The quotes at the beginning of each chapter were really unnecessary and didn’t really relate to the chapter at all. The book overall was okay, kind of boring and slow paced but not terrible

Enemies to lovers come off the page in this book. They were adversaries in school and now partners? When working together gets complicated they realize there is more to each other than they thought.

This book was fun. Both the FMC and MMC were likable with bite to them. It was a quick read but I love a workplace romance and this was that.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

<b> Thank you to Cara Tanamachi, St Martin's Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. </b>

The tech company Nami co-founded is in dire straights when a corporate overlord swoops in to offer a buy-out. Leading the charge in this takeover is Jae, Nami's high school nemesis - the guy who beat her out for valedictorian by less than a point, who always hung with the cool kids, and whose luck seems to always trump her hard work. Little does she know that Jae is only there because he's looking for someone to challenge him the way Nami did back in high school. As the battle axes are sharpened the resounding sparks might just stoke a different kind of fire. This is a wonderful workplace, enemies-to-lovers, 2nd chance romance that does a great job of balancing humor and heart for a great read.

Things to look forward to:
- Carolina Reapers & hot ramen
- tasteful handling of the intricacies of different Asian-American cultures
- interfering elders

Stars 4/5 Steam 3/5

Posted in Instastories. Will post as a post ~ 2 weeks before pub date. (@bedsport.books).

★ ★ ★ ★ //5

The Takeover
by: Cara Tanamachi

THOUGHTS:

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Do you love a book that is:

-Rivals to Lovers
-Diverse Characters
-Grey MMC

This will be for you and it has even more within!

This is the first time that I have read anything by this author and I loved it. I loved the characters, the storyline/plot and the authors writing. This book had chemistry between the characters that I look for in this time of novel and the characters’ dynamics were great! There was Witt, romance and humor throughout. I loved Jae and Nami throughout the entire book. I thought this book was the perfect little rivals to lovers read that will have you grinning from ear to ear until the very end. Easily a favorite of mine!

It took me a little while to get on board with this one, but in the end, I really enjoyed my reading experience with Cara Tanamachi's The Takeover.

My initial struggle really was rather minor—after Jae Lee texts Nami on her birthday, thereby initiating the "rivals" portion of this rivals-to-lovers rom/com, Nami immediately starts to present-tense refer to him as her nemesis. Um...competing for top honors in high school A DOZEN YEARS AGO but not seeing, speaking, or even connecting on social media at all since then does not adequately set someone up as an out-of-the-blue nemesis. I'm sorry, but I can only suspend my disbelief so far, and this was past that.

However, after that little snag leveled out a bit and the hate-flirting really got rolling, I was fully on board. These two MCs were a delight to read—they challenged each other in believable and satisfying ways, and their banter was on point. I mean, the scene with the Hell Ramen? I sincerely laughed until I cried.

And the running gag about the chair? So fun.

I look forward to reading more by this author, and this title will be near the top of my list of contemporary romance suggestions, especially for my reading pals who enjoy a closed door and a strong female protagonist who grows without compromising her principles.

Cara Tanamachi's debut, THE SECOND YOU WERE SINGLE, was a favourite this year, so I was very excited to receive a review copy of THE TAKEOVER. Tanamachi writes rom-coms that are so beautifully put together - smart, sassy and full of that bang you want in a romance. I loved the concept of a 'hate mate' as opposed to a soul mate, but we all know the saying -'hot hate is twin brother to hot love.'

I loved this book! Nami and Jae were such a sweet couple and I loved the aggressive banter from their past as they went through the takeover. I somewhat recall reading Sora's book but remember it well enough that it added to the Nami's story but was good enough to stand on its own without having read book 1. The pacing and side characters were all perfect and I can't really think of anything to add except that I can't wait for it to come out so everyone can enjoy it too.

I saw that this was an enemies to lovers book, so I ran so fast to read the blurb and from there I was already hooked! I was rooting for Nami’s HEA before even starting the first chapter and I was not going to be happy until she got it! This is the first book that I have read by Cara Tanamachi and it definitely will not be the last! I couldn’t put this book down! I was hooked! It’s rare in my busy life to finish a book in one sitting, but I couldn’t stop! The heartbreak I felt for Nami knowing her happiness and dreams and life were falling apart… UGH! I wanted to be her fairy godmother and scoop her up and make all her dreams come true! She ran into more than just an unfortunate bit of luck with everything going on, but she persevered and conquered! The undeniable chemistry between her and Jae had me pining for them! The Takeover is absolutely delightful and a must read if you’re a fan of the enemies to lovers trope like I am, and want to root for the girl who truly deserves the world after being knocked down and spit on by life itself!

I received an advanced readers copy of the book from NetGalley. This review is honest, unbiased, and completely my own.

I could not get into this book at all. I tried repeatedly but I could not stand Nami as a character. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchanged for an honest review.

Really cute enemies to lovers romcom. Loved the characters and chemistry they had. It was quick and fast paced.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the eArc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley, publisher St. Martin's Griffin, and author Cata Tanamachi for providing this eARC.
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I DNF'd this at 17%.

What didn't work for me: the whole 17% I read felt very preachy. The main character, Nami, spends 17% (minimum) of the book telling us how great she is and what a cool boss she is, and how awesome her company is, and how she and her company are Not Evil, and Rainforest (Amazon) is Definitely Evil. I don't think the author genuinely knows anything about the tech industry, and I don't say that to be mean: no tech company is "good". There's no such thing. You can be cool and have motivational Slack/Teams channels and provide catered breakfasts, but that doesn't make you "good" on a moral level. And that's the whole problem I had with this book.

Nami talks incessantly about good versus bad but like, all I have to trust is her word. What's her company's carbon footprint look like? Does her super fancy state-of-the-art office building that overlooks Lake Michigan have eco-friendly energy solutions and an ambitious recycling program? Does her company participate in community outreach programs, do they have volunteer days? Does she reduce technological waste (or just buy more oversized TVs to mount to the wall?) by safely recycling electronics? What do her employees benefits packages look like: are they compensated at a competitive rate, or at a lower-than-competitive rate and she supplements with "cool" perks like Breakfast Mondays and cupcakes? Do her developers own their code, or does the company own the code? And for that matter, what does her company actually do? 17% in and I'm not sure yet, but she has a mug that says World's Best Boss on one side and We Mean This Un-Ironically on the other side so... must be true. Nami also calls out Rainforest/Amazon for treating "each user [as] a data mine". Well yeah. You ever heard of a cookie? Do you not track your page clicks? That user data drives business decisions. Maybe that's why Nami's company is failing...

It's important to distinguish the difference between being a cool boss, being a good boss, and being a savvy business owner. Nami seems to think she is all three, but evidence points to only one of these things being true, and that's subjective. Nami is very clearly not a savvy business owner. I understand times are hard and I just got an email this week from my own corporate bigwigs about "macroeconomic headwind" bullshit. But even still, a savvy business owner would have cut superfluous spending long before a takeover or bankruptcy was imminent. Projects would get cut, the office building would have been sold and they would have gone to a hybrid model with workspace sharing (hotelling, I think some call it), or full remote. Assets inside the office building, like the mentioned oversized TVs and pingpong tables, would be sold for liquidity. Raises would be withheld or delayed until some indeterminate future fiscal quarter. Costs of running the business, such has the cost of having their servers hosted, would be examined or reduced. Any SaaS's the company uses, like Slack or SalesForce, would be downgraded to less expensive plans or to free alternatives (who needs Asana when you have Excel, and who needs Excel when you have Google Sheets? And Notion is just a glorified to-do list...)

This is my reality. I'm living this, right here right now. I just watched 7% of my coworkers at my company get laid off this week. That was after we switched our integrations from Google Maps to Here Maps, brokered a partnership with a credit card processor for revenue sharing, nixed performance raises for 2023 (we still got cost of living increases), sold our office space and switched to a shared workspace with remote option, and probably several other cost-reducing measures I don't know about because it's above my paygrade. The point is though, we knew at least 18 months, if not longer, that we were in the red and needed to course correct. It wasn't a sudden, wake up one day and go "Oh no!" that Nami seems to be experiencing here. And for her to have banked all her hopes on a single

I requested this ARC, hoping to relate to the story of a woman working in my industry, but instead, I'm... I don't even know. Furious. Disgusted. Disappointed. There is no such thing as a business in capitalist America being morally good. Pretending otherwise is naïve and a disservice. We're striving for the lesser evil here, nothing more. Yes, Amazon (Rainforest, whatever) has a lot of questionable business practices. So does Facebook, Apple, Google, X/Twitter, and literally any other tech giant out there. Even the smaller guys, the niche ones, like my company, do some questionable shit or use services provided by the other giants (helloooo AWS hosting and Google Maps integrations and sponsored posts on Facebook...). I don't think I'd be so bothered if the book was toned down, but Nami literally repeats how she and her company are Not Evil. Nami needs to make sure she doesn't live in a glass house before she starts throwing stones. This book smacks of a superficial moral high ground and hypocrisy, and I can't stand it.

2 stars because I can't confidently give it 1 star.

I'm an absolute sucker for enemies-to-lovers tales, and Cara Tanamachi's "The Takeover" is a prime example of this trope done right. It was a breeze to immerse myself in the tumultuous lives of Nami and Jae, feeling the intense hatred turn into a steamy love affair. Tanamachi's writing brought both Nami and Jae to life in such a relatable way. Their well-crafted character backgrounds offered a glimpse into their pasts and hinted at the potential for growth in the future.

The story was nothing short of charming, and I was genuinely impressed by the push and pull dynamics between the main characters. It had me burning through the chapters, craving a steaming hot bowl of ramen for some reason – a testament to the author's ability to immerse the reader in the narrative.

However, there was one aspect I wished were different. Once the characters finally got together, the story took a bit of a dip in excitement. It felt like the narrative glossed over a few weeks or months of their relationship before delving into the major conflict. I yearned for more moments between the characters, and a bit more push and pull in the throes of their attraction.

Overall, I'm eagerly anticipating more from Cara Tanamachi in the future. She's undoubtedly an author worth keeping an eye on.

I am always up for an enemies to lovers office romance, espcially when it is a high school rival that comes back into their lives. Most of the time, the teasing and taunting was because they had feelings for one another but didn't know how to process it back then.
Nami needs funding for her dream company. She loves what she does, loves her company and the people that work there are like family. The last thing she wants to do is sell. When Rainforest comes in offering to buy and the one running the deal is none other than Jae her HS nemesis, she pushes back harder than ever.
Jae isn't challenged in life. He has joined a huge company and basically thinks a machine could do his job. He hears that her company is struggling and jumps at the chance to see her again. Only, he doesn't expect to catch feelings for this fierce girl he thought he hated.
There are sparks right at the get go, and Jae is feeling pressure from his family to settle down, but what he doesn't realize is the reason why he never has found someone he wanted to be with. No one challenged him like Nami and he is out to prove that they have more together than just some witty banter. I could really feel the chemistry between these two and it just made the book all the better. 4.5 stars.
Thank you to St. Martin's, Netgalley and Cara Tanamachi for an early copy.

What happens when your perfect life falls apart and none other than your nemesis from high school swoops in to save you? A swoon-worthy rom-com based in the tech world where the enemies become lovers. Nami and Jae Lee have a great back-and-forth where the enemies don't fall in love right away and instead stand up for what they believe in.

If you have any experience in startups or big tech then you'll be sure to love this somewhat Hallmark version of a startup takeover.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review - coming to your local bookstore this January!

Perfect for fans of enemies to lovers and childhood rivals.

Nami is contacted by her high school enemy, Jae. She must protect her company from being taken over by the company Jae works for. But their relationship changes as the hateful passion turns into something different.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed reading it. It had some tropes that I really liked including enemies to lovers and academic rivals. I really liked the characters and the banter between them. This book did not feel fast paced, although it is shorter than I am used to which is good. I would recommend this book to other people.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

It's a 5-star review! Enemies-to-lovers, my favorite. The Chicago skyline, Boss Ladies, ramen.
Cara Tanamachi's THE TAKEOVER is filled with heart for the modern reader, a bright workplace for the GEN-Z'er in all of us that rises to push back on Big Corporate, and a full cast of characters so meticulously written that I'd know was speaking even if I didn't know their name.

Nami and Jae were high school frenemies and rivals when they cross paths again as Nami's own company is on the brink of being bought out by Rainforest, an Amazon equivilent, Jae works for. Professional and personal tensions escalate in this perfectly paced, witty romcom.
Perfect for those who love enemies-to-lovers, workplace romances, complicated family dynamics, and quick reads.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin’s Griffin for providing me with a digital review copy in exchange for my candid thoughts.

This was a cute, light, and funny read! You really enjoyed the characters dynamics and their story. I also really enjoy dual POV romance novels, I feel like it adds to the depth of their stories in a way that single POV cannot. I really, really liked the cold open, with the hating birthdays page. That got me interested!

This enemies-to-lovers novel was super cute and a lot of fun. And oh my god, hot ramen scene! lol
I loved every moment of it and definitely will recommend it to my friends to read it.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

Thank you to @stmartinspress and @caratanamachi for an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Frustrated with her failed relationships and struggling business, Nami wishes for a soulmate. Instead, she’s reunited with her hate mate and former high school nemesis, Jae Lee, who plans on taking over her startup company. When their rivalry ignites a different kind of passion, Nami starts to realize that it's not just her company that's in danger of being taken over, but her heart as well.

I love an enemies to lovers romance, especially a workplace/rivals competing against each other romance. I always find the banter to be hilarious and the sexual tension to be 🔥. I was not disappointed on either point! I loved the family dynamic issues for both Nami and Jae. Both shaped how they saw themselves and their interactions with one another. I normally do not enjoy a third act breakup, but I do see they are necessary for the progression of some storylines. It did feel warranted in this story, and I loved the resolution.

The interoffice Toggle chat at the beginning of each chapter was hilarious, especially about Dell's chair!

I adored Sora's wedding idea!

Overall, this was a great book, and I loved the banter, the attraction, and the ending.

Nami Reid may have wished for her soulmate, but instead she gets a hate-mate, her former high school nemesis who's trying to take over her tech company. But Jae Lee and Nami make a better pair of partners than adversaries...

This was fun. There was a TON of representation--the side characters really carried here.

I really liked Nami as a character, she is a bit self-righteous, but she's also idealistic. As an idealist myself, I saw her points and really wanted her to be successful. Jae... was an acquired taste. He was quite frustrating, and we only learn bits and pieces about his backstory to add some extra character to his... character? I wanted to connect with him more, and there just wasn't a ton.

There is a lot of app talk with some cringe-y-ish/cute non-trademarked app names that are very clearly stand-ins for other apps/companies. I know we obviously couldn't have trademarked names being used so blatantly negatively, but I would've liked it to not be so obvious what company/app was being discussed.

The pacing at the start was good, I was really enjoying the slow-burn, but it very suddenly went from we-hate-each-other to we're-in-a-relationship within a few chapters? It was lopsided, and there would be sudden time skips here and there that prevented me from being fully involved in Nami and Jae's relationship. This is like semi-closed door? It's not graphically spicy, but there are mentions of sex occurring.

I did love the chair saga, and like I said previously, the side characters are gold. I wish we got to see more of them.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review!:)