Enemies to lovers is one of my all time favourite troops, throw in a bit of angst, sarcasm, laughter and romance and you have a fantastic book...
I always go into a romance book with the same perceptions, it will be warm and fuzzy and everything in between, there will be a happy ending and it will leave me smiling. This book was different in that some of the plot was a little bit different but in the best possible way, it wasnt just the normal run of the mill rom com it was much more than that and i loved it, i especially loved the writing style and rooted for all the characters.

Loved it

An enemies to lovers romance with competing apps! Annika and Hudson met and spent a steamy week together in Vegas- where she confided her plans to start an app to help couples mend their relationships (Make UP). Now, several years later, Hudson's got an app too- Break Up- which does the obvious opposite. He's, sadly, doing a lot better than she is and now they're in competition for funding AND he's moved in next door. You know how this is going to go but Menon does a nice job with the trope. Hudson isn't as odious as he seems at first glance, which Annika knows, in her heart if not her head. There's good dialogue (and some giggles) as well as an optimistic outlook. I liked Annika and Hudson and found myself rooting for them. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A fast fun read.

I’m so disappointed! I was so excited for this book. It sounded like it would be such a good romcom. But 100 pages in, I knew it wasn’t for me.

To start off, Annika was infuriating. She was childish and petty and just an overall brat for pretty much the entirety of this book. She never got any type of development or growth, in the end everything just worked out exactly like she wanted it to. Also Annika goes from accusing Hudson of stealing an idea she had for years and told him about the first time they met to telling him she had this idea partly because of him? What? What is the truth? That made no sense!

Hudson wasn’t much better either. He just had no personality, I had absolutely no interest in him. His excuse for why he created such a terrible app was so stupid... you knew her for 7 days! get over yourself. He annoyed me so much from the very first few moments he showed up. He says he has been in love with Annika since their first meeting but I just did not see that all with the way he treated her/acted (and his excuse of doing that because he wants to have her close? yeah, I’m sorry but did not buy that. At all).


Both of these characters treated each other so badly. They were so damn childish with their fights and trying to one up each other. There was absolutely no chemistry between them at all. The enemies to lovers aspect was anticlimactic at best, there was barely any development. I couldn’t stand any of their scenes together, they literally sounded like children. There was no spark between them at all.


Honestly, I didn’t even care about the side characters either. They weren’t bad or anything like that, but at the end of the day they also were not memorable at all either.


The only reason I’m giving this 2 stars is because I enjoyed the girl power in this book quite a lot. If there is one thing I admired about Annika is how she didn’t give up and how she was so focused on her business and on her dream, and how she made sure to inspire young girls to do the same. That was a positive in the story for me.


Overall, this was a let down. I’m disappointed as i was so excited for the book and happy when I got the opportunity to read and review it early! But it just wasn’t for me.

Loved this storyline, from the characters to the overall premise, it was written really well! I loved the interactions and chemistry between Annika and Hudson, and thought their relationship evolved really well.
I do have to agree with others though, on the point that the author's YA novels are more impressive. They have super swoony scenes that I didn't quite feel as much in this book. Nonetheless, Menon is a great author!

Ahhh! This was one my most anticipated reads of 2021, and I was so excited to be approved for an arc. I’m so sad to say it didn’t quite live up to expectations. This is Sandhya/Lily’s first adult romance book after her very successful YA books and this book shows she can definitely bring the heat ; ) The problem I had with the book though was that I really didn’t like the main character until over halfway through the book. If you don’t like the character it’s hard to be engaged and invested in the love story and the happily ever after. Ultimately I enjoyed the ending, but reading the first half felt like a chore.

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. That is how Annika feels. She brings couples closer together with her upstart app Make Up. She made it so lost lonely people could come to believe in the power of love again. And ends up in direct competition to her one, well seven, night stand, Hudson and his new app, Break Up, which allows you to send someone to break off your relationship.

This book relies heavily on the enemy to lover trope, which is not really one of my favorites. I really wanted to love this book as it is reminiscent of 90s rom coms, but it is missing something to make it stick out. It will appeal to many as a cute, charming romance.

This was a really cute book. I loved the concept of two competing dating app developers pitted against each other, and the name of the apps was creative too. I didn’t initially like Hudson, but he grew on me as the book went on. Annika was a character I loved and was rooting for from the beginning. The side characters in this book were really likable, and I would love to see a book on June and Ziggy in the future! A great escape from reality.

I often try not to compare an author’s previous works when reading their current works, but in this case, it’s hard not to.

I sadly found this story lacking the heart that comes hand in hand with Menon’s YA novels. But I will say this was a fine enough story if you just want a romance to take your mind off of things. I guess I was just expecting a bit too much.

I was lucky to get a free eARC of this book to review. This is a great rom-com story, with crazy shenanigans and the cheesy adorable moments that one looks for in a contemporary romance. I have loved everything that I have read previously by this author, and this is no different.

I think my favorite thing about this book is how well this story is written. This is Menon’s first step into adult romance, and it was so much fun to see how she can craft a story without being contained due to a younger age group. One thing that I have really noticed while reading is how well she can write tension! It is strong with our main characters, and I loved every minute of it.

I was hooked by this story, and devoured this book in two days. Menon can really grab your attention and make you want to do nothing except read the stories that she crafts. I can’t wait to see what other books she continues to write. She has a fan in me, for sure!

Make Up Break Up is about Annika Dev who created the app Make Up and Hudson Craft who developed the App Break Up and how they become rivals months after they spent a week together in Vegas.

I liked Annika, Hudson and the secondary characters, but have to say that this book was a bit drawn out. Also in the last 20% more stuff happens with a small plot twist. I think adding or exchanging some chapters with Hudson’s POV would maybe help shorten the story and help understand why he was doing things the way he was doing them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin for this ebook arc in exchange for an honest review.

this was a fun story - i originally decided to pick this up even if it was outside my comfort zone because i wanted something cute and fun. i haven't read anything by lily menon in her dimpleverse so after picking this up i'm definitely intrigued to check them out. the writing style is very easy to get into and this just encapsulates a fun story with slow enemies to lovers relationship so if you want something that's quick and easy to read and will give you feels.

Make Up Break Up was one of my highly anticipated reads for 2021, unfortunately the story did not work as well for me as I hoped. I really struggled with the heroine’s behaviors, at times she felt much younger than she was supposed to be. This was a DNF for me.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A quick glance at her backlist will tell you that Sandhya Menon loves the opposites-attract trope, and that has not changed with her adult debut under the pen name Lily Menon. However, while the trope has worked well in her YA books, particularly her three Dimple and Rishi books, Make Up Break Up feels like a poor imitation of that book and a lack of understanding of what made it work.

The one positive is the heroine, Annika. She isn’t always the most likable, but I admired her drive and her dedication to her company. If the book had focused more on her growth in a more women’s fiction direction or had a more compelling love interest, I would have said this book was much better.

I can’t tell you one unique thing about Hudson. He runs a rival company and he and Annika hooked up in the past. Big whoop.

And they also have radically different approaches when it comes to love. Oh my gosh, was this hammered in so much. What makes an opposites-attract or enemies-to-lovers work is the gradual realization that they have something deeper in common. But when the common denominator is lust, and one participant isn’t well defined on top of that, it just got old fast.

I don’t think this is a completely horrible book, and if you’re looking for a light read to engage you for a grief period, you can’t go wrong, as it is very fast paced and engaging, in spite of the issues that prompted frustration. And it’s entirely possible that my bias for her YA books has tainted my perspective, as there are others who’ve read the book and enjoyed it far more.

Thanks for a copy to review of this book I liked this book I wanted to love it because I love this author and her other books I loved so much and I love some enemies to lovers so much but this one fell a little flat for me I felt like the characters had a lot of miss Communication and they were very petty and mean but I still liked it didn’t love it but I will continue to read this author

Make Up Break Up is a different kind of look at the tech industry and love in a tech-driven world today.

At first, Annika's reactions to Hudson (the two main characters) and his business grew quickly annoying. I know you're thinking Enemies to Lover trope, but it looked more like it would be Lovers to Enemies to Lovers, which I found curious. There didn't seem to be any reason, other than a weak belief that one stole the other's idea, for having gone from lovers to enemies. They both thought of the time they spent together in Vegas as idyllic, which I found even more perplexing. But, the picture is made much clearer by the end, and I could have smacked myself in the head for not seeing it. I was so busy expecting the story to follow a genre formula that I missed out on many clues and a-ha moments explaining how things got to where they are once the novel begins. Then, it all made sense. I still felt like Annika's reactions were over the top and increasingly annoying, but there is a reason for it – no matter how misguided and ironic.

The story carries in it profound messages about relationships and what makes them last. Communication and commitment to a relationship's potential are two of the most referred to, as well as the importance of break-ups needing to be difficult and handled face-to-face. If it's too easy to leave a relationship without talking things out, you might miss out on something that would have changed your life forever. Never lose sight of the fairy tale because, in this crazy world where so much goes wrong, you need the fairy tale to make it all worth it.

My favorite character is June. She is Annika's best friend, supportive to a fault, and the most intriguing computer geek you will ever meet. She is a beautiful fashionista and Hollywood socialite at home at a social event as she is at a comic-con-like event dressed as Princess Leia. She debunks the stereotype of the quintessential basement dweller. I loved that about her!

If you are a romantic soul who believes in fairy tale endings, you are going to love this tech-inspired version for the 21st century.

Annika Dev is creating a life changing app called Make Up. It helps people resolve differences in relationships with very advanced technology. On the other hand, after a week long fling in Vegas, Hudson Craft seems to have stolen her idea and created an app called Break Up, which allows people to hire someone, kind of like an Uber, to break up on their behalf. The two end up working in the same building and can't stop butting heads.

I loved the relationship that Annika had with her dad. Although he wasn't always supportive, he tried his best, raising her as a single father. Annika was otherwise hard to like or relate to, she was really hard on Hudson all the time. It's an enemies to lovers story but it's still hard to digest when the character is so awful to another person! I also feel like Hudson had to make way greater sacrifices overall. I did like that she was an ambitious, young woman, and it's nice to read about a South Asian protagonist. It would have been nice to explain the cultural nuances a bit more as well. Like how her dad wanted her to become a doctor, EVERY Indian parent wants that but it wasn't really explained that way in the book.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys romance, and the enemies to lovers storyline.

Thank you to St Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the eGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll be swooning for a while over this book! A combination of enemies to lovers and second-chance romance, Annika and Hudson’s story is entertaining and sizzling! Their stories are complicated, with lots of back story, making their vulnerability and breaking down walls that much sweeter!

Whity, funny and fully entertaining. We all have people we continually go back to and realize that we left that situation for a reason. Its a constant back and fourth. This book puts the laughter and fun in the whole situation.

Sandhya Menon has a way of wiring charming books that will intrigue and interest you, and while that was certainly true for this book of hers as well, it was not everything I'd wanted.
The storyline and characters were great but they sounded young and childish to me which didn't allow me to appreciate this book being adult as I expected to see a more mature characters and style of writing. This was quite disappointing to be honest.
However, the book was cute and quite wholesome but it was missing the spark that would complete it and make it a great read. It was enjoyable but not fully developed so I think that with some more work an thought put into it to make it shine as an adult book, it could be made great but right now, it isn't enough.

This was a fun, easy read to get through in a weekend. The chemistry between the two main characters was fun but not incredibly realistic.