Love at first set. Amore a prima (s)vista (Leggereditore)

by Jennifer Dugan, Emilia Carmen Cavaliere (translator)

La palestra è tutto per Lizzie, è vita. Quando James, il figlio dei proprietari e suo migliore amico, la prega di accompagnarlo al matrimonio di Cara, la sorella “perfetta”, le cose vanno a rotoli fin da subito per culminare con Lizzie che, completamente ubriaca, si lancia in un discorso d’incoraggiamento diretto a un’avvenente sconosciuta nel bagno delle donne. Solo dopo scopre che si tratta della futura sposa e che lei l’ha appena convinta a mandare all’aria le nozze. Ora Cara è alla ricerca di sé stessa, e Lizzie, nel disperato tentativo di assicurarsi che i suoi capi non scoprano mai il suo ruolo in questo fiasco, viene convinta a passare del tempo con lei, senza lasciar trapelare che si tratta di un’idea di James. Dopotutto, come può una come Cara innamorarsi di una come Lizzie, una donna senza ambizioni né futuro? Eppure, più la conosce e più inizia a provare qualcosa per lei, e si verificherebbe un disastro qualora il segreto del loro avvicinamento venisse a galla. Perché ormai in gioco non c’è solo la sua carriera, bensì la ragazza dei suoi sogni.

Genres: Romance, Lesbian, LGBT, Queer, Contemporary, Audiobook, Adult

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 23, 2023

About the author

Jennifer Dugan is a writer, geek, and romantic who writes the kinds of stories she wishes she had growing up. In addition to being a young adult novelist, she is also the writer/creator of two indie comics. She lives in New York with her family, dogs, and an evil cat that is no doubt planning to take over the world.

Reviews

[Lindsey G · Rating 2 out of 5]

I straight up did not have a good time. James sucks. Cara sucks. My girl Lizzie needs therapy and new friends.

Thank you netgalley but this one was not for me.

[Creya Casale | cc.shelflove · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off strong, but I had a hard time staying invested after the halfway mark. While I laughed a lot at first, the drama inevitably ensued. The third act breakup was a little much for me, as both women assumed the other did not want to talk and essentially ran from her problems. I did enjoy that the book delved into other relationships aside from Lizzie and Cara’s, such as their toxic relationships with their mothers. Overall, a cute read. I am sure there are many readers who will adore it.

“‘You deserve someone who wants to make every day of your life the best day of your life, whether that means some stupid grand gesture or just grabbing your favorite candy bar when they stop to get gas. Someone who doesn’t just know how you take your coffee, but the movies you like, the songs; someone who wants to know what makes you tick. Don’t settle for anything less.’”

[Kyla Vaughan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a book about insufferable people with no redeeming qualities

[jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am worried that there are real people that act like this.

[lauraღ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Stop running, Cara, and let me catch you. I promise I’ll be yours forever.”

2.5 stars. I love rom coms, I really, really do, but there are certain romantic comedies that are written with this tinge of unreality, where the characters don't act like actual human beings, and everything about the character motivations and character actions and the writing just seems to be in service of a plot that wants to be funny and full of hijinks. This was that. I wish I could take Lizzie and Cara, the exact characters they are, with Lizzie's biceps and gym ambitions and mommy issues, and Cara's sweetness and flight tendencies and insecurities about having to live up to being the good child, and airlift them into another story with another plot. A lot of things about this didn't work for me. Some things did, and I really did enjoy these characters, and some of their moments together were really cute, so that was a tiny saving grace.

Our main character is Lizzie, the front desk worker at a gym which she loves, and she hopes to use her position to eventually manage a gym of her own in the future. Her best friend, a personal trainer and son of the owners, wrangles her into attending his sister's wedding, where she drunkenly gives a pep talk to a hot girl in the bathroom, convincing her to leave her fiancé. The hot girl, of course, turns out to be James's sister and the bride-to-be, and the book deals with the fallout of Cara deciding to leave her fiancé, and Lizzie trying to hide her involvement in that decision from everyone. And of course, along the way, they fall in love. I thought it was such a cute premise, especially to have a romance blossom from a bathroom peptalk. But all of the ways that this tried to be comedic really were not working for me. There are a bunch of shenanigans surrounding James and the fact that he wants to keep his new relationship a secret from his family, so he pressures Lizzie into lying for him and keeping his secret, and he also tasks her with distracting Cara. Part of the plot does deal with how spoiled he is and how he takes advantage of her, but it was just honestly annoying to me that it went that far in the first place? Like, would any remotely self-aware human being not realise that they are being obnoxious and they are asking too much of their best friend and just flat out being ridiculous? It was in service of the comedy, but it was just silly. And the fact that he cared so much about Lizzie breaking up Max and Cara... why? I mean, the book told us why, but it felt absurd. All of the conflict was really manufactured, and it snowballs into really melodramatic events in the third act. And I'm sorry to keep harping on about it, but nothing much about this was actually funny. Like, the drunken shenanigans in the beginning? Just make me cringe a bit.  

I really did like Lizzie and Cara; I thought they were really adorable. They had such a good meet cute, and and chemistry during their first talk was amazing. This was a single POV romance, which I usually love, and I did like it here, but something about Lizzie's narration style sometimes got on my nerves, and I wouldn't have minded getting to read from Cara's point of view once in a while. But I do understand why it was written like this, and again, I enjoy single POV. I did feel slightly cheated because I wish that there was more gym stuff, more emphasis on Lizzie working out and being strong, maybe getting to throw Cara around a little bit. There was a little of that, but I'm greedy and I wanted more. I also wanted there to be more involvement from Cara's friends, and for us to see a little bit more of how she reconnected with them. That just seemed to be resolved really quickly and smoothly. As for Lizzie's mother, I do enjoy tackling themes about abusive parents, but this was written in such a flat way? I don't know. It's not like I needed to get her mother's life story and reasons for why she's so horrible, but something about that whole plotline felt very cookie-cutter. And again, the resolution that we got felt unsatisfying. 

Listened to the audiobook as read by Lori Prince, and it might be my least favourite book from her so far? She's a narrator that I really like, but a lot of Lizzie's prose is written with this sort of sarcastic, snarky, sometimes self-deprecating tone, and I just didn't like the voice that Prince did for it. It felt really over-dramatic/over-acted most of the time. I almost wonder if I might not have enjoyed this more if I had read it, as opposed to listening to the audiobook. I suppose I'll never know. I did still like her other voices, especially for Cara. I didn't hate the author's writing style, so I might read from her in the future. But I will probably stick to her adult stuff, because I can't imagine enjoying her YA more than this.  

[River · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5

Thank you Pride Book Tours for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this. I adore reading, promoting and talking about sapphic books with all my heart, however this one just missed the mark for me.
Unfortunately, I couldn't connect to any of the characters. I found them annoying and ended up not caring what happened to them. The entire third act/last part was incredibly melodramatic and never once seemed real. There were huge arguments and then even more huge arguments that then got very quickly resolved in an unsatisfying way.

I'm sorry to say that this really wasn't the book for me. I'm so upset that I didn't like it more!

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this so much but ultimately, this felt just ok. I struggled through the first half after seeing how James and Cars both used Lizzie to cover up for their lack of communication skills and mutual respect / boundaries, so it was hard to like either of them. Truly I just wanted BETTER than both of them for Lizzie.

The second half picks up once the romance and coupling is kind of in full swing, and while I think many will resonate with Lizzie’s intrusive thoughts, after a while it just felt like a drag for me, killing the romantic sparks and playfulness. I did find some of the banter between Cara and Lizzie to be cute and their meeting in the bathroom was actually one of my favorite scenes.

However, my original gripe with James and Cara really not being worthy of Lizzie rears it’s head in full force in the final 30%. They repeatedly let other people in their lives talk down to Lizzie. This is seen with Sherry, one of Cara’s friends, both James and Cara with their parents and how they treat Lizzie, and on several occasions, James himself in how he speaks directly to Lizzie, often commenting on her lack of resume or how Cara has nothing to stick around for, implying his ‘best friend’ Lizzie isn’t enough.

Frankly it all felt really toxic and I just wanted Lizzie to leave all of them behind and as for the gestures at the end…they needed to come from James and Cara, not Lizzie to them. Overall because I just couldn’t find the best friend, James, redeeming or Cara, the love interest, as someone interesting or kind to Lizzie, I just couldn’t really get on board.

I will say, i thought the gym aspect was interesting and would have loved to see more of that, of Lizzie with clients all working towards different goals, to really see her passion come through. I also thought the self-esteem issues and complicated family dynamics added made this intriguing, especially in how we see Lizzie deal with all this. I felt for her character so much and the scenes with her mother were so sad to read through, but felt realistic. Though the wrap up of these issues was a bit lack luster and quick, I can also see how trying to go the full mile in doing them Justice would have come at the suffering of the romance.

Rating: 2.75/3, rounding up to 3

[John Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jenn Dugan has written some nice books, but those were labeled YA, while this is supposedly her first 'Adult' novel. Having enjoyed a few of her previous books, I was looking forward to this one, but unfortunately, although there were some good moments, overall it was mostly a fail for me.

For starters, just because there are supposed adult characters and they may even have some intimate moments, does not an adult novel make. For most of the book our main characters, narrator Liz, her best friend James and his sister Cara, all act like teenagers trying to find their way. Liz's insecurities were inane at best. But the main dramatic scene at a dinner at the folks was pretty classic in a total meltdown.

So not awful, just not very good. 2.5 stars
ps I did not put *spoiler alert* at the start of this review as it doesn't have any, but GR put it in there in my final post, but not in my edit. Funny that.

[Nev · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kind of a mixed bag for me. I thought that the personal journeys that Lizzie and Cara were going on added a lot to the book. I liked the explorations of how their families and their expectations have hindered their development. Also, the meet cute and how Lizzie accidentally convinces Cara to not go through with her wedding were very amusing. And I did enjoy the chemistry between the two of them.

However, I wasn’t totally sold on the progression of the romance. The element of Lizzie, Cara, and Cara’s brother James all interfering so much in each other’s love lives got a bit repetitive. I felt like there wasn’t enough time spent with Lizzie and Cara being genuinely with one another before they’re declaring that they’re in love. I thought that they took massive steps in their relationship way too soon at the end of the book. And this had the type of romance epilogue that I really don’t like. It’s just too much too fast, for me.

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vague spoilers below, I guess, if you can really be spoiled on such a book.

I received an ARC from my job at a bookstore.

Frankly, I didn't enjoy this book. If you did, I'm happy for you. But this was not my cup of tea at all. Overall, I would describe it as "meh", and if pressed for a longer answer, I would say "honestly, bad."

For an adult debut novel from a YA author, the only thing for me that really set this apart from being YA was that the characters had sex. Not that the sex scenes were particularly interesting or good, it was just thrown in for the sake of...two women boning a lot...?

The main character has barely any personality to her, and at the best of times she's just some gym obsessed fitness nut, and at the worst of times, she comes off as a bratty teenager. She throws an honest to god temper tantrum at one point and acts like a literal child—I'm only reminded these are adults because it takes place at a bar.

The major conflicts don't even get resolved until the book is almost finished, and the main character's mommy issues (one of her four defining character traits, along with working out, having an inferiority complex, and liking women) aren't resolved like...at all. Sure, her mommy issues come up once every 20 pages so you forget repeatedly that it's even a Thing, but the big showdown is between her girlfriend and her girlfriend's parents. While her mom is...written out off screen. Because that's a totally great way to resolve the issue of an abusive parent, right...?

Not to mention her mother is an alcoholic, which again is mentioned so infrequently and briefly that you completely forget by the time she's getting drunk and making a fool of herself and literally getting blackout drunk. You know, normal things that people with alcoholism in their family do when they've made a point at other parts in the story to say that they don't want to be like her and turn their "addictive tendencies" towards working out. (Spoiler alert: that's not as healthy as you think it is.)

There are a lot of things I didn't like about the book, one being how casually "queer" and "queerness" is thrown about in a way that makes me, a lesbian, actually uncomfortable. Sure plenty of people in the LGBT+ community are fine with it, but plenty of others aren't. It felt weird to label things as "queer" or exploring "her queerness" instead of...y'know, her sexuality? Like most people would say? Another thing was the amount of jokes that seriously bordered on transphobic. Why was there such an insistence on making jokes about Lizzie being a man or having balls...? That's creepy, in my opinion, and also really really gross, and most of all, comes off blatantly as written by a cis author. This book is a hot mess in so many ways I could write a review longer than the book itself on what's wrong with it, but I'm not going to do that.

End result, for having a cute premise it's rushed, messy, and overall not an enjoyable time in the slightest. If you like cheesy romance with plenty of drama ripped straight from a YA novel, then this is for you. And again, no judgement if that is what you're looking for, but it wasn't for me. I hope you enjoy it more than I did.

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Warum ich “The Girl Of Her Dreams" leider ganz schlimm fand und alle Charaktere in dem Buch einen an der Waffel haben - eine Rant Rezension.

Das Buch habe ich mit Tina zusammen gelesen und ohne diesen Buddyread hätte ich es nicht durchgezogen.
Fangen wir mit Lissie an, bei der ich mich als Lesende einfach unwohl gefühlt habe. Sie ist in so vielen cringe und fremdschämenden Situationen, dass ich einfach den Kopf schütteln musste. Bzw. sind es noch nicht mal die Situationen sondern sie selbst. Sie verhält sich nicht wie eine Erwachsene Person es tun sollte, ganz ehrlich noch nicht mal mit keine Ahnung wie vielen Jahren sollte man sich so verhalten. Hell no!
Alle Charaktere sind so unglaublich horny und sexualisieren wirklich alles, was nicht auf drei aufm Baum ist. Die Dialoge waren teilweise so unangenehm und auch die Beziehungen.
Ob die Freundschaft zwischen Lissie und James oder dann Lissie und Kara, alles war super toxisch.
Also für mich ein absolutes Nope, sorry.

[Gaby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I hate the miscommunication trope. It’s the worst. So that, coupled with the fact that I didn’t like Lizzie and wasn’t super invested in Cara or James either, just didn’t leave me feeling very excited about the book. I had a hard time believing that Lizzie and Cara were even right for each other to begin with. Overall it was a cute romance but didn’t excite me.

[natka_bookish_life · Rating 2 out of 5]

yea well… początek i koniec są warte wspomnienia, ale na tym się kończy…

niestety to kije drugie spotkanie z autorką i po raz kolejny się zawiodłam

[Sabrina Grafenberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part this book was a fun and light rom com, but the third act was way too melodramatic and some things started to feel unrealistic.

The plot and conflict leaned too much on the miscommunication trope and James and Cara's mother, Stella, didn't feel like a real person, but rather like a cartoon villain. She was very one-dimensional and downright evil. With the way she plotted and lied I was half expecting her to cackle maniacally and rub her hands in an evil manner at some point. Aside from Stella I also didn't like James. He was awful, selfish and manipulative.

It pains me to even mention it, but I need to get it out: I don't understand the author's obsession with The Conjuring Universe. Annabelle was mentioned ten times, Conjuring was mentioned five times and there were a few jokes about exorcising and demons. It was funny at first, but it got annoying after a while and sorry not sorry I think these movies are overrated.

To end this review on a more positive note (I am giving it three stars after all): I loved Lizzie as the main character. She was messy and chaotic but also very relatable and funny. The chemistry, banter and serious conversations between her and Cara were great.

I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Lori Prince and her performance was outstanding.

[Leyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright so I liked it, but I sadly could not love this one..

I had read “some girls do” and thought that was a really solid sapphic YA/coming of age story! I was excited to see that the author wrote a sapphic adult romance with a premise that interested me, however I found that this one was regrettably not as good.

Lizzie had a horrible childhood with a horrible abusive mother she still feels the need to support despite the trauma her mother has given her. I understand feeling like you need to support your mother despite them being shitty, but it does automatically make me feel so sad for Lizzie. Not only does her mother suck, her job also SUCKS. Her bosses are so disrespectful towards her for no reason and don’t appreciate what she does at all. She works with her best friend, who also does not appreciate what she does and is flakey, lacks empathy and has a weird complex when it comes to his sister. Overall she just has so many sucky people and situations going on in her life and I feel like there needed to be way more fixing of those issues and less new relationships that come with new issues. Lizzie needs therapy and to spontaneously win a million dollars so she run away from that shitty town and take a well deserved break from it all.

I cannot stress how SHITTY her boss is??? I am so furious with how that woman treats her!! I cannot believe there is even a chance of Lizzie considering reconciliation!! I need to fight this woman with a morgenstern I hate her so much.

Also I need James to go think about what he did. Lizzie needs to yell at him more bc he’s a fucking idiot sandwich. And that’s her only (found) family!! Lizzie is suffering!! Get her some actual nice friends!!

I liked the romance, the romance was cute and I was rooting for them and reaaaaally wanted Lizzie to be happy and in love! She is precious and deserves the world!

Anyway so that’s why it’s 3 stars! It’s still a decent read and I’m not mad at the romance part of it at all, just the other aspects of Lizzies life make me mad af- I needed them to be resolved properly:(

[Maddie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this one at all. I found both main characters very annoying. I didn't really feel a romantic spark between them either. I see that this author mostly writes YA books and that makes since. This writing felt like a YA book. I have never read any other books by this author. But I think she should stick to writing YA books.

[Dilayra Verbrugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much!

It's a sapphic adult romcom. It was so funny, chaotic and messy (in a good way). I also read the audiobook and I think that made it even better!

[disco · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this house we don’t say “I love you,” we say, “I have learned your random food quirks and I support you.”

Anyone who considers Annabelle(2014) their comfort movie is alright by me.

[Dilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

i am officially giving up on reading jennifer dugan’s books. i’ve read a few and have come to the same conclusion each time. it’s a nope from me and in this one especially. the whole time all i see repeatedly is “man”, “dude” “bro code bro code bro code” (the last one is an actual quote from the book), ‘i’m poor’, ‘i want to open my own gym but can’t so i do the next best thing: work for someone else’, ‘i like her but there’s no way she’d go for a poor, ordinary, ugly person like me.’ and i got so sick of it i dnfed.

sorry abt the mini rant it’s just so frustratingly boring and i could NOT stand it.

[Maja · Rating 2 out of 5]

lol what

[Annie · Rating 1 out of 5]

god what absolute trash. even in my crushable era i cannot give this any love. i will only remember it as my first-ever airport novel… cannot believe jennifer dugan’s wikipedia describes her as an “activist.” insufferable alert!!!

[Bailey]

DNF at 4% — the main character was giving hey mamas i’m sorry 😭

[alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

they will be divorced in five years, i’m calling it now.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one started out really strong but the storyline went off the rails about a third of the way through

[Anne Hartley Pfohl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, this is a first. I did not like this book and I don't care to finish it. In order for me to enjoy a story I have to like someone in it. I have to care. With this one, I just dont.
The characters are manipulative, narcissists, weak, and completely self-absorbed. The premise of the book is the problem from the start. Two drunk strangers meet in a bathroom and one talks the other out of going through with her marriage. And they are supposed to be the main characters in a love story? No thanks.
I love this genre, I have loved every Sapphic rom com I have read. This one is terrible.

[KW · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish they had argued less and kissed more

[alison]

dnf @ page 135: girl bye, why was everyone annoying as hell

[Brenda Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like any good romance - meet cute, wrecked lives, complicated relationships and a little cheesy.
A quick, easy read of found family, melting moments and just a great queer book.
Lizzie is recovering from a difficult childhood - a mother unable to provide stability or care, low self esteem and a need to feel "seen". Still covering her mom's bills, Lizzie is struggling. Determined to open her own gym one day - with the intention of providing a safe space for all, Lizzie struggles to submit her resume for a promotion at her job.
Her bestie, James, and his sister Cara shake up her life.
Loved it!

[LGBT Representation in Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trigger Warnings: Cursing, addiction/alcoholism, alcohol/drinking, classism, toxic parents, sex

Representation: Gay, Queer, Bisexual

Love at First Set is a sapphic contemporary romance. The gym is Lizzie's life--it's her passion, her job, and the only place that's ever felt like home. Unfortunately, her bosses consider her a glorified check-in girl at best, and the gym punching bag at worst.

When their son, Lizzie's best friend, James, begs her to be his plus one at his perfect sister Cara's wedding, things go wrong immediately, and culminate in Lizzie giving a drunken pep talk to a hot stranger in the women's bathroom, except that stranger is actually the bride-to-be, and Lizzie has accidentally convinced her to ditch her groom.

Now, newly directionless Cara is on a quest to find herself, and Lizzie, who is desperate to make sure her bosses never find out her role in this fiasco, gets strong-armed by James into "entertaining" Cara. Cara doesn't have to know it's a setup; it'll just be a quick fling before she sobers up and goes back to her real life. After all, how could someone like Cara fall for someone like Lizzie?

The more Lizzie gets to know Cara, the more she likes her, and the bigger the potential disaster if any of her rapidly multiplying secrets get out. Now it's not just Lizzie's job and entire future on the line, but also the girl of her dreams.

You absolutely HAVE to read this gem! Ironically enough, I read part of it while at the gym. This story is very funny and chaotic. And I love a good messy queer! The audiobook has great narration- Lori Prince does an excellent job bringing these characters to life! Like most romances, there’s always a third act break-up, which I hate but the resolution/HEA in this story makes it totally worth it!

I absolutely loved the writing style for this book and think the author should write adults more often! The characters are flawed and relatable. They feel like humans you know if your daily life. I couldn’t believe how this mother is such a b*tch! My only suggestion would be to have included some of Cara’s perspective but I also loved being in Lizzie’s head. Maybe a sequel from Cara’s side???