I really tried with this one. The author is not a bad writer, but somehow this just never took off for me. So many words, so much prose, so much dialogue getting nowhere and saying nothing meaningful. I think some judicious editing would have helped.. this was simply too long, too meandering, too involved, too many characters, too much of everything and yet nothing of importance. I just sadly got bored. I think there is the bones of a good story here but it isn’t there yet. The characters never engaged me and the story was just blah!

Overlong and self indulgent. Sorry., but I didn’t like it.

Headliners by Lucy Parker is another hit in the London Celebrities series. The novel focuses on the tempestuous relationship between the two rival TV personalities in the series, Nick Davenport and Sabrina Carlton and the shenanigans that ensue when they work together on a project. The fifth novel in the series offers all of the brilliance of former Lucy Parker novels with humor, ridiculous situations, delightful side characters, and slow burn enemies-to-lovers that will keep you invested in the HEA until the very last page.

I love the books by Lucy Parker! This is another one in the London Celebrities-series and she manages to keep it fresh and different every time.

The last book - The Austen Playbook - introduced us to Sabrina Carlton, the sister of Freddy who is a television show host. Her foe at that time was Nick Davenport with his 'Davenport Report' who found out her families' secret and decided to go public with it. Aagghh. Sabrina was scrutinized for something she did not know and did not do.

In 'Headliners' Sabrina is offered to do a morning television show, actually her last chance. Nick, in trouble because he was caught venting about the big boss, is also in trouble and supposed to be her co-host. They have until Christmas to get the ratings up for 'Wake Me Up London' or they lose out to another host and might not have jobs at all. So they put on their happy face and go to work, even when they realize someone wants to sabotage their show.

And in those weeks leading up to Christmas, they also slowly realize they might like each other more than they want to admit.

This is a wonderful story (should have been out for Christmas!!). I love the writing of Lucy Parker, where people are flawed and real people. I enjoyed this very much. Highly recommend.

This will likely come as no surprise to readers who have experienced, and loved, Parker's previous London Celebrities books but HEADLINERS just made me so happy. This book was like a warm, funny, sweet hug and it was everything I wanted it to be and everything I needed right now.

<I>This was Nick Davenport. He was <b>Nick</b>. She kept silently repeating that as a sort of protective mantra. But it was starting to -- it was starting to mean something different.</I>

I'm a huge fan of Parker's opposites attract stories, her grumpy heroes, her lovely heroines, but this particular match up was a real hate-to-love. Or maybe extremely dislike, not quite hate. In book four, Nick did something truly terrible that impacted Sabrina and her family. I couldn't wait to see how their dynamic would shift into something a lot less murdery and a whole lot swoonier. And the author, and her characters, did not disappoint. Every little bit of common ground won was hard earned, every brush of the shoulders, every touch of the hand, every single interaction was.. palpable. It was such a great build-up and I loved every second of it.

"<I>Nick's no longer the one dimensional comic-book foe, then?</I>"
"<b>No. It's very upsetting.</b>"

Not only did this match-up work for me, but individually so did the characters. The cherry ontop of this sundae was also seeing almost all of the familiar faces from the previous books and, with this particular story set around the holidays, it really reinforced that feeling of warmth and loveliness that I almost always get from the author's writing.

If you've loved prior books in this series, I have no doubt you'll love this one, too.

Nick Davenport's job prospects have taken a wrong turn since he was overheard badmouthing one of the higher-ups at his TV station. Sabrina Carlton's star has fallen since her family drama was splashed all over the tabloids thanks to none other than her arch-nemesis...Nick. Now their only hope at breathing new life into their careers as news presenters is to work together as co-hosts of a morning show. While it's basically their worst nightmare (they hate each other AND it's fluff pieces like "Best Toys for Christmas" rather than real journalism), they both know they don't have much choice. They're dreading it but also hoping they can figure out a way to make it work so they don't have to find new jobs. But when someone appears to be sabotaging them by mis-cuing teleprompters and causing rogue set pieces to crash down on unsuspecting guests, Nick and Sabrina suddenly find themselves on the same side for once. And between working together to find out who's behind all the pranks and actually enjoying the whole morning show thing that they had both originally scoffed at, they discover they don't actually hate each other nearly as much as they thought. Can Sabrina forgive Nick for the terrible betrayal in the past and move on to something that looks an awful lot like love? And will Nick give up his dream of being a hard-hitting newsman to find real happiness that looks completely different from anything he'd ever expected?

This is the fifth book in the London Celebrities series, and I'm not sure I could pick a favorite installment. So many romance series follow a certain formula and just rotate in new characters, but these books are all so different while maintaining the same charm and familiar faces. It's always fresh, and it's never boring. Some of the main characters have been actors, producers, directors, journalists...they all move in the same circles in London's West End, but the story is always unique and unpredictable in each installment. Kudos to Lucy Parker for coming up with ideas to keep this series going in new directions. (I'm really hopeful that Griff's brother, Charlie, will get his own book at some point...hint, hint!!)

The writing is top-notch and clever, but it's also smooth and easy to read. There's witty banter, there are charming British-isms (which I always enjoy), and the characters are all likable but flawed in believable ways that make them more real and human. These are the perfect escapist romance novels, with some great London flavor to make them extra interesting. I really hope Parker keeps going with this series!

**Thank you to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN - Carina Press for the fun ARC in exchange for my honest review!**

For years, rival TV presenters Sabrina Carlton and Nick Davenport have publicly snubbed one another. The public can’t get enough of their feud, but after Nick airs Sabrina’s family scandals to all of Britain, the gloves are off. They can barely be in the same room together—but these longtime enemies are about to become the unlikeliest of cohosts.

With their reputations on the rocks, Sabrina and Nick have one last chance to save their careers. If they can resurrect a sinking morning show, they’ll still have a future in television. But with ratings at an all-time low and a Christmas Eve deadline to win back the nation’s favour.

5 STARS!
Lucy Parker has been on such a roll for me since Pretty Face - every new book just ticks all of my boxes and she's fast become one of my favourite authors!

The chemistry between Nick and Sabrina was so acute! I loved that they both recognised it existed but didn't just use it as an excuse to fall right into bed together before their relationship could develop - I find that this happens a lot in hate-to-love books and like my queens Mariana Zapata & Sally Thorne, Lucy is developing that chemistry and friendship first - it seriously makes ALL the difference.

I wish this had come out a little earlier, because the timing of reading this book was perfect to me with Christmas right around the corner - I'm not sure if it is really intended to be a Christmas romance but that's certainly what it felt like to me - and I loved it!

Nick & Sabrina both have very satisfying character development arcs throughout this book and I that is also one of my favourite things about Lucy Parker - all of her character pairings work because the characters become the best versions of themselves when they're together - and I think all great romances should be like this.

Seriously so in love with this book - and cannot wait to have it physically in my hands when it is published!

This review was based on an Advanced Reader Copy provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I think Headliners is my favorite Lucy Parker book so far. (Her books just keep getting better, since I think I say that every time I read one.) I would say that you should read the previous in the series, The Austen Playbook, before this one just to better understand some of the background. Nick and Sabrina are professional rivals - both TV presenters on different shows on the same network. They never really liked each other, but after Nick reveals Sabrina's family secrets on air they become full blown enemies. Unhappy with both of them, the network decides to put them together on their morning talk show, and they'll have to work together to increase ratings and keep their jobs. I absolutely loved both Nick and Sabrina. Nick regrets what he did to Sabrina, and he's fundamentally good and kind behind the ambition. And Sabrina is lovely as well - caring and a lot of fun. It was so great to read about two people in their mid-30s who sort of have it together professionally, who are able to communicate (for the most part), but who have complicated family dynamics that don't just magically get solved. (And as a side note I appreciate that neither of these two want kids - a fact that was mentioned a couple times offhand but not dwelled on. Thank you Lucy Parker!!) Parker writes my favorite kind of romance novel plots - funny and complicated (but not overly so), with people who have issues to deal with but aren't kept apart by dumb things or miscommunication. This whole book was delightful and I cannot wait to read the next one.

I ADORED this book! I’ve read all the others in the series and Lucy Parker is a fantastic storyteller. All of the couples have been fun to watch fall in love but there was something special about Sabrina and Nick’s enemies-to-lovers story. While the other books aren’t exactly required reading before diving in to this one, you will be missing out if you don’t start at the beginning. I would say that Freddie’s book (Sabrina’s sister) does set up Sabrina and Nick’s romance perfectly so it should be read first, at the very least.

Sabrina and Nick are such an interesting pair of opposites. I love a grumpy hero and a smart, sassy heroine that can irritate him into falling in love. Parker achieves this wonderfully with Sabrina and Nick as they are forced to work together and learn about each other. Their story is funny and sweet and steamy all at the same time. And the Christmas backdrop is lovely. Definitely a must read!

What a great enemies to lovers story! Nick turned out to be a doll. I really hope the next book is about his brother Iain. It was great seeing characters from past books, too.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I had a difficult time reading this romance. I'm not sure if it was the pace or the characters. I felt a bit lost like things were happening fast and I couldn't keep up. The writing style was hard to follow and I didn't feel the chemistry between the two main love interest.
Just couldn't get into it.

Another fizzy, swoony romcom from Lucy Parker’s London Celebrity series, this one set in the cutthroat world of broadcast news. Sabrina and Nick are rival evening TV presenters who’ve just gotten some bad news for Christmas: the parent company that recently bought both their networks is shaking things up. And the two of them are going to cohost a struggling morning talk show instead. Not only that, but their monthlong holiday stint is only a tryout, and they could both be out of a job come January.

The two have never gotten along, and now they have to make nice daily on live TV. Ugh. But behind the scenes, things are even less settled. Is Sabrina really as stuck up as Nick thinks she is? Is he as cold as she thinks? Both can admit (to themselves) that the other is extremely attractive, but that doesn’t matter if they don’t even like each other. Or do they? Throw in some mysterious backstage sabotage and a cast of likable characters, and who knows what might happen.

I enjoyed this book enormously and found both protagonists endearing without being overly sweet. Some genuinely funny hijinks occur, and there are moments of real warmth and emotion. My only complaint is that Parker isn’t churning out new books fast enough!

I have read the other books in this series and enjoyed them, so it wasn't a difficult decision to request an ARC of this book. It isn't a well publicised series in general,but trust me, it is worth reading. Headliners may even be my favourite book of the series. The drama was a little less intense, the romance was very sweet, the character arcs met my expectations, and I happened to enjoy the plot. What more can you ask for?
One would think that following the last book (which I highly recommend reading before this book if you truly want to understand Nick and Sabrina's footing) that Nick would be much more difficult to like than he is. Not so. Sabrina, bless her, has had a rough time of it, and I really expected she might self-sabotage at some point. I was thrilled to be really wrong with how things played out. This was a quick, easy read with an enjoyable plot, good characters, good banter, and it left me with a smile on my face.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love this series and I trust Lucy Parker. It's calming to know that if I read a romance the couple won't be broken up by a stupid misunderstanding. Instead the relationship is between two adults acting like adults.

Nick and Sabrina have a rivalry going on but Nick makes it worse by outing a family secret that hurts Sabrina and her family along with Nick's best friend. After bad mouthing the big boss, Nick's career is looking as badly as Sabrina's. In order to keep working, both of them end up working the morning talk show and have to bring the ratings up or lose their jobs at the network. And someone is trying to sabotage their chance at succeeding.

This romance is interesting because in the last book, The Austen Playbook, you can clearly tell that Nick is in love with Sabrina. What he did to her was wrong and he doesn't back away from acknowledging his fault. Sabrina has to forgive him before they start their relationship. Her finding out that he's not an evil person is a surprise for her. Watching her slowly trust him is the romantic part of the story.

Review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

I have adored each book in this series and this book is no exception. Enemies to lovers is a well loved but difficult trope to take on and Lucy Parker does it smashingly. The animosity is real but the turn around still feels authentic and didn’t make me feel uncomfortable with everything that had happened previously. I love the characters, both Sabrina and Nick as the main characters and their friends and family as supporting roles. I hope that Parker decides to continue this series because it brings me so much joy. Overall, this was a lovely book and I thoroughly recommend.

At several times during Headliners, our heroine Sabrina Carlton sarcastically wonders if her extremely bad luck is due to cosmic irony (aka the universe's method of laughing at her). Like Sabrina, I also attributed my present circumstances to the universe. Unlike Sabrina, it wasn't cosmic irony but rather cosmic fortune. This book is so freaking good that I paused every two chapters and profusely thanked the unknown entity upstairs for delivering this book to my tablet (all right, it isn't unknown. Thanks, awesome Carina Press publicist!).

A few things right out the gate:

1) This will be spoiler-free flailing. But if you want to read without knowing anything, then stop right here. I loved it. The end.

2) Unlike the previous London Celebrities books, I don't think Headliners works as a standalone. A lot of the conflict stems from events that transpired in The Austen Playbook, and I highly recommend that you read that first. Will you be totally lost if you haven't read The Austen Playbook? Well, no, but I think you would lose nuance and fail to appreciate character/plot development.

3) Aside from the first and last chapters, Headliners is set in London during December. I said this on social media already, but I'll say it again. I was lucky enough to once visit London near Christmas, and it was the most magical December of my life. This book is the closest I’ve felt to recapturing that magic. If the visual aesthetics of Last Christmas's movie trailer appealed to you, then this is what it feels like (I promise there is no ghost ruining the HEA. Headliners is 100% a comedic and endearing romance that ends happily).

However, it is NOT a Christmas romance. Since Sabrina and Nick are hosts of a morning show, they occasionally attend holiday-themed events (e.g., a Christmas whodunnit murder train). And they hunt down out-of-stock toys for the children in their lives. The festiveness is in the setting: snow, sparkly lights, yummy pastries, company holiday parties, a looming deadline that they need to get ratings up by Christmas Eve, charity events, and uncomfortable family relationships (hey, that last one is definitely a marker of the holiday season). But the actual holiday is not relevant. The book ends before Christmas! It's very much a story set in December but not focused on Christmas.

Okay, now on to the squeeing. This will be short because I want to keep it spoiler-free. If I ramble on too long, I don't want to accidentally ruin the magic of discovering the best parts of the book when you read it. Here are some spoiler-free and vague things that I love. It's going to be numbers again because I like numerical order and if I hit ten, I'll know I've talked too much!

1) Slytherin/Slytherin match-ups feed my soul. Ambitious career-oriented individuals who have really good reasons to dislike each other but begrudging have private respect? Perfection. Enemies-to-lovers is my favorite trope, and the level of humor and snark in every line kept it from veering into uncomfortable "oh, they really hate each other and not in a sexy way" levels. I mean, I want some hate, but I don't want loathing to the point of "oh no, nothing is going to solve this." I am not the biggest fan of hate-sex and that wasn't here. They only have sex once they have mutual admiration of each other and like each other! Yay, liking-each-other-sex! Though I will admit that everyone thinking that they were shagging (when they weren't) was hilarious. I'm down for imaginary hate-sex it seems!

2) I loved that they both individually expressed desires to not have children and instead be adoring aunts/uncles. They never have a conversation of "Oh, I don't want children" together but they both think it so much that I'm confident that they're on the same page. I'm always on board for characters who love children but realize that it's not a responsibility they want.

3) Nick really f'ed up big time in the last book, and Sabrina has excellent reasons for loathing him beyond professional rivalries. Not going into much detail, but I really appreciated how his backstory explained some of his actions and his eventual sincere apology. And not just to Sabrina, but also to Griff (the hero of the last book and Nick's ex-friend). It didn't feel contrite or unearned. Nick isn't perfect, but he isn't some melodramatic villain either. Sabrina realizing that fact is one of my favorite parts of the book.

4) The shadows of parents, both dead and alive. Ooof. This was painful to read but so excellently drawn out. Nick and Sabrina have different but complicated relationships with their fathers (and mothers, too). They both suffer from gaping wounds of grief, regret, and bitterness. And things aren't 100% solved and tied up neatly into a bow, but I was really satisfied with how they confronted the past and came to Important Revelations. I realize this paragraph explains nothing but that's what trying to be spoiler-free is, unfortunately. Just know that I really appreciated the exploration of parental relationships. Not only for Nick and Sabrina, but for minor characters as well (I cried buckets during the scene when Sabrina is talking to REDACTED about her dead mother). F'ed up parental relationships and grief are on full display in Headliners. I'd go so far to say that it might be the main theme.

5) The morning show was brilliant. Utterly brilliant. I wasn't sure how I'd feel now that London Celebrities wasn't focusing on theater anymore, but IT IS SO GOOD. Every new day brought new hilarious segments and guests. I'm biting my tongue now because I really want to give examples, but I won't. Read it, y'all. You'll thank me between giggles.

6) Can I just say how much I endorse the London Celebrities Cinematic Universe? These books mostly work as standalones, but it is also SUCH a treat for readers who have read the entire series. From cameos of previous MCs to minor allusions, it's all there for eagle-eyed fans. At one point, I shrieked when there was a mention of a familiar opera singer (the mother of a previous MC). It's exciting to realize that even though we've left the theater, they all run around in similar circles. And it's not just old characters that I love. With every new introduction of an intriguing secondary character, I'm praying for a new book. Headliners introduced a few rugby players and the LCCU's equivalent of The Great British Bake-Off. Now I want those books, too (as though I'm not already crossing my fingers for a million other books. I want Charlie's story really bad!).

Okay, I'm already at #6 and show no signs of wanting to stop. Which means I really should stop because my fingers will soon overrule any spoiler-free caution. I really freaking loved this book, which isn't surprising this series strokes my id perfectly. I hope you'll love it, too.

Disclaimer: I was given a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I have interacted with the author on social media, but these are my honest feelings about the book.

Nick Davenport and Sabrina Carlton are petty rivals on and off tv, but there’s good cause for it…up until the point where both their careers are suddenly in jeopardy. A twist of events forces them to co-host the dreaded early-morning show which no one bothers with, since it’s not quite the ‘serious’ stuff compared to what they used to do, and with the list of grievances sitting between them, neither’s looking good at all. This status quo doesn’t look like it’s about to change, until mishap after mishap spring the comedy into the story and Nick/Sabrina find themselves in various compromising positions which make everyone else think that they are public enemies but secret shaggers.

I’ve never felt so rewarded by a Lucy Parker book as I have with ‘Headliners’. (To be fair, I had a good feeling about it when I read the blurb and got started.) I can’t entirely remember what transpired at the end of the last book even, but as a standalone, ‘Headliners’ functions perfectly legitimately. Characters from Parker’s previous books who have already found their HEA do flit in and out however, and if you’ve not read the rest of the books, there’s a bit of an insider-wink-wink sort of joke that you could miss out on.

Still, Parker crafts a holiday rom-com with so much panache and style and comedy—it’s hilarious to read how one thing after another befalls the ill-fated couple as they wear out the enemies-to-lovers trope to the fullest. In the previous books, I’d always found a particular sort of imbalance when it came to quirk, dialogue and characterisation, but ‘Headliners’ seemed to have perfected these somehow: not too many quirks, snappy and funny dialogue and spot-on ‘Love-Actually’ type characters. Might be a bit of a bias here, but I’m voting this as Parker’s crowning glory.

Appreciate writing and premise. Characters treat each other as adults. Feigen and father subplot seems tacked on. Overall a highly enjoyable read easily recommended to others.