Real rating 3.75
A fun, lighthearted, easy-to-read romcom.
The book starts the right way. It's funny and uplifting and invites you to keep reading. I enjoyed the simplicity of their lives, that they were normal working people in their late twenties. I loved that.
I liked Bridie but it took me a while to actually like Ben. And I have to say that I really liked that there was a Bridie POV and a Ben POV. I enjoy that way more than just one POV. Also, I liked how most of the story developed and how the characters were introduced.

But I think the change from frienemies to lovers ('cause they're not actually enemies, they're more like friends that are angry with each other) was a bit abrupt. OK, the "I like you" part was fine, even the "I love you" part was fine, and it makes sense with their history. But their status from frenemies to actually be in a serious relationship felt a bit rushed to me. I felt like they didn't even talk about it.

But my big issue with the book was the change of focus. For more than 60% of the book, the focus was on Bridie and Ben. Because, obviously, the story is about them. We have another side story, Hattie and Cal, which is cute and fun but is just that, a side story.
So, when the focus changes from Bridie and Ben's relationship to Hattie and Cal' relationship, it didn't make much sense to me. All of a sudden, it felt like they were the MCs. Don't get me wrong, their story was cute and interesting. I really wanted to know what the heck was going on, but not for them to have the entire focus. And it felt their issue was a bit dragged on for them to be just the side story. We really see very little of Bridie and Ben's relationship during this time. We see them and their part-take in all, but we don't really see their relationship. I'd have enjoyed the book way more if that little change of focus wouldn't have happened.
Still, is a nice, fun, and lighthearted novel that I can see many people enjoying it. I enjoyed a big part of it! And I'd definitely read another book by Mary Jayne Baker.

Bridie and Ben seem to have been enemies for ages, why ever should they fall in love with each other now? But, have they actually been enemies?

The main issues I had with this book:
Bridie's name - I kept reading it as Birdie.
Ben and Bridie - aren't really enemies to lovers. They've always been friends. So, Frenemies might have been a better term.
Cal and Hattie - why insert that particular plot twist into the story? It distracted from the main story.

Nevertheless, nice beach read.

Mary Jayne Baker take a bow! This is definitely going to be high on the list of favourites for this year!

This is a book that has made me laugh out, cry a whole lot and fall in love with the characters that have filled the pages. As always, this is a book that I have devoured in just one sitting and there was no way I was going to be able to sleep without finishing this one.

I absolutely love the characters in this one. Ben is my second favourite of Mary Jayne’s male characters and has definitely been competition for the gorgeous Simon. I love Bridie, she is feisty and witty which makes the relationship with Ben quite intense.

The cover of this is absolutely stunning and as with all of this authors books I knew that I was going to devour this book. There is literally nothing negative about this book. It has been the perfect read and I have loved every moment- even the moments of tears streaming down my cheeks have been perfect.

This is without a doubt a book worthy of all the stars. All Hail Mary Jayne Baker- queen of romance and one of the few authors that can almost read my mind and create the perfect man. This is definitely a book I recommend.

I enjoyed this romance for what it is- a simple, face value story. The plot doesn’t have a lot of depth, but it is a fun, flirty read. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot despite those criticisms, and I really enjoyed getting to know the characters. I found the main characters relatable and engaging, and I think that really helped to sell the story line.

I recieved an ARC through netgalley.

This book was so cute. I was a bit worried because they got together fairly early in the book but it was done so well. My favorite part was at the end when he just slipped the ring on her finger.

Bridie has hated Ben since he stood her up for prom 10 years ago. There is a fine line between hate and love, so what is she really feeling.
Ben has never been one for relationships, but will he finally admit his feelings for Bridie.
Their friends try and help out along the way, but will it backfire on them?

A great read, with some fun characters.

Genre: Romance | Romantic Comedy

Release Date: Expected 5th August 2021

Publisher: Aria & Aries



Bridie Morgan is doing the unthinkable - searching for the one, if that exists. As her groups official Man-Cynic, she's giving it one last try and going on twenty dates in twenty days as a final kill or cure experiment. She'll either find her match, or prove that dating is a waste of time.

And as the maid of honour for her best friends wedding, she's trying to her best to drop her less than rosy view on love for at least the day. But that would be much easier if Ben wasn't the best man. Ben Kemp - the brother of her besties future husband who once upon a time was the boy who left her standing outside in her prom dress alone and became her first reason to run away from love.

But they're stuck together now, for better or worse, whether they like it or not and there is definitely still a spark between them, but it going to leave her burned again?

Inspired by Shakespears Much Ado About Nothing, Love at First Fight was full of mischeif, trickery and misunderstanding but with a modern Mary Jayne Baker twist. I've read enough reimagined versions of classics to know it's not easy to do well - but this was a delight to read.

I'm a sucker for the enemies-to-lovers story, and even though that's where this was heading the journey there was still so much fun. Although I'm not sure if enemies is the right word for Bridie and Ben - the were complicated, immature and annoying and took great pleasure in hating one another but I don't think they were ever enemies.

Our happy couple Hattie and Cal were brilliant - their mischief and speculation about Bridie and Ben was utterly hilarious, almost farcical as we watched them stand on the very thin line between love and hate, blissfully unaware their friends are trying to push them over the line. I also agree with the girls that Tape Deck Heart sounds brilliant on Vinyl, so I loved them right away and felt an immediate connection.

This was a full 352 pages of absurd fun and sickening sweetness that was too easy to read all at once.



RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Mary Jayne Baker and Aria & Aries for this ARC in return for an honest review.

An enjoyable, lively and fun romance, full of twists and turns, female friendship, brotherly loyalty, plenty of mistakes and misunderstandings, as two couples work their way through the ups and downs of love on their way to happy ever after. Joanna really is the bitch from hell but any good story needs a baddie, and this is a good story. I don't really know the Shakespeare play this novel is based on, but there is really no need to as any echoes of it are totally unobtrusive.

‘Love at First Fight’ was supposed to be the enemies-to-lovers kind of book I normally pick up, except that I cringed my way through nearly three-quarters of it.

Apart from having Ben’s manwhore reputation thrown in my face quite a few times, I didn’t like how Ben and Bridie seemed to try convince themselves that they were and always had been in love with each other simply because of their friends’ and families’ meddling through the creative power of words and some well-timed but deliberate eavesdropping moments. That they were rehashing an event a decade ago—Ben having gone on to sleep around with as many women as he can while refusing Bridie as a teenager—seemed relevant but repetitive and having them from frenemies(ish) to lovers in the blink of an eye made me cringe particularly after the multiple references to Ben’s way with half the town’s women.

But if the spotlight was initially on Bridie/Ben, the sudden switch of focus (and insertion of multiple POVs) to her best friend and Ben’s brother’s upcoming wedding along with the drama they suddenly faced threw me off. Bridie and Ben (new status: couple) turned the tables on their squabbling friends and play matchmakers before I could even convince myself that they were a pairing I think I could root for.

I’ll admit that I skimmed this one…a lot. Admittedly it’s due to my own personal peeves about utilising the manwhore-turned-one-true-monogamist type of trope after getting hit with some kind of inexplicably, cosmic realisation that he’d loved only 1 woman all along but that I just couldn’t find myself enjoying the story overall.

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

Who doesn’t love a good hate to love romance??
This was a fun story!
It’s tropey, but in all the good ways.
It also really follows two couples, which I actually enjoyed. I think it would’ve been too slow if it only followed the one.

I think it started off strong and went a bit downhill, but it did keep my interest. I do wish that it played out of the hate to love.
Some of the dialogue is a bit cardboardy and some of the plot points are too laggy or wrapped up too nicely, but I found myself having a good time with this one! I need to find myself a Ben!

Very much enjoyable fun story. Great characters, likable.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Love at First Fight by Mary Jayne Baker is about two friends/ enemies with a rocky past that meet up again after some time apart . I love an enemy to lovers read and the characters, Ben and Bridie are very cute together. I liked how much their friends were rooting for them and the devious plans to get them together. I do think their relationship felt a little rushed and wished I got more from them. About 1/2 through, this book wasn’t about Bridie and Ben anymore, it centered around their best friends. The change in plot jolted me a little out of the story and I couldn’t quite get back into it.

I loved this story!!!! If you love rom coms, and modern day retelling of Shakespeare takes, you'll love this book too. This is a modern day retelling of Much Ado About Nothing, and is very well done. The characters are realistic and you can believe that what happens with them could actually happen, it's such excellent writing. I'm hoping the author will rewrite other Shakespeare stories as I'd love to read more like this

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately I could not get into this romance. The heroine has a tough time finding the right guy and has a lot of bad dates. Then her childhood nemises rolls back in to town and this get interesting. While I found their back and forth insults humorous I didn't really get that sexual chemistry from them. They joked like friends but lacked that sexual tension I crave in enemies to lover romance. Just not my cup of tea.

This was a super fun romcom! I loved Bridie! She is relatable. Ben is the typical guy, but is also endearing. I absolutely adored the best friends Hattie and Cal. I thought the conflicts that came up and required Ben and Bridie to stick it out together was perfect! I enjoyed every minute!

I'm not sure where this book went wrong, as I was really looking forward to reading it. As soon as I saw the title, I wanted to get my hands on it. It promised enemies-to-lovers, banter, and tension. It delivered, but not super well.

I think my main problem is that Bridie and Ben weren't really <i>enemies</i>. Several times Ben admits he viewed her as a friend he teased constantly. I wanted more tension that this, and instead it just felt immature. Part of this may have been that these characters are written using European slang, which felt weird to me as a US reader.

I also didn't love the drama with Cal and Hattie. By the end, it just felt like it was dragging on. While I did appreciate the way it eventually wrapped up, the first 3/4 of it felt unnecessary. Their chapters distracted from the tension involving Bridie and Ben, which didn't help either couple.

And finally, this may seem like a weird complaint, but i couldn't stand Bridie's name. I knew what it was, but my brain read it as Birdie every time. By the end, I wasn't even correcting myself, because I honestly preferred Birdie.

Although this book wasn't my cup of tea, I can see other people loving it! I was in the mood for a romcom when I picked it up, which was one of the biggest reasons for my disappointment, as this isn't a romcom.

Love at First Fight is definitely an entertaining, banter-filled (kind of) lovers to enemies to lovers journey!

While this was a bit slow paced to begin with, the latter half was entirely dramatic and over-the-top (in a cheesy but enjoyable way)!

I do have to say that I didn't relate very much to either of the main characters, and this did include my least favourite trope - bad communication, I still very much enjoyed reading this for the witticisms!

Thanks to #Netgalley and Aria for making this book available to me.

Okay, this book was so cute to read. It read like I was watching a movie, the characters were so multi-dimensional, there was a reason for everything, the small town was so well structured that something in me thinks it is a real place a need to visit with real people from this book I want to get to know.

For the most part, this book follows closely two couples with Bridie Morgan and Ben Kemp as the main couple. At the start of this book, we follow Bridie as she goes on this journey to go on twenty dates in twenty dates so that she can finally set her mind at rest that she is incompatible with any man and that she really does not need any man. She has gone on a long list of horrid dates but she hopes that the last one she meets will be good enough to take on her best friends birthday party. Now comes the reason why Bridie cannot seem to meet any guy who is good enough, Ben Kemp. Ben Kemp was her friend when they were teenagers and in high school. He was the guy that seemed to have slept with having the student population at that time. During their friendship, she fell in love with him and because of anxieties and almost pigheadedness, their friendship breaks and they have been at each other's neck. They are well known in town to be each other's nemesis.
Ben who has just returned home is faced with Bridie and her dates and he cannot seem to stand the contempt she still holds for him. He decides to find out why and she hopes he can finally answer her questions.

On the other hand is Bridie's best friend, Hattie who is dating Ben's brother Cal. They are so very much in love that it almost seems that nothing would come between them until Cal slippery ex who is a famous make-up artist on Youtube comes to lay problematic eggs because of her existential crisis. I actually enjoyed reading about Hattie and Cal's relationship and how they play into breaking Bridie and Ben together.

Now to speak of the originality of the themes expressed in this book. Not to sound salty, it was a bit unoriginal and like I said it felt like I had watched this so many times or even read it a few times. However, I did enjoy it and it was quite relaxing to read.

A sweet romance about a second chance at love.Also tgevother couple had an interesting story. A quick read funny dialogue.

This was such a cute read! I usually do t like books such as this.... But it held my attention and I stuck with it!
The writing was fine! I enjoyed the characters development throughout the read! The bickering back and fourth was funny! Overall this was a enjoyable book!