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Like It's 1999: a Boston Classics novella

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Boston Classics
by Karen Grey
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Book details

  1. Print length
    104 pages

    Print length: 104 pages

    Contains real page numbers based on the print edition (ISBN 1959690124).
  2. Language
    English
  3. Accessibility
    Learn more
  4. Publication date
    December 9, 2020
  5. File size
    2.9 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled

    Page Flip: Enabled

    Page Flip is a new way to explore your books without losing your place.
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled

    Word Wise: Enabled

    Word Wise helps you read harder books by explaining the most challenging words in the book.
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled

    Enhanced typesetting: Enabled

    Enhanced typesetting improvements offer faster reading with less eye strain and beautiful page layouts, even at larger font sizes.
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★★★★★ “Full of humor and on-point nostalgia references and movie quotes. Makes me long for the last decades of the 20th century when times were simpler and fun.” - Comfy Chair Books

Love ‘em and Leave ‘em Alice Kim and “Hot” Steve Lowell are perfect for each other. It’ll only take them ten years to figure that out.

Just because they throw the most bodacious wedding party ever…

Just because they’re perfect partners in pranks…

Just because they love all the same boss movies…

Just because they share one totally bangin’ night of sex together…

Does not mean they’ll break the One Time Rule.

Even if they do… they don’t do relationships.

And they’re never getting married.

Like, ever.

In this friends-to-lovers, marriage-pact novella spanning the last decade of the 20th century, life forces a playboy and a playgirl grow up—and grow apart—before giving them a chance to create a happy-ever-after they can actually be happy about.

Review

★★★★★"Overall, I loved "Like It's 1999" and highly recommend it for all fans of contemporary(-ish) romance and romantic comedy. I can't wait to see what's next for this author and series." -- Laurie Reads Romance

★★★★★"I really enjoyed this novella! I haven't read a lot of novellas lately but there is something really satisfying about being able to sit down and read an entire story in a single sitting. It is even better when that story features characters that can't wait to see again. When I found out that this story would focus on "Hot" Steve, I just knew that I had to read it and it was everything I had hoped it would be." -- Carole's Random Life in Books

★★★★★"This story had it all! It was sweet, sexy, and lots of compelling funny characters that made you want to read more." -- Jenny, Goodreads

★★★★★"What can I say? I loved everything about this book! The author engaged me from the 1st quote and I enjoyed strolling down memory lane while reading this sweet and funny story. I knew every reference, movie quote, song title, fads and sayings from this book. I can't wait to read the rest in this series and have no doubt I'll love every single page." -- Laurie, Goodreads

★★★★★"Karen Grey has written a funny, feel-good novella that is themed perfectly to ring in the new year! I love how she intertwined epic movie quotes throughout the different years in the story. These quotes helped compliment Alice and Steve's love for movies and showed their congenial personalities. I'm looking forward to reading more from Karen and finding more characters to fall in love with!" -- Jodi, Goodreads

★★★★★"This story is funny and sweet and sexy and transports you to the 1980's and 1990's. It keeps you guessing and wanting to shake Steve and Alice on more than one occasion. I loved it! I recommend this book and this series and this author without hesitation." -- Sally, Goodreads

★★★★★"An entertaining love story with lots of fantastic, nostalgic references. Alice and Steve were perfect together, even if it took them 10 years to figure it out!" -- Catrina, Goodreads

From the Author

This book may contain descriptions of events which may be upsetting or triggering for some readers. Content guidance can be found at bit.ly/ContentGuidanceKarenGrey

About the Author

KAREN GREY is the pen name for award-winning narrator Karen White. A stage, screen and radio drama actor in Boston, New York and Los Angeles in the late 20th century, she started recording books in 1999. Now back in her home state of North Carolina, she shares a home with her family and probably too many pets, where she continues to narrate audiobooks as well as make up stories.

About the author

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Karen Grey
Karen Grey
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KAREN GREY is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of vintage romantic comedies with smart heroines and hunky heroes. Drawing on a long career as a performer, her retro 80's and 90's romances are populated with characters working both on- and off-stage in theater, TV and film.

She's a lifelong omnivorous reader (including 20 years as an audiobook narrator). When not reading or writing, she's lounging at the beach or hiking in the mountains. Or dreaming about both with an IPA in hand and a dog or a cat nearby.

To get the latest news, join her VIP club at followkarengrey.com.

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From the Publisher

Karen Grey, Romance Author

Why set a Romance Novel in the 1980's?

For the Fun of it

Initially I chose to set the Boston Classics series in the 1980’s because I thought it would be fun for a reader to experience dating in a “simpler” time—whether she was alive in the era or not—and to explore looking for love before texting, before cell phones, before dating apps, before Googling. When answering machines and pagers were the latest thing and people still sent love letters and had to use pay phones.

TV shows set in the 80’s have surged in popularity over the past few years, evidence to me that others share a nostalgia for simpler times. It’s an era that we love to make fun of—the big hair, the neon fashion, the crocheted fingerless gloves—but for many of us, it was just when we grew up.

From the Nitty Gritty details

Once I started mining my memory, it became clear how much our daily lives have changed.

For instance, if you wanted to go somewhere new, you had to get a map and you had to plot your route before you left and write out the directions.

More important for romance, if you wanted to get in touch with someone you met, you had to hope they were listed in the phone book. If not, you were out of luck.

To the Big Picture

My big takeaways from my trips back in time?

  1. We got along just fine without the world at our fingertips and without being available 24/7
  2. We’ve come far in terms of things like gender equity—everywhere from the workplace to the bedroom—but we still have a long way to go.
  3. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Five Fun Facts About the Boston Classics Series

  • To the characters, “text” means typed words in a manuscript and “#” is the symbol for “number”
  • The heroes' and heroines' careers are based on real-life experiences
  • Each main character's name is a mashup of Shakespeare character names
  • The dairy commercial Will shoots is based move-for-move on one the author shot IRL
  • Falling in love hasn't changed much in the years since 1988 (Or 1588 for that matter)
What I'm Looking For
Forget About Me
Like It's 1999
You Spin Me
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Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars 751
4.2 out of 5 stars 162
3.6 out of 5 stars 138
4.5 out of 5 stars 69
Price $6.99 $6.99 $4.99 $6.99
Standalone Read ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Trip Back in Time to the 1980's ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
HEA or HFN Promise ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Adorable Pets Heroine's Cat Ralphie Too Many to Name but one Dog who steals the show (It's a novella, I couldn't fit any in!) Hero's Dog Blondie & Cat Cash
Meddling Side Characters Roommates Families The Wedding Party Co-workers
Romance Tropes Opposites Attract & Nerdy Hero/Heroine Second Chance & Best Friend's Sister Holiday, Marriage Promise & Friends to Lovers Broken Hero/Heroine & Secret Identity

Product information

ASIN B08P82S2QG
Publisher Home Cooked Books
Publication date December 9, 2020
Accessibility Learn more
Language ‎English
File size 2.9 MB
Screen Reader Supported
Enhanced typesetting Enabled

Enhanced typesetting: Enabled

Enhanced typesetting improvements offer faster reading with less eye strain and beautiful page layouts, even at larger font sizes.
X-Ray Not Enabled
Word Wise Enabled

Word Wise: Enabled

Word Wise helps you read harder books by explaining the most challenging words in the book.
Print length 104 pages

Print length: 104 pages

Contains real page numbers based on the print edition (ISBN 1959690124).
ISBN-13 978-1734833072
Page Flip Enabled

Page Flip: Enabled

Page Flip is a new way to explore your books without losing your place.
Best Sellers Rank

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
138 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • DarcyLovesLiza
    4 out of 5 stars
    Verified Purchase

    Enjoyable Read/Listen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s

    Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2021
    Format: Kindle
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    There is a lot I enjoyed about Karen Grey’s novella - likable characters that communicate via movie dialogue are my catnip. The movie dialogue used as epigraphs are also a fun touch. Plus, Grey has truly captured the essence of the particular moment (or decade) in which the story takes place. Grey brings the late 1980s alive in the entire series and in this story that extends (even if through far too brief glimpses) into the 1990s. The setting and the time are clear to the reader/listener in fun and engaging ways. The H and h are wonderful and are given added life by two talented narrators - Cindy Kay and Ryan West - who compellingly capture the personalities of, as well as the blossoming romance between, the leads.

    What Grey accomplished with this story’s H, Steve, (aka Hot Steve for those who read ‘What I am Looking For) - is pretty great. She took a character who could easily have been an obnoxious, stock character and worked to give him depth and dimension - as Kate became his friend in the first book, so did the reader; I was so happy to see he had his own story in this novella. My only wish is that this had been a novel instead; so that Steve’s character and personality could have been even more fully explored. The same is true of Alice, the h, who is such a refreshing character is so many ways - her independence, her understanding of her own desires - that pull the reader towards her. This story has the beginnings of some really wonderful character development, but the one disappointment here is that the shorter length of the novella form doesn’t allow that development (for either character) to reach its full potential. Alice gets a little more space than Steve, but it still isn’t enough!

    The novella is broken down by parts that correspond to 3 particular years over the course of a decade, and I could not help but wish there had been more parts/years explored so that this had been fleshed out into a full novel. These characters are unique in so many ways that they deserved much more space to breathe. Especially when Grey moves to take the plot and characters through hard times, moments that are meant to build intensity and lend more weight to the story, are given too short shrift to do that heavy lifting. Sadly, the shorter form leads to a lot of catching up on what has happened to characters in ways that doesn’t allow the emotion of those experiences to get much more than superficial treatment, which is a real shame as there were some great themes here that I wish had been given more room to grow - ones that don’t often get a lot of room in the genre (for example, a central couple who do not want kids; the pressure on the h by her family to have kids despite that; a H struggling with how he is seen or not seen by himself and by others; etc). These are things I would have loved to dive more deeply along side these particular characters.

    Overall, even though I personally wanted a longer story for these two, the one that’s here is still an enjoyable read/listen and I do recommend it, especially to anyone who enjoys having their nostalgia dial turned up to eleven.

    **I received a copy of the audiobook from the author via Book Funnel and read the novella through KU.**

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  • A G
    3 out of 5 stars
    Verified Purchase

    Shorter romance read

    Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2025
    Format: Kindle
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    Romance level: closed door

    Both mains have a strong friend group.

    Some fun discussions on movies of the time and various classics.

    Was a fast to bed no commitment story.

    Trigger warning: miscarriage.

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  • SOMDReigel
    5 out of 5 stars
    Verified Purchase

    A complete story novella

    Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2020
    Format: Kindle
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    Like It’s 1999 is a novella that reads as a full story; you get to know the characters and their story. I like the characters and love this couple together. This commitment-phobic couple belong together, it just takes them awhile. I’m so glad “Hot Steve” got his own story. He was a secondary character in a previous book and I wanted to know more about him. Wish granted! This novella is a standalone, you don’t necessary have to have read book 1, What I’m Looking For, to enjoy it. Knowing them from the previous books is just “icing on the cake”. Like It’s 1999 is full of humor and on-point nostalgia reference and movie quotes. Makes me long for the last decades of the 20th century when times were simpler and fun (and I was in my late teens, early-mid 20’s). Karen Grey has become an auto buy author for me. I like her writing style/voice. She writes go-getter female characters and awesome male characters. Highly recommend as well as the other books in the Boston Classics series.

    3 people found this helpful
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  • Karin A
    4 out of 5 stars
    Verified Purchase

    Boston Classics Book Two.Five

    Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2021
    Format: Kindle
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    Boston Classics Book Two.Five.

    Alice Kim is extremely happy for her friend, Kate, who is getting married! However, she doesn't think she will ever be ready for that kind of commitment. "Hot" Steve Lowell is determined to be the best Man of Honor ever! Alice and Steve set out to give the most bodacious parties for their friends, but they are also adamant that they will not be a couple. After both have been married and divorced, will Kate finally be victorious in getting the two of them together?

    If you loved "Hot" Steve's puppy-dog personality and Alice's wicked wit, this is definitely the book for you!

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  • Jennifer G
    3 out of 5 stars

    A Rom-Com Read

    Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2025
    Format: Kindle
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    Alice and Steve have everything in common. Seriously, they are mirror images of one another, and if they don't see it, their best friend does. Whether it's pulling pranks, spouting movie quotes, or engaging in one-night stands, these two are meant to be together. Too bad, neither 'does relationships'. So, they may break their 'one-time rule', but nothing more...

    This is a rom-com style read. The characters are engaging, but one-dimensional. There is no character growth or relationship development. It was cute even if the plot was thin. However, the 90's throwback movie references made it fun. It could have easily been a 4-star if the book hadn't cut off so abruptly - an epilogue would have made all the difference.

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  • J.G
    5 out of 5 stars
    Verified Purchase

    Such a fun Read!!

    Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2022
    Format: Kindle
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    I loved this Novella. It takes place over the span of ten years and each chapter starts on new years eve so it was a short book that read more like a full length novel with a lot of stuff happening over the years. It was very creative, funny, sweet, sexy and witty. I loved the movie quotes and getting more of Will and Kate from “What I’m looking for” the first book in the Boston Classics series. Overall a fantastic read I was completely charmed by these characters 5/5⭐

    If you like Rom-Com, nostalgic 80s and 90s references, awesome characters and yes even some steam you will love this ❤😊

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  • TaSigmund
    4 out of 5 stars
    Verified Purchase

    Cute Novella

    Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2022
    Format: Kindle
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    This novella was a perfect listen right before bed. I loved the characters but I wish there was more. What happened to them after that party. The narrators did a good job reading these characters. On to the next.

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  • Adrienne
    3 out of 5 stars

    cutesy

    Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2025
    Format: Kindle
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    Short friends to lovers listen. Cute storyline but was very predictable

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