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magicalreads 's review for:

Heartbreak for Hire by Sonia Hartl
3.0

3.5 stars

read on my blog

rep: Korean-American side character
cw: emotional abuse

**I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

The premise of this book first caught my eye, so I was really excited to read it! Its concept seemed really fun, and I was in need of a fun book. Heartbreak for Hire was a fun romance that also dealt with pursuing your dream.

After a bad break-up and dropping out of grad school, Brinkley began working for Heartbreak for Hire, a company that specializes at getting back at men who’ve mistreated women, whether it be exes, boyfriends, or co-workers. One night, she slips and goes home with Mark, an assignment, although she panics and leaves his apartment abruptly. Later, she finds out that Heartbreak for Hire was hiring men, one of whom is Mark.

I liked the characters well enough. Brinkley has a dream of being an artist and opening a gallery, but she’s never actually really taken the steps to pursuing it. Instead, she’s content enough to work at Heartbreak for Hire, getting revenge in lieu of sticking it to her ex-boyfriend. Soon she realizes that this job is becoming more of a chore and emotionally taxing, especially as she begins to see that her boss never really cared for her in the first place. Mark’s character arc was interesting too, if a little rushed; he’s competing for a full-time professor position even though his heart isn’t really into the cutthroat nature of higher academics.

The romance was nice, and their chemistry together was obvious from the start. Even when they dislike each other, you can see their attraction for each other. I liked reading their scenes together; their bickering was entertaining to read.

At first, I found Brinkley’s relationship with her mother a bit strange because their scenes together had so much animosity. I did grow to like their dynamic more as time went on. As much as her mom nags her, she does care for Brinkley even if she has a hard time showing it.

Again, I thought the premise seemed fun at first, but honestly I think this book would have benefited from leaning into the absurdity of some of the situations instead of normalizing it. The way Heartbreak for Hire operates was already flimsy at best, but when the narrative tried to present it as a normal thing, I couldn’t help but focus on the holes in everything about it. I know that part of Brinkley’s character arc is realizing that working for Margo at H4H wasn’t what she initially thought, but she’d been there for two years and all of the red flags were immediately obvious to me.

In the end, I think too many aspects of it just didn’t tie together enough for me, but I did enjoy the book for the most part! It was fun and had a good romance. If you’re looking for a fun, quick romance to read, you may like Heartbreak for Hire!

original review:

I enjoyed this ig but so much of it was anticlimatic or just not dramatic enough for me to believe the way some things are talked about idk