This is a true enemies to lovers troupe but it is 100% unrealistic. Ben and Kate both work in politics but are on opposite sides of the party line. Ben is a republican which Kate has always vowed to steer clear of but as much as they bicker they also start to become each others biggest fans.

Now listen, I’m all about hearing the each other out and having friends with all different ideas and political views but I just don’t see how you would ever have a partner who’s thoughts and values are your exact opposite. It was the typical manly white republican versus the white liberal woman on every single aspect. This one just really missed the mark for me.

I posted a review on goodreads.

The book had good pace but the male character was a chauvinist who never developed into someone who respected the female lead. The scenes were well written and the ending was not stretched out. The story focused on the two leads and did not have fully fleshed supporting characters. I do not agree with the author on a political level so the plot was not the best for me. This book kind of romanticized republicans for all the wrong reasons.

This was so good! This was a clever book that really had me laughing. It definitely challenged political stereotypes thoughtfully.

This book did not work for me. I was hoping for a cute romance like Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory, but this just didn’t deliver. I also thought I could get past the opposing parties aspect, but in this political climate it really soured the story for me.

Absolutely agree with the summary of The Hating Game meets West Wing in the description of this book. But, it's soooo much more! A slow burn, enemies to lovers, office romance that ticks all the boxes.

If you're looking for a book adventure with tons of banter, hot chemistry and spicy heat that's off-the-charts with a story that just moves at lightning speed. So much so that when you finish you'll wish there was more!

Run, one-click or beg for this book. You won't be disappointed.

This book was just sadly not for me! I was hoping for something different but it turned out to be something I was not expecting, which is okay and I'm sure someone else would love it!

I feel like this book would have felt more appealing if I resided in the United States, I just didn't connect with the book. I did love the characters, Kate and Ben maybe in my opinion didn't exactly go together, but, I liked them as characters and would have liked them as people.

Don't get me wrong, the book was good, I just guess I wanted more and felt like I didn't connect with a highly American feeling book.

Meet You in the Middle did not work for me at all. Opposites attract can work in so many ways, but in this climate, basic human rights are at stake from one party - this is more than opposites attract, it's life or death and not appropriate for the topic of a rom-com.

DNF @ 32%
Oof where to start with this one…

The Democratic woman staffer is portrayed as naïve, overly idealistic, and unable to think or act logically. The Republican male staffer has a Good Heart but just also cares about making sure we can pay for things. And he wants to help but she won’t let him. He forces himself into a role protecting her in a way that felt gross to me. This literally read like Republican propaganda “we are good people with a bad rap because of the media!” I was also uncomfortable when the MCs were really arguing - the male MC said some awfully victim-blamey things.

It’s possible that pre-2016 Brooke may have enjoyed this book as an easy read and moved on, but 2022 Brooke couldn’t take it. I just fundamentally don’t agree that politics can be divorced from real world values as a person. Every stance people pawn off as “just politics” has implications in the real world for real people and having blinders on about that for the sake of a rom com is just not possible for me.

It’s also possible that if both characters were caricatures of their own parties (but then how would they fall in love?) or if both were portrayed similarly ambitious/caring/intelligent I could have liked it. But alas, that was not this book.

Meet You in the Middle was a delightful rom-com that was a joy to read. Devon Daniels put together a beautiful story.

Cute and feisty rom-com about to people with different political view. Such a fun book to read! Thank you to netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

I actually could not finish this, I kept losing interest in the characters and the whole plot. I guess this was not for me.

I gotta stop reading these kind of political romances, I never like them half as much as I expect to. And this one downright angered me. I’m mad that I even requested it, but hey, at this point the least I can do is write an honest review. It was not good, it was just weird republican propaganda and the main female character had no self respect, the end.

Meet You in the Middle is author Devon Daniel's debut book and it should be a hit. This reader is hoping for follow-ups as I want to know what happened to other characters!

I was actually pleasantly surprised with this book. When I first requested it, I didn't think about how there would be actual politics involved in the plotline (I know). It caused me to almost DNF the book. However, I pushed through and I am so happy I did. There is minimal politics and it was written from both sides of the political scale, which I appreciated. It didn't feel like the author was trying to push a political agenda.
This is a classic case of grumpy sunshine trope and I am living for it. This book very much gives me The Hating Game vibes. Enemies to lovers, slow-burn, forbidden workplace romance? YES.
The author did a great job with the sexual tension and little moments between the characters that makes for an amazingly hot slow burn. This book was sexy, fun, and I would definitely recommend!

This one did not work for me. Each of the main characters felt like they were written as a stereotypical Liberal and Conservative. It's very difficult to argue that with the current state of the United States' political climate that the differences between parties are just differences of opinion. If the author wanted to do an across the aisle romance, it might have been better suited to a small town romance and having it set - at minimum - a decade ago.

Actual rating: 2/5 stars

I honestly can't even describe this book because it made me so angry but it's basically about a white liberal woman who feels icky at first for being attracted to a republican man but ends up realizing he's not that bad.

This book didn't even dive into the serious topics it could have but it really just lets it be acceptable that a woman feels okay overlooking her values on human rights for a man. It is allowing white women to feel okay for voting for men who hurt them and human rights, it's okay to stay married to men who are like this, be friends with people that are like this.

I do like politics in my romances occasionally and maybe I'm just a liberal snowflake who wants everybody to agree with her, but I can't compromise on human rights. It made the book so unbelievable for me I just couldn't enjoy it.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group, Devon Daniels, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had a lot of hope for this one!! Love a good enemies to lovers trope, but this one didn’t live up to the hype for me. It took a while to get into the storyline, and then when I did, it felt very repetitive at times. I don’t feel like the story was politically neutral at all and felt like Kate was made to compromise on her opinions too much. The gun range scene was cringeworthy and made me, a democrat with guns, terrified while reading. I thought I liked this book a lot more until I sat down to dissect it for this review and realized as a whole, this one flopped for me. Maybe political romances are just not my jam.

This book was... <em>decent</em> but politically-engaged readers might find it too pandering in our current political climate. Something piqued the interest of past-me enough to request an arc, but all current-me took away from the book was the renewed belief that my romantic partner and I <em>must</em> align politically.* Boiling two divisive political identities into a "label"—while writing one's main characters as architects of real-world bills put forth by their respective political parties—assumes that the political leanings and allegiance to a major-party platform is, after the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections, removed from one's core beliefs.

*Also the sex scenes were cringey af. Describing the 6'3" (??) protagonist as "all cuts and angles and hard lines, every segment of his body chiseled and perfectly defined" with a "<em>massive</em>" dick "miles longer and inches thicker than" the thin and conventionally pretty love interest has ever seen is lazy.

Perhaps it's the climate but while at first I was excited to read a political romantic comedy, this one fell short for me.