You know how sometimes the vibes are just right?

That’s how I feel about this book. It came out a while ago but I don’t think the vibes were right for me to read it then. But now, I loved it.

A morning show host’s fall from grace and a former foreign correspondent facing his fears? Give me all of this and add in a charming mountain town, karaoke and an avalanche. 🎤🏔️ The vibes were perfect.

Special thanks to @thomasnelson for the ARC & ALC.

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other reads like a cheesy Hallmark movie. America’s sweetheart television reporter, Brynn, is caught on a hot mic talking poorly about her hometown. To fix her image with the public, she goes back to the small town where she grew up. However, when she is home, she meets Sebastian, a former reporter who has found solace in the place Brynn despises. While I liked the premise of this book, I found Brynn, one of the love interests to be incredibly unlikable. She does have somewhat of a redemption arc, but not enough to salvage her behavior for the first three-quarters of the book.

This was such a sweet book! I loved the characters, and their love story. The dialogue was realistic and enjoyable.

This was another amazing addition to Bethany Turner’s collection. I immediately fell in love with both characters in different ways. I knew all along that Brynn or B-r-e-n was a hometown girl who would eventually find her way back to herself. Seb was my kind of nerd from the get go. This was a clean, feel- good romance that references God, but its subtlety is great for even non believers. This is a must read for all romance lovers. It’s new and fresh and one I could not put down. I hated for it to end. I laughed and I cried a few times as I felt invested in the characters. 4 stars for this one!

From the book description I expected something cute, fun, and sassy. This was not what this book was. I was so excited going into it and I did like the first couple chapters. But overall I did not vibe with the main characters. Brynn was just very rude for no particular reason and that got pretty annoying. Also, why did the narration perspective change for Sebastians POV?!? That absolutely threw me off. I’ve never seen a book do that before. He was okay, but nothing special. The change fromm hate to love between the main characters came out of nowhere and wasn’t very believable unfortunately. The ending also felt very rushed.
The narration of the book was great though.

In Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other, Bethany Turner crafts an engaging narrative that's as witty as it is heartwarming. The story dives us into the life of Brynn Cornell, who finds herself back in her quaint hometown of Adelaide Springs, grappling with the remnants of her shattered public image. Her mission is simple yet daunting: prove to the world—and perhaps to herself—that the on-air blunder revealing her not-so-sunny side isn't the sum total of who she is. Meanwhile, Sebastian Sudworth, a once-celebrated journalist turned local recluse, becomes an unlikely ally in her quest for redemption. Their dynamic, filled with banter (my favorite), mutual disdain (love an enemies to lovers), and an undercurrent of undeniable chemistry, propels the narrative forward, making for a deliciously tense yet endearing read. The story can be a bit predictable at times, especially for a rom-com, but I feel like Turner does a nice job of making it her own story.

The audiobook experience is definitely enhanced by the narrator's performance. As someone who is VERY picky with audiobook narrations, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the narrator captured the essence of the characters and the spirit of the story. The narration added layers to the characters' personalities, making their story together feel all the more real. This isn't just a story about two people who can't stand each other; it's a journey of self-discovery, healing, and the kind of love that blossoms when least expected. For anyone looking for a story that combines humor, heart, and a touch of redemption, all while being brought to life by an exceptional audio performance, Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other is a must-listen. It's a testament to Turner's storytelling prowess and a reminder of the magic that happens when narrative and narration are perfectly paired.

I really enjoyed this book.

I love an enemies to lovers romance and this book was no different. I loved brynn and Sebastian together, their banter was so enjoyable but they were also great characters on their own too. I loved the hometown setting too and all the supporting characters, it was the perfect backdrop for their story and so enjoyable to hear about. And the ending was just perfect!

I listened to the audiobook version of this story and the narrator was really enjoyable to listen too.

This is such a cozy and enjoyable romance , I’d definitely recommend you give it a go.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I could not get into this story or connect with the characters and ended up not finishing it.

I really enjoyed this small town, grumpy/sunshine romance!

The small town nature and connectedness contrasted with Brynn’s former social media life made for a great internal conflict for her, and I enjoyed that she was able to merge and transfer the positive parts of her old life into her new.

I LOVE grumpy sunshine, but in this book they seemed to be on the same page. The "Sunshine" didn't really do anything to help the "grump" and the enemies to lovers trope fell really flat for me. I feel like as soon as the characters spent time together it was more like insta-love. There wasnt really any tension or any reason for them to hate each other.
If you can get passed the 50% mark it does get better and like a cute rom com for the second half of the book

1 star/DNF

I sadly had to DNF this book. The characters are one dimensional, the dialogue is cringe and the plot just did not intrigue me.

Thanks to NetGalley & Thomas Nelson for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.


Okay, I'm guilty. I looked at this cover and instantly wanted to read 'Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other'. Does the inside of the novel also look THAT promising?



-what is it about-
Brynn is the sunshine of America's morning show. However, one mistake ruins all her life as she needs to save her celebrity image. Going back to her hometown in Colorado, she eventually faces Sebastian. He is to chauffeur her around, but it does not make him as excited as he looks. Will Brynn survive the test and win over everyone, including Sebastian she (kinda) hates?


-what I loved?-

→ I adore enemies-to-lovers trope! I loved how Bethany Turner included grumpy and sunshine vibe as well (it made their relationship seem even more complicated)!
-> I enjoyed the small-town vibe that the author showed in the novel. Brynn and Sebastian's story was realistic and cosy. That made me excited about the next steps of the characters' journey.



-what did I not love?-

→ Bethany Turner took her time to show all sides of the characters, but I felt she based them on typical themes used in such novels. I craved some novelty and different points of view.
-> Different points of view style did not win me over - it was weird to follow Brynn's storyline through her eyes, while Sebastian's was described in the third person.

rating: 3/5 ✮✮✮
genre: Romance, contemporary fiction
themes: love, grumpy-sunshine, enemies to lovers, small-town romance, popularity

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with and ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I don't know if I can really explain why but I really enjoyed this one. The narration is well done and I found the story to be overall well paced and constructed. Are there criticisms that can be made? Sure! But did they really bother me? Not really.
I think a pretty major thing to keep in mind is that this may be marketed as a grumpy/ sunshine romance but I wouldn't really stress that aspect of it. For one thing the "sunshine" in the duo actually spends a good chunk of the book exploring how much of her "sunshiness" is a persona constructed for her job. She also sends a huge chunk of the book being decidedly un sunshiney. I did find her to be pretty immature for someone who is supposedly 38(ish) years old, for quite a bit of the book and I found that she wasn't really acting rationally but it didn't bother me too much.
The other thing that can be critiqued is how quick these two people go from hate to love and with no real explanation for it. I think a bit more leg work could be done to make that more believable and realistic but again, it didn't bother me too much.
Overall, I found this to be a super fun, quick read with the perfect balance of "small town escapist vibes" mixed with real life, real issues. I would probably recommend this to people who liked Book Lovers by Emily Henry- I liked Book Lovers more but this one is a faster paced book with similar vibes so it would probably appeal to a lot of the same people,

this was a fun time filled with lots of laughs and swoonworthy moments!!! the audio was really well done and kept me captivated from the very start!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook of Brynn and sebastian Hate Each Other by Bethany Turner. All opinions are my own.

The narration on this book was good. I liked the story overall.

The narration was good and entertaining. I did not enjoy the story much. The pace of the story was slow and the plot did not interest me that much. It's big a book for me.

There are so many things that initially draw me into wanting to read a book, and I have to say, seeing my daughter.’s name in the title was enough to request the audiobook. I love an enemies to lovers and grumpy x sunshine story and really wanted to love this one, but unfortunately, I didn’t love the characters, and found the heroine to be a challenge.

*many thanks to the publisher, and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

This was a fun listen. Easy to understand and follow the story line. If you love a HEA, then you'll love this enemies to lovers romantic comedy.

This audiobook was super slow overall , I struggled to get into the characters story Bryann was mean to start and I didn’t get great vibes. It did pick up about 1/2 way through. I certainly wasn’t hooked from the beginning. It missed the mark for me but because I giving an honest review, I wanted to make sure to finish the book. Otherwise i would have set it down

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars

In this rollercoaster of an enemies-to-lovers tale, I, as a die-hard fan of such tropes, initially yearned to revel in the grumpy-meets-sunshine dynamics. Surprisingly, the "sunshine" character, Brynn Cornell, proved to be quite unlikable, leaving me empathizing more with the grumpy Sebastian. Brynn's portrayal as an annoying, spoiled brat left me eagerly anticipating her redemption and a shift in perspective. Unfortunately, her character development unfolded at a slow pace, and the enemies-to-lovers trope, promised in the title, took a backseat, lacking effective execution.

The first half of the story became a struggle as I resisted disliking Brynn. The urge to consider the DNF option lingered. However, perseverance paid off in the second half, transforming the narrative into a sweeter, more engaging small-town story. The introduction of other characters breathed life into the tale, salvaging my investment in the plot.

Brynn and Sebastian's mutual dislike set the stage for a riveting narrative. Brynn, a sunny morning-show host with a hidden opinionated side, finds herself forced to confront her past mistakes in her tiny hometown. There, she encounters Sebastian, the newcomer disliked by Brynn from the start. The story unfolds over a week, attempting to capture the enemies-to-lovers essence, despite the quick timeline.

While Brynn's unlikability persisted for a significant portion, her eventual transformation and opening up to the town and Sebastian redeemed the narrative. Sebastian, a likable character from the start, added a positive dimension to the story.

The book's rushed timeline, spanning only a week for an enemies-to-lovers plot, posed a challenge to the authenticity of their evolving relationship. The use of first-person for Brynn's chapters and third-person for Seb's raised questions about narrative consistency.

Despite its flaws, the book had its merits. The incorporation of pop culture references, the vivid depiction of a small town nestled in the mountains, and the skilled voice actress contributed to the overall enjoyment. The story, though initially challenging, turned out to be a fun listen, especially for fans of small-town romances.