This book was equal parts adorable and frustrating. It's a slow burn friends to lovers rom-com with a lot of miscommunication. Unfortunately I found the last couple of miscommunications unnecessary and just a bit much. There are some great characters and I loved reading from both Charlie’s and Grey’s POV’s. I also love the fact that Charlie was diabetic but it was just another fun fact about her and not the whole plot point. We love a chronic illness queen. I did however question her friendship with Bex and I wasn’t a fan of how that was tied up. All in all, it's a fun read for the summer and Spineto can really set a scene. It could do with some extra editing though as it really is a slow burn and the timeline jumps forward a lot with nothing having changed. Also, some character's names change which made it a bit confusing.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

A perfect summer read about navigating the difficulties of friendship, love, and figuring yourself out. Tomboy Charlie has always been one of the boys, never putting too much importance into being up with fashion and makeup, instead choosing to have fun surfing and spending her time on the beach. Her best friend, Greyson, is a firefighter who is a pillar of support for Charlie. He's always there when she's in uncomfortable situations, he assists her with her diabetes needs, and unbeknownst to her, he has been crazy about her for most of their friendship. Charlie tries to figure out where she and Greyson stand after a friend's wedding and the filming of the movie while also dealing with her horrible environment at her job and her rocky friendship with gaslighting Bex.

This friends-to-lovers story was a good comedy that had characters that were authentic and so very relatable. Greyson, Charlie, and Indigo felt friends. They had senses of humor and human failings and worked through their issues in believable ways. That, paired with workable, believable dialogue, made a book that was easy to keep reading. California Promises was enjoyable, emotion-provoking, and diverse. Having the representation of characters with diabetes and the authentic problems they deal with in their everyday lives made for an inclusive book. In the end, having characters like Greyson and Charlie, with all their flaws, diversity, and behaviors, helped set up a book that was enjoyable, easy to read, and perfect for a vacation read.

California Promsies was one of those books that I wasn’t sure I would finish for the first few chapters but that had a lot to do with the formatting and editing of the book and nothing to do with the book itself. I’m such a stickler for consistency and good editing in books and unfortunately there were some major flaws. Mainly the fact that characters names kept changing spelling throughout the book (Dex/ Tex, andie/Andy etc) and it happened a lot!


Overall though those things didn’t stop me from enjoying this book. I loved the characters and the chronic illness rep and give me a story about female surfers with settings in California and Hawaii and I’m sold any day!

While I enjoyed the representation of Type 1 diabetes, this book fell a bit flat for me unfortunately. Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC!

California Promises by Erin Spineto is a friends-to-lovers, mutual pining, slow burn romance set in Del Mar, California. We follow the perspectives of Charlie, a tomboy software developer working at a misogynistic frat house turned tech company, and Greyson, a firefighter and her closest friend. Charlie and Greyson have The Rule Book - a comprehensive list of rules designed to stop them from ever losing each other. But what happens when they both want to tear up the rule book?

I enjoyed some of the dialogue in California Promises. Most of the dialogue between Charlie and Indigo, her director roommate, is great. Some of the dialogue with Greyson is funny, witty even. I also really appreciated seeing the inclusion of a diabetic character as this is something we rarely see in novels, particularly romance novels.

I think this book is in dire need of some editing. There was a litany of spelling errors, and plot holes throughout the book. Several times a character's name would just change with no explanation. Connor became Finn, Ian became Brad. On top of this, the pacing was off. Some things, like Charlie's software career, were rushed and thrown in (in a way that made me feel like it was only included so that she was 'not like other girls') but others dragged out for far too long, and the tension couldn't be sustained.

I found the book to have a lot of misogynistic aspects which I really didn't enjoy. Charlie, our MC, frequently bemoans how unattractive and stupid her 'best friend' Bex is, and how vapid she is. Charlie is a tomboy - we are told this in the first sentence and then on almost every page thereafter, but in a way that made me feel like the author wanted us to think that she was superior to other women by being a tomboy. There is lengthy discussion about the girls that Greyson sleeps with, also stupid. The sexist discussions at the firehouse and the clear sexual harassment at Charlie's tech firm, though turned around towards the end of the book, almost made me put it down.

Overall I think that California Promises has a good premise, and some really admirable parts, but ultimately it failed to execute them well enough.

Thank you to Erin Spineto, Sea Peptide Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

California Promises had so much promise, but it sadly didn’t live up to it.

While there is a great set up - Charlie is a super smart tech nerd self-proclaimed tomboy as she finds it safer to put herself in that safe space, especially in relation to her best friend Greyson, a fire fighter who carries trauma after a call that went wrong. Greyson has poor self esteem, and Charlie is his touchstone and champion. In Greyson, Charlie, a diabetic and introvert also has a champion and supporter (I mean, he even carries snacks for her along with emergency medical glucose pens).

The problem I have with this story is it really needed a better editor. At times things dragged out so long without getting to the point. While I liked that this story takes place over a large span of time to be a slow burn, it’s like things drag out then next thing we know a month has gone buy but nothing to drive the action forward. The pacing could’ve been a lot better. Yes you can do slow burn but this was excruciating where at times nothing happened. Why not skip the reading of nothing happening and moving towards action?

Conversely some things were over explained while other things were underdeveloped. Also there were some paragraphs and sentences that didn’t make sense, it’s dropped Charlie has diabetes (a line about her endocrinologist saying not to run barefoot in sand, but it’s not until chapters later then there’s a huge lot of detail about her diabetes. But then it gets vague again, mentioning in passing she was diagnosed as an adult? But then no details. It’s just odd, vague, then information dump, then vague again).

I get that both and their issues and wires crossed (both think the other would never see her as a viable contender for theiraffections) but it got old and the story just lagged. I then when finally they both separately decide to do something about it, more roadblocks thrown in.

I am also so tired of the male character being a manwhore and the female character a virgin, and again, this part was never fully explained. It seemed like the writer was trying not to be overly Christian (there are mentions of pastors, Charlie has a religious themed tattoo) but Charlie’s ideas about sex and kissing just seemed like the sort of stuff religious types think. Then they wait for marriage? Of this is the case then just mbv open with it being a Christian novel.

Even the resolution with her horrible best friend had to be tied up in a nice bow, resolved nicely. Next didn’t really work for forgiveness.

I would give the next book a go but I really hope the writer hires another editor who can help them reshape the story. This book felt like it needed a few more drafts.

I’m reviewing this book after seeing it recommended on TikTok as a Own Voices romance that centers the perspective of a Type 1 Diabetic.

My sister is a Type 1 so I’m always looking for representation.

So firstly, YAY! Thanks for writing about the T1D experience.

When I started reading this book, I immediately appreciated the invitation to further education about Type 1 Diabetes. There is a “Diabetes Appendix” that introduces some important terms that I think everyone should know.

I love a playlist in a book! I think the playlist fits the story perfectly.

SLOW BURN! If you’re a fan of slow burn, you’ll enjoy this!

I can’t say I really enjoyed the characters as much as I would have liked to.
I found it to be a bit more quirky than I expected. For example, on one page alone incest, proudly stuffing a huge bite of pizza into his mouth, and a character’s “best Yoda voice” are all mentioned.

However, I do hope the T1D community finds this book, loves it, and feels seen and heard.
And I hope the rest of us can learn from it too!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Sea Peptide Publishing and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Likable, well developed characters in a well written story.

I got this book purely because it’s the friends to lovers trope which is my favourite, but I found this a bit too slow going and angsty. We’re dealing with full blow adults acting like teenagers in high school and it just goes on and on for hours before finally we get a very quick HEA. I didn’t really like any of the characters as I found them all very immature and whiny about things they could very easily fix. I loved the references to diabetes which were all very realistic, and to be honest this was the best feature of the book

I really, really enjoyed this book! It hooked me from the first page and kept me hooked the entire time.

California Promises by Erin Spineto is a sweet Friends-to-Lovers romantic comedy that swept me away!
This book is filled with laughs, sweet heart warming moments, fun times and engaging writing that I made me feel completely captivated.
I think Spineto did such an amazing job balancing everything in this book. Her writing was great and I never lost interest.
This book is just the most fun, swoony, flirty, slaps you in the face with happiness RomCom and you need it!

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

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

Friends-to-lovers trope.

Charlie and Greyson have been best friends for almost a decade and have both secretly wanted more. Both thinking they didn’t serve the other person.

I normally love the friends-to-lovers trope, but this one didn’t hit me quite right. A bit too angsty for me. I generally go for happy-happy storylines, but if you like a more complications thrown in, you’ll probably like this one!

Please note, the ARC had some formatting issues that made it a bit hard to read, with some broken words and page breaks, which may have added to the angsty feel to the story. I’m guessing that will be cleaned up in the final ebook, so that will also help with the story flow.

Quick read. Slow burn. And type 1 diabetes. Very enjoyable.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

The cover is very appealing, giving off the vibes of surf and sand. Charlie is a surfer girl in California and has the hots for her friend, Grey. The story is about their eventual gravitation toward each other. Normally I inhale plots like this, but this one was a very slow build up for me, amd the flame never burnt that brightly.
It’s an ok read if you’re looking for a fast read.

This book was really well written but both characters drove me crazy. I don't mind a slow burn but there was not satisfaction until the last few pages, which i was not a fan of.