Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

This is the 3rd book in the Seattle series, and I ate it up. Just enough spice and realistic events that many people experience when mixing work and your personal life. I love how the FMC bossed up and finally trusted herself to get the job done. We are stronger than we give ourselves credit for. I've enjoyed reading books from this new to me author I discovered in 2024.

~3.5~

A nice sapphic romance is always a great way to start the year.

I did not know this was a part of a series and only found out at the end of the book, but it is a standalone book for those who want to venture into the story of Sophie and Ella, no strings attached.

It's got forced proximity, great banter, some spicy moments and a genuinely good plot twist that I did not see coming. The dual-POV is nice, though I will say sometimes Ella really unnerved me with her behaviour, especially in the beginning of the story. Apart from that, to know what both characters were thinking and feelings was really cool throughout the book.

A solid quick read for those in need to read about women kissing and falling in love (which always comes in handy).

(Free ARC from NetGalley and Storm Publishing that I chose to review after reading - Cross-posted on Goodreads on January 11th, 2025)

Eating: 4.5 Stars

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for access to this e-ARC. All thoughts are my own.
This book had me hooked from beginning to end. Immediately I loved both characters and could relate immensely to the things they struggled with. I also adore Sophie and Maya's relationship, it reminds me of my best friend and I so much. I like how this book tackles a lot of different things. And the author doesn't just talk about it briefly and move on, they explore and get in depth to help us better understand the characters and what they have gone through. Overall I really recommend this book if your thing is sapphic romance.

I like it when a story is set in a specific place, and this feels like Seattle. It leans a bit on the touristy bits, but still works. It isn't quite as located as [book:Written in the Stars|51179990], though.

The story and characters are good, though fairly simple and relatively low-angst. There is a really good representation of one kind of epilepsy, though we just get the beginning of a relationship with that in the mix, so the story felt like it ended too soon.

The short-fuse project in the ad agency was really well done. I've been on engineering projects like that.

Storm Publishing was kind enough to provide me with an advanced reading copy via NetGalley for an honest review.

This was such a lovely slow-burn romance. Sometimes it’s nice to lose yourself in a nice romance. And I can always get behind a queer romance too.

The characters were really nice, I loved how much the plot was driven by the characters. The exploration of Sophie and Ella’s background and how much they influenced their decisions felt accurate and believable. I wished there had been a little more about Ella towards the end of the book. There was a bit of a portion that focused solely on Sophie and there seemed a random jump in Ella’s character.

The way the romance developed over the story was great, it’s a slow-burn which evolves over the course of the story. I loved getting stuck into the company of the plot. And I now kind of want to visit Seattle… and a doughnut!

If you’re a fan of sweet romance books, with slow development and great characters, you’ll enjoy So Not My Type.

Happy Reading! xx

This was a nice novel. It was enjoyable and had a lot of nice moments throughout. I always like it when a novel features something that I don’t see as often, or know very much about, and in this case it was epilepsy. This is my third novel by the author, and I think that there has been a consistent quality throughout; they are not my favorite novels, but they are novels that I enjoyed reading. This was the definition of 4-stars for me.

My Rating: “B”
Converted Rating: 4-Stars

I liked the protagonists. Their motivations were clear and actions consistent, although it required a direct link to their mind through their POV and was a little closer to “telling” than “showing” at times. I liked Sophie’s depiction of burnout (a real hazard that is too often ignored!), and the author actually managed to make me empathize with a rich person which is honestly an accomplishment.

A lot of details in this novel were like this for me; I liked it except for the caveat that I didn’t (but the pro usually outweighs the con. For example, I liked that they raised the potential issue of having a relationship between coworkers and discussed it with HR. It was realistic and responsible. However, it was strange that they got the green light as trainer-trainee is literally a top example of an unacceptable situation. I liked their initial antagonism; however we were never really given an explanation of what happened during their first meeting to cause it. I liked that they demonstrated some great communication and interpersonal skills once the relationship got going……except for when they didn’t to serve the plot.

A detriment to this novel was……. every time they were at work, which unfortunately was a lot. We never actually saw what they were doing or details about the project they were working on, but instead had a lot of generic corporate-talk about deadlines and project stages. Any twists related to the project (which did happen) were confusing but otherwise meant nothing to me, which left me disconnected from the plot. I enjoyed reading about our protagonists while they were at work and how they interacted, but the work its self was simply boring. The author should have either given us more details about the project so we could be engaged with that plotline, or taken the opposite approach and just glossed over it entirely so we didn’t have to wade through pointless details.

As I said, overall, I did enjoy this novel. I will continue to read novels by this author. This was entertaining and had a good story, with a lot of characters that I liked. I may not be recommending it, only because there are better novels I would be recommending first.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC. This honest review was left voluntarily.

This is a perfect fit for readers who crave lighthearted, funny, and emotional queer romance stories with a rich girl poor girl dynamic, sapphic relationships, and workplace romance, and are looking for a slow-burn romance that will leave them rooting for love to conquer all.

From the beginning I was obsessed with Sophie. I resonate so much with the nose to the grindstone mentality. She is scrappy, hard-working, sassy, and my kind of girl.
The author does such a great job of teeing you up to dislike Ella, but the more I learned about her the more I found myself rooting for her! She has so much more to her.
I have to admit, I was pretty irritated in the beginning of the book with all of the catty, petty, aggressive behavior from both Sophie and Ella. This is a personal preference for me, as the miscommunication type tropes are not my jam. BUT that being said it did make way for incredible character growth and segueing into the rest of the story. I can also relate to being a twenty-something year old girl with unwarranted dislike of others. Who hasn't experienced this in one way or another.
I absolutely loved the workplace aspect of the story and that part of the plot was exhilarating!
I also LOVED some of the tender moments Sophie and Ella shared. Especially the golf cart scene, if you know you know! That was SO heartwarming.

The family, friends, and work relationships were incredible. Nuanced and well done.

Overall, this was a great read!!

This is a fun, lighthearted romance that reads quickly and is enjoyable from start to finish. While the two MCs felt too stuck in their grudges against each other at first. I was glad to see their character development and found myself rooting for them very quickly. The chemistry between them was evident page after page, and Hawkins wrote the build-up beautifully, leading to a wonderful romance! I also enjoyed the side characters, especially Ella's driver and her father, who unexpectedly grew on me quite suddenly in the second half of the book. Hawkins also handled Ella's chronic illness thoughtfully, adding an extra layer of depth to her relationship with Sophie through the way they navigated conversations about it.

I also loved the cameo appearances of characters from Hawkins' previous books in this series—I do love interconnected romance novels!

Only gripe is the ending felt rushed and felt like there were loose ends. Overall, I'd heartily recommend this to anyone who loves Sapphic romance and workplace settings, ranging from light banter to the stress of tight deadlines.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an advance copy of this book.

I enjoyed watching the relationship between Sophie and Ella evolve throughout this book. I really appreciated the author's inclusion of epilepsy in their story, because there are so many misconceptions out there about the condition! The spice was great, felt natural, and wasn't over the top or lacking.

I do wish that we had more of Sophie's story in the entire book - it felt like we spent a lot of time on Ella's challenges, and less on Sophie's addiction to work.

I also wish the book were slightly longer, because so much of their love story felt rushed in exchange for workplace dynamics.

I would definitely recommend this book! We need more queer representation in the world!

Lovely story by Ms. Hawkins! I liked Sophie in Maya and Remi’s book and she was so fun to get to know better in this book! It was also nice to see cameos from Remi, Ben and of course Maya (the best friend!)

This forced proximity, workplace, rich/poor sapphic romance was a nail biter at times! There was some conflict in the beginning that was nicely cleared up through open communication and letting go. Ella has epilepsy so there are a lot of emotions, situations and misunderstandings revolving around her relationships and this chronic illness. It’s very personal and always a learning curve to live through and it was interesting to see how she could see things differently and work to be open and real with Sophie. The third act ‘break-up’ was annoying to get through but well played.

I’d love to see an epilogue or short novella and see where Sophie and Ella take what they have learned and how they feel into a new chapter together.

I was given a copy and all opinions are my own.

Thanks to Dana Hawkins, Storm Publishing, and Netgalley for the ARC! My review reflects my unbiased opinion.

Sophie Black is a punk turned workaholic, struggling to prove herself at a chic Seattle ad agency while feeling self-conscious about her working-class roots and lack of a college education. Ella Northwood is the daughter of the CEO, trying to shake free of her sheltered old-money upbringing and stand on her own two feet despite a chronic illness. They hate each other on sight... until they don't.

There's a lot to like about these characters, and the Seattle setting is vibrantly portrayed. I always hope to see more F/F romance, and I wanted to champion this book. However, ultimately I felt that there were problems with the way the book is structured. Instead of seeing things happen, we are told that they happened or characters reflect on how they happened afterwards. That includes some major plot elements - what did Ella DO at their first meeting to make Sophie carry a years-long grudge? - and also includes a lot of the necessary meat of an enemies-to-lovers romance. I wanted to *see* the early interactions that started to make them think differently about each other. Hawkins has a talent for characterization, and I'd try another one of her books in the future, but this book could have used a more vigorous developmental edit.

Sophie was a strong, believable character, but she came off a little overly judgy and mean to Ella in the beginning of the book. Ella came across well until I started to learn more about her past and she started to act more childish as the book went on. I did appreciate the distinct differences between the female main characters. The storyline kept my attention, and there is epilepsy representation. I liked that Ella & Sophie took initiative instead of playing the "but what if she doesn't like me back game", which seems to be popular in a lot of romance books.

My favorite part of this book was when Sophie's mom was talking to her about dreams. Ella's dad was also a great and funny character. I did feel like the book could've done without the third act break up, the whole thing was very overdramatic and unnecessary. But overall, I did like the book.

For being the third book in a series, it was surprisingly easy to jump straight into - there are obvious references to previous characters and books, but Ella and Sophie’s story and romance isn’t weighed down or distracted by them. I loved the clear communication (even if sometimes it took some time to get them to talk) between them regarding their relationship and feelings and watching them fall for each other.

As a workplace romance, oh my god did I feel the stress of the project they were handling - the timeline was so rushed and chaotic and you could feel that on every page they were in the office. It made the climax and final conflict all the more tense.

I also loved how involved they were in Seattle as a place and setting, showing off so many places and food that helped connect them while still showing their personalities and backgrounds.

My one qualm would be that neither Ella or Sophie really feel their age, or even the same age at all. I know we’re supposed to get that Sophie was forced to grow up too quickly and Ella has been sheltered, but still neither of them feel like they’re 23. Still, I was rooting for them the entire way through, and I love a queer romance that focuses on the community and joy and whose wngst comes from other sources.

A sweet, quick, mildly spicy enemies to lovers romcom.

Sophie and Ella were both loveable characters and the pace of the book was perfect for a romcom (imo!)

It's not too heavy either so it's good as a palate cleanser if you've been reading really heavy stuff & need something light hearted & warm.

I absolutely love Dana Hawkins romance books and this one was no different, as the heat rose and true feelings came into play I found myself becoming more invested in the relationship.

I really liked this book! First and foremost - more queer love stories like this PLEASE! It gave Casey McQuiston vibes and that’s basically the highest praise I can give. The story itself was great, paced well, and the setting was really neat. I loved the main characters, which is funny because initially I really thought I would hate Ella. But the author did such a great job of making you feel empathy for her. She was the perfect foil to Sophie and I adored the way their relationship grew over their time working together. It was a quick, easy, awesome read and I can’t wait for whatever the author writes next!

Rich white woman gets a job in her dad’s company but she doesn’t want people to know that she is a nepobaby, falls in love with a coworker.

I was really done with this book the whole entire time. It was definitely not for me.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

So Not My Type follows Sophie, a hardworking woman in her mid twenties who started from the ground up in Mahogany and Moon Creative Agency, who gets paired up with Ella, the CEO's daughter, to work on a campaign for a donut shop. This campaign needs to go well for Sophie, as she is promised the vacation of a lifetime -- a cruise she has only been able to dream about -- if this campaign launches in time. But, the girl she's set to complete this with has never worked a day in her life, and from the first time Sophie met her, she's had a bad taste in her mouth. But little did she know, Ella has some secrets of her own, and the key to unlocking those may not only bring Sophie her dream cruise, but she may also get her dream relationship.

Initially, this book was a little intense for me to get into. A lot of creative agency jargon and well-built character relationship dynamics. As this was my first read from Dana Hawkins (and it was in the middle of a series) it took a few chapters to get used to the style, but boy, I AM SO HAPPY THAT I STUCK AROUND. This book pays homage to the reality of a twenty-somethings human -- growing up and doing what society tells you, with the privileges you have, while also being thrust into a diverse world that makes you question everything you thought you knew.

This book taught me a lot of personal lessons, but also made me giggle and kick my feet at this cutesy, queer enemies-to-lovers story that was funny, charming and comedic. The characters were complex, authentic, flawed and unique, but I was rooting for them to the very end!