What a fun and original story. I just need more stories like this. The characters made me laugh and cry and what else do you want from a book than that? Highly recommend this to anyone and everyone.

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

This book is a enemies to lovers trope. I felt the enemies in Lucas and Posy more then I believed the lovers.

Both attended a posh school and we’re head boy and head girl. They hated each other during their time in school and when they see each other for the first time in 12 years, still don’t get along.

Posy is cut off from her dads money and can’t go to the photography festival in Hawaii. Lucas wealth management company is hanging by a thread and he needs wealthy customers.

Posy proposes a fake marriage because the school they went to had a clause, that if the head girl and head boy should later marry, the school would pay for the wedding and honeymoon. Said honeymoon would be in Hawaii, so Posy can go to the festival and she would let Lucas manage her families fortune. A win win?

Not really in my eyes. I did not like Posy from the beginning. And don’t get me started on Henry!! Lucas was also a character that wasn’t great.

Sorry, just had a very hard time liking characters or the story, so it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

The Reunion by Elizabeth Drummond. A romantic comedy.

I was in the mood for a lighter book after reading several more heavier ones. Unfortunately, it didn't provide enough comedy for me.

The premise is great. Who doesn't like a rich girl/poor boy? A reunion of former classmates? An enemies to lovers?

Posy, a previously rich girl. Now just spoiled and entitled.
Lucas, about to lose his business if he doesn't find investors.

Posy and Lucas are out to get a free trip to Hawaii by scamming their Alma Mater. Interesting (but strange) solution to their problems.

Thanks to netgalley and ONe More Chapter for the arc.

the book was nothing like the description. slow paced. the characters were boring, sorry to say. i found nothing likeable about either. every single side stories triggered me. its 2022 i do not want to see stuff like this still happen.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Very nice book, I liked it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This wasn’t the best romance book i have read but there were times where i did enjoy it but for the most part i just wasn’t connected with the characters.

This book was a fun read overall, but I found the characters immature and it fell a bit flat for me overall. It has potential, but not my cup of tea

This didn't work for me for a few reasons.

First, the characters are really immature. Particularly Posy. I could not suspend my disbelief that people nearing 30 would behave like this.

Second, a fake dating trope can be fun. But what Posy and Lucas do is neither cute or fun. It is a scam. They were attempting to defraud a school, and the way they went about it was probably illegal. I was cheering for Paddington and Hardstarck.

Third, the character motivations made no sense. They're doing this elaborate scheme for what? A flight to Hawaii for a festival? Surely there are easier ways to earn money. Surely there are cheaper ways to pursue your dreams.

Additionally, Lucas and Posy actually falling in love felt like it came out of nowhere, and I never liked any of the characters (other than the school officials who were just doing their jobs).

I think someone who could look past the character motivations and immaturity might like this, but it wasn't for me.

So, I love romance novels and I was instantly captured by this one. The cover looks so good and also the plot was really captivating.
The book is a really nice and quick read, I think it fits in the romance genre really well and has the potential to became an acclaimed title in its category.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. Whilst I enjoyed parts of this book, overall it fell flat for me. I found myself skipping pages and skim reading towards the end as I was just bored. I didn’t feel that the characters were well developed, but the romance aspect did have potential. It’s an ok read, and I think some people would enjoy it more than I did.

This is a nice, easy enemies to lovers romance. The characters are irritating at first and I did not like Posy. She is the epitome of entitled snobby rich kid. however she grows and develops and slowly learns the meaning of money, love and life. The fast-paced story was an easy read. Plot was uncomplicated and easy to follow - did get a little redundant in the middle. While I feel that the character personalities were well developed, my problem was that I did not feel any emotional connection with the characters. Overall, this is a quick summer read.

This book was a fun treat! I loved it! It was a good reset after I read a heavier book. It kept me flipping pages well past my bedtime!!

I love enemies to lovers stories & had high hopes for this, but what a let down. Posy & Lucas hated each other when they were head students at their high school, and they should have kept on hating each other. I didn’t find any aspect of their romance (fake or real) to be convincing & felt that they lacked chemistry. I thought that they were genuinely unlikeable, as were most of the characters. I found the idea of the school paying for a wedding to be weird but interesting enough, but after reading this, I found it to be utterly ridiculous. I wanted to like this story, and was prepared to forgive a certain amount of outlandish nonsense while I read, but the hope that it would improve was never realised & I was left disappointed.

Love isn't always conventional!

I really enjoyed the budding romance in this story, the idea of the ancient school footing the bill was a great addition and really set the tone of the characters social standing.

I really enjoyed the friendship with Tara and the family dynamics throughout, a quick and easy read.

I've been trying to read this book for 2 to 3 weeks now, which honestly should have been my sign to DNF but I persevered, albeit reluctantly and essentially skimmed the last couples of chapter.
~thank you to the publisher Harper Collins UK , One More Chapter and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review ~

I think this is case of wanting to love this so much and it falling quite short of expectations. It has tropes that I usually adore - enemies to lovers, fake dating, the spoilt brat who is humbled (but in Posy's case not so much) - but the execution of said tropes just wasn't well done in my opinion.

If I find myself struggling to like/connect characters (that you're supposed to like anyways) then the chances of me enjoying a book falls dramatically. Unfortunately, Posy was so unlikable to the point where I just did not particularly care about what she was getting up to and I just not rooting for her HEA.
I have no feelings about Lucas either way, he just felt pretty meh to me. There was no chemistry or passion between these two, like I genuinely don't believe they even like each other.

The pacing of the plot was strange, some of the jokes either fell flat or were just plain awful (looking at you fatphobia) and it fails to keep you interested.

1.5 ☆

This book was a lot of fun to read! I enjoyed the flaws that the characters had in a way that it aided the story. It shows how close love and hate can be, and how people can change over time. In my opinion this was an original take on the enemies to lovers trope. It’s a fun and lighthearted read! Perfect for a summer vacation if you want a book that’s a read without too much food for thought in a good way! I enjoyed the 3rd perspective by Ms Hardstark a lot!!

#arcreview #bookreview #bookstagram

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Posy is the quintessential "rich kid" as a teenager and, though she becomes prefect, she immediately clashes with the other prefect, Lucas. Lucas is a scholarship kid and solidly working class.

10 years later, they reconnect through a reunion, right after Posey's father has cut her off. She finds herself in desperate need of money to attend a photography festival to further her career and suddenly remembers that the school had an old bylaw that if prefects from the same year fell in love and got married, the school would pay for the wedding and honeymoon. All Posey has to do is convince Lucas to go along with her. Lucky for her, he is in need of new clients for his wealth management business, and Posey knows a lot of rich people.

I know this book has gotten a lot of criticism for the main characters, particularly Posey, being incredibly unlikeable. And the reviews are not wrong - she is definitely unlikeable. I don't particularly feel that she was redeemed and I did not buy the relationship between her and Lucas at all. I think maybe because I read the reviews before I read this, Posey's character didn't bother me quite as much as it would have otherwise.

I know that romance novels often need the readers to suspend disbelief but this plot was a bit...bananas. In no way did it feel plausible and honestly it wasn't that entertaining. Sometimes, crazy plots are at least entertaining but this was just..fine.

2.75 stars, rounded up to 3. Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK/One More Chapter for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to read this book, which seemed full of my favourite tropes - childhood rivals to lovers and marriage of convenience! I love a sunshine, popular girl and a pragmatic, sensible boy, I love the time jump trope and I love enemies to lovers. But unfortunately, this book just didn’t deliver.

Posy was truly and irredeemably unlikable - I love a character who starts off prickly and becomes loveable or a character you can’t help but love despite their flaws, but this was not the case with Posy. She was selfish, bratty, and just unenjoyable to read about. I found her difficult to care for, because she was so frustrating. Lucas, whilst not as bad, was also not very likeable and difficult to become invested in. This wasn’t helped by the dialogue, which was written in such a stilted, awkward way that does not resemble real conversations at all, and left much to be desired by way of compelling romance.

The plot was also so underdeveloped and full of holes that made it hard to believe. It was almost impossible to get swept away in the story because I was constantly having to suspend my disbelief and grimace through cringey plot points.

I loved the premise of this book - it promised me a delightful, charming rom-com with tropes I adore. But unfortunately, it missed the mark for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Elizabeth Drummond for this arc!

Maybe 2 stars is exessive for this book... which is not something I say lightly. Although I found the premise interesting and the first chapter not terrible and maybe some of the characters redeemable overall it was not the best book i have ever read.

I think the main flaw of this book was that the characters just never learnt; we were presented them with some major flaws where you go oh yeah maybe they'll learn ! maybe they'll mature ! that would be the whole plot of the book and we will get some form of satisfying conclusion! well im here to tell you that no ! that never happens ! they remain spoiled they remain annoying ! you get to the end and think god i am so happy you are characters and not real people who I would have to interact with.

The headteacher as villain plot is so middle school / captain underpants vibes that you just kinda sigh and say really? It just feels a bit pointless and also the school do have some good points!!!

Overall this book was just not very good and thats all i really have to say.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book to be honest. I usually devour this genre but I felt something was missing from this story. Two characters that did not get along at school meet up at the school reunion ten years later. I felt there could have been more background through those ten years. It did have very sweet moments though and it is readable but unfortunately only three stars from me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.