Smitten

Author: Lauren Rowe Title: Smitten Publisher: Socoro Publishing LLC Date Published: 07/25/2020 (re-release)

Read Dates: 05/27/2025- 05/28/2025
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 📖 I received a gifted e-book ARC. The following is my honest review✍🏻

Smitten is a dual POV friends-to-lovers romance. Alessandra is an extremely shy aspiring singer/songwriter. She meets Matthew “Fish” Fishberger, the bassist for one of her favorite bands at a party and it’s an instant connection for both of them. Fish is used to being overlooked, he’s the quirky comedic relief rather than the smoldering star, but you wouldn’t know that with how quickly Alessandra becomes Smitten with him! Distance forces the two to take things slow, but their friendship proves a solid foundation.

In a word, Smitten is adorable. It’s a low stakes, angst free, instalove friends-to-lovers story. Fish and Ally are cute together and fold well into an existing cast of characters from Lauren Rowe’s other books. It’s a standalone in an existing “universe” of stories and utterly charming!

I met Alessandra at a party. Tried to impress her. Was almost positive I was going to fail.

I think I said something along the lines of, “I’m a Goat called Fish who’s hung like a bull—but not really. I’m actually pretty average.” Smooth. I know. Try not to be jealous.

When she laughed—and I mean, really laughed—I knew she wasn’t like the other girls I’d been meeting on tour. Hell, she wasn’t even in the same stratosphere as those fangirls and gold-diggers.

At one point during the party, Alessandra said, “There’s nothing like a girl’s first love.” I knew she was talking about the first smash hit by my band, 22 Goats. Alessandra said it was the first song she’d heard by us and it “hit her like a ton of bricks.” Ironic, seeing as how I was having the same reaction from being in her presence.

I made it my mission to impress her. Give her the kiss of a lifetime that night. But since I’ve always been the dude with zero game, nothing went according to plan.

I’m not giving up, though. I’m going to win this girl over. I’m done sitting on the sidelines, watching the bad boy getting the girl. This time, the nice guy will finish first. Even if it’s the last thing he’ll do.