Brynn and Sebastian hate each other was an enjoyable rollercoaster.

Brynn is a host for a sunny morning-show and her tv persona is this sweet and kind girl that loves everyone when in reality she is much more opinionated (and to be honest a brat) than what she is forced to show.
One a mistake uncovers her real personality and she is force to visit her tiny hometown she left twenty years prior to make amends.
There she meets Sebastian, the only newcomer in the city since she left. Everyone seems to like him but the two immediately dislike each other.

For the first 57% of the book I HATED Brynn. She was disrespectful, unpolite and generally a brat, so much so that I wanted to slap her in the face every time she opened her mouth, but as the story unravels she begins to open up with the city, her old friends and Sebastian and I really enjoyed the last 43%.
I think it is very unusual to have the main character so unlikable but all worked by the end.
Sebastian, on the other end, was perfect since page 1 and I loved him instantly.

I think the timeline of this book was a little rushed…
Everything takes place in the span of a week and this should be ´enemies to lovers ´ meaning they are actually enemies for like three days.

Cute, easy to listen to enemies-to-lovers!
Would’ve liked more detail of Brynn’s past with her mom. Feel like there’s some wasted potential on a deeper emotional connection with the reader there.
Absolutely fell in love with Adelaide Springs! Totally ready for some additional novels centering around the supporting characters.

Synopsis: Brynn Cornell was riding high as cohost of the popular morning show Sunup. Known as America's Ray of Sunshine who drives up TV ratings with positivity and poise, that is until a HUGE on-air mistake tanks that image in seconds. Now she’s back in the one place she never wanted to return- her hometown of Adelaide Springs, Colorado, attempting to convince viewers and the people she publicly trashed that she isn't the mean girl she portrayed. But this town holds painful memories that she’s not ready to face. Sebastian Sudworth was on the fast track to the journalist hall of fame. Until one day he broke and vanished from the scene without a word. Sebastian sought refuge in tiny Adelaide Springs, working odd jobs and trying to blend in as a scruffy mountain town citizen. When Sebastian is assigned to chauffeur Brynn around town, Brynn is sure he can see right through her carefully cultivated persona. But Brynn is determined to charm him. Easier said than done. Can these two learn to see eye to eye? Can Brynn win the town back over and by proxy, the public? Does she even want to get back to the morning show circuit?

My Thoughts:
I loved reading this. It was quick; it was easy; it was fun. The banter is witty. I rolled my eyes many times, and I even laughed out loud. The leads seem to hate each other's guts before they even meet, and they are frankly mean to each other. It kind of caught me off guard how mean at first. But once I got over my disbelief in that, it was a fun ride. I love a grump Sunshine storyline, two (momentary) grumps are honestly a fun spin. The small town backdrop is cozy. It's practically a character of its own. It's an honest conversation about privilege, upbringing, the costs of fame, and figuring out what you want out of your life take place. And the ending has its own massively enjoyable payoff.

I honestly considered DNFing this one. Brynn is AWFUL for the first half of the book. The plot needs her to be unsympathetic, but she was so bad, I wanted to quit. But- IT GETS BETTER. The second half is much, much better. Enough to willingly read through the beginning? I am not sure. But it turned around enough for me to go from about to quit to 3 stars. (The second half deserves 4, but I can't go higher than 3 based on the beginning)

Brynn is a morning show anchor. After an on-air gaff where her open-microphone inadvertently broadcasts her poor opinion of her hometown, she goes back to make amends. Sebastian is tasked with being her babysitter/escort around town. Sebastian moved to the small Colorado town six years ago looking to escape. And he does not like that Brynn spoke so poorly of the town he has come to love. They instantly clash. But as Brynn spends more time in town, she realizes she has good memories and still cares for a lot of the people.

Talon David narrates the audiobook and does a good job. No complaints about the narration. Even though it is told in dual POVs, it was easy to follow whether Sebastian or Brynn were narrating.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a tough one for me - it was well written, had good pacing, and the overall concept was great.

The hard part was that FMC was wholly unlikeable, and I didn’t buy the romance or attraction. It was purely proximity and nothing else. Just because two folks have/had public facing careers, are emotionally damaged, and are in the same town doesn’t mean they’re going to be set up for a happily ever after. I just don’t buy it.

To be a reporter in war zones, MMC would have to be much more emotionally mature than FMC ever showed herself to be. She acted like a 16 year old girl lashing out nearly the entire book. It just didn’t work for me.

I will give this author another try though.

3.5⭐, 0.5🌶️

This was a cute, and sweet reflective book of Brynn coming back to her small town to make amends for making a judgmental statement of the town on live national television. When Sebastian sees Brynn for the fake personality she portrays on-air, the two clash until Brynn finally learns to be authentic, and address what her old problems of the town really are, as well as learning more of Sebastian's mysterious reasons for moving to this town after a famed professional career.

I wasn't the best fan of this book because I didn't connect much with the characters, but I truly enjoyed Brynn's coming to terms with her old life and the trauma she dealt with as a child, that had her running away. The pop culture references were cute at first, but felt a bit too frequent as well. Overall, anyone that like a slow burn, clean romance will enjoy this more than me, I think.

I wasn't the greatest fan of one narrator narrating a dual POV book, but Talon did a great job for what its worth!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for an ALC of Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other, written by Bethany Turner, and narrated by Talon David.

Listening to this after spending the weekend in the Colorado mountains was the best decision I could have ever had.

Brynn is originally from a small mountain town in Colorado. She unintentionally disses the town on live tv which causes her journey home and to redemption. This is when she meets Sebastian who she immediately gives a bad first impression to. Will she get her good-girl reputation back? Will she go back to entertainment news? Will Brynn and Sebastian fall in love?

Why I loved this book:
~Dual POV
~Enemies-to-Lovers
~Forced Proximity
~Redempition arc
~Accepting the love you deserve
~Finding your true self
~COLORADO MOUNTAINS!

Trigger Warning:
~Toxic family history
~Natural Disaster (does not go into detail and everything ends up okay)

Thank you, NetGalley and Bethany Turner for the opportunity to listen to an advanced recording of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Narrated by Talon David ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fantastic voice. Really enjoyed this narrator
Story by Bethany Turner ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This story was everything I didn't know I wanted. This is the first time I've heard of Bethany Turner and after reading this book I'm keen to work my way through her entire catalogue.

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other was pleasantly refreshing. I thoroughly enjoyed all the characters and the pace at which the book moved. Definitely a story I would recommend for all age groups.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an exact novelization of a Hallmark movie. Uptight/angry city professional has to go back to their small town to remember who they are. I think some other reviewers had difficulty with Brynn’s personality, which is fair, but she is written to be a caricature of that person. If you let go of her believability then you can accept her as is.

I didn’t think either Brynn or Sebastian were given sufficient space to understand why they both changed their lives as dramatically as they did. It’s there throughout the book, but I didn’t feel there was much depth (again see Hallmark). Otherwise it was a very mid book. Cute and sweet and no spice. Good as a palate cleanser.

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other
Status: Available September 5th, 2023, Not KU
Reading Method: Audio via Netgalley

📖 🎧 Writing &/or Audio Style : The writing style for this novel was super easy to diver right in and immediately immerse yourself in the story. And the audio narration was equally well done, this was at least the 3rd book I’ve listened to by this narrator (Talon David) and she always does a great job.

👥 Characters & Relationships: So at the beginning of the novel Brynn was kind of obnoxious, but also she was supposed to be, this was kind of her redemption story. Once she was beyond that I really enjoyed her and Sebastian. As for relationships, this was a clean read so the spicy part of my soul wished for more, but they were super cute.

⁉️Plot, Intrigue & Logic: The plot was interesting and kept me engaged. I will say near the end I was questioning how they were going to make things work and I wasn’t 100% sold, but it didn’t necessarily ruin any enjoyment.

🏞️Atmosphere & Setting: The setting was sufficient. Not necessarily immersive, but enough to set my brain in this tiny minuscule town.

🥰Enjoyment: If you enjoy clean reads, this was a really cute light read. Reminded me of Melissa Ferguson, who’s clean reads I’ve also enjoyed.

🚨 For Reader Awareness: References to a neglectful childhood

📣Recommended for fans of: Clean reads with a light dose of com in romcom.

Brynn is adored for her role as co-host on a national morning News show. In her first week, the network as invest a lot on her. So when a slip up causes her adoring fans to see her in a new light she's required to put forth some damage control, even if that means returning to the town she never thought she'd see again.

This quirky, hilarious, small town rom-com is the perfect read to warm any icy heart.

First off, I really enjoyed the 2nd half of the book more than the 1st. This is your typical grumpy/ sunshine book. I had a hard time liking Brynn at the start, I am sure the author had their intentions on why she was a spoiled superficial brat, I just couldn’t find much of a reason to root for her. Now Sebastian on the other hand, I liked him from day one!

While it was supposed to be enemies to lovers, it most certainly was not. Especially when the timeline takes place over one week. In that week they hate each other, then by Wednesday they google eyes at each other, then in love by Saturday. At most, this was Instalove. The FMC basically just had a massive chip on her shoulder while also being a snooty and frankly rude person. Brynn was very unlikable in the beginning and never ended up having that "redemption" arc that I expected from that kind of behaviour. Her growth was incredibly slow, then all of a sudden she's the perfect small town lass that everyone loves. The second half is definitely the winner with this book, coming along at just the right time to save the shambles of the beginning. I read this via audio book and the narrator was a great choice. She was emotive, exciting and worked well with the script she was given.

Thank you to Netgalley, Thomas Nelson & Bethany Turner for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other is set for release September 5, 2023.

I loved a few aspects of this book. I liked the premise, I liked the side characters, i liked the fmc background and her “redemption” and I liked the audio narrator
I did not like the pacing, We went from hating to love so quick I almost missed it. And the ending felt too abrupt. I wanted more of the hea. All in all I was entertained and I enjoyed myself.

So, I don't really know what to say about this book. It wasn't a bad book. It just wasn't for me. And all this might just be me not connecting with the characters. I also did like some parts of the book.

For me, it's also wrong to call this an enemies to lovers romance. They had never met until 22% into the book, and they disliked each other because the fmc was rude and liked to blame the mmc for everything. It got better after a while, and we got to see more the real her, but at that point, I didn't really care anymore. I also think that the book sometimes moved to the next thing a little to fast, and that made me sometimes have trouble keeping up with what was going on, or what happened to this or that conversation.

I liked that it had mental health representation and some tools to help this character.

The narrator did a good job bringing this book to life. I think I've gotten used to two narrators when there are two perspectives, so I was a bit confused sometimes of who's perspective it was since both had the same voice. Other than that, it was easy and comfortable to listen to.

Brynn and Sebastian hate each other by Bethany Turner.
Beginning was little slow and getting in to the story took me first part of the book. But characters start to come out and how they stories were told was great.
I loved that there wasn’t third act breakup and where the story lead them.

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC!

3.25 stars!

Finally, an enemies to lovers that is an ACTUAL enemies to lovers! They truly hated each other. Brynn was kind of a bitch but she was humbled and I loved every bit of it. She deserved it and it was honestly therapeutic. Though I will say that they hated each other SO much that sometimes I didn't feel the chemistry when it came to them romantically if that makes sense. I do love that there was a lot of growth in the story when it came to the characters and it made it that much better!

Brynn, a morning show host has accidently bashed her entire town in a live telecast and now has her reputation at stake.
To recover from this mishap, she goes back to her hometown where she hasn't been back in 2 decades since the first time she left. She doesn't know if anyone there will welcome her return but she has one chance to redeem herself if she can convince the town to forgive her.
Sebastian, Brynn’s town guide, is less than thrilled to have her in town. He’s determined to do his part though and try to make the publicity good for the town too.

The main character in this book started off awesome and relatable. Then she gets to Colorado and she's a bitch to EVERYONE. She only changes when she finds out Sebastián is someone formerly famous and she wants a story out of him. Thankfully this was on audio, because I don't know if I would have finished it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of "Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other". All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I fully admit that I am not an audiobook girl. This was a trial and error situation. This book changed my opinions about it. I loved this book. The writing was amazing. I loved that there was no 3rd act break-up. I adored the characters and how their journey lead them to this place that was perfect for each other. I cried during the epilogue. I really enjoyed the narrator and I thought she did an absolutely amazing job with this. There were times when she sounded far away like on the other side of a tin can, but other than that I had no issues.
I will be buying the physical copy!