How to Find Love in the Cereal Aisle by Alissa DeRogatis
I’m super excited about today’s book review! I recently had the change to read How to Find Love in the Cereal Aisle by Alissa DeRogatis, and it was so sweet and cute. The main character is named Ainsley Green and she’s a romance writer currently on book tour, so I loved reading about her. There’s just something fun about reading about writers!
Her boyfriend breaks up with her right before the book tour of her second book, and it couldn’t be worse timing. Nobody wants to talk about love when they are dealing with the ache of a brutal breakup. But with the help of her friend Lucas, Ainsley starts documenting her own attempted meet-cutes on social media, as a way to get inspired to write her third romance novel.
If you love a good meet-cute, I think you’ll enjoy this book. So keep reading for my full book review of How to Find Love in the Cereal Aisle by Alissa DeRogatis.
And if you’re looking for more romance novel recs, you can find more romance reviews here.
What is How to Find Love in the Cereal Aisle by Alissa DeRogatis About?
Ainsley Green writes happily-ever-afters for a rabid fanbase of hopeless romantics. In real life? Her boyfriend just broke up with her, her editor wanted a new book yesterday and she’s starting to wonder if love actually exists beyond the pages of her favorite novels.
So when Lucas, Ainsley’s best friend and biggest cheerleader, insists the best cure for writer’s block is real-life inspiration, she’s ready to try anything. Enter: the meet-cute plan, a mission to take her head out of her heartbreak and force meet-cutes IRL to spark some new ideas. But as failed missions bumping into strangers at the airport and spilling coffee on men at the cafe result in nothing but embarrassment and stained clothing, Ainsley begins to wonder if maybe the romance she’s been chasing already has a leading man.
Because the truth about falling in love? It never goes according to plan.
Equal parts heartbreak, humor, and hope, How to Find Love in the Cereal Aisle is a fresh, flirty send up of dating in the modern age and a reminder that love finds us when we stop performing and start living. (from Goodreads)
My Initial Thoughts
When it comes to contemporary romance, there’s a big focus on tropes right now. I’m sure tropes have always been a thing. But I’ve noticed on Instagram that both readers and authors like to post about the tropes in the romance stories that they read and write.
I believe the main trope in How to Find Love in the Cereal Aisle is Friends to Lovers. Ainsley and Lucas have been best friends since their freshman year of college. And as they both go through breakups (Ainsley’s happens before the book starts, while Lucas and his girlfriend break up mid-book) they spend a lot more time together.
Misery loves company, right?
And I have to say, I think that the author did a really good job developing the relationship between the two of them. I don’t really pick up friends to lovers books very often because they feel to obvious. A lot of authors are really heavy handed with it because it feels like one characters is always super obviously in love with the other.
But this was different. The relationship between Lucas and Ainsley developed very naturally. It felt realistic. And I liked that!
What Happens When You Create Your Own Meet-Cutes?
That’s a question that Ainsley asks during this story. After she finishes her book tour for her second romance novel, she isn’t sure what to work on next. She knows that her fans are expecting another romance from her. But the inspiration just isnt there.
So after receiving positive feedbak on social media, she throws herself back into the chaos of dating. Sort of. She decides to start simulating meet cute situations in her everyday life as a way to try to meet new guys and get out of her writing slump.
But not all meet cutes end in happy endings. Lol. Ainsley goes to hilarious lengths for her series that she starts posting on her social media. And while it doesn’t help her find love of her own, it does grab the attention of a lot of people online.
The immediately start shipping Ainsley with her best friend Lucas after he appears in one of her videos.
I Love to Read About Writer
I love to read about writers. That’s probably why I enjoyed Emily Henry’s Beach Read and One Week Later by KJ Micchiche so much. And since Ainsley is a romance author, I found her story very interesting as well. I think being an author must be such a fun career, so it’s a plot point that I always enjoy.
This Story Felt Like it was Well Paced
As I mentioned earlier, it’s a friends to lovers trope. The story moved slowly because it told the story of Ainsley’s past relationship, as well as her present day where she tries to move on and further her career. I really enjoyed Alissa’s writing style and thought she did a good job of jumping between the past and the present.
A lot of times I think authors do that to beef up their word count, but I did not feel that way about this book at all. Each chapter to me felt like it was really adding to the story.
There Might Have Been a Few Unfinished Plot Points
Personally, I would have liked to see Ainsley have more of a reconciliation with her sister. It seemed like there was a lot of tension between the two of them and it might have been nice for the two of them to have another conversation before the end of the book. But that’s just my opinion!
I also would have liked to see Ainsley have a moment with her old friend group, where they apologized for being jerks. It really made me mad how they treated Ainsley. But I guess that was the point… sometimes if a relationship is no longer serving you it’s best to give it up and make new friends.
In Conclusion
I really liked this book a lot! The slow burn between Ainsley and Lucas was fun to read about and I felt like the ending was very satisfying. This is my first time reading anything by this author and now I want to go back and read Alissa Derogatis’ debut novel, Call It What You Want.
You Might Also Enjoy:
- Beach Read
- Book Lovers
- One Week Later
