~~1.5 Stars~~ 4th May 2022
*rounded to 2 stars

Now if you enjoy a cute easy read to pass the time maybe this book is for you!
Featuring the popular trope 'enemies to lovers' and reasonable character development.

I did go into this book with an open mind despite the reviews but I just didn't vibe with this book.
The plotline regarding old-school bylaws was just too much of a leap for me to believe in, the characters were quite vapid and bland, and the plotline/ending was predictable. Everything was expected, I got bored easily and started skipping paragraphs that felt like they were just filled to finish the word count minimum. Following that, some of the language used was very Wattpad-esque, with overuse of adjectives that weren't necessarily needed.
I didn't like was that the entire purpose of the characters, the reason for them getting together was brushed off and was only quickly explained in the Epilogue, felt kind of throwaway. My ending issues exampled in the [ Did Posy even go to Hawaii?? I'm assuming not, but that was a huge plot point to not be fully explained - only with an "I refunded the tickets" at the wedding and finding out what she then did but needed to be clearer. PLUS Dee being traitorous for no retaliation to happen? What was the point of that plot point then? The poor headmistress going to the wedding and stopping it for nothing?? Why?! (hide spoiler)]. Even their love story progression was weird for a slow burn, as soon as they connected that was it, very lukewarm then suddenly ALL IN.
Posy had the best development but still didn't make up for her earlier vapidness/backstory, Lucas is bland chicken without spice and was nothing special as a love interest, I didn't want to root for them as a couple.

I wanted to like this more than I did. It's fine, but relies a bit too much on cheesiness and people's desire to consume things that feel safe. Well-written and fun, but not a fave.

This rom-com was exactly what rom-coms should be made of, fake-dating and enemies-to-lovers. The banter was cute and I loved following the changes in family dynamics throughout the story. Posy’s character arc was very interesting and I think it’s the thing that kept me the most engaged to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars

In Elizabeth Drummond's 'The Reunion' two former classmates who detested each other, exploit an old school bylaw to marry so the school will foot the wedding and honeymoon bill.

At the elite Arundel College, Lucas O’Rourke was dersively nicknamed 'Helpboy' because he was a scholarship student and son of two staff members. Despite this he was elected Head Boy. Meanwhile Head Girl Posy Edwins is the epitome of the privileged being the daughter of a wealthy business man.

Their lives intersect twelve years later at their school reunion. Posy has been cut off by her father. Meanwhile Lucas is struggling to find clients for his wealth management business so he can buy out his best friend who his selling his share after a heart attack.

Posy proposes a potential solution - if Lucas agrees to marry Posy, she can go to Hawaii to further her budding photography career as their 'honeymoon', while she agrees to introduce Lucas to her large network of wealthy friends.

What's enjoyable about The Reunion is despite how horrible the main character was, I still couldn't help but want her to be better, and for her to deserve being with Lucas.

Posy is selfish, privileged and entitled. Her scheme is utterly bonkers and desperate, and its a sign that Lucas is that desperate he'd go alone with it as his only option to keep his business. Yet the whole time I was thinking 'Lucas just hire Posy to do client relations! She can earn the money to go to Hawaii if you get her working on commission'. But that would be the end of the book, right?!

Its clear that both of them are good for each other, and through this harebrained scheme they bring out the best in each other. Posy starts to realise her privilege and the value of earning things, though I do wish that there were more scenes in the book to illustrate this growth. It was there, but it needed a bit more.

If I have any quibbles about this book, it would be the chapters with the Arudnel college characters. It was a bit too pantomine for me. I'd have preferred couple of key flashbacks of Posy and Lucas as prefects being forced to work together. Or better yet, more scenes throwing Posy and Lucas together, such as having Posy upholding her end of the bargain by helping Lucas.

Overall this is a fun, easy read. I love a marriage of convenience contemporary romance, and this one hit the spot.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter, and NetGalley for the ARC.

God this book was a miserable experience. Every single person was unlikeable without any redeeming qualities. There was no chemistry between Poppy and Lucas at all. I don’t understand why an extremely wealthy private school would care so much about an honestly meager $7,000 that they would send a miserable staff member to every single appointment Poppy and Lucas had. This took me forever to finish and I’m thankful to be rid of it.

Posy is never anything other than a spoiled, entitled, unlikeable, rich girl who also seems to have neither morals nor ethics. When Daddy cuts her off, she bullies Lucas in order to get what she wants. Since Lucas agrees to go along with Posy’s scheme, he also falls into the category of people I don’t need to know.

Although she should have matured since high school, Posy is still motivated entirely by hedonism. She drinks herself into stupors, has so much drunk sex I’m not sure why the author – who was apparently going for realism – didn’t include STDs and unwanted pregnancies. She steals from her father, verbally abuses her loving stepmother, has no financial sense, and ditches her responsibilities endlessly.
I did not enjoy this book at all, the patriarchal control and pressure for Posy to find a man to marry her was very archaic and actually painful to read. The whole find a husband and a career before you’re 30 and the over the hill-spinster narrative is tired. It is 2022 - women have enough problems, we should not be telling women they have to ‘settle down’ and become responsible wives in chick lit novels.

Posy comes from a very wealthy family and Lucas comes from an ordinary family. They go to the same private school although Lucas does it through a scholarship. They become head boy and girl and they are opposites to each other. They meet again 10 years later at the school reunion and they're lives have changed dramatically

I enjoyed the first half of the book. It was intriguing and the dialogue between Lucas and Posy was funny. However when more of Posy’s character was revealed, I couldn’t stand her anymore. She had no integrity, was self absorbed, irresponsible, shallow and lets face it, had a funny name. Lucas seemed more likable initially but his best friend just dropped out of the scene altogether, making their friendship as a motive feel forced. The second half of the book went downhill for me. The deception of family and college was more disturbing and unbelievable as each chapter moved. I wanted to root for them but Posy was so unworthy of anything, especially Lucas that I kind of hoped he would dump her at the altar. I read the first half quickly but slowed and stopped several times on the second half. It iust didnt hold my attention anymore.

marriage of convenience, former rich-girl-poor-boy turned comfortable-boy-broke-girl, is now one of my favourite combos.

this book was wonderful.

it was a cute little rom com that i really enjoyed and i think tons of people will too!

absolutely 5/5 stars overall

go read it, because it was delightful!

thank you NetGalley for sending me this arc!

p.s.
henry, you suck, and i called it...

A very cute, short and sweet romance novel. I am usually not the biggest fan of such a fast paced romance but this book was certainly an exception. I really enjoyed Lucas’ and Posy’s characters as well as how different they were from each other. Had me crying laughing towards the end.

Perfect for romance readers, romcom lovers and hopeless romantics.

3,75⭐️

I wanted to love this book, but I just didn't. Enemies to lovers and fake dating, these are two of my favourite tropes, but I found it quite convoluted and unbelievable.

I can normally deal with unlikeable characters, especially when you see growth, but here I struggled with Posy's family members. They were so unbelievably cruel to her and then it was passed off as "just poking fun". I get that they were writing Posy as a spoiled rich girl, but she just came off fake and unbelievable. Lucas was a sweet character, and I actually could see him and Posy together, they seemed to balance each other out.

The book is also dual perspective, with a third perspective of the school's headmaster was completely unnecessary. It added nothing to the story, and having only a couple of chapter's written from that perspective took me out of the story. The set-up of the book was also really slow and long, which made the book harder to get into at the start.

In the end this book was just not for me. I'm sad, because I always love to check out debut novels, but this didn't work here. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

Overall, this is an okay book, but I found it very hard to find redeemable qualities in the main characters. It was hard to root for them when I didn't even like them.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. Enemies to loves trope, such potential.

Unfortunately I just didn’t like the characters or what really happened to them. Not the depth or chemistry I hoped for.

The Reunion is a fun enemies to lovers with fake dating romance book.

The Reunion It’s a book with two characters that agreed to fake date despite being complete opposites and disliking each other. It was so fun to watch them interact and how they are not always making the best choices, or being the best people, I thought it was seeing them interact and fall for each other. The book itself is fun, easy to read, fast paced, although you did want to shake them a little because they do need some maturing and growing up, you really do see their growth through their arc and the plot was very fun, original and kept me interested throughout. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I think it’s a fun book to read

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am a fan of the enemies to lovers and have seen it done so many y ways now but this one fell flat. I switched over to other books a lot. It's hard to stay interested when the characters aren't likeable or very interesting.

I always like to read an enemies to lovers romance, they are normally light hearted, amusing and the characters are so obviously right and wrong for each other that you race through the book. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case in The Reunion. Firstly Posy was a name I couldn'g honestly read without cringing but the character herself was spoilt and childish. Lucas has a stick up his butt that he doesn't really have any justification for but somehow these two end up falling in love and I think I missed that because there were no sparks and nothing to make me want to root for this copy to have a HEA. The book was enjoyable but once i had finished i was done and it was forgotten.

A really cute and fun read. Well paced with fun characters. Was a real joy to read, easily put a smile on my face

This book was a DNF for me. It just did not manage to pull me in. Dissapointed as I thought I'd really enjoy it

I enjoy the enemies to lovers trope, but this lacked wit and spice. I wasn't convinced that the characters were falling in love. Posy was a spoiled brat that still lived with her parents, like dang girl get a job, and Lucas was a snoozefest. I'd pass on this one.

A really sweet story about two people and how they can change. Posy and Lucas were total opposites at high school, struggling to make any mutual decisions. Reunited years later, they come up with a plan to help them both out of tricky situations. The plan is pretty crazy and at points hard to believe but takes the reader on a fun journey, I kept thinking the book was American at first, but it was set in England.