Personal Space Issues

by Audrey Goldberg

She’s an aspiring reporter and he’s a secret alien in this paperback original rivals-to-lovers romcom, perfect for fans of all the swoony parts of James Gunn’s Superman.For Laura Levy, her wacky hometown of Roswell, New Mexico is going to serve one get her the story that will get her out of town. Unfortunately, she has to beat the infuriating (and distractingly attractive) Joshua Dearfield for editor-in-chief at the school paper by writing a better article. Even if it's a story about alleged aliens. She's never believed in aliens, and there's no reason to believe this is love.

Joshua Dearfield is an alien. He's also in love with Laura Levy.

As Josh tries to stop Laura's investigation from getting too close to home, he discovers that touching her triggers his powers. One kiss could uncover all his secrets. And what does it matter? Laura Levy is never going to believe in him. Is she?

Tension, banter, and tropes galore!: Get swept away by the out-of-this-world connection that Josh and Laura share.Swoony dual first person Watch their love bloom in alternating chapters from Laura's and Josh's perspectives.Pranks, hijinks, and These rivals-to-lovers can't touch without triggering Josh's secret alien powers!

Unknown Binding

Expected publication January 1, 2027

About the author

Audrey Goldberg writes contemporary and speculative romcoms and fantasy for children and for adults. She lives in a suburb of Washington, DC, and has been teaching with the enthusiasm of Valerie Frizzle, but for middle and high school English, since 2009. She has also written under the name Audrey Goldberg Ruoff.

Reviews

[BookishKB]

👽💚 Personal Space Issues 💚👽

📖 Bookish Thoughts

My full review will be shared closer to the publication date.

✨ What to Expect
• Sci Fi Romance
• Rivals to Lovers
• Secret Alien MMC
• Dual POV
• Forced Proximity
• Small Town
_ _ _ _

📅 Pub Date: March 23, 2027
Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperCollins, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

[Avery]

Dnf

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura is a senior in Roswell who is determined to be a reporter and make a name for herself as someone other than the daughter of the local conspiracy theorist. She hopes to be named Editor in Chief for her high school’s newspaper, but her biggest competition is her longtime rival Josh. In pursuit of an article about aliens and a government cover-up, Laura gets dangerously close to discovering Josh’s secret - he actually is part alien! Desperate to keep his family safe, Josh struggles between his desire to grow closer to Laura and his desire to throw her off the trail. But Laura is determined to get to the truth and break the story. Despite a history of hatred and pranks, the two grow closer, Josh’s powers grow stronger, and the truth comes to light.

What I liked:
- YA Paranormal Rom-Com! I laughed and smiled a lot in this one. It was cute and weird, and I loved it.
- Josh has totally been into her for years, and she’s never picked up on it. His being involved in journalism was not to one-up her but because he’s interested and wants to bond with her over it.
- New twist on aliens (he’s not an actual alien from space, he just has partial alien DNA). And...
- Reverse telepathy: He accidentally shares his memories with her whenever they touch. Which is bad (and funny!) for multiple reasons.

What I didn’t like:
- Sometimes it felt like getting whiplash, with how quickly Laura would go from eager to prank Josh and just being immature in general to being professional and determined to be a reporter. At one point, she changed Josh’s story and added the word “weenie” a bunch of times and then sent it in to be printed. That’s just not something a senior serious about journalism would do, no matter how much they wanted to mess with someone.
- [Spoiler, maybe?] I wished for a bit more resolution from Josh’s dad. He was so against the idea of Josh dating her, and then the next time he appears, he’s totally cool with them dating and going to Homecoming together… How is he suddenly okay with the daughter of the conspiracy theorist who was tracking down their secret now dating his son with said secrets? Does he know she knows? Did she sign an NDA? I needed some type of answer.

Overall opinion:
Paranormal rom-coms are my favorite sub-genre (if that’s even a real thing), so I loved this! I loved their dynamic and that he was totally into her first, and she had no idea. I liked Josh as a character more and thought his chapters were funnier. I admit that it had flaws, but it was still a fun 4-star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC!

[Crystal Beausoleil · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received an advance copy from NetGalley for an honest review, and I appreciate the chance to read it early.

This charming YA novel reminded me of the CW series Roswell, New Mexico! The story centers on Laura and Josh in high school, navigating their rivals-to-lovers journey—both secretly harboring feelings for each other amidst space-related journalism mysteries. The author crafts a quirky story filled with themes of humanity, protecting loved ones, the blurry line between hate and love, and growing up—making mistakes and embracing authenticity. Laura's approach to journalism has Lois Lane vibes, understanding “that’s how the world works—facts and hard evidence.” However, I was confused about her deleting hard evidence footage without explanation, which is never addressed again. It would be more impactful if she showed Josh and deleted it, similar to the scene with scientific slides. I wished for more depth or drama in some scenes—perhaps involving the government or love rivals. Still, many readers will enjoy the numerous Easter eggs referencing Star Wars, Bridgerton, Star Trek, Superman/Lois Lane, and others.

Finally, I love a good acknowledgments page from an author. I believe many younger readers will find comfort in the message that "being too much" is okay and that you are enough. Overall, this is a delightful book aimed at older teens and high school students, specifically written to resonate with the experiences of adolescents and seniors.

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

**thanks netgalley and harper collins for the advance copy of this book and the opportunity to review

I did not enjoy this book. There's only so many second chances I can give after repeatedly falling asleep and losing focus during reading. The redeeming factors were the sparse moments of tension between the two main characters. But those moments were few, and I felt like the story missed out on some longer scenes of just the two of them together.

There was no sense of urgency until about the 60% mark. I was, and still am, confused about what the driving force of the book might be. There was no single problem instead there were a multitude of smaller low stakes problems. I also found some plot points were introduced, but never resolved. These all added to my difficulty maintaining interest.

The dialogue felt awkward and the unnecessarily inserted Gen Z slang was jarring. But the dialogue was much preferable to the insufferable amount of introspective description. All of the characters' emotions and thoughts are told outright to the reader. There is no mystery to draw the reader's interest. The rule of balance with showing not telling was not applied in any meaningful way.

All in all, it reads like a pile of diary entries dropped into a book that has become much longer than it needs to be. There is potential, but it lies under a lot of cuts and editing.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the early copy!!
I super enjoyed this book! The rivals-to-lovers romance was top notch and just what I think about when I hear rivals-to-lovers. The other twist is that it's an alien romance too!! I never thought I would see a daughter of a alien conspiracy podcaster x alien high schooler.

I can tell that the author is very into journalism and teaching (what I know from the acknowledgements). You can just tell that this author knows what she's talking about and is very passionate about it! There were multiple very important messages about our society today and also safe sex (LOL).

I did think the chapter headers could've been better adapted into the chapters themselves. Each chapter header had the name of a song (most of the time) and I would get confused when it didn't really mesh with the contents of that particular chapter. I'm a pop girlie too and was super excited to see these song titles as chapters, I just wish they were adapted better.

I still would recommend this book though! It is fast-paced, really funny, and has a great cast of characters.

[ThatDarnUnicorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun story to read. As a teen, I enjoyed the Roswell TV series back in the late 90s and early 2000s. This book had similar vibes to it so it wasn't surprising that I got a kick out of it. There's a little bit of everything here: the enemies-to-lovers banter and tension, a Scooby doo mystery involving a theater trapdoor, a podcast about aliens, and high school journalism at its finest.

There were a couple of things I thought could've been written better. The FMC's quick acceptance and understanding of the MMC's secret was a bit too easy given her ongoing dislike of him. Additionally, the ending also felt a bit rushed. Just because this is a YA book doesn't mean all conflicts should be quickly and neatly resolved.

All in all, this would be a highly entertaining book to read for teens and adults alike. The language and mannerisms are age appropriate complete with some bad words and minor sexual situations that aren't explicit or detailed. Id love to see a follow-on to this story to see what other adventures these characters get into.

Thanks to Netgalley, Harper Collins, and Audrey Goldberg for the ARC.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not the reader for this book, which is a bummer because I think the concept is so so cute.

Editor-in-chief is supposed to be hyphenated and it wasn't. The entire book. I know this is an ARC and they claim it's not the final pass, but like. Also, this was written by an English teacher, so . . .

The characters, dialogue, and overall situations felt unrealistic in a surprising way, given that the author is a high school teacher. The writing style of telling more than it felt like giving examples or showing wasn't my favorite.

On the one hand, I love her author's note to kids about being too much, but also, it really solidified the feeling I got that there was an ~agenda~ behind the author writing this, rather than the author just loving the story and there happening to be an agenda or moral behind it. Again, not my favorite, but I'm not every reader.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this one. I wish I'd liked it better than I did!!

[krissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny! This book was so fun and sweet and human. I kind of went into it blind so I didn’t know about the very obvious twist, but naturally, I figured it out. I really enjoyed the tension between the two characters and how hopelessly gone Josh was for Laura from the very beginning. Laura sort of reminds me of Never Have I Ever’s Devi Vishwakumar in her complicated relationship with family, habit of letting her temper get the best of her, but her big heart ultimately guiding her. I really enjoyed both of the characters’ perspectives and felt like the story had good pacing without feeling rushed. It’s a short and sweet read.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Space Issues was a fun read. I really liked how the book alternated between Josh and Laura's perspectives each chapter. Josh and Laura's constant bickering and pranks on each other make the story pretty funny. The way that both seemed to hate each other, but both have secret good thoughts about each other was entertaining. Since Josh had to hide being an alien, it seemed impossible for him to be around Laura because her father had a podcast about aliens. There's plenty of drama, action, and the book brilliantly captures the agonizing awkwardness of the teenage-parent dynamic.

[Hailey Robb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC of Personal Space Issues by Audrey Goldberg.

This was a cute book. It a cute books for Teenagers and Young Adults.

I love the Syfy aspect, a cute rivals to lovers, romcom!

[Zah-Kari Lottier · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a cute rival to enemies romance , and I love how each of the main characters was crushing on each other overtime they seen each other. Overall it's a good love story . Thank you netgalley for letting me read this story early .