So good, so annoying. Had me shouting at the book on multiple times, a bit like watching a horror movie and shouting don't go into the room, I was shouting talk to her gosh darn it!

I figure however that is a sign of a good book, I was very invested and very much enjoyed the book, particularly the ending!

Thank you @entangled_publishing and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback! This does contain spoilers! So beware,Proceed with caution!

I really loved how Rashida and the characters were fighting to protect their homes from it being genetrified. I love the side characters too, the grandma and her friends were a highlight of the story. We start the book off steamy as the main characters meet and hook up with one another! I felt uncomfortable at times when Elliot would describe Rashida and the romance lost me halfway.

This was such a sweet, but realistic romance. While the two protagonists feel a strong romantic connection, community issues really tested their morals and what they are willing to sacrifice for their relationship. Due to the content of gentrification, some scenes were extremely frustrating to watch unfold, but the author did a wonderful job developing the characters in a satisfying way. Definitely recommend this one!

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand it was a cute rom com. But on the other hand, I just really didn't feel the chemistry between the main characters. There was just something lacking and it caused me to either want to keep reading just to get it over with, or to not want to pick it up at all. I don't think it was bad, it just wasn't as good as I'd hoped.

The beginning of the book was really different which was why I really liked it. Loved the way Elliott and Rashida were getting to know each other and conversing. However, I disliked Elliott's father. I thought he would have a different role. Loved the chemistry between the couple. Although, I wish the plot about rivalry was a bit stronger than the actual plot and wish there was more to the epilogue. Otherwise, I enjoyed this book. I thought I wouldn't but I did.

The Hookup Dilemma kicks off when food critic Rashida Howard meets Architect and Entrepreneur Elliott Quinn. At the time, they don’t realize they are on opposing sides of a real estate battle.

Rashida and Elliott hit it off and neither wants the night to end and one thing leads to the next. The physical chemistry is there, but a one night stand is called that for a reason, so the plan is to leave it there. Rashida is not happy at all when she’s Elliott at a community meeting about her Grandmother’s neighborhood and realizes who he is.

Once Rashida and Elliott forgot they are supposed to be enemies, they take the time to connect and discover things they have in common. Overall, Elliott finds himself trying to navigate between the woman he’s falling for, his cantankerous father and the best business decision. He tries to make things right, but Rashida is stubborn doesn’t realize when Elliott extends an olive branch.

Overall Ms. Gillam writes about the important topic of gentrification and includes romantic elements as well.

I received an ARC for this book through NetGalley and wanted to thank the authors and publishers for sending me this ARC.

The Hookup Dilemma started as a cute own voices romance story starring Rashida Howard as the main character and Elliot Quinn as the love interest. I wasn't completely sold with the romance part given the insta love (which is only my opinion and should not deter people from reading this book) but I would love to highlight the parts that I did like about this book:

•Main character: I really liked Rashida and appreciated that she was an actual character with a good set of morals that couldn't be broken down by some lame man, no matter how much he cared for her. She was outspoken and seemed authentic, I liked that we had the moments where she felt powerful and rightfully so but also showing certain moments of uncertainty.

•Gentrification as a topic: I'm glad the author didn't shy away from tackling this issue and valued that Constance Gillam wrote about it in "simple terms" so to speak and showed how pervasive this problem is and how it mostly affects neighbourhoods populated by people of colour. It was so good to see the participation of elders in protests and their resilience and determination as I think we often tend to forget the way our elders paved the way for us young people within our communities.

•Potential to be adapted into a movie: From the very first chapters I realized that this book had the complete potential to be a movie: a romcom that would probably work so well since I think this book is highly adaptable for TV. I feel that if this had been a movie I might have not felt like it dragged on a little bit past the middle part.

Now the only reason why I didn't finish this book is the insta love and my lack of interest in the main guy. They were having feelings for each other that bordered on love in such a short time of meeting each other (and on top of that they were on opposite sides of a big situation which made their relationship a bit strained). I'm not a fan of insta love quite sincerely and although I would dare say that Rashida's growing feelings for Elliot were well paced and made sense, Elliot's were a bit more rushed and I just couldn't connect with him or even like him as a love interest. This book offers dual POV and I would get a tad bored while reading his chapters. He didn't sell me promising love interest in my opinion but that could be different for others and that's okay. What I want it to remark is that this book may have not been for me but I can totally see this as an entertaining and good read for plenty of people.

Once again, I would like to thank all of those who made it possible for me to get this ARC.

This book was a great fast paced read. It had a one night stand trope and likeable characters. I rate it four out of five stars.

A good book, I thought I would enjoy it more based of the cover/title. Even tho it disappointed, it was enjoyable!

One Night Stand Trope.

At first, I didn't think I would finish this book, but when I met Rashida — I was like, girl, where have you been. Rashida is the kind of female character I’ve always wanted to see in romcoms. Badass. Confident. Sexy. Determined. Classy.

Then you add HOT Elliot to the mix — that’s a story that you surely know will keep you turning the pages.

I enjoyed this book and storyline. Both characters were a good balance of having their convictions with their work and beliefs without being obnoxious. I will admit it got a tad slow in the middle but it picked back up quickly. It was a nice story with compromise and understanding.
This is the first book I've read by this author and I look forward to more from her.

Rashida is a food critic who loves her family above all.
Elliott is an architect who is doing whatever he can to save his father's business.
Rashida and Elliott meet in a bar and the attraction is obvious to both of them so after chatting for a while over drinks they hook up. What neither of them knew was that Elliott's dad had bought land in Rashida's granny's neighborhood and plans to build something that would change the area forever.

I really enjoyed the characters, and the big conflict of the book. The romance was great! There was no mistaking their attraction to each other or how they felt about the other. The only thing I had a problem with was the resolution, it was a little too fast for my liking.

After meeting a bar and hooking up soon after, Rashida and Elliot soon realize they are on opposite sides of the gentrification project. Rashida is a food critic who is fighting for her Grandma’s home and her childhood community while Elliot is an architect trying to run his own business and fill in for his dad who’s recovering from a heart attack while also fighting to keep his dad’s company afloat.

At first, I thought this book was an enemies to lovers kind of rom-com but I would describe it more as two people fighting for what they believe in but also fighting for a relationship that you know is worth it.

I really enjoyed the way that this book took a look at gentrification and the implications and threats it poses to marginalized and vulnerable populations. It was clear that the author did their research and provided great insight on the topic.

Overall I liked this book. I will say though that the pacing was a little slow at times, and I absolutely loved some of the spicier scenes, that really added to the intrigue of the characters.

I had high hopes for this book and was excited to read it. Unfortunately, it missed the mark. I was expecting a cute romance story instead I got kinda smut.
I DNFed it after 50%, I could not pull myself to complete this book.

***ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

The first problem I have is the characters, I am not a fan of Rashida tbh, I did not like her. I feel like she is too uptight, too in her head and hardly ever considers other people's feelings. This really put me off to continue with the book.

I really disliked Elliott as a love interest, it felt like the main reason he fell in love with Rashida was because of her looks. He was always thinking about her and her body and it just felt over-sexualised and I could not handle it.

And unfortunaltely, this book has most of the tropes that I am not a big fan of insta love, lot of telling without showing.

Maybe it will work for others, but it did not work for me.

Thanks again NetGalley for providing the ARC for an honest review.

A steamy romance of two people on the opposite sides of a mutual problem and how they handle the situation while also being irresistibly attracted to someone that you absolutely cannot be with. Loved the push and pull between the characters and the steam was just enough to keep the interest up!

Rashida and Elliott burn up the pages to begin this book and then it only gets better from there. This is a smart and sexy romance that also makes you take a hard look at gentrification (if you hadn’t already) and how it affects the people who live there already. I appreciate when there’s more to a story, and this definitely checked that box. The not-quite enemies to lovers storyline and the characters in this book were wonderful.

This was a fun read but started off quite slow. I don't really enjoy the one night stand trope but otherwise enjoyed the book.

I had high hopes for this book and was really excited to read it. Unfortunately, it missed the mark. It's a hard balance between romance and social issues in an Own Voices book and that's the biggest flaw in this book. Too much about gentrification, too little about the romance that is supposed to be the center of this story.

I wonder if it would've been better to market this as women's fiction and all of this would've sat a bit better. What do I know? I am not a publisher, haha!

I also took issue with the usage of the word queer in this book. It ain't the 18th century and we all know what queer is supposed to mean. This usage fell incredibly flat.

High hopes that sadly didn't deliver.

DNF at 27%

***ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

I was very excited about this book and story, but from the beginning the story just didn't develop the way I had either expected or hoped it would. There's a lot of telling, not showing, which disconnects me from the story and the subplots simply don't interest me enough.

The book starts a little bit slow, but overall, it is a fun read. I enjoyed the overall plot, as well as the romance. I will definitely be reading more works by Constance Gillam!