The Last Word by Katy Birchall
FIVE STARS

This was extremely entertaining and sometimes frustrating, as all romcoms are.

Harper and Ryan are former interns who were competitors and are not enemies and have to work together again. At least this is how Harper sees it since Ryan kept a secret from her about who got the job after their first working experience together.

Harper is so frustrating sometimes with how she reacts to Ryan. I mean, I get it on some level but if they'd just TALK things would be better.

I still loved it though and definitely recommend it if you like second chance romance, co-worker romance and misunderstandings.

#Romance #ContemporaryRomance #ChickLit
#TheLastWord #KatyBirchall
#NetGalley #MacmillanAudio #ALCReview

2.5⭐
Publication date ~ May 2, 2023
Page count ~ 396
Audio length ~ 11 hours 8 minutes
Narrator ~ Karen Cass ~ a fine job
POV ~ single 1st
Featuring ~ coworkers, opposites attract, enemies to lovers, slow burn, second chance, slim steamage

Harper & Ryan have a past that Harper wants to keep a secret from her coworkers.

I enjoyed Ryan's character way more then Harper. I found him to be sweet and fun.
I didn't care for Harper's grudge towards Ryan or the miscommunication that went along with it. I might have liked Harper slightly more if we had Ryan's POV too, but since all chapters were just from her it was too much for me. I was happy with her work ethic and personal growth though.

The banter was fun at times, but then that got to be a little much for me so my ears began to wander.
Overall, not a super big fan, but there are quite a few positive reviews, so don't let mine sway you.

Thanks to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for this early copy of the audiobook.

Looking at other Goodreads reviews, I am in the minority here - so don't let my 2 stars deter you, but man, this book was not for me.

If I can give any advice to the marketers of this book, it's to immediately take the sentence "The Hating Game meets Beach Read" out of any description of this book because while this is a workplace enemies-to-lovers, that's really the only connection to The Hating Game, and I'm sorry, but I don't see a hint, nary a BREATH of Beach Read, I'm actually not sure why they pulled that comp at all.

Like other reviewers have said, this starts off a bit slow. It takes about 25% of this book before the MMC is even mentioned, the beginning is all about Harper and her job. However, this starts with a prologue of Harper in a meeting being asked if she would ever give up her dream job to follow someone she was in love with, and we get this weird preamble about how she would never do that for love, and she's learned her lesson...but friends, this doesn't really go with the rest of the book. I kept waiting for some big reveal that she had given up her job for love, but that literally never ever happens. So we're starting off disjointed, and slow. Not great.

Then we finally start to pick up with the banter and the enemies part of this enemies to lovers plot, and to be honest, I don't understand what Ryan sees in Harper. She is grating. She is disorganized, and obnoxious, she is messy, and late, and we're supposed to find this charming but honestly if I had to deal with someone that was THIS much of a mess regularly, especially in a professional manner, I would be so irritated. But apparently this is all part of what everyone loves about Harper, and she's able to charm her way into the good graces of everyone, except her boss. But she is able to get secrets out of celebrities that no one else can, and it's all because she's oh so relatable and NICE.

Then we get into the backstory of Ryan and Harper and why they hate each other, and it's really...unmonumental. But ya know what? Fine. People overreact or small things hurt people differently, so okay, I'll let that pass, but then they NEVER try to clear it up? Even when there are no stakes for either. Not even a, "hey, I'd like to clear the air about what happened 10 years ago."

Anyway, Harper continues to be neurotic, Ryan continues to find this charming. Then there's *shock* another betrayal that plays out almost the same as it did 10 years ago. Harper is mad and Ryan is an idiot...so great, we have learned nothing in 10 years.

Obviously we get a happily ever after, but this book also does something I hate and the last chapter is like a speed round of wrapping up.

My biggest complaint about this book is that the FMC grated on my nerves the entire time, and that would be one thing if she learned a SINGLE. THING. but she doesn't. She just keeps being messy and disorganized, and manic and it's fine! Because everything not only works out but she flourishes!!!!! Good for her!

Bad for me.

I hear the authors other work is great, but honestly, I was so not into this that I don't even want to try. And the narrator did a lovely lovely job but I had a hard time fitting her voice into the character...probably because the narrator sounded mature (mentally and physically) and you could have told me this character was a 15 year old and I would have believed you.

This was a cute enjoyable romantic comedy. It was predictable but still a comfort read. I listened to it quickly and enjoyed the narrator a lot.

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙯𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙚, 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩. 𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙯𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙩𝙤𝙤. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙄’𝙢 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙯𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙤𝙬.”
___

Reminiscent of Mhairi McFarlane, I absolutely loved The Last Word and I highly recommend experiencing it in audio. The narration was absolutely fantastic! I can’t tell you how many times I laughed out loud while listening to this. The constant back and forth between Ryan and Harper was hilarious. Even when it got ridiculous, I still found myself grinning from ear to ear.

I really enjoyed the flashbacks that carefully unfolded Ryan and Harper’s past relationship and fall out. It really helped me to understand Harper better. I really related to her organized chaos and I love that she was the exact opposite of Ryan. Harper was a little difficult toward the end, BUT after experiencing one meeting with her parents, I totally understood why she acted the way she did and put up so many walls. Imagine going through that scenario repeatedly, every few months. No wonder Harper’s self worth was so low. I truly understand why she did certain things to protect herself, and I’m so glad Ryan stuck it out to be there for her. He was the perfect man to balance her out. What a doll. I just loved him so much!

This story is filled out so much heart, humor and hilarity. I really enjoyed Harper’s friends, and some further reconciliation that takes place at the end. This story is filled out so much heart, humor and hilarity. I’m so excited to go back and read Katy Birchall’s other books on my backlist after loving this so much!!

Thank you to Macmillan audio for an ALC and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy. My thoughts are my own.

When her new boss begins to sideline her as Celebrity Editor, Harper Jenkins sees red. But things go from bad to worse when he promotes her arc-nemesis and former love, Ryan, to be Features Editor.

Right from the start, I knew I was going to enjoy this second chance, enemies to lovers, workplace romance. With wit and banter along the lines of Sophie Kinsella, Birchall does an amazing job at bringing these A-game tropes together in a really fun and entertaining way.

One of my favorite aspects of this story was the wonderful cast of supporting characters. I think Birchall found the perfect balance between the overarching romance and the importance of the inclusion of these deep and meaningful friendships. And of course it’s London setting made it that much more fun for me.

Thank you SMP Romance and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copies in exchange for my honest review.

*** Thank you to Netgalley, Katy Birchall, St. Martin’s Griffin and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook***
Release Date: 05.02.2023
Tropes: Second Chance Romance / Enemies to Lovers

Harper is a well trusted journalist working in the entertainment industry. She has a boyfriend, Liam, whom she likes but does not love and spends much of her time with her coworkers turned friends. When one of Harper’s coworkers leaves the company and the replacement is announced Harper’s world turns upside down when she sees no other than her former co-intern whom she shared a “magical” weekend with over a decade ago, Ryan. Ryan quickly earned the trust and love from his new coworkers except for Harper, who refuses to let go of the past. As the two are forced to work close together and even attend the same events, Harpers walls come down and she learns Ryan has been interested in Harper … well, forever. After Harper breaks up with her boyfriend and agrees to take things as they are with Ryan, things start to get … weird. Life happens. Work happens. But also, love happens.

Karen Cass was a great narrator for this audiobook, I felt her voice was calm, exciting and easy to keep my interest. I always enjoy work place romances but I felt as though this one was relatively … generic, but well written. There are some parts of the story which made me laugh out loud. It was a nice listen while I was working. I definitely would recommend this for a light beach read.

Harper is the celebrity editor at The Narrative and loves her job. She has a couple of great friends who support each other at work with the only pain being Cosmo, their boss. When one friend leaves for a promotion with another publication, the new hire is a face Harper has been avoiding to great lengths. She can't stand stick-in-the-mud and neat-freak Ryan. They've only gotten on well for a short time years ago but she'll never forget their big blow up. It's more than infuriating that the sparks persist between them.
I loved the tension and chemistry between Harper and Ryan. Their constant bickering and need to have the last word was relatable even when it got to be a touch too much. I wanted to have Ryan's POV because he was such a sweet cinnamon roll even through Harper's less than positive viewpoint.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book

I always enjoy a good enemies to lovers story and The Last Word didn't disappoint.

Harper and Ryan have history. They met roughly ten years before as interns and their potential love story fell apart dramatically then. Now they are working together again. No one knows about their past and Harper has decided it's easier that way. So when the barbed comments start flying, their co-workers can't help but watch their antics and wonder what drives such intense emotions. As time goes on, their old emotions surface and the hate starts looking more like it could be unrequited love. But what is Harper supposed to do with those feelings after all this time?

The chemistry between these two is off the charts. I loved their banter and back and forth bickering. It was sometimes frustrating that Harper couldn't ever see the good in Ryan even when he went out of his way to do nice things for her. She'd acknowledge it for about a second and then become side-tracked by some other work related drama where she felt slighted.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW:: The narration was perfection. I loved the way it pulled me into the story even more that reading it, if that's possible. Also, I felt as if I could hear Harper's snakiness when she was giving Ryan trouble. Likewise, you could hear Ryan's cool and calm responses. It was quite enjoyable. 5 stars

This is definitely one of those books where a lot of time and energy could have been saved if they'd only talked things through but then we wouldn't have had a book. And I wouldn't have been able to become so invested in Harper and Ryan's potential HEA.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I love the enemies to lovers trope and adding in the work place was definitely fun. This was a fun slow burn romance which made you really root for the two main characters. Their history definitely added a good spark to their timeline.

Actual rating 3.5

Last Words was… fine.

It starts off strong, perfectly believable, establishing our heroine Harper as a career obsessed and slightly bitter towards love journalist. She’s been burned by love in the past and wants to focus on what’s important in her life with few distractions, her passion? Celebrities. She’s well known is the business for her ability to put her interview subjects at ease and her focus on treating celebrities like real people. Rather than hunting gossip, she want to tell people’s stories and lift them up. Queue Ryan, the man who betrayed her 10 years ago when her career was just kicking off.

I thought this book was really solid and I enjoyed the writing. The set up was fun and I was invested enough in the plot lines that it was an absolute breeze to finish the book. Unfortunately as the book goes on it becomes a little less and less realistic. There weren’t any plot twists I didn’t see coming, but I found some of the choices that our main characters make in the third act to be… odd. Not in anyway that upsets me or truly negates character growth, it just really hit me as a a strange wrap up all around.

Still, this book is a very quick and entertaining romance. I did enjoy and would happily recommend even if it’s not getting a spot on my favorites shelf.

Audio 4.5/5

Easy. Clearly read and acted, no complaints about this performance whatsoever.

🎧 New Audiobook Review🎧

The Last Word by Katy Birchall
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this enemies to lovers rom-com. Former colleagues turned current colleagues are working together at a glossy newspaper. Harper is the Celebrity Editor who is known to get the good scoops because of how kind and ethical she is. Ryan comes on as the Features Editor and she remembers interning formerly with him. Ryan is a neat freak who is no nonsense. Working in close quarters causes a lot of arguments between them.

I enjoyed the banter in the story. There wasn’t really a high level of spice and that was a bummer but the story was really great. I loved Harper’s character who is someone who pursued her passion despite what her parents thought about it and was going through some transitions in her career. I also like how she stood up to her dousche of a boss and advocated for herself. It’s really the story I needed to read right now.

The relationships were great and developed well in the story. It was a fun read that I’d recommend. The narrator did a great job with it as well.

Thanks to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for a ALC of this story which publishes 5/2.

The Last Word by Katy Birchall
4/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

This was such a cute and funny listen! If you like a good workplace slow-burn, this ones for you. Told in flashbacks between their 2012 internship at a newspaper and current day careers at the same magazine, Ryan and Harper have clearly never gotten along. They are complete opposites and can't stand each other, (except when they are getting along and having chemistry filled interactions). When they are put on the same assignment and everything they've felt for the past ten years comes to the surface, they will be forced to confront their feelings and decide how they can ever go back to being indifferent rivals.

Read this book if you like:
- rivals to lovers
- stories told through flashbacks
- workplace romance
- opposites attract
- British romance

The Last Word will be released May 2nd and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Special thanks to Macmillan Audio for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC. 💖

I've been a Katy Birchall fan since her debut adult novel, The Secret Bridesmaid, so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of The Last Word.

This book was so much fun! It has some of my favorite tropes: enemies-to-lovers, opposites attract, forced proximity, and workplace romcom. It's clever, witty, charming and has fantastic banter! I also really enjoyed the depth here, as in addition to the love story, there are subplots of tumultuous family relationships, workplace issues, and a great deal of character growth.

I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook format, narrated by the talented Karen Cass. I've listened to Karen perform others, but this may be her best! Excellent work! 👏🏻

Birchall is such a reliable author. I always know I'm going to enjoy whatever she writes! Can't wait for the next one. 💕

**IG review post coming tomorrow**

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the free ALC in exchange for honest review. I completely expected this book to be an absolute 5 star for me but didn't enjoy the narrator or story seemed like a family drama and expexted it to be more romance. The characters were both annoying and irritating and was screaming at them the whole time.

4 stars!

I thoroughly enjoyed "The Last Word" by Katy Birchall. The story starts off a little slowly, but it gradually blossoms into an intriguing, compelling enemies-to-lovers, second-chance workplace romance that I was invested in all the way. I liked the main characters, Harper and Ryan, both together and individually. They both grow tremendously as people by the end of the book, and they have terrific character arcs from start to finish. I found their bickering to be funny and silly, but I can see why others might be put off by it. There is also a fabulous supporting cast of characters here. My one complaint is that this is a fairly predictable story. It doesn't deviate from the winning enemies-to-lovers formula much, but it's written so well that I didn't mind at all. Author Katy Birchall made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion with her quippy, entertaining writing. I also loved Karen Cass's audiobook narration! I thought she had a fantastic wit about her, which gave authenticity to these characters and made them feel more realistic than they may have otherwise. She's a fabulous narrator! Overall, I liked this book way more than something like, say, "The Hating Game," perhaps because the characters are so much more enjoyable and so much less toxic. Give this one a read ASAP!

Thank you to NetGalley, Katy Birchall, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

For some books, it is easy to gush about what you love. Others are so "meh", it is hard to say anything. This falls into the other trap- my brain automatically focuses on the elements that kept me from LOVING it. (Note- I liked it, I just had a few recurring hang ups that prevented me from liking it even more)

Actually, now that I was thinking, I really have only one issue- people treat Harper like crap and she takes it. Her boyfriend, her parents, her boss. Not only does she not stand up for herself, neither does anyone else. Harper seems too strong of a person to put up with all of that all the time.

I can say that I related so much to Harper's alarm setting habit. While not a late person like she is, I do have a tendency to sleep through alarms (My alarm clock used to be in my bathroom- so I'd have to get up to shut it off). Setting a new alarm every few minutes is something I do, lol.

I listened to the audiobook. It is narrated by Karen Cass. Overall, no problems. However, this is going to sound weird, at times it sounded like she had a stuffy nose and it distracted me. I am currently sick myself (thank you, pollen), so maybe I am just hyper sensitive to that at the moment, lol.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

I normally like enemies to lovers but this one wasn't my cup of tea. The arguing felt so kid like. Would adults really argue over bald eagles at their work place? I did enjoy the majority of the characters and the narrator of the audiobook so overall it was ok.

Harper and Ryan. Classic enemies to lovers. Maybe. They profess to hate each other. But do they?

I really enjoyed Harper being a celebrity columnist. Her job clearly was very important to her and I enjoyed the behind the scenes of that.

The romance part was juts okay for me. I kept wanting something more. It dragged on so long until we got the them actually being together. But I liked both characters and their storyline outside of romance was very interesting to me.

I had both ALC and ARC copies. I found the audio more engaging for sure. I enjoyed despite the slow start and would read this author again.

Many thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for the ALC and ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Listen if You Like:
🥈 Second Chance Romances
🔥 Rivals/Enemies to Lovers
💼 Workplace Romances
✨ Celebrity Gossip
✍🏻 Writer MC’s

This one felt like a departure from Katy’s prior books and it just missed the mark for what I was expecting based on the way she wrote her prior books.

I found myself lacking being invested in Harper and Ryan’s story of a second chance at romance. I truly hated that the reason for their first break up was repeated into their second and felt like neither character had experienced any growth.

I did enjoy the ending and was so happy to see Harper taking control of her life and finding her place for success.

If you are looking for a solid second chance/enemies to lovers in a workplace setting I would recommend this one for that. Thanks so much to the publisher for my ALC in exchange for my honest review!