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A review by vwalklate
Enemies To Lovers, Vol 1 by Emily Hemenway, Natalia Andrews, Rebel Carter, A. Perveen, Lauren Connolly, Marie Lipscomb, Inga Gardner
5.0
An anthology dedicated to my favourite trope - yes please! A fab collection of well written short stories, not a bad one in the bunch, I enjoyed them all. Individual reviews below (spoilers present but hopefully hidden):
SUGAR AND SPICE by Rebel Carter
4/5 - I'm not a fan of the fake marriage trope but I liked the characters and the Alaska setting. Daisy and Austin were both very sweet but also hilarious in their antics and conflict, the E2L theme was on point.I would've liked to have seen the impromptu baking competition on the page though, I was surprised that part was skipped over. I loved all the mention of cakes and bread :)
WORKS OF FRICTION by Marie Lipscomb
4.5/5 - Oh sweet, broken Ben. Oh sweet, fabulously confident Jess. I shipped this couple so hard from the start. The whole story was just *chef's kiss* E2L wonderfulness and it was great to see an older, divorced male MC. I'd happily read a full length book dedicated to their HEA epilogue, wouldn't even need a plot tbh, just more sex and humour and happiness (and alien erotica :-)) My joint favourite story.
CUL-DE-SAC CUPID by Lauren Connolly
4/5 - The author's story in the previous 'Only One Bed' anthology was one of my favourites so I was thrilled to see another member of the Buchanan family in this book as a prequel. The slow burn was great, and although I usually prefer dual POV in romance, this worked quite well from just Diana's side, as Melony didn't actually know they were enemies. It was nice to see Mel's siblings back on the page.
LOATHE TO LOVE by A. Perveen
4/5 - This was lovely! The 'best friend of my brother' trope isn't one of my favourites but this story was beautifully done with intricate worldbuilding and a big nod to the importance of family and friends, which always gets a thumbs up from me. I liked the touches of native dialogue (Urdu I think?), the parrot was adorable and I'm lowkey obsessed with Mahnoor's brother Mustafa, I hope we get to read his HEA in a future story!
QUEEN OF THIEVES by Natalia Andrews
4/5 - This had a dreamy, poetic quality that was very different to the others but lovely to read. I liked the historical aspect of the ruins and how the American setting held wild Irish and fiery Spanish touches. I wouldn't have known it was set in the fifties if it hadn't been explicitly stated, though.I'm also a bit iffy about the sea, so having both MCs fall in/go under at points was hard to read, even though it wasn't lingered on. But it was still a sweet story with a satisfying conclusion.
THE FLIP by Inga Gardner
4/5 stars - I loved Jackie's hands-on capability and how Ian wasn't threatened by that. The slow burn build up was great, as was the sex when they got there. Not sure aboutJackie's friend Maya forgetting their teenage vow to hate Ian forever - I reckon everyone remembers their teen angst stage in acute detail! - but all in all this was a great E2L story. I kind of want to flip a house now!
HARD TO SWALLOW by Emily Hemenway
4.5/5 - Ooh I do so love a suave Frenchman, especially one who can cook. This felt very quick, almost instalust-esq, but because the history between them was written so clearly, it absolutely worked. The descriptions of the food were melt-in-the-mouth amazing, the sex was hot and the little touches of French dialogue were great. Also loved the scene at the end, in his restaurant - nothing better than a hero admitting the heroine was right all along :-) My other joint favourite story!
SUGAR AND SPICE by Rebel Carter
4/5 - I'm not a fan of the fake marriage trope but I liked the characters and the Alaska setting. Daisy and Austin were both very sweet but also hilarious in their antics and conflict, the E2L theme was on point.
WORKS OF FRICTION by Marie Lipscomb
4.5/5 - Oh sweet, broken Ben. Oh sweet, fabulously confident Jess. I shipped this couple so hard from the start. The whole story was just *chef's kiss* E2L wonderfulness and it was great to see an older, divorced male MC. I'd happily read a full length book dedicated to their HEA epilogue, wouldn't even need a plot tbh, just more sex and humour and happiness (and alien erotica :-)) My joint favourite story.
CUL-DE-SAC CUPID by Lauren Connolly
4/5 - The author's story in the previous 'Only One Bed' anthology was one of my favourites so I was thrilled to see another member of the Buchanan family in this book as a prequel. The slow burn was great, and although I usually prefer dual POV in romance, this worked quite well from just Diana's side, as Melony didn't actually know they were enemies. It was nice to see Mel's siblings back on the page.
LOATHE TO LOVE by A. Perveen
4/5 - This was lovely! The 'best friend of my brother' trope isn't one of my favourites but this story was beautifully done with intricate worldbuilding and a big nod to the importance of family and friends, which always gets a thumbs up from me. I liked the touches of native dialogue (Urdu I think?), the parrot was adorable and I'm lowkey obsessed with Mahnoor's brother Mustafa, I hope we get to read his HEA in a future story!
QUEEN OF THIEVES by Natalia Andrews
4/5 - This had a dreamy, poetic quality that was very different to the others but lovely to read. I liked the historical aspect of the ruins and how the American setting held wild Irish and fiery Spanish touches. I wouldn't have known it was set in the fifties if it hadn't been explicitly stated, though.
THE FLIP by Inga Gardner
4/5 stars - I loved Jackie's hands-on capability and how Ian wasn't threatened by that. The slow burn build up was great, as was the sex when they got there. Not sure about
HARD TO SWALLOW by Emily Hemenway
4.5/5 - Ooh I do so love a suave Frenchman, especially one who can cook. This felt very quick, almost instalust-esq, but because the history between them was written so clearly, it absolutely worked. The descriptions of the food were melt-in-the-mouth amazing, the sex was hot and the little touches of French dialogue were great. Also loved the scene at the end, in his restaurant -