For Her Consideration Review — Is It Worth Reading?

Verdict: A funny, body-positive Hollywood rom-com in which a heartbroken email ghostwriter falls for the rising star whose inbox she runs — carried by a wonderful found family and a joyful love interest, but Nina’s denial and a third-act breakup test some readers’ patience.

Best for: Readers who love friend groups, plus-size heroines, LA settings and celebrity romance with more heart than glamour.

Heat level: 3/5 (romance.io: open door, 38 ratings)

Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.8/5 — a 3.75 Goodreads average across 6,619 ratings and 3.75 on StoryGraph from 3,088 reviews)

Tropes: Celebrity romance, workplace romance, found family, plus-size heroine, healing after a bad breakup, single POV, series starter.

For Her Consideration is Amy Spalding’s 2023 contemporary lesbian romance from Kensington, and the first book in her Out in Hollywood series. Nina Rice gave up on love, friends and her screenwriting dreams after a crushing breakup three years ago. Then Ari Fox, a young actress on everyone’s radar, asks to meet the person ghostwriting her emails.

It holds a 3.75 average across 6,619 Goodreads ratings, with 62% of them four or five stars, 3.75 on StoryGraph from 3,088 reviews, and 4.4 stars across 1,069 Amazon ratings. Buzzfeed named it an LGBTQ romance you’ve got to read, and Christina Lauren called it “pure romance magic.”

What Is For Her Consideration About?

Since her ex dumped her, Nina has written romance, friends, her TV-writing ambitions and even Los Angeles itself out of her life. She lives in the suburbs in her aunt Lorna’s condo and works from home for a talent agency, managing celebrity email accounts — which she tells herself is plenty of writing, and plenty of plot.

Ari Fox is sexy, out and proud, and, according to Nina’s boss, a serious control freak. She has her own ideas about how her emails should sound, and about getting to know the woman who writes them. When Ari tells Nina she should be writing again, returning to her abandoned life starts to feel less scary than the possibility that Ari is flirting with her.

What Makes This Celebrity Romance Work

The found family: Nina’s tight group of friends and their weekly brunches are what readers love most.
Aunt Lorna: Several reviewers name Nina’s aunt as their favourite character.
Ari: Confident, spontaneous and fun, and far less difficult than her reputation.
Body positivity: Nina is curvy and not insecure about it, which readers appreciated.
Humour: 66% of StoryGraph readers tag it funny, and 74% lighthearted.

Book Synopsis

Since a crushing breakup three years ago, Nina Rice has written romance, friends, her dreams of scriptwriting for TV, and even LA proper out of her life. Instead she is safely out in the suburbs in her aunt’s condo, working her talent agency job from home and managing celebrity email accounts. But a surprise meeting called by Ari Fox, a young actress on everyone’s radar, stirs up feelings Nina thought she had deleted for good.

Ari has her own ideas about how Nina should handle her emails — and about getting to know her ghostwriter. Between reconnecting with her old crew and working on a new script, a relationship with a movie star seems like something Nina will definitely mess up. But what could be more worth the risk?

My Review

This is a book about a woman coming back to life, with a romance as the catalyst. Nina’s ex convinced her she was toxic, and she believed it enough to ghost everyone she loved. Watching her rebuild those friendships — and letting Ari’s energy pull her back into the city — is what gives the book its warmth. Told entirely in Nina’s first-person voice, it is funny and full of LA detail, down to the restaurants and the traffic. One reader said the ending surprised her with how much Nina had grown.

That voice is also the divide. Nina’s denial frustrates plenty of readers — one could not believe she missed how obviously Ari was pursuing her — and her retreat into hiding, and her friends letting her vanish for three years, struck some as implausible. Others found the references to Nina’s weight and “toxicity” repetitive, felt the book took half its length to grab them, or wanted chapters from Ari, who can feel less fully drawn. The third-act breakup is a common complaint, and one reader flagged the uneasy workplace dynamic of a romance between an agency employee and a client.

My honest note: If you connect with Nina, this is a delight. If her self-sabotage grates early, it will keep grating.

Element	In For Her Consideration
Central relationship	Nina Rice (celebrity email ghostwriter) & Ari Fox (rising actress)
Core tropes	Celebrity romance, workplace, found family, healing
Setting	Los Angeles and its suburbs
Heat level	3/5 on romance.io — open door
POV	Nina, first person
Series	Out in Hollywood #1 — third-act breakup
Content notes	Toxic past relationship, emotional abuse and gaslighting (by an ex), panic attacks, car accident, alcohol, fatphobia

How Spicy Is For Her Consideration?

Romance.io rates it 3 of 5, “open door,” from 38 ratings. One reader summed up the heat as “some steamage”: there are sex scenes, but the book is a rom-com first.

Content notes submitted on StoryGraph centre on Nina’s past: a toxic relationship with emotional abuse and gaslighting. Readers also flag panic attacks, a car accident, alcohol and drug use, and fatphobia.

Who Should Read This Book?

You’ll likely love it if: you want a warm, funny romance with a big friend group, a curvy heroine and a Hollywood setting. It is on our cozy lesbian romance and celebrity lesbian romance lists.

You may want to skip it if: you dislike self-sabotaging heroines, third-act breakups or single-POV romances.

In short: A cheerful, heartfelt Hollywood rom-com whose heroine you will either root for or want to shake.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)

On Goodreads the split is 21% five stars, 41% four, 29% three, 6% two and 1% one. On StoryGraph, 82% of readers who answered found the characters loveable and 88% called the cast diverse. It is on Kindle Unlimited. The audiobook, narrated by Sophie Amoss, runs 11 hours and 18 minutes on Libro.fm.

Prefer audio? Listen to For Her Consideration on Libro.fm — the audiobook shop that supports independent bookstores.

Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The found family first. Second, Aunt Lorna. Third, Ari. Fourth, the body positivity and humour.

What readers argue about and complain about: Nina’s denial and self-sabotage, above everything. Second, the third-act breakup. Third, a slow first half. Fourth, a single POV that leaves Ari underdeveloped.

The comparison worth making first: If you finish wanting more of this world, In Her Spotlight is the fourth Out in Hollywood book. For another star-meets-ordinary-woman romance, try Coming Home.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does For Her Consideration have a third-act breakup?

Yes. Readers mention a third-act breakup, and it is one of the more common complaints.

How spicy is For Her Consideration?

Moderate. Romance.io rates it 3 of 5, open door, from 38 ratings. It is a rom-com first, with some on-page steam.

Whose point of view is For Her Consideration told from?

Nina’s only, in first person. Some readers wished for chapters from Ari as well.

Is For Her Consideration on Kindle Unlimited?

Yes, at the time of writing the Kindle edition is available on Kindle Unlimited. There is also an audiobook narrated by Sophie Amoss.

Is For Her Consideration part of a series?

Yes. It is book 1 of Amy Spalding’s Out in Hollywood series, followed by At Her Service, On Her Terms and In Her Spotlight. Each book follows a different couple.

If You Loved For Her Consideration, Read These Next

Try In Her Spotlight for more of Spalding’s Hollywood, Coming Home for another celebrity romance, or Write Your Own Script for an older actress falling for an author. For more, browse our celebrity lesbian romance list, our cozy lesbian romance list, or the full Book Reviews archive.

The Bottom Line

For Her Consideration sets out to be a joyful queer Hollywood rom-com, and much of it is: funny, warm, body-positive and full of friends you will wish were yours. What holds it back is a heroine whose denial and hiding frustrate many readers, plus a third-act breakup. If found family is your trope, it is worth it. Check For Her Consideration on Amazon →