As Seen on TV

• Author: Meredith Schorr
• Genre: Romance
• Publication Date: June 7, 2022
• Publisher: Forever

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: alcoholism, verbal abuse

Everyone loves a small-town romance… but what happens when one woman makes it her reality?

Emerging journalist Adina Gellar is done with dating in New York City. If she’s learned anything from made-for-TV romance movies, it’s that she’ll find love in a small town—the kind with harvest festivals, delightful but quirky characters, and scores of delectable single dudes. So when a big-city real estate magnate targets tiny Pleasant Hollow for development, Adi knows she’s found the perfect story—one that will earn her a position at a coveted online magazine, so she can finally start adulting for read…and maybe even find her dream man in the process.

Only Pleasant Hollow isn’t exactly “pleasant.” There’s no charming bakery, no quaint seasonal festivals, and the residents are more ambivalent than welcoming. The only upside is Finn Adams, who’s more mouthwatering than the homemade cherry pie Adi can’t seem to find—even if he does work for the company she’d hoped to bring down. Suddenly Adi has to wonder if maybe TV got it all wrong after all. But will following her heart mean losing her chance to break into the big time?

I was so excited to read this book, especially considering that it features a Jewish MC, written by a Jewish author, during Jewish-American Heritage Month. And while I have never in my life watched a Hallmark movie, I fell in love with this story.

It started off kind of slowly, with plenty of references to Hallmark and other made-for-TV romance movies, as well as Gilmore Girls (which I have seen and enjoyed thoroughly). Like Adi, I’ve never spent much time in a small town, and must admit that I have also drawn similar conclusions about these locales being idyllic paradises. 

However, when she arrives at the town, it’s anything but what she expected. The people aren’t warm and welcoming, the town isn’t a cohesive and cooperative place, and the real estate development isn’t the big villain that she expected. Adi is simultaneously jaded about dating prospects in NYC, and wearing rose-colored glasses about what she’ll find in Pleasant Hollow. 

She didn’t come across as a very good journalist, often making disastrous first impressions and not doing her proposed job very well. But she wound up being more of a Carrie Bradshaw than anything else, and I was HERE FOR IT. The story is fairly slow-paced, but it was still a really quick read, and who wouldn’t fall in love with Finn, the LI? I know I did. It also captured that period in life where you haven’t achieved goals, and are still figuring out the whole adulting process, as well as learning more about yourself.

The Jewish representation wasn’t heavy in this story, but it was there and I greatly appreciated that. In addition, there’s other types of representation as well—Adi’s best friend is Asian-American, and her aunt is a lesbian, although the aunt doesn’t play into the story heavily.

“Mom and I weren’t observant enough to go to temple, but we did honor all the major holidays, the Jewish New Year being one of them. We always invited friends, including Kate, over for a celebratory dinner.”

This was a fun and fast read, and once I really got into the flow, I couldn’t stop reading. It was a cute, fluffy story with some laugh out loud moments, and it was the perfect thing to sandwich in between heavier reads. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of Schorr’s books.