The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi. Pub Date: January 30, 2024. Rating: 3 stars. If you like enemies to lovers workplace romance with cultural diversity representation, then this book may be the book for you. Female main character owns her own company that is potentially being bought by a male main character's company to help save her financially. The two characters know each other from high school so the banter is years long in the making. A romance develops between the two and the sexual tension is fierce in this one. I think the forced proximity of the characters added to the tension throughout. If you enjoy work place settings with tension moments, this book is probably for you! Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I am obsessed with high school rivals turned into lovers as adult. I like the growth of people from their teenage years and getting to know each other as adults. I screamed. I squealed. I loved this.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A cute office romance about two high school rivals who meet again years later and fight over the FMC's company! The cover is so adorable and I liked the story and the couple's chemistry overall. Not anything mind blowing but a nice book to pass the time. :)

I was looking for something to escape into last night and found this gem just waiting for me. All my favorite tropes where there with some unsuspecting twists that turned what I thought would be a typical Romcom into an easy to read funny, touching, and sigh worthy evening. This was my first read by Cara Tanamachi but I know it will not be last. If you are looking for something that will give you the perfect blend of drama and emotion, balanced out with smiles and laughs then you are looking at your next read!

Toggle is the Silicon Valley company of Chicago, the best place to work with the best boss ever (un-ironically), but can Nami persuade her high school nemesis from taking it over?

Nami plays by the rules, always has. Through some personal conflicts, she has tried to find happiness but only ends up people pleasing instead, and then Jae Lee contacts her and brings up the worst competitive feelings she has ever had toward another person.

Jae Lee is the youngest and most successful vice president of acquisitions at his company…. but he’s bored. He feels unchallenged in his life, so he manages to connect with the only person who’s ever made him want to be a better man.

This book’s summary was essentially the driving force to me getting it (including the enemies-to-lovers trope), except it fell short in many aspects. First was the writing style. It was staccato and unemotional which, for a rom-com, is the last thing it should be. Secondly, the high school memories between Nami and Jae were always bubbling near the surface - the animosity for Nami and the intrigue for Jae - but these two characters were living more in the past than in the present. Thirdly, the 3rd act conflict/misunderstanding between the MCs was pretty thin in its execution and, by default, its resolution. Fourthly, the familial conflicts within each character’s family was, at best, attempting to outline how the parents were trying to instil values and morals into their children, but they ended up derailing the message that was being set up.

All in all, this was a frustrating book to listen to (the female narrator spoke with a nasal-sounding voice and paused at every comma splice, and the male narrator used his “sexy” voice for everything, even during work negotiations with clients). The book itself read very juvenile, like the author wanted to get her thoughts down on paper without considering the emotion behind the words.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun sweet read. I ended up reading it in one sitting because I didn't want to put it down! I absolutely loved the character growth though out the whole story.

This is an enemies to lovers romance involving a couple who went to high school together. I liked it but unfortunately I could not connect with the characters. I would be willing to try more by the author because I did like the writing style.

The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi had well-developed characters and a plot that was engaging. This book was a great read. I highly recommend!

**Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the e-ARC. All opinions expressed are voluntary and my own.**

This was such a cute read! Family scrutiny, childhood enemies to lovers, and the realization that Grandma really is so wise… this book doesn’t disappoint.
Thanks to Netgally and St. Martins Press for the ARC of this witty romcom.

This was a cute enemies to lovers. It wasn’t my most favorite but it was nice to see a strong female character and being humbled.

This was a fun and cute read overall. Nami and Jae were both adorable and believable. The middle of the book dragged a bit, but I loved the tech company culture woven throughout. Nami's "midlife" crisis and dedication to her job felt very authentic and there was nothing forced about her reactions or the budding relationship with Jae.

this books its just so cute and I don't really cry with books and im pretty they didn't mean to me me cry but like it was so cute and I actually loved the book so much.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
This was a great book and I'll be purchasing it for the library.

This one was honestly hard for me to get into, from the get go the phrasing of sentences felt very abrupt and off? Kind of "I did this. Then I did this. Then this happened." I'm not sure if I'm explaning it correctly but it did take me out of the reading with how it was written.

I also just genuinely didn't really care for either character. I never found myself rooting for either of them or the romance.

Overall, wasn't my taste for a book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

Cara Tanamachi delivers a quick cute read. It’s a fun rivals to lovers with dual POV.

Girl-boss workplace romance? I need more of these.

Cara did a great job crafting and putting together a wonderful enemies to lovers story. I also loved the side stories of the office workplace antics, very relatable and lots of fun to read!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Jae and Nami are a cute couple and it's a sort of cute novel, but picture the two worst people in your office duking it out and then they fall in love.

This was a quick fun read! The enemies to lovers trope was done so well!

Nami is a strong fiercely independent business woman celebrating her 30th birthday, while her tech company, Toggle is about to loose funding, and shortly after her fiancée blew up their engagement. In swoops her high school nemesis Jae working for the company orchestrating Toggle's takeover.

The banter, sarcasm and shade thrown between Nami and Jae was fantastic. There was a great mix of a quirky workplace, family drama, and tension between Nami and Jae. By far one of the most engaging office settings I've ever read!

I enjoyed The Takeover even more than I expected! It was a fun, quick read with a captivating enemies-to-lovers romance. The story follows high school rivals Nami and Jae, who meet again years later and find their old animosities turning into something more. The characters are charming, and the office setting is vibrant and humorous, making it a place you'd want to work.

Author Tanamachi does a fantastic job with culturally diverse characters and witty banter. The chemistry between Nami and Jae is both steamy and swoon-worthy. If you're looking for an engaging and light-hearted read with enemies to lovers, I definitely recommend The Takeover!