thank you to netgalley for an ARC!

sooo close to a 5 star read to me! i cannot deal with the third act breakup, even if it’s not a “break up.” these two are meant for each other. i loved reading their story and their banter was hilarious, sweet, and emotional. this has to be my first medical romcom and i loved it. it has everything i love in a book: enemies to lovers, fake dating, workplace romance, dual pov.

This book was really hard to get through. When I first read the description I so excited about a Medical romcom with the enemies to lovers trope. I'd been thinking something along the lines of "The Worst Guy".

The two MCs were both really hard to like. Their relationship and banter felt very forced and honestly not what witty. I didn't like how little we got to see them actually work and interact and be doctors.

Unfortunately this was a miss for me. Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of the novel in return for an honest review.

"Lucien and I" serves its purpose as a quick romance novel. It's being billed as a Grey's Anatomy-esque story and I think it holds up to that promise. You can easily see this being a season arc on any medical drama show from the past decade. Parts do get a lot steamier than anything broadcast television would allow but that's a good thing.

Neither Lucien nor Mira are particularly developed as characters but again, you don't expect that from this book. The other characters exist just to give them someone to interact with and remind Lucien and Mira that they actually have chemistry.

Overall, three stars. It'll be interesting to see if the cover art changes to match the steam level in later editions or before publishing.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I couldn't quite get into this one, as much as I wanted to.

I received an ARC through Netgalley for an honest review
She calls him Luci. Sure, it's short for Lucian, but more importantly, it's short for Lucifer. He has been the bane of her existence since they were kids. He always seemed one step ahead no matter what she did, and so she spent years in competition with him, determined to beat him at anything that crossed their paths. When their rivalry gets them in trouble with the program they are in, they say they are dating and just had a lovers spat in order to save their jobs.

There was some fun banter and scenes but I struggled through this book. At the beginning you find out Mira's mother complimented a boy she had a crush on, which then turned into Mira doing everything he did in order to beat him at it. I found it hard to recover from that and it took a little too long for the characters to become likeable for me to really love this book. While it wasn't for me, I can still see others really enjoying it.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of the novel in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I like the dual perspective of the story as it gave a better insight to the characters thoughts and feelings. It was also nice to see the same events and memories through different perspectives and points of view. I also really enjoyed that the characters started to learn more about each other before the fake dating even started which was a promising start.

The supporting characters were good and helped move the plot along. I also really liked Ella and suspect she will have her own story in the future.

The banter between the protagonists was funny but at times verged on unnecessarily cruel, which was off putting at times (leaving me questioning whether I really liked the characters).

It was nice to see the relationship between Mira and her mother through different lenses - as she develops as a character she comes to address their relationship more fully. I do wish that more time could have been given to Lucien’s relationship with his parents. The relationship is spoken about but it would have been good to see the dynamics play out to give more of an insight into how Lucien became who he is.

Overall a good story I would recommend to others. However there are some minor editing issues that should be addressed.

I just finished reading Lucien and I by Sasha Clinton, which I was super excited to read based on the cover, the hospital/medical setting, the enemies-to-lovers/fake dating tropes, and the description of "Grey's Anatomy meets The Hating Game". As a paediatric critical care nurse with many years of experience taking care of post-operative cardiac patients, I was super intrigued by the fact that the characters are both in their CVS fellowship motivated by a Cristina Yang-worthy competition. I don't think I would compare this novel to Grey's Anatomy... the medicine side of the story was quite minimal other than the physical setting and the fact that everyone is overworked. You will notice that I gave this book 2/5 stars; I have to tell you that it was almost 3/5, but only because of the spicy scenes in this novel which were excellently done.

I had a really hard time getting into this novel; in the first chapter there was a particularly jarring quote for any nurse to read, which was about a Fellow being paged in the night by a floor nurse on a "passive-aggressive rant on how the male patient who got a bypass three days ago has been giving her "the look" and that she thought it appropriate to give him sedatives". I am not entirely certain about the intent about this sentence, but I got the impression that the female main character Mira was annoyed at nurses paging her and also that they were trying to inappropriately sedate a patient? If the meaning was truly to take a dig at nurses, I would mention that in terms of potential readers of a medical rom-com, the number of nurses greatly outnumber the number of physicians. Like I have mentioned above, the medical/physician background of the story really takes a back seat and seems merely to be a setting. I was hoping for more in terms of medical misadventures happening, but alas. I also feel that a touch more research could have been done - physicians can lose their licences for drinking alcohol and then going immediately to work on an emergency case, they don't even do it in Grey's Anatomy. "I shouldn't even be drinking while I'm on call", Mira thinks to herself while getting wine wasted.

The other reason that I had a really hard time getting into this novel was that the humour and antagonism of the two main characters, Mira and Lucien, just did not jive with me. When I think about good enemies-to-lovers novels, I think of that biting tit-for-tat just shy of straight up bullying digging the knife in such a way that it is deliriously sexy, to the point where you just want them to tear off all their clothes and have hate sex to resolve the unbearable tension. Both Lucian and Mira were more.... immature, I guess you could say. Their banter was extremely reminiscent of high-school level they are mean because they have a crush vibes, which made me extremely uncomfortable to think about considering they are 34 years old. Especially on Mira's side - I did not find a lot of redeeming qualities about her character to be honest. At one point one of the main characters thinks to themselves "their banter is so clever" and I remember thinking in my head "LOL sure". It was almost grating because it was so immature and whiny even at some points - "I applied to the same Ivy League schools as him because I wanted to beat him. I enrolled in pre-med on a full scholarship because I wanted to beat him." Mira also went a little too far at some points, for example when Lucien opened up to her about the scar on his leg and she scathingly responded "Engaging in self-harm at age thirteen? That's disturbing".

What I Liked Most About This Book:
- The sex scenes were out of this world, give you all the tingly feelings, inspire you to try things. I had been seriously considering DNFing the book when the scene where Mira has a migraine happens and in a disoriented state says to Lucien "tie me up and make me beg, or make me your sex slave for a day". Like - yes queen, go off with your praise kink. And when they finally have sex it is exactly that feeling that I mentioned of wanting them to almost punish each other so much that they can't help but fuck. Lot of tingly feelings when Mira asks Lucien to destroy her and he responds "with pleasure". Not only that, but who doesn't take solace in kinky words written on dead trees AKA erotic romance novels. When they act out a certain scene and he makes her "his wire in every way" - love love love.

What I Didn't Like:
- Mira's mom was just... not a cool Mom. I am not Indian-American, so I am not sure if this was a portrayal/stereotype about how Indian moms are difficult to appease meant to appeal to people who are? She sure has a change of heart real fast... suspiciously fast. I wouldn't forgive my mom.
- There are many little inconsistencies/holes in the story/plot. One glaring example was Mira's moms surgery... first it was an eye lump, then a throat surgery, then she came out with an eye patch? Why would you need soft blended foods for an eye surgery? There were some inconsistencies with what Lucien and Mira knew of each others families as well. Also we were building up a lot of stress about Lucien's parents expecting him to pick one of their hospitals, and Mira meeting Lucien's family... and then those things weren't mention/were breezed over
- The other CVS Fellows who went on the Niagara Falls trip were poorly developed and to be honest, annoying. They threw Lucien and Mira under the bus when they are caught in the on-call room. Not only that but they are also immature in a way reminiscent of high schoolers - "if you fight you have to MAKE OUT heh heh heh".

That's my review! I don't think that I would read this book again, however, I will be continuing to think about the Ravishing the Heiress reenactment scene.
Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and Sasha Clinton for providing me with and eArc of Lucien and I in return for my honest review.
I love the enemies to lover and fake dating trope, but the miscommunication trope drives me absolutely crazy (despite most of my favourite books include this trope so maybe I love to hate it?). I really liked the backstory between Lucien and Mira, I feel like that was quite developed. I do however think the competing between the two of them got a bit much at some stages. I don't think the Joe storyline was completely necessary, I feel like it actually took away form the pace/storyline of the book. There did appear to be a small consistency issue with Mira's mother storyline, her cancer kept swapping between throat cancer and being locate on her eyelid? Overall this was a good read

- Enemies to lovers
- Medical romance
- Family drama/loss of a parent

Really quick and fun read. Found that the characters weren’t as deep as I wished. But loved the witty banter between the FMC and MMC. Would definitely be interested to read other books by this author.

There were certain aspects of this book that I absolutely devoured and some that I really could have done without. I think the length of the book is the main culprit here-almost everything was longer than it really needed to be, to the detriment of the book.
The backstory and history of why the were enemies didn’t need to be almost 50% of the book. I also found all of their co-workers really lacking in any believability. Her mother was the most frustrating character by far and I feel the relationship explored there was very realistic.
That being said-the spice in this book is top tier. The love between the two was everything I could have asked for. The homemade library scene, the following her when she needs him trope, the savior trope.
The good parts of this book absolutely make up for what is lacking. I loved the writing style and story-telling-even if it was a bit too lengthy.

If anyone is a grey's anatomy fan they'll love this!
Lucien and Mira gave off Meridith and Derek vibes which I Loved!!!
This enemies to lovers book was filled with the perfect amount of spice and plot!
The character development was *chef's kiss*
Hands down one of my favorite reads so far!

*scroll to the bottom for content warnings*
Trope: haters to lovers, coworkers, haters cause we're fighting feelings
Series or Standalone: actually a sort-of sequel. Clinton's Henry & Me features a "precocious nephew"- H is that nephew. Can be read standalone but fans of Henry & Me will likely enjoy the cameos.
Cover rating: All the random clipart is unnecessary- we would have gotten the point with just the two people and the title but all the additional images are overkill
Book description accuracy: Billed as "Grey's Anatomy meets The Hating Game", this is not the case. This is not Grey's Anatomy- do not expect Cristina Yang's fabulousness. And more Hating Game adjacent, but if you liked the Hating Game you will likely enjoy this too.
General review: Couldn't decide between 2 or 3 stars, settled on 3. I really hoped I was going to see Cristina Yang fall Hating Game style but this was NOT that. Both H and h were insecure people hiding their real feelings behind their "hate". This was similar to Hating Game in the "for frick's sake you're in the workplace, behave like the adults you're supposed to be" thoughts I had every 3 pages. Ultimately I loved H and tolerated h, which seems to be a popular struggle for me lately. But when the H give you quotes like:
""You're always nervous the morning your week on-call starts" he says when the noise has faded. "You sleep badly on those days""
This was only 4% in and I was screaming "He pays attention to her!!"
"But I like Luci. Only Mira calls me by that nickname. So it feels special."
YES GIVE ME H FALLING FIRST.
This isn't a story that gives you unpredictable, it follows the typical formula but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I was disappointed at how shallow some parts were- things that definitely should have been explored more but were rushed by. Like h having a praise kink and feeling like she pushed the D/s relationship on H. That's asking for disappointment down the line and I didn't feel like it was handled well by the author- give me the magical line of "H didn't know he would enjoy this so much". Overall I enjoyed the book and will consider giving Clinton's writing another chance.
I read the ARC and there are some editing mishaps, causing a big timeline issue, but that may be fixed by publication date. (But if it hasn't, you're not crazy lol)
Angst style: misunderstanding
POV: 1st person, both H & h
Relationship stage reached: dating
Epilogue? yes, 1 year later
Content warnings: death of a parent, family pressure, parents who should be divorced but aren't, praise kink, childhood trauma (some sort of childhood injury that wasn't clear so I can't be specific for the CW)
I received an ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.

I enjoyed the book. I loved the chemistry between Lucien and Mira. I like enemies to lovers and fake dating and I got it.
It took me 5 hours to read it and I want more. The book is also spicy.
Lucien and Mira were competing with each other and now they need to be fake lovers.
Is it going to work?
You need to read "Lucien & I" to find out.

Quick read but some of the plot details seemed unrealistic to be taking place in a hospital. Also, Mira wasn’t always a likable character.

I love enemies to lovers and fake dating tropes, so this book seemed right up my alley, but parts of it fell a little flat for me.

Overall still an enjoyable read

I tried to get into the story but gave up after chapter 4. The story dragged and the humor wasn't for me. It appears to be a wonderful book for other's, but I just can't get lost in it.

As an avid watcher of Grey's Anatomy, I loved this so much. The combination of enemies-to-lovers and fake dating tropes was excellent. Not sure how medically accurate it was, but it's not like I was reading this to learn about cardio thoracic surgery. I look forward to reading the rest of her books. If they're anything like this one, they're gonna be great.

There's witty banter and harmless pranks and then there's petty arguing and unnecessary complaining. Unfortunately, Lucien and I hovered on the petty side for me... especially Mira. She was borderline annoying (*hides face*) and I wanted to roll my eyes at her more than once. Lucien was charming... Mira, not so much. And that made it difficult for me to root for them as a couple.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sasha Clinton for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"For the record, I've never hated you and I'm pretty excited about your existence in my life."

Thank you @netgalley and @xpressotours for this ARC!

I had high hopes for this after reading that it was a *Grey's Anatomy meets Hating Game..* but the writing style wasn't all there for me.

I enjoyed the books idea as a whole but the details in between did not flow. It was not mentioned (that I could recall) until 50% of the way in that Mira was Indian American and then it was a talked about point between characters for the next consecutive 3 chapters and then not again.

They hinted at a potential assault happening in Mira's past life and a random ex(?) bf named Tom and then never touched on that topic again. Mira also mentioned at the beginning what she knows about Lucien's family but then the 2nd half of the book she had to Google them because she 'didnt know anything about them'???

I did enjoy the bits of medical scenes throughout the book (because I'm a double nerd like that) and how Lucien's thought process developed over the book.

So I both loved and hated this book.

I loved the steamy chemistry between Mira and Lucien. I enjoy a good enemies to lovers plot line and this was exactly that. Throw in a dash of forced proximity and some medical drama and I am here for it.

I did not love Mira’s ridiculous inferiority complex. She acted as though everyone in her life literally hated her when it was obviously not true. Watching an MC be that hard on themselves gets old after a while. The crippling communication struggles between these two was also incredibly frustrating, not in a good way.

All in all, this was an easy read with some enjoyable steam 🌶

Thank you Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for sharing this book for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

Rating - 7/10 ⭐️
Passion level - 4/5 🔥
Read if you’re vibing on: enemies to lovers, medical romance, dual perspectives