This book was such a breeze to read! 📚💨 I appreciated how it broke down all the Silicon Valley jargon and vibes – super helpful for someone like me who's only seen it on TV! But let's move on... the main characters' high school rivalry-turned-lovers chemistry is off the charts! 🔥 This rom-com had me practically screaming at them to just make out already, LOL! I also loved how the book delved into topics like cultural backgrounds, family foundations, and support, not to mention those trust issues the main characters have and the classic 'who could you' element.

I'd give it a solid 4 stars, and the only reason it's not 5 is because I wouldn't have minded a bit more steam and a little less fading to black, but hey, that's on me, not the author! 😉

Big thanks to Netgalley for the eArc of "The Takeover" by Cara Tanamachi! 😊

Reviewed for NetGalley:

This had all the ingredients for a fun read, including my favorite, former childhood enemies, but just ended up falling flat for me.

I could not connect with the main characters and honestly did not care if they got together or not.

this book was good until it wasn’t. the first half had me chuckling and excited to keep reading. the banter was top notch, the representation was amazing, and i love a good dual pov romance. but of course, all good things must come to an end.

i had a bunch of questions throughout the book about the characters, specifically nami and her job title. what exactly did she do for the company? it was mentioned that she went to law school and did some coding which led to toggle, but what does she do now?

time moved quickly and we went from july to september in a matter of chapters with only the mention of some basic stuff that happened during that time with the fmc and the mmc.

i also feel as though once the main characters got together, the banter and the bits of the book that made it enjoyable were gone. after that, the book became quite lackluster. the ending was different than i had expected with the employees saving the day and not the mmc like most similar stories.

all in all, it was a decent read. the first half went by way too fast and after the 50% mark it seemed to drag on, but this cute.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for the eARC of The Takeover in exchange for my honest review!

This book being my first ARC ever received, I was very excited to read it! However, I found it a bit hard to follow along at times due to the confusing jargon and terminology on business takeovers and cryptocurrency that I had not really anticipated there to be so much of.
Both Jae and Nami were likable characters and I enjoyed the witty banter, but I feel that there was no buildup to the actual falling-in-love aspect. From the very beginning, it is evident that Jae and Nami both feel some sort of attraction to each other, which they constantly try to deny and ultimately fail to sound convincing, but I’m afraid that doesn’t justify the unforeseen 180 degree turn their relationship took, from being one of hate to suddenly becoming one of love. The complete switch-up just felt out of place and poorly executed. I did enjoy the cute moments between the two, even when they were still enemies, and the hint of spice was just the perfect amount for me, nothing too graphic but still enough to feed my imagination.
Some characters, mainly the work colleagues, I did not care for and seemed to lack personality, unless you consider Dell’s misogynistic views and douchebag attitude a personality trait. I understand he was probably meant to provide comedic relief, but I just found him insufferable. As a Filipino American, I did appreciate the Asian representation and was genuinely invested in the family dynamics portrayed in the book.

The outdated pop culture references were a bit too excessive and had me cringing more times than I would’ve liked. I had to take a few moments to recover from that. Overall, The Takeover was a cute, lighthearted romance novel and enjoyable read! Those epilogues really wrapped up the story nicely! They most definitely were my favorite part of the book! I loved the way they revealed the progression of the couple’s relationship. Great concluding element!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and to the author for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This is a tech-geeky version of a workplace-enemies-to-lovers book, and it was such a cute read!! It has all of the heated rivalry that you look for in a hate-flirt romcom, with the endearing happily ever after ending that you know you really want.

I also feel like tons of romcoms spend 75% of the book playing the will-they-won’t-they game, until finally you read the kiss scene, but this book broke the tension pretty soon. I thought it was really cute to see the couple spend time together, lower their walls and just be so genuinely happy with each other after being “enemies” for so long.

Grateful to have received this sweet romcom!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for the free e-ARC. I've loved the authors books anf was soo excited when this one came up for request now. I loved the family parts, enemies to lovers, the side characters and how fast he fell.

4.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley I received an advanced electronic copy of the book to read and provide a review.

This was a quick and cute read. It’s well written and engaging. However, there were a handful of instances throughout “the takeover” where I couldn’t suspend my disbelief knowing that the FMC (Nami) has law background. Shouldn’t there be some sort of conflict of interest disclosure or fiduciary responsibility with the relationship?!

However, even with that, the enemies-to-lovers tension and competition antics were a really fun distraction from all the corporate propaganda. Jae and Nami’s chemistry is undeniable! Their interactions were entertaining and made this book hard to put down.

Nami wishes for her soulmate for her 30th birthday. Then she ends up running into her high school nemesis, Jae.
"Jae Lee is not my soulmate. He's my hate mate." From this quote alone, I was so interested in reading this book. I love an enemies to lovers trope. This is a must read sweet, spicy, funny rom-com.

This book is so dang cute! I love Nami and Jae so much. Their "mutual insults"/banter is on point. I love the way their relationship progresses. I hate that Jae keeps a big secret from Nami but glad they work it out in the end.

I will definitely add Cara to my must read authors list!

Thank you NetGalley and Cara Tanamachi for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars to this hilarious and adorable enemies to lovers workplace romance 😭 I loved everything about this from the plot to the family members and nami & jae’s dynamic and banter was everything. their text conversations took me out and I loved the third act conflict even though it was predictable. I enjoyed this so much and I highly recommend for anyone who loves a good hate to love romance book with some workplace drama mixed in. thank you to netgalley for the arc.

This enemies to lovers rom com has all the right components for a feel good read but ends just short of the mark. The wins of this book include the office chat that start each chapter, almost always these were the funniest bits. There were also great secondary characters that are well developed. Last the talk of and loyalty to family themes really hit home. Sadly though although interesting the chapter to chapter dialogue and writing is a bit dry and I couldn't really love the characters and invest the way I normally want to with characters. Overall good not great! Thanks #netgalley for the ARC copy!

I really had a hard time getting through the first half of this book. Former classmates / opponents reunite and the games begin. The back and forth of constantly having to one up one another with competitive childish taunts became annoying. There were definitely some eye rolls at some of the dialogue between the two. That being said, once they were past the pettiness their more mature sides came out. These once teenage adversaries realized their preconceived ideas of one another were dead wrong. I liked them as a couple. Two strong personalities that worked. I really warmed up to Jae. He had flaws but grew from them. It wasn’t my favorite but it was a good book and worth the read.

I could not put this masterpiece down. It was very easy to read, the MCs were written fantastically and it had the enemies to lovers trope down to a science and then some. It was so humorous, I found myself waking up my baby from laughing so hard. The diversity of this book was refreshing and I'm just very happy I got to read this book.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a tough read. I usually finish books within a day or two but this took me over 2 weeks. The story premise is that two high school rivals fall for each other over a company takeover deal that they are on opposite sides for. It was confusing with a lot of jargon on business takeovers, and despite that being the foundation for the love story, it felt like most of the story was on the takeover and not the relationship. The character was annoying and immature, holding on to grudges that weren't anything but jealousy of her high school rival's achievements. Like honestly speaking, who even remembers what grades someone else got in high school once you're in your late 20s? There was a lot of fluff and characters that added no value to the story other than making the page count longer. And the actual falling in love part was a complete 180 from the actual story. No buildup. Just hate then BAM dating.

I really did not like this story but had to finish because I hate adding books to the DNF list. Seemed like there was one chapter of romance the author really fixated on and made all the other fluff up just so she can publish the one chapter.

#TheTakeover #NetGalley

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm currently moving, which means I'm stressed. And when I'm stressed, I crave the literary equivalent of comfort food. This perfectly satisfied that need. Was it implausible and silly and a bit on the nose? Absolutely! Was it fun? Also yes!! It felt like a nice break from being me, with characters who had distinctive bundles of neuroses that I deeply resonated with. It was enjoyable and charming, and generally exactly what I wanted from one of these kind of books, and I'm glad I got to sit down with it as a simple fun read.

The Takeover
Written by Cara Tanamachi
Publisher St. Martins Press
Release Date January 30, 2024


Characters: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Overall Enjoyment 4/5

This is a very cute rom com enemies to lovers romance that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Not usually my genre but reading the blurb I found myself interested in the book. The author has an uncanny ability to bring two characters that at first seem completely opposite of each other, together in such a way that the reader finds it not only amusing at times but romantic in a clean way. The characters were well developed, flawed, and not exactly likable but that helped the book become what it is. I certainly would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys books that bring unexpected romances from two people that do not like each other to start with.

4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review

All through high school Nami competed with Jae Lee, who was popular and just narrowly beat her out for valedictorian. She also resents that he seemed to come from a wealthy family and was given every advantage, while she had to work to be able to afford things.

Now she is loving Toggle, the company she founded, and the employees who are more like family than employees; but they are having financial problems and it looks like they may be bought out. Finding out Jae Lee is working for the soulless megacompany that seems to swallow smaller companies whole and is now focused on Toggle, she is ready to go to war.

I really enjoyed how they slowly began to realize their memories of their school years were faulty. And Jae Lee had always been attracted to Nami but she had barriers to keep others away. But Jae always felt Nami challenged him to be better, and he really admires and likes her.

Dell and his chair were hilarious. The camaraderie of everyone at Toggle was fun, I enjoyed all the banter. And the best was the personal growth of the main characters,

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC of The Takeover. This is my honest review.

I love a good romance, and this one was wonderful! It had witty banter, and lovable characters. I was rooting for them the whole way through!

This was pretty short and enjoyable but there was just.. something that was missing.
It started off good- hate to love, rivals from their school days and I really enjoyed their banter.
I think it was in part the pacing and the way some problems were just washed over. My whole thing is, if you’re gonna include familial issues, I want to see it being resolved or even just <I>spoken</I> about a little more. Like in Nami’s case with her sister and her feeling like she doesn’t really have her back when it comes to saying no to her mom, I would have liked to have seen even <u>ONE</u> conversation between the two.
One thing that actually was so annoying was just the sheer amount of talk about crypto and bitcoin.. idk if maybe the author thought that the tech world discusses this and is so positive about it, I am very much NOT in that work industry so I truly don’t know, but it was just brought up way too much for me and I am not for it.

<I>Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.</I>

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was a sweet enemies-to-lovers story. One of my favorite parts was the "love-hate" banter between Nami and Jae. This helped feed into the activities that brought them closer together (ramen, tennis, dancing) I loved the dynamics of the two families and their relationships with Nami and Jae. Once I got beyond the first couple chapters, I was hooked and finished it in one day. I cannot wait for this to come out in paperback, so I can add it to my bookshelves.

This was a quick and easy romantic read! The characters were believable and likeable. Overall a nice, quick, lighthearted read!
There is also a good dose of relatability: BIPOC characters, family and interpersonal issues, self esteem issues, diverse representation, and reflection acknowledgement, etc. I think it’s be easy for just about any reader to find something relatable to them in this book.