Mary Ann Marlowe

If it was not for the challenge that Elizabeth and Chelsea had, they would have never met Evan and Basil. They had a list of items kind of like a bucket list that they challenged each other to do. One of the items was to have a conversation with a stranger. Thus, where Evan and Basil come in as they strike up a conversation with Elizabeth and Chelsea.

Basil feels drawn to Chelsea fairly quickly. He wants to get to know her better and spend time with her. I thought the interactions between show more these two were cute. It felt like when they did hook up it was a fast burn and then things would cool back down. This is mainly due to Chelsea and her past. She is trying to work through it, but it is causing a strain on their relationship or the lack of a relationship.

I felt bad for Basil as he was trying and was very patient towards Chelsea. She is so lucky to have a guy like Basil in her life. I understood where Chelsea was coming from and her actions, but it did get kind of annoying how much she kept pushing Basil away.

The addition of Elizabeth and Evan was a nice one. They had a more upbeat relationship and Elizabeth helped bring humor to the story. show less

This story offers a fun and heartfelt romantic comedy. Chelsea, wary of love, unexpectedly connects with Basil, a charming Greek chef, after baring her soul to him during a friend's challenge. Their chemistry sizzles, blending humor with moments of deep vulnerability as Chelsea confronts her past trauma. The story shines in its portrayal of friendship and the dual love stories of Chelsea and her best friend, Elizabeth. However, the pacing sometimes feels slow, and the characters can come show more across as one-dimensional. Despite this, it's a delightful read, perfect for romance fans with a dash of Greek flavor and a lot of heart. show less

I can’t express how excited I was when I first got to know about this book, and that joy doubled when I was approved for this ARC. I don’t know if it was my high expectations or the book itself, but I’m not quite happy with the experience.

Maddie is still struggling to deal with the grief over her ex-fiancé ditching her at the altar six months ago, while also figuring out how to manage her not so well running bookstore in her small town. I liked that she passionately loves her books show more and the store, and also wants to find her very own romance hero. But I just didn’t like her as a person. She is so flighty and indecisive and occasionally selfish, and just can’t make up her mind about anything. I’m all for introspection in a character when they are at a critical juncture in their life, but Maddie is not introspecting anything. She just doesn’t want to critically examine anything in her life, always living in her imagination and hoping for someone to come and sweep her away without putting any actual effort.

The side characters were all pretty interesting. Dylan was the typical flirty rockstar but he wasn’t obnoxious and could be very charming. Max came across as very critical of Maddie initially but as the book goes on, we realize he really cares about her and just can’t stop himself from giving unnecessary(sometimes even necessary) advice. Charlie is a literature professor and his conversations with Maddie tended to be more fun and bookish than flirty. While I hated how the initial contact with Silver Fox happened, I definitely enjoyed her emails and messages with him. That was the only place I thought Maddie tried to be honest. Peter, the ex-fiancé is a manipulative jerk and I absolutely hated that she even contemplated going back to him even though his true colors were right there to see.

The writing was actually pretty easy and amusing to read. The plot itself with the anonymous online friend trope and a whole gang of interested suitors was quite promising, but I think it faltered somewhere in the execution. Except for the emails, I don’t think I felt connected with any of the possible couples, so I wasn’t even rooting for anyone. One thing I liked was that I couldn’t guess the real identity of Silver Fox until it was very obvious, and it was impressive of the author to be able to maintain the mystery. I also thoroughly enjoyed the book club discussions because everyone seemed to bring a different perspective to the well known stories, though I was slightly miffed that Maddie seemed to think only classics were the right books for her book club. I also didn’t like the first time she emailed Silver Fox just because he gave a 3 star review. Even though I understand that he could have worded his review better, I hate the idea of an author finding out the email of a reviewer and then messaging them in a drunken rage. It just put me off immediately and that might have totally changed my perception about Maddie as a character and overall, the book itself. We’ve seen enough of this passive aggressive stuff in real life, and I don’t think romanticizing this behavior in a book is the right way to go.

On a final note, I think this book had a lot of potential but it just didn’t work for me. There is an interesting group of characters, some wonderful conversations about books and the lovely setting of a small town bookstore, but ultimately I just couldn’t like the main character and didn’t feel invested in any of the relationships. It was still a mostly entertaining read, which I was able to breeze through quickly and enjoyed some laughs along the way. I guess I was just hoping for something more. It’s not really a bad book per se, so I would definitely recommend that you pick it up if the premise interests you. It might however be better to temper your expectations a bit. show less

Holding Out for a Gyro by Mary Ann Marlowe
Contemporary romance. Alternating 1st person POV’s.
Chelsea Abbott and her best friend have a list of goals. Some of it is easy, some is stuff that scares you. Each crossed out line item gets points for vacations and traveling which Chelsea loves to do. Visit a museum, take a class, double date, forgive someone, have an authentic and open conversation with a stranger. Out for a drink, the two women approach a couple of men at the bar where Chelsea show more is going to be totally honest even if it terrifies here. She surprised when they hit it off and she ends up going home with him. But Chelsea is a one-time and done woman. No ties. No commitments. Even if it was the best night of her life, she’ll walk away.
Basil Stavros feels that he and Chelsea really connect and he sees a long term relationship between them. They live close to each other and between her coffee shop and picking up meals everyday where he works, they been crossing paths for months. He’s ready for more.

Chelsea has family issues and while she’s working on them with her therapist, it’s slow going. Bas wins her over with his food, his family, his enthusiasm and his heart. But she’s lived with her heart behind walls since she was young.
There is a lot of heat as they date and there is also a lot of angst as she struggles with her growing feelings, knowing she can’t trust him to stay. So very slow relationship building.

Confirmed romance guaranteed ending but you’ll have to wait until the very end. It is awesome when she figures out that love opens a lot of doors.

There are occasional humorous moments but I would not call it a comedy or romcom.
The below line though, had me chuckling and immediately marking it for sharing. He’s a chef.
“From 2pm to 3pm, I cut the faces off crabs and drenched them through cornmeal, contemplating the horrors that awaited me in hell if these guys were there, too.”

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. show less