Text Appeal by Kylie Scott

Narrated by Andi Arndt

Standalone Contemporary Romance, Available in Audio First in Audible Plus. Kindle and Paperback 10/22/24

I’ve always loved Kylie’s books, and I love books where the romance unfolds through text, email, or letters—it adds such a unique, intimate layer to the story. So, when I came across Text Appeal by Kyle Scott, I knew I had to dive in. And the fact that it was released in audio first? That was the cherry on top, usually indicating a production that would be something truly special.

Riley is a romance author who always wanted to live by the ocean. After doing some research, she found the little seaside town of Port Stewart and moved there hoping it would be the perfect place to craft her new novel. Wanting a new start, she got a new phone and number when she got there. She quickly learned that her new number used to belong to a dude named Connor, and he hadn’t informed everyone of his number change yet.

One call was from Connor’s ex, Ava, who was coming back to town for a reunion and wanted to get back together. When Riley answered the phone, however, Ava quickly jumped to the conclusion that Riley was Connor’s new girlfriend and refused to believe otherwise. Ava and Connor were childhood sweethearts and the entire town (I literally mean the ENTIRE town) was rooting for them to get back together.

Within minutes, the whole town also thought Connor and Riley were together, even taking bets on who would win him in the end; but they hadn’t even met yet! Once they meet, they decide to fake date so everyone would stop pushing Ava and Connor together. I have no idea what was in it for her.

Likes:

Cute, quick, and free in Audible Plus.
The heroine was a romance author.
Cute interaction with the townspeople.
The heroine was fun and sassy.
He took care of her even when she didn’t know it was him.
Grandma’s edibles.

Dislikes:

The whole town rooting for another woman.
They were prom king and queen 15 years ago and the town is still obsessed with them?
Conner was a doormat people pleaser.
It needed male POV chapters.
Not enough texting (like the title indicates).

The Narration:

Andi Arndt was great but it really suffered from not having a male narrator. It was funny when she mentioned herself!

The Down & Dirty:

Text Appeal wasn’t up to Kylie Scott standards for me. I have really enjoyed her other books, but this was just meh for me. It was cute, I never wanted to put it down, but it just didn’t do anything for me either. I never became immersed in the story or characters. I also thought this would be an epistolary novel, told mainly through text based on the title, and it wasn’t at all. text Appeal was cute, light and quick, but not one I’d read again or recommend.