Rating:

Dating shows are not my thing. Like, at all. So when I picked up this ARC, I was going in purely on synopsis alone. And honestly? Good decision.

📚 Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I was hooked within the first few pages, which I did not expect. Georgia, our FMC, gets one of the more fun character introductions I’ve read recently. She’s not the bubbly, wide-eyed female lead you usually get in romance. Her flaws are right there from the jump. Her reasons for joining Love Shack make sense. The story doesn’t overcomplicate any of it, and I really appreciated that.

This also isn’t your typical slow burn, which depending on your mood, is either a relief or a mild disappointment. It leans more second-chance romance, and what I loved most is that Georgia is never just sitting around pining. She has her own goals, her own life happening in the background. She felt like an actual person, not just a placeholder waiting for Rhett to figure himself out.

Now, full honesty: the romance with Rhett did fall a little flat for me at times. The foundation was there. Their history gets set up properly in the first half, but there were stretches in the middle where their relationship felt more like a subplot than the main event. It picks up significantly in the second half, so stick with it. Just know going in that this one asks for a little patience before it fully delivers.

The supporting cast though? Really well done. The diversity among the contestants felt intentional, not performative, and this is the thing that impressed me most: everyone had a purpose. No throwaway characters. You could feel the genuine frustrations and emotions running through the house, and the friendships that formed felt real. For someone who doesn’t watch dating shows, I found the whole setup surprisingly believable. Nothing made me cringe. Nothing felt like a parody of the genre. It just worked.

I finished this in two days. The ending for the main couple is predictable. I won’t pretend it wasn’t, but the twist during the final Love Shack filming more than made up for it. Funny, a little chaotic, and exactly the kind of wrap-up this story needed.

Overall: a genuinely fun, fast read. The perfect palate cleanser between heavier books. If you follow my reviews, you know I desperately needed after January. 😅

3.75/5 stars — cute, engaging, and a great debut into a genre I didn’t think I’d enjoy.