*special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

So I just finished Love at First Fight. It’s a cute, fun, and a bit cheesy British romance. I must say I’m a sucker for these enemies to lovers arc, but here the title is not quite accurate as I thought it would be.
Although Bridie and Ben can’t stop bickering at the beginning, they’re also known to be friends for pretty much forever. Frenemies would be more like it.
Their whole plot seemed a bit rushed, especially cause the last third of the book focused on their best friend’s relationship. So I wished we had more time to accompany its development and really root for them instead of going through pre-marriage drama.
Overall it’s an enjoyable and quick read.

Fluffy and fun, albeit predictable, this is a decent read. No real challenge, but a nice way to pass the time.

Recommended for fans of the genre.

Love at First Fight by Mary Jayne Baker is a cute, lighthearted romance that was fun to read.

Bridie has sworn off men, but to prove to herself that she’s really done, she decides to date twenty men in twenty days. After the twenty dates, all duds, she has decided to live life as a single woman. But, when her old boyfriend-turned-enemy, Ben, comes back to town for good, Bridie is determined to forget him, as she has never forgiven him for standing her up at their school leavers’ party. However, Bridie is the maid of honor for her best friend’s upcoming wedding, and Ben is the best man, they have to work together to plan the combined hen and stag party.

The book started off fun and light with Bridie’s interesting dates but dragged a bit in the middle and towards the end. The story between the secondary characters of Hattie and Cal almost overwhelmed the main story between Bridie and Ben. There was some excellent banter between Bridie and Ben, and their friends working to get them together was cute.

All in all, the story was cute, and I did enjoy it, but I wish it focused more on the main characters and their lead-up to romance. Also, a small criticism is the main character’s name, Bridie. I kept reading it as Birdie.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really didn’t like this book, I couldn’t make myself finish it. The main character wasn’t likable to me and the premise has been done before so many times. The banter didn’t feel natural & overall, it just wasn’t for me.

Bridie and Ben have been frenemies for years, but their relationship is suddenly taking a turn. The storyline was predictable and somewhat drawn out... but the banter between Bridie and Ben kept things interesting. There were some parts that were lost in translation for me as the author/characters are British and some of the references relied heavily on British customs and dialect.
While I enjoyed the story and some of the relationships, I did feel like the dialogue and the plot were a bit drawn out and could have been shortened to keep things interesting,
A good beach/summer read. Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Love at first fight' is a perfect romance novel to spend an entertaining time and read when we want something that doesn't make us think too much either.
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Bridie is completely disenchanted with love and that is why she has decided to do a marathon of 20 dates before finally giving up trying to find a partner. And when he has lost hope of finding someone on those dates, he meets Ben, a person from his past who will turn everything upside down.

Something strange has happened to me with this book. At first, I liked it a lot, then I lost interest, but then in the end I got back on track and really enjoyed how the story ended.

I really liked the introduction of the characters. I loved the protagonist, and I really enjoyed her personality. Then when that love interest was introduced, I also found it curious, but as the story progressed, I realized that I couldn't really say that I was being an enemies to lovers. And that disappointed me because there really wasn't a tension of getting along, but rather of making the other person mad, which doesn't seem like the most mature thing to me.

Overall, I think the plot is fine. It is not very complicated nor is it a super elaborate novel. It is quite good, and it is very entertaining. I think it would be a perfect summer reading and one that I would definitely recommend for one of those afternoons where we want to read something fresh without much fuss and just have a good time.

The way of narrating yes that I liked a lot. The author has that fresh tone that surrounds you and encourages you to want to continue reading. Perhaps the most striking thing that I put to the novel is that it really is not a romantic comedy or an enemies to lovers, but I also think that romantic lovers will like this story.

I have never read a book whose potential dropped off so quickly. When reading the description, I was hopeful for a light summer read at its best, and I would have been fine with that. The problem is, the book has zero identity. The novel follows two main relationships: Ben and Bridie's frenemies, and Cal and Hattie's engagement faced with turmoil. It absolutely did not achieve its intended goal of a seamless change in perspectives. Like half of the book is about Ben and Bridie (who are immensely annoying) and then the other half is some shallow problems in Cal and Hattie's relationship...???? Made no sense to me.

Also the dialogue was incredibly cringey. It felt as though every other sentence ended with a question like "didn't I?" "Aren't there? ""Could we?".

Ben and Bridie have history but can they ever reconnect and start anew?

This book was super cute and a solid chick lit. My favourite part of this story was the friend group as well as the mischievous shenanigans everyone gets up to. It was fun and a good time.

I will say that I found the third act conflict to be a hit immature, especially how both Bridie and Ben handled it but it did not dampen my enjoyment too much.

banter filled, a little cheesy and a lot entertaining, Love at First Fight is a sweet and satisfying read.

With a wonderful, multi dimensional story revolving around several interconnected characters, this book is a symphony of mischief, trickery and misunderstanding giving the reader a well rounded and fun filled experience akin to watching a movie.

4 stars and #teamcupid

Love at First Fight follows love cynic Bridie Morgan who is embracing twenty dates in twenty days in a last attempt to find ‘the one’ or entirely give up on love. It doesn’t help that she is surrounded by her best friend Hattie’s upcoming wedding. To make matters worse, Ben Kemp, Bridie’s lifelong nemesis is the best man. Bridie has never managed to get over the fact that Ben once upon a time left her standing outside alone in her prom dress on leavers night. When the wedding planning commences, there is still a spark between the pair – but will she get hurt again.

This book is such an entertaining light-hearted romcom. Inspired by ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, this modern story is full of misunderstandings and friendship trickery. I read it in two sittings, laughing all the way through. I enjoyed that it was told from both perspectives of Bridie and Ben, both well developed characters that were working individuals in their late twenties, very genuine and relatable.

I would describe this one as more a ‘frenemies to lovers’ which I loved. It was a sweet, fun and flirty binge read, perfect for getting you out of a reading slump. Admittedly, my biggest bugbear was that I found myself constantly found myself reading Bridie as Birdie and it drove me mad! (oops). I highly recommend.

Bridie Morgan is giving up on love! She has challenged herself to twenty dates in twenty days and if that doesn’t work she is out of the game forever. But fate is throwing a spanner in the works in the form of her arch nemesis Ben Kemp - the boy she was in love with during high school. The one who stood her up at their leavers prom. Now they are in the same wedding party and it seems as though their friends are trying to make this a love match.

I always love Mary Jayne Baker novels. This was so good!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I love love love Bridie and Ben. They are the perfect example of a perfect enemies to lovers arc.

In this story we follow Bridie and Ben as they host Hattie (Bridie’s best friend) and Cal’s (Ben’s brother) stag and hen do. Naturally Bridie and Ben had a fling when they were teenagers but it went up in flames and now they are sworn enemies in Bridie’s book. So Hattie and Cal cook up a plan to make the two realize their feelings for one another.

I think this story was paced very well and nothing ever felt rushed. I fell in love with everyone’s personal stories in this book and it kept me on the edge of my seat. I would definitely recommend this hilarious/amazing read.

I really enjoyed this lovers-to-enemies-back-to-lovers book. The romance was well done, and the schemes that their friends kept coming up with to get them together were super cute. The main plotline was perfect and I really have no criticism for it. Bridie and Ben were adorable together and their bickering was well written and funny for the most part.

My only real complaint about this book is that the subplot with Cal and Joanna felt forced. The book would have been much better without it, and the story kind of fell apart in the last 100 or so pages for me because of it. Bridie and Ben had already gotten together and everyone was having their happily ever after, to me it felt like the author was grasping at a way to put in more drama and make the book longer.

Overall its a super cute romance, but if miscommunication and lies aren't your preferred trope than you might get frustrated with the story.

This book was a fun read. It enjoyed the enemies to love trope and also enjoyed the alternating points of view. It was pretty unique to not only have points of view of the two main characters, but also two side characters. I’m not sure whether I prefer that, but it was interesting. I didn’t get super invested in the main characters’ relationship, just enough to keep reading.
There were a few small things I found a bit puzzling or frustrating. First, I know this is a British book, but is a normal guy going to use the term “hubby”? That feels unrealistic. Also, there were several times before the wedding that someone said something like “oh, she’s just having last minute cold feet”, like that’s a normal thing in a secure relationship (which Cal and Hattie do appear to have). Lastly, when Joanna confesses what she did to Ben and Bridie what she did, but then said there wasn’t anything recorded to make Hattie believe Cal, it just didn’t make sense. Bridie and Ben heard her confess, which should be enough if Hattie trusts them, which she does.
Overall, the writing and story were fine, but I don’t know if I’d read any of this author’s other books. I felt just a bit better than “meh” about it and by the end was kind of rushing to get through it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

Not only does this book’s plot rely on people not having honest conversations, but everything feels so stereotypically gendered. It’s disappointing because there are flashes of better, more interesting characters and plots, but they get lost in this Much Ado About Nothing remake, but with none of the sizzling wit of the source material.

Den Schreibstil bzw. die Ausdrucksweise der Charaktere muss man mögen

„Love at first fight“ hörte sich wie eine flotte, unterhaltsame Liebesgeschichte an. Und auch die Leseprobe erzeugte bei mir Lust auf mehr, da habe ich zugegriffen. Doch leider habe ich beim Lesen nach wenigen Kapiteln gemerkt, dass das Buch doch nicht perfekt für mich ist.

Der Schreibstil der Autorin war für mich auf Dauer etwas anstrengend. Ihre Charaktere sprechen britisches Englisch und benutzen so einige umgangssprachliche Ausdrücke. Diese konnte ich gut verstehen, doch leider hat sich der Schreibstil für mich leicht fremd und holprig angefühlt. Immer wieder bin ich an einzelnen Sätzen hängengeblieben und kam aus meinem Lesefluss.

Das zweite Problem, dass ich mit der Geschichte hatte, sind die etwas anstrengend wirkenden Dialoge. Sie wirkten auf mich etwas künstlich und daher wenig einnehmend.

Durch diese beiden Probleme habe ich beim Lesen schnell das Interesse an der Geschichte verloren und nach sieben Kapiteln beschlossen, das Buch abzubrechen.

Als schlecht würde ich das Buch aber nicht bezeichnen wollen. Wenn der Schreibstil für einen gut passt, sollte man mit der Geschichte so seinen Spaß haben können.

Schaut vor dem Kauf unbedingt in eine Leseprobe rein und lasst den Schreibstil in Ruhe auf euch wirken.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC

I was really intrigued by the title of this book as it drew me in with the promise of enemies to lovers. I also love 10 things I hate about you and so I was all set to dive right in and fall in love. Unfortunately I just wasn’t as hooked once I actually got into it. As a teacher myself, I wanted to love the main character and see myself in her. I loved the idea of her trying out 20 dates in 20 days and trying to find someone that maybe wasn’t the one but still made her not miserable. I just didn’t find her all that relatable or likeable, which made it hard to push through at time. I think the concept was interesting and I would love to read more by this author, I just personally did not love this book. However I did appreciate the obvious setting and use of colloquial language to help set that. The dialogue was very natural sounding.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an eArc of this read!

I quite enjoyed this book, it was a cheesy, but light-hearted romcom which made it an easy read for me. The characters were quite fun and witty and I enjoyed the multiple POV’s throughout the book. Seeing the story through different perspectives was a fun aspect and I enjoyed it a lot.

I think the main issue I had with this read, and it didn’t necessarily put me off, I still enjoyed the book, was the fact that we very quickly switched from Bridie and Bens frenemies(ish) to lovers to Hattie and Cals life drama. It was a little bit too involved for a side plot.

I also wish I’d seen more of the 20 dates! Just because I think they could have been hilarious to experience.

Overall, I quite liked this romcom. Id definitely read more from this author. A pick-me-up read if you ever need one.

I was provided an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and words are my own. I am a sucker for a good British Romance. There were things I loved about this book and there were things I totally didn’t but if you stick an accent on the characters it’s fair game. Anyway, Love at First Fight is easily one of the cheesiest books I’ve read in awhile, and that’s what made it so much fun. Bridie and Ben are lovable characters and I enjoyed their banter a ton-this book kept me giggling all day. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and the different settings for all their interactions throughout the book. One thing I will complain on though is that I felt like this read a lot more like a fanfiction than a novel-as the characters were almost exclusively speaking throughout the book and there was little to no detail outside of speech. It was a good book, it wasn’t the best I’ve read but it’s far from the worst-if you’re looking for something cheesy, British, and sappy it’s a RomCom I’d recommend.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: August 5, 2021

Bridie's first and only true love was Ben. Years ago when he ditched her at a school dance, it ruined love for her completely. Now, as a complete love cynic, she still occasionally keeps in contact with Ben, but the two just love to argue and annoy one another. As the maid of honour for Hattie and Ben's brother, Cal's wedding, she must work alongside Ben, the best man.

I was truly enjoying the book up until about halfway through. It simply did not feel like a romance. It felt as though their love story was a little forced and not quite genuine. Ben's "reputation" as a player was also mentioned much too frequently.

Overall, I really wanted to love "Love at First Fight" but it fell flat for me.

2/5 Stars
1/5 Angst