Was really bored with this book. Just not really understanding how you can spend 30 years with this person and not know they are deaf. Only got to 20% of the book and had to dnf it. Sorry.

A fun sweet read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

3.5ish stars

There’s a lot I liked about this book. I appreciated the representation of disability (hearing loss), demisexuality, and Jewish characters, among other things. The plot itself was fine; it didn’t feel wholly original, and some parts seemed a bit slow. Overall, it was a reasonably fun rom-com, and as it was one of my most overdue books to review via NG, I’m glad I was finally able to go back and experience it!

This book was a fun read and it reminded me of Chloe Liese, my favorite author. I will definitely be reading more of Brown since these are right up my alley.

🍎 BOOK REVIEW 🍎

Synopsis: Mark Goldman has never gotten along with Shaina Fogel. Ever. Even when they were in diapers, their bestie mothers wanted them to grow up and get married. Not happening. Mark prefers his quiet, reserved life. But a family wedding is about to change everything Mark thought he knew about his archnemesis.

A week of wedding events with Mark Goldman? Shaina would rather have a week of root canals. Maybe the guy is hot, but for their entire lives, he’s never once acknowledged the fact that she’s hard of hearing. So it comes as a massive surprise when she discovers that Mr. High-and-Mighty and Annoyingly Sexy simply didn’t know. And now she needs his help.

When it’s revealed that the weeklong wedding events are actually a weeklong competition—for a dream vacation—Mark and Shaina do the unthinkable: work together. And the second the animosity begins to fade, something even more electric takes its place. Only now it’s not just an attraction between enemies. And nothing could be worse than the fact that their mothers might have had it right...

Review: Genuinely cannot believe how brilliant this book is! So much diversity! Demi-sexuality, Jewish characters, and an MC with hearing loss and hearing aids. So diverse and completely accurate! The story, the writing, the character growth…it’s all perfect.

Highly recommend this book if you’re looking for something lighthearted, spicy (🥵) and informative. And if you’re not looking for those things, I RECOMMEND IT ANYWAY!
BRB, going to buy a physical version for my bookshelf!

My sincerest thanks to @netgalley and @a_laurabrown for a copy in exchange for my review

5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review.

Really well thought-out book with amazing characters and excellent setting. Love the cover

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

I'd recommend this book solely based on the representation! A hard of hearing MC with hearing aids? Check. A demisexual MC? also check.

I did find it a bit slow and some plot lines were a little too unbelievable but overall it was cute!

I think I started this book about 4 different times before I finally gave up. Guess its just not for me. The dialogue was awkward and cringey.

No, just no. Not knowing that one of your honorary cousin's/the-person-your-mom-wants-you-to-marry is deaf is just so weird. And the fact that they never really talked it out during the drive is insane.

Mark and Shaina's story is a sweet and fun evolution of love that ticks all of the boxes. I found Mark and Shaina to be intriguing characters separately, and together they were fireworks. At first glance, they appear to be complete opposites, but once you got to know them you understood how well they balanced each other out. Great secondary characters that add to the story and don't detract from Mark and Shaina's relationship development. All in all a really enjoyable read that was sweet, funny, hot and REAL!!

This one was a lovely read. I really enjoyed reading this one. I just love this kind of books.
4 stars read for me

I found it okay. The book had my interest until the repetitive sex scenes came up and I actually lost interest. I wish the book had been a little more into the leads' relationship and more about the ace spectrum. I liked the ace representation until 60% of the book because it was so meaningful and special. The enemies to lovers was spectacular at the start and the way it went with a good flow was fabulous.

This is my first Laura Brown book, and I did not regret it. Mark and Shaina start out with the best kind of enemies-to-lovers story, the kind where one of them clueless is about why they're enemies. From there, it's all about learning about each other, and it is delicious. They are absolutely delicious together, and there's deaf representation, which is great. The only thing that irritated is me that for all those years of them hating each other, and all those years that their families hung out and talked to each other, none of them deemed to Mark what the problem was!

Still, a great book. Great chemistry.

Sadly this book was not a hit for me. The MCs felt totally unlikable and, even though they knew each other for year, still were clueless about certain things?!?! Neither of the characters felt mature for their age (which is the same age as me). I also hated the family on both sides, they were rude and mean. I can understand one or two bad family characters but I felt as though they were all detached from reality. I did finish the book but sadly not because I wanted to, once I start any book (unless horrific) I have to finish. As much as I hate to rate a book poorly, especially one with disability representation, this was one a pretty large miss for me.

This book had me glued to the pages, it had one of my favorite tropes, enemies to lovers, some friendly competition has two unlikely persons to pair up to call a truce and work together and resolve some long overdue unresolved misunderstandings, this book was such a fun book and the spice didn't dissapoint.

Ultimately this book was cute and I ended up really liking the romance at the end. I wasn’t 100 percent sold on the idea that the hero just didn’t know our heroine was hard of hearing and he has known her his whole life. It seemed like it was just used as an easy way to create the enemy to lovers trope. For that reason it did take me awhile to really into the romance but it did grow on me!

A really sweet book! I always love enemies to lovers, and I think Shaina and Mark are great MC's. They feel real, and who hasn't had a parent meddle a little? A really good read!

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

Absolutely loved it. Great read.