In this fun modern romance novel, readers follow Lucy, who has just landed a new job as an agony uncle for a men’s magazine, in the midst of a romantic situation. With her sister marrying soon and her own romantic prospects deteriorating, Lucy has no time for a crush on coworker Ross -- especially when he sends an email to “Ask Adam”’s inbox. As “Ask Adam” takes off and the romantic relationships in her life go all over the place, Lucy must juggle all these romantic troubles on her own and with her AI assistant, and this time, “Ask Adam” might not have the answers she needs for her own happily-ever-after. Lucy is an awkward, endearing, and charming heroine whose realistic real-world problems are just realistic enough for readers to feel a kinship with her situation. The minor characters in this novel, from her last work boyfriend to Ross and her sister and brother-in-law, are hilarious and human with complicated personalities and problems that need the “Ask Adam” input. A nice and fun escapist romance, readers of the genre are sure to find comfort in Lucy’s chaotic romantic life and enjoy discovering whether or not she receives her own happy ending.

Such a great premise on this one but I just wanted more from the chemistry between the two main characters. I will admit, workplace rom-coms are a little hit or miss for me, so if you're a hardcore fan of them, this might be a great pick for you!

3.5 Stars "The Love Hack" by Sophie Ranald is a nice read that takes some time to get interesting. The story follows a main character with relatable problems, but she tends to complain more than take action, which can be a bit annoying at times.

One great thing about the book is how the author makes you feel strong emotions. The miscommunications between characters can be frustrating, but it adds to the story's depth, making you feel the awkward moments and misunderstandings just like the characters do. This shows how well Ranald writes these scenes.

However, some conflicts in the story feel incomplete. There are times when the main character's issues aren’t fully resolved, leaving you wanting more action instead of just thoughts. The romance is mild, so don’t expect any intense scenes, but rather a sweet and gentle love story.

The book doesn’t quite fit as a rom-com since it didn’t make me laugh much. Still, the story has a charm that makes it easy to imagine as a cute, feel-good movie. The characters are likable, but they could use more development to really draw you in.

In summary, "The Love Hack" is a pleasant read with emotional moments and relatable frustrations. It’s perfect for those who enjoy gentle romances and don’t mind a slower start. While it might not be as funny as some expect, it still offers a sweet escape into a world of love and misunderstandings. I would recommend it to friends looking for a nice, emotional read.

I so badly wanted to love this book, but it just didn't do it for me. The concept was great but it just fell flat in the end, sadly.

Thank you Storm Publishing and Netgalley for this eARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Love Hack was frustrating for me. I wanted to like it, the premise is great, the writing is good, but it's not a romance novel. Ross and Lucy have the chemistry of a wet box of matches and this was just an incredibly frustrating novel.

Ahhh this was a miss for me unfortunately

I wish I was short into it but I wasn’t, I had high hopes going in but sadly it just wasn’t it

Lucy is such a relatable character. She is clueless when it comes to men, lacks confidence and is really hyper-focused.

There is a bit of a workplace romance , but that doesn’t feel like the actual theme of the book. There is more to this book such as sisterhood and self-acceptance.

Overall, it id a wholesome book with adorable main characters. It is a perfect beach or weekend read.

Thank you so much Sophie Ranald, Storm Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC copy!

The cover really grabbed me on this one along with the note about it being great for Emily Henry fans. Unfortunately, this one fell flat. I was hoping for a work place romance but I got a lot more about Lucy, her cat, her past relationship, and her sister’s relationship. I enjoyed the male character, Ross, and the bit of banter with Lucy. I think more of that would have grabbed me and I would have enjoyed the book more.

Thank you NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and Sophie Randal for giving me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. This book was not up my alley and a bit of a tedious read for a romance novel.

The love hack is one of the best reads for me this month. It had everything, the banter, the understanding between the characters, the funny moments, the oops moments...what not.
I love how quickly Lucy and Ross become friends, how quickly they actually start to fall for each other and finally get their happy ending.
Lucy is such a relatable character, the way she loves her cat, Astro. The way she's a bit clueless when it comes to guys, the way she doesn't trust easily, the way she has a heart so beautiful, the way she hypes up her friend to the guy she likes just because her friend also likes him. The way she actually dishes out such good advice, the way she's a little clueless when it comes to her love life. I love how she easily settles into her new work routine, how quickly she becomes comfortable working there and starts to open up. How she's a real mastermind at solving puzzles, how she does things and then overthink them later. I just really love her so much.
Ross is the guy who likes Lucy but doesn't know how to tell her. He falls for her first and so damn hard, it makes me crave the same type of love. The way he blushes whenever they make eye contact, the way he stumbles over his words when he's with her. The way he just knowss, that it's her >>>
I love their fun convos, the way she trusts him to look after Astro, the way he helps plan a whole trip with her, the way he keeps on calling her to check in, the way he just gets her.
I love Lucy's sister's side story, the way she actually takes such a big and hard step. I love how Lucy went after Zack, though I wished there was a scene where Lucy or maybe her sister confronted him.
The book is so damn relatable and so beautiful...but oh c'mon, where am I gonna find a guy like him?
I definitely recommend reading The Love Hack whenever you need a book to life your spirits up.


xoxo
🎀🫶🏻

A decent workplace romance and the banter between the two characters was well written and I thoroughly enjoyed that

Even though I'm not a huge fan of workplace rom coms. I did enjoy this one. Because I'm a sucker for good banter between the hero and the heroine and this one gave me that.

There were so many entertaining components to this book that make it so enjoyable. I loved how clueless Lucy was when it came to men and even her own self esteem. Over time, Ask Adam helped her grow into a positive and self confident person who was slowly learning what it took to be a good partner and be supportive, all the while standing up for and maintaining your own boundaries. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Ross and Lucy and the chemistry they very clearly had as well as Lucy's relationship with her younger sister. The Love Hack is an adorably wholesome book that actually has some pretty great relationship take away's built in. Perfect weekend read for this summer!

A decent rom com style book that took me a bit longer to get into than I would’ve liked. But I ultimately found the work romance a fun storyline and the comparison to Emily Henry was not far off. I would suggest this as a beach read, I just wish it had more spice to it.

To avoid being laid off, Lucy just got a new job working as an advice columnist at a men's magazine. The only problem - she hasn't been on a date for years and she has little to no understanding of the male mind. With the help of her sister, Amelie, and her trusty AI sidekick, Lucy's "Ask Adam" column starts to succeed, and Lucy begins to feel more comfortable in her all-male office, especially with her co-worker, Ross. However, when everything starts to go wrong, Lucy has to start figuring out the answers to all of her reader's (and her own) problems for herself.

This was a pretty traditional office romance, with a few quirks thrown in. I thought the use of the "Chat GPT" model was a cute way for Lucy to show off her background in technology, and it gave the book a modern, but not too sci-fi feel. The mystery of Amelie and her husband Zach's relationship was definitely giving more sinister, almost thriller vibes, and at times it overshadowed the other question of what went wrong in Lucy's relationship with Kieren, It was pretty obvious early on in the book that Lucy and Ross were going end up together, but I did enjoy the realistic conflicts they encountered along the way, and I was happy with the sweet ending.

Lucy meets Ross on her first day at her new job. I didn't like how he apparently wanted a chance with her but thought is was OK to still be together with someone she knew.

digital arc was provided by Netgalley and Storm Publishing

What happened to Sophie Ranald? This one's pretty disappointing to read.

Synopsis
Almost being fired, Lucy created a new column, Ask Adam, to save herself and her job even if it's a far cry from being a tech column. Being a woman didn't help either. Now, Lucy must answer various woes from men, crushing on her coworker, Ross, and coping with the upcoming wedding of her beloved sister, Amelia.

What I like
Technicality first: the cover, the way Ranald sometimes opens the chapter with Ask Adam question, and maybe that's it.

What I don't like
Lucy, as a whole. And it was hard to care about her when her personality revolted me. Lucy couldn't even differentiate between daydreaming and reality. I didn't even find her charming, or weirdly charming. Her relationship with Ross was forced. Their interaction to warrant attraction was mid at best. And Lucy, for the life of her, couldn't even act like a human being at all, relying on AI and sleuthing instead of talking to her sister. No wonder she didn't have any friend. The bridesmaids were all Amelia's.

Final thoughts
I came with joy because I've read 3 previous Ranald's books and they were more than fine. Reading this one didn't give me joy. Maybe next time?

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the advanced reading copy.

Y'all, the way my jaw hit the floor when I saw this was barely sitting at a 3 star rating on Goodreads when I went to write this review. I skimmed over some of the negative ones, curious as to why people were rating it so low, and there does seem to be one major flaw that we can mostly all seem to agree on (I was planning to mention it here already) and that's that this book is not a romcom. It's barely a romance. I'd say it's more aptly chick lit, and while that didn't detract from the story for me, when you're marketing it as romance and people pick up the book expecting it as such, they're likely to be a little upset when it's not what they're getting. Comparing it to Emily Henry, especially, was a bold move.

Now, if you can put all of that aside and you're okay with the biggest relationship in this book being the relationship that Lucy has with her sister, then this is for you! The biggest conflict in this book is the conflict that Lucy has with herself. She is not a confident woman, and it bleeds into every aspect of her life. Desperate times have her pitching an advice column for men to save her job, when she's very clearly not qualified to be giving advice - and if you weren't sure, don't worry. She mentions it at least a half dozen times in the book. Thinking she can lean on her sister for advice, she's put out when her sister tells her she has to take a step back and focus on her upcoming wedding and married life. So Lucy turns to AI.

I will say, this felt like an interesting dilemma, and I thought the use of AI would be more of a conversation starter for those who read the book. There's a very interesting question here about the way we use technology in our lives and what makes AI qualified to advise us on the human experience. It's also a little controversial and could have us questioning the ethics of using AI for things like this. Why does a company want to invest money in Lucy when they could feed questions to an AI for free? I think there's a lot of good talking points here.

Things get even more complicated when Lucy receives a particular letter to her column, and she's pretty sure she knows who sent it. It sends her on a wild chase, stumbling along to find answers.

Notice how I haven't even mentioned the romance yet? That's cause it's not prominent. We get a handful of crumbs of affection scattered between the pages of the real story. But I ate up every last one of those crumbs, I wanted more of them.

Here's the thing - it's hard to like Lucy. She complains about everything, she's too codependent on both her Sister and her cat, she's a bit naive, she's hyper focused on letting one bad experience ruin dating for her, her lack of self confidence has fumbling through her life... and yet I wanted her to win. She was insufferable, but she felt like a real person. Say what you will, but I devoured this book in under 48 hours. The writing is strong and thoughtful even if the subject matter isn't quite what we were promised.

Yeah, I don't really know what to say about this book. I really wanted to like it.
All of it was just weird in my opinion. Sooo slow burn with the slowest slows and like a second of burn (if that). I was really interested when I read the premise of the book, but it just wasn't for me. It took me soo long to get through it, and the actual storyline was basically Lucy, her problems and her delusions. And I am all for real, not picture perfect fmc, but????? I honestly don't even know what happened in this one.
And Ross????? Honestly, I was gonna say I wanted to have had his POV, but maybe it's best this way so I don't have to stress myself out any more with his childish and nonsensical behavior throughout the whole book.
I liked Sophie's writing style (what made me be able to finish the book) and will try to give her other titles a chance, eventually.

Thank you Storm Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Love Hack is a contemporary romance focusing on Lucy, a rookie advice columnist, struggles with the remnants of a past relationship while developing a crush on a new co-worker. When her column goes viral and her inbox overflows, Lucy turns to an AI bot to help decoding romantic troubles, including her own. Can AI really give sound relationship advice or will it all end in disaster?

It is a cute and relevant concept but for this reader, the pacing was off. It took a bit too long for the story to get where is was going. I also did not care for the secondary characters or their development or resolutions.