When I saw this book up for grabs, I was interesting in reading this because I wanted to see how the pandemic situation would be handled, and frankly, I quite liked it. It was funny, without being disrespectful and it portraited very real situations making it very relatable as a reader. This was a nice, easy and quick read. Fake dating and forced proximity is a favorite trope of mine. But that is also where this book falls flat. There is a serious lack of heat in the book. For all the comments that are made about each other's figure and assets outlined in skinny jeans, there’s no real heat written on the page. Which is fine if this book is meant to be a clean romance, but then, maybe don’t mention the spark between someone’s thighs if you’re trying to keep it that clean, because at that point it makes the reader think there is a sex scene coming as payoff and there isn't one. It was fine, but it left me wanting more out of the story. I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the lockdown book I didn't know I wanted. It's the first romance I've read that keeps up with the pandemic, and I loved seeing the realism of managing to have a love life while also worried about health. The romance / dialogue fell a little flat sometimes, but overall this was an enjoyable read!

Angela's down on her luck. She's been evicted and fired-all during a deadly pandemic. She's desperate to avoid moving in with her mother, even if that includes moving in with her neighbor nemesis, Colin.
Colin is in desperate need of inspiration to fill up his radio segments or he'll lose his jobs. He spontaneously offers Angela a place to stay. Although she thinks it from the goodness of his heart, it's really for entertainment on his show. Colin finds himself ranting about Angela on his show and his listeners are starving for this forced proximity romance. Eventually, Angela agrees to help him write plot points for their fake romance. But when Angela's exposed, they're forced to spend every minute of the next two weeks together, and as they do, their fake romance doesn't seem so unbelievable anymore.

This book had all the right notes, I just don't know if they hit them. I felt like there was so much potential for tension in this book, but it was replaced with fluff, and that's just not what I was looking for in a forced proximity, lockdown book. I think this book is a little before its time, too. Living through all of these rules makes it really frustrating to hear all of them again, over and over. I couldn't ever relate to Angela because she felt so distant from the reader. I did, however, feel like I knew Colin on a really deep level because we got so much of his backstory. I didn't like him as a love interest, though. Everything happened so quickly! It was their first day of quarantine and suddenly they were both super interested in the other! I think some tension could've done wonders for their chemistry--even a deeper reason behind their enemies to lovers storyline.

I did laugh out loud at the toilet paper bit. I had been expecting some Santa suit fetish in the wardrobe and the toilet paper was hilarious!

Although this book wasn't for me, I'd recommend it to people who like timely novels with fluff!

I've read a couple of books based on finding love during lockdown that I have enjoyed. This one did not grab my attention. I felt there were too many references to social distancing (we all know we have to do it no need to remind us each paragraph)
Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

I was super excited to get this book, it seemed right up my alley.... unfortunately I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. It was slow going and dragging at times, and I had a difficult time engaging with and connecting to the characters.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. Angela really grated on me and I couldn't find even one thing to like about her.

I will admit that I only made it to about 36% of this book and pretty much gave up. I then read the last two chapters and felt like I didn't miss a single thing. Every character was utterly boring. I felt no connection with any of them. I read no real chemistry between the two characters. Her best friend, acting slutty, and then blaming the main female character was the last straw for me.

Angela did all she could to avoid Colin before the global pandemic but then she was evicted and he offered his spare room for free. It sounds sweet in theory but it turns out Colin only offered because he needs a good deed to talk about on his radio show. His listeners love hearing about his situation with Angela so in order to satisfy them he creates a serialized romance with her help. Angela's the perfect writing partner since she loves romance novels and hopes to write one herself. Can the two of them create a believable romance during a lockdown?

I feel like the story was pitched as an enemies to lovers romance and there was some tension at the beginning of the story but Colin was very quick to invite Angela to live with him and the two of them were immediately very kind to each other. In my opinion, there was never a clear reason for why they disliked each other in the first place and they moved to being super friendly too quickly for me to be invested. So overall, this was a pretty average romance to me. It was sweet and I was rooting for them but it lacked chemistry and purpose.

It was enjoyable to meet Colin's coworkers and to see the prep that goes into radio shows but I sadly couldn't connect to them since their interactions were so brief. Alyce working through her relationship and friendship issues was an important aspect of her character and it was nice to see her development. I am very happy with the relationships she had formed by the end of the novel.

The portion of the story depicting life in lockdown was my favorite part of the story. Initially, I wasn't sure how I would feel reading about something that is still very real but I loved having characters I could relate to that were going through similar things. This element of the plot was extremely relatable and honestly very refreshing.

Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley to leave an honest review for a copy of the book.

I wanted to like this book. So much. But I couldn't buy the romance. Angela and Colin were surface level. Nothing to really dig into, not even things they had in common. Everything felt very 21-year-old, not 31s. Pillow forts and fights, arguments over tea, a wardrobe full of quarantine contraband.

Ultimately, I think the book suffered from editing. Developmentally, there was no character arc for Angela or Colin. Not enough for the grand gesture to work. In the month or so this book takes place, neither character seems to move beyond those surface level feelings. That doesn't count the typos or missing words.

I was looking forward to the idea of a quarantine time love story. It's been almost a year and a lot of lives have been changed. Some have found love as forced proximity is at an all time high. Unfortunately, this book didn't capitalize on these elements.

I almost DNFed around 65% through. I really enjoyed the book for the first 45% or so. I'm sad it took me almost 3 weeks to read the book since I'm normally much more engaged. I wanted to finish because I love finding new authors. I'm not sure this book is a good representative for the genre, subject, or author.

Love and Lockdown perfectly captures what the lockdown / pandemic experience has been like this past year and there were many many aspects of this book that hit very close to home for me. I think books like this one will be neat to read many years from now to help refresh our memories on the experience. Or even to show the next generation of readers (or my own future children!).

The novel is a fun and easy read, and much of the book resonated with me though, especially comments like the need to chat up grocery store clerks or coffee shop baristas as they are the only people we can see in person.

I’m still stuck in lockdown myself so it didn’t feel as lighthearted to read as I think it will feel in a year or two. Some of the romance and conflict in the novel fell a little flat for me but overall it was a fun read and captures very well the pandemic lockdown experience.

Thanks to #NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I must admit that the whole premise of this book caught my attention (mainly because it’s a romance novel set on our present COVID-19 time). This is a roommate-to-lovers love story that develops during lockdown, which seemed really fun and interesting.

I still believe that the underlying story is very interesting and fun, but I didn’t particularly enjoy this book. And this was mainly because I didn’t really connect with the characters. There are some very unhealthy relationships in this book (which didn’t help), but it was more than that, I simply couldn’t connect with the female lead.

There were some snippets of the book that I really enjoyed, mainly involving flirty banter and cute interactions between the two main characters, but they seemed too few and very far apart.

I wouldn’t particularly recommend this book, but if you like the trope or are curious about the premise of the story you might enjoy it.

**NOTE: I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute and adorable rom com based during the current global pandemic. The plot was fun, the characters were relatable and as a whole the book was a fun and easy read

Angela absolutely positively cannot stand her upstairs neighbor Colin Cooper. The one positive of a global pandemic is she is no longer legally allowed to be within two meters of him. Or she wasn't'. That was before she was evicted from her apartment and Colin swooped in to offer her a rent free place to live. He didn't do it from the goodness of his heart, but in order to do a good deed he could talk about on his radio show...does that really matter though? Thankful to have been saved from having to go live with her mother, Angela puts up with all of Colin's eccentrics and maybe they even start to grow on her. Something definitely starts growing between the two when they are forced into actually quarantining together for 14 days and she starts helping him create romantic content for his radio show. While enemies to lovers and forced proximity always works in romance novels, will it work in real life for Angela and Colin ?

VERDICT is that this is a cute book that hit a little too close to home for me right now and not necessarily in the best of ways. I enjoyed Colin and Angela as characters, but I am not quite ready for pandemic romances as we are stilling living through one! I totally see where this idea came from and in theory it works, I perhaps just need a little more distance from an actual pandemic. But, personal feelings aside, this is a pretty well written book. I liked both of the main characters well enough, although I did find Angela a little trying at times. For someone who complained about communication a lot she wasn't great about it herself (although she was in some admittedly tough situations). My favorite parts of this novel were actually the friendships that were developed outside the romance. Colin's DJ community and Angela friendship with Ishani were very well developed and fun to watch.

I was intrigued to read my first "pandemic time" book, but unfortunately this one just didn't pan out. Yes, the pandemic is happening, but almost everything would be going on the same way even if it wasn't. Angela lost her job before the pandemic, not due to it, and was flirting with eviction even before the lockdown. Colin still would have needed content for his show no matter what. I felt zero chemistry between the Angela and Colin and I had yet to discover something likable about Angela-- she's barely grateful for the free place to stay and her boyfriend and best friend are both terrible. If I'm going to be in the middle of a pandemic and read something about it, I at least want to be enjoying it... which is why I dnf @30%.

*I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

This was an interesting take on a romance. I liked the concept but the story was a bit slow moving for me. I enjoyed the characters, their relationships and interactions.

I enjoyed reading this book. I felt that it was relatable since Covid is still very prevalent right now. I did enjoy the plot and the characters. I could see how this book would be triggering some emotions from people since Covid is still a huge issue, but I do think this book could become popular in due time.

We are all definitely sick and tired of the lockdowns set in place and this book was reflective of the time. Fake dating is one of the best tropes IMO and I enjoy the humor that often comes along with it. The banter between Colin and Angela were laugh out loud worthy on a few occasions, but I felt that the actual chemistry was a little lacking. They seemed more "roommates" and perhaps I was hoping for more.

Overall, It’s cute and funny and super relatable.

This was a nice, easy and quick read. I liked the fact that it is set during this pandemic, which makes the story very relatable.
The characters might not have the great chemistry between them, but this makes them very real, and I loved this aspect. I could also relate with the loss of a job during the pandemic, so the whole experience of reading this book was very enjoyable for me, made me feel "understood" and less alone.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A cute covid-era romance that manages to feel like escapism even despite being set during the height of
the pandemic. Some parts fell flat - the motivations behind a lot of the decisions felt a bit unnatural, and it was hard to find any of the characters really relatable or likeable at first. Still, it was an easy, fun read, and if lockdown isn't the perfect setting for an enemies-to-lovers romance, I don't know what is!

This book was super cute! It didn't have a lot of substance, but it kept me entertained. Several times, I actually laughed out loud several times, which rarely happens.

I really loved the banter between Angela and Colin, it was super funny! Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and this book did it super well!

I loved the "courting period" in their relationship, it was adorable. It had a quirky flair that came off as fun, not as irritating. It also made their relationship feel a bit more natural, which I loved.

My one complaint about this was that I feel like they followed social distancing rules a bit too closely... That sounds terrible, I know, but it just got a bit repetitive. If it had been mentioned once in a while as a joke, it would've been fine, but the pandemic controlled these teo's lives.

I really loved the addition of the radio show, it was a great way to add drama without it being just drama. It was super fun to read the scenes when Colin was broadcasting, and it was totally different from anything I've read before.

I really enjoyed this book, but I never would've picked it up based on the cover. It was a super fun read, and I can totally see myself rereading it!

Thanks to Netgalley and Alyce Caswell for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!