Unromance

by Erin Connor

Sawyer Greene knows romance. She’s a bestselling author of the genre—or she was, until her college girlfriend left her with nothing but writer’s block and bitterness. So when Sawyer gets stuck in an elevator with a handsome stranger, she sees it for what it is: not a meet-cute but a chance encounter with a charming man whom she will sleep with exactly once and go on her way. Easy enough...until she runs into him again at a Christmas market straight out of a Hallmark holiday movie. 

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Audiobook, Fiction, Adult, Friends To Lovers

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 14, 2025

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

on behalf of the entire romance community i would like to thank erin connor for the tights scene. i will never be the same

thank you netgalley for providing the arc

Bookstagram | Blog

[Fairuz ᥫ᭡. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof, what a letdown! 😩

I was SO ready for this one, especially after the hype and that gorgeous cover. But yeah, this book did NOT live up to expectations. I mean, Mason and Sawyer? ZERO chemistry. I was practically begging for some sparks, but nope. It felt like I was reading about two cardboard cutouts. 😬

The writing? Ugh... it was clunky and honestly hard to get through at times. Like, can we PLEASE make this smoother? 🤷‍♀️ I had to skim a LOT to get through. Also, I’m sorry, but the whole “ruin romance” thing was just too forced. It started as a fun idea, but it lost its charm real quick. 😓

If this had been dual POV (and first person, please!), it could’ve been sooo much better. 😤 Missed potential for sure.

Oh, and don’t even get me started on the third act breakup. It felt like it was just thrown in there to add drama where none was needed. 🫠 Definitely not the type of conflict I’m here for.

Tropes:
✧ Grumpy x Sunshine 💓
✧ Forced proximity 💗
✧ Opposites attract 💖
✧ Fake relationship 💘
✧ Third-act breakup 🥲

I’m definitely in the minority with this one, but it just wasn’t for me. It’s got a lot of cute rom-com references, but that doesn’t make up for the lack of heart. Sigh

[Tarah DeWitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book f*cks. i loved every damn second.

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This started off soooo promising, I was sure it would be a new all time favorite!!! I love stories that follow writers, and our protagonist Sawyer is a romance author! And she’s bisexual, which was so cool. The love interest Mason West is an actor, and I love that this book takes place in Chicago! I didn’t realize when I started it that it would mostly take place around the holidays / Christmas, so I would recommend reading it at that time of year, but I did enjoy the winter vibes.

The premise of this book is so fun, she’s going to “ruin romance” for him while getting inspiration for her next book and he needs to take a break from dating publicly. I thought it was feeling a little insta-love at the beginning, because they have a one night stand right away and instantly hit it off, and these characters have great chemistry, I was invested in the first half.

But I started to get bored with it and lose interest in the second half. The conflict was so obvious and it was a little annoying if I’m being honest, it just felt a little too exaggerated and their reaction felt over the top. Also this is probably just a me thing, but I listened to this on audio, and it’s dual POV, and I personally couldn’t stand the male narrator 😭🫠 it kept taking me out of the book. I don’t even know how to explain why? It’s like the male narrator sounded really young and didn’t really match the personality of the male character at all and I couldn’t stand the way he’d do Sawyers voice when she would talk 😅 again, probably just a me thing but it really took me out of the story a few times.

Overall, I enjoyed this and had fun with it! I liked both of these characters, and I’d definitely read more from this author again in the future! 🥰

[Sylvie {Semi-Hiatus} · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an E-Arc and an audiobook in exchange for an honest review!*

3.5 Stars.

I originally planned to read this book over the Christmas holiday, completely unaware that it was set during Christmastime. Of course, that didn’t quite go as planned. However, I ended up picking it up on Valentine’s Day, which felt just as fitting—reading a romance novel during the most romantic time of the year.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was fun, engaging, and fast-paced, making for a delightful read. If I were to dive into a discussion about the book covers, I’d be here all day, so let me sum it up briefly: both editions are absolutely stunning.

Now, about the audiobook—I’m so glad I got the chance to experience it in that format. I had a good feeling about the book from the start, and listening to the audiobook only enhanced the enjoyment. It truly brought the story to life in a way that made it even more memorable.

______________________
When a recently-dumped TV heartthrob gets stuck in an elevator with a jaded romance novelist, he enlists her to ruin romance for him—one rom-com trope at a time—so he never gets swept off his feet and into the tabloids ever again.

Wait, younger me had an idea to write a novel with a very similar idea such as this one. 🥹 This is going to be so much fun!

[K.J. Charles]

Romance absolutely jammed with every possible trope such that I honestly panicked when the heroine started feeling sick because you know where that's going. (Oddly, it doesn't.) This is super meta, in that each chapter begins with a little note on tropes and the characters are very consciously trying to act out a wide variety of tropes in order to, er, somehow cure the hero of falling in love too much (ridiculous schemes of this nature being themselves a trope).

It's all very good natured and the author obviously loves romance, but isn't afraid to spy a few Romance Protagonist traits that aren't good in reality (in particular, the hero's tendency to fall and move too fast). I found the premise rather distracting, tbh, in that I ended up reading with more of a trope-analysing eye and wondering why some tropes were pulled out for comment while others went unremarked, and it got in the way of my absorption in the story, but that's probably a me thing. Also the depiction of publishing is far less shonky than it usually appears in romances, for which much thanks. An assured debut.

[Jessica Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fun, so charming, and you will never look at tights the same way ever again (SO complimentary)

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unromance follows Sawyer, an author in desperate need of inspiration for her upcoming deadline, and Mason, an actor who after his most recent breakup, is determined to stay single as the tabloids dissect his relationship history. When the two meet and the chemistry flows, both are happy with a no-strings-attached night together. However, when they run into each other again, they come up with a plan to get Sawyer out of her rut and draw Mason away from all the romance he craves.

This was a surprisingly fun and quirky romance! I loved all the rom-com references and the trope checklist that Mason and Sawyer were enacting. The two were so sweet together and I loved that the base of their relationship was a true friendship before anything else. Not to mention their banter and chemistry was so vibrant and lively. While I was a little shocked this was set around the holiday times, the balance of festivity and normal activities, made this the perfect post-holiday season read. I think Erin Connor absolutely killed it with this debut romance and I cannot wait to see what she does next!

~Many thanks to Forever for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

[monica ✨ romantasyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

what happens when a hopeless romantic actor and a romance writer who doesn’t believe in love have a one night stand and then make a list to ruin romance tropes? they fall in love, of course.

mason is a cinnamon roll and I loved him with my WHOLE HEART. even though he agreed to the rule of no feelings, he can’t help himself from falling in love with the chaotic bi disaster that is sawyer. and she wasn’t far behind him but she really had to open up and let him in. I love prickly and imperfect fmcs, and if you do too you’ll love her.

the tension, banter, and romance in this was steamy and perfect! even though sawyer was “I’m not going to fall for him” she found herself impossibly head over heels for mason. and honestly how could you not? he was perfect.

I loved the writing and acting portrayals in this book! it added a lot for me and felt super realistic.

my one problem - even though unsurprising - was the 3rd act breakup 🥲 you’d think sawyer would be able to wake up and see how much he cared for her but... however her grand gesture was perfect!

thank you so much forever publishing for the arc!

what to expect
⟢ one night stand to strangers to lovers to idiots to lovers
⟢ hopeless romantic actor x a writer who doesn’t believe in love
⟢ “just to get it out of our system”
⟢ stuck in an elevator meet cute
⟢ bi rep

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

•Debut
•Dual pov (3rd person)
•He falls first
•One night stand
•Meet cute...stuck in an elevator
•Rebound
•Friends to lovers
•Friends with benefits
•Third act breakup
•Book within a book

This one was cute! Actor meets author. They have a one night stand and decide to "cure each other"...but no sleeping together again and definitely no falling in love. He needs to stay single for a while and she has a major case of writers block.

Great chemistry, a bit of steam, and I loved the whole play on various romance tropes.


3.75/5 ⭐️
3/5 🌶️

[charlotte, · Rating 1 out of 5]

On my blog.

Galley provided by publisher

Oh, where to begin with Unromance? Frankly, this is a book I shouldn’t have picked up. I should have looked at it, read the synopsis, thought ‘huh’ and moved on. I spent a lot of time complaining how romance nowadays seems saturated by books which are three tropes in a trench coat, so of COURSE I was never going to like a book in which every chapter involves a different trope. It’s so blindingly obvious that a bat could have seen it coming.

Hope springs eternal, as they say.

I started it. I realised I wouldn’t like it after a single chapter. For some unholy reason, I persevered.

About 70% of this rating can be attributed to the writing style. It was clunky and clumsy and did not make reading this book easy at all. However, it also wasn’t the worst writing I’ve come across and, in all honesty, if this had been my only issue, I can see this one being a 2-star rating. The characters were bland and I didn’t feel their connection whatsoever, but this probably ties back to the writing. So, in all, it would have been 2 stars.

This was not the only issue. Nowadays, you never know when you’re going to come across a this-author-has-been-too-much-online-ism. You never know when they’re going to have something like the main character naming her vagina (Coochie Mane, by the by) or naming her vibrator after the love interest and thanking it for giving her an orgasm. Like, girl, that vibrator was in your hands? Perhaps I don’t mean this-author-has-been-too-much-online-ism, more like a this-author-has-been-in-an-echo-chamber-of-likeminded-authors-because-what-the-fuck-was-this-ism. But that’s a bit longer. The moment that Mason found out Sawyer NAMED HER VAGINA, he should have been out of there. It’s not cute! It’s fucking weird! I want to say this could have been a 2-star read still but actually I texted someone about the naming and thanking her vibrator debacle to say that was the bridge too far.

But the absolute kicker was the entirely contrived third act “breakup” which was clearly a case of the author going ‘oh shit I got them together but they’ve talked everything out and I’m still x-thousand words off my word count!’. I have read some stupid third act breakups. In fact, I reminded myself of one of those just the other day. This one takes the fucking biscuit though. It was so bad it’s like a child wrote it. Actually, scratch that, a child might have written a better conflict here. The only saving grace was that Sawyer was the one to apologise (as well she should have been!). I can’t talk about this one without being super spoilery here, but in the vaguest of possible terms: character A gets pissed off at character B for the actions of character B’s friend, despite character B having nothing to do with those actions, even warning the friend that those actions won’t be well received, but none of this is enough to save him from character A’s wrath. Even if the accusation that character A levels at him is valid (it’s not), she’s perfectly capable of saying no herself! Character B is not trying to influence character A’s decision at all. Character B says nothing. Not a single word. He doesn’t tell her about it, nor does he try convince her to go against her original decision. He respects her, basically. But he gets his head bitten off. And thus, the break up.

Apparently I live in another dimension to everyone else when it comes to this book because the 5 stars abound. I cannot possibly fathom what would make someone rate this 5 stars. This was not amazing. This was dogshit. That’s rude, I know, but it’s hardly a book that makes me feel predisposed to kindness.

[Srivalli (Semi-Hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 Stars

One Liner: Has rom and com!

Sawyer Greene is a bestselling romance writer and knows the genre. If only she could get over the writer’s block to create another story for the fast-approaching deadline. She hadn’t been able to write after her girlfriend Sadie broke up with her.

Mason West might be a great actor but he doesn’t seem to be lucky with relationships. After yet another breakup that sends the tabloids into a TRP tizzy, he needs to stop himself from falling in love.

A not-meet-cute between Sawyer and Mason ends up in an unexpected second meeting elsewhere. Maybe they can help each other? Mason wants Sawyer to ruin romance for him while he inspires her to write the next bestseller. If only life was that easy!

The story comes in Sawyer and Mason’s third-person POVs.

My Thoughts:

Well, a book about romance tropes but to ruin them for one character. Who can resist the premise?
The plotline is certainly cute and there’s a lot of humor in this rom-com. There is rom too and the spicy kind. Not all jokes appealed to me but taste is subjective, so you might them more (or less).

Sawyer would be the grump with Mason being a cinnamon roll sweetheart. TBH, he was too good and too sweet. That meant I felt sad for him more than I felt for the FMC.

Of course, as a fellow writer, I could connect with her stress about writer’s block, the frenzy of wanting to work on an idea before it vanishes, and the inherent talent of writing myself into a corner. The only difference is that I am not a bestseller (yet) or have an agent and editor rooting for me (got my darling friends, though).

While the book deals with a few themes (lightly), the central plot is rather loose and thin. The characters also acknowledge this, so I can’t say much. It’s more like they feel attracted to each other and go with a crazy plan.

The spice is close to 4. There’s a scene early in the book, which surprised me. The next one takes some time (small mercies). We get some sexy banter as well.

The FMC is bi (with chaotic bi energy). I confess I’m not familiar with that tag but she is a mess. Sometimes, it gets a bit annoying as well. Still, I feel the bi part was done well instead of being an item on the checklist.

I had to wait a long time to read about the dress on the cover. At least, it is in there, though the MMC’s suit colors are not the same.

I wish the themes like parental interference and lack of family support were explored a little more. These have an important role in developing the character arcs and need some extra time.

The pacing is on the slower side, something I didn’t expect. A few scenes were extended for no reason. The third-act breakup was expected. Still, I wish it was better handled. Necessary, yes; but not that way.

To summarize, Unromance is an entertaining debut with a bunch of romance tropes mashed into a series of dates. It is fun but a one-time read.

Thank you, NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing (Forever), for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

#NetGalley #Unromance

[Zoë · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay I can’t read romance books after like, 5pm anymore. this shit hurts when ur single and alone in bed reading a book about men who actually HAVE FEELINGS AND WOULD TEXT BACK. CRAZY !

[Noi (in & out) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so well written. The conversations, the chrecters, the story, and the smut. We had background, and development, and things made sense, and the reactions were appropriate to the situations. It also had heartfelt moments I really loved.

I am not giving it a 5 just because I did zone out at one part for a few chapters and also because I didn't love the whole Unromance thing (which yes I know is a major part of the book as it's in the bane and all).

All in all, and the fact it's a debut on top of that, I'd say give it a try :)

[lexie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

she was…cute???? i read this because jessica joyce raved about it and anything associated with that woman i would like my hands on!

it was honestly a lil reminiscent of beach read in that they go on a mission to ruin romance for one person while making the other less of a simp, to be frank. the conflict was so obvious from the second we started that it kinda pissed me off, i think the mmc deserved better in a way but i loved the way he treated her. i was *interested* but my life wasn’t changed by any means after reading this and i would potentially(?) read more from her

[kimberly ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars!!

[[̲̅K̲̅][̲̅a̲̅][̲̅t̲̅][̲̅i̲̅][̲̅e̲̅] (semi-hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A jaded romance writer and a sappy hopeless romantic get stuck in an elevator together. This feels like the start of a good joke or a really cute romcom.........both. It's both.

This book wasn't life changing by any means but there were a lot of great representations of trauma in the form of all the baggage you can bring into new relationships. The third act breakup was easy to spot coming because the FMC, even though she has a tendency to bottle her emotions, had 'I'm going to freak out when you want to commit to me' written across her forehead. The MMC was an adorable, grand gesturing fiend and I absolutely loved it.

Even though this book dealt with heavy subject material, it felt like an easy, light read that anyone could enjoy.









Pre-review⁀➴

This is me ignoring my physical tbr to start another book I just bought on my nook 😙

[megan ◡̈]

im bored dnf

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a debut romance book for Erin Connor! I loved the concept of a hopeless romantic actor and jaded romance author experiencing all the common tropes we see in romance books (Lumberjack included). Mason and Sawyer are the perfect couple. The banter between the two were hilarious as they experienced all of the common tropes, and I could not get enough of these two. I also enjoyed the many spicy scenes throughout this book. Although this was set to be more of a holiday romance, I would recommend this book year-around. I am excited to see what Erin Connor comes up with next.

Unromance is out now!

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to review Unromance. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Madison Warner Fairbanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unromance by Erin Connor
Contemporary romantic comedy. HFN.
A meet-cute and they had the perfect one night fling. They know anything more will end with a breakup. She doesn’t believe in love. It’s all a scam. He’s a romantic and sees a future with every possible someone. A second accidental meeting and they agree to a series of non-dates to prove their belief is the correct. Their outings don’t have the intended results. First, they have fun and laughs together. Second, the outing have her feeling alive and able to write again, and he’s falling when he didn’t intend to.
Will their New Year’s Eve kiss be their end?

Sweet and steamy. Movie magic moments brought to life in unexpected ways.
Loved the continual movie quotes and excerpts and title headings with laughable percentages. Character descriptions are often incredibly pointed: the emerald, leaf-shaped pillows that were the closest Sawyer would ever get to keeping a plant alive.
Love books set in Chicago too as I try to figure out streets and locations. I have a restaurant I’ve never tried now on my list.
Family is poignant. I love the most they both had goals and didn’t change them because of their love. They figured out how to include the other.
Beautiful and bewitching and HFN.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

[krys · Rating 4 out of 5]

✯✯✯✯4/5 stars✯✯✯✯
blurb:
• A recently dumped TV heartthrob enlists a jaded romance novelist to ruin romance for him—one rom-com trope at a time—so he never gets swept off his feet again… •

okay this was SUCHHHH a fun read! i think this is actually the first romcom i’ve ever read, and it def didn’t disappoint. the plot, the writing, the characters and their banter, everything was pure perfection and i’ve never kicked my feet and giggled over a book as much as this one🤭

ℳ𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓈：
Mason ~ i am so in LOVE with this man 😩 he’s such a cutie ugh. he’s so sunshine-cinnamon-roll and i just want to squeeze him. he’s also a hopeless romantic (same) so, i need him summoned into the real world immediately, please and thanks 😔💕
Sawyer ~ i wanna be her friend so badddd. this woman is so sassy, funny, witty, total black cat energy. i loved her personality so much and her banter with Mason was everythingggg 🥰 they were just too cute and hilarious together. plus the spice?? 👀😮‍💨WHEW.
they ofc had their fair share of problems and had to face their flaws in order to make things work, but it all just made these two even more perfect for each other and taught them how to love each other (i want what they have pls). im already thinking about rereading it after having just finished it like 3 days ago so, 10/10 recommend 🤭
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC🤍

♡❣︎⁂︎Quotes⁂❣︎♡︎

♡︎ "Don't be a tease. At least, any more than you usually are, by just, y'know"—he gestured in her general direction-"existing."

♡︎ "Why is there a dildo atop our tree?"

♡︎ "I hate shopping." He glanced behind them to Celia's boutique. "I hate IKEA. I hate crowded public places like the Millennium Park ice skating rink. But doing them all with you—l don't hate."

♡︎ “I think about you constantly, and if you ever doubt my feelings for you, know that you have ruined romance for me in the best way, in that you have become the very definition of it for me.”

♡︎ “It's about showing up and risking it all with no guarantee you'll get what you want. It's about trying. That's why I'm here. To try.”

♡︎ “For Mason, if I had to (briefly) get stuck in an elevator with anyone, I'm glad it was you.”

[elise | bookingthroughlife · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 stars!!!

what an amazing debut!!! i loved this book so much!! it has all the things you love about romcoms that just makes your heart full !!! i was giggling & swooning. mason is the MAN! the way he never lost his hopeless romantic side but was also just so perfectly hot & funny & himself…obsesssed! sawyer is a strong independent woman who also just has the best personality. i want to be friends with her!! i loved watching both mason & sawyer grow individually & how they came together in the end 🥹

i didn’t want this book to end & i need it to be made into a romcom movie pls & thank youuuuu

thank you ReadForever & Netgalley for the eARC! this is my honest review.

[Angie Miale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! This book was so well written, the best book boyfriend, the clever interspersed references to romance tropes. It’s a love letter to the genre!!

Sawyer broke up with her girlfriend 3 years ago and hasn’t dated since. She’s been a moderately successful romance author, but she has writers block. And it’s set in Chicago!! (Exactly where I listened to it, so it was obviously meant to be).

Mason very recently broke up with his costar girlfriend, he is a hunky TV doctor and the son of a soap star, Mason really loves love.

Then the meet cute; they get stuck in an elevator together. The plot goes from there; a one night stand then inevitably running into each other afterwards. Add in Sawyer telling Mason the tropes as they come to life.

This is really a five star audiobook; easy to follow the plot of audio and well acted. This is multi POV, so the Sawyer narrator and the Mason narrator alternate. I especially enjoyed the Sawyer narrator — it’s always a challenge to do witty banter with one voice, but she does well.

Full disclosure— I am more of a “fade to black” person so I did skip past the smutty parts. I can’t speak to if they are great or not. It’s a personal preference, just not for me. I’m not saying the spicy parts are bad, I just don’t know, I skipped them.

Outstanding pop culture references, laugh out loud banter, realistic inner dialogue that bring the characters to life off the stage. Even though this book is about a male and female, I love that Sawyer is bisexual. It’s enough to keep the homophobes away (bye).

I kept seeing this book all over instagram and I’m grateful I got to listen to it- thanks to NetGalley and hachette audio for the Audio ARC. A best romance of January. (And there are so many great ones!!)

[Arielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

~ He Falls First
~Grumpy x Sunshine
~ Meet Disaster
~One Night Stand
~Celebrity Romance

This book was so much more than what I thought it would be. It hit all the right spots on the LOVE meter and spice meter. I was not expecting most of what happened in this book to happen an I mean that in a way that made me suffer for a minute but then the good stuff came along. Malcolm is definitely a dream guy when it comes to how he treats the ladies that is for sure. This is a definite must-read if you are into all of the above tropes. I am telling you I had just read a book that didn't start the year off well and this one brought me out of the 'EH it was OK' phase of my previous book. This book truly felt like a contemporary fairytale.

Favorite part of the book IYKYK: Coochie Mane, because it made me laugh so hard. Read it to find out what I mean.

[Mia S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story! And yes you know how it’s ending but the journey getting there was a complete ahhhhhh. So a one night stand between a romance writer who is bitter about love after a bad break up and a soap star that was dumped by his onscreen lover because he was too much all in. She helps him reign in his hopeless romantic pitfall and she benefits by helping her writers block. Oh yes you know where this goes but pretty cute.

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved literally everything about this. gimme 14 of em

[h o l l i s · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, yes, this was a cover-click-request for me when it went up as Read Now and yes I should know better by now. But while this is far from a new favourite, it at least didn't make me cringe the way some meta-romance novels have recently.

Having said that, I am a little disappointed I've come out of this one liking the male main character more (insert shame gif here) but alas it's true. There was something about Sawyer's character, the way I kept being told her rationale for being the way she was, hesitant about love and the repercussions of things falling apart, and yet it never quite seemed to jive with how she was written or behaved. It just felt like convenient backstory to push along the plot and fulfill the opposites attract pairing. Whereas Mason was very believable; sure, maybe a cinnamon roll is easier to write, endlessly hopeful and giving and optimistic, but despite this he could've easily morphed into something ridiculous but didn't. And while the phrase "boy was he ever written by a woman" did scan through my brain a time or two.. well. That's the fantasy, right?

This is definitely for the readers who vibe hard with a romance about romance tropes and or the writing profession as a sub-genre that's become so popular. The whole making a list and working their way through it, not to charm someone back into believing in love, but to inoculate them to the warm and fuzzies of it all was a nice twist, though.

I hated the third act break-up. And I definitely skimmed over the confessional a bit (and definitely over the weird side-bar scene of Sawyer explaining things to a random third party, woof) but this was a couple I actually did root for. And I could believe in for the long haul. So that's a nice feeling. Plus, having this set up over and around the fall and winter holidays let me soak up the season without feeling like I was reading a holiday romance and that was a nice bonus.

For a debut, this was pretty solid. I would definitely give Connor another go.

** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **

---

This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

UNROMANCE was an absolute delight and a fantastic pick from my Aardvark book subscription!

This story leans wholeheartedly into classic romance tropes, as author Sawyer takes on the ambitious task of "ruining love" for actor Mason—using those very tropes against him. Sawyer is the quintessential "scared to love again" heroine, still reeling from a painful breakup, while Mason embodies the charming "hopeless romantic" who wears his heart on his sleeve and can’t help but fall fast.

After an unexpected one-night stand, their paths keep crossing, leading them to strike a deal: they’ll use romantic tropes to tackle their personal hang-ups and, in the process, reignite Sawyer’s passion for writing romance novels. Each chapter kicks off with a fun definition of a new trope, giving readers a preview of what’s to come. Even better, Mason and Sawyer actually take the time to connect and grow as individuals—no insta-love here—which makes their journey all the more satisfying.

On paper, nothing about UNROMANCE should work: the pact, the romance, or even the chemistry between Mason and Sawyer. Yet it all comes together seamlessly. Their banter is sharp, their sparks undeniable, and the meta angle—when their romance mirrors the plot of Sawyer’s novel-in-progress—is quite fun.

The story is fresh, fun, and brimming with charm, supported by a cast of quirky, lovable side characters. I also appreciated the thoughtful representation: Sawyer is bisexual, and the book offers a beautifully modern take on love. Most of all, it’s just a joy to read. I found myself smiling constantly, swept up in its warm embrace of the romance genre. Throw in a celebrity angle, and it’s everything I love in a rom-com.

A thoroughly entertaining read—4+ stars and highly recommended!

[MissBecka Gee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty entertaining.
I do enjoy some fake dating with an agenda.
The two MCs are interesting with enough baggage to be wary, but not so much they can't still fall in love.
The banter is cute, the family and friends on the side were fun and the journey to a HEA was worth it.
I giggled and sighed and swooned.
Highly recommend!
Much love to NetGalley & Hachette Audio for any ALC.

[jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 i think. this book truly had me GIDDDYYYY!! like the whole time!! i feel like a little pinball in a pinball machine bouncing all over the place right now!!!!! the feelings this book gave me are very much equal to the (good) feelings you get when you have a crush!!!! like i was giggling OUT LOUD!! i still have butterflies 20 mins after finishing it!!!!!!
i’m always a little weary of romance books that heavily lean on tropes as their trope but this was so perfectly done i was never once annoyed or found it too cringey. genuinely such a fun! swoooonyyyy romance book!!!!