Book Review: No Rings Attached by Stephanie Harrell

Thank you to Love Notes PR and Stephanie Harell for the opportunity to review this ARC! :)

 

✨ Summary

No Rings Attached is a small-town romantic comedy that sparkles with wit, warmth, and just the right amount of chaos. When Ellie, a plus-size heroine with a sharp sense of humor and a soft heart, accidentally lies about having a boyfriend, she never expects the lie to come to life — or that her “boyfriend” would turn out to be her new boss, Drew Kingsley. What follows is a delightful blend of fake dating, family drama, and found family magic, all wrapped around a heartfelt journey of self-acceptance and love.

🏠Story and Setting

The novel opens with Drew Kingsley, a kind-hearted CEO returning to his hometown of Ruby River, where his family’s jewelry business and his beloved grandmother, Glamma, await him. A sudden roadside encounter brings him face-to-face with Ellie, his virtual assistant whom he has never met in person. What begins as a moment of awkwardness — and a hilarious case of mistaken identity — quickly spirals into an arrangement neither of them saw coming.

When Ellie’s family pressures her into attending her sister’s wedding — where her ex will be the groom — Drew steps in as her pretend boyfriend. What follows is a heartwarming, sometimes messy, but always sincere exploration of love, belonging, and emotional courage.

The small-town backdrop of Ruby River enhances the story’s warmth and intimacy. Its sense of community, the nosy yet lovable residents, and the Kingsley family’s charm make the world feel cozy and lived-in.

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💖 What I Loved

This book is more than just a romcom — it’s a story about belonging, boundaries, and bravery. The chemistry between Ellie and Drew is electric from their very first (and hilariously awkward) encounter. You can feel the tension simmering between them long before either of them says a word.

Ellie shines as a heroine who’s strong yet vulnerable. She’s navigating a complicated family dynamic, a high-pressure job, and her own insecurities — all while trying not to fall for her charming boss. Her voice feels authentic and relatable, especially in how she handles anxiety and self-doubt.

Drew, on the other hand, is a breath of fresh air in the world of romance heroes. He’s respectful, emotionally intelligent, and quietly devoted — the kind of man who listens before he speaks. His interactions with his grandmother, the sassy and unforgettable Glamma, add humor and heart to the story. Glamma herself deserves a spin-off; she’s a whirlwind of sass, scheming, and unconditional love.

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🌸 Writing & Themes

The author captures the rhythm of small-town life beautifully — Ruby River feels like a place you’d want to visit, complete with nosy neighbors, cozy festivals, and family-run businesses. Beneath the humor and romance, the novel explores toxic family expectations, self-worth, and the courage to demand respect.

The fake dating trope is handled with genuine emotional depth. What begins as a scheme evolves naturally into something real, making the eventual emotional payoff both satisfying and well-earned. The side characters — especially Drew’s family — create a strong sense of found family that contrasts Ellie's strained relationship with her own.

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💬 Final Thoughts

If you enjoy the fake-dating trope, a slow-burn romance that pays off beautifully, and a story where the heroine finds confidence and acceptance, this book is a must-read. The dynamic between Ellie and Drew—especially when their "rules" start to blur—is irresistible. Be warned: the passionate make-out scenes are plentiful!

No Rings Attached delivers everything you could want from a contemporary romance: humor, heart, heat, and healing. It is a fun, flirty, and profoundly satisfying story about two people who find real love when they least expect it, proving that sometimes, you have to fake it to make it... to forever.

"Making Chai?"

Chaar baj gaye, chai banana abhi baaki hai!

I have formed a habit wherein my body automatically needs chai at 4 p.m. And I don’t even have to check the clock to know the time, because I’m almost always right. So, I walk towards the kitchen to prepare my evening cup of tea, which is now a rather mechanical routine.

1.       Take the saucepan, fill it with water – just enough. Too much and it could either overflow or you would just end up making extra.

2.       I let the water boil, and add in the chai patti. I observe how, the once colorless water turns into a light brown shade and then a dark shade; the sediments often sticking to the side of the pan.

3.       I like a strong cup of chai so I let it boil for a while and then simmer, basking in the aroma before my senses automatically adjust to it.

4.       It’s time to add the milk – carefully and just the right amount. You always have a preference, right?

5.       Now, I transfer the tea into my cup – which reads – “Don’t Know, Don’t Care”, using a strainer that doesn’t let the chai patti come through. Funny, the very thing we made tea with is no more needed after juicing out all its essence, so you toss it out.

6.       Lastly, I add a bit of jaggery powder to make it sweet and stir everything with a spoon. After all, mithaas ke lie, milavat toh zaruri hai.

Lo, garam chai taiyyar!

That was a quick lesson on how to prepare tea (if you weren’t already aware of the procedure).
Why am I giving you a lesson in this? I’m NOT. You read it and you learnt. Who took the lesson? Don’t blame me.

My mind is all over the place – as always. Chai tastes just as usual – but with this serving, I’m going to share my two cents on how a simple chai got me thinking about bonds and relationships.
Say whaaaaat?!! You are probably thinking (or forget thinking, you are certain) that I’m smoking something. But nada. Hear me out, if you will. Or skip, whatever you prefer.

Chai making is an art. Not everyone can conjure a good cup of tea.
It requires instinct – when incorporating ingredients, patience – depending on how light/strong you’d want it and practice – to finally achieve the right taste. Also, a dose of love. Because anything mechanical, will taste bland.

Similarly, forging relationships and making them last is also an art. Not everyone can stay afloat.
It requires instinct – to know if the other person is right for you or compatible with you; patience – because your personalities differ, and as such there are bound to be issues. Practice – of communicating effectively (I don’t know what your perverted minds thought). And love. Isn’t that always the foundation?

Well, thankfully, making chai can be simpler than love, as the latter involves too many complications.
However, there are so many similarities, as enlisted hereon:

 

1.       Take his/her hand, and fill their lives with love – just enough. Too much and someone could fall out of love quickly or the other person would feel you’re being extra. Isn’t that what millennials say?

2.       Let the dating phase bloom, and then add in the ‘Offical’ tag. You’ll see how two strangers come together and form something so beautiful – who’d believe they were strangers in the first place? Always hanging around the corner for each other or sticking by each other’s sides.

3.       You don’t fancy casual relationships, so you drop the ‘L’ word and then you’re committed. We drop around hints, and then full on bombs to let the other person know how involved we are, until they automatically get accustomed to the feeling.

4.       It’s time to add the drama – tell me one relationship without it? You tread carefully, because you don’t want to get melodramatic and step on the wrong foot. You treat the other person based on your mood swings. But you always have a preference, right?

5.       Now, transfer the status of your relationship to selfies/full blown love posts/ #couplegoals on social media. Be it Instagram/Facebook/Snapchat/Whatsapp Status’ – you get the drift, right? While the outside world now immune to your relationship pretends like they - “Don’t Know, Don’t Care”.

6.       As time passes and you realize that things aren’t as rosy as they were in the beginning, your every effort to ‘make this work’ is becoming just that – an effort. You strain to let the words out of your mouth – to have an open channel of communication – but you’re left with a superficial layer. Funny, the very thing which kickstarted the relationship (communication) isn’t worthy, and all you’re left with is their nonchalance.

7.       Lastly, you try to be nice about things and mix around emotions, words, the likes – just to renew what was. But in some cases, you don’t add the extra sugar, because neither of you like the sweetness anymore. It happens. When you get so used to having a bitter aftertaste, you don’t trust anything that’s sweet.

After giving it that quick mix, you gulp it all down. Sip by sip.
Careful there – it could burn your tongue. Making words find it difficult to pass through.
Or hey, maybe you left it out in the open for too long – it got so cold, it now feels tasteless.
Maybe it’s time to toss it out? Who knows?

So be sure you know how to make your tea and maybe once you master that – you’ll master the art of making a relationship.

A for Apple, B for Breakup.

[Disclaimer: Long post ahead, written in Hinglish (i.e. Hindi+English). I apologise in advance for the readers who aren't acquainted with Hindi, but I promise you'll get the drift.]

It’s the year 2020 wherein apart from Covid 19/ Coronavirus, Face Masks, Social Distancing and Sanitisation - Break-ups also seem to be the new normal.

I’m not stereotyping here; but come to think of it, we as humans (atleast some of us) have learnt to put ourselves first. Well, obviously that’s not a bad thing! What goes wrong is often how we treat other people.

I remember I was about 15 or 16 (yes, few of you would argue I was a kid), when I had my first relationship with a boy in his 20’s, where a breakup was nothing short of a traumatic experience. It could almost be compared to a Karan Johar movie which no one was filming or had the budget for; but was complete with mediocre yet real performances; being produced and directed by – yours truly!

Initially, love was everywhere. Every romantic song/scene reminded me of him. I looked forward to those long phone calls and messages, while my mother dreaded those bills and wondered why I was talking to my best friend for 4-5 hours after school. Lovelorn couples made me mushy and miss him and friends were chanting “ohhoo—aahaaa—mmmhmmm” – because pehla pyaar, no?

Cut to my breakup, there was a lot of rona-dhona, there were dialogues like “Pyaar ek hi baar hota hai (clearly not)” and “Mera pehla pyaar adhoora reh gaya, Rifatbi”. There is a playlist full of sad/melancholic songs which don’t tire you.  You feel you’re dancing but in reality, you look like a fan rotating to “Tujhe yaad na meri aayi, kisise ab kya kehna” and “Judaai” while the boy was busy doing something synonymous to that. Only with other people. And there’s also a moment you look at those phone bills and feel you could have done something productive with your life than wasted your parent’s money like that. Nahi? Okay, shayad nahi. But you get the point.

While this is a personal example, from the few examples I could quote – it is not necessary that every breakup has to be because someone cheated or because there were bad vibes/ego clashes or because tumhe baadme laga uski shakal hi bekaar hai. You know? Sometimes, a breakup could be unfortunate – like, family issues. It could be because you wanted attention and you blurted breakup, expecting him to run back but he just said YESS, I DO – and tumhare lag gaye. Or sometimes it’s just that 2 mature individuals or even 3 (whatever suits you), realise that while you’re drawn to each other – you’ll aren’t necessarily compatible.

There’s no book that teaches you how to handle a breakup (is there?), whether it’s the person breaking up or the person being broken (is that even the word I am looking for?). Having gone through my share of the above, I've realized that it’s important to have a clean slate in order to be able to enjoy the after-life. And this misconception that people have that- “you can never be friends with your ex.”  It’s bullshit.

Of course you can be friends. That’s what you started off as in the first place – unless you met on Tinder and just wanted to hookup. Or you decide to venture on the ‘friends-with-benefits’ path. 
(Dekho, Benefit is always good, if it is a primer (cosmetic joke alert for the ladies) but don’t be an item on SALE offered at a discounted price, because that means samaan accha nahi hai. And no man/woman wants a defective samaan - just saying! Know your worth, folks.) 

This renewed friendship that you’re trying to forge –
It takes time, it takes effort, it takes patience, it takes strength, it takes cooperation, and it takes a restless mind like mine to convince you that the suffer safar isn’t the fastest or even easiest. But if you manage to survive, it’s worth it.  

Having said that, if you had a creepy ex or someone who ghosted you or someone who was disrespectful/demeaning, I am NOT saying run back to him/her. I’m hoping tum sab apna khudka dimaag bhi lagaoge. The dosti I write about - obviously pertains to people who are still friends, because the foundation (not a cosmetic joke) is trust, loyalty and mutual respect and who will not take you for granted.

 So having cleared that, here are some things I guess I’ve learnt: 

Praathmik (is not a man’s name) or primarily (for my millennial readers), you cannot impose or expect to have rules for the person you’re breaking up with. I mean, seriously, if you expect them to understand and co-operate, you’re asking for the moon. You are. They’ll get there eventually, but you’ve got to give them time and space. Time for the feeling to sink in and space for all the tears/hurt/the feeling of “why does this have to happen to me” or “maine kya galat kia” etc. [Don’t rant about their galti or use the line - It’s not you, but me or vice versa. Doesn’t help].

Giving time and space doesn’t mean you have to abandon them.
You still have to be there. You are expected to be there. And no, it’s not a huge expectation. The real test of love (among many others, I’m sure) lies in whether you actually manage to be there for them when they need you. And at what point in time could they need you more than when you decide to leave them and go? So in effect, you need to go, but you also need to be  there.
'Hums to self - Main rahu ya na rahu, tum mujhme kahi baaki rehna’.

Paradox? I’m afraid so.
But not impossible, if you know how to use your common sense and grit.

There’s a quote:
How you propose portrays the kind of person you are.
But how you break up speaks volumes about you.

Hence, you need to behave responsibly. I’m not telling you to turn into Gandhi/Mother Teresa, because I know it’s hard for you too. The test of time is how well you can handle yourself as well as the other person.

You may ask - Why is it important to handle the other person?
Ab toh breakup ho gaya, toh main apne raaste, woh apne raaste.

If you think this way, God bless you – and you need to really ask yourself, if you ever loved the other person. Often, the other person is incapable of handling themselves (gender no bar). They will tell you to get lost, that they never want to see your face again. They will act angry, throw tantrums, and act unreasonable. And that’s when they need you the most. They won’t admit it (which is fine) but that’s when they’re at their most vulnerable. And all the while, you think they’re being immature. 

But, put yourself in their shoes. Think. What is it that’s holding them back from being upfront with you and telling you that they need you? It’s the fact that you can let go of them so easily (or so they think). Rationality is bound to take a back seat! So don’t turn your back on them. You basked in their affection. Now you’re expected to put up with some shit.

At the end of this terrible period, they will be grateful that you put up with them and that you didn’t just leave. And they will be sorry that they gave you shit in the first place. They may or may not say that to your face. Again, it’s the guilt and the knowledge that they were acting stupid that’s playing up here. Don’t push it. If either scenario didn’t play out, wo person hi tatti sahi nahi tha!

If you’ve been at it a long enough time and it doesn’t seem to be moving it, let it go. But make sure you were really AT IT. Otherwise it doesn’t entitle you to walk away just yet. And how do you measure longevity, well I can’t say – that’s for you to decide. But I don’t mean 1 day or 1 week – Simple! If you see them extending an olive branch - grab it. And hang onto it. And water it and make it grow.

Turning a messy relationship into a beautiful friendship is an art. And I say that because the object of art is to turn something ordinary/ugly into something beautiful. It’s a true showcase of the skill and talent of the artist. Think of yourself as M.F. Hussain.

Away from the emotional drama, a clean slate actually brings the two of you closer in a way that’s very special. And that will always be special. Contrary to popular opinion, it’ll infuse more security into your friendship. 

You don’t/won’t have to talk every single day or convince each other that you’ll always be there for each other. You already know it. You will create a relationship between the two of you that no language and no dictionary will ever have a word for.

Honge kuch jal kukde, moorkh/morons, who will find some cheap-ass word they can’t even spell to define your relationship. Or keep mocking and turning tables to make you question your decisions. That’s when you remember how grateful and utilitarian your middle finger is and be glad you’re blessed with not one, but two.

Lastly, when a relationship is between 2 individuals, how they part ways should be their business and nobody else’s. Salman Khan's movie said one right thing (though grammatically atrocious) – My business is my business, none of your business.

People will always label you or stereotype and that sometimes is just human nature. It doesn’t mean they are bad people or bad friends. It’s just how you respond to circumstances that matter.

Through this post, I am in no way saying – chalo, phone uthao and start calling/messaging your exes and wave that white flag or be creepy. It’s just a perspective on friendships being a possible concept post a breakup – but not mandatory. It’s a choice both of you make and if one, doesn’t want to be friends – don’t push them and start stabbing them with your olive branch. NO means NO. Respect and move on.

Baaki aap sab toh samjhdar ho! 😉