In Love with Lewis Prescott (I Heart SF, 2) Mass Market Paperback – February 21, 2023

I loved this badass-woman-meets-undercover-movie-star and they renovate a house together romance!IN LOVE WITH LEWIS PRESCOTT is a steamy, forced proximity, there was only one HOUSE, story that I devoured! This book is swoony, sweet, and steamy! This series is knocking it outta the park for me.I took a star off my rating because these characters have zero flaws. Zero. The 3rd act break-up isn't even based on a minor flaw or even a miscommunication with these two.I'm a reader who always wants some complexity with the main characters where we see their personal struggles and flaws manifesting in their relationship. There was just none of that in IN LOVE WITH LEWIS PRESCOTT.But, flawless main characters DOES give you a feel-good romance with a couple you love to root for! Even though IN LOVE WITH LEWIS PRESCOTT touched briefly on some heavier topics, it wasn't too heavy.Definitely loved this book!STEAM: 1-4 descriptive steamy scenes, may have harsh language.TRIGGERS: racism (challenged and unchallenged), past workplace sexual harassment (not specific)

Celebrity romances are my new jam, so I was pretty excited to get a copy of ‘In Love with Lewis Prescott. One of my favorite books from last year was Nora Goes Off Script and this gave me similar vibes - normal girl meets an A-list actor who needs to get away from the pressure of celebrity and the paparazzi and lets him move into her home. In this case he’s slightly disgraced and needs to hide away to let the hubbub die down. She agrees on the condition he helps her renovate her grandparents’ home for free. Of course, they’re insanely attracted to each other and easily fall into a passionate affair. But when they’re found out by the paparazzi and things get tough, he freaks out and leaves her, says they’re just from two different worlds and it will never work out. Or can it?As much as I wanted to love this - the heroine is a burnt-out architect just like me - I had a hard time connecting with her character. And the chemistry between the pair was too easy and didn’t have much emotional depth, despite their individual backstories. I’m also never a big fan of the third-act breakup and conveniently over-the-top reconciliation. Overall this was a quick and easy read, but it lacked the nuance and emotional depth to be anything other than a touch juvenile (and vaguely wish-fulfillment).

Architect Harper is fed up with people not taking her seriously. Especially the contractor working on the renovation at her grandparents’ old house. He doesn’t believe her when she tells him he’s messed up the work, so now she has found herself without a contractor and not enough time or money to get the job fixed. Cue Lewis, showing up unexpectedly in her life. The TV star is in hiding after being fired from his show and causing a scene in Hollywood. He needs a place to hide out, and it just so happens he has experience working in construction. The arrangement is supposed to be mutually beneficial…he gets a place to stay and hide out, in exchange for doing the work on the house. What could go wrong?I found myself really rooting for Lewis and Harper at first. They seemed to be exactly what the other needed at the time. But Lewis’s overprotection of his privacy, and the lengths he felt necessary to hide…but then also pose nude for photos? It just seemed like a contradiction, and didn’t make much sense since then it wasn’t really brought up again. The spice was pretty good, especially the urgency between the two of them. It made their chemistry seem really believable. Once I got about two-thirds through and more of the negativity came into play, I just felt like it didn’t hit right with me. Some side plots could’ve been really good if expanded on further.Overall, I give this one 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Carina Press.

Harper quits her job to take some time off and renovate her grandparents’ house. Lewis needs to hide away from the paparazzi after getting fired from his TV show, so he offers to help Harper with the renovations after her original contractor screws things up.Their relationship grows to more than friendship as they live and work together for several months. But can they develop a solid relationship when he plans to move back to LA and be back in the public eye?Great book! The main characters were fun, and the secondary characters added great things to story. And… it was way steamier than I anticipated 😂

Thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.I didn't know this was the second in a series and I didn't read the first, but you can absolutely read this as a stand alone and not be lost. Really funny, per usual by Sarah Smith, and a quick read. Only reason for giving this 4 stars instead of 5 is because it's basically "Notting Hill" in book form so you know exactly what's going to happen, chapter by chapter, if you've seen the movie. No surprises here. but still entirely enjoyable.

This is my second book by Smith but my first "romance" by her. The first book I had read was "What We Remember" which fell in the classification of women's fiction. "In Love with Lewis Prescott" shows just how much talent Smith has. She has a very versatile way of writing!I enjoyed that this book was light hearted and quite steamy. However, what didn't work for me as a reader was the chemistry between Lewis and Harper. It seemed really forced so by the time the steam came along, I didn't really feel into it as a reader should. Those parts left me feeling- "meh".Overall, a cute romance that has steam. Perfect for fans that like the tropes: insta-love, romance, banter, realistic characters, celebrity love