Shane and Lilah. Love them! This book was a rollercoaster. Not going to lie, I was a bit nervous towards the end but you Ava Wilder made my ugly sad tears turn into happy tears. Loved the plot. Another amazing book to enter into my top faves. Can’t wait to read more from Ava Wilder

I freaking loved this book! It was an easy fast paced read and was invested from the beginning. Like trying to figure out why two people that used to get along so well, end up disliking each other so much?

Even when they were “hating” on each other Lilah and Shane had such undeniably great chemistry. The bantering, the freaking TENSION. It was just obvious that they complemented each other.

Lilah’s fears and anxiety were so relatable to me, I just felt like I understood why she would want to push Shane away, even though she couldn’t deny the connection they had.

It was great seeing them both try to patch up their hard feelings in therapy, which kind of made them restore what they had almost a decade earlier.

I loved the way the story ended, how they both finally gave into themselves, their relationship, and what’s important.

Thank you Net Galley and to the publishers for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House, and Ava Wilder for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I'm not typically a fan of the second-chance romance trope, but in this case, I think Ava Wilder did it right. Shane and Lilah are costars in a paranormal romance tv show that has skyrocketed both of them into fame. For years, fans have wondered if the chemistry on screen between the two is just as real off-screen. A brief fling, 8 seasons, and a falling out later, Lilah is back to film the final season and the two of them have to reckon with the feelings they each still harbor for the other.

I found this book to be so frustrating in the best way. Ava Wilder is a talent at creating sometimes unlikeable characters in that Lilah and Shane are both incredibly flawed, but they felt so vivid and fleshed out. Despite how frustrating they were at times, you understood their motivations and actions. The angst and pining and sexual frustration in this were so strong! I enjoyed the flashbacks to the past and the ending felt satisfying. Overall, I really enjoyed this!

I continue to enjoy Ava Wilder's writing and she will always be an auto-buy for me. I can't wait to purchase this in-store to put on my shelf.

I really enjoyed Ava Wilder’s debut novel last year and Shane and Lilah’s story in Will They or Won’t They was equally delightful.

Shane and Lilah’s relationship burned hot and heavy when they first met after booking starring roles in a hit show together. Their unpleasant and awkward reunion comes 9 years after the pressures of fame and their own insecurities and anxieties caused them to crash and burn.

After an abrupt departure, Lilah returns for the show's final season and we get to see Shane and Lilah navigate complicated feelings of anger, hurt, and jealousy as well as attraction, longing and love. However, it isn't until their very obvious tension on set gets them sent to therapy together that they finally start to address their unresolved feelings.

Will They or Won't They had all the angsty goodness of a second chance romance and a sweet happy ending to make up for the heartache and frustration of watching two stubborn characters refusing to admit they’re in love.

Second-chance romance, between former celeb co-stars from a hit TV show, and set in Hollywood? This is a recipe for success for me! I love love love Ava Wilder's celebrity romances. This also had enemies to lovers, secret dating, and forced proximity tropes!

Lilah and Shane met in the auditions for their hit show Intangible almost 10 years earlier, immediately hitting it off. Thanks to their chemistry, they get the parts, and become close to where they are secretly hooking up during season 1. After something happens they hate each other, but still play on-screen love interests for the next 4 seasons. Now, years later when Lilah is back for the show's final season, the tension is at an all-time high.

I really loved both Shane and Lilah's characters. I liked the inclusion of their mental health difficulties, family dynamics, and personal growth. While it was more of a slow burn, I felt it was worth it! The tension and secret desire for each other was perfect. Definitely add this one to your summer tbr!

Wilder writes a solid romcom about two characters that go from lovers to enemies to lovers once again. The reader immediately sees the deep attraction and connection Lilah and Shane have to one another. While Lilah is a good character, I still found something lacking in her. She stands in the way of true happiness & love for herself. She has a need to always be in control, trust issues, panic attacks, and she refuses to allow anyone in to see the true her. These are good characteristics to use yet I felt like I was always looking for more information about her deep fear of love, her issues with control & trust, her past life and where the panic attacks truly stemmed from for her; I wanted more from her but was never provided with it. On the other hand, the character of Shane is more developed. He is easy going, knows he wants Lilah, that they should be together and he just has to figure out how to breakdown the wall that she continues to build around herself. He has his own faults such as fear of something new and assuming instead of asking. However, in the end he manages to figure it out. Shane is not afraid to allow Lilah to be in control - something she appears to need badly - he is not afraid when he is with her. Yet, there were plenty of moments I felt he should just walk away from Lilah. She is exhausting. Overall, the book is a simple, quick and easy read.

Will They Or Won’t They

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m not usually an exes to lovers trope fan, but this one was so well done.

Shane and Lilah play actors on a TV series where they first started a relationship nine years ago. After a disaster out breakup and being forced to work together after, they parted ways with a lot of animosity. Now they’re back together for the final season.

The tension in this one was so well done. I really enjoyed the dual perspectives that Ava Wilder pulls off so well. And the ending? Chefs kiss.

Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC. Check out Will They Or Won’t They in June!

*3.5
After reading the author's first book, How to Fake it in Hollywood, and not really ~loving~ it, I was very skeptical about this one. However, the synopsis kept bringing me back to it. After seeing praise from a lot of people I really trust, I decided to request an ARC of Will They or Won't They from Netgalley.

I went in really excited. Hollywood books are some of my favorites to read, especially when there is juicy costar drama. As I started reading, I really loved this. It had the perfect hook and pacing to keep you enraptured. The tension between the two main characters, Shane and Lilah is so perfect.

Where the book really started to suffer, to me, was right after the 50% mark. Having read Ava Wilder's other book as well, what I really think she suffers from is over-description and a bit of word vomit. She just really suffers from wordiness. There were whole pages after the halfway point that I was skimming because there was, quite frankly, too much. It really took me out of the book and lessened my enjoyment of what would have otherwise been a 4-star read.

Otherwise, I think it is a fun book. You really are guessing the whole book whether Shane and Lilah will or won't get together. If it weren't for the standard conventions of the romance genre, I really would have learned towards won't. It is a very convincing hate-to-love story.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I. AM. OBSESSED.

I think celebrity romance might be my favorite trope because I have loved every single one I have been reading lately. In this book, Lilah and Shane are co-stars who TRULY hate each other after hooking up during season one of their show and then something happens where they decide to call it off and never speak of it again. This book had all of the drama, so much angst, and was also very sweet all at the same time. In Ava Wilder's debut How to Fake It In Hollywood, I felt like the first half of the book and the last half felt like they had two different tones. While in Will They or Won't They I felt like the writing improved so much. I also connected so much with Lilah and her troubles with anxiety/panic attacks as well as her feelings of being unlovable. Shane loved Lilah so much and watching them go to therapy and come back together was beautiful to read.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the arc!

As a second chance/enemies to lovers romance with dual POV and shifting timelines, Will They or Won't They is a bit of a challenging read based only on those factors. When you add in the toxicity of the main characters, it's even more challenging. I appreciated that we saw each character's mental health struggles, and that a major conceit of the story was having them go to couples counseling to help improve their working relationship. That, combined with the dual POV, made it easier to understand each character's position and motivations. But the intense animosity between the two of them made it hard to want to continue reading in the earlier parts of the book -- and the dual POV showed how each one of them was misunderstanding the other, and how miscommunication and an unwillingness to be vulnerable was causing a lot of their problems. Thankfully, the ice between them was thawing by the midway point and it got a lot less frustrating.

A good read, if you're willing to plow through the discomfort at first.

Holy smokes was this an excellent follow-up to Ava Wilder's debut! I enjoyed HOW TO FAKE IT IN HOLLYWOOD, and I'm happy to say her second book was even better! We follow Lilah and Shane who have worked opposite each other on a hit TV show, but Lilah left a few years ago and never looked back...until now, when she tries to bounce back from a bad movie. It's the last season of the show, and Lilah and Shane can't get along, thanks to a failed romance in the very early days of filming. Their hostility was completely believable and, for both parties, pretty well-founded. We get a few flashback scenes sprinkled throughout the book to see glimpses into their past, but most of the story is focused on the two, present-day, attempting to work together and form some sort of acquaintanceship to make filming easier. I loved all the acting and television elements of the book, and the discussion of different methods of making it "big" in Hollywood. The romance escalated so well; this is definitely a slow-burn--the characters don't get together until like 80% of the way through--but the build-up is so well written and makes the time they're not together fly by. I highly recommend this one as the perfect summer read!

I really liked this book. I thought I would have a little trouble connecting to the characters in the beginning (I know nothing about tv production) but even though they were actors they were relatable and down to earth. I really loved the timeline jumps and never felt like they were awkward or out of place. I thought the ending was fantastic, especially when all endings seem the same in books nowadays. I would definitely recommend this book!

Will They or Won't They has a great premise for the struggles of blending fame and passion in the Hollywood sphere. Lilah and Shane, actors for the hit TV show Intangible shot to stardom as the show took off and then when things got too emotional behind the green screen, they quickly go their separate ways.

As they find their way back to the big screen for the shooting of the last season of the showe that brought them together... can they work out their didferences long enough to make something magical onscreen?

THOUGHTS:
- Will They or Won't They has great mental health representation. Both main characters individually struggle with anxiety, depression and all the things that come with trying to tread water in an unforgiving career field.
- The thing I just couldn't handle is that neither main character felt likable. It felt like the vapidness of Hollywood and fame soaked into every interaction no matter how hard I tried to see the characters underneath all of that starlet nonsense.

While it was fairly predictable, it was also a very cute read that I ended up loving. I loved the multiple perspectives and POV. Definitely a must add to your pool bag.

Ava Wilder's writing continues to amaze me! I loved this story and the feelings - good and bad - between Lilah and Shane were palpable throughout the book. I thought there was too much miscommunication/unexplored negative feelings between them over the course of *years* to make this a 5 star book, but I did enjoy the story. Not sure if I enjoyed the idea of faking their relationship at the end, but I did enjoy all of the past and present love story moments between them. I will definitely be recommending this book all over bookstagram and am excited for it to go public later this summer!! Thank you so much for the ARC.

From the publisher: Lilah Hunter and Shane McCarthy are madly in love—at least, their characters are. As the stars of the hit paranormal TV show Intangible, Lilah and Shane spent years pining for each other onscreen . . . until Lilah ditched the show at the end of season five in hopes of becoming a movie star. With no such luck, she’s back to film the much-hyped ninth and final season, in which Lilah and Shane’s characters will get together at last.

But coming back means facing one of the biggest reasons she left: Shane. Ever since their secret behind-the-scenes fling imploded at the end of season one, the two of them have despised each other.

Now reunited on set for the first time in years—with the world’s eyes on them and their post-show careers on the line—they’ll have to grit their teeth and play nice. But under pressure to give Intangible’s fans the happy ending they’ve been waiting for, Lilah and Shane are forced to get closer than ever. And if they’re not careful, they might just get blindsided by one final twist: a real-life happy ending of their own.
*************************************
My review—5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:
I really liked this book! It was just enough angst and heartache, and plenty of steamy fun, lol. Shane pines for Lilah much more than she pines for him, and I appreciated that. The female being afraid of commitment was refreshing. There were times I was very “Enough already!! Just jump each other!” But the waiting made it even better, and showed how much each character really cared. Kudos to Wilder for including discussions of anxiety, therapy, and even making Lilah Jewish (don’t see that much!).

The idea that a “fling” could mean more to one person than the other is very realistic, as well as the idea that people grow and change. The novel follows both MCs and we get to know how they each feel throughout the book. Shane and Lilah and their witty banter and sarcasm was fun. I love to laugh in a romance and Wilder delivers. Flawed characters, steamy scenes, humor, and second chances…all come together in the end and make this a great read. Perfect for this summer!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my review.

a real lovers to enemies to lovers again angst with so much drama. i really enjoyed it! wish we went more into the future with the epilogue though.

Ava Wilder knows how to write a fantastic celebrity romance and knows her way around A+ tropes. Intangible is a hit supernatural TV show heading in to wrap up their final season. After leaving after season 5 to try her hand at the big screen, Lilah is back to film with her rival and fellow costar, Shane. Much to their dismay. The chemistry between the two leads was off the charts and I loved the flashback chapters, starting from their audition and covered all the crucial moments romantically together during their first season. Wilder has such an easy writing style that flows well and hold your attention. I loved the banter and there was some touching scenes as well. Overall I absolutely recommend if you love celebrity romance, second chance romance, enemies to lovers, and workplace romance. All the good tropes!

I DNFd this at 43%. I found Lilah difficult to like; I hated how cruel she was to Shane for seemingly no good reason. Lilah treated him like dirt from the beginning and it only got worse after they broke up. When she returned to the show, Shane made many attempts to extend an olive branch but she couldn’t even manage to be civil to him. I didn’t really understand her motivations. Then we learn about some shady things Shane did that weren’t very fair to Lilah… I just found so much of this difficult and painful to get through. I think this spends so much time on their currently toxic relationship that it makes the reading process a long, uncomfortable haul. I think the cover and title do not reflect the content very well and I went in with inappropriate expectations.

I did enjoy the focus on the entertainment industry as a setting. And I think Wilder’s writing is skillful and engrossing, her ability to build characters and story excellent. I have no doubt this book will find an audience but it was just spending too much time in depressing, toxic territory for me. I was having a hard time making myself pick it back up again and continue reading.

I will absolutely continue to look forward to Wilder’s future books!

I went into this book planning to read it like a normal person, but it sucked me in right away and I ended up finishing it in one sitting.
It was angsty, it was funny, it was somehow both heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once. I loved the relationship between Lilah and Shane. I loved how much I was driven to frustration at the beginning, I even cheered when things started to get more intense, and ultimately wanted to hug them both at the end.
This book truly encapsulates the title, and I loved every word of it.