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This workplace enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers was a fun, well-paced book that had you rooting for Harper and Ryan.
Harper is a chaotic but dedicated workaholic. She finds order in chaos and treats those she writes newspaper articles about with respect. Ryan is orderly and wants to encourage change with the pieces he writes for a sister newspaper to Harper's. In what seems like a past life, these two held an internship together and only one of them gets the job at the end. This is a prominent point throughout their story together and through flashbacks we get to read what happens.
I really enjoyed the back and forth between Harper and Ryan. Harper's dedication to writing meaningful stories about the celebrities she interviews is a sticking point and something Ryan admires about her. The secondary characters also lend to more interaction between the pair and provide some comic relief.
Harper is a chaotic but dedicated workaholic. She finds order in chaos and treats those she writes newspaper articles about with respect. Ryan is orderly and wants to encourage change with the pieces he writes for a sister newspaper to Harper's. In what seems like a past life, these two held an internship together and only one of them gets the job at the end. This is a prominent point throughout their story together and through flashbacks we get to read what happens.
I really enjoyed the back and forth between Harper and Ryan. Harper's dedication to writing meaningful stories about the celebrities she interviews is a sticking point and something Ryan admires about her. The secondary characters also lend to more interaction between the pair and provide some comic relief.
4.5 ⭐️’s
I absolutely adored this book, devoured it in 3 sittings (would have been less if I didn’t have to sleep) and laughed out loud SO much!
A super lighthearted romcom with loveable characters and a ton of humour. The only reason I marked it down is because as much as I liked Harper, relating to her hot headed, stubborn and flaky personality, she did seem unreasonable with her reactions. It was easy to see right from the off that Ryan was the sweetest guy with good intentions, so it was real frustrating having to read the protagonist constantly jumping to the worst conclusions with very little merit.
That aside, the rest of a book was a real treat!
I absolutely adored this book, devoured it in 3 sittings (would have been less if I didn’t have to sleep) and laughed out loud SO much!
A super lighthearted romcom with loveable characters and a ton of humour. The only reason I marked it down is because as much as I liked Harper, relating to her hot headed, stubborn and flaky personality, she did seem unreasonable with her reactions. It was easy to see right from the off that Ryan was the sweetest guy with good intentions, so it was real frustrating having to read the protagonist constantly jumping to the worst conclusions with very little merit.
That aside, the rest of a book was a real treat!
2.5⭐
Publication date ~ May 2, 2023
Page count ~ 396
Audio length ~ 11 hours 8 minutes
Narrator ~ Karen Cass ~ a fine job
POV ~ single 1st
Featuring ~ coworkers, opposites attract, enemies to lovers, slow burn, second chance, slim steamage
Harper & Ryan have a past that Harper wants to keep a secret from her coworkers.
I enjoyed Ryan's character way more then Harper. I found him to be sweet and fun.
I didn't care for Harper's grudge towards Ryan or the miscommunication that went along with it. I might have liked Harper slightly more if we had Ryan's POV too, but since all chapters were just from her it was too much for me. I was happy with her work ethic and personal growth though.
The banter was fun at times, but then that got to be a little much for me so my ears began to wander.
Overall, not a super big fan, but there are quite a few positive reviews, so don't let mine sway you.
*Thanks to the author, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
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Publication date ~ May 2, 2023
Page count ~ 396
Audio length ~ 11 hours 8 minutes
Narrator ~ Karen Cass ~ a fine job
POV ~ single 1st
Featuring ~ coworkers, opposites attract, enemies to lovers, slow burn, second chance, slim steamage
Harper & Ryan have a past that Harper wants to keep a secret from her coworkers.
I enjoyed Ryan's character way more then Harper. I found him to be sweet and fun.
I didn't care for Harper's grudge towards Ryan or the miscommunication that went along with it. I might have liked Harper slightly more if we had Ryan's POV too, but since all chapters were just from her it was too much for me. I was happy with her work ethic and personal growth though.
The banter was fun at times, but then that got to be a little much for me so my ears began to wander.
Overall, not a super big fan, but there are quite a few positive reviews, so don't let mine sway you.
*Thanks to the author, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
Follow me ➡ Blog ~ Facebook
2.5 rounded up. I'm really on the hunt for a great journalism romance, and this is the second I've read this year...and so far...nope. Still haven't found it.
This was just fine. The writing was competent and unobtrusive (but definitely not lyrical or literary in any way). But it was missing...something. I don't think I fully connected to the voice. A lot of reviewers found Harper super annoying, but I don't necessarily think she was *so* annoying, but rather just forgettable. Ryan also lacked a certain compelling quality. I'm allllll about a stern no-nonsense grump, but I felt like Birchall didn't fully commit to this opposites-attract trope, because it was missing some heat. When Ryan confesses his love, I was like caught off guard. Why are you so obsessed with Harper lol? Since when? None of their interactions were 1) super hot/charged or 2) dreamy/swoon-worthy. I need at least one of those in a romance lol.
The pacing here is definitely a problem. It took like 20% before we even got Harper and Ryan interacting. That's WAY too long for me given the genre. And I WOULD categorize this as romance over women's fiction. There's some exploration of Harper's relationship with her parents and her career, but I still felt like the relationship took center stage and was ultimately more interesting. The timeline was also strange here. We got maybe like 3-4 sections of a "ten years earlier" timeline, mostly in the middle of the book. I would have preferred for most of that to be back story interspersed in the main timeline because it wasn't electric enough to be worth disrupting the forward momentum of the current timeline.
Spice-wise this was technically open door but tame. Again, it lacked a certain heat that, frankly, enemies-to-lovers requires. There were like two makeout scenes, 1 fade-to-black sex scene, and 1 open door sex scene––none of which were exciting enough for me to want to re-read.
Nothing *critically* wrong with this book––it's not, like, offensive or absurd or badly written, but it was forgettable, and I'm not sure I'd recommend unless you're particularly hungry for a journalism romance set in Britain.
This was just fine. The writing was competent and unobtrusive (but definitely not lyrical or literary in any way). But it was missing...something. I don't think I fully connected to the voice. A lot of reviewers found Harper super annoying, but I don't necessarily think she was *so* annoying, but rather just forgettable. Ryan also lacked a certain compelling quality. I'm allllll about a stern no-nonsense grump, but I felt like Birchall didn't fully commit to this opposites-attract trope, because it was missing some heat. When Ryan confesses his love, I was like caught off guard. Why are you so obsessed with Harper lol? Since when? None of their interactions were 1) super hot/charged or 2) dreamy/swoon-worthy. I need at least one of those in a romance lol.
The pacing here is definitely a problem. It took like 20% before we even got Harper and Ryan interacting. That's WAY too long for me given the genre. And I WOULD categorize this as romance over women's fiction. There's some exploration of Harper's relationship with her parents and her career, but I still felt like the relationship took center stage and was ultimately more interesting. The timeline was also strange here. We got maybe like 3-4 sections of a "ten years earlier" timeline, mostly in the middle of the book. I would have preferred for most of that to be back story interspersed in the main timeline because it wasn't electric enough to be worth disrupting the forward momentum of the current timeline.
Spice-wise this was technically open door but tame. Again, it lacked a certain heat that, frankly, enemies-to-lovers requires. There were like two makeout scenes, 1 fade-to-black sex scene, and 1 open door sex scene––none of which were exciting enough for me to want to re-read.
Nothing *critically* wrong with this book––it's not, like, offensive or absurd or badly written, but it was forgettable, and I'm not sure I'd recommend unless you're particularly hungry for a journalism romance set in Britain.
Okay, I officially need more British rom-coms in my life. Harper was such a delightful MC and her banter with Ryan was fantastic. I really enjoyed the inside look at magazine publishing and seeing Harper in her element. The flashbacks were used so well in this one and need to be the standard for authors who want to use them. I feel like I chose the wrong career - I want to be a travel editor now!
3.85
I really liked both of the main characters. I'd read a book about the sister Juliet. I adored how supportive her friends were.
I really liked both of the main characters. I'd read a book about the sister Juliet. I adored how supportive her friends were.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"A torrent of bare emotion that was so... perfect."
Second chance enemies to lovers YES PLEASE. I absolutely loved Ryan and the way he was so into Harper, it was subtle and yet you could feel it in every interaction they had. I was a bit iffy about their second break-up because it undermined his character but yeah aside from that I really really enjoyed this one. It is single pov and we get a very detailed view of journalism, specifically the celebrity genre because Harper is a celebrity writer and I just loved how her job, her dedication to it, her principles were depicted. This was a bit spicier than her previous book which was a nice surprise and it was so well done!
Second chance enemies to lovers YES PLEASE. I absolutely loved Ryan and the way he was so into Harper, it was subtle and yet you could feel it in every interaction they had. I was a bit iffy about their second break-up because it undermined his character but yeah aside from that I really really enjoyed this one. It is single pov and we get a very detailed view of journalism, specifically the celebrity genre because Harper is a celebrity writer and I just loved how her job, her dedication to it, her principles were depicted. This was a bit spicier than her previous book which was a nice surprise and it was so well done!