Go For It

by M.L. Williams

When Camryn visits a local tavern for a night of pool, she accidentally runs into her former coworker Charlee, who is out with friends celebrating her upcoming wedding to Garrett.

Charlee convinces Camryn to take a spontaneous trip to Hawaii, and Camryn and her friends can’t refuse the offer to party it up bachelorette-style. Days of fun turn into a nightmare when Garrett makes a surprise visit and announces that he and Charlee will be married on the island—the same day. Charlee is not only shocked and confused about her feelings for Garrett, but she also questions what’s happening between her and Camryn.

Go For It is a story about love, self-discovery, and overcoming repression.

116 pages, Paperback

Published December 28, 2021

Reviews

[pipsqueakreviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

To marry or not?

I was surprised to find this ARC on BookSirens because M.L Williams' earlier books were for queer tweens and I didn't realise they had also written one for adults.

This is one of those stories about brides realising they are marrying the wrong person when they meet the right one. Charlee is getting married and has planned a pre-wedding trip to Hawaii with her best friends. A chance meeting with an ex-colleague, Camryn, ends up with Camryn and her friends joining them in Hawaii. During the trip, Charlee and Camryn grow closer, and Charlee starts to reconsider her life decisions when her attraction towards Camryn grows but her deadline is pushed up when her fiancé unexpectedly shows up in Hawaii with a surprise wedding.

This novella is unexpectedly entertaining. As this isn't a full length novel, it doesn't have room for depth but at the same time, I like that it doesn't belabor too much on the dilemma. The wedding isn't constantly on Charlee's mind. She isn't in love with the groom and she's fully aware from the start that she is just settling to keep her parents happy. I like the chemistry and sexual tension between the main characters despite this book being chaste. At the same time, the author manages to keep the characters from crossing the boundaries of cheating which I know is an important point to some readers.

This story left me with a really good feeling despite some bumps and the fact that it was too early to talk about love and I like it.

I received an ARC from the author through BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.

[Della B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novella Go For It packs a lot into its limited pages. Williams conveys a frenzied bachelorette party to a soul searching self identity crisis with ease. 
Charlee is off to Hawaii for her bachelorette party with a couple of unexpected guests. Cam is an old friend whom Charlee lost contact after Cam’s job moved her to a different location. Their paths cross the night before Charlee’s flight resulting in Cam and her friends accepting an invite to join the party. There is definitely an attraction between Cam and Charlee however Garrett is her fiancé and the man her parents want her to marry. 

The book has dual narrators, Cam and Charlee, with each chapter labeled accordingly. I did find the first chapter overly chaotic with too much description of events but the writing does smooth out in the second chapter. There are some funny moments and dialogue throughout the novel which I enjoyed. Both Cam and Charlee are likeable main characters. Go For It is just right for a light snack of romance.

I received an advance review copy from BookSirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Ashlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Camryn runs into an old friend, Charlee, while playing pool at the local bar with her friends. When their two groups end up hitting it off they find themselves invited to Charlee’s bachelorette weekend in Hawaii. After having lost touch when Cam was transferred at work she and Charlee quickly make up for lost time and find that maybe the feelings they have aren’t just friendly ones.

I really enjoyed this short novella, I liked the plot and and the MCs were very cute together. The side characters were all a little nuts in a good way and I enjoyed all the playful banter amongst the group. I think it could do with some more descriptive text about what the characters are doing and where they are, it is a lot of dialogue and kind of hard to follow what’s happening beyond the dialogue in some parts. It could also use a light edit, it wasn’t too bad though, I spotted a few issues throughout.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kay read by Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I read a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy from BookSirens of, Go for It by M. L. Williams and am voluntarily leaving an honest and unbiased review.” The book was well written good story with a HEA. Camryn and Charlee’s adventure toward love is too short a journey. The number of days from beginning to end was too compact and it felt rushed making some moments seem unbelievable. If the number of days was not so compressed I think it would have been much stronger. I will give it 3 stars.

[Rivulet027 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was excited to read this novella because it looked very fun! It was exactly what I needed! There were parts that were light and entertaining while also delving into how Charlee and Cam feel about each other. I really liked that both Charlee and Cam worked together in the past and had mutual crushes on each other, but each had understandable reasons why they didn’t reveal their feelings. It made their falling for each other during Charlee’s bachelorette weekend seem realistic. Even though Charlee is engaged and the two are struggling with their feelings for each other at no point is there cheating. The two always find a reason to stop themselves before crossing that line. It was great reading both Charlee and Cam pine.

Then Garrett shows up with a surprise wedding and things escalate quickly! While Quin, one of Charlee’s friends, remains a background character throughout her struggles with breaking up with her possessive boyfriend really seem to help Charlee focus on how controlling both her parents and Garrett are. She realizes she either needs to live the life her parents want and have been pushing her towards or she needs to decide to live her life for herself, which helps her realize one of the things she wants is to actually marry someone she loves.

With all the tension leading up to the wedding I was expecting it to end in one of those chase and confession scenes and the twist to that trope was just perfect and satisfying. I’d love to see the author visit these two again or even delve into what happened between Sunny and Harper! This is a novella I would definitely reread when I need an escape!

I received an advance review copy for free through BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Reign · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story plot is probably *common* that would make you already know what's coming. But I think the content of the story, what happened etc. is what's important.

Well, Charlee's bachelorette getaway was fun(!) because it was fun. And it was even more fun because of her friends + Camryn & friends (I love chaotic friends so much). But it wasn't just all fun, the getaway was also filled with lowkey flirting, lowkey pining, and realizations because of Camryn. I LOVE IT when the other character gay panics over the other character. LOL Camryn was such a good friend and person and I was very happy that there was no cheating involved. I was scared that something might happen between Camryn & Charlee when Charlee was engaged. Phew! The ending was really nice, super loved how Charlee stood up for herself. As she should!

Go For It was a very nice read. For a lazy reader like me, I appreciate how it was written. Like there weren't too much "descriptions" or "narrations" of how the setting looks like, what the characters are wearing etc. But I guess they weren't relevant to the story sooo.

I also like how the author was able to describe what the characters were feeling without it appearing *forced* just to make the moment sad or heartbreaking or cute or whatever. It was overall a good read. I definitely enjoyed it.

I received a free ARC in exchange for a review. :-)

[Maddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you booksirens and M.L. Williams for the ARC of this book. I thought this was a really cute idea for a book. However, I just did not connect with the overall story. It was very short and just seemed rushed to get to the plot. I also really did not connect with the characters all the much. I do love how Camryn learned what she really wanted in life. However, the fact that she leaves her fiance at the altar was not really well executed to me. I wish the love story between Camryn and Charlee was a little more drawn out. Then I feel like I would have really been able to see why Camryn left her fiance. But I did really like the LGBTQ representation in this story. Just wish the characters were a little more developed. Again thank you booksirens and M.L. Williams.

[Avid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, especially the premise. My overall reaction is that the plot is an A, while the execution is more at a C - level. Grammatically speaking, the problem with many pieces where two of the same gender are the primary characters lies in the flow and the clarification of who is saying what, when they are saying it, and how to avoid confusion on the part of the reader.

Likes: Humorous lines, good atmosphere, both with the bar and in Hawaii, good dialogue at times.

Dislikes:

1. Confusion due to the way the novel was structured with certain dialogue lines. This is hard to avoid when having F/F or M/M novels in English. It can be done and that would have increased the rating to at least four stars.

2. The abrupt ending that really does not fully conclude the story. After taking so much time with these two characters, they need more than what was present.

3. Not using as much of the location as possible: Haleakala is famous for many things, so if you have it present, then use the location as much as possible. Haleakala has tours (sunrise - which is fabulous) and sunset. The road to Haleakala has its own tale with a variety of shops and other items. There is the reality of how it feels going up to Haleakala both altitude (rather steep) and the breathtaking views. This could be a metaphor for so many things in this novel in particular.

4. Adding in more for the conflict-resolution between the main character(s) and those secondary characters who are directly involved. They are mentioned more in a few chapters than the resolution happens to be. Rushing it just makes me feel as reader that the writer does not want to give the characters as much time as they deserve for their own HEA.

I like the author. We need so many excellent F/F love stories with amazing HEA. This is a book that attempted to do that and partly succeeded. I hope that the suggestions will help make the next book in the series, as I can easily see a series with several of the gal pals mentioned.

I look forward to seeing the next book that this author writes.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Mun Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlee is out celebrating with her friends for her upcoming wedding to Garrett when she runs into Camryn, someone who she used to work with. Charlee convinces Camryn and her friends to take a last minute trip to Hawaii to celebrate some more. Charlee questions whether she really wants to marry Garrett when she’s aware that there are feelings for Camryn.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This novella by M. L. Williams was a nice quick read.

Despite it being a nice quick read, I see lots of room for improvement and growth for the author’s future writing. The beginning of the story, felt a bit of an info dump with a lot of different characters being introduced and it was a bit hard to keep track of all of them. Although the relationship of one of the main characters’ friends was mentioned repeatedly, there was no mention of what came of it later on.

The ending did feel a bit rushed and I would’ve been nice to have an epilogue.

I think if it were a longer book, there would’ve been enough time to flesh out the characters a bit more, given time to introduce the supporting characters and last but certainly not the least, tie up some loose ends.

I would probably read another book by M. L. Williams as I thought the premise was pretty interesting and overall I did enjoy it. In such a short amount of time, I felt for each of the characters for what they were going through and was rooting for their happy ever after.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kyrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an honest review voluntarily provided for a free ARC of Go For It from BookSirens.

I am always happy to see books where the characters find their true authentic selves in the end and I liked that about this story. The tale follows Camryn, a former work colleague, who bumps into Charlee at a pool hall. Charlee and her friends are pregaming before catching a plane to Hawaii for an early bachelorette party. Charlee extends the invite to Camryn and her two friends who decide to go on an impromptu trip. Charlee has always liked Camryn but is getting married to her fiancé, Garrett. What will she decide?

Things I didn’t think worked well: there were too many characters all at the beginning of the story and it got confusing as to which friends were whose. One character, Quinn, gave nothing to the storyline at all.

I would have liked to have had more character development of the two MCs- physical descriptions, line of work, thoughts about their interactions.

[Hanbbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah this book was everything I needed🥰♥️ this was such a cute romance🥰

This book kept me reading and wanting more♥️ it's a book that made me feel a lot of emotions and almost made me cry♥️ I am really happy to came across of this book.

This book is not an average romance book where a boy fell in love with a girl, no it's between 2 girls who haven't seen each other for a long time. It was really cute🥰 and I am so happy with the ending😆♥️

While this book was a little predictable, it didn't bother me because I needed it to be how it was written. I also like that it was from both perspectives, although sometimes I asked myself what Quinn was doing there😅 I sometimes forget she was also there🙈

So if you are looking for a cute romance about a batchelorett-trip you definitely need to add this book to your tbr.

Last but not least I want to thank the author and book sirens for providing me with an earc of this book.

[Muthi · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the description of this novella, it looks fun and light-hearted. While it is true for the most part for me, I find it really fast-paced and it seems like the story is really scattered. I love the idea, but I don't like the execution of this story. If you are looking for a quick read but can satisfy you in some way, then yeah this book is the one. But in terms of the character depth and plot, not much is happening. There are too many characters in this short book that I lost track of. Some characters are also mentioned and appear quite a few times but have no impact at all on the story. For a short book, I think this is too complex. The ending is okay, but I really love to see more of how the main character deals with the decision that she made. I don't hate this book, but it is definitely not for me. Thank you BookSirens and M.L. Williams for the Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for a voluntary review.

[lia (forbiddenxfroggie) ❄️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had so much problems with the writing, I’m crying so bad right now. Most of the time I had no idea who was talking and to who they were talking. It confused me to shit.
The story itself was good, but I think I’d be better if we could see how Charlee and her fiancé worked. It’s he ‘understandable’ more for why she chose to make such decisions.
Her and Cam were cute but I didn’t feel the tension between them, it felt like they were good friends and nothing more. And everything was happening to fast for me.
I think of this book could be a full long novel instead of a short novella with in-depth characters and a lot more tension it would be a great read. But now, not so much for me. Unfortunately :(

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a cute story! Definitely needed after reading a couple of roller coaster books. We meet Charlee, a bride-to-be that doesn’t quite know how she feels about her upcoming nuptials and Cam, who just went through a breakup. This novella isn’t a full length book so there aren’t a lot of details but the meat of it is adorable and definitely entertaining. I mean, who doesn’t want to go out to a bar with friends and spontaneously head to Hawaii for a bachelorette party?? I know I do! I got a lot of the ‘will they, won’t they’ vibes ✨ The gay panic was heartwarming and hilarious. This was a great short read and I can’t recommended it enough! Thank you to @mlwilliamsauthor via @booksirens for this book! I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute novella about two women who found each other in the nick of time. Charlee and her friends are off to their bachelorette party in Hawaii when they run into one of her old coworkers Cam and her group of friends at a bar. Drinks and fun are had by all, and next thing you know everyone is on their way to Hawaii.

Amid more drinking and fun in Hawaii, Cam realizes she has feelings for Charlee and Charlee thinks maybe marrying her fiancée Garrett isn’t really what she wants in life.

There isn’t a lot of character development and much of the plot is a bit implausible, but it’s a fun, light and quick read.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Nathalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cute short novel is a whirlwind of a story. It has a fast pacing and sometimes I lost track of who was who with the added side characters. But it was a joy to read. Cam runs into an old collegue after a break up she doesn't really care for and gets invited on a trip Hawaii with Charlee and her friends.

I would have loved to read more of what happened in between chapters between the characters to really feel the development of the story and the feelings between the MC's but this short story will do. I enjoyed it and it was a quick read despite the chaotic vibe it had.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Ngoni Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read this one, I loved it. One thing I can say greatly captivates me is the pure connection between characters.

The plot does twist and turn, but it doesn't lose its appeal. You keep on turning the pages. As the pages roll over you get better understanding of the story. However I would have loved to see more of that slow burning chemistry between the two main characters. I feel like I didn't get enough of their attraction before the end.

It's still a great read, I love it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

[Silvia]

This is a novella so there wasn’t much time to develop a full story but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it was an enjoyable read. It was funny and fast paced and even though the love part didn’t develop fully I recommend a read. Camryn and Charlee are fun and flirty and their crush alters the course of Charlee’s life. And the other characters are full of fun, especially Sunny.
I received an ARC through BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.

[Abigail Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this author's style of writing. I thought this book was cute and fun at some parts, but also allowed you to see the true feelings of the characters. Charlee and Cam were likable characters and I loved seeing them develop. When the book was over, I was left wanting more! So if you read this, M.L., please continue their journey!

I recommend this book if you're looking for a fun, short, clean romance with some twists.

[Looby Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sweet romance between two old co-workers who meet again whilst ones on her hen party (Charlee) and the other (Cam) is drunk in a pub. The bride-to be is persuaded to take Cam and her two friends along with their group who are Hawaii bound. Fun is had and feelings change. And surprises change everything. Cute novella.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Regina Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first read from this author and I loved it. M.L’s writing style is quirky, and cute, I loved the way she wrote this story. You really got into the heads of both Cam and Charlee. You understood their struggles and inner thoughts. Also the banter between Sunny, Robbin, Quin, Cam and Charlee was so funny at times, I loved this as well. I would highly recommend reading this book. It won’t be my last read from M.L Williams.

[JD · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was alright. I enjoyed it but I don't think novellas are my type anymore. I get bored when I read a book and it lacks depth and proper information about the MCs. Some dialogues were difficult to interpret but overall it was a good read.
I enjoyed the plot and MCs had chemistry and were very cute. There were a few editing mistakes too.


I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC with a promise to provide an honest review. This was a funny and endearing love story. I enjoyed the relationships and the characters. I also laughed out loud a few times.

It was a bit of a slow read for me and I thought there were too many cliches. It was a little distracting from the story. It was a cute little love story and I liked the POVs.

[BookDragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Go For It by M. L. Williams is a lighthearted read of a spontaneous trip that leads to more than just a friendly attraction. The pace and diologue is quick and makes me feel as though I'm there myself. The antics were quite amusing to read about.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Michael Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short book and needs editing. Charlee's getting married and going on a girls' only vacation to Hawaii. The plot twists around Charlee's sexuali9ty and misgivings about getting married.

I found the book somewhat interesting but predictable. I would recommend this book for lesbian readers

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.