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3.7 AVERAGE


This was a really sweet romance set in a lovely small town in upstate New York. I really loved the characters and the supportive community vibe. The pets needing to be friends as well was a very realistic touch!
I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves romance novels!

Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this book!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
beerobs's profile picture

beerobs's review

3.5
funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

Not Just Gal Pals was the adorable, short, sapphic, small-town romance I needed after a small reading slump. It was cute, a little spicy, and a quick read!

Blake was everything. I'm in loveeeeeee. I even loved her inability to see why responding to text messages with the thumbs-up emoji was considered bad in "texting etiquette." 🤣

Jenny irritated me sometimes, but I thought that worked well with her character growth. Seeing the way she made decisions change over the course of the book was really satisfying.

The only reason this gets four stars from me is the ending felt a bit rushed. It was like a series of weird circumstances happened just to heighten the suspense at the end. But I did love how it wrapped up. I was kicking my feet!

I really enjoyed this, and I will definitely check out more by this author!

3-3.5 out of 5 stars

I did not have particularly strong feelings about this one, though I have some nitpicky questions about the setup of the plot elements. Romcoms are already pretty fantastical, but Luly had to sacrifice plausible deniability for the plot she wished to write.

1. Are people this obsessed with their high school crushes? These people are in their early 30's and are still head over heels in love with their high school crushes. At one point, Jenny gets so horny for Blake that she forgets her dog is drowning.
2. Did this town not have a doctor before Blake? That's extremely concerning.
3. I'm still not quite sure why Jenny was "cancelled." It seems like the things that she was cancelled for were either not her fault or didn't happen. It was a weird subplot. Also, why would an athleticwear brand want to work with a dog influencer?

The other elements of the book are fine though don't stand out. There is one smutty scene that is decently well-written but then the rest were summed up with "we had great sex." The side characters are fine but pretty flat. Even the dog felt underwhelming. 

Also, this book reminds me that I cannot live in a small town. I cannot have this many people in my business all the time. 

emotional funny hopeful relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A
lighthearted relaxing

5/5⭐️

This book was an adorable fall/holiday sapphic romcom, with all the warm and cozy vibes of a Hallmark movie and the spice of a porno (what more could a lesbian ask for?)

The small town vibes were immaculate and make me wish I lived in a Hallmark-esque small town so I could meet my own hot lesbian doctor. Oh well, escapism will have to do.

I will definitely be keeping an eye for the next book in the series (I love George and can’t wait to see her get her own love story).

All in all a great book to read this time of year and get all the cozy fall vibes you could ever ask for.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an ARC in exchange for an open and honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

3.5
shoutout to the third act conflict that didn’t wanna make me kms