Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and Thomas Nelson for the gifted audiobook! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read this book if you like: Dual POV, grumpy sunshine, small towns

I received this as an audiobook. I thought this was good. It was cute. I just ended up feeling like it was missing something. I didn't feel a connection with Brynn. She felt too whiny. I really liked Sebastian. I do recommend it.

// thank you to the publishers and netgalley for giving me an early audiobook in exchange for an honest review!!

i was actually surprised how much i ended up liking this one! initially, the main character comes across as quite unlikeable—or at least quite inaccessible—to the reader, and so i was worried about how invested i would become in her story. still, once we arrived in her hometown, it became clear that there was vulnerability hidden under her superficial, slightly hostile mask. some of my favourite parts were watching her reconnect with old friends and mentors, although I think that her decision to leave the town would have made more sense if we saw more scenes from her upbringing. it would have contextualised and exemplified a lot of the stories and emotions she expresses. the whole town setting was amazing.

the male main character had such an interesting backstory, and I loved hearing more and more of it as the story went on. i don't know if i liked the choice the author made with regards to the resolution of his journalistic passion, although the epilogue in part made up for that—I was so proud to see them both pursuing their passions.

the narrator was great, and i loved listening to this as an audiobook!

I really loved the premise of this one and enjoyed the premise. I'm also just a big fan of grumpy x sunshine. However, I had a really hard time connecting with Brynn here. She seemed very bratty, especially at the beginning. However, I did love Sebastian throughout the entire story. I also love the small town feel of the story, Bethany really captures the essence of the setting perfectly.

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other by Bethany Turner

Brynn is a morning show host who left her tiny home town and never looked back, Sebastian is the newer arrival to the town where he’s found a safe place to build a new life. When Brynn is forced to come back for a story to save her career, Sebastian is the one assigned to help her. A perfect hallmark type romance with small town vibes and thoughtful back stories.

This one was a bit long winded, there were so many memories and trains of thought it felt a bit scattered. But what started out slow really grew into a memorable story for me. I ended up loving the side characters and the setting, and wasn’t quite ready for it to wrap up.

What’s your favourite setting for a romance? Vacation destination, small town, big city?

Thank you to @thomasnelson for the audio and ebook! This one came out on the 5th of September.

🎧 Audiobook
🏘 Small Town
⚡️ Forced proximity
💕Enemies to lovers

Brynn has been known as the sunshine host of a very popular live morning show. But when a mistake in the crew happens, living her live while discussing her hometown, her whole personna shatters. The only way to fix everything is to go back to her hometown and face the angry residents for coverage. There’s a reason she left 20 years ago and cut any ties to her old life. Nothing has changed except for one newcomer. Sebastian also has a secret, but he’s living a simple life now. Helping where he can and surviving in this new town of Adelaide Springs. When the two of them met, they instantly hate each other but Sebastian is the one and only car service in town so they’re forced to spend time together. However, they have more in common than they think.

It was a really nice story. A classic small town where everybody knows everybody and somehow everyone loves each other. but Brynn’s story, with her mom and her not-so-nice childhood was so refreshing. Sebastian and Brynn have a real connection and their love and feelings were so pure.

As for the audiobook, It has only one narrator (a woman), and although I really loved her voice, it also felt weird when Seb was narrating (it’s a dual POV). I’m still not fully used to audiobook, so please, take my opinion with a grain a salt.

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other by Bethany Turner was such a cute and heartwarming romance! This was my first time reading something by Turner, and I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC in exchange for my fair and unbiased review!

What I loved:
I loved how real and relatable all of the characters felt, especially Brynn. I often feel disconnected from my hometown due to a parent, so I felt quite in touch with our FMC. I felt like the cast was all fleshed out, not just there to move the plot along.
I loved Brynn and Sebastian’s relationship, and I felt like it bloomed organically through the plot.
I appreciated that Brynn was willing to work through her past and her trauma in order to make peace with her hometown, then growing with it.
Sebastian was an intriguing and guarded MMC, and I appreciated that Brynn was not able to crack through his armor, so to speak, right away. He was raw, honest, and beautifully written - not just another tall and moody man to swoon for. I felt like Sebastian actually earns the reader’s affection through how he carried himself through the plot.
The epilogue was so sweet and I couldn’t stop smiling! This was an epilogue done right 👏🏻

Room to improve:
The only part I wish was different was the pacing. I do felt that in the middle, specifically around 50-70%, Brynn and Sebastian’s relationship progressed very quickly. This felt like a result of the pacing. However, this is a very minor complaint and overall was not terribly important to me.

Overall, I very much enjoyed Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other! I flew threw this in 24 hours. I am rating this title 4.5 out of 5 stars! This was rounded down to 4 out of 5 for NetGalley’s rating system.

This is perfect for fans of Second First Impressions, Just My Type, Business or Pleasure, and Maggie Moves On.

This was a swoony and cute, closed door romance about re-finding yourself and re-figuring out your future. Brynn is trying to find herself again in the hometown she hasn't seen in 20 years while under the watchful scrutiny of the american public eye, while Sebastian is trying to hide from the exact same public eye after a PTSD inducing news trip and not-so-pleasant divorce six years prior. Watching them go from arguing and antagonizing to loving and understanding was a journey I loved to be a part of! I listened to the audiobook of it and the narrator did SUCH a good job of keeping me in the story! Her tone and cadence were perfect and it was so easy to picture her as Brynn in my mind!

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘

Thank you #partners @thomasnelson & @netgalley for the #gifted ALC.

𝗕𝗿𝘆𝗻𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿
𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿

⭐⭐⭐💫

📖 After unintentionally disparaging her hometown on live TV, morning show host Brynn Cornell heads home to Adelaide Springs in an attempt to make things right. When she arrives, Sebastian Sudworth, a newer resident of the charming mountain town, has been tasked with being her chauffeur. Though the two butt heads originally, it's not long before they start catching feelings.

💭 This was a sweet, wholesome, small-town romance with the most charming setting. I listened to this one, and narrator Talon David, delivers a 5⭐ performance! That said, this book is a victim of mismarketing. The title indicates an intense enemies-to-lovers trope, which was not present but for a couple chapters. It's also marketed as grumpy hero + sunshiney heroine, which wasn't the case either. In fact, Seb is often delightful, while Brynn is often the unlikeable grump. 🤷🏼‍♀️ It was still cute, though - especially on audio.

3.5 stars. A good story, dual POV, but when it was 1st person for Brynns POV and third for Sebastian’s, and that really pulled me from the story. The flow and pacing was excellent, and the side characters were endearing. I loved the growth in character for both MCs. Sebastian’s struggles felt entirely possible, and I appreciated how open he began when sharing his story. His little pooch was a great addition. Brynns struggles felt a little less fleshed out. Her passed was touched on, but it didn’t feel like there was enough depth there.
All in all, an enjoyable read. The ending was really fun, and I felt it wrapped the story up nicely.

3.5⭐️s rounded down.

This was a refreshing change to the usual small town romances I’m used to reading. I say that because Brynn isn’t going to a town she doesn’t know, she’s going home, whereas Sebastian isn’t the guy who’s always lived there, he moved there and it just stuck.

It was a great palette cleanser but also touched on hard hitting subject like childhood trauma and mental health, with the representation of the latter being subtle yet well done.

The romance element did come out of nowhere a little and I would have liked to see a little more build up to that with stolen moments, though overall it was enjoyable.

I would love to see this with both a male and female narrator as the octave drop was slightly distracting to begin with, but something I did manage to get through in the end.

I would recommend this as a great autumn/winter romance read with the cold weather in the book giving off cosy vibes.

Thank you Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Audio as well as NetGalley for the ARC!

I really enjoyed the audio of Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other. I was able to enjoy this audio when I was bored cleaning the house, during transportation, and so on. I enjoyed this audio and story extremely, there were tiny moments I felt the story got dull, but these moments weren't for the long and the author easily took my attention back.

Brynn Cornell is America's Ray of Sunshine on the morning show Sunup. However, things take a turn for the worse when she makes an on-air mistake talking about how she hates her hometown in Adelaide Springs. With the network playing clean up, Sunup decides to send Brynn back to her hometown to apologize. There she meets Sebastian, a previous reporter who went to Adeliade Springs seeking refuge. Things immediately get to a rocky start. Sebastian hates Brynn, thinking she is fake, shallow and will ultimately hurt the town. Can Brynn change his mind and get the town back on her side?

I am a huge fan of the enemies-to-lover's trope but this one didn't really do it for me. I loved Sebastian as a character, but I really despised Brynn in the beginning. I found her extremely annoying and fake (which I get is the point of this character) but it wasn't until around the middle of the book that I started to root for Brynn and understand her reasoning for leaving her hometown and trying to start over her life.

I think my favorite part of the book was Adeliade Springs as a town and the people living in it. I laughed at the City Council meetings and loved Doc as a character. I enjoyed Brynn getting back to her small-town roots and reconnecting with her friends Cole and Layla. I would enjoy a possible romance book with those two characters.

I enjoyed the narrator on the audiobook. I have heard her on some of the other books I have listened to, and I enjoyed how she plays the characters in the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the opportunity to listen to Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other. I voluntarily listened and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

HAPPY PUB DAY TO MY NEW FAVORITE AUTHOR AND THIS FIVE STAR READ!
🥰
This was one of the cutest, funniest romcoms I have read in a while! I loved this book so much, that I’ve started a full on binge of every other book Bethany Turner has written! If you’re a fan of Katherine Center style hilarious closed door romances with relatable characters and witty dialogue, you will LOVE this book as much as I did! I listened to the audiobook arc (thanks NetGalley) and the narrator was fantastic! I preordered my physical campy last week… that’s how much I enjoyed this book, y’all.
💜
Big thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins, and Bethany Turner for a free audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was enjoyable and also I had some trouble getting engaged, the lead heroine was really really hard to root for and the resolution wasn't as satisfying all around.

My first Bethany Turner though I have all her back catalogue on my TBR - and with how amazing and totally captivating this storyline and writing were, I will be grabbing those right away! I completely loved this book and the characters and just everything about it!

It read like a fantastic movie plot and I was so engrossed in it (I had audio and ebook so I read along, totally immersed), that I had a hard time stopping when I had to do reality things. I could see this being done as a Hallmark or Lifetime movie.

The bickering and banter between Brynn and Sebastian as she tries to repair her public image after badmouthing her hometown on-air (due to a technical problem at the news studio), while not wanting to be in her hometown and not knowing who he is and why he is living in that town… oh, this book is “chef’s kiss”! One of the best small town, enemies to lovers I’ve come across!

I most definitely recommend this book to romance readers around the world, enemies to lovers fans or just plain excellent writer fans alike!

I received an advance review and listen copy from NetGalley and Thomas Nelson, and this is my honest feedback.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson publishing for the ARC!

This is not a book for me. Absolutely did not vibe with the MC and the setting. This is not a dig at the novel, only that this is not my thing. I wanted to like it, tried to dive in several times, but I just found it grating. I'll be passing this one on to someone else.

Where are my fans of enemies to lovers at? Brynn, a sunny morning-show host, screws up and trashes her hometown on national television and finds herself trying to convince viewers that she’s not a mean girl. Sebastian, a cynical ex-reporter, calls the tiny town his home after his mysterious retreat from the public eye. The two immediately clash, but also find themselves mysteriously drawn to each other. ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Isn’t this the cutest illustrated cover ever?! I adore the little cups of coffee! So cute! Unfortunately, the actual story wasn’t as cute! Ha. My main problem with this book? Brynn (the female main character) was a totally turd head and completely annoying and unlikable for most of the book. I didn’t want sweet Sebastian to be stuck with her negative ass! ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Positives: ⁣
⁣- Sebastian is a great character and I was rooting for him. ⁣
⁣- Lovely, small town setting. ⁣
⁣- The audiobook was really well done! 
⁣
⁣Overall, this one was fine… Three stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fans of sweet, closed door romances should pick it up! ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ALC in exchange for an honest review. Brynn and Sebastian publishes tomorrow, September 5, 2023.

Marked as DNF on 8/11/23 @ 16% | Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approval of this audiobook review copy. This free copy has not influenced my review in any way.

Whew, even this 16% was rough to get through for me. Brynn was highly unlikeable and the beginning just dragged and was uncomfortable. The whole time through Brynn's two chapters and POV, she's so incredibly negative and just immediately made me not want to root for her. She made a mistake and insulted her hometown quite rudely when she didn't know she was on air, but her whole inner monologue was about how she was made to be this ray of sunshine and that she wasn't. How she hated this and that. It wasn't a cute mistake that she had to fix and it was kind of painful to experience. I wanted someone to root for and she wasn't it. I also just really, really didn't care about seeing the news part of her story.

I made it through two chapters of Sebastian's POV too and he was just blah. I suppose he had more time to open up but I didn't want him to end up with Brynn so it made me not want to continue.

Where this book should have started, in my humble opinion, was after these four chapters had already happened. I would have much preferred for it to START with Brynn arriving back in hometown and either explaining to people what happened or reliving it in a flashback. There was a lot of time wasted on the set up and it was long and frustrating. Same with Sebastian's chapters... it was a lot of negativity and how the town is smaller, slow, the older generation getting curmudgeonly. Fighting the town council on bringing back a tradition. It was supposed to be cute but it was just kind of irritating. No one was endearing like the small town should be.

This was also pitched as grumpy x sunshine but it felt like grumpy x grumpy to me. I don't know who was supposed to be the sunshine. Brynn? She was so negative.

Audiobook Notes: This was also written in third person POV which I don't always love for romances. It was fine and I didn't notice it until we got to Sebastian's chapters, which was also narrated by the female narration (who just does the whole book). I've gotten spoiled with dual narrators for the two main characters in so many books. I just wished that was the case here so I could get a break from Brynn. I know authors don't always have that choice or budget, so that's nothing against the writing or the book, but it could have helped me take a break from the character I didn't like, but it was all in the same voice even when she wasn't in the book. If I had been liking Brynn, it probably wouldn't have been something I cared about as much.

In "Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other," two seemingly mismatched individuals, Brynn and Sebastian, find themselves in a classic enemies-to-lovers scenario. Brynn, a once-beloved morning show host, faces a career crisis after an on-air accident exposes her hidden snarkiness. She's forced to return to her hometown, Adelaide Springs, Colorado, determined to rebuild her image. Sebastian, a former star reporter with his own troubled past, enters the scene as her "chauffeur".
The book effectively captures the picturesque Colorado mountains, offering readers descriptions of snow and crisp mountain air that enhance the story's ambience. Brynn and Sebastian's character development is a highlight, with their witty exchanges and evolving relationship providing an enjoyable and believable enemies-to-lovers narrative.
The secondary characters and themes of friendship and personal growth add depth to the plot, making it more than just a romance. The story culminates in a heartwarming and satisfying resolution that leaves readers with a sense of fulfilment.
The audiobook narration by Talon David adds a layer of depth to the characters, enhancing the overall experience. "Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other" is a charming and light-hearted romantic read, perfect for those seeking a sweet love story with a touch of humour and a picturesque mountain setting. Highly recommended for an enjoyable escape.
Thank you to Thomas Nelson/Zondervan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other was such a great audiobook! I loved this enemies to lovers journalist set in a small mountain town! Stop reading and start listening because this is your next five star audiobook!