What do you think?
Rate this book
I'm Looking For a Man in Finance
THE ROMCOM OF THE YEAR HAS ARRIVED
He ticks every box…but is she ready to invest?
Enemies to lovers? Check!
Forced proximity? Check!
Men in finance? Check!
--
Journalist Hallie Woods has a new date the hottest guy on Wall Street and document every moment for the magazine she works for.
The only problem? Finance bros couldn’t be further from Hallie’s type.
But as Hallie reluctantly flirts her way through the Financial District, there's one annoyingly handsome 6’5, blue-eyed man who keeps getting in her way. . .
James Rossi is a typical finance bro on paper, but a hopeless romantic at heart. So, when he realizes the new regular at his favourite bar is flirting with his colleagues as fodder for an article, he decides to sabotage her plans.
Hallie and James clash at happy hour every week. But soon their dislike for each other turns into something unexpected, and Hallie questions whether she wants her personal life spread across the pages of a magazine.
Hallie might have found her man in finance, but she also has a choice to make. Will she publish the article, or risk her career and invest in true love?
Forced proximityEnemies to loversOpposites attractWorkplace romanceSteamy 🌶
He ticks every box…but is she ready to invest?
Enemies to lovers? Check!
Forced proximity? Check!
Men in finance? Check!
--
Journalist Hallie Woods has a new date the hottest guy on Wall Street and document every moment for the magazine she works for.
The only problem? Finance bros couldn’t be further from Hallie’s type.
But as Hallie reluctantly flirts her way through the Financial District, there's one annoyingly handsome 6’5, blue-eyed man who keeps getting in her way. . .
James Rossi is a typical finance bro on paper, but a hopeless romantic at heart. So, when he realizes the new regular at his favourite bar is flirting with his colleagues as fodder for an article, he decides to sabotage her plans.
Hallie and James clash at happy hour every week. But soon their dislike for each other turns into something unexpected, and Hallie questions whether she wants her personal life spread across the pages of a magazine.
Hallie might have found her man in finance, but she also has a choice to make. Will she publish the article, or risk her career and invest in true love?
Forced proximityEnemies to loversOpposites attractWorkplace romanceSteamy 🌶
389 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 14, 2025
96 people are currently reading
11433 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 306 reviews
Want to read
October 7, 2025Trust fund, 6'5", blue eyes? 👀
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I requested this ARC entirely because of the title, and unfortunately, I am disappointed. We have all heard of "Don't judge a book by its cover." Well! welcome to its reprise: Don't judge a book by its title.
Haille Woods, our fmc, was a bit exhausting to read. She is deeply self-absorbed AND self-deprecating in a way the narrative seems to think is charming. What was up with that? Her description of every other woman is immediately followed by some self-hating comment about how "it could never be me!" or "I am just plain old boring woman!!" oh boo-hoo 🙄 it became annoying very quickly.
At one point, she refers to her own best friend as "exotic," and I had to stop for a moment because… what?
Actual quote below, it may not be what is in the final book, because I read an advanced copy.
That alone should have been a red flag, but the book keeps going in the same direction. I kept hoping the story was self-aware, that maybe this was satire (because of the title) and the narrative would eventually interrogate her worldview. It doesn't.
This was marketed as having How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days energy, and I can see what it was reaching for. The difference is that in the movie, Andie and Ben do not know each other's true intentions and end up falling for each other. Here,
Both leads also fall into the same exhausting category of how they're just NOT LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE of their gender 🙄🙄 which made me want to put the book down more than once. I love romcoms bruh. I'm extremely forgiving of tropes. But this one just... meh. You could probably pick up something else.
Speaking of tropes! here's a list from the synopsis versus if it actually happened:
✦ Forced proximity - ✅
✦ Enemies to lovers - ❌ no? they were "enemies" for like two seconds. I don't think that actually counts
✦ Opposites attract - ✅❌ idk. they have a whole chapter about how they're not really different from each other so... 🤷🏻♀️
✦ Workplace romance - ❌ whose workplace were we romancing in??
✦ Steamy - ✅ yeah you can have that one too, I guess
I'm pretty torn up about the rating I decided on, because the romance itself wasn't terrible. The pacing of the relationship was good, the progression was believable - thankfully it wasn't insta-love, the date ideas were genuinely cute, and I liked reading them falling in love. If the book had leaned more into that instead of the constant self-comparison, shallow internal monologue, and the microaggressions (honestly, WHY include that line? and never address it?), I might have enjoyed it more. As it stands, I don't think these things are enough to redeem it.
── .✦ pre-read 𖹭.ᐟ
this is not a real title WHAAATTT 😭😭😭
update: okay I got an arc 👀 will report back with thoughts soon 🫡 I hope it's funny
Haille Woods, our fmc, was a bit exhausting to read. She is deeply self-absorbed AND self-deprecating in a way the narrative seems to think is charming. What was up with that? Her description of every other woman is immediately followed by some self-hating comment about how "it could never be me!" or "I am just plain old boring woman!!" oh boo-hoo 🙄 it became annoying very quickly.
At one point, she refers to her own best friend as "exotic," and I had to stop for a moment because… what?
Actual quote below, it may not be what is in the final book, because I read an advanced copy.
That alone should have been a red flag, but the book keeps going in the same direction. I kept hoping the story was self-aware, that maybe this was satire (because of the title) and the narrative would eventually interrogate her worldview. It doesn't.
This was marketed as having How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days energy, and I can see what it was reaching for. The difference is that in the movie, Andie and Ben do not know each other's true intentions and end up falling for each other. Here,
Both leads also fall into the same exhausting category of how they're just NOT LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE of their gender 🙄🙄 which made me want to put the book down more than once. I love romcoms bruh. I'm extremely forgiving of tropes. But this one just... meh. You could probably pick up something else.
Speaking of tropes! here's a list from the synopsis versus if it actually happened:
✦ Forced proximity - ✅
✦ Enemies to lovers - ❌ no? they were "enemies" for like two seconds. I don't think that actually counts
✦ Opposites attract - ✅❌ idk. they have a whole chapter about how they're not really different from each other so... 🤷🏻♀️
✦ Workplace romance - ❌ whose workplace were we romancing in??
✦ Steamy - ✅ yeah you can have that one too, I guess
I'm pretty torn up about the rating I decided on, because the romance itself wasn't terrible. The pacing of the relationship was good, the progression was believable - thankfully it wasn't insta-love, the date ideas were genuinely cute, and I liked reading them falling in love. If the book had leaned more into that instead of the constant self-comparison, shallow internal monologue, and the microaggressions (honestly, WHY include that line? and never address it?), I might have enjoyed it more. As it stands, I don't think these things are enough to redeem it.
── .✦ pre-read 𖹭.ᐟ
this is not a real title WHAAATTT 😭😭😭
update: okay I got an arc 👀 will report back with thoughts soon 🫡 I hope it's funny
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I requested this as a joke, but parts of it amused. Class aside, this is a very white book, and while James grew up richer than Hallie, even his WASP-y half judged the other half's Italian American roots.
The stereotypes are all true. Finance bros are bros. But some are actually looking for love. Although, to preface, this is fiction. But I've been in a very giddy, disgustingly in love mood, so parts of this hit.
Hallie wants to write food pieces, but is stuck on relationship drivel. Her boss, Anthea, has her do a man in finance write-up which turns into a series. It's popular. She meets James. It goes well until she bitches about finance bros the entire dinner. And then she later finds out he is one.
James is a secret softie. His family's Brooklyn pizzeria is about to go under. No one wants social media or any gimmicks. They just want to keep serving the same food. And not changing anything.
So they butt heads. And try to fake date. Then try to keep it casual. Then fall in love. It's disgusting. It's cute. It takes a very popular meme and expands it. We love to see it.
tw: finance bros
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press
The stereotypes are all true. Finance bros are bros. But some are actually looking for love. Although, to preface, this is fiction. But I've been in a very giddy, disgustingly in love mood, so parts of this hit.
Hallie wants to write food pieces, but is stuck on relationship drivel. Her boss, Anthea, has her do a man in finance write-up which turns into a series. It's popular. She meets James. It goes well until she bitches about finance bros the entire dinner. And then she later finds out he is one.
James is a secret softie. His family's Brooklyn pizzeria is about to go under. No one wants social media or any gimmicks. They just want to keep serving the same food. And not changing anything.
So they butt heads. And try to fake date. Then try to keep it casual. Then fall in love. It's disgusting. It's cute. It takes a very popular meme and expands it. We love to see it.
tw: finance bros
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press
November 26, 2025
I requested the arc from Netgalley because I thought the title was ridiculous and I fully went into it as a gag read, expecting literally nothing from the book yet I was still so disappointed at how bad it was.
Our fmc was so fucking annoying, a literal pick me who thinks that the fact she's considered boring and bland in her head is enough reason for her to be special idk. Every single time she describes a lady or woman she always punctuates it with a self deprecating comment about herself and it was so frustrating to read. There's a line where she describes her best friend as "exotic" and I was just?!!! what the hell?? James, the mmc was just there tbh. He was the typical cocky, always smirking, mostly boring mmc and he did nothing for the story, at least for me.
The concept of the magazine feature and the dates was so cute though! Definitely the highlight of the book but it was still not enough to save the frankly horrible writing and even worse characterization.
I think I should take this as a lesson to stop reading books I know I won't like for the gag...
Our fmc was so fucking annoying, a literal pick me who thinks that the fact she's considered boring and bland in her head is enough reason for her to be special idk. Every single time she describes a lady or woman she always punctuates it with a self deprecating comment about herself and it was so frustrating to read. There's a line where she describes her best friend as "exotic" and I was just?!!! what the hell?? James, the mmc was just there tbh. He was the typical cocky, always smirking, mostly boring mmc and he did nothing for the story, at least for me.
The concept of the magazine feature and the dates was so cute though! Definitely the highlight of the book but it was still not enough to save the frankly horrible writing and even worse characterization.
I think I should take this as a lesson to stop reading books I know I won't like for the gag...
October 7, 2025
Ughhh, a dual POV, forced proximity, enemies to lovers set in NYC??? Sign me up!!!
The chemistry, the setting, this book was everything I needed & wanted. If you love the movie How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days READ THIS BOOK. I highly recommend and can’t wait to reread it.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
Release Date 🗓️:
February 10, 2026
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
🤍 I want to give a huuugeee thank you Netgalley, Sabrina Waldorf, & Alcove Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. 🤍
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
Follow me on my socials ↓
Instagram
The chemistry, the setting, this book was everything I needed & wanted. If you love the movie How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days READ THIS BOOK. I highly recommend and can’t wait to reread it.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
Release Date 🗓️:
February 10, 2026
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
🤍 I want to give a huuugeee thank you Netgalley, Sabrina Waldorf, & Alcove Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. 🤍
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
Follow me on my socials ↓
October 19, 2025
💸 Bookish Thoughts
I’ll fully admit I picked this one up for the title 😅 The TikTok besties know exactly why. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! It gave off How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days energy in the best possible way, which was one of my favorites growing up.
Honestly, this would have been a solid 5-star read if not for the third act breakup. James made me want to scream with how he handled it. Still, it wrapped up really cute, so I’m giving it 4 stars.
👩💻 What to Expect
• Enemies to lovers
• Finance MMC
• Journalist FMC
• NYC romcom
• Office politics
_ _ _
⭐ Final Score: 4 stars
📅 Pub Date: February 10, 2026
📝 Thank you to Alcove Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.
I’ll fully admit I picked this one up for the title 😅 The TikTok besties know exactly why. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! It gave off How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days energy in the best possible way, which was one of my favorites growing up.
Honestly, this would have been a solid 5-star read if not for the third act breakup. James made me want to scream with how he handled it. Still, it wrapped up really cute, so I’m giving it 4 stars.
👩💻 What to Expect
• Enemies to lovers
• Finance MMC
• Journalist FMC
• NYC romcom
• Office politics
_ _ _
⭐ Final Score: 4 stars
📅 Pub Date: February 10, 2026
📝 Thank you to Alcove Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.
September 20, 2025
*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review!*
3.5 Stars.
Looking for a Man in Finance by Sabrina Waldorf is exactly what it promises to be—a glitzy, steamy enemies-to-lovers romcom pitched as How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days meets Gossip Girl. It’s got the banter, the scheming, the Upper East Side flair, and plenty of spice to keep you turning the pages. The title makes it even funnier, since it instantly recalls that viral TikTok audio from a few years back (“looking for a man in finance…”), so you already know the book isn’t taking itself too seriously. Add in the fact that the author’s last name is literally Waldorf—just like Blair from Gossip Girl—and the whole thing feels almost too on brand.
What really works here is the chemistry between the leads, the sharp dialogue, and the glamorous setting that makes the story feel larger-than-life. It’s escapist in the best way, mixing humor, heat, and drama into a package that’s easy to binge. While it does lean on some familiar tropes and predictable beats, it’s still a playful, entertaining read that delivers exactly the kind of drama and fun you’d hope for from a romcom with this aesthetic.
_______________________
I got an arc for a book that’s going to come out next year!!! 🥳 But my bookstore already has it!? 🤔
3.5 Stars.
Looking for a Man in Finance by Sabrina Waldorf is exactly what it promises to be—a glitzy, steamy enemies-to-lovers romcom pitched as How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days meets Gossip Girl. It’s got the banter, the scheming, the Upper East Side flair, and plenty of spice to keep you turning the pages. The title makes it even funnier, since it instantly recalls that viral TikTok audio from a few years back (“looking for a man in finance…”), so you already know the book isn’t taking itself too seriously. Add in the fact that the author’s last name is literally Waldorf—just like Blair from Gossip Girl—and the whole thing feels almost too on brand.
What really works here is the chemistry between the leads, the sharp dialogue, and the glamorous setting that makes the story feel larger-than-life. It’s escapist in the best way, mixing humor, heat, and drama into a package that’s easy to binge. While it does lean on some familiar tropes and predictable beats, it’s still a playful, entertaining read that delivers exactly the kind of drama and fun you’d hope for from a romcom with this aesthetic.
_______________________
I got an arc for a book that’s going to come out next year!!! 🥳 But my bookstore already has it!? 🤔
September 13, 2025
Okay I loved this. My favorite rom com ever is How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and this was reminiscent but not a copy. It was fun, funny, heartwarming, and I need a Roxie/Seb spinoff AND a Theo Blake spinoff PLEASE.
Want to read
September 12, 2025هلابي يالآرك😋
احسه so cliched جوي
احسه so cliched جوي
January 26, 2026
This was so unexpectedly good!
I went in expecting a cheesy rom-com, but it delivered so much more. Think How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days meets the men of Wall Street - fun, sharp, and surprisingly layered.
The chase between the main characters was executed flawlessly, and the portrayal of investment bankers was both hysterical and (painfully) accurate. The tension, banter, and just the right amount of chaos were all done so well.
Highly recommend this fun, addictive read!
I went in expecting a cheesy rom-com, but it delivered so much more. Think How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days meets the men of Wall Street - fun, sharp, and surprisingly layered.
The chase between the main characters was executed flawlessly, and the portrayal of investment bankers was both hysterical and (painfully) accurate. The tension, banter, and just the right amount of chaos were all done so well.
Highly recommend this fun, addictive read!
February 19, 2026
I must admit I picked this up just for the fun title. The Devil Wears Prada meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Dates (a movie even conspicuously mentioned in the story.) And for once the synopsis didn't lie. This was a fun, breezy, lighthearted book that reminded me of the golden age 00s rom com movies, which were and still are my guilty pleasures.
It never got beyond surface level, exploring their obvious class differences or real world finances, but it was never trying to be anything else. So I could forgive it for not being realistic about journalism or finance. I just got bored.
Hallie is a writer for Sophisticate, a women's magazine, but she really aspires to become a restaurant critic and runs a food blog on the side. After one of her columns goes viral, she's assigned to write a dating column in hopes of landing a food critic vacancy. Striking out with the finance bros at their favorite bar haunt, she meets a seemingly perfect financial analyst named James whose family owns a struggling Italian pizzeria. They agree to fake date for the article and soon catch feelings.
I did like how this was like a love letter to New York City and I really felt a sense of place reading this. I enjoyed how it humanized finance bros and showed a different side of them. The sex scenes were sexy, James taking the lead in pleasing Hallie. And I love competency porn, when people are good at what they do and their love interests build up their ambitions. I liked the descriptions of their different but supportive families.
But I found James to be a little too perfect and Hallie was too much of a pick-me girl. I wanted a bit more of a spark with their characters, they needed to be messier. I just found them kind of boring as characters so the romance became boring.
So it had the framework of a romcom from the aughts that I would have loved, but part of what was great about movies from that era was the characters. And that was missing here.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
It never got beyond surface level, exploring their obvious class differences or real world finances, but it was never trying to be anything else. So I could forgive it for not being realistic about journalism or finance. I just got bored.
Hallie is a writer for Sophisticate, a women's magazine, but she really aspires to become a restaurant critic and runs a food blog on the side. After one of her columns goes viral, she's assigned to write a dating column in hopes of landing a food critic vacancy. Striking out with the finance bros at their favorite bar haunt, she meets a seemingly perfect financial analyst named James whose family owns a struggling Italian pizzeria. They agree to fake date for the article and soon catch feelings.
I did like how this was like a love letter to New York City and I really felt a sense of place reading this. I enjoyed how it humanized finance bros and showed a different side of them. The sex scenes were sexy, James taking the lead in pleasing Hallie. And I love competency porn, when people are good at what they do and their love interests build up their ambitions. I liked the descriptions of their different but supportive families.
But I found James to be a little too perfect and Hallie was too much of a pick-me girl. I wanted a bit more of a spark with their characters, they needed to be messier. I just found them kind of boring as characters so the romance became boring.
So it had the framework of a romcom from the aughts that I would have loved, but part of what was great about movies from that era was the characters. And that was missing here.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 28, 2026
Ja ik heb echt genoten van dit boek!! ik was dus bang dat dit een beetje cringe zou zijn maar dat was het helemaal niet. Het las echt als een 00's romcom film en dat vond ik heerlijk!
Op een gegeven moment vond ik wel dat bepaalde dingen iets teveel herhaald werden maar in de laatste 100 pagina's merkte ik daar niks meer van.
Dikke 4 ster en echt een aanrader ✨️
Op een gegeven moment vond ik wel dat bepaalde dingen iets teveel herhaald werden maar in de laatste 100 pagina's merkte ik daar niks meer van.
Dikke 4 ster en echt een aanrader ✨️
February 18, 2026
Took me a bit longer than normal for me to finish this, the formatting really threw my brain for a loop. Totally a me problem that others may not find an issue. My brain just didn’t like the dialog all running together, and needing to figure out who is speaking at times. Took away from my overall enjoyment of the love story, which around 25% began to really move forward. A bit of a stagnant beginning, but the middle and end really impressed me. Our main characters are so different from what each other think they are looking for in a love interest, that the sparks can’t help to fly. I loved the spin off on the How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days movie and it being about Wall Street Bros was especially funny. I enjoyed how the city of New York was like a character itself, how vivid the places were written. James took Hallie around the city and it felt like I was there. Secondary characters, Sebastian and Roxy, our main characters’s besties were so funny being dragged along, hopefully those two are the next book.
Read
September 18, 2025One of my long-standing convictions is that liberals need to be less risk-averse, and stop living in fear of screwing up. Admittedly, I’m no novice at risk-taking, and know and always have known my limits (although I occasionally stepped over the line in my youth) so I am aware of what I can do and what I can’t do, and what I can’t do is let myself get into TikTok. I technically have an account, but I very studiously do not linger on Tiktok (or on Instagram Reels) except to watch my best friend’s TikToks every month or so.
However, I am on Twitter/X, arguably too much for my own good, and the most viral TikToks end up on that site, including the “I’m looking for a man in finance, trust fund, 6’5” blue eyes” one, which was the inspiration for this book by Sabrina Waldorf.
I had high hopes for this book given it got comparisons to How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, aka one of my favorite movies of all time, but the whole thing was sort of too … on the nose, right up to one of the supporting characters explicitly saying she was watching the movie, How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Also, the entire point of that movie is that the two main characters, Andie Anderson and Benjamin Berry, are actively lying to each other about their motives for getting into a relationship while genuinely falling in love with one another, like that’s the central conflict, and the beauty of the movie is watching these two flawed, imperfect people realizing there’s something worth salvaging in the mess they caused, and I’d like to think they worked it out.
Conversely, the two main characters in this book, Hallie and James, didn’t make me feel any sort of emotion beyond mild annoyance and a fair amount of eye rolling. For one thing, they both are upfront with each other about the goals from the second time they meet, which defeats the entire comparison to the movie. And, contrary to how it’s marketed, this book is not a real enemies-to-lovers romance given the protagonists don’t ever really dislike each other with any sort of vigour, and it’s not a workplace romance given that they don’t work at the same workplace. I also really didn’t like that James was angry that Hallie was “prioritizing her career” over him and that was a catalyst to their third-act breakup. Sorry not sorry, but in 2025 when we’re in a total feminist regression and tradwife is the new black, I refuse to entertain the idea that women having professional aspirations is somehow a character flaw. Not happening, and if you want to write that in a book, I will not be praising it.
But yeah. My primary beef with contemporary romances written after like 2016 is that readers and in turn, authors trying to cater to their audience, are borderline allergic to real conflict. On a fundamental level, I think that people just don’t want to read a book where the main characters aren’t honest and kind and true, they don’t want to read about flawed people that make mistakes but still love each other and find their ways to a happy ending, even though that’s so much more realistic, even when the details of a story may not be universally relatable (ex. Most people don’t live in New York City and work for glossy magazines).
Also like, why in the world did Hallie keep meeting all her dates to the same venue? If she genuinely didn’t want James to interrupt them, and her internal monologue claimed she didn’t, why didn’t she pick a different place? That’s the kind of thing that I get super annoyed by in romance novels. I can accept pretty crazy things in fiction on an emotional level (don’t get me started on Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas aka the best romance of all time), but I draw the line at logical inconsistencies, like it just seems like authors think readers are stupid at this point.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book though!
However, I am on Twitter/X, arguably too much for my own good, and the most viral TikToks end up on that site, including the “I’m looking for a man in finance, trust fund, 6’5” blue eyes” one, which was the inspiration for this book by Sabrina Waldorf.
I had high hopes for this book given it got comparisons to How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, aka one of my favorite movies of all time, but the whole thing was sort of too … on the nose, right up to one of the supporting characters explicitly saying she was watching the movie, How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Also, the entire point of that movie is that the two main characters, Andie Anderson and Benjamin Berry, are actively lying to each other about their motives for getting into a relationship while genuinely falling in love with one another, like that’s the central conflict, and the beauty of the movie is watching these two flawed, imperfect people realizing there’s something worth salvaging in the mess they caused, and I’d like to think they worked it out.
Conversely, the two main characters in this book, Hallie and James, didn’t make me feel any sort of emotion beyond mild annoyance and a fair amount of eye rolling. For one thing, they both are upfront with each other about the goals from the second time they meet, which defeats the entire comparison to the movie. And, contrary to how it’s marketed, this book is not a real enemies-to-lovers romance given the protagonists don’t ever really dislike each other with any sort of vigour, and it’s not a workplace romance given that they don’t work at the same workplace. I also really didn’t like that James was angry that Hallie was “prioritizing her career” over him and that was a catalyst to their third-act breakup. Sorry not sorry, but in 2025 when we’re in a total feminist regression and tradwife is the new black, I refuse to entertain the idea that women having professional aspirations is somehow a character flaw. Not happening, and if you want to write that in a book, I will not be praising it.
But yeah. My primary beef with contemporary romances written after like 2016 is that readers and in turn, authors trying to cater to their audience, are borderline allergic to real conflict. On a fundamental level, I think that people just don’t want to read a book where the main characters aren’t honest and kind and true, they don’t want to read about flawed people that make mistakes but still love each other and find their ways to a happy ending, even though that’s so much more realistic, even when the details of a story may not be universally relatable (ex. Most people don’t live in New York City and work for glossy magazines).
Also like, why in the world did Hallie keep meeting all her dates to the same venue? If she genuinely didn’t want James to interrupt them, and her internal monologue claimed she didn’t, why didn’t she pick a different place? That’s the kind of thing that I get super annoyed by in romance novels. I can accept pretty crazy things in fiction on an emotional level (don’t get me started on Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas aka the best romance of all time), but I draw the line at logical inconsistencies, like it just seems like authors think readers are stupid at this point.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book though!
December 21, 2025
When I tell you that the title made me pause, laugh, and nod my head in approval?! Sabrina Waldorf take a bow, this is EVERYTHING. Thank you so much Alcove Press for the digital arc.
I’m Looking for a Man in Finance is simply more than a comparison to “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”. Sabrina Waldorf really took the time to mould her characters, outline the story, and get readers invested into every aspect of a scene, moment of dialogue, and small details.
Hallie works at the top women’s magazine of New York Sophisticate but also has a very successful social media account as a food blogger (I personally loved this). But once there’s an opening for the food critic spot at the magazine, she has to prove her chops as a writer for the coveted dream job. But to do so? She needs to date a man in finance and write all about it (enter our lovely hero James).
Sabrina’s built out her book and this is definitely going to be a series and I’m on board. If you’re a fan of Ana Huang’s Twisted series, you’re in for a treat!
I’m Looking for a Man in Finance is simply more than a comparison to “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”. Sabrina Waldorf really took the time to mould her characters, outline the story, and get readers invested into every aspect of a scene, moment of dialogue, and small details.
Hallie works at the top women’s magazine of New York Sophisticate but also has a very successful social media account as a food blogger (I personally loved this). But once there’s an opening for the food critic spot at the magazine, she has to prove her chops as a writer for the coveted dream job. But to do so? She needs to date a man in finance and write all about it (enter our lovely hero James).
Sabrina’s built out her book and this is definitely going to be a series and I’m on board. If you’re a fan of Ana Huang’s Twisted series, you’re in for a treat!
September 29, 2025
3.5⭐️
the book follows a young columnist to strive for her dream job as a food critic. she is tasked to write about the dating scene specially with finance bros.
It definitely has “How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days” feel with the different dates to experience for her articles. there were some parts that were plot fillers and some of the side characters were annoying.
also, i was lowkey disappointed about the third act breakup because if he knew her, he should know she wouldn’t have done that.
lastly, i loved James’s Italian family, they were so wholesome and made me enjoy the book.
thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the digital ARC.
the book follows a young columnist to strive for her dream job as a food critic. she is tasked to write about the dating scene specially with finance bros.
It definitely has “How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days” feel with the different dates to experience for her articles. there were some parts that were plot fillers and some of the side characters were annoying.
also, i was lowkey disappointed about the third act breakup because if he knew her, he should know she wouldn’t have done that.
lastly, i loved James’s Italian family, they were so wholesome and made me enjoy the book.
thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the digital ARC.
September 16, 2025
The spice was weak, the characters half fleshed out and the most offensive part: a third act break up that could have easily been avoided by just…… *talking*
You will forget about this book the second you finish reading.
You will forget about this book the second you finish reading.
September 22, 2025
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC.
This was a light romcom read, but I felt no connection to any of the characters. The writing was clunky and overly descriptive, and overall felt incongruous with the story being told.
This was a light romcom read, but I felt no connection to any of the characters. The writing was clunky and overly descriptive, and overall felt incongruous with the story being told.
December 13, 2025
4.5 ⭐️
Wait guys HAHAH I fully started this as a joke but god was this good 😭😭 pls pls find me a james rossi i am in love
Wait guys HAHAH I fully started this as a joke but god was this good 😭😭 pls pls find me a james rossi i am in love
February 19, 2026
Romcom of the year is a bold way to promote a book - lowkey disappointed but overall an ok read
HOW WAS THIS PUBLISHED IN PENGUIN
not bothered tidying up the notes for this one
notes/thought dump:
- instantly reminded me of the blonde journalist in how to lose a guy in 10 days except its not much journalism or media work its like blogs and social media (eek)
i cant judge since i also got looped into that shithole but god is this really 'ambitious'?
- "This was a whole new level of personal exposure. I
was supposed to go on dates, to share my life, my privacy, for the sake of a
story? I hadn’t signed up for this." oh yeah defs how to lose a guy in 10 days vibe
- "And women like me, just a little too smart, a little too ambitious? We were
nothing but objects to them." cringe also ego also back to my note from the start lol
- anthea is such a predictable name for a book like this
- chapter 1 was painful
- let me guess she falls for the FIRST guy she dates for this 'journalism assignment'
- "The Drake family owned Rooster, the world’s first search engine." this is worldbuilding now???
- "“Five dates. One per week. You can use each of them for your articles." finally a plot twist (predictable but needed)
- “Well, suddenly this has grown quite awkward,” Roxie spoke up, breaking the trance that had descended between us. “I’m just going to go crack open a bottle of wine and watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for the millionth time.” (told ya that was the inspo for the book)
- DID I MENTION ANTHEA IS A FUCKING BITCH like yes go sell your private dating life for a media series and ill give you your dream job, two articles later oh by the way i have to interview someone else for the role but you have a promising future in the industry fml
- Why else would he spend so much time and effort
trying to impress you with extravagant dates?”
Because he’s trying to save his family’s restaurant.
- half way through the book and its much better now but im cackling to myself that the chic finally having good sex and triggered a productivity boost #represenation
-ok who hijacked the article about the family restaurant that was CRUEL
- Her eyes grew wide as realization dawned across them. “Are you saying
that Anthea changed your article?”
Anthea changed the article after it had already been sent to print?
“Mabel, has anybody told you how important you are to this office?”
Mabel smiled warmly, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Not nearly
enough, Hallie, but it’s always nice to hear.” (AKA the bitch)
- “But there are ways to do it without sacrificing artistic integrity. As
an editor, it’s your role to guide and support the writers, not to manipulate
their work for the sake of popularity.” you go girl
fav lines:
- a brunch-stained love letter to chaos.
- My dress was a second-hand find from a shop in the East Village with no label and a mystery origin story. (finally something relatable)
- “Why so sad, Hal?” I asked carefully. She didn’t answer. Instead, she stared straight ahead. “Why do you always drink Old Fashioneds? Are they that good? You know what? Fuck it. Joey, can I have an Old Fashioned, please? I might as well see what all the hype is about since I’ve been writing about them for a month.”
- I was in over my head. And yet, somehow, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was starting to enjoy it.
- “I know how much you love good food, so I thought what better way to experience it than to have a cooking class from one of your favorite chefs.” (aww this is so sweet for a character i really want to hate right now)
- AGAIN ANOTHER AWW MOMENT James: I had the best time tonight. Would you want to grab
breakfast tomorrow? I know that we only agreed to our five dates ... so I understand if you don’t want to. But I wanted to speak with you about an idea I had for our next date.
- EEEEEE “You mentioned you had an idea for our third date?” I asked, clearing my throat as I fought to regain my focus. James poured himself a cup of coffee as he nodded. “Yes. I wanted to run
it by you first instead of surprising you, because it would be a couple of overnight stays.” My eyebrows shot up in surprise. The mere mention of an overnight stay with him sent a rush of nerves through me. It meant that we would spend more time together than we ever had before. I tried to suppress the flood of questions. Would he expect to share a bed? Where was he taking me? Was it
just the two of us?
- “I think I’m going to have to make sure I’m going to the gym if we keep up these dates,” James joked, as the waiter brought our appetizer of mini pancakes out. “If food is your love language, I may put on a few pounds trying to make you happy.”
- Guilt. It’s a terrible thing. It starts as a subtle discomfort, a tiny seed, but with each passing day, its tendrils wrap around your heart, growing larger and more painful. Until it consumes you and there’s nothing left but that ugly vine inside of you.
- I wasn’t sure I could control myself around him tonight if it was just the two of us alone.
- It made me wonder why I ever felt like I had to do something I didn’t
want to, just to achieve a dream. Why I had to sacrifice so much to come up
with so little? Suddenly, everything felt simple.
- As I watched Hallie devour a crab cake Benedict at brunch on Sunday
morning, I’d made up my mind. I wanted to date her. Without the deal we
had struck. Without the fancy dinners and the trips. I wanted to stay in and
watch a movie with her or play board games on a Saturday night. I wanted
to know what she looked like when she woke up in the morning or how
many steps her nighttime skincare routine was.
- Making Hallie blush was like watching the sun rise on a perfect morning without a cloud in the sky.
- “So yes, Hal. I want to spend time with you.
This may have started with you and me on opposite sides. But I want it to
end with us as a team.”
funny:
- I was in love. I moaned. The bagel to cream cheese ratio ... perfection.
- lol she just roasted him not knowing he works in finance - who knew haha
- My fingers tightened around the stem of the wineglass. The words
tumbled out of Mark’s mouth and hit me one by one, each heavier than the
last. Portfolios. Write-Up. Billion dollars. Oh my god. James was a man in finance. And I’d spent the other night—an entire meal—casually dragging men in his profession to his face. Nice one, Hallie. And this is why you’re still single.
- “There’s nothing to explain,” I told him. Because what would I even say? I met this girl at the Grangers’ last Friday night. She hates everything about men in finance and is writing a piece for work on what it’s like to date us. So now I’ve made it my personal mission to make sure she has the least amount of material to work with.
- “I’m doing good, man.” Oh God, was that animosity I detected in James’s voice? “How’s your wife, Henry?” I stiffened. (OH MY GOD GIRL HE JUST SAVED YOU FROM THAT HAHAHA)
- “I’m just frustrated.” “Why?” I asked, genuinely curious now. “What’s going on? I thought we
were having a good time.” She sighed, long and slow. “Because I’m enjoying myself.” “And that’s a bad thing?” I asked.
- “Was it hot? Spicy? Steamy? What chili rating would you give it? Oh, please give me the details. I have to live vicariously through you right now.” “It was ...” Sexy. Hot. Dangerous. The kind of kiss I’d be replaying in my head when I pulled my vibrator out of my nightstand. “Really nice.” Roxie rolled her eyes at my scaled-back answer as she twisted her dark- blonde hair and resecured it with a hairpin.
- Sebastian poked his head out of the bathroom, shaving cream still on half
of his face. “It’s cute that you think you can fake ignorance on this one.
You’ve spent the entire weekend staring at Hallie with hearts in your eyes.
If you wanted some semblance of plausible deniability, you should’ve tried
a little harder to pretend you’re not completely whipped for her.”
- “I’m not embarrassed,” I told her. “Honestly, I’m kind of relieved my
mother basically knows the details of every one of our dates so far. That
means she has less to interrogate me on.”
tension:
- Roxie gestured at the rest of the group as they made their way into the formal dining room. I glanced back over toward the kitchen to see the man still leaning against the counter, his gaze still locked on me like he had all the time in the world.
- As I rounded the table to take my place across from Roxie, a hand appeared from behind me and gently pulled my chair out. “Looks like we’ll be sitting next to each other tonight.” The voice was deep, sending goosebumps across my shoulders as I followed the hand up to see the stranger from before smirking down at me.
- Without breaking the moment, he raised a hand, flicked his wrist, and sent his dart flying. Bullseye. “Maybe you need a new teacher, Hal.”
- “But there’s no price. James, when there’s no price, that means it’s out of the range of my wallet.” “Who says you’re paying, Hal?”
- “What are you doing?” Hallie looked at me like I’d lost my mind between the filet mignon and the gelato as I took a picture of her staring at her dessert like she was in love. Was it possible to be jealous of gelato? “Memorializing this moment for you.” I checked the picture to confirm
that she did, in fact, look like she was glowing even through the camera lens. “You know, for your blog? You haven’t posted this week.” Hallie regarded me. “You’ve looked at my blog?” Fuck.
- “But we agreed there would be no kissing. I didn’t think I’d have to worry about writing something like that into any of these articles, but my boss is full of surprises. So, I guess this is just me warning you about a fictional kiss that I’ll have to conjure up for this week’s article.” The flames inside me roared even hotter, nearly boiling the blood running through my veins as Hallie gave me a sympathetic smile and slipped out of the cab. I was frozen to my seat, paralyzed, watching her walk toward the stairs of her apartment building. The same images I had of kissing Hallie during our first date played in my head once more. “Well, are you going to go after her?” The cab driver’s voice snapped me out of my stupor.
- I had to fight not to imagine pushing her up against the wall of the hallway to kiss all the worry
from her face.
wooo:
- “I did. Forget something.” Before I could think better of it, I slid my fingers against the smooth, warm softness of her cheek, then slipped them around to the back of her neck, my fingers finding purchase in her soft hair. With one more step, I closed the space between us. The pounding in my ears became deafening, and I wasn’t sure if I was hearing her heart or my own as I lowered my head. Just before my lips touched hers, I realized I didn’t want Hallie—I desperately needed her.
Only when her arms snaked around my neck, did I think that maybe she felt the same way. I didn’t care that we were standing on the stoop of her apartment building for the world to see as I kissed Hallie Woods for the first time. The softness of her lips, the lingering taste of red wine on her tongue, and the sharp intake of her breath as I deepened the kiss. I backed Hallie up against the cold, damp brick wall. My hands trailed down her sides, savoring the feel of her curves—the soft give of her skin, the gentle heat radiating from her. She was incredible. When we finally broke apart, I looked down at her, trying to figure out if I’d taken it too far.
- “You’re turning off your lifeline?” I asked jokingly. “I can go an evening without work.” James studied the menu in front of him. “I turned my phone off when we got to the grocery store.”
“James Rossi can go twelve hours without checking his phone?” I reached over to feel his forehead. “Are you feeling alright?” Darkness consumed the rich blue of James’s eyes, the pupils dilating as
he glared, but there was a hint of playfulness there. “You’re infuriating, you know that?”
- “Are you alright?” Roxie asked me.
“Peachy,” I murmured back as I caught the smirk on James’s face.
That smug asshole.
Now it was Sebastian and Roxie’s turn to share a look.
Careful not to attract attention, I subtly slipped my hand beneath the
tablecloth, my fingers brushing against James’s leg and his spine
straightened instantly, his muscles tensing.
“You okay, James?” Sebastian asked.
“Just got a cramp,” James replied through clenched teeth.
I pressed my lips together to keep the laugh bubbling inside of me from
escaping. Two can play at that game.
- His fingers dipped from my cheekbone, down to the line of my jaw. Then
the slope of my throat before tracing my collarbone. “You. Are. So.
Beautiful.”
He whispered each word into the quiet room.
“What are you doing?” I asked again. I froze, afraid of what was about to
happen and afraid of when he’d stop.
“Touching you.” His breath hit my neck, warm and slightly musky, as his
nose brushed against my skin.
A nervous flutter pulsed in my fingertips as my hands shook, yearning to
reach out and touch him. I’d been so shocked when he’d kissed me last
week that I hadn’t even reached out to run my hands over the hard planes of
his body. But this time, James reached down and gently took my hands in
his, the warmth of his skin a comfort as our fingers laced together.
I knew what was about to happen. I realized as James took the last tiny
step forward, so our chests touched, that this was an inevitable ending for
the two of us. (139)
- I wanted to be happy.
So I reached out, slowly at first. My teeth sunk into my bottom lip, a
nervous habit as my fingers brushed against the rough stubble of his jaw. A
gasp escaped James’s lips as I encircled his neck, and he froze, not daring to
move a muscle. His eyes fluttered closed, eyelashes brushing against the
apples of his cheeks.
“What am I doing?” I hadn’t even realized I’d spoken the words until
James replied.
“Touching me.”
The silence stretched, a fragile thread connecting us.
As soon as I crushed my lips to his, the moment snapped, leaving a
frenzy in its place.
- “Catch the wind, Hallie.”
Then she shoved me. Straight into James’s arms.
“Woah, careful.” James’s arms tightened around me, and I couldn’t help
but remember how it felt to be held by him last night. “No need to throw
yourself overboard just so you can be in my arms again. All you had to do
was ask.”
smut (ish):
- The moment she pulled me in closer to her, the rest of my resolve snapped.
My thumbs found her cheekbones as our lips hungrily devoured each other.
- Her lips had been on mine. She had been mine, if
only for a few minutes.
- (the swimming in the ocean with the fireworks scene) Fuck it.
That was the motto of my night as I pulled her against me and kissed her.
Deeply. Fully. My control snapped the instant that her tongue pressed
against my lips, begging for entrance to my mouth. Tongues danced. Teeth
thrashed. Her hands slipped under the band of my underwear, fingers
digging into the top of my ass.
“Maybe you’re right,” I groaned as Hallie kissed the curve of my jaw.
“I’m always right,” she teased, her voice like honey in my ear. “What am
I right about now?”
“That I’m not Mr. Old Fashioned,” I murmured against her lips,
breathless. “Because there’s nothing old fashioned about what I want to do
to you right now.”
- “So will you sit down with me and have lunch now, Hal?” James asked,
that same amusement from before returning to his face. Then he leaned in
and whispered in my ear something that set my entire body on fire. “Or do I
need to clear the building so we can show each other how much we care
with actions rather than words?”
- (after the good news of the family restaurant save the day plan) When I heard her moan into my mouth, I nearly splintered into a
thousand pieces. There was no way I was going to walk away from her at
the end of our five dates. I’d already mentally shredded our agreement in
my head. Hallie Woods was going to be mine.
- 186 As we crested the second floor, I fisted my hand in her hair to gently pull
her head back from mine. Only to trail kisses from the soft skin below her
ear to her collarbone. If I wasn’t nervous I would drop her, I would have
sprinted the two of us up the remaining three floors.
Hallie’s teeth sank into my neck on the third floor, and I groaned, the
sound guttural and raw in the empty space. On the fourth, my hands gripped
the curve of her ass, holding her flush against me.
- “I’ve been imagining this since the night I pulled out your chair at the
dinner party,” I confessed, setting her down gently. “I’ve thought about the
taste of your skin. The sound of your breath. How you’d look falling apart
beneath me.”
- “The Hamptons was just the appetizer,” he said. “A taste of the main
course. I wanted to hear how my name sounded in that breathy moan of
yours. I want to hear it right now. I want to hear it while I’m inside of you.
But tonight I want something even more.”
- “I just want
to warn you it may take a while for me to come. It’s not you—I’m just
sensitive, and sometimes I get in my head and—”
“Hallie,” he cut me off. “Stop talking.”
He crawled up, kissed me deeply, then whispered, “I don’t care how long
it takes. In fact, I’m hoping it takes a while. This isn’t a chore for me, Hal.
This is dessert after the meal we just had, and I’m going to savor every last
bite.”
Could he be any more perfect?
“Now,” he said, kissing his way back down my body, “tell me what you
like.”
- “Oh, sweetheart,” James groaned. Gradually, his fingers began to move
in and out of me, starting off slowly before quickening their pace. “Did I
make you this wet?”
“Yes,” I sighed.
“Do you want more?”
“Yes.”
- Then his fingers were gone and his lips were next to my ear again. “Tell
me what you want, Hal.”
“More,” I whispered, barely able to breathe. “I want more.”
“Good girl.” He kissed me hard, full of promise, and returned to his
position between my legs.
- “I want you. I need you. You may have wanted last night to be
about me. But I want tonight to be about us.”
- I gave
myself over completely. I didn’t resist. I didn’t think. I just felt.
- ok so smut scene (not noteworthy for me) BUT THE BATH AFTER? that was noteworthy
HOW WAS THIS PUBLISHED IN PENGUIN
not bothered tidying up the notes for this one
notes/thought dump:
- instantly reminded me of the blonde journalist in how to lose a guy in 10 days except its not much journalism or media work its like blogs and social media (eek)
i cant judge since i also got looped into that shithole but god is this really 'ambitious'?
- "This was a whole new level of personal exposure. I
was supposed to go on dates, to share my life, my privacy, for the sake of a
story? I hadn’t signed up for this." oh yeah defs how to lose a guy in 10 days vibe
- "And women like me, just a little too smart, a little too ambitious? We were
nothing but objects to them." cringe also ego also back to my note from the start lol
- anthea is such a predictable name for a book like this
- chapter 1 was painful
- let me guess she falls for the FIRST guy she dates for this 'journalism assignment'
- "The Drake family owned Rooster, the world’s first search engine." this is worldbuilding now???
- "“Five dates. One per week. You can use each of them for your articles." finally a plot twist (predictable but needed)
- “Well, suddenly this has grown quite awkward,” Roxie spoke up, breaking the trance that had descended between us. “I’m just going to go crack open a bottle of wine and watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for the millionth time.” (told ya that was the inspo for the book)
- DID I MENTION ANTHEA IS A FUCKING BITCH like yes go sell your private dating life for a media series and ill give you your dream job, two articles later oh by the way i have to interview someone else for the role but you have a promising future in the industry fml
- Why else would he spend so much time and effort
trying to impress you with extravagant dates?”
Because he’s trying to save his family’s restaurant.
- half way through the book and its much better now but im cackling to myself that the chic finally having good sex and triggered a productivity boost #represenation
-ok who hijacked the article about the family restaurant that was CRUEL
- Her eyes grew wide as realization dawned across them. “Are you saying
that Anthea changed your article?”
Anthea changed the article after it had already been sent to print?
“Mabel, has anybody told you how important you are to this office?”
Mabel smiled warmly, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Not nearly
enough, Hallie, but it’s always nice to hear.” (AKA the bitch)
- “But there are ways to do it without sacrificing artistic integrity. As
an editor, it’s your role to guide and support the writers, not to manipulate
their work for the sake of popularity.” you go girl
fav lines:
- a brunch-stained love letter to chaos.
- My dress was a second-hand find from a shop in the East Village with no label and a mystery origin story. (finally something relatable)
- “Why so sad, Hal?” I asked carefully. She didn’t answer. Instead, she stared straight ahead. “Why do you always drink Old Fashioneds? Are they that good? You know what? Fuck it. Joey, can I have an Old Fashioned, please? I might as well see what all the hype is about since I’ve been writing about them for a month.”
- I was in over my head. And yet, somehow, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was starting to enjoy it.
- “I know how much you love good food, so I thought what better way to experience it than to have a cooking class from one of your favorite chefs.” (aww this is so sweet for a character i really want to hate right now)
- AGAIN ANOTHER AWW MOMENT James: I had the best time tonight. Would you want to grab
breakfast tomorrow? I know that we only agreed to our five dates ... so I understand if you don’t want to. But I wanted to speak with you about an idea I had for our next date.
- EEEEEE “You mentioned you had an idea for our third date?” I asked, clearing my throat as I fought to regain my focus. James poured himself a cup of coffee as he nodded. “Yes. I wanted to run
it by you first instead of surprising you, because it would be a couple of overnight stays.” My eyebrows shot up in surprise. The mere mention of an overnight stay with him sent a rush of nerves through me. It meant that we would spend more time together than we ever had before. I tried to suppress the flood of questions. Would he expect to share a bed? Where was he taking me? Was it
just the two of us?
- “I think I’m going to have to make sure I’m going to the gym if we keep up these dates,” James joked, as the waiter brought our appetizer of mini pancakes out. “If food is your love language, I may put on a few pounds trying to make you happy.”
- Guilt. It’s a terrible thing. It starts as a subtle discomfort, a tiny seed, but with each passing day, its tendrils wrap around your heart, growing larger and more painful. Until it consumes you and there’s nothing left but that ugly vine inside of you.
- I wasn’t sure I could control myself around him tonight if it was just the two of us alone.
- It made me wonder why I ever felt like I had to do something I didn’t
want to, just to achieve a dream. Why I had to sacrifice so much to come up
with so little? Suddenly, everything felt simple.
- As I watched Hallie devour a crab cake Benedict at brunch on Sunday
morning, I’d made up my mind. I wanted to date her. Without the deal we
had struck. Without the fancy dinners and the trips. I wanted to stay in and
watch a movie with her or play board games on a Saturday night. I wanted
to know what she looked like when she woke up in the morning or how
many steps her nighttime skincare routine was.
- Making Hallie blush was like watching the sun rise on a perfect morning without a cloud in the sky.
- “So yes, Hal. I want to spend time with you.
This may have started with you and me on opposite sides. But I want it to
end with us as a team.”
funny:
- I was in love. I moaned. The bagel to cream cheese ratio ... perfection.
- lol she just roasted him not knowing he works in finance - who knew haha
- My fingers tightened around the stem of the wineglass. The words
tumbled out of Mark’s mouth and hit me one by one, each heavier than the
last. Portfolios. Write-Up. Billion dollars. Oh my god. James was a man in finance. And I’d spent the other night—an entire meal—casually dragging men in his profession to his face. Nice one, Hallie. And this is why you’re still single.
- “There’s nothing to explain,” I told him. Because what would I even say? I met this girl at the Grangers’ last Friday night. She hates everything about men in finance and is writing a piece for work on what it’s like to date us. So now I’ve made it my personal mission to make sure she has the least amount of material to work with.
- “I’m doing good, man.” Oh God, was that animosity I detected in James’s voice? “How’s your wife, Henry?” I stiffened. (OH MY GOD GIRL HE JUST SAVED YOU FROM THAT HAHAHA)
- “I’m just frustrated.” “Why?” I asked, genuinely curious now. “What’s going on? I thought we
were having a good time.” She sighed, long and slow. “Because I’m enjoying myself.” “And that’s a bad thing?” I asked.
- “Was it hot? Spicy? Steamy? What chili rating would you give it? Oh, please give me the details. I have to live vicariously through you right now.” “It was ...” Sexy. Hot. Dangerous. The kind of kiss I’d be replaying in my head when I pulled my vibrator out of my nightstand. “Really nice.” Roxie rolled her eyes at my scaled-back answer as she twisted her dark- blonde hair and resecured it with a hairpin.
- Sebastian poked his head out of the bathroom, shaving cream still on half
of his face. “It’s cute that you think you can fake ignorance on this one.
You’ve spent the entire weekend staring at Hallie with hearts in your eyes.
If you wanted some semblance of plausible deniability, you should’ve tried
a little harder to pretend you’re not completely whipped for her.”
- “I’m not embarrassed,” I told her. “Honestly, I’m kind of relieved my
mother basically knows the details of every one of our dates so far. That
means she has less to interrogate me on.”
tension:
- Roxie gestured at the rest of the group as they made their way into the formal dining room. I glanced back over toward the kitchen to see the man still leaning against the counter, his gaze still locked on me like he had all the time in the world.
- As I rounded the table to take my place across from Roxie, a hand appeared from behind me and gently pulled my chair out. “Looks like we’ll be sitting next to each other tonight.” The voice was deep, sending goosebumps across my shoulders as I followed the hand up to see the stranger from before smirking down at me.
- Without breaking the moment, he raised a hand, flicked his wrist, and sent his dart flying. Bullseye. “Maybe you need a new teacher, Hal.”
- “But there’s no price. James, when there’s no price, that means it’s out of the range of my wallet.” “Who says you’re paying, Hal?”
- “What are you doing?” Hallie looked at me like I’d lost my mind between the filet mignon and the gelato as I took a picture of her staring at her dessert like she was in love. Was it possible to be jealous of gelato? “Memorializing this moment for you.” I checked the picture to confirm
that she did, in fact, look like she was glowing even through the camera lens. “You know, for your blog? You haven’t posted this week.” Hallie regarded me. “You’ve looked at my blog?” Fuck.
- “But we agreed there would be no kissing. I didn’t think I’d have to worry about writing something like that into any of these articles, but my boss is full of surprises. So, I guess this is just me warning you about a fictional kiss that I’ll have to conjure up for this week’s article.” The flames inside me roared even hotter, nearly boiling the blood running through my veins as Hallie gave me a sympathetic smile and slipped out of the cab. I was frozen to my seat, paralyzed, watching her walk toward the stairs of her apartment building. The same images I had of kissing Hallie during our first date played in my head once more. “Well, are you going to go after her?” The cab driver’s voice snapped me out of my stupor.
- I had to fight not to imagine pushing her up against the wall of the hallway to kiss all the worry
from her face.
wooo:
- “I did. Forget something.” Before I could think better of it, I slid my fingers against the smooth, warm softness of her cheek, then slipped them around to the back of her neck, my fingers finding purchase in her soft hair. With one more step, I closed the space between us. The pounding in my ears became deafening, and I wasn’t sure if I was hearing her heart or my own as I lowered my head. Just before my lips touched hers, I realized I didn’t want Hallie—I desperately needed her.
Only when her arms snaked around my neck, did I think that maybe she felt the same way. I didn’t care that we were standing on the stoop of her apartment building for the world to see as I kissed Hallie Woods for the first time. The softness of her lips, the lingering taste of red wine on her tongue, and the sharp intake of her breath as I deepened the kiss. I backed Hallie up against the cold, damp brick wall. My hands trailed down her sides, savoring the feel of her curves—the soft give of her skin, the gentle heat radiating from her. She was incredible. When we finally broke apart, I looked down at her, trying to figure out if I’d taken it too far.
- “You’re turning off your lifeline?” I asked jokingly. “I can go an evening without work.” James studied the menu in front of him. “I turned my phone off when we got to the grocery store.”
“James Rossi can go twelve hours without checking his phone?” I reached over to feel his forehead. “Are you feeling alright?” Darkness consumed the rich blue of James’s eyes, the pupils dilating as
he glared, but there was a hint of playfulness there. “You’re infuriating, you know that?”
- “Are you alright?” Roxie asked me.
“Peachy,” I murmured back as I caught the smirk on James’s face.
That smug asshole.
Now it was Sebastian and Roxie’s turn to share a look.
Careful not to attract attention, I subtly slipped my hand beneath the
tablecloth, my fingers brushing against James’s leg and his spine
straightened instantly, his muscles tensing.
“You okay, James?” Sebastian asked.
“Just got a cramp,” James replied through clenched teeth.
I pressed my lips together to keep the laugh bubbling inside of me from
escaping. Two can play at that game.
- His fingers dipped from my cheekbone, down to the line of my jaw. Then
the slope of my throat before tracing my collarbone. “You. Are. So.
Beautiful.”
He whispered each word into the quiet room.
“What are you doing?” I asked again. I froze, afraid of what was about to
happen and afraid of when he’d stop.
“Touching you.” His breath hit my neck, warm and slightly musky, as his
nose brushed against my skin.
A nervous flutter pulsed in my fingertips as my hands shook, yearning to
reach out and touch him. I’d been so shocked when he’d kissed me last
week that I hadn’t even reached out to run my hands over the hard planes of
his body. But this time, James reached down and gently took my hands in
his, the warmth of his skin a comfort as our fingers laced together.
I knew what was about to happen. I realized as James took the last tiny
step forward, so our chests touched, that this was an inevitable ending for
the two of us. (139)
- I wanted to be happy.
So I reached out, slowly at first. My teeth sunk into my bottom lip, a
nervous habit as my fingers brushed against the rough stubble of his jaw. A
gasp escaped James’s lips as I encircled his neck, and he froze, not daring to
move a muscle. His eyes fluttered closed, eyelashes brushing against the
apples of his cheeks.
“What am I doing?” I hadn’t even realized I’d spoken the words until
James replied.
“Touching me.”
The silence stretched, a fragile thread connecting us.
As soon as I crushed my lips to his, the moment snapped, leaving a
frenzy in its place.
- “Catch the wind, Hallie.”
Then she shoved me. Straight into James’s arms.
“Woah, careful.” James’s arms tightened around me, and I couldn’t help
but remember how it felt to be held by him last night. “No need to throw
yourself overboard just so you can be in my arms again. All you had to do
was ask.”
smut (ish):
- The moment she pulled me in closer to her, the rest of my resolve snapped.
My thumbs found her cheekbones as our lips hungrily devoured each other.
- Her lips had been on mine. She had been mine, if
only for a few minutes.
- (the swimming in the ocean with the fireworks scene) Fuck it.
That was the motto of my night as I pulled her against me and kissed her.
Deeply. Fully. My control snapped the instant that her tongue pressed
against my lips, begging for entrance to my mouth. Tongues danced. Teeth
thrashed. Her hands slipped under the band of my underwear, fingers
digging into the top of my ass.
“Maybe you’re right,” I groaned as Hallie kissed the curve of my jaw.
“I’m always right,” she teased, her voice like honey in my ear. “What am
I right about now?”
“That I’m not Mr. Old Fashioned,” I murmured against her lips,
breathless. “Because there’s nothing old fashioned about what I want to do
to you right now.”
- “So will you sit down with me and have lunch now, Hal?” James asked,
that same amusement from before returning to his face. Then he leaned in
and whispered in my ear something that set my entire body on fire. “Or do I
need to clear the building so we can show each other how much we care
with actions rather than words?”
- (after the good news of the family restaurant save the day plan) When I heard her moan into my mouth, I nearly splintered into a
thousand pieces. There was no way I was going to walk away from her at
the end of our five dates. I’d already mentally shredded our agreement in
my head. Hallie Woods was going to be mine.
- 186 As we crested the second floor, I fisted my hand in her hair to gently pull
her head back from mine. Only to trail kisses from the soft skin below her
ear to her collarbone. If I wasn’t nervous I would drop her, I would have
sprinted the two of us up the remaining three floors.
Hallie’s teeth sank into my neck on the third floor, and I groaned, the
sound guttural and raw in the empty space. On the fourth, my hands gripped
the curve of her ass, holding her flush against me.
- “I’ve been imagining this since the night I pulled out your chair at the
dinner party,” I confessed, setting her down gently. “I’ve thought about the
taste of your skin. The sound of your breath. How you’d look falling apart
beneath me.”
- “The Hamptons was just the appetizer,” he said. “A taste of the main
course. I wanted to hear how my name sounded in that breathy moan of
yours. I want to hear it right now. I want to hear it while I’m inside of you.
But tonight I want something even more.”
- “I just want
to warn you it may take a while for me to come. It’s not you—I’m just
sensitive, and sometimes I get in my head and—”
“Hallie,” he cut me off. “Stop talking.”
He crawled up, kissed me deeply, then whispered, “I don’t care how long
it takes. In fact, I’m hoping it takes a while. This isn’t a chore for me, Hal.
This is dessert after the meal we just had, and I’m going to savor every last
bite.”
Could he be any more perfect?
“Now,” he said, kissing his way back down my body, “tell me what you
like.”
- “Oh, sweetheart,” James groaned. Gradually, his fingers began to move
in and out of me, starting off slowly before quickening their pace. “Did I
make you this wet?”
“Yes,” I sighed.
“Do you want more?”
“Yes.”
- Then his fingers were gone and his lips were next to my ear again. “Tell
me what you want, Hal.”
“More,” I whispered, barely able to breathe. “I want more.”
“Good girl.” He kissed me hard, full of promise, and returned to his
position between my legs.
- “I want you. I need you. You may have wanted last night to be
about me. But I want tonight to be about us.”
- I gave
myself over completely. I didn’t resist. I didn’t think. I just felt.
- ok so smut scene (not noteworthy for me) BUT THE BATH AFTER? that was noteworthy
November 4, 2025
If Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods had a Manhattan address and a byline in Sex and the City, she’d be Hallie Woods, our charming, determined, and slightly chaotic main character. This book is a love letter to early 2000s rom-coms, and I adored every reference and vibe it pulled from that golden era.
Think How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days meets Gossip Girl with a dash of Eat, Pray, Love (but make it about pizza). Hallie’s “fake dating for an article” arrangement with James aka “Mr. Old Fashioned”, had all the makings of a perfect modern rom-com: witty banter, forced proximity, emotional growth, and yes, predictable swoon-worthy moments (but isn’t that exactly what we sign up for?).
I loved how Waldorf weaved in high-society Manhattan glam (Sophisticate magazine! family pizzerias! social gossip!), but also grounded it with Hallie’s evolving relationship with herself and her career. It’s light, funny, and full of heart, the kind of book that makes you want to curl up with a glass of wine and a slice of pizza while rewatching your favorite Nora Ephron movie.
It gave me all the warm, fuzzy, feel-good rom-com feelings. Predictable? Sure, but joyfully so. This one’s a total delight and absolutely worth the read!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Looking for a Man I Finance by Sabrina Waldorf, in exchange for my honest review.
Think How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days meets Gossip Girl with a dash of Eat, Pray, Love (but make it about pizza). Hallie’s “fake dating for an article” arrangement with James aka “Mr. Old Fashioned”, had all the makings of a perfect modern rom-com: witty banter, forced proximity, emotional growth, and yes, predictable swoon-worthy moments (but isn’t that exactly what we sign up for?).
I loved how Waldorf weaved in high-society Manhattan glam (Sophisticate magazine! family pizzerias! social gossip!), but also grounded it with Hallie’s evolving relationship with herself and her career. It’s light, funny, and full of heart, the kind of book that makes you want to curl up with a glass of wine and a slice of pizza while rewatching your favorite Nora Ephron movie.
It gave me all the warm, fuzzy, feel-good rom-com feelings. Predictable? Sure, but joyfully so. This one’s a total delight and absolutely worth the read!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Looking for a Man I Finance by Sabrina Waldorf, in exchange for my honest review.
December 4, 2025
As always, bless the ARC gods—but sometimes that early access comes with editing-in-progress vibes, and this one definitely had a few rough, slightly confusing patches. Fingers crossed those get smoothed out before publication, because there’s a lot here to enjoy!
I genuinely adored the characters, even if the overall story felt a bit choppy and repetitive at times. The title’s play on the song (and our MMC) was adorable, and the vibe is very Sex and the City meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days—both of which get name-dropped, naturally. I know nothing about Wall Street, but I do know food, and the foodie angle of this plot was such a fun premise.
Hallie’s boss was a walking cringe compilation. A woman treating another woman like that… oof. But everyone else? Delightful. The Rossi family completely stole my heart. James’s reaction to the big conflict was a little childish, but otherwise he’s a truly magnificent book boyfriend—minus the pinky ring. (I cannot support that.)
Could the book have used one more spicy scene? IMO yes. Should Roxie and Sebastian get their own follow-up book I’ll be first in line to read it!
Thanks to NetGalley & Alcove Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I’m Looking for a Guy in Finance hits shelves in early February, just in time for a Valentines read!
I genuinely adored the characters, even if the overall story felt a bit choppy and repetitive at times. The title’s play on the song (and our MMC) was adorable, and the vibe is very Sex and the City meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days—both of which get name-dropped, naturally. I know nothing about Wall Street, but I do know food, and the foodie angle of this plot was such a fun premise.
Hallie’s boss was a walking cringe compilation. A woman treating another woman like that… oof. But everyone else? Delightful. The Rossi family completely stole my heart. James’s reaction to the big conflict was a little childish, but otherwise he’s a truly magnificent book boyfriend—minus the pinky ring. (I cannot support that.)
Could the book have used one more spicy scene? IMO yes. Should Roxie and Sebastian get their own follow-up book I’ll be first in line to read it!
Thanks to NetGalley & Alcove Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I’m Looking for a Guy in Finance hits shelves in early February, just in time for a Valentines read!
December 11, 2025
Yes the title is silly and trendy, but I had fun reading this one! It's pretty self aware of the mmc literally working in finance, 6 foot 5, and having blue eyes. It took me a little bit to get into the book but once I was in I really enjoyed it. This is more of a book that you go into expecting a bit of silliness and something you don't take too seriously.
There were moments that the characters were really good at communicating with each other (her clearly stating she needs to date a man in finance for a series of work articles) and moments that the characters were not very good at communicating with each other (the third act breakup). As a result, the characters felt a little inconsistent with their actions. Despite that I did like both the main characters.
I understand this is a debut for the author and based on this one I plan to read more from them in the future.
🤍 strangers to lovers
👥 close proximity
💵 millionaire (him)
🏙️ set in NYC
dual POV
4/5 stars ⭐️
2/5 spice level 🌶️
There were moments that the characters were really good at communicating with each other (her clearly stating she needs to date a man in finance for a series of work articles) and moments that the characters were not very good at communicating with each other (the third act breakup). As a result, the characters felt a little inconsistent with their actions. Despite that I did like both the main characters.
I understand this is a debut for the author and based on this one I plan to read more from them in the future.
🤍 strangers to lovers
👥 close proximity
💵 millionaire (him)
🏙️ set in NYC
dual POV
4/5 stars ⭐️
2/5 spice level 🌶️
December 17, 2025
dnf @/37%
fuck you goodreads for not allowing me to choose other version because apparently this isn’t published yet even though i had my copy checked out of a library you dumb pieces of shit! 🖕
how to lose a guy in ten days meets sex and the city meets tiktok sound
and multiple mentions of said media didn’t make it more digestible
the writing is fine, but didn’t like how exalted fmc was making out her writing to be, sorry but you do not change lives with your overheard in new york column
what ticked me off was when mmc said he didn’t do anything about his friend/coworker cheating because it was no his business until the friend/coworker wanted to cheat on his wife with fmc. it rubbed me the wrong way, and i don’t like my men complicit.
also when does one find work at a magazine that pays you a liveable wage for writing 200 words a week for writing down stuff you overhear. and what kind of job makes you write about one thing “dating finance bros” to prove your capable of writing the other thing “food critiques”. make it make sense!
fuck you goodreads for not allowing me to choose other version because apparently this isn’t published yet even though i had my copy checked out of a library you dumb pieces of shit! 🖕
how to lose a guy in ten days meets sex and the city meets tiktok sound
and multiple mentions of said media didn’t make it more digestible
the writing is fine, but didn’t like how exalted fmc was making out her writing to be, sorry but you do not change lives with your overheard in new york column
what ticked me off was when mmc said he didn’t do anything about his friend/coworker cheating because it was no his business until the friend/coworker wanted to cheat on his wife with fmc. it rubbed me the wrong way, and i don’t like my men complicit.
also when does one find work at a magazine that pays you a liveable wage for writing 200 words a week for writing down stuff you overhear. and what kind of job makes you write about one thing “dating finance bros” to prove your capable of writing the other thing “food critiques”. make it make sense!
November 19, 2025
4/4.5 stars!🥃
I had seen this book in the bookstore before but I didn't pick it up because I was worried it might be a little cringe, but when I ended up buying it weeks later I was far from disappointed!
This is one of my favourite romcom's I've read in a long time, I loved it! It perfectly combines How to lose a guy in 10 days (one of my fav romcoms) and Sex and the city (one of my fav tv shows).
All the characters were very likeable and I was rooting for Hallie and James so much. Also, Roxie seems like the most fun friend ever.
Anyway, I loved loved loved this one and I'd definitely recommend it :) ♡
I had seen this book in the bookstore before but I didn't pick it up because I was worried it might be a little cringe, but when I ended up buying it weeks later I was far from disappointed!
This is one of my favourite romcom's I've read in a long time, I loved it! It perfectly combines How to lose a guy in 10 days (one of my fav romcoms) and Sex and the city (one of my fav tv shows).
All the characters were very likeable and I was rooting for Hallie and James so much. Also, Roxie seems like the most fun friend ever.
Anyway, I loved loved loved this one and I'd definitely recommend it :) ♡
December 1, 2025
Exactly what I expected and happy about it
January 12, 2026
One star for literally the worst book I’ve ever read.
Tell me this is not ChatGPT
Tell me this is not ChatGPT
November 11, 2025
I have a coworker who is obsessed with tick-tock sound tracks. One day there was this tune blarring out of her headphones: "I'm looking for a man in Finance, trust fund, 6.5, blue eyes" repeating over and over again to a hyping dancing beat.
We laughed about how stupid and entertainig the music was. Few weeks later I encountered this rom-com. Apparently and author had the genius idea to make her MMC a brilliant man in Finance, 6.5 with a trust fund and blue eyes.
He's not shallow nor pretentious. In fact he's smart and so swoony. His heart have been broken when he dated a glod digger who stole his money so he became wary of female population in genreal.
When FMC intrigued him at first sight, he was crushed to know that she's a journalist writing a weekly piece about her trials dating "Finance Men".
FMC doesn't want that task but it's the only possiblity to prove her writing capabilities and to get prometed and finally write what she's really passioned about.
I guess the realness of the plot kept me going until I could no more.
1/MMC was perfect, too perfect as in nonexistent in real world and I like my rom-coms to be swoony in a way that can be replicated in real life. And I hate how authors write men to be in the sole service of FMC's ambitions and standards:
It feels like his job, his brain, his charm ect exist to the sole purpose of securing her heart.
And while he puts hell of an effort to make her fall for him, her pov is all about doubts and overthinking and what if it's too good to be true and we come from different worlds.
BITCH do you wanna a rich BF or not?
Why has he to work harder just to appease your insecutities about all the wealth going on for him?
At some point, she felt regret about writing those articles but she defended herself saying "well I'm entitled to a promotion in order to live in a bigger appartmen"
If we wanna take the route of "I'm talentend and i'm entitled to better and bigger things" then technically you can do whatever you can to snag a higher position including ditching any and all morals.
I hated how she despised capitalism and the wide tax brackets and the consitions of NY, at the same time she wanted to climb the ladder and be able to enjoy the bling bling of the same people she despised.
We laughed about how stupid and entertainig the music was. Few weeks later I encountered this rom-com. Apparently and author had the genius idea to make her MMC a brilliant man in Finance, 6.5 with a trust fund and blue eyes.
He's not shallow nor pretentious. In fact he's smart and so swoony. His heart have been broken when he dated a glod digger who stole his money so he became wary of female population in genreal.
When FMC intrigued him at first sight, he was crushed to know that she's a journalist writing a weekly piece about her trials dating "Finance Men".
FMC doesn't want that task but it's the only possiblity to prove her writing capabilities and to get prometed and finally write what she's really passioned about.
I guess the realness of the plot kept me going until I could no more.
1/MMC was perfect, too perfect as in nonexistent in real world and I like my rom-coms to be swoony in a way that can be replicated in real life. And I hate how authors write men to be in the sole service of FMC's ambitions and standards:
It feels like his job, his brain, his charm ect exist to the sole purpose of securing her heart.
And while he puts hell of an effort to make her fall for him, her pov is all about doubts and overthinking and what if it's too good to be true and we come from different worlds.
BITCH do you wanna a rich BF or not?
Why has he to work harder just to appease your insecutities about all the wealth going on for him?
At some point, she felt regret about writing those articles but she defended herself saying "well I'm entitled to a promotion in order to live in a bigger appartmen"
If we wanna take the route of "I'm talentend and i'm entitled to better and bigger things" then technically you can do whatever you can to snag a higher position including ditching any and all morals.
I hated how she despised capitalism and the wide tax brackets and the consitions of NY, at the same time she wanted to climb the ladder and be able to enjoy the bling bling of the same people she despised.
January 26, 2026
This book is a fun, trope filled rom-com that fully embraces its premise, and honestly, that’s part of the charm.
Hallie Woods is a writer at a New York women’s magazine who dreams of becoming a food critic. When one of her pieces about “finance bros” goes viral, she’s given a new assignment: date men in finance and write about it. Enter James Rossi, tall, successful, and seemingly the embodiment of everything Hallie hates. What starts as weekly run-ins and mutual irritation slowly turns into something deeper.
I picked this up because of the title and ended up enjoying the ride. This is a light, easy read that knows exactly what it wants to be. If you’re in the mood for a contemporary romance with workplace tension, dating experiment chaos, and a finance bro who’s more than he appears, this delivers.
Thank you Sabrina Waldorf, Alcove Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Hallie Woods is a writer at a New York women’s magazine who dreams of becoming a food critic. When one of her pieces about “finance bros” goes viral, she’s given a new assignment: date men in finance and write about it. Enter James Rossi, tall, successful, and seemingly the embodiment of everything Hallie hates. What starts as weekly run-ins and mutual irritation slowly turns into something deeper.
I picked this up because of the title and ended up enjoying the ride. This is a light, easy read that knows exactly what it wants to be. If you’re in the mood for a contemporary romance with workplace tension, dating experiment chaos, and a finance bro who’s more than he appears, this delivers.
Thank you Sabrina Waldorf, Alcove Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 20, 2025
Well this cover was just too good to pass up! At a second glance I noticed the title and I knew I had to bring this book home. A very cute romcom that in reviews has been compared to 'how to lose a guy in ten days'. I had fun reading the book, but it was not the big hit I was hoping for.
The story was cute, but highly unbelievable. It might be me, but I'm not the biggest fan dual POV romance stories. I do like men written by women, but I don't like it when they sound and act like women. In this one the tone and writing were so similar that sometimes I had no idea whose chapter I was reading. Another aspect that lacked for me was the tension and chemistry. The main character Hallie is completely overwhelmed by the nickname James comes up with, which is Hal... The most underwhelming nickname in the history of nicknames. The arguments were forced and felt 'put in', to tick the enemies to lovers trope even though there was no time in the book where the two main characters were actual enemies. Last thing I missed was that the finance guy aspect played no role at all. James seemed to be available all hours of the day, was a family man, and only about three times there is actual mention of the stock market.
Still a fun debut novel!
The story was cute, but highly unbelievable. It might be me, but I'm not the biggest fan dual POV romance stories. I do like men written by women, but I don't like it when they sound and act like women. In this one the tone and writing were so similar that sometimes I had no idea whose chapter I was reading. Another aspect that lacked for me was the tension and chemistry. The main character Hallie is completely overwhelmed by the nickname James comes up with, which is Hal... The most underwhelming nickname in the history of nicknames. The arguments were forced and felt 'put in', to tick the enemies to lovers trope even though there was no time in the book where the two main characters were actual enemies. Last thing I missed was that the finance guy aspect played no role at all. James seemed to be available all hours of the day, was a family man, and only about three times there is actual mention of the stock market.
Still a fun debut novel!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 306 reviews