Nobody Puts Romcoms In The Corner

When Harry met Sally, he needed somewhere to stay and she had a room to rent. I love romance books, I love romantic comedies, and I love forced proximity. I knew I would love it from the get-go. Opposites attract, forced proximity, grumpy sunshine, the only thing I needed was a touch of enemies turned lovers and I would be set. This is not to say that the book misses that, because it doesn't.

Nobody Puts Romcoms in The Corner caught my eye immediately. The title, the cover (THE lift, as Sally would say), the names of the characters, the premise...everything. This is romcom lover's dream come true, and when I recognized the author as the same one that wrote The Italian Job, I knew I would love it. It's about two people learning how to love, I think, and how to grow together.

I love, love, LOVE romantic comedies (my favourite one is 27 Dresses and I'll defend it until the day I die), and I always have. You could say I'm a mix of both of the main characters - I'm a romance writer and I love watching romcoms, but I'm also not sure the love depicted even exists. I hope it does, because it's beautiful and strong, but I'm just not sure it's exactly like that. Despite that, I love them and I love watching and writing people falling in love.

So here's why I didn't give the book of my romcom lover's heart 5 stars. I read books quickly and it helps me stay consistent in my opinions. I know writers have a lot of work for it to be talked about after a few hours of reading, but it is what it is. And what it is, is this: Sally has almost no character development. She starts as a romantic and ends that way as well - and I'm not saying she should have turned into a cynic, but I found myself wishing she would....compromise. Because, even after learning Harry's (very fair!!) reasons for not believing love is real, or even possible, you're telling me she should just stay exactly on the same path as she was before, not adapting even a little? I found that sad and I was disappointed in her, because her character was written in all the right ways, in a way it made me think she should have acted differently.

Yes, she eventually understood that Harry could love in a different way, but did she show it? Did she even learn it? Because, from what I read, she has that kind of epiphany but STILL depends on a grand gesture from HIM. And let me tell you, there's nothing I hate more in the romance genre than a male character that does a grand gesture when he's not in the wrong in the least. Sally still waited for Harry to grand-gesture her, still waited for him to say the words she wanted to hear, even if not in the same exact way she dreamed.

I loved Harry and I'll protect him with everything I have. And I hated that he was constantly bound by her believing him incapable of love. No, he could love - and he showed it throughout the entire book! But it was never recognized and I feel like Sally treated him with less empathy than he deserved. I felt like the book relied too much on the whole "this is gonna end" sense of doom where it didn't have to. They could have been happy. Sally could have taken her head out of her ass, as it were, and see what was right in front of her: Harry, loving her.

This is not to say that she was a terrible person, because she isn't. And I understand her motivations, but I still believe that she could have achieved more. For one: she could have been the one making the grand gesture. She SHOULD have, in fact. And it should have happened on New Year's, right after her epiphany, because that would have been nice to read - in a reverse When Harry Met Sally type of way.

In conclusion: I really loved this book and I plan on recommending it to my romcom lover friends, but I leave these words as food for thought. Sally, my baby, do better. Harry shouldn't have to do everything in the relationship and he shouldn't deal with your commitment issues disguised as bells-wishing.

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Nobody Puts Romcoms in a Corner gave me ALL THE FEELS. This book is any romcom lovers dream! Harry and Sally had such great chemistry and fell in love instantly. This book is such a fun take on#grumpysunshine.

Sally is the ultimate romantic and Harry is a non-believer when it comes to love. Sally and Harry are flatmates, but one drunken night and one romcom iconic moment reenactment later leads them to go viral on TikTok. To keep their fans happy, they continue to reenact famous romcom scenes with their own hilarious twist. Will acting like a man in love turn Harry into a believer?! Checkout Nobody Puts Romcoms In The Corner February 27th!

Thank you to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for the free copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sally hopes to be the star of her very own romcom one day, sure that she’ll hear the bells and know he’s “the one” from first glance. Little does she know that true love also comes in the form of a blunt, cynical, non-believer of love. Some people just love in their own weird ways.

This book was excellent! Perfect character development. Plenty of laugh out loud moments, and smiling like a goof at my kindle while life goes on around me. Holding back the tears and frustration when things were taking a turn for the worst.

I kind of wish the “turn for the worst” was maybe a different situation? I knew that it was coming from the foreshadowing but how it played out was a little weird. (Maybe Isabelle could have formed her own clip of Harry’s interactions with her and posted it leaving Sally to overthink the situation between them?) It seemed like she was understanding that he loved in different ways and he was just so obvious in his love for her even though he couldn’t say the words. This made her back-to-square-one, does-he-really-love-me because of a trash moment seem a little extreme. But I really enjoyed the story!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter for the ARC!

This is a love letter to all things romance. The references, the pics, all just romance in fine form.
Sally and Harry are great characters and, typically, I fell in total love with their story.

Just wonderful.

Harry and Sally were likeable, realistic, and well-portrayed. The issues they faced were on the realistic side, which was quite refreshing. I enjoyed this story, and I am looking forward to the author's future releases.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.

This was the sweetest cover and title and I was hooked from the start! I would definitely recommend you to pick this up if you love rom com movies or books. This will be right up your alley!

I absolutely loved this book! As soon as I saw that romcom was in the title and read the synopsis I was hooked. Nobody puts romcoms in the corner is about Sally & Harry who are roommates and Sally loves romcoms and Harry does not care for them. So after a few too many drinks one night they decide to reenact the lift from dirty dancing and post it to TikTok. I am a sucker for any romcom, good or bad and this one is great, 5/5 stars! Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

📖 NOBODY PUTS ROMCOM IN THE CORNER by Kathryn Freeman

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Don’t be fooled by the cutesy cover. 😉 The novel has some steam, and I liked it! This is a fun, light-hearted and easy-to-read book. I loved Harry’s grumpy character, and I loved Sally’s kind and quirky personality. The Ghost movie TikTok scene gave me goosebumps. It might be my the most favorite scene (out of many) in this novel. 🙂 Anybody who loves romantic movies will love this book.

This’s the first book I read by Kathryn Freeman and I am looking forward to reading more of your books. 💖

Thank you to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the free ARC.

Another super cute and fun read from author Kathryn Freeman. What I particularly liked though is the believability of the romance with Harry and Sally gradually falling in love over several months as opposed to weeks which often happens with this genre. Likewise I appreciated the natural dialogue and banter between the two. Both characters were really likeable, especially Harry who I fell in love with a bit too. The narrative was slightly repetitive at times continually reinforcing Sally's romanticsm and Harry's cynicism. But that didn't overshadow what was a nice story and funny too - the recreation of the orgasm scene from 'When Harry Met Sally' was definitely one of my favourites.

‘Not an expert, not even close, not in any of this. But nobody will try harder than me to make you happy.’

Fuzzies, chills, goosebumps and more. If you do (or if you don’t) enjoy romcoms you’re definitely going to feel something when you ready NPRCITC. Seriously, think of every bit of passion you feel watching romcoms and that is the best way to describe this book. Harry and Sally made me want to highlight something on every page and had me crying all throughout the ending. No One Puts Romcoms in the Corner is 1000% the romcom of the year. This updated Harry and Sally brought me though each iconic romcom and made me cheer for them as much as any other. All that to say if you want to take a moment and remember timeless romance movies or read about unsuspecting romance , that is just as climatic, this should be on your TBR for 2023.

I am utterly and hopelessly addicted to Nobody Puts Romcoms In The Corner!

From the absolute opposites of Harry and Sally to the amazing romcom reenactments, this book was sweet and sexy all at the same time. Seeing Harry grow as he navigates his blossoming feelings for Sally is adorable and the way Sally and her ever optimistic heart fiercely loves everyone around her make me know she'd be an awesome in real life best friend.

I found myself wanting Harry to wrap me in his arms, wanting to be Sally during their reenactments, and most importantly, found myself cheering for both main characters throughout the entire story.

This book had me blushing, giggling and smiling.

The fluff was perfect and the constant romcom references made this book such an Enjoyable read. And that's with a capital E.

Ever since I picked up my first Kathryn Freeman contemporary romance, I have been looking forward to whatever she writes next. Her newest "Nobody Puts Romcoms in the Corner' doesn't disappoint. Sally and Harry (of course a nod to a famous rom-com) are the lead characters in Freeman's newest novel. Sally is a romantic, and Harry is gruff, cynic who doesn't believe in love. The two end up as roommates, and one night on a dare, they re-enact an iconic scene from a famous romantic movie. Quickly the two become social media stars, and continue to build their following by re-creating iconic scenes from other rom-com movies. Freeman writes Sally and Harry's relationship development so well. They have great chemistry and great banteyr throughout the novel. This was a an easy, enjoyable read. For those who live contemporary romance/rom-coms, this is for you. Freeman's novels are set in England which is a bonus. Maybe there will be an audiobook available. Would be fun to hear this story being told in a British accent! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Looking forward to my next Kathryn Freeman novel!!

I love romcoms and I loved this book. It was realistic, perfect, and beautiful. The cover is so fun. Can’t wait for what’s next from this author.

This was an easy 5 stars for me. I loved reminiscing about all the classic rom coms it revisited and the journey it took the main characters on. It was just so unashamedly romantic and cheesy in all the best ways. I’ve never read anything by Kathryn Freeman before and I can’t wait to make my way through her other novels now 😊

My name is Britt and I’m a romcom addict. A few of my favorites include Always Be My Maybe, 27 Dresses, 10 Things I Hate About You, and When Harry Met Sally. Nothing gets my heart fluttering better than a quick-witted conversation full of sexual innuendos, the smart one making the grumpy one fall to his/her knees, and a wonderful HEA.

That’s why I jumped at the chance to read Nobody Puts Romcoms In The Corner. As a lover of love, this premise sounded so good to me. I’ve read a couple books lately that I was looking for this vibe with that ultimately just fell flat, but I had high hopes this would be the one to satisfy me.

So did I get the HEA I was looking for? Let’s find out!

What I liked about the book:
1. I kind of know what I’m talking about when it comes to Romcoms, so believe me when I say, Kathryn Freeman NAILED IT! This had the perfect mixture of friction, comedy, and swoon. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that more perfectly invoked those same feelings I get when I watch a good romcom. I was so giddy reading this the entire time, that I could not put it down!

2. I loved that we got to see such rich characters in our MCs.

While Sally may have been the lover of all things love, she was also fierce and strong. What the book pointed out so well is just because someone loves love, doesn’t mean they’re blind to reality. We love the HEA, but we realize life is not a fairy tale by any means, we just want the zaps and tingles, or “fuzzies” and “bells”. IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK?!?! I loved the realistic take on this as a cynic with a love of romcoms.

Likewise, Harry was a true enigma himself and I loved it. With his outer shell of cynicism and sarcasm, it’s easy to bypass his soft-heart and protective nature of those he truly loves. For a guy so convinced love doesn’t exist, he sure did fall pretty hard for our leading lady pretty fast ❤️

Above all else, they had truly sizzling chemistry! I totally bought it that these two were meant to be from the very beginning and the happy butterflies in my tummy and I loved watching it play out!

3. Of course I loved the mix in with social media and the reenactment fails. Reading these scenes having the actual ones in my mind had me laughing so hard! It took the best moments of romcoms and poked fun at them, but still pushed our MCs into real love which was my ultimate hope and dream for this beautifully opposite couple.

4. Spin off potential! It’s there, you all, and I can’t wait to see if Kathryn expands on this group! I can just see something between Amy and Jack. MARK MY WORDS!

5. I did not realize when I requested this book that it was SUPER British. That’s kinda on me, knowing the publisher is HarperCollins UK 🤦🏼‍♀️. There were definite times I had to reread things to understand what the author was trying to tell me, but once I got into it, it was just such a quaint little addition to the story I really enjoyed. I loved all the phrases and imagining their English accents. Ultimately, it gave this story an extra little pop.

6. Finally, we got a couple doses of body positivity for Sally, who was not plus size but also not stick-thin. I loved that this was incorporated given the social media involved, but also Harry's take on it was so heartwarming.

What could have been better:
1. It would have been nice to have more background into both of the hard parts of their lives. I felt like except for the mediation points for Harry, we didn’t learn too much about his backstory from more than him just telling us. Same with Sally, there was a lot of history there with her and her sister that wasn’t explored as much as I had hoped. I think this story really could have benefitted from at least one flashback for each MC giving us a little more detail and connecting us more to their plights.

Final Rating: 4.5 stars!

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and Kathryn Freeman for the free copy of this ARC. The opinions expressed above are honest and voluntary.