I spent most of the book wishing to bash Ben and Bridies head's together, and when I wasn't I wasnted to bash Cal and Hattie's together.

It is story of misundertsandings, schemings and two main relationships, which may or may not involce love.

After I had downloaded this book I discovered it was a modern day retelling of something from Shakespeare, and had I know before hand I almost certainly would have skipped this book, as these reallty aren't my cup of tea at all, and perhaps the fact I seemed to struggle with motivation to read this, steams from that.

Normally I absolutely love this author, but unfortunately this fell short for me I'm very sorry to say.

This was such a fun book!! I was totally rooting for the main characters to get together! I also really loved the side story about Hattie and her boyfriend. From the beginning, I was like, "um, is this random roommate-boyfriend supposed to be so charming?" I was actually a little worried that there was going to be a cheating scenario because that was the only reason I could think of that a bit character would be so fleshed out. But then he got his own storyline, and it was one of my favorite parts of the book! Anyway, I really enjoyed this one, and I'm definitely going to look for more from this author!

This was a fun fast paced read for the most part. I had no issue reading this in a day.
I loved the banter between Bridie and Ben. Also the girls friendship group.

The first half, maybe 3/4, of the book was fun and enjoyable. Seeing the friends try get Bridie and Ben to admit their feelings.
I do wish there was a little more time spent on the failed dates and maybe take a little longer for Bridie and Ben to sort things out.

But sadly the last 1/4 of the book felt forced. Making it about Hattie/Cal/Jo drama that took the shine away from Bridie and Ben's story. This didn't feel needed.

Overall it is a fun quick book. Just didn't live up to the synopsis.

Thank you to netgalley and aria for a chance to read and review this book.

There story's follows 2 couples mostly cal and hattie and Ben and bridie. Ben and bridie have had a rather love hate relationship since they were teens even though they don't realise the love part till a lot later. It was well written and the banter between Ben and bridie was great. It was a little slow paced to begin with but did pick up.

The heroine came off as too jaded and bordering on hateful while the hero seemed to be too careless. It made me not want to read more and I ended up DNFing the story.

Love at First Fight by Mary Jayne Baker was a hilarious and heartwarming read! I really enjoyed reading this and I became invested in Bridie and Ben's love/hate relationship, as well as the wholesome love between Hattie and Cal.
Opening it and finding out that it was inspired by Shakespeare made me even more excited to read it and it really didn't disappoint!
This was the first time I've read a book by Mary Jayne but definitely won't be the last!

Bridie and Ben have been enemies ever since he stood her at a party, ten years ago. Now ten years later they have to help his brother and her best friend plan a wedding and get to know each other again. This story was a bit of enemies finding love and stuck getting along to help the happy couple ride off into the sunset together. Its my first time reading this author and I enjoyed this story. It had humor, friendenemies and a second chance at love.

3 stars!

This was a fun, light read.

Love At First Fight was a modern day retelling of Much Ado About Nothing. I'm not completely familiar with the original but, I was drawn to the enemies to lovers storyline. The title just screamed banter and tension to me which this book did have. Unfortunately, I didn't think it fully reached the potential that I thought it would.

I was not a fan of the evil ex sub plot. This is tired, lazy, and over used. It always makes me roll my eyes.

On the other hand, Bridie and Ben are fun and likeable main couple that I found myself rooting for. They had absolutely wonderful chemistry and I adore when a couple can’t see that they’re in love with one another and are just big dummies about it. I loved their back story and all their of there interactions were an absolute delight.

To be honest, this book was really cliche with predictable plot, exaggerated and unnecessary schemes. Giving it 2 stars because smth made me finish despite of everything.

This book was fun to read. It has so many laugh out loud moments and some are really great. Just like in the movies mentioned in the description, these two enemies to lovers learn the hard way that there’s much more than the eye can see.
The feelings brought up by their antics will bring them together step by step and that happily ever after is there to take its claim in no time.
It was interesting to see how the author brings the nowadays dating culture and difficulties that young people have to make amends and build trust and a real relationship and friendship.
However, there are many things that I just couldn’t get past in here and hence the lower star rating.

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

I really enjoyed some of Mary Jayne Baker's other books so I was eager to try this one. Ultimately it took my a while to read because I struggled to get into it. It didn't feel like there was a plot, just a lot of dialogue. The banter was funny and I did laugh out loud at some points. I just really got off on a bad foot with Bridie's character, especially at the masquerade party where she totally annihilates Ben's reputation to, what she thinks is, a complete stranger. I had a hard time finding her likeable after that.

The machinations of their friends was funny but ultimately worked too perfectly. Where was the grit? Why so much forced drama? It got exhausting towards the end, especially with the contrived "evil ex" delaying the wedding plans.

This wasn't my favorite read but I found parts of it enjoyable enough.

Thank you NetGalley, author Mary Jayne Baker, and Aria publishing for giving me a free arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
4 stars
This was a retelling of the classic Shakespeare "Much Ado About Nothing," with a modern twist!
I enjoyed the main character's banter throughout the story. I was a little worried when they got together so early in the story, but the author did a wonderful job building up their relationship that is felt real and authentic. The friends were the best secondary characters! They were willing to play cupid with two people they really knew were meant to be together. The main characters really had good communication as they examine the past hurts that have rippled throughout their "frenemie" status. The writing and the pacing were well done and allows the reader to become fully invested in the outcome of all the characters. This was my first book by author Mary Jayne Baker and it will not be my last. I would recommend this book to those who are fans of "Much Ado About Nothing." I can't wait to read more books by this author in the future.

Title: Love at First Fight
Author: Mary Jayne Baker
Rating: ⭐⭐/5
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥/5 (Warm on the Smut-O-Meter)
Series: None
Tropes: Contemporary - England, Frenemies to Lovers, Friends as Matchmakers, Small town setting, MC-Teacher, Childhood friends
Content Warning: Parental abandonment, Illusion of cheating

Bridie and Ben went to school together and started a casual relationship before going to university. He invited her to the Leaver’s Ball (equivalent to US prom) but never showed. Since then Bridie has had a grudge against Ben.

Jumping forward in time, they are both in their late twenties. Bridie is now a teacher. She’s set up her best friend/co-worker, Hattie, with Ben’s twin brother, Cal, and the pair are disgustingly in love. Bridie despairs at ever finding someone for herself and goes on endless, pointless dates to prove there are no eligible, single men. Ben has just returned to England from a backpacking trip in South America and seeing him again has reinvigorated Bridie’s bad talking of Ben.

Ben, disguised as Batman, runs into Bridie during a Halloween party and has a real conversation with her for the first time since Sixth Form. He learns Bridie sees him as a “fun guy” but not someone to settle down with and is still hurt by his rejection from the Ball. This sparks a reflection period for Ben who seems to have thought all the insults from Bridie were just friendly banter for the last ten years. Hattie (who met the gang later in life) sees that Bridie still has a flame for Ben and vice versa so ropes Cal and their other friends into setting the two frenemies up. This includes making Ben and Bridie plan a joint Hen/Stag do when Hattie and Cal get engaged.

Baker creates a fun, contemporary world with lots of promising set ups. Unfortunately, the final product left me wanting. Bridie had a not-like-other-girls complex plus her dating campaign and insults toward Ben just made her an unattractive MC for me. While Bridie isn’t presented as a virgin, the MCs relationship definitely played into the pining virgin trope of the woman waiting at home while the man is out galavanting and having sex with a punch of other people. Ben for his part was fine but the fact he saw them as friends the whole time Bridie was negging him ruined the enemies-to-lovers trope. Plus the conflict in the final third with Cal and Hattie felt contrived and unnecessary.

Thank you to Aria and NetGalley for providing a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable and quick read. Plus, I always appreciate an enemies to lovers trope. Mix in some meddling friends and you’ve got an entertaining read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this.
I quite enjoyed this book. It was fast paced, had fun dialogue and really likeable characters. There was quite a bit happening in the plot which kept it exciting.
There were some conversations that made me laugh out loud. Both Ben and Bridie did protest a bit there at the end but they certainly made up for it with their plan.
Overall, a fun read.

Love at First Fight is compared to Much Ado About Nothing and 10 Things I Hate About You in its blurb, and, unfortunately, I think it didn't live up to those expectations. It was definitely a fun read, but Bridie exhausted me after a while. That, coupled with some toxic masculinity and unnecessary misogyny (that feels like a strong word here, but I don't know)...this didn't work for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Aria&Aries for sharing this digital copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

The book was enjoyable to read. The banter between Bridie and Ben was amusing. My enjoyment of reading was heightened by the events on page 60.

However, the book's supporting characters began to emerge. This was a source of irritation for me as well. In this book, there are two distinct couples. It represents the start and ending of one couple's relationship. Both tales appear to be unfinished. This was a part of the book that I didn't like at all. Cal's stupidity was also a turnoff for me. It was overblown to the point of absurdity.

Apart from these flaws, it was a book that I thoroughly liked reading.

This was a cute romance, filled with that back and forth banter that is so great with enemies to lovers books. However, this is NOT an enemies to lovers story. It's more like a second chance, confused mates tale. Which is totally fine, but I was expecting something different from the description. Bridie is a sarcastic, witty, and jaded heroine. Ben is a playboy and cad, and completely oblivious man. And honestly, they are both really insecure and terrible at communication. It makes for a lot of hijinks from their friends, but a lot of start-stop with their love story. Honestly, this book could have ended at 60% and it would have been fine. The last 2/3 of the book was a lot of unnecessary drama that revolved around side characters. Perhaps the author want to show that the hijink-ees were now the hijinx-ers? I know that didn't make a lot of sense, but neither did the end of this book. But there is a HEA for our main couple, even if they get in their own way.

When it says "based on Much ado about nothing", they most certainly mean it, and of course I've only realised once I wiki-ed the Shakespeare rom-com itself. Love at first fight is about Ben and Bridie having hated each other for a decade until, thanks to their friends, they don't, and Hattie and Cal being about to get married, except when his ex-girlfriend throws some drama their way.

It's choke full of references, more or less veiled: from the name of characters to most plot devices - say eavesdropping, friends playing Cupid getting people together, the banter, and in some measure the whole atmosphere of unlikelihood. It's all slightly above the lines, exactly as the Shakespearean play. You don't expect all the shenanigans to feel real, would you? or the dramas, the changes of heart. It is definitely enjoyable, once you do not expect it to be a contemporary romance in a common way. It is unique in its way like that. And yet it is real, I loved the language, so very British, and the vividness of the location.

There are some things I didn't really like, especially the main female character being "so different from all other women" to the male main character, even though this might be a sort of narrative ploy. And some statements of the male main character (for a man to want a rock massage means growing a vagina? mh)

It is totally closed door, just as a warning. And most definitely a fast read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers and the Author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, which was a funny reimagining of the famous play by William Shakespeare, 'Much Ado About Nothing'. However, I felt it had a similar vibe to another retelling - the 90s classic '10 Things I Hate About You' which was a pleasant surprise! For those who were fans of that film, you will love this book!

I loved the way the author wrote, particularly her use of slang; this really made the characters feel more realistic and the banter funnier. This story is an enemies to lovers story, which is one of my favourite romance tropes! I read this in a train journey and it was a great, light-hearted read. I highly recommend it!