Author: jilljemmett

Title: Love, Comment, Subscribe
Author: Cathy Yardley
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Montlake
Source: Thomas Allen and Son
Format: Paperback
Release Date: October 1, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Back in high school, Lily Wang wanted to be popular, but she considered herself lucky to be part of a tight group of oddballs and honors students called the Nerd Herd. Now, at twenty-eight, she feels like she’s finally on the cusp of succeeding as a beauty influencer—if she can hit five million subscribers, brands will take notice and she could get her own makeup line.

Fellow Nerd Herd alum Tobin Bui has had a lot of success as a YouTube gamer. But the road to online stardom has been rocky. First, he disappointed his parents by dropping out of college, and now, after years of pranks, skits, and playthroughs, he’s struggling to come up with new content to satisfy his ever-growing fan base. His agents say he needs cross-audience appeal, a new twist.

When Nerd Herd frenemy Lily approaches Tobin about teaming up to do a video to bolster her brand and reinvigorate his, he agrees. But when their first collab video goes viral, their relationship heats up too. With the whole internet watching, will these two former misfits finally realize they’re perfect together?

Review:

When she was in high school, Lily Wang didn’t want to be a member of the nerdy, overachievers called the Nerd Herd. She wanted to be friends with the popular kids. Now, at twenty-eight, she still has the same feelings. She’s a beauty Youtuber who wants to have the most followers so that she will get more opportunities with beauty brands. When her childhood frenemy Tobin goes viral with a stunt on Youtube, Lily wonders if she could collaborate with him to gain some more subscribers. Tobin Bui has had a lot of success on Youtube, but now he is struggling to come up with original ideas. He agrees to team up with Lily, and they quickly go viral. Their tension on the screen translates to romantic tension in real life, and they wonder if they were meant to be together.

This was a fun rom com! As an influencer, on a much smaller scale than Lily and Tobin, I could relate to their desire to grow their brands. It’s easy to get caught up in wanting to grow your subscriber or follower count, especially when that comes with more paid opportunities. Lily was just focused on becoming as popular as she could, which isn’t the point of being an influencer, but she ended up teaming up with Tobin and got a great relationship out of it.

There were quite a few laugh out loud funny parts in this story. Tobin played some jokes on Lily in his videos. I was shocked at some of them, especially the first one. These were fun to read about, but I wouldn’t want them to happen to me in real life.

Love, Comment, Subscribe is a fun rom com!

Thank you Thomas Allen and Son for providing a copy of this book.

What to read next:

Gouda Friends by Cathy Yardley

Instamom by Chantel Guertin

Other books in the series:

• Gouda Friends

Have you read Love, Comment, Subscribe? What did you think of it?

Title: Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell
Author: Taj McCoy
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: MIRA
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 22, 2022
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A delicious debut rom-com about a plus-size sweetheart who gets a full-life makeover after a brutal breakup.

Savvy Sheldon spends a lot of time tiptoeing around the cracks in her life: her high-stress and low-thanks job, her clueless boyfriend and the falling-apart kitchen she inherited from her beloved grandma—who taught her how to cook and how to love people by feeding them. But when Savvy’s world starts to crash down around her, she knows it’s time for some renovations.

Starting from the outside in, Savvy tackles her crumbling kitchen, her relationship with her body, her work–life balance (or lack thereof) and, last but not least, her love life. The only thing that doesn’t seem to require effort is her ride-or-die squad of friends. But as any home-reno-show junkie can tell you, something always falls apart during renovations. First, Savvy passes out during hot yoga. Then it turns out that the contractor she hires is the same sexy stranger she unintentionally offended by judging based on appearances. Worst of all, Savvy can’t seem to go anywhere without tripping over her ex and his latest “upgrade.” Savvy begins to realize that maybe she should’ve started her renovations the other way around: beginning with how she sees herself before building a love that lasts.

Review:

Savvy Sheldon is used to helping everyone in her life, but she doesn’t look after herself. Once her boyfriend breaks up for her because of her appearance, Savvy realizes it’s time for a change. She works hard at her job as an underwriter to get a promotion. She starts working out with her friends and goes to cooking classes which she loves. Savvy finally decides to give her house a much-needed renovation after meeting Spencer, a hot contractor. Savvy tries to excel at each of these new activities in her life, but then she starts to burn out. Her original motivation was to get revenge for her boyfriend breaking up with her, but then she realizes she has to make these positive changes to improve her lifestyle. 

This was a fun story! Savvy was a strong woman but she didn’t always realize that. She started out wanting revenge for her boyfriend, but she quickly realized that she didn’t want him back so she wanted to improve herself for her own good. Savvy had a great support system behind her, with friends who stood by her side and family who wanted the best for her. 

Though there was some romance, that wasn’t the main part of the story. This was almost a coming-of-age story for an adult because Savvy learned to improve her life throughout the story. She changed the way she ate, worked, had fun, and worked out, all things that improved her overall life. I liked that this was a revenge story that turned into Savvy improving her life for herself, not an awful ex-boyfriend. 

Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell is an empowering rom com!

Thank you MIRA for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Intercepted by Alexa Martin

About the author:

Oakland native and attorney Taj McCoy is committed to writing stories championing black and biracial women of color, plus-sized protagonists, and characters with a strong sense of sisterhood and familial bonds. When she’s not writing, she may be on Twitter boosting other marginalized writers, trying to zen out in yoga, sharing recipes on her website, or cooking private supper club meals for close friends.

Have you read Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell? What did you think of it?