Named a Best Book of Summer by Glamour, BuzzFeed, Cosmopolitan, and many more! From the author of Playing with Matches, the rollicking tale of a young jewelry shop owner who accidentally leads her Instagram followers to believe that she’s engaged–and then decides to keep up the ruse. Eliza Roth and her sister Sophie co-own a jewelry shop in Brooklyn. One night, after learning of an ex’s … shop in Brooklyn. One night, after learning of an ex’s engagement, Eliza accidentally posts a photo of herself wearing a diamond ring on that finger to her Instagram account beloved by 100,000 followers. Sales skyrocket, press rolls in, and Eliza learns that her personal life is good for business. So she has a choice: continue the ruse or clear up the misunderstanding. With mounting financial pressure, Eliza sets off to find a fake fiancé.
Fellow entrepreneur Blake seems like the perfect match on paper. And in real life he shows promise, too. He would be perfect, if only Eliza didn’t feel also drawn to someone else. But Blake doesn’t know Eliza is “engaged”; Sophie asks Eliza for an impossible sum of money; and Eliza’s lies start to spiral out of control. She can either stay engaged online or fall in love in real life.
Written with singular charm and style, Love at First Like is for anyone growing up and settling down in the digital age.
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I read this book in only two days, and when I wasn’t reading it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Hannah Orenstein’s writing is witty, charming, and so easy to get lost in. Her characters end up feeling like your best friends by the end of the book, and you might just fall in love with one—or two—of the leading men. The story follows Instagram influencer and jewelry store owner Eliza, who accidentally posts a picture of herself wearing an engagement ring, thus leading her followers to believe she’s found her happily ever after. What follows is a huge spike in sales and attention to her store, which prompts Eliza to commit to her mistake—even if it means planning a wedding for a groom she doesn’t have yet. As she searches for a man to fit into her Instagram life, she has to figure out how far she’s willing to go, and what she’s willing to give up, in order to have the success she’s always wanted. This book had so much “fun stress” in it; as Eliza’s lies spun out of control, I was practically biting my nails, anxious to see how—or if—she’d pull herself out of the mess she’d created. By the end of the book, I was wholly satisfied and could finally come up for air (even as I hated saying goodbye to this story and characters).
/ 5
I absolutely adored Love at First Like by Hannah Orenstein and I’m seriously needing this as a movie now!
What it’s about: Eliza co-owns a jewelry store with her sister Sophie in Brooklyn named Brooklyn Jewels. One night, full of emotions and too much alcohol, she ends up accidentally posting a picture of herself with an engagement ring onto their Instagram page, which just so happens to have thousands of followers. As the likes, new followers, and sales roll in she needs to decide if she is going to acknowledge the mistake or use it to her advantage – I think you can guess which option she chooses. On her hunt to find a fake fiancé she steps on a lot of toes but may just find real love in the process.
While I didn’t agree with a lot of choices Eliza makes, I still really loved this book. It made me laugh, cry, and exclaim out loud more times than I can count on two hands. This was my first time reading a romcom in book form, and what a wonderful experience it was. This was also my first time reading a book by Orenstein and I absolutely loved her writing, plus I can definitely see this being turned into a movie. It was cute, but it also has a lot of substance which I really appreciated. A lot of people probably won’t be a huge fan of Eliza, but I still found myself rooting for her in the end (along with feeling sorry for those she had hurt).
The chapters are super short, and I was able to fly through Love at First Like in one sitting. I wanted to find out what would happen, but at the same time never wanted the story to end. This is something I consider a necessity in a romcom whether it be in movie or book format, so I think Orenstein killed it.
Love at First Like is such a perfect book for this digital age, and the social media aspect was on the money. It was also what I would consider a perfect pool read!
Song/s the book brought to mind: A mix of 2 Souls on Fire by Bebe Rexha featuring Quavo and All That Glitters by Earl (amazing song and artist).
Final Thought: If you are looking for a read that is warm and fuzzy while also being deliciously scandalous then Love at First Like is the book for you! The book was sexy without being too cheesy or crude and it was just so much fun to read. I can’t wait to read Playing with Matches to see how it compares, and I will for sure be watching for all books forthcoming from Orenstein!
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
I liked this book although there were times were the plot was a little slow and I was confused as to who she actually liked . I don’t always feel like her choices were the best . Overall it was a good read .
Love at First Like by Hannah Orenstein a crazy likeable five-star read. This was exactly what I needed, I was light and funny and just made my face ache from smiling so much. Its my first read by this author, but it wont be the last as I adore the writing style it was light and funny, but not all glossy, there was a nice underlying realness to the story. I mean Eliza should definitely be locked up by the men in white coats, but at some point in all of our lives I’m sure that could be said as we all have the capability to do something stupid, admittedly most of us would about turn and make it right, but not all of us, some of us do an Eliza and just keep making more mistakes and going deeper and deeper, it does have a tendency to make life more interesting at least. But if you take this as a dramatic story that will entertain you, make you a little crazy and make you ponder social medias power, then you will enjoy it. If you go into this expecting light, classy and no crazy then you will be disappointed. I personally loved it, but I love me some crazy.
When I saw the cover and blurb for Love at First Like I immediately snapped it up because it sounded cute and I was hoping for a rom-com-like, full of shenanigans and bloopers kind of story. It seemed to start off that way but wound up being something different.
In this age of everyone living their best life on social media with the aim of selling a perfect image, I totally get why Eliza would be tempted to take advantage of everyone’s misunderstanding of her unintended post on Instagram. It looked like she was publicly declaring her engagement and it’s big news when the co-owner of one of the city’s finest jewelers is getting married and showing off a larger-than-life sparkling ring. At first, Eliza is mortified by her blunder but then her practical side kicks in. She sees the advantage in letting people draw that conclusion because it’s good for business. That one post alone has already brought in major sales, and for a small business that’s amazing. She feels the pressure for their success and wants to guarantee a steady income to ensure everyone’s livelihood, including that of her business partner/sister, Sophie. So if people believe she’s engaged, she’ll go ahead and make that happen, and there begins my uneasiness with the plot.
Eliza stops at no end to find a suitor or to secure more tie-ins to her “wedding”. She doesn’t even officially have a fake fiancé yet but she’s already accepting free bridal wear or a reception venue in exchange for free promotion. The confounding part is that no one in her close circle of friends or even her sister tells Eliza that what she’d doing is dishonest. Sophie, who initially had misgivings about Eliza’s plan, adds more pressure on her because she and her partner desperately need money for IVF treatments. Eliza can’t say no or better yet, put it to Sophie straight about their company’s finances. Instead, she continues to string along Blake, the prospective groom, all the while convincing herself that they’ll fall in love for real after he pops the question and they get married. As she’s maneuvering for that, she’s falling for another guy, Raj who knows what she’s up to but doesn’t have a problem with it. He seems to think it’s amusing.
I just couldn’t. I was waiting for that defining moment when Eliza would come clean and then work backward to fix everything, as painful as that would be. I also wanted to see Eliza have an honest talk with her sister about the state of things and how they’re taking a toll on her. I know it’s a tall order but it felt like everyone purposely glossed over reality and it got out of control. I can place the exact moment when Eliza and the story lost me: after she had told Blake the truth and they broke off their engagement, she asks to meet him with the idea to convince him to marry her regardless because of the cross-promotional commitments she’d made. She even had the gall to say to him that since she’d apologized to him already, and that if he indeed had loved her, he’d forgive her and help her. Wait. What? His feelings were beside the point here, apparently. She continued to manipulate him and everyone around her to continue the lie on her behalf.
Had Eliza’s character arc shifted toward growth and more importantly, remorse, I think I would’ve felt differently. However, the manipulation, lies and exploitation were too much for me to digest. The only character to show their moral compass was Blake who refused to participate in the charade once he was made aware of it. I so wanted to enjoy this book but instead found the direction of the story and its ending unsettling.
~ Bel
Eliza Roth happens upon a photo of her ex getting engaged. Shock and alcohol are never a good mix when she accidentally post a picture of her wearing a diamond ring. Where she post it to her business Instagram page announcing she’s happily engaged. Soon the sales skyrocket. Greed becomes her when instead of clearing up the misunderstanding she decides to go forth with the ruse. What happens when you lie it soon turns into more and bigger lies to cover the previous lies. After business reach out to her offering free dresses, wedding venue, and more she’s all set now she just needs a groom.
I seen the reviews for this book is it wasn’t all that great, but I liked this book. A lot of people said they couldn’t stand this book because the main character lies and she’s selfish. It’s fiction and book for a reason. It’s a made up story but yet people love books where people kill other people.
I picked up Love at First Like on a whim, but quickly found myself halfway through the book. I love light fun romcoms, and this one is perfect. The author is new to me, and I like her approach to this story. Granted, a certain suspension of disbelief is required, but it’s worth it because the story is engaging(see what I did there?). Eliza is co-owner of a jewelry store in Brooklyn. Too much alcohol and too many happy photos of exes on Instagram equals one fake engagement photo with a fabulous ring from her store. Suddenly, Eliza is instafamous, and, obviously, she wants to maintain this status. She concots a story complete with fake fiance to maintain her ruse. It turns out to be great for business, too. I enjoyed this look at the importance of social media for personal and business reasons. It’s astounding really! Eliza is a ridiculous but fun character who makes some bad decisions, but I liked her anyway. She is an example of the insta dream come true for a generation of millennial women. What happens if the truth surfaces? It’s a fun fast entertaining read, and I enjoyed it! Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Great book for lovers of social media! It is an interesting take on how you can promote yourself and your business and get caught up in a messy situation to boot-especially when it seems like there is no solution!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The title, Love at First Like, sounds like a romantic comedy, but it was not particularly funny or romantic. This women’s literature novel heavily focuses on Eliza’s personal development and business. There is more discussion/description of her business, use of social media as a marketing tool, and the wedding industry than there is of romantic relationships. I appreciated the main character’s growth and realization that she probably avoided romantic heartache by hiding behind her business. Love at First Like does throws a glaring spotlight on celebrity freebies in exchange for promotion.
Eliza is impetuous, and often her desperation and focus on social media makes her seem like a teenager. Her sister Sophie is the artiste, but she seems much more grounded than her business-partner sister.
The male characters are rather flat, which makes it hard to get behind either of Eliza’s prospects. One is a gorgeous, successful guy in the same industry who seems fairly shallow, and the other is a self-described tech geek turned bartender with a heart of gold. Their one-dimensional development does highlight Eliza’s desperation to find a fake groom to avoid fallout from her Instagram shenanigans.
Author Hannah Orenstein’s writing is crisp, and her plot is straightforward. The story layout helps to increase the tension as Eliza’s fibs spin out of control the closer she gets to her looming deadlines. Although it is transparent from the start who Eliza will eventually end up with, the journey is fun and the ending is not a typical romance novel HEA.