GENERAL INFO

Year Pub/Re Pub: 1/30/24, Read 1/30/24

Book's cover: I'm a purple lover!

Format: eBook, 320 pages
Source:🙏🏾  Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC💜!  I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Setting: Chicago

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adult Fic

Tropes: enemies to lovers, post pandemic, office romance, soulmates

Standalone/Cliffhanger/Part of a Series: standalone

HEA/HFN ending: HEA

Epilogue Included: yes, two. The first is Sora's wedding reception, the second is a business chat w/ Dell

Character(s)POV Spoken: Dual H/h

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Synopsis/Plot Summary: Nami is lamenting a failed engagement. She is the boss everyone wants to work for. She's fun, accommodating, and knows her stuff. Her tech business Toggle's funding is on a downward spiral, and selling maybe the only option. Jae is her high school nemesis and VP of acquisitions for Rainforest-a tech/social media company. He has met with her partner about selling, and surprises her by reeking havoc in her life a decade later. 

M/F-M/M-M/M/F-etc: M/F

Representation: POC, LGBTQIA+

Contains Cheating: h cheated on-not by H

Contains Children: no

Flashbacks: Their battles in high school, competition. Jae's one high school party Nami attended and got drunk at.

Jealy/Possy/OTT H/h : Nami is jealous of her sister's happiness, Jack's love for her. Nami and Jae are jealous of each other since high school

🌶️ Amount of Sex In The Book: enough

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

🚹 Hero: Jae Lee

Hero Description: VP of Rainforest,  was "Mr. Perfect" in high school. 

Hero Likability Rating: 4

🚺 Heroine- Nami Reid

Heroine Description: 30, creator of tech app Toggle-helps people share or swap cars, vacation homes, or parking spaces.

Heroine Likability Rating: 5

Secondary characters

Sora- Nami's older sister, engaged to Jack

Imani-Nami's partner, helped create Toggle

Dell- Nami's 3rd partner- Nami and Imani dislike him but bringing him on was necessary for funding

Nami's Mom-Japanese American

Jae's Dad- Korean, strict, conservative. Disapproves of Jae's career, wanted him to become a doctor or lawyer.

Jae's Mom- Born in Hawaii,  half Korean, quarter  Filipino, quarter Japanese teacher @ a local Korean school

Jae's younger brothers-Charlie(bf Nick-got engaged/gay) and Sam(gf Isabella)/ surgeon and lawyer 
H /h RELATIONSHIP INFO

Endearments: Nami-"Namby" from Jae

OW/OM/Exes: Nami's ex -Mitch-ex-fiancé, Jae none discussed

AUTHOR OVERVIEW: Cara Tanamachi -I read The Second You're Single (Sora and Jack's story) gave it 3 ⭐

PERSONAL OVERVIEW

Overall Rating: 4

Do You Recommend This Book: yes

Will You Re-read This Book: yes

Would You Read More Books by this Author: yes

"So, texting Namby might've been a jerk move. But I'm kind of known for jerk moves".

I wanted Nami to punch him, Jae, in the face. Well maybe punch Dell and throw her coffee at Jae but needless to say I felt pure rage at Jae's egotistical, frou frou face. I was very anxious in the beginning of this rivals to lovers, workplace romance. How was Tanamachi going to redeem this gentleman? And then somewhere around deadly ramen (along with Nami) I fell in love with this cocky, competitive man.
This follow up to The Second You're Single is a beautiful collection of Asian and Asian-American lived experiences of old fashion thoughts clashing with new age ideas, acceptance, and family dynamics. I sympathized with Nami's sadness and feelings of being alone, related to her ideals and business management, and agreed with her beliefs in good and evil. I just needed Jae to grovel more.

I loved everything about this enemies-to-lovers romance. Both Nami and Jae are interesting characters that are fully fledged out on their own, which makes seeing how they complete each other all the better. The banter is perfect and makes even the slightest interaction between Nami and Jae a pleasure to read. And then there's the fact that side characters also get time to shine and their own little stories to make it feel like something more plausible. It's tons of little details that are fun to notice and balance out the different elements and angles of the plot.
My one gripe would be that a big plot element of Nami's strained relationship with her mom and sister for the pressure they put on her to be a certain way and always be the one to speak up gets resolved a little too hastily. There's the mandatory airing out of grievances that doesn't really put everything on the table and feels like a token, rushed attempt to get to the ending. A minor detail and I might be the only one who feels that way, but something worth mentioning.

Overall, even with tiny bumps, it's an immensely enjoyable read that had me laughing and rooting for the couple and those around them. I highly recommend it.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the excellent read!

Nami wishes for her soulmate on her 30th birthday but instead the high school boy who was practically her arch nemesis is brought back into her life. Jae Lee was the one guy who could get under her skin and still does. Now instead of stealing the valedictorian title from her, he's trying to steal her company she's worked so hard to build.

The Takeover is a fabulous enemies to lovers romance that stole my heart. The character development and relationship growth between Jae and Nami is just perfect. They have spicy chemistry, smart witty dialogue, and tender moments that keep you reading well past your bedtime.

Now THIS is how you do enemies to lovers!

"The Takeover" by Cara Tanamachi brings us the story of sworn high school enemies, Nami and Jae who haven't seen each other since graduation. But that changes when the company Jae works for is out to buy Nami's. To Nami, Toggle is her family, her world, everything and she's willing to do anything to stop Jae from winning. Old rivalries rise again, but things turn a different turn. Hate turns into want, and maybe, something more.

I LOVED this book! It was funny, the banter was amazing, the plot was addicting and it was impissible to out down. I was living for their snarky and sarcastic conversations and I also loved the things happening outside of the main characters plot (pure genius). It was also interesting to get to see their families and their complexities, and I just loved everything about this book!

First Of all Thank you so much to Netgalley for approving this ARC, this review is mine and mine alone.

The Takeover is about two characters, Nami and Jae and their long time rivalry with each other. Jae and Nami are reunited for this first time when the company he works for-Rain forest- plans on taking over Nami's start up tech business Toggle, which Nami is planning to not go down without a fight.

As the two of them are forced to spend more time together, they find their selves actually being drawn to each other and maybe if there wasn't something simmer beneath that spite for one another.

What I loved about this book is that it got real about some topics such as what happened to many businesses during the pandemic,anxiety and self esteem, not being good enough.


Nami was cynical of love because she had been hurt by her ex and people in the past, and she was always afraid something was wrong with her and she would never be enough.

Jae was the son who had everything but still wasn't happy and thought he was letting down his father, but turned out his dad just wanted him to be happy and could see how unhappy he was.

Nami and Jae had convinced each other they hated each other, but I think they were always a bit in denial about their true feelings, and we're too scared to be their authentic selves with the other because the teen drama and not giving each other a shot at getting to know the real person behind the mask they both wore.


I think that is the beauty of it though, sometimes are soulmate has always been there we just weren't aware of it, or we aren't quite ready for them.

When they come together they make the best team and they bring out the best in one another, they challenge each other in life and silly spicy ramen competitions.

Sure there is the whole third act breakup, but I think it's unrealistic to expect someone to immediately change just because they fall in love. Sometimes you have to loose what you love to realize what sacrifices are worth it to get them back.

I also really enjoyed the star trek references, the daily channel inspiration channel quotes, trolling Del about his chair, calling out Del about being a misogynistic jerk, the playful banter via text.


In conclusion I really loved this book and I hope more people will give a chance, because it's really worth the read.

Happy Pub Day!

The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date: 30th Jan 2024

This was such a fun, light hearted rivals to lovers romance with great sexy banter and hilarious office shenanigans! Also, if it has a Korean mmc then I want to read it 😉

Nami recently broke up with her cheating fiance and is also dealing with financial struggles with her tech startup! Not quite the 30th birthday she wanted. So she makes a birthday wish to find her soulmate! But, the universe just delivered her a hatemate! What? Jae is Nami’s highschool nemesis and they just have competed all their life! He seems to have become hotter and successful over the years but Nami wonders why he is back in her life? Jae is here to takeover her startup but it’s her heart he would rather takeover!

I loved Jae and Nami’s banter and exchange from the get go. There is a hot pepper ramen faceoff that is hilarious and leads to hotter results! They keep trying to one up each other but at the same time realise they missed each other in their life. The asian representation is great with Nami being a Japanese while Jae is Korean. Their family members and their culture are well represented. Jae and Nami have great chemistry and spicy moments that you will love.

Also, the context of tech startup and big conglomerate is cool. The side characters in the office are so funny and well written. I had a great time knowing their antics. Special mention to the Office Chair drama! You will love it when you read it 😎

If rivals to lovers is your thing, then surely pick this up! There might be a bit of technical chatter but nothing you need to worry about! I am from a tech background so I did relate to the developer jargon!

This was my first book by the author and I am glad I requested for it. Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the arc in return for my honest feedback.

[ RATING: 2.5 stars ] "The Takeover" was an okay read for me. I'm sad I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

It was hard to like Jae for a good portion of the story. His reason for showing up back into Nami's life furthered my dislike of him. He's not entirely inherently bad though.

Nami still has unresolved feelings about Jae and their high school rivalry days, which throw her off balance many times. Regarding the possible acquisition, it was almost as if her primary goal to save her company faded into the background of her growing feelings for Jae…? 

Nami and Jae's competitiveness was sometimes a hit or miss for me. Even so, those scenes in particular are part of what draws them unexpectedly closer to each other. At times I wasn't sure if a relationship between him and Nami would work out given what was at stake and the potential fallout should Jae's company acquire Nami's. They fit well together but I kind of wish they reunited under different circumstances.

However, I like that Nami is the CEO of her own tech company and I appreciate the company culture she fostered at Toggle (her company). The last 30% or so held most of my interest. What I liked the most were Toggle's internal chat conversations and the epic saga of the missing Wegner Swivel chair.

While I didn't like the story all that much, it's not a bad book. There's plenty about it that readers will like, such as the banter and romance between Nami and Jae. I would still read more books by Tanamachi because she is a good storyteller.

Nami and Jae have known each other since elementary school. The fact is, they have always had an adversarial relationship to the point where they competed for valedictorian of their high school graduating class. Jae won, thus fueling their frenemy relationship. Whenever they were together the competition knew no bounds. The taunting and teasing drove them further apart—much to Nami’s pleasure.

After graduation, Nami used her skill in computer programming to build a start-up tech company named Toggle. It had a clear market and had a quality product. The only problem was that the necessary funding to fully launch was drying up. In order to saved Toggle they needed to bite the bullet and agree to merge with a larger corporation and the only logical choice was a giant multifaceted company known as Rainforest—known to the geek squad who worked as Toggle programmers as “The Borg”.

And wouldn’t you know it! The VP for corporate acquisitions was none other than Jae. What ensued was the ultimate frenemy confrontation. Along the way Nami discovered that she could find her soul mate in her longtime hate mate.

I loved the author’s pacing of this novel. Woven between the scenes of corporate angst over the future of Toggle and the love/hate relationship between Nami and Jae were the wonderfully quirky moments involving the antics of the geeky programmers and the sparing between the two main characters. I loved the whiteboard debates such as who would win at scrabble Dumbledore or Gandolf and which Star Trek Captain was best. I laughed aloud at the competition between Nami and Jae as they fought to see who would finish the level 9 ramen—known as “Hell Ramen” because of the fiery hot peppers in it.

This was a great read and I highly recommend it!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

The Takeover follows nemeses Nami and Jae as a company buyout quickly turns personal.

In the grand scheme of modern romance reads, The Takeover was pretty standard, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The enemies part of enemies-to-lovers lasted the perfect amount of time for my tastes, and I loved hanging out with Nami and her family. Though the resolution was very quick and tidy, it was also so fun and interesting, I can't fault it too much for being brief.

Overall, I think The Takeover is a solid addition to any romance reader's shelf,

I really wanted to like this book but there was just so much that turned me off of it. I think my biggest problem was the MMC Jae. The joy he seemed to take from making Nami angry was awful. Nami's character was much more likeable (kind, caring, and smart), but I just couldn't connect with her character.

I also didn't like take on enemies to lovers. Exchanging banter in high school doesn't really make you enemies and didn't really feel like enemies to lovers at all. Especially when Jae was only making her angry because he likes the look of fury on her face.

The banter in the present timeline in the book is witty and fun but that is only they only part of this book I enjoyed.

While I did not enjoy this book you might if you enjoy:
💜Workplace Romance
💜Witty Banter
💜 Dual POV
💜 High School Rivals to Lovers

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC copy of The Takeover. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I am a workplace romance STAN, please trust me here. This blurb seemed so up my alley!! Nami has just turned 30 and the tech company she’s spent years building has lost funding. At her birthday, she wishes to find her soulmate, but the universe delivers her a hate mate: her high school nemesis Jae Lee, who also happens to be VP of Acquisitions at the company looking to buy Nami’s company. Is there more to their banter and passion than business and an old rivalry? Like, this sounds like something I’d love, however… it fell short for me. The parts that I liked: the banter was mostly fun and entertaining, the diversity, the family aspects, and some genuinely cute scenes. The negatives outweigh the positives sadly. The conflict comes from both of them holding onto wrong assumptions of each other for over a decade. Nami came off overbearing and selfish in her personal life and all the business aspects of her job (which we know nothing about) and there was very little rational thought from our FMC. She’s only driven by trying to beat her high school nemesis/bully from 12 years ago from tennis matches at work, ramen eating, beer drinking, dancing etc., it got repetitive and not believable. Jae works at a company that is a stand-in for Amazon and essentially just doesn’t understand that he grew up privileged and that he works for a company that only cares about the bottom line (shocker, that’s every company ever)? He has also been obsessed with Nami, the girl no one liked in high school and is now for some reason incredibly attractive? The writing just didn’t really work for me with the dialogue and info dumping for all the characters, and actions were overly descriptive. The third act breakup was just too cliche and shallow and the business resolution?? Are we joking?? Also, PLEASE free us readers from the clutches of overly quirky characters. I’m a big Star Wars and LOTR fan; I do not bring it into every conversation in my daily life like these folks somehow do. Chapter 25’s nerd presentation would probably get me fired lmao. And 30 year old characters acting so immature, I’m begging authors to free us fr. I don’t like cringing when I read! Also from a formatting aspect, anytime the characters texted, I was fighting for my life trying to figure out who said what and what was thought and what was text message, not sure if that’s the uncorrected proof or what but that bugged me.

If you need an easy to read romance with plenty of millennial humor, this might be perfect for you, but it didn’t quite work for me.

The Takeover
ENEMIES TO LOVERS
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was a very light read for me. It was something I wasn’t expecting since it was my first time reading something by this author. Even though it is my first encounter with this author I will defiantly recommend this to my fellow book readers. I am a sucker for enemies to lovers trope so the relationship between Nami and JaeLee was something that i was found of.

This book alone had other elements Nami was reminded her life isn’t what she planned. She worked so hard for her tech company and unfortunately was going to loose the funding for it. Which brings her arch nemesis JaeLee who works for Rainforest who is a known company for gutting businesses and offered to buy Nami’s company.

Through out the process of having to sell and learning that the rivalry between JaeLee and Nami not only has stayed the same but has also brought a new type of feelings that both characters were feeling. It seemed that old rivalry had more meaning to it than what they thought.

This book alone had both Jae’s and Nami’s point of view which made it so much easier to understand what both characters where thinking and feeling through out the novel itself. The chemistry between both characters just flew off the pages. It was the little things that happened between them that made this book fly by. Don’t want to give to many spoilers my fellow reviewers because this book is worth reading.

The Takeover had all the nerdy vibes and side characters that made this book well rounded.

Thank you NetGalley and Cara Tanamachi for giving the chance to read this ARC. I loved it so much.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. Not only was the story not really interesting enough, the characters were kind of boring. It’s sad, because this story could have had a lot of potential.

I think when you’re 30s you have to let the past be the past and stop thinking about high school. I think that this story had too much focus on high school than the present.

I really liked this book. The two MCs felt believable and their rivalry was easy to see. I liked how both characters were fleshed out well and the way they interacted with each other. It was an easy read that I easily flew through. Definitely a new favorite author. I liked her last book and this story in my opinion was even better. A cute read I would suggest others check out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

I am a sucker for a good enemies-to-lovers romance. The tension! The hate-flirting! The inevitable HOT chemistry that results from all this buildup! And it isn't always easy for it to be done well - but when it is, I can't put it down. And The Takeover, by Cara Tanamachi, NAILED IT.

Nami is turning 30 and her life isn't QUITE where she expected it to be. Her engagement imploded when her ex cheated on her at his bachelor party. While she founded a tech company that is her pride and joy, the pandemic hit it hard and she fears that it is only a matter of time until she has to sell or it folds. So when she gets a text from her high school nemesis Jae, she is annoyed and intrigued. She fears that her mother is trying to set her up, but when it turns out that he works for the very company that is trying to buy her out - she loses it.

This was such a good time - I loved that Nami and Jae had such a history that they could draw on. Our supporting cast was strong and quirky - their families and Nami's coworkers. The chemistry really jumped off the page, and it was just a delightful read.

Big Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy to read and review. `The Takeover is out TOMORROW!!

Will post this review to goodreads, retail sites and my bookstagram @scottonreads.

This is an adorably satisfying rivals-to-enemies-to-lovers that is set in the world of tech and start-ups and I really enjoyed it!

At first, it took me a bit to get into the story; we learn a lot about the many different people working for Nami’s company and why it’s losing funding. Once we got into the banter and rivalry dynamic between Nami and Jae Lee, I was hooked!

The story’s synopsis compared it to The Hating Game and I absolutely felt like the antics between Nami and Jae Lee were spot on the type of antics we had in THG. They sometimes felt juvenile, but regardless, you were highly entertained.

I LOVE a dual POV romance and it was especially fun being in Jae Lee’s head as he navigated falling for Nami while being tied up in an NDA that prevented him for being entirely truthful with her. The audiobook’s male narrator was dreamy and did an amazing job!

My favorite parts of the story were the ongoing Slack-like threads about a really expensive Danish-made chair that was stolen from an exec at the company. It has its own whole subplot and life and the second epilogue wrapping that story up was JUST PERFECTION.

If you enjoy audiobooks, I do recommend this one. The two narrators and dual POV are excellent and I really feel like they helped me engage in this plot more than if I had read the physical copy only.

This is my first Cara Tanamachi book, but it won’t be the last. I found The Takeover to be so so so fun—yes, 12 years is a long time to hold a grudge, but I can totally relate to Nami because I can hold grudges forever lmao.

I love that The Takeover is truly a rom-com; my issue with some rom-coms is that I don’t find all of them funny, but Tanamachi’s sense of humor really shines and works for me here. I laughed out loud so many times throughout the book, and I love love loved Nami and Jae’s texts and banter. They’re hilarious, and I love them and all their interactions. I highlighted so many good insults they had for each other because they’re so funny. And though they haven’t seen each other since high school, it’s clear that they’ve always found each other attractive, and now, all these years later, when they see each other in person for the first time at 30, the mutual attraction and sexual tension leaps off the page. They have such good chemistry even while they hate-flirt.

The humor in this one reminded me of Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game, which, to me, is a good comparison, as THG is another rom-com that always makes me actually laugh. There’s also so many romantic lines and swoony moments as they get to know each other better and spend more and more time together, giving in to their attraction. The change from “I hate him and his ego” to “I want to know every little detail about him” is adorable because it’s clear that even when Nami didn’t like Jae, she envied him and wanted to be accepted by her peers, and she’s always worked so hard in competing against him.

I love their competitiveness; the way they’re trying to one-up each other also reminded me of What’s Not to Love, by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, a YA rivals-to-lovers romance that is all about the obsession with the other and the drive to win but oops maybe they actually really respect each other’s abilities or something? Jae’s initial dislike of Nami comes from her being too much of a rule follower and strait-laced, but we also get to see that he enjoyed the thrill of the competition with Nami. Jae’s realization that he actually likes Nami was so cute, and I adored the whole nervously asking her to come to family dinner (and then his brothers being like you’ve got it so bad for Nami because it’s obvious to all of them that he’s in deep 🥹). They both respect each other’s competence and smarts, and I love that Jae became a bit less jaded after seeing how passionate Nami is about doing good in the world and is inspired by her to do better. Nami comes to understand that Jae’s actually not so bad despite his cockiness and loves his family a lot, and he’s super supportive of her as her boyfriend. They have so many sweet moments and lines (the way Jae is just gone for Nami melted my heart, and it’s clear just how much Nami comes to care about Jae too 🥺). Loved that they bonded over hell ramen, and that epilogue with them just made me kick my feet. Jae’s so romantic and I love it.

The comparison of their different upbringings in terms of Jae having grown up upper-middle-class and Nami’s family being poorer added to the story, since we see how Nami’s perception of Jae was shaped by that (and her assumption that he got whatever he wanted), but we also get to see Jae realize more of what Nami meant by his privilege, things he hadn’t thought much about since there were mostly richer kids at their high school. I also loved the bits of their cultural backgrounds—their Asian American identities being just part of who they are, with Nami’s grandmother not talking much about Japanese internment camps but also incorporating Japanese sayings as advice and encouragement (Grandma Mitsuye said some things that made me tear up 🥺), and Jae’s Korean immigrant father’s perspective and cultural values shaping his relationship with his sons and how Jae worries he won’t ever be a good enough son to meet his father’s expectations. They’re such important parts of these characters’ identities and families, and I love all the ways they’re brought into the story. I also just love the scenes with their families and the complexities of the mother-daughter relationships and the father-son relationship, and even the ones with Nami’s sister and Jae and his brothers. Their families are messy and imperfect but beautiful and lovely in their own ways, and a couple of those scenes really made me teary-eyed. As an Asian American, getting this kind of rep is so important and lovely to see.

The Toggle employees and how much they care about Nami made me tear up a little, too. It’s sweet how much Nami wants to do right by them and how much she treasures them and truly values them as friends.

Sure, there are things that can be nitpicked (yes, the business aspects aren’t all the most realistic), but I really enjoyed this book and had so much fun and so many moments I squealed at that I had to give it five stars. The Takeover is such a fun nemeses-to-lovers rom-com, and I’ll definitely be rereading it in the future when I want a lot of laughs and swoony soulmate romance.

Thank you to Netgalley/St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

The takeover is a fun light read. Nami’s character is a strong woman who owns a company and when her life gets turned around and with the possibility of losing her company she might find herself and love . I didn’t realize that Jack and Dora have their own story I’m definitely going to have to check it out.

This was such a nice and fun read. The characters and story were interesting, and kept me interested the whole time. It was a pretty light read, so it was great as a casual weekend book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.