Nami just turn 30 and instead of celebrating she’s reminded her life isn’t what she planned. Her pride and joy, the tech company she’s helped fund, is about to lose funding.

Rather than get her birthday wish, the universe delivers her Jae, her high school nemesis. Jae and her competed for everything, and he won. Now, Jae works for a big tech company known for gutting businesses, and they’ve offered to buy Nami’s company.

When their rivalry picks right back up from where it was left a decade ago, it seems that it might have ignited a different kind of passion.

This was the rom-com I needed in my life! As a tech worker, I love reading about books set in tech, and this one was so much fun!

The rivals to lover’s trope is one of my favorites when done well, and in this case it was done fantastically! What made it work for me was all the back story, so we really had an idea how deep the rivalry between these two characters went. I find that often the back story is skipped over, and the reader is just expected to understand that the characters are rivals. In this case we knew that they were rivals going all the way back to high school and they had competed for valedictorian.

Reading rom-coms in dual point of view is my favorite way to experience them, so I was excited for this. Getting the story from both Jae and Nami’s point of view was wonderful and made for such a well-rounded book! I find that when we only get the women’s point of view it feels like something is missing for me. I don’t need a ton of male input in my books, but a little, just so I know what they’re experiencing as well, really helps balance a story out for me.

The banter between Nami and Jae was everything, and their chemistry just flew off the page, it was amazing and so well done. I loved the antics and all the shenanigans that they got up to. I could totally see myself getting into a spicy ramen eating contest and then paying for it days after, ha!

The supporting characters were also well done and added immensely to the story. Working in an office environment can be draining, so it was nice to see the culture that existed in Nami’s company, it helped make me understand why she was fighting so hard to save it. I can only wish that someday I own an expensive desk chair!

This book was everything I look for in a rom-com and fully of nerdy vibes, I hope you check it out.

This review will be featured on my blog, speedreadstagram.com on publication day.

Thank you so much to St. Martins Press, @stmartinspress and Netgalley @netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Tried to give this a really fair shake, but the ebook version has no quotation marks, making it incredible difficult to read, and the audiobook was also difficult to follow. I'll try this one again when it's out in print! I really do love the premise!

This book was definitely cute and I enjoyed the banter between the two characters so much!! Nami definitely got under my skin here and there, but I know that her intentions were genuine and she truly wanted the best. She’s a rule follower, but she loves fiercely and she’s bold and blunt and I love that.

Jae grew a lot over the course of this book, and I loved seeing that growth.

It definitely kept me reading, wanting to know what happened to the characters, I finished it in two sittings.

Fun book. Dragged a little here and there, but fit the genre. Liked the chemistry between our two main characters, but wish there was a little more fleshing out of the side characters. Wish there was a little more depth to the takeover plot, but overall, was an enjoyable, light-hearted read.

I absolutely loved this book!!! It took me 6 days to read, and I couldn't put it down. I loved the banter between Jae and Nami. They're enemy's turned lovers. Nami is co-owner of Toggle, a little tech company, and they're about to go public, or so she thinks. Nami is the "perfect" girl. She did well in school, had lots of extra curriculars, went to college, got engaged... and then her fiancé cheated on her, so Toggle is her life! On her 30th birthday, her mom throws her a "surprise" party, when Nami looks around all she sees is family, and she starts doubting if the girl who never got asked to prom really has any friends.

Jae works for Rainforest, and he's always liked Nami, but she's always treated him poorly... every day in high school, she gave him a tardy slip, as she was a hall monitor. They are both uber competitive... and Jae beats Nami for valedictorian by 0.25 points. Now he's trying to acquire Toggle for Rainforst.

This story is hilarious, with witty banter, a little bit of sex (not graphic at all, maybe one scene is described). Now I want to go see what else she's written and dive in!

Another fun story! This is my second book by Cara Tanamachi and I am now a fan. The story is a good balance of humor and heart. I really enjoyed the arch-enemies aspect of the story. Both Jae and Nami are such strong characters. I loved their banter and how their romance evolved through the book. And I absolutely loved the ending! I will definitely look for more by this author in the future! I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This was such a cute and lovely read! I loved the two main characters and their banters! Jae’s character was so dreamy.
I only wish more character development on each of their family because they clearly had issues. Besides that, the book was pretty much great!
I appreciate the ARC!

This was a fun quick read. I fully submerged into this story line and didn’t come up for breath until the last page. Actually, I received this in audiobook format and I am grateful because the narration was great and I was able to listen to it in one day. There is enemies to lovers, quick witty banter, and humorous cultural references that I so enjoy about rom coms. I especially loved the ramen scene. This is a definite must read if you like fun and light.

thank you Netgalley for the advanced copies.

This was a light, cute, fun, fade-to-black rom-com. At times both Jae and Nami could be a bit too caricature-ish, but overall it was a really sweet story that felt semi-relatable.

This was a super cute and fun romantic read, perfect for fans of The Hating Game! I enjoyed the characters and the banter. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Cara Tanamachi is back with THE TAKEOVER where childhood academic rivals meet once again in an ultimate showdown where it's homegrown tech startup versus a corporate giant.

Nani makes a forlorn wish on her 30th birthday: I want a soulmate. What she gets instead is her high school nemesis, Jae. But this time, he's not after the state tennis title or Valedictorian, he's after Nani's business, and maybe, possibly her heart, too?

Oh my if you like to laugh as well as the hate to love scenario please please pick up this book and give it a read. I laughed so hard at the Ramen #9 challenge between two stubborn and overly competitive people. The Takeover was a fun, enemies-to-lovers romance with relatable, likable characters. It was well written, the storyline was believable (if a bit exaggerated) and there was witty banter that kept me smiling and laughing, Tanamachi crafts awesome characters that are culturally diverse which she artfully blends into a fun and welcoming office setting. A place you wish you could work! Full of pranks, funny, loving characters, and the occasional nerve-wracking moments when corporate take-overs are looming. Just a fun and easy read you will find it hard to put down.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity.

lighthearted medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75

This was fine, but not really great. While the author tried to tackle a lot of topics, the book ended up being more surface level. I wish she'd focused more deeply on a few elements/story points instead of trying to fit in as many things as possible.

I specifically really struggled with these things:

I hated the side plot with the stolen chair. It was so distracting and honestly felt like it took away from the work of the (presumably) very talented staff.
Also did not love the whole "this job is my family" thing. Also reducing her founding parter to a "girl boss" without any further explanation of how she was so good at her job or what she worked on.
The obvious but terrible replacement names for Amazon, Meta, etc.
The dialogue and writing was cringy in a lot of places.

That said, it was somewhat enjoyable. I wish the author had spent more time developing these parts in particular:
The mother-daughter relationship theme throughout the book. We got glimpses of it, but I think it could've been MUCH stronger and more prominent.
The duo-tennis scene was funny — seeing Nami and Jae work together for the first time. But Dell ruined everything. I know every book needs a villain but I don't like when they're obviously terrible and have no redeeming qualities.

I received an e-galley of The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi from St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

What I liked:
- high school enemies to adult enemies to lovers
- the banter and chemistry between Nami and Jae
- the hilarious start to each chapter where we read what's happening on the Toggle Internal Chat - the Wegner chair kidnapping

I truly enjoyed this contemporary romance - the first I truly enjoyed in a really long time.

This was a cute rom-com. I especially loved their banter back and forth and also when they went to eat soup. Their first kiss gave me butterflies and it was fun to see them go from enemies to lovers.

There were some elements that drug on and others that seemed to move too quickly and the ending had me a bit frustrated. But overall a cute, quick read.

Thank you to St Martins Press & NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I throughly enjoyed this book, and all the banter between Jae And Nami, and all the colleagues. Sometimes books that are so heavily coded with the corporate world can be confusing to read, but this one was executed perfectly. I’m always a fan of enemies to lovers, but with the added layer of enemies since high school it really spiced things up. I also really liked how each chapter started off with notes from the employees internal software chats, they were absolutely hilarious. The way the author submersed Japanese and Korean culture into the story was fun to read and learn about. If you’re looking for an engaging, funny, and sweet romance definitely pick this one up!

On Nami’s 30th birthday she blows out the candles and wishes for her soulmate. But instead the universe delivers her hate mate, Jae. Her archnemesis since high school, they’ve been at odds and competing with each other for years. Although she hasn’t seen him in a decade he shows up at her company Toggle, to announce the purchase of it to his evil company Rainforest. (It took me a while to get the joke behind his companies name, but then I couldn’t stop laughing).

What ensues is a battle between the two as Jae wants to acquire her company, and Nami doesn’t want to see her baby sold to his big bad company. But as they spend more time together they realize the hate they were feeling towards each other is starting to feel like love. Will there be a happily ever after for them? And what will happen to Nami’s company?

This is an excellent enemies to lovers story. I really enjoyed this take on a workplace romance. If you are a fan of The Hating Game, this book will be for you, though I do think I enjoyed this one more!

I really enjoyed the different POV chapters, and love how Jae and Nami had very different tones for their chapters which was great. I also really enjoyed the complexity of their relationships with their families, and how that was used throughout the story.

One flaw that often happens in enemy to lovers stories for me is often we don’t get to see them together until the third act of the book. I was happy to see that this book doesn’t make you wait until the final act for them to get together.

All the little nods to real world companies made me giggle and I really loved the little snippets of the company chat at the start of each chapter.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author Cara Tanamachi for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and RB Media for the ARC and audioARC of this!

What a cute enemies-to-lovers rom-com. The characters had great chemistry, lots of history together, and I loved their families being like "yeah that person you liked forever" and them being like "liked? no that was my rival" completely obliviously.

The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi was a fun enemies-to-lovers romance between Nami and Jae. They were high school rivals who met again when Jae's company, Rainforest, wanted to acquire Nami's tech start-up company. Nami's company is like a second family, and she's determined to revive it without Jae's help. The chemistry between Nami and Jae was fun to read.

I received an ARC of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

The Takeover is a rivals to lovers romance that was funny and cute! I loved the witty between Nami and Jae! It was definitely my favorite part of the book. The novel kept my interest all of the way through to the end. The story is more romantic than it is sexy. I'd give it a 3 out of 5 on the sexy scale. There are moments where the novel is silly and unrealistic (like eating an entire bowl of Carolina Reaper/scorpion pepper ramen when you never eat spicy food out of sheer willpower and hatred for your rival). But I don't necessarily expect realism when I read a romance novel. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed that neither of them were perfect.

I really enjoyed reading The Takeover and give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars rounded down!