#Book Review #Booked On a Feeling (A Sweet Mess, 3) by Jayci Lee #Romance @St.Martin's Griffin

From the blurb:

An overachieving lawyer. A failing bookstore. A childhood friend. The chance of a lifetime.

Lizzy “Overachiever” Chung, Esq. doesn’t know the meaning of “can’t.” That is until she passes out from a panic attack during her first trial. Her law firm gives her paid time-off to “relax,” but she has no clue how.

Jack Park, her childhood friend, wants her to rediscover the iridescent joy she had pre-law school and college, and convinces her to stay with him in Weldon. He's been planning to move away from his parents' loving but overprotective gaze and more specifically away from Weldon and his family’s brewery, but that can wait a few more weeks until his friend finds her footing again.

But when an unexpected attraction flares between them while Lizzy tries to resuscitate a failing bookstore on Weldon, the two must choose between past dreams or their forever together.

Publisher: St.Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: July 26, 2022
ISBN 9781250621146, 1250621143
Purchase

My thoughts:

This is my third book by Jayci Lee and by now I can call myself a real fan! If you've read A Hot Mess and The Dating Dare , you'll be delighted to come back to the fictional town of Weldon with the most creative desserts ever and weird, but hilarious beer names.

Let me count the reasons why you should read the book:
-Food, food, and food!!! Food for recharging after a hard day/week/year, food for a happy family reunion, food for a difficult conversation, and food for getting over a heartbreak. Lovers of Korean cuisine, don't miss this ode to taste, flavour, texture, and comfort Korean dishes bring to weary souls all over the world.
-Quite a large part of the book is set in a bookstore! actually, in two bookstores, one in LA, the other one in Weldon. Jayci Lee even includes a little tirade against people who don't understand the importance of reading romance- human connection and guaranteed HEA, anyone?
- Friends-to-lovers trope. It is one of my favourite tropes, although it isn't easy to create the right kind of tension. Our protagonists Jack and Lizzy have known each other since they were ten, and at least one of them has had a massive crush on their BFF.
-Likeable characters at a crossroads in their lives... Lizzy is an attorney and a litigator as well, so everyone expects her to be super-ambitious and thrive on fight and conflict, while she is struggling with anxiety and needs to think hard whether she is pursuing the right kind of career for her. What I liked about Lizzy was the way she took charge and acted, once she had a clear picture of a problem. She didn't particularly strike me as a high energy person, but her excitement about ticking off 'done' items off 'to do ' lists was positively contageous.
Jack refuses to be a victim of his own insecurities- he might be the business mastermind behind the family brewery business, but it isn't his passion that drives it, and it isn't his dream, so, fair enough, Jack is ready to step out of his comfort zone and venture into a brave new world. What he doesn't want is to lose his BFF- Lizzy...and we all know that going from friends-to-lovers is a journey that can be undertaken only with the right person and at the right time.
- Romance. There a few scorchingly hot moments- yay, strong men with washboard abs and toolbelts...alternatively, strong men in sexy aprons who aren't afraid to admit they don't know much about cooking (despite having grown in a family restaurant, hmm), but everything is tasteful and full of passion.
-steady-paced and low-angst- did you really want lots of drama and tears in this heatwave???

Sweet and entertaining, Booked on a Feeling is perfect for readers who love food descriptions, traditional tropes, small town setting, and HEA. Can't wait to read Jack's twin brother's story!

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin’s Griffin for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

About the author:
JAYCI LEE writes poignant, sexy, and laugh-out-loud romance every free second she can scavenge and is semi-retired from her fifteen-year career as a defense litigator. She loves food, wine, and travelling and incidentally, so do her characters in books like The Dating Dare and A Sweet Mess. Jayci lives in sunny California with her tall-dark-and-handsome husband, two amazing boys with boundless energy, and a fluffy rescue whose cuteness is a major distraction.