Thanks to Netgalley, I was able to get an early review copy of Meredith Schorr’s newest romcom book, As Seen on TV. What initially attracted me to this idea was that it was set in a small-town, where main character Adina Gellar visits under the assumption that all small towns are like those on Hallmark. I liked the idea of a journalist going to this small town to write an article on small towns, but unfortunately this book was far from what I expected. I’ll include both the good and bad parts of this book, and keep in mind what didn’t work for me could work for you.
The first chapter or two I had no issues with Adina at all, and the chapters seemed interesting enough to want to read. Unfortunately the chapters quickly started to seem long, even though in reality they were quite short. Adina began to annoy me immensely by chapter four, and that only increased over the rest of the book.
Adina’s disappointment over Pleasant Hollow not being like a Hallmark town was somewhat understandable, unfortunately it was turned up to an obnoxious level. She expected the inn owner to hug her, give her cookies and ask her life story; she makes far too many assumptions and gets almost bitter when they don’t happen, such as the people in the restaurant not welcoming her and offering her free pie, and when an old couple ‘glares’ at her, I had to wonder if they really glared or she was just mad they didn’t behave the way she sees in Hallmark.
Adina says things that she thinks everyone will see as an “unintended sexual innuendo,” and assumes men are flirting with her. She is a really poor example of a journalist–she doesn’t do research on the interviewees beforehand, then gets disappointed when it doesn’t pan out; she also tried numerous times to mold the town and townspeople into the ideal Hallmark town simply to be able to write the article she had intended.
Adina is also incredibly obsessed with sex–if she isn’t talking about men’s muscles and lower extremities, she is having sex, thinking of sex, or sending inappropriate emojis to her friend about the men in town. She sees a guy at a bar and starts to think about having sex with him, and even during interviews she is sitting on her hands to prevent herself from grabbing him. She is thinking about sex throughout the entire interview and every time she sees an available man.
She thinks, “one could say he was flirting,” but he really wasn’t at all. She randomly tugs at his jacket, touches his chest, and actually forgot that consent goes both ways. Even after all this, she is still literally fanning herself with her shirt, thinking about having sex with an entirely different person. Once she realizes he’s the male version of her, she loses interest and rudely walks off.
Right off the bat she is already thinking, if not expecting, a movie to be based off her article. She spends more of her time shopping, complaining, and thinking about/having sex, than doing her actual job. She even tried to dig up dirt on the guy she was sleeping with just because she was mad at him and mad that the guy he worked for wasn’t the typical bad Hallmark guy. She seems to put her credibility as a writer on hold to be concerned about when she’ll next have sex–her career is in flames and she has no relationships outside of her mother and best friend, and she might be homeless in a few months, but all she cares about is sex.
Knowing she has an “approaching negative bank balance”, no legitimate career to speak of, and might be losing her home, she still is spending seventy dollars on a nice dinner, twenty on a travel mug, a manicure with a “generous tip she can’t afford”, and a book she didn’t want to read. That’s at least $150 in like two days not counting the extra week stay at the inn that she booked just to be near the guy slept with so she can write an article to paint him as a bad guy.
Adina says some strange things, such as “guinea pigs have nothing on me”, and “like lovers reuniting,” both in reference to seeing her best friend for the first time in a week. She also refers to her news story as an orgasm. She swipes on guys in her dating apps purely to keep it open, yet another expense she doesn’t has, and she invites the male lead to her family’s holiday dinner, purely to force him into talking about his past. She randomly walks up to people prying into their lives, asking about sex, asking about single members of town, and snapping at them when they refuse to continue trying to force everyone in the town to change into a Hallmark-type community.
All in all I’m not really sure how she’s considered “irresistibly likeable,” and I feel like her character lacked good qualities. She was overall selfish, not very intelligent, and annoying. That said, I have seen reviews where people did like her, so I guess it depends on how you read it, what you expect going in, and how much you’re willing to let go for the sake of creativity.
Backtracking a little now to discuss the other main character of this book, and it’s saving grace, Finn Adams. Finn was immediately likeable and friendly, despite the obviousness that he would end up being (or working for) the ‘bad guy’ developer (spoiler, he’s the production manager). Finn has the best character in the book, despite some things said and done throughout; by chapter twenty, he was the only reason I kept reading, and I truly only finished the book to find out more about his character and figure out if he had the happy ending. Finn set up a sweet outdoor-movie date, supportive of Adina’s career, and overall seemed to be sweet and relaxed. Finn opened up slowly and randomly, but when he did open up it gave his character more emotion and brought me as a reader more interest and investment.
I did feel like it was predictable of him to have bailed on their date, and I thought it was gross that he let his drunk father pull Adina’s hair and call her a slut. This was one of maybe three total instances in which I didn’t agree with Finn’s character or find him likeable, so all in all I really did enjoy his character through most of the story.
I thought it was sweet of Finn and Adina to see each other the next morning to ensure the other was okay. Finn was incredibly sleep deprived and wanted cuddles, something that given what was explained the previous few chapters, seemed understandable and and sweet. I don’t condone his behavior from the night before whatsoever, and I appreciated that Adina took the time to stand up for herself. That said, Adina wasn’t in the right either, and I think both of them could have handled this situation way better, both the night before and that morning.
I think it was a very typical Hallmark-y sort of response to conflict, with Adina writing her article about Finn (and I can name several movies where this actually did happen), asking for a second chance. That said, I found the article cute, Finn’s grand gesture cute, and their entire make-up cute. I thought it was a bit much for there to have been a TV spin-off of her article, and thought the epilogue was better left unwritten.
Finn, despite a few negatives, is for sure on my list of Book Boyfriends, something pretty rare for me to add on to. Adina could have used some more work, but their overall relationship was pretty cute, and the sex scenes, while not very many, were overall well-written in a romantic way, and their relationship, while starting with sex, was not entirely based off of it, as shown in Finn’s desire to do PG activities with her such as hiking or watching a movie in the park.
Overall, while I don’t regret reading this book, I’m not sure I’d buy it for myself, though I wouldn’t complain if someone bought it for me. Finn really saved the book for me, being enjoyable about eighty percent of the time, and I was glad his character was well-rounded and thought-out. Due to Adina’s lack of responsibility and over-all character, I’m rating this a six point five, and, if you can overlook the frustration Adina might give you, I’d recommend it for someone who enjoys Hallmark and romcoms.
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