Disappointed about the promotion of this record, GSW negotiated to be dropped from the label after the album came out.

[4] UPI called the album "strong", writing that producer Jim Dickinson "worked his magic".

[1] The Washington Post wrote that $1.99 Romances "separates the group from the jam-band pack by using Steely Dan as its main model rather than the usual choices of the Grateful Dead or the Allman Brothers.

[4] Billboard praised Dickson's production work, writing that the album "captures the group's Steely Dan-like musical cool and sophistication.

"[7] Steve Blush, in New York Rock: From the Rise of the Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB, called it "a dollar-bin classic".