My love for all things epistolary and FOMO did me wrong here.
This one had all the elements to be a hit book for me but sadly most of those boxes will remain starkly unticked.

My first issue with the book is the formatting choice to include pictures/screenshots of texting dialogues instead of stylized text blocks. The photos were a real pain to read on kindle (especially on a night setting) and I don't think I'd even want to have them on a physical copy. It made me pause the book not even 2% in, making me wonder if I should bother with it. I decided to soldier on the next day for fear on missing out some amazing friends to lover romance and sexting. The blurb held so many promises!

On account of the friends to lovers arc solely, that FOMO was entirely unnecessary.

That part really lacked the appeal—no pun intended, of friends edging the lovers relationship. No chemistry on page whatsoever between Lark and Toby as friends and even less as lovers. It's been said that the heroine has had a crush on the guy for years but nowhere on page we can actually witness it. At least I didn't. I don't know how to explain but Lark and Toby didn't really make sense together, even the idea of them was a stretch. At best they were awkward as friends and plain cringe as lovers. You know how those moments between friends to lovers —or even strangers, give you secondhand embarrassment because they're awkward as hell but the good kind of awkward? This was not it. This was more cringe than awkwardly cute.

Attempts at creating tension were made but completely missed that mark for me. Even that scene where Toby walks in on Lark enjoying some solo time on the couch didn't spark a thing for them, for the story or me. How's that for boring? The romance and sex on page were of the same brand, fumbling and ambiguous.

The pace was off and the entire story dragged. Some awful amount of time is set to establish any kind of connection between the main couple. The sex worker plot was introduced after what I felt was a much convoluted narrative around Lark's toxic place of employment.

I liked some of the sexting aspect as Lark was trying to navigate her newfound sex worker skills but most it felt pretty random and added nothing to the story. All the while nothing was really happening with Toby.

The over the top secondary character, Teagan, which I believe was meant to further along the plot and infuse humor was such a disservice to this story. I couldn't stand her. There's your extroverted bestie and then there's Teagan : obnoxious, overbearing and plain rude at times. It didn't make any sense that Lark would forgive her reckless behavior so many times. Toxic friendship at best.

What I enjoyed the most was Lark conversations on the app with Toby's alter ego, they were truly making sense there, it was disappointing their chemistry on the app wasn't translating anywhere else in the book. The much predictable conflict and resulting break up act

In conclusion, excited by the premise but the lack of chemistry, the odd pacing and lack of of cohesion between key elements were a real let down.

I've been told I can be extremely picky, also expectations and mood can ruin a book, so if you feel the blurb promising, do give this one a try, you could enjoy it.

I wanted to like this as friends to lovers is an absolute favorite of mine, but this unfortunately fell flat for me. I felt like this was more a story of a platonic friendship that our heroine Lark has with her best friend Teagan than a romance with who is supposed to be her friends to lovers hero Toby. For the first 40% her and Toby barely even spend time together and the first kiss is close to 67% as this is extremely slow burn.

Her friend Teagan had little to no accountability for the large part she had in Lark’s initial conflict. Reading Lark figuring out the texting job was painful. She very much did not enjoy herself and her work did not feel empowering at all. I wish I could’ve connected with the characters more.

I was also thrown off in that some texts were shown in bubble graphic format and some were written in plain text, but this could be something that changes prior to final publishing.

I wanted to like this story so much but the characters were so incredibly unlikeable that I couldn't root for literally anyone. Teegan crossed every single boundary and honestly, did not deserve to be forgiven so easily. Toby started off great but once everything was revealed I just couldn't see how he could justify his actions. There are two other best friends who have little to no personality and I couldn't tell you much about them if I wanted to. Then finally we have our main character, Lark who is so judgemental that I wished the author had at least given me dual POV so I could have gotten a break from her whining. There is some spice here that was written fine but I will say I wish instead of writing "he whispered things in my ear" Roberts would have written the actual dialogue.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed with this title. It was a quick and easy read which made it easy to finish but I felt as if this story could have really gone somewhere but it just fell really flat. The concept of women in STEM being written about is very enticing to me since I am one and when done well its wonderful! I enjoyed the first 20% of the book but as soon as Lark lost her job and turned to sexting it lost me. I felt as if the story did not have any substance besides sending sexy messages back and forth. I was hoping this book would take more of a route that "The Love Hypothesis" or "The Kiss Quotient" did with the fun quirky STEM girl but it just took a big left turn. There was way too much "sex" (not even spicy, just sex talk) and not enough romance or even plot line. I think some readers may enjoy this type of writing, I just did not.

This one fell flat for me - I was interested in it, based on the description, but I'm afraid that the plot was lacking and the characters didn't have much chemistry at all. Lark and Toby could and should have been a spectacular friends to lovers love story, but their charisma was lacking. Not to mention, Teagan is just about one of the most obnoxious friend characters I've ever read! I wished this was more about difficulties of women in STEM and a coder finding her own voice and her own power, but what little plot there was didn't really address any of that.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove for the ARC.

This book fell flat for me. Lark and Toby didn't seem to have any chemistry. And Lark spent so much time writing her racy texts, yet when it came down to her time with Toby, she was surprisingly vague. Teagan was not a likable character AT ALL. And it almost annoyed me that Lark continued to be friends with her. For a book focused on a texting plot, there was A LOT of extraneous dialogue.... I had to skim over some because it was just too much information. Overall not a complete "no" from me, but not one I would re-read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book to read and review. All of these thoughts and opinions are my own.

I feel like the plot of this book was flat, well with what plot there was. It didn’t really intrigue me and I had to push myself to finish this. I don’t think there was a lot of chemistry between Lark and Toby. It just all felt extremely awkward to me. And they moved way too fast in this story and so it just made it feel rushed. I wanted more from this because I do feel Iike it has decent potential.

Also the friend, Teagan, was just too much. She was way out of line a lot. I get she had good intentions but she just got on my nerves.

I wanted to enjoy this book but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. For a romance book, it just didn’t have much romance.

2.5 stars rounded to 3.

Friends with benefits or something far more scandalous?!
A hot mess in a good way! Secrets! Texting/Sexting! Numerous balls are up for grabs!
No, seriously! This has everything from good humor to equality to some serious relationship issues.
Lark brings her quirky yet fun self into the mix going from zero to HERO! You must know that she's been filling gaps between jobs with sexting. Unfortunately, she accidentally placed a pic up on the screen at the first job so it's on to the second. It's been a way to secure funds however, it turns into some inside reveals.
Toby is Lark's bestie. A good friend with a great head on his shoulders. Secretly, these two might have more than friendship on the minds but the cautious ways prevent anything further until....
Enter Teagan a gal with a plan for them all! A leader if you will of all things sex related from porn, to sexting, to ghosting relationships.
Will Toby and Lark ever seal this deal? Can two stars collide on screen or off?
I never expected those twisters to come hurdling down upon us which created a new dynamic for readers to explore. This is a great chick-lit, romance, fictional work that is both humorous yet romantic all wrapped into one.
This is a debut novel for Amber Roberts via Alcove Press and I couldn't be happier to provide this early review.
I think this was a great introduction to the writer's style and I look forward to more from Amber and Alcove Press.
Thank you for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.
What about these jobs that are left up in the air? Will anyone ever find themselves at the helm of job happiness and equal pay for women?

Lark and Toby have been best friends for years, but she’s always had a crush on him. She has never wanted to ruin their friendship, and they remain in the friend zone. They both date other people, but they are both single at the same time. Can these two get out of the friend zone and experience something more?

Lark works at a tech company, and after she gets fired for accidentally showing a NSFW picture, she has to figure out her next career step. Her friend, Teagan, encourages her to look into working for a sexting app to make some cash. While initially hesitant, Lark starts to enjoy her new job. She befriends a man on the app, and they talk about everything, except sexting. Could this connection with this man be real?

I liked all of the text messages that appeared in the book, and I liked the story. It seemed predictable at first, but it did have some unexpected twists and turns.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an ARC of this book.

Lark is the only female programmer and got fired when a scandalous and unsolicited pic from her got projected onto the screen during a presentation. She ends up sexting as a job to earn money. Her friend Toby confesses his feelings for her and she is reluctantly to tell him about her job... She's also being charmed by one of her client...

I like Lark a lot. It's an interesting to see how STEM can be hard on women.... I love reading the flirty and sassy texts... A fun rom-com.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

I would rate the book 3/3.5 stars. I absolutely loved the way this book was written. I love it when a book has text messages. It was very predictable to me who cosmic was. The reason why I would rate the book 3/3.5 stars is because I couldn’t really connect with the characters. I do like the storyline and the story itself but something about the characters didn’t click with me.