Mira is a cardiothoracic surgery fellow. She is constantly at war with Lucien, who she has known her entire life. Both of them compete in everything, from surgeries to their morning exercise routine. Everyone in the hospital knows about them and their hatred for each other. When they are caught in the middle of a fight(physical) by their director, they have to think quick before he puts them up to review with the board. So they lie. Now they have to spend their time pretending to date to keep their fellowships.

It really did give Grey's Anatomy. There was hospital romance, that everyone from the hospital was gossiping about. There was drama and a whole bunch of issues being pushed in as well, so it definitely reminded me of a Grey's Anatomy episode. Both characters were extremely immature and made dumb decisions. It was really hard to like either one of them. But the bickering was funny and sometimes it got out of hand. The mommy issues were not it for me though. Mira's character has a lot of unpacked trauma that remains slightly unpacked.

Tropes that made me happy:
-rivals to lovers
-fake dating
-groveling male to win female's favor

Tropes that upset me:
-miscommunication
-Immature characters that make everyone around them uncomfortable with their bS

Overall, I would say its an okay book. I couldn't put it down, but I also wanted to burn my eyes out. (So naturally they cancel each other out)

I made it 29% and needed to put this book down and call it a "Did Not Finish".

There are many reasons that I decided to not finish this book, but the most important is this flippant statement made from the MMC POV on the FMC not being "entirely over" her father's death: "“I suddenly recall her heartbroken, slumped back for weeks after her father died of cardiac arrest… It hasn't been long since then and sometimes, when she sees other people with their fathers or patients who are around the same age as her dad, her eyes get glassy with tears. She thinks nobody sees, but I do. I suspect she still isn't entirely over it. Not that she'll tell me anything if I ask."

I am unsure if there are any CWs or TWs in the published work, but in the e-ARC that I received there were not CWs or TWs at the beginning of the book in regards to references to parental death. That's fine. When written well, these tragedies can absolutely be used to further the character development on page. However, this flippant statement was juvenile, crass, and seems to completely neglect to consider the feelings of any readers struggling with the trauma of losing a parent.

My other thoughts that went in to deciding to DNF this work:
- The author does not fully flesh out the descriptions of her characters. I never even reached the point where she fully described her FMC!

- The writing style seems amateur and unrefined. I honestly felt like I was reading something written on a fan-fiction website.

- The characters were written in a manner that made them so juvenile and I actually really actively disliked their constant bickering. There was very little that was redeemable about either of them, in my opinion.

I was a bit hesitant to read this book, to be completely honest because I’ve never watched grey’s anatomy and I did not like the hating game BUT the blurb got me to request this book and I don’t regret it!! I liked it soooo much. Such an easy read. Also, I love a good enemies to lovers story. And the banter was top tier.

Thank you Net Galley and Sasha Clinton for sending me an ARC of this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I am a huge fan of Grey’s Anatomy, so naturally I’m going to be a huge fan of this book. The fact that they had to start fake-dating so they wouldn’t get in trouble at work was hilarious to me; and how they were so terrible at fake-dating, when they both were so clearly in love with at other made me laugh-out-loud more than once! The insults thrown back-and-forth in this book were exactly my dry humour, and I found them hilarious.
I found myself loving-to-hate Lucien (Luci 🤪), but also strangely rooting for him to land his girl? I really enjoy his sense of humour; I think I would enjoy being his friend in real life 🤣.
The competitiveness of both parties made a real fun read.
It frustrated me so much that they both seemed to be in love with each other since HIGH SCHOOL, and yet we have to wait wait wait so long to see them *hopefully* finally see them together!
Overall this was a very enjoyable read that I breezed right through.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Sasha Clinton for my ARC i’m exchange for an honest review 💕

Loved it! I’m probably biased since I’m a physician, but everything was spot on. It’s so annoying to read a book about the medical field and the author knows nothing about what they’re talking about, This author did her research. She perfectly characterized the struggles of many residents/fellows. I’m going to read all of her books!

so yeah... they're 34 years old and they were extremely childish i actually hate them both. mira has mommy issues and needs male validation also has praise kink. lucien has so many issues i can't even describe 👍🏼

and there were so many unpacked things in the story. mira's almost sexual assault, tina conflict, lucien's family issues, THE POETIC MAFIA GUY TONY?...🤨 and also i have never ever watched grey's anatomy so medical details bored me.😐

the spice was surprisingly so good. they had great chemistry and when they reenact the scene from a book 🔥🌡️🥵 i'm mostly giving stars for that scenes

DNF @ 18%. Unfortunately the female lead, Mira, was not one I connected with. Rather than find her rivalry with Lucien as endearing, I found her to be insecure and annoying. I ended up feeling so bad for the MMC that I physically can’t continue this book because I know I won’t be rooting for their relationship in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4971109290

I was so excited for the premise of this book a mix between greys anatomy and the hating game, yes please!!

However, this book just didn’t work for me, I DNF’d at 20%. The characters felt immature for their age and Mira deciding to become a cardiothraric surgeon just to beat her rival Lucien didn’t make much sense. I wish she had her own dreams rather than basing it off someone else. .

I did like the medical setting in the romance book and the banter. But there wasn’t enough development to understand why they were so bitter rivals other than being competitive. I wish this was delved into more to make us root for both characters.

I also didn’t love Lucien as the love interest, he was very arrogant and thought he was better than everyone else which didn’t come off as endearing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The premise was there, but the execution lacked believability and finesse. It felt like these two characters were dropped into the book out of thin air with no pasts, no backgrounds, and no pre-developed personalities. Any history that we receive from these characters (ex: Mira's ex-relationship) is merely touched on but never explored, and so ultimately unsatisfying in terms of adding anything of substance to the character.

I love Grey's Anatomy, and I loved The Hating Game, but I feel like this book relies a little too heavily on the reputations of those two cultural phenomenons to sell itself and doesn't actually know what it's doing with itself.

The animosity and petty behaviour is quite strong at the start of the book so it definitely fits into that enemies to lovers vibe. It eases up as the story goes along and I do love the sweet moments they have together and that they both grow as the book progresses but holy heck get ready for a lot of the miscommunication vibe.

“Our time together meant everything to me. It was all I ever wished for.”

When two cardio thoracic fellows scheme up a fake-dating plot, they have to convince quite literally everyone. After 16 years of hating each other, that’s a lot of work. Naturally, there’s bumps in the road and it does all work out for Lucien and Mira.

While very predictable, this book definitely had it’s moments of witty banter, rivals to lovers cuteness and a whole lot of potential. Truthfully, I don’t think it hit that potential. The backstory felt like it was 75% of the book, but also rather inconsistent and more confusing that anything. There were plot holes as well that added to the confusion. The characters were okay, but the level of petty and rude made me despise both the FMC and MMC. For a book about fellows who work in a New York City hospital, it felt as if there was close to no medical talk, procedures etc just run of the mill medical drama gossip. I really was looking for more medical substance in a medical romance book. Yes, I know it’s a fictional book but it can still have a little more meat to the character’s professions and schooling.

This book was provided as an ARC by Net Galley for my honest review.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Sasha Clinton and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Well-drawn characters with a story that’s enjoyable.

I am still very excited over the fact that I’ve been approved for my first ARC from @netgalley!

#LucienandI was a very fun book to read. I started it late last night, and pretty much wrote off my day today because it was so fun to read. It had all of my favourite elements:

Dual POV? ✔️
Witty quips and banter within the first 10 pages? ✔️
Rivals-to-lovers trope? ✔️
Fake dating? ✔️
Miscommunication trope? ✔️

As someone who works in the medical field, I tend to find medical dramas (particularly TV ones) to be annoyingly cheesy and inaccurate (yes, I understand the need to over exaggerate for ~dRaMaTiC eFfEcT~). However, I don’t feel that way when it comes to books; it feels less corny. In fact, I appreciate that the medical terminology was kept to a minimum and didn’t really distract from the main plot.

The main characters are hyper-competitive thoracic surgeon fellows who have been at each other's throats since high school. Their rivalry is well known to all of their colleagues, constantly trying to one-up each other. As much as I loved the snarky banter between the two MCs, it did get a bit tiresome and obnoxious at one point (I skimmed through those parts). I love dual POVs because the reader can really understand the hidden depths and dialogues of each character. I empathize that one character described the amount of pressure and anxiety they experience with their job as a doctor; some physicians really have a God-complex and are not fun to work with. I felt like this vulnerability humanized this character to offset the complaints and jealousy that they carried for the other.

The book did improve significantly once a very odd awkward/misinterpreted encounter occurred, and then the real fun began. Can’t say too much because I don’t wanna drop any spoilers, but I swooned over the book nook scene 😏 Also, surprisingly a lot of 🌶🌶🌶 scenes, which I was not expecting (some of them snuck up on me but hell yes, sexual tension between rivals) and I am completely here for it! 😉

I am very glad to have procrastinated my to-do list today to read this ARC. Thank you again, @netgalley!

#LucienandI releases on September 26!

Grey's Anatomy meets The Hating Game was all I needed to read to be sold on requesting this book.

However, I've never been convinced to DNF a book so quickly (DNF'd at 5%). I was annoyed within the first chapter because Mira kept swithcing between calling him Lucien and Luci. Which if he's her rival why the nickname? Also, no one goes to med school or into a cardiothraric surgery fewllowship just to try and beat their rival. It's absolutely ridiculous.

I despised both characters so much.

Thanks to NetGalley & the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lucien and I was a quick read that left me feeling like I was missing some part of the story. The book just overall felt very inconsistent and like there were storylines that just weren’t wrapped up nicely. You know within the first few pages how the book is going to go. Throughout reading, there were multiple instances where I thought I missed a page or paragraph because the dialogue between characters just felt off. At one point in the book, it was established between the two main characters that one of them had a famous aunt, but then a few chapters later, the character acted almost shocked to find out that other character has a famous aunt? It was really confusing. They would introduce side characters and create a minor problem for them and never address it again. Example 1 is main characters cousin was being weird while texting someone and ran off, the two main characters discuss the behavior and seem worried, and that’s the end of that. It just feels like scenes like this did not need to be added in, or in there place I wish there had been more character building for our two mains instead of rushing it in the last few pages. It was described as an enemies to lovers trope, but I would categorize it more under miscommunication. Unfortunately, I can’t share too much more of what didn’t quite sit right as it would be a spoiler, but I’m ready to try something else out from this author.

This book was bad. The dialogue was unrealistic, the “pranks” and competition were over done, and the whole miscommunication trope was embarrassing, I barely could read it. I never like a miscommunication trope, but this one takes the cake for the most bizarre and easily avoidable miscommunication. On top of that the author tries to discuss some pretty heavy topics like self harm, yet doesn’t achieve anything from it, and almost makes it seem like she didn’t try to research the stuggle and sensitivity of the topic. There should definitely be a TW for this book, or just remove that segment altogether, because it was a throwaway scene on a topic that deserves more vulnerability and sensitivity. Overall disappointed because I love a doctor romance.

Mira and Lucien are rivals dating back to high school. Due to a misunderstanding on both their ends, they have been competing with each other ever since. From college, to medical school, residency and into their fellowship when we join their story.

If you like a story with a medical setting and fake dating trope, this book is for you. The story was an enjoyable read and I wanted to see how it would play out. The grand romantic gestures were swoon worthy!!! The reading nook?! Loved it.

I felt that the whole situation with Tina was a little strange. Having the PD find out about the fake dating could have been without including Tina but she served her purpose in having their charade exposed.

I’ve had issues with books where the main characters were being mean to each other that I had to DNF the book but not in this case.

Overall a nice romance novel with a beautiful ending. .

I requested this book because the medical romance aspect intrigued me (as usual) and I am in search for my favorite medical romance or romance between two healthcare professionals. Sadly, this book ain't it. Our main characters' interaction with each other are just plain bland and there's no chemistry between them. I thought this is going to be a but juicier or have a little bit of angst because of their rivalry of some kind or hate to love kind of moment, but these characters just have no personality. I kind of find it frustrating because we have here a perfect combination (at least for me) of angst and intrigue, and it didn't gave that. I'm just disappointed and sad.

Always bickering and competing, Mira and Lucien come off as petty and unlikable. I thought the storyline lacked depth and didn't portray the tropes well and who wants to read a book entirely about bickering adults with zero chemistry or spice?
Just not my cup of tea.

This book was good but not great, the story was a good idea but I am not sure that the writing got me there as I had a hard time being interested in the story but I made it to the end.