Review: Start Us Up by Lexi Blake I stumbled upon Start Us Up by accident—I had signed up for an ARC of book three in the series before realizing it wasn’t a standalone. So, I did the only logical thing: I sat my butt down and started from the beginning. And wow, did I fall hard for this book. It was everything I needed right now—pure joy, a little heartbreak, and a whole lot of love. First off, Ivy Jensen is the boss bitch I want to be in life. She’s brilliant, ambitious, and trying to rebuild after a brutal professional betrayal. Then we have Heath Marino—the human embodiment of a golden retriever wrapped in coding genius. He’s the kind of guy you dream about, the man who exists only in books written by women (and honestly, if the world was full of Heaths, it’d be heaven on earth). Their chemistry? Immediate and electric. The push and pull between Ivy’s drive and Heath’s easygoing yet deeply intuitive nature made for a compelling romance that had me feeling everything. And let’s talk about the side characters! Lydia, Cecilia, and Benjamin? I fell in love instantly. Darnell? My new spirit animal. Every time he popped up, he had me smiling. Heath’s nonna? I need her in my life to match me with my perfect person. And that moment when the three friends had that argument? I felt every ounce of emotion—Lexi Blake knows how to write complex, real friendships. This book made me laugh out loud, gave me butterflies, and even had me tearing up at times. It’s a perfect blend of heart, humor, and heat, and I was absolutely hooked from start to finish. Start Us Up is a solid five-star read, and I cannot wait to dive into book two before finally getting to my ARC. If the rest of the series is anything like this, I know I’m in for something truly special.