Home Sweet Mess was such an adorable love story! Allison Ashley is an amazing author with beautiful prose and a talent for characterization and transmitting emotions through words. This is the story of social worker Jeni and her brother Andrew's best friend, Logan. It's got enemies-to-lovers feels, although the enemies part doesn't last long! Logan is a known playboy, but when he meets Jeni, he wants to settle with her. The thing is, she doesn't want anything serious after a bad past relationship, and would only be willing to be physical with him. I loved both Logan's and Jeni's backstories. I feel like they were original and gave the characters a lot of depth. I also loved Logan's sweet and caring personality. I have to admit I had a bit more problem getting to like Jeni's character. Yes, her backstory explained her hesitancy toward having a relationship with Logan, but even when she knew he wanted more, she didn't let him go, and she hurt Logan a little too much for my taste. I love a good take-no-shit woman, but at some point I just felt sorry for Logan who kept getting played with. There were also a few places where the dialogue felt a little info-dumpy, especially at the beginning. Still, this book was a really enjoyable read and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants angsty romance and a mostly closed door level of steam!

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a very sweet and easy to read story. It was fairly easy to spot what would happen and despite my predictions being 100% accurate it didn’t make it a boring read. The characters were likeable and it was a pleasant few hours lost in an easy to follow book. Would recommend for a few hours of escapism!

Home Sweet Mess by Alison Ashley is the companion to Perfect Distraction - there are character overlaps, so one should really read the other first to avoid two major spoilers. I really enjoyed Home Sweet Mess. Jeni is an outspoken, strong woman, and Logan is a bit arrogant, but also a kindhearted, genuine man. Their relationship begins awkwardly and not without conflict (though minor), but evolves into a strong friendship with benefits and more. There is plenty of banter balanced with deeply heartfelt conversations, which add to the characters' chemistry. It is a well paced novel with strong character arcs and realistic dialogue. If you enjoy enemies-to-friends-to-lovers or best-friend's-sister tropes, then this novel will be an excellent choice for you!

Content warning: cancer, divorce, foster system

Advanced copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So here's the thing - I liked a lot of things about this book. This is an enemies to friends to lovers to friends to marriage book. It has an unusual arc - and I liked that about it. I liked Logan and Jeni's commitment to foster children and their friends and family. I liked Logan's character arc of growth and the advice his mother gives him. What I didn't like? Jeni. I know, I know, she's "sassy" and tough. I can love that - and do love that in many books. I just didn't here. I felt she was selfish, immature, and cowardly most of the time. Granted - she is very up front about her feelings with Logan (which I did like) but everyone could tell - even Logan that while she was being up-front with him - she was also straight up not being truthful with herself.

I'm also not sure about the title here - I kind of expected it to be about home improvement - but it wasn't. It was about finding home - to an extent - but it just doesn't fit for me.

Overall - I liked it - but it definitely wasn't love.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

Let me start off by saying this is the second book written by this author. The first book is about Jeni’s brother and his experience with cancer. And him meeting his one and only. I absolutely loved everything about that first story! This one lacked a bit. I did enjoy the story which is why I am giving it four stars, but it is missing something/a few parts were slow. Logan is a well developed character who you can’t help fall in love with right away. Jeni was a bit annoying to me a few times and I just wanted to skip over some of her parts.
Overall, I do recommend you read this one. It is an enjoyable story with mostly great characters. I just wish it had more of the feels that Perfect Distraction allowed me to experience.

Home Sweet Mess is my first book by Allison Ashley. I requested it because I really enjoy both the friends to lovers AND enemies to lovers trope and while I couldn't be sure which category this book fell into, I knew it was one of the two and either way that's a win for me.

The book started out pretty meh for me. Jeni, the main character, felt off. I wanted to like her, but something about her seemed immature to me. Sadly, as the book progressed, I couldn't love her character. There were times when I liked her character but there were also more times when I did not like her at all. Unfortunately, her immaturity deepened and it just didn't FIT with the character the way she was written. However, this book is written from multiple points of view and Logan's character was the whole package. I loved him, I rooted for him. His story was so well developed. His insecurities FIT with his past and ultimately his character. He made so much sense and kept me coming back to the book.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was compulsively readable and the trope DID NOT DISAPPOINT ( I knew it would be a win). As soon as I finished, I searched the author and ordered Perfect Distraction. I can't wait to read Lauren and Andrew's story.

I give this book 3.5 stars


Thank you to NetGalley and Allison Ashley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Home Sweet Mess.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Jeni is new to Kansas City, working in child protective services, a passion to help people has always been in her blood. Her twin, Andrew, is her best friend and always keeps an eye out for her. Logan, is Andrew's best friend and wants the two of them to meet and become friends. Little did Andrew know what would ultimately happen to his two favorite people, let alone himself. I really enjoyed following the stories of these three individuals and how their lives change, progress, during good and bad times. You never know how much you have in common with people or how different aspects may intertwine for the better. I loved watching Jeni's guard slowly come down and Logan, the ladies man, take a relationship approach to his life. Great quick read! I would recommend!

3.5 stars. For the most part, I really liked this book. Even though it took me longer than I expected, mainly because I was having a hard time trying not to reach through the pages to strangle Jeni, I ended up enjoying it. I had a hard time dealing with Jeni's attitude throughout most of the book - she definitely let one mistake rule her life, and the "woe is me" pity party was definitely getting on my nerves towards the end. Despite that, the story had some funny moments as well as touching, sweet moments, and I loved Jeni's brother Andrew and his story. Logan was an absolutely sweetheart and definitely book-boyfriend material. The football rivalry was hysterical!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review this advanced reading copy!

<b><u>CONTENT WARNING:</u></b> <spoiler>fostering system, child protective services, female infertility</spoiler>

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick, sweet and enjoyable read. The writing style really fit me well, and I enjoyed this book from the very first page. But I felt that I've already read this one.

I felt that the plot was almost copy-pasted from [book:The Friend Zone|41945163] and it had every romance trope imaginable: best friend's sister/ brother's best friend, he is a ladies' man/ she never wants to have a relationship, enemies turn to lovers.

So Logan and Jeni meet through a series of events where they go to each other's nerves. Logan turns out to be best friend of her twin brother. He sleeps around and she has a failed marriage and never wants to date again. Jeni's twin brother gets diagnosed with cancer and the two bond over taking care of him. Now, Jeni wants to be friends with benefits, while Logan wants to date her exclusively and not have intercourse at all.

There are some secrets that remain untold until the very end of the book, but it is very clear what they are, so all of the plot was extremely expected.

All the same, I really enjoyed the writing style and the book in general. It was a quick and easy read and I just flew through it. I'm definitely interested in reading more from the author.

I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest review.
I have to say I was unsure about this book as I was unfamiliar with the author and wasn’t sure I would like it. I read it in one day so I guess that says something about the book.
Jeni’s past had a lot of heart aches and she tried marriage once but her husband left her devastated and with some issues that she would soon learn she would have to work through.
Enter Logan who Jeni finds out is a player right off the bat. Then to find out he is her brothers best friend to boot. Some interesting twists in this book and it’s well worth it to read.
5 stars

I honestly had a difficult time finding my pace with this one. The writing was fine, as was the story. I have no idea what it was, I couldn’t get into it. I’m not punishing the author or book for my issues. It was obviously well-done this one was on me.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Logan who works for the nfl likes his best friends sister named Jeni. When Logan's friend is sick Logan and Jeni spend more time together I enjoyed the chemistry between Logan and Jeni.

I loved this book!!!! I fell in love with Jeni and Adrian! I loved their relationship and how the author kept you guessing til end!

Enjoyed Home Sweet Mess so much! I found both Jeni and Logan very realistic and well-developed. It was also a breath of fresh air to see how imperfect and insecure both of these characters were but actually acknowledging those flaws inside the story.

I loved that part of the book dealt with adopting and fostering, but also that one of the characters had to go through a divorce in such a young age. Sometimes it's hard to imagine how life can be different, but starting over can also seem super scary even at a young age.

Even though I completely understood Jeni's side and that due to her trauma she was unwilling to try something new, I was also glad that Logan stood his ground and didn't diminish his wants. I kinda wish that Jeni wasn't so indecisive but oh well!

This book felt empowering overall and there was such an optimistic view on that sometimes the right person can make all the difference. Would love to read Ashely's other book, Perfect Distraction, as well and read more about Andrew and Lauren since there wasn't an in-depth examination of those two characters in this book.

So I almost didn't finish this one! But I pushed through it. Not sure what it was! But the things I did enjoy was the characters I loved Logan and Jeni. enemy to lovers is a great one to.me!
This was a slow burn.... Which isn't always a favorite of mine!
But I enjoyed the writing, setting, characters, plot!

I was beyond excited to read Logan and Jeni’s story. After meeting them in Perfect Distraction, I needed to know! I loved Logan from the first sight and knew he’d be just as spicy as I expected him to be. Jeni has such a strong determination to stay the heck away from him that it was only a matter of time before she was drawn in. Their relationship developed so fluidly, without feeling rushed or contrived. Logan gave me serious heart eyes as he found himself falling for Jeni. And although at times I wanted to shake her for keeping her heart so sheltered, I loved how their story developed. This one is a 10/10 recommended read, as was the first story in this “series” because Lauren and Andrew are just perfect! I received an ARC for the purpose of review and all opinions are my own.

DNF at 70%.

Jeni Bishop moves to Kansas City to take up a job as a social worker with Child Protective Services. She has a series of unfortunate run-ins with a guy who later turns out to be her twin's best friend Logan, who works as a social media manager for the local NFL team.

Enemies at first, Jeni and Logan start to become friends. Something accelerated by their love of American football and Jeni's twin brother's cancer diagnosis.

She has decided never to get married because *reasons* and no longer dates, Logan 'dates' all the time but has never felt a connection with anyone, although he desperately wants to settle down and commit to someone because *reasons* (my suggestion would be not to find your dates by accepting phone numbers from barflies). When they acknowledge their mutual attraction Jeni suggests a friends-with-benefits arrangement but Logan decides that is what has gone wrong previously, he wants to date Jeni with no benefits (or maybe he wants dates and benefits).

This is an easy read but honestly I felt like there couldn't be one more trope/cliché left to tick and I just lost interest, I could tell exactly what was going to happen, I knew the secrets which had not been disclosed yet and just didn't care. Sorry.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Book Review for Home Sweet Mess
Full review for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

I cannot begin to put into words how excited I was to receive an ARC of this book. Once I realized that it was connected to the author’s first book, “Perfect Distraction”, I was even more excited to get into it.

Overall, I loved it. Was it on the same level as Perfect Distraction? Not quite, but I felt like the small things that I didn’t quite get in the first book were made up for in this one. I loved getting to know more about Logan and Jeni’s back stories. I loved that Logan seemed like a mature, normal guy, where Andrew came across as almost TOO perfect in the first book. The character chemistry was spot on - dialogue seemed to flow quite smoothly between the leads.

As far as why I took this from 5 to 4.5 stars, Jeni. I loved her, I really did, but her reasons for wanting to avoid a real relationship were exhausting. Don’t get me wrong, her reasoning was valid, but I couldn’t reason with why it took so long for her to truly understand that Logan was different and loved her no matter what.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

*Thank you NetGalley and the author Allison Ashley for this e-ARC*

I really did enjoy this book! I really was rooting for the characters the whole time. I enjoyed their witty and playful relationship as well. The slow progression of Logan and Jeni’s relationship was a classic story of having what you thought you knew and wanted for your life drastically change. The only thing that did seem off was the timeline, some aspects of the story seemed to move very quickly, but truthfully it didn’t ruin the story for me! It was a cute story!!