationship after their failed first date years prior. I loved how supportive Oliver was of Margot, even when she was doubting herself or wasn’t sure where she should go with her career next. He never doubted her for a second. Margot’s struggles in her career and with her ex-boss were messy and had me frustrated at times, but I also felt like her messiness made her even more real and relatable in my eyes.

While I have seen some other reviews saying that they’ve been disappointed that the author made this an open door romance, in terms of most open door books, I felt like the spice was pretty light. With that being said, I thought it was well done and helped to progress the plot. I loved that the author decided to try something new and write an adult romance, because I clearly loved it and will definitely line up to read her next one.

The family drama was well done and also felt realistic. There was a small twist that I did not see coming and it was a believable conflict that kept me invested. I just absolutely adored this, from beginning to end!!!

Thank you SO much to St Martins Press, Saturday Books, Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and the author for the advanced reader and listener copies of We Met Like This.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for an early listening copy.

Kasie West's adult debut follows Margot Hart, an aspiring literary agent who starts her own company when her boss refuses to promote her, and Oliver, the guy she had a terrible first date with three years ago, but conveniently has been matching with him on dating apps since then. Kasie West does a great job at transitioning to adult romance, and Katie Bloomwood delivers a great performance in the audiobook.

Margo was so relatable, I loved how the author showed her through the light of a rough moment in her life. It made me feel more depth to the character through her life's messiness. I loved watching her character development throughout the story. Oliver is oh so amazing... like book boyfriend goals. He was so sweet and always there when you needed him. The twist near the end was surprising. I enjoyed this! The audiobook was truly amazing as well, I felt the emotions and the characters deeper when listening to it than when reading.

I received this audiobook from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio to listen/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

🎧WE MET LIKE THIS by Kasie West
🎤Solo narration by Katie Bloomwood
💘 Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan audio for this ALC.

As someone who has dealt with the joys of dating apps, growing up in the shadow of a successful older sister, and has a history with inappropriate workplace relationships, this one was really relatable.

The writing was fun, very tongue in cheek humor. I think there’s a lot of stories about writers so this was a nice twist - the fmc is the literary agent who’s a hopeless romantic. I liked the idea of matching with the same guy on the apps over and over, and unfortunately can relate (although, very different outcome for me).

I started to suspect the ~reveal~ pretty early on, but it ended up not being as big of a blow up as I expected. I would’ve loved even more drama but still think it was a unique scenario and found myself very interested in seeing the resolution! The romance was excellent, I even found myself getting butterflies, Oliver is such a sweetheart.

I don’t know why I was expecting this to be a small-town romance (maybe I judged the book by its cover) but the setting for majority of the book is LA. Different vibe than I expected but not a turn off, I think it made sense for the story and it was great. Very relatable discussing working from home, love for romance tropes but not over the top or cringe.

The only two things I’d call out was the 1) I wanted to see her take Rob down, I hate watching bad men get away with awful predatory behavior. She was manipulated and she never really gave anyone context as to why she left her job, and got extra heat for it but she was essentially a victim of the entire situation! But I digress, lol. And then 2) the side story about the author writing the romantic horror at first felt really boring and hard to follow, but I do think it came full circle at the end!

Fun read, easily would recommend for the late 20’s hopeless romantic who is also blowing up her career and trying to navigate a love life, friendships, and family.

Audio - solo narration was great! I think our narrator had excellent voices for all the different characters and she made this story easy to follow and I was engaged from the first second to the last.

In We Met Like This, we follow Margot as she matures and learns to take a stand in order to achieve her desires. I'm happy she finally embraces the healthy romantic relationship she has with Oliver.

Unfortunately, Margot's sister Audrey did not redeem herself in my eyes. That girl needs to learn how to show some grace. Also, Rob is a terrible person. My only wish is that the author had Margot be more specific with Rob about all the ways he was disgusting and awful. I kept hoping something would happen where his life was epically ruined!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio | Saturday Books for the opportunity to listen to this ALC.

This was such a fun romance! I loved the setup- romance book obsessed Margot has always dreamed of having the perfect meet-cute, but keeps ending up on dating apps and matching with Oliver, even after their disastrous attempt at a first date. I loved their chemistry, but the way she treated him started to really bother me- she went from complaining about how awkward he was to obsessing over wanting to hook up to comparing him to her sister that she wasn't getting along with. I felt bad for how much he put up with from her throughout the book! But overall it was enjoyable and I loved how it all ended! I thought the narrator did a great job of providing voices for all the characters. She was very entertaining and kept me engaged and interested!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for my #gifted ALC!

4.5 Stars!

This was such a fun surprise, I devoured it in a day!

Margot works for a literary agency and all she wants to do is bring romance stories into the world. In a desperate attempt to get her out of her current relationship situation, her roommate and BFF encourages Margot to get back onto the dating apps where she matches again with Oliver.

Three years ago, Margot and Oliver matched and met for a date. The date was subpar, but at the end of the date, their chemistry ignited. Over the years, as Margot hops on and off Dating Apps, she continues matching with Oliver. They share some fun chatter back and forth, and then disappear again. This time around, they're having fun sharing dating tips of "what not to do," from strange encounters with others on the App, and they're brought back together in person on one of Margot's worst days.

Margot and Oliver are opposites in every way, but that makes for such a fun, light-hearted friendship to develop. The banter and tension were so good! There's a family member I wanted to throat punch, and plenty of opportunity for growth for both main characters as they worked through baggage from the past.

I love when characters stick with you, and this morning I woke up still thinking about the story!

The audiobook narration by Katie Bloomwood was fantastic!

Romance Content: 2-3 Open door scenes

Not my normal genre but I had a lot of fun listening to this one. Very cute, clever and a bit dramatic. I could see the twist coming and didn’t like how upset she was with Oliver… that seemed a little over the top, other than that this was really enjoyable. Very relevant for anyone in the dating scene, not just 20-somethings :) Plus, great narration on this audiobook.

This book started off strong and then just got very bleak in the middle. Some of the plot lines didn’t add up, like waiting as long for a promotion given the circumstances, etc.
Also, I feel like there would be plenty of opportunity in real life to tell someone the big secret they needed to tell them… overall this was average.

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED!!! Kasie West was the author who got me back into reading years ago with one of her YA romances, so it was extra special to read her Adult Romance debut! And Kasie brought the spice with this book and I loved every minute of it!! I loved that this story is set in the literary/publishing world, and I loved the main character, Margot. And Oliver…whew! He was wonderful! The chemistry between Margot and Oliver was shooting off the page, and the butterflies were real, my friends! This story is full of that Kasie West magic and the audiobook is narrated perfectly!

Margot is waiting for her meet-cute, just like she reads in her romance books, but finds herself hopelessly swiping on the dating apps. Over the span of three years, she keeps matching with Oliver who ends up being her most consistent connection. In the beginning, they went on one terribly disastrous date, but since then have continued matching and chatting on the apps for funsies. However, on the same day she gets fired from her job as an assistant to a literary agent, she meets Oliver again. In this low point, should she give him another shot, if nothing more than a hookup? She has dreams of becoming her own literary agent, and Oliver surprisingly is all-in to support her. The book’s catchphrase sums it up perfectly: “Can a swipe right turn into swept away?”

This is Kasie West’s adult rom-com debut, and she absolutely hit it out of the park! The novel had such a fun twist on incorporating dating apps into a romance novel, capturing both the existential crisis of a meet-cute through a dating app and reality of modern dating. The subplot of Margot’s aspirations to becoming a literary agent made the book even more fun by learning about other books in this book (bookception?). There was something so whimsical about the relationship between Margot and Oliver, even when mediated through the apps, and Oliver’s devotion to Margot was so heart-melting. Katie Bloomwood’s narration was stellar and engrossing, I never wanted to hit the pause button! This book is a must read for any #SecondChance rom-com fan - or for anyone who has ever used a dating app!

Reviewed as part of #ARC from #NetGalley. Many thanks to Macmillan Audio/Saturday Books for the #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
•
Read this book if you:
📱 have ever found yourself hate-swiping on the dating apps
🧡 enjoy second chances (does it count as dozens of chances if you continue to match?)
🪥 have ever forgotten to pack the toothpaste

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This review will be posted to Instagram @AutobiographiCole on or around the release date!