Such a cute and fun read! I loved the characters and genuinely miss them now that the book is over. I wish we could get more books about them!! Excited to read more by Lauren Forsythe.

This book was... fine. Good even! Just nothing groundbreaking. I thought her premise was cute - the female protagonist creates an app to let other women review men they went on dates on from dating apps. I just feel like it fell flat in the chemistry between the two. While she can be described as more "type-A" and he's more laidback (sometimes seemingly unfairly so), it didn't work for me. She honestly just came across as mean to him sometimes and not in an endearing way.

A enjoyable addition to Lauren’s library. After having read The Fuxer Upper I was excited to jump into this one. I love the workplace romance trope so this hit that dynamic for me. I enjoyed the chemistry and development of Lucas and Marina. i thought this also did a great job of illustrating the expectations around timeframes that woman place in themselves (as well as others place on them).

Dealbreakers | Lauren Forsythe
a deliciously competitive rivals to lovers

Marina Spicer has the rest of her life planned out. Find THE guy. Have some kids. Get the house, the job, the life she’s been working toward her whole adult life. She even streamlined the process using her coding skills to create an app that knocks dating duds out of the running by compiling data on where it all went wrong on previous dates. It is not only her love-life that is plotted out to a T – she is climbing the corporate ladder by creating an opportunity to expand into management. There is only one thing in her way and its muddling both work AND play: Lucas Kennedy. He is not only in competition for the promotion, but he is giving her the butterflies for all the wrong reasons. This tattooed, foul-mouthed charmer is taking up all her time and she hates it! Or, at least, she should… just when she thinks everything is falling into place, it quickly spirals out of control and into the loveliest mess she never wanted.

Oof. This one is full of the hard hits for us overachieving, organized, pick-me girls. It is impossible to balance control over getting everything we’ve ever wanted. And getting it doesn’t always hold the glow we expected! I loved watching Marina soften all the way up to her aha grand gesture and the slow reveal of the more intricate details of their back stories. I’m always digging to know more about my favorite characters and what makes them the way that they are, in all their dysfunctional glory. Finding the ‘why’ behind all the restrictive preferences she held tightly to is the exact brand of lighthearted deconstruction I love to see play out.

There is another layer to this novel that compares activities for couples vs groups and I loved the tension in this competitive element. Mr Dates contrasting with Ms More-the-merrier was even more interesting as Lucas was firmly in the social camp where Marina was more comfortable with her tiny group of solid friends – almost as if each was batting for the opposing team! Overall, the competition plays out well, the blogs as so endearing and the happily ever after is chef’s kiss! (Added bonus for every time I remembered to read Lucas’ dialogue with a Northern Irish accent *swoon*)

4/5 stars for this sweet and spicy competition
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC for review!

This was super cute!
An Irish mmc YES PLEASE

I loved the banter and tension between the characters. Like others have said the pacing was weird at times, but ultimately this was a quick little romcom read.

Dealbreakers (eARC) — 3 ⭐️

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 —
🧲 Opposites Attract
🔐 Closed Door Romance
😏 Witty Banter
💗 Contemporary Romance
🥊 Rivals to Lovers
🔒 Forced Proximity
💼 Workplace Romance
😂 Plenty of LOL Moments

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐟 —
🍽️ You’ve been on countless first dates
🏺 You enjoy pottery classes
👠 You have high standards
🎮 You’re very competitive
👧 You want a big family

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 & 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: After adoring Fixer Upper, I was stoked to get my hand’s on the author’s newest book, Dealbreakers! Compared to the first book, this standalone novel fell short for me. I felt like the characters were hard to connect with as a reader. While I enjoyed this new take on “fake dating” which was more of a workplace rivals to lovers romance, I was overall disappointed in the lack of deep conversations. Everything just felt more surface level than I wanted or expected, but the witter banter was top tier. Overall, it was a quick, easy read, and the book cover is gorgeous!

𝐓𝐖: profanity

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam, for providing me an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The constant push-and-pull dynamic between the two is a true highlight, and also their banter and button -pushing are equal parts frustrating and heartwarming; which makes this a very enjoyable and an angsty read!

Lucas and Marina’s story completely captured my heart. I am not the biggest fan of workplace romances, but I thought this one was amazing!! The tension between Lucas and Marina on the dates had me swooning. I love the way Lauren Forsythe writes about women in STEM & I enjoyed that she explores the pressure women feel to be at a certain place at a certain time in their life.

The characters and style of writing were okay and the story line kept me intrigued. The cover is absolutely what drew me in but some of the storyline aspects had me a tad confused.

What a precious meet cute. It’s very predictable but isn’t that a part of all of these romance novels that we read?!? But hey, I love a main female character that thinks she knows what she wants, because that’s relatable. I thought I knew what I wanted in a man and found someone who’s perfect for me but isn’t who I expected at all.

Love enemies to lovers. Also love the idea of technology having a play in what determines someone’s future because I hear NOTHING but horror stories from real dating apps. So, I love having a book about an app that actually works out in love. And the fact that they were going fake dating to see what types of dates work out and what types don’t, yet they had SO much fun (secretly or not), is such a unique spin on the fake dating. A cute story overall with fun banter and unique ideas. Thanks for the opportunity to read!

Workplace rivals to lovers? Women in STEM? Commentary on confirmation bias? Seems like a dream of a book. I absolutely loved the premise of the book. The story itself could have been executed better in a lot of places. But overall a great read!

Marina and Lucas are competing for the same promotion. Marina has also based all her opinions on men on her app, Dealbreakers. When she finds out that Lucas has the worst rating on the app, she forms a very negative opinion of him. They spend more time together when they are forced to work together to get their promotion. It's an interesting romance about biased opinions and how they affect relationships.

I enjoyed this but it felt like it lacked depth in many moments. And many of the actions of the characters frustrated me throughout the book.

#Dealbreakers is a work rivals to lovers contemporary romance. There is fantastic banter, lovable characters, and a lot of cuteness. The smut isn’t there so if you are reading for spice or are offended by the F word this isn’t for you. If you are looking for a lot of character growth in a slightly romcom contemporary romance this is definitely the read for you.

Really enjoyed these down to earth characters. And the fun idea of the deal breaker dating app. I also really liked that it was a workplace romance. Always my fav

Marina Spicer has her wholelife planned out. What kind of husband she wants, how many kids she will have, what her flat will look like, and the promotion at work she is going to get. When her bosses decide to make her compete for her promotion, Marina is stuck with Lucas Kennedy, her nemesis. Although they have never met in person, Marina has had plenty of annoying e-mail interactions with him. Lucas is always correcting her work or making outrageous suggestions. So when they have to go on "fake dates" together as research for the company, it doesn't exactly go as planned. The sparks start flying and Marina's whole life plan is upended. Does she settle for her perfect list, or go for what will make her happy in life?

Dealbreakers was a quick, easy to read. Marina and Lucas have good chemistry and although it's predictable, it was still a fun read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed Lauren Forsythe's tone and writing style but the plot felt slow. Because of this I had trouble keeping interest and never really connected with the characters. Overall, it was a cute, easy read that is perfect for those times when you don't want to be bogged down in a 400+ page slow burn.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

<b><i><u>please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers</b></i></u>
<i><u>I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. </i></u>
<b>HEA:</b> yes
<b>spice:</b> closed door fade-to-black
<b>TWs:</b> parental/societal pressure to get married and have babies … other than that I don’t recall anything TW/CW worthy in this book
<b>standalone:</b> yes
<b>final thoughts</b>: this book was cute and had a lot of great banter and tension. The characters were likable, and the storyline was fun to follow. I will admit that even though we don’t get the dual POV that I desperately CRAVE in a rivals/enemies-to-lovers (<i>and any romance to be honest…</i>), I felt more connected to the MMC than I did with the FMC. I didn’t <i>dislike</i> the FMC but I did find her unreasonable a lot of the time. She read to be younger than she was portrayed with her list of “must haves” and “deal breakers” but overall it was a quick and easy read

read this book if you love

🔀 opposites attract
🤐 miscommunication
🏝️ forced proximity (working together)
💓 slowburn
🤜 rivals-to-lovers
💼 workplace romance
💌 clean romance

I loved the premise of Dealbreakers. The enemies to lovers, workplace competition, and the forced proximity.
I enjoyed the banter between Marina and Lucas. And the forced dates for work made them spend time together and lower the animosity. I enjoyed the banter and thought the different dates were fun. I just did not connect to the main characters separately or as a couple. I thought the pacing was a little slow until the end where it seemed to wrap up quickly. I would recommend if the premise sounds like something you would enjoy or you’re looking for a quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group, and Putnam Books for the watch.