There was a lot of telling not showing (describe one character in one paragraph, the another character in the next, etc) and the dialogue was very clunky. I didn't feel the FMC's feelings in either love interests. I wanted so much more.

Why market this as something fans of Emily Henry will like?! It's nothing like an Emily Henry!
I am struggling so much with this one. At 30%, I'm still reading about the guy she's not going to end up with. It feels like it's dragging on too much. Unfortunately this one is not for me.
Thank you to the publisher and author for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

DNF

This was very first wish granted, so I was really excited! Unfortunately, I didn't like the writing style, or care for the main character. I also don't like to spend time reading about a relationship, which isn't the HEA,so couldn't bring myself to want to read about Jazmine and Hudson (my fault, I didn't read the blurb properly!)

I think it's a stretch to compare this in any way to Emily Henry or Mhairi McFarlane!

It seems others enjoyed this, but sadly this didn't grab me, and I was bored.

Leo and Jazmine are childhood friends, determined to make their names in tough industries. Leo is an aspiring photographer and videographer. Jaz has her eyes set on being an award winning journalist.

When Leo tells Jaz he wants to date her when they were 18, Jazmine proposes a marriage pact. Focus on their careers, and when they were 28 they would marry.

At 21, they almost commit to each other but events lead Jazmine to issue an ultimatum that tears their friendship apart.

At 28, Jazmine is an award-winning journalist, and everything is changing, Her boyfriend, Hudson, has just proposed.

In a last ditch attempt to keep her job in a world moving away from print journalism, Jazmine agrees to star in a reality series all about her wedding to the handsome social media star, Hudson. There's only one problem - Jaz hates social media. And who does the magazine hire as the videographer for the destination wedding? Leo!

Jaz is forced to confront many aspects of her life, her dreams, and the life she will soon be sharing with her future husband.

This book is well-written and has excellent pacing. Some of the secondary characters seemed a little two-dimensional but there is an astounding supporting cast for a relatively short book! I loved moving through Jaz' life with her as she found herself, and found lasting happiness.

Tejeda's new novel is heartwarming, funny, and enrapturing. You'll laugh, you'll scoff, you'll throw the book down in frustration. It really is a perfect summer read.

This book, sadly, did not live up to the expectations that I had. It was an alright book, but predictable and uninteresting for that reason.

3.75⭐️

This book was a quick and enjoyable read for me. In the beginning, the pace seemed a little slow. However, I found it quite predictable, and the main character, Jazmine, irritated me at times! She was a bit frustrating, and I found her a little too whiny for my liking. She and Hudson should have talked more, in my opinion (she needed to express her feelings better). I'm glad she figured it out in the end.

Although GOOD ON PAPER reads more like women's fiction than romance, I felt good about this second-chance romance when I finished the book.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Headline Eternal, and Valerie Tejeda for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

FLEW through this excellent, incredible book. Tightly written, earnest, laugh-out-loud funny at several parts—one of the best page-turning books I've read in ages.

I adored all the characters and the atmosphere so much and I hope the author continues putting out more books like this!

A light, easy summer beach read, this book dives deep into the second-chance/friends to lovers romance tropes. Jazmine is a journalist whose career is falling apart as the industry pivots from print journalism produced by trained journalists to videos produced by social media influencers -- something Jazmine dreads, since she avoids social media to maintain her privacy. Through her fiance Hudson, a rising social media influencer, she has an opportunity to co-star in a video production of their wedding that will draw millions of views and possibly provide her with career opportunities... but there's just one problem: the lead videographer for the production is her childhood best friend and first love, Leo Couture. Can Jazmine get through this production while preserving her precious privacy, her sense of self, her career and her relationship?

I enjoyed the very thorough and loving character developments of Jazmine's family throughout the book. It was harder to connect to Leo, but his character was more developed than Hudson. I liked how the story kept me guessing about how the ending was going to play out, and the ending itself felt earned and was satisfying.

Thanks to Netgalley and Headline Eternal for the opportunity to read this book!

This book is a fun, perfect for summer beach read! The story centers on Jazmine, a Spanish-Moroccan writer, and her childhood friend Leo. Jazmine has always put her career first and is facing the prospect of being let go from another publication. She manages to save her job by convincing her company to film her and her new fiancé, Hudson, who is a social media star, as they plan a wedding and get married. Problems ensue as Jazmine doesn’t enjoy being filmed and values her privacy, whereas Hudson craves the spotlight. Not only that, but Leo, a former friend turned enemy, has turned out to be their wedding videographer. It seems like a picture perfect wedding to all their viewers- what could possibly go wrong?

This was a great light-hearted read! I really enjoyed all the characters, especially Jazmine, Hudson, Leo, and Jazmine’s family. The premise was a lot of fun and I liked the friends to enemies to lovers trope. I always enjoy rom coms in tropical settings, and a Cancun televised beach wedding was an excellent place for this beach read to occur. The only thing that I didn’t like was that I didn’t get to know Leo as well as I’d have liked. If he narrated some chapters, or there was more devoted to him later on in the book, that might have helped it feel a bit less rushed at the end. Otherwise, it was an entertaining book that I’d recommend to rom com fans.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Headline Eternal, and Valerie Tejeda for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love how this changed up the friends to lovers and enemies to loves trope by mashing them up. It totally worked and was glad to read something a little bit different.

This was so addictive and I was itching to see the end result that I yearned for. I felt invested in these characters from the start and it was fun reading.

I think it was also a good reflection on how social media has taken over our lives. We want access to everything and this highlighted that quite carefully. Also great to see some more diverse characters and cultures represented.

Fun summer read, highly recommend.

Good on Paper is the debut rom-com from Valerie, releasing on July 12th. Having received a surprise ARC from Net Galley after adding it to my Wishlist, I immediately dug in while on holiday and was left in awe of the unexpected personal journey this book took me on.

I think it's important to note that while this has all the makings of a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, this plot is also one of self-discovery and reminding ourselves of the importance of finding happiness in our own decisions. Hudson is a genuinely great love interest and I liked how his character shone through in the end, while Leo wasn't without fault either.

This story had very real and relatable elements with characters that had flaws and strengths we have all come across or display ourselves. Jaz had a lot to figure out and her process was messy - raw, and human.

Probably one of my favourite things about this book is that even at 80% in, I had no idea how we were going to get the ending I was desperately pining for. It kept me guessing and at one point, I wondered if we were even going to get the ending that I expected.

I found it quite interesting how this book uses spiritual elements like horoscopes, crystals, and tarot cards and not in a shallow way, but evidently backed by knowledge and understanding, so I did some snooping and found Valerie's process of mapping her character's birth charts as part of the writing journey to be extremely fascinating.

Being a mood reader, I'm currently in a phase of binge-reading rom-coms that are fluffy and warm, and while this book offered all that, it also gave me a lot to think about. I really liked that Valerie took the FMC on a journey of rediscovering who she is outside of her relationship, career and the expectations of the ones she loved. I found the portrayal to be incredibly accurate; having had a very similar journey of being a people pleaser by nature, and falling into the trap of letting my career define who I am, only to go on and lose my job and then not being sure of who I was without my title.

All in all, a great debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Valerie.

➡️ Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
➡️ Spice: 🌶🌶/5

Links:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfEHxfsrBKw/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfEIN8Qr87O/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfCoAYwrIlj/
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4796824790
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ced76b49-30a8-4e53-ae2d-b37d5729e07a?redirect=true

“If we’re not living a life that makes our hearts sing, then we are doing ourselves a disservice. Life’s too short to be unhappy”

The book writes from Jazmine’s point of view - a young girl dedicated to her career as a writer, not big on the whole social media thing, and prefers to “hide behind words”. She has a boyfriend soon-to-be husband who is the complete opposite & basically vlogs their every move. Ultimately, with Jazmine’s career in jeopardy due to the decline in the writing industry, she’s faced with a big decision, one which could save her career!

I found this book a really easy and enjoyable read and I loved the astrology references (I’m a big horoscope head!)
I did though however, find it quite predictable and the main character Jazmine annoyed me at times! She was a bit of a negative Nancy and I found her a little too whiny for my liking. I’m glad she finally managed to figure it out, albeit not until the end!

I rated it 4/5 as it was good and easy to get into.

Thankyou to headlineeternal and netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Oh my gosh I really liked this book! It was sweet, cute, and romantic. It started off a bit slow but once it picked up it had me hooked.

Thank you Netgalley and Headline for granting my wish!

I am usually far more of an enemies to lovers or grumpy/sunshine fan but this book was great and got me engrossed from the start it's the perfect summer beach read for any fans of friends to lovers romance!

The book is charming and warms the cockles of your heart, all the happy feelings at the end of this one and if like me you want to feel warm and fuzzy but also find yourself spinning a million plates it's a quick read to boot!

Really enjoyed this one as I am a fan of Jo Watson and this book has a similar tone to her books

fabulously escapist beach read with heart and soul about living the life you really want, Good on Paper is the rom-com you have to read this summer!

Perfect for fans of Jo Watson, Emily Henry, Mhairi McFarlane and Angie Hockman.
......................................................

Is the universe telling her to follow her heart?

Journalist Jazmine Prado has always believed that timing is everything. So when her magazine reveals plans to lay off writers as they pivot to video content, she'll do whatever it takes to stay on the pay roll. Like agree to take part in the magazine's first web series, Our Big Day, chronicling her Cancún wedding to her gorgeous, internet-famous fiancé, Hudson Taylor. It's not the way fiercely private Jaz envisioned getting married. But at least she'll keep her job . . . right?

What Jaz could not have foretold is that she'd know the show's videographer - intimately. Leonardo Couture is her former best friend and first love who she hasn't seen, or spoken to, for seven years.

With her career hanging by a thread, and the boy who broke her heart filming her wedding to another, is now the best time to question everything? But as the show takes over, Jaz has to ask herself what and who she really wants for her life. Maybe it's time to listen to the universe . . .

I really loved this book! It was a cute and easy read! I couldn’t put it down and finished it in one day! The characters were charming and relatable. I loved the relationships Jazmine and Leo had with their families. I would love to see this book as a movie! It was well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future! Be sure to add this to your tbr list!

Look for this book July 12, 2022!

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for this arc!

Jazmine and Leo’s friendship to love relationship was fun to read. We go back to the past in the book to see how things unfold. A good story like this needs a quiet afternoon, a sofa and a warm blanket. Moving and heartfelt! Enjoy! Whimsical but never frivolous, sweet but not sugary, deeply kind rather than merely nice. I loved it.

Good on Paper by Valerie Tejeda is a cute second chance romance story!
The perfect summer read. A light entertaining story.
Warm, charming and totally adorable!
The characters were interesting and enjoyable to follow along with.
I stayed hooked to the story and thought it ended nicely.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Headline,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I found this book hard to put down. I enjoyed Jazmine and her relationship between both men. It would have been very hard to 'choose'. I feel like the writer made the right choice with all the characters. If Hudson had been meaner, or if Leo had been, it would've been a different story.
I liked the way social media was the villain in the end and I liked the honesty of the comments from the public. People can be cruel.
It would've been a bit better if we'd seen more of the end couple, but that's just me wanting more romance.

Journalist Jazmine agrees to take part in the magazine's first web series to keep her job. She has to chronicle her wedding to her famous finace. The videographer happens to be her first love and former best friend. Seeing him again brings back lots of memories and conflicts...

I like Jazmine and Leonardo a lot. They are great characters with a lot of issues to work out. I love the changes and the growth that Jazmine go through. A feel good book!

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.