The Last Word is a classically fun enemies-to-lovers. The main female character Harper is honestly a mess in every way except for her skills as a celebrity reporter. Working with her nemesis and former fling isn’t ideal, but it is kind of cute and funny. This book said it would remind the reader of The Hating Game and that’s spot-on. This way my first Katy Birchall novel, but it won’t be my last!


Special thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an advanced reviewer copy to me in exchange for my honest review and opinion!

Here's the thing, I know I probably would have absolutely loved this book if I had been in the mood for it. This is my third Katy Birchall book, so I shouldn't have been surprised by this, but I just don't think her books are really fit into the romance genre. They seem more women's fiction to me than anything else. While yes there is always a romance aspect to the story, it's never really the focal point and that is an important piece to a romance novel, at least in my opinion. Though I do think the romance was more important to this story than the other two I have read from Katy.

At the end of the day, I still really enjoyed this book and will definitely continue to read more from her. I really enjoy Katy's writing style. I think it's easy to read and get invested in the story. Her characters always have stories I'm eager to learn more about and they always have some really great character development. The relationships developed are really wonderful and deep and it is hard to put the book down once I've started it.

I really enjoyed how the history between Ryan and Harper was revealed throughout the book and I love the way they interacted with each other and learned about each other all over again. This was a fun, sweet, and heartfelt story, that I'm quite happy I read. It was a little slow to start, but an all-around enjoyable time. This is one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys the following.

✔️ Enemies to Lovers
✔️ Second Chance
✔️ Workplace Romance
✔️ First Person Single POV

This is a case if it’s not the book, it’s me. I’m not a huge fan of workplace romances and then the miscommunication was a hard pass for me. I know so many love this author and I’m so glad it’s gotten overall great reviews.

Romance

This was a wonderful use of the enemies to lover's trope. There is also some 2nd chance love trope as well.

Harper and Ryan met 10 years ago when they were both interns for the same magazine/newspaper. They ended up having a perfect weekend, but then Harper found out that Ryan had some information he should have shared with her. She broke things off and they went their own ways.

Now, they are working together again. Ryan gets hired as the Features Editor where Harper works as the Celebrity News Editor. Their snarky exchanges cause their co-workers to wonder if their hating game hides a heavy dose of sexual tension.

This novel is so much more than a romance. Harper has some pretty major familial issues that she has to deal with. She also has a mysogynistic boss that causes other problems for her.. Navigating these situations while also learning to trust Ryan again made for a wonderful story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC of this novel.

If you like Workplace rivals or enemies to lovers than this is the book for you! We feature Harper and Ryan. Ryan and Harper have a past that Harper would very much want to forget.
I loved their approaches to writing their stories. Harper is very messy and Ryan is straight laced. I cracked up with the desk things. Harper begins to thaw and let's down her guard with Ryan. They feature a trip to Florence and Mimi's birthday party.
I loathed the character of Cosmo. He was a terrible boss and if that's what the writer wanted to portray then kudos to them.
There are flashback scenes in this book and we discover how Ryan and Harper met originally. loved the ending and I adored Ryan and Harper's time with his family.
A big thank-you to Net Galley and St Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy of this book. It was fantastic.

Fast-paced, refreshing and HAS A GREAT STORY with characters that have PERSONALITY

Honestly, this book was amazing, it quite literally had me hooked - I finished it all in one evening and was thoroughly entertained

Although, I did feel as a though there were a lot of explanations dumped into the text - perhaps if they had been embedded it would have had a better effect

Overall a great read ✨🤩

3.5 stars

I've had one huge hit and one slight miss with Katy Birchall, but I was really excited to pick up The Last Word based on the fact that it seemed like the love interest was going to be involved in the whole story rather than just cropping up a few times before declaring their love for the heroine. That has been my biggest issue with Birchall's books in the past - I really love when the romance is front and center.

Out of all of Birchall's books, The Last Word certainly achieves this; however, their relationship is wrapped up in a conflict that really brings out the somewhat grating childishness of our main character. In addition, the reveal of the initial betrayal by the love interest in the flashbacks ended up being fairly anticlimactic as the main couple were barely together in the past timeline.

That being said, Birchall's humor and characterization shines through as always and she does an excellent job of bringing the world of celebrity journalism to life. My gripes are definitely more of a "It's not you, it's me" as I find that my chick lit phase might be ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I love second chance romances and this book is absolutely that! The characters, Harper and Ryan, are wonderful and so are the secondary characters. Harper is a journalist with a heart of gold. She is able to connect to her subjects in a way that is beautiful to see written out. Ryan is the grumpy to her sunshine, but he is such a sensitive soul. I truly loved watching the character development with both of these characters, but especially with Harper. They both are stubborn people, who have to have the last word, but their growth a beautiful.

Tropes: enemies to lovers, second chance romance, workplace romance, grumpy vs sunshine, and a bit of dual timelines.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book because I love an office romance, an enemies to lovers, and a second chance romance, so I thought why not. What I didn’t expect was to like it SO MUCH. In my opinion this was a top tier in both of those categories, so if any of those speak to you, pick it up. Honestly, if you loved The Hating Game, you’ll like this (for reference, I didn’t love The Hating Game but I loved this).

One thing that really drew me in was the fact that I caught myself laughing or smiling MULTIPLE times during this book. I’ve found recently that I don’t do that as often as I used to, so when a book gets me unintentionally smiling, I know it’s a good one. There were so many little moments where the relationship in the book made me feel swoony, or one of the characters said something SO CLEVER or FUNNY that I just couldn’t help myself.

On to the characters themselves. Harper was such an interesting character. She was relatable in the way that any person who feels their job defines their worth and strives to work on it is relatable (no? just me?), but beyond that we saw some vulnerabilities with her that really made me sit back and think. Now Ryan, he was swoony. Quiet, shy, nervous man who is also gorgeous and good at his job? Sign me up please! I always thought that the boisterous men oozing charisma were my favorite, but at the end of the day, I love a Ryan. And then their chemistry? It was literally wafting off the pages. Also, the side characters were pretty lovable too, which is always a plus!

I also really liked the discussion that was inherent around celebrities and our fascination as a society with them. I was always someone who was pretty plugged into pop culture, and for me I think it was because 1) I love drama and there happened to be drama in droves with pop culture, but 2) I liked seeing someone out there being successful who I felt I could relate to. And that what Harper as a character tries to make known. I think it really made me think more about the world. I’ve moved on quite a bit from my love of pop culture, but I think it’s important to have that reminder sometimes that celebrities are also people too, and that message is pretty heavy in this book.

Overall, this was a solid 4.75 star read for me and I do recommend any romance lovers pick it up if they have the desire!

My favorite romances are when the chemistry between the characters is so apparent, it jumps through the pages immediately. It’s easier said than done - and most require a slow burn. But every once in a while you at h it from the first interaction, and then you know you are in for an excellent read.

And that was exactly the case here. From the first interaction between Harper and Ryan, I was ALL in.

I also adored the character of Harper. She was instantly relatable. She’s a celebrity journalist, quite successful in her field, and known for her ability to get even the most cynical and tight mouthed celebrities to open up. While she’s prof what she’s built, she has a rough relationship with her family and her romantic life has been meh. And then she sees Ryan in a conference room, and things take a turn.

We learn through flashbacks that Ryan and Harper have a backstory, and I loved this way of learning about them. Their conflicts and journey felt realistic but also I found myself smirking and laughing a lot.

This gave me strong Hating Game vibes - and I mean that as the highest compliment! I’ve enjoyed everything that I’ve read by @katybirchallauthor and this is no exception- I had a solo vacay day yesterday and spent it devouring this book with absolutely no regrets. The best way to spend a day!

Big thanks to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for gifting me this advanced readers copy! It is out May 2!

Will post on goodreads, my bookstagram @scottonreads and retail sites

I think I would have enjoyed this more without the comparison to Hating Game, which is one of my all-time favorites. Both characters make seemingly obvious mistakes and the banter isn't quite what I was looking for either. However, there were sweet moments and funny moments that kept me interested. 3.5 stars rounded up

This is the third book by Birchall that I’ve read and I think it’s my favorite. There was plenty of humor with some mild spice. Harper, the main character drove me a little crazy but I loved her best friend. And I did enjoy seeing how Harper changed throughout the book.

Katy Birchall's books remain a delight. I really appreciate that she goes left where many other chick lit books go right; instead of creating avoidable crises time and again, Birchall tells a story with plenty of drama, but not moments where you want to throw the book across the room. At one point, early in the book, Harper, the editor of the celebrity beat for a newspaper's weekly magazine, mentions that she hasn't finished writing the Big Scoop that she had gotten--she's out for drinks and mentions she has another event that night before needing to finish she story. "Great," I thought. "She's going to miss her deadline and then her boss's worst instincts about her will be confirmed."

But no. The next chapter begins and we find out that the story came out and got a ton of traction and kudos. Harper's Inappropriate Boyfriend (who has started his own talent agency) also managed to not mess anything up for Harper, though I was sure he would.

Instead, Harper deals with the reappearance of Ryan in her life. The two were interns together 10+ years ago and have History; they spent the entire book bickering, but in a way that manages to be fun instead of annoying. Harper also has to deal with her unsupportive parents and boss. Harper is depicted as being a bit all-over-the-place and disorganized, but I love that she's nothing but excellent at her job. And Ryan is entirely supportive of her. I probably liked him more than her, honestly, but reading about her constantly losing things was stressful!

Overall, a really fun read and I can't wait for Birchall's next book. (It's not quite 5 stars for me, though I can't give a real reason for that.)

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press / St. Martin’s Griffin for sharing this copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

This one started off pretty strong for me. I really enjoyed that it was about a celebrity journalist — I found that aspect so interesting! I loved Harper’s passion for her job even though it didn’t live up to her family’s expectations.

🔹 second chance romance
🔹 enemies to lovers
🔹 workplace romance

I liked the bickering between the MCs at first, but Harper’s unnecessary grudge towards Ryan started getting a little old and the miscommunication was frustrating.

Rating 3.75/5 stars

I had such a good time reading The Last Word! This was my first read by Birchall and it didn't disappoint. Enemies to lovers and a little second chance romance all while Harper, our FMC, tries to navigate the ever-changing landscape of journalism and a tough relationship with her parents.

I absolutely adored Harper and Ryan! Harper was so relatable to me and I really enjoyed watching her grow through the novel.

The pacing and writing was fantastic. Once I got started, I couldn't stop. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read and I can't wait to dig into more of Katy Birchall's backlist!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC. All thoughts are wholly my own.

First, a big thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an e-arc to read & review.

My rating: 3.5 ⭐️/5

This is my first novel by author Katy Birchall, but it won’t be my last. The Last Word is an enemies to lovers, second chance workplace romance which are some of my absolute favorite tropes. At times I was annoyed by Harper and found her to be immature. Other times I found myself rooting for Harper to stand up for herself with her family & her boss.

This is a well written, quick, easy read that I would recommend to anyone who looking for a romance with realistic characters, believable conflicts, and a happy ending.

DNF @ 17%

Wasn't loving the writing style or the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advance copy.

Rating: 3.5/5
Spice: 2/5
My thoughts:
This was my first book by Katy Birchall and it definitely did not disappoint. I did get major Hating Game vibes, although not so much Beach Read vibes as mentioned in the description of the book. I am a liiiiiittle biased that enemies-to-lovers is not always my favorite because I get SO frustrated with the MC's because they clearly like each other and why won't they just admit it already!!! I do love a good British Rom-Com and Birchall did not disappoint on that front. Overall, this book was witty, charming, binge-worthy and won't be my last Katy Birchall book I read! Be sure to check it out when it launched on 5/2/23.

All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC!

Give me all the enemies to lovers romances. The Last Word was funny, quirky, romantic, sweet, powerful, and beautiful all at once. I loved the slow burn of Harper and Ryan's relationship and then loved learning about their past at the same time. While at its core, The Last Word is a romance, the book tackles a lot of great subjects including women's equality in the workplace, family drama, careers, and more.

This was such a fun read, and I had a hard time putting it down. I was so sucked into the story and needed to know what happened. A fabulous ending too!

Read this one. It's fantastic.
Thank you, St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the eARC!
4.5/5 stars

Truly wasn't a fan of this story. I found the characters to be quite immature and I was getting very bored with the back and forth bickering between the main characters. I found I really had to push myself to get through this one.