Thank you to StrawBundle Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a super quick easy, cheesy romance read, but I enjoyed it!

Lily is a librarian in NYC who also runs the garden nearby, where she plans lots of fun activities for everyone in the community. Rupert is the grandson of the development company, planning to build apartments on the land the garden occupies. Rupert is also hoping his Grandfather appoints him as the new Co-CEO with his cousin, Rowena. But when Lilly & Rupert have a chance meeting at the library, and sparks start to fly it makes the situation much more high stakes. How could Lilly & Rupert ever start a relationship with something this big looming over them?

And chefs kiss to the NYC setting, you can tell it was written by an authentic New Yorker. I am also excited to learn this book is the first in the series of friends. Next up, is Lilly’s friend Tessa’s story!

enemies to friends quick fun book lovers cozy romcom sweet clean lighthearted

This was a cute romcom! The characters and storyline were well written, a colorful mix and fun. The chemistry, emotions, banter and angsty moments all worked together to make this a very entertaining book. I loved that the main characters both loved books. It's mostly lighthearted and a quick read. I enjoyed it from start to finish.

The characters were very relatable and witty. I was really charmed by this novel and I’m very excited that there will be more. It was a sweet, fast and cozy read! I will be reading again and again.

If you like sweet and clean romance, then give this book a chance. It’s a nice and easy read, entertaining with a happy ever after that proves that with love, you will always find a way to conquer the obstacles life throws in your way.

General plot (no spoilers): Lily works in a library and further supports the local community - whom she has made her family - through her work at a community garden. However, the garden is under threat from Strive Developers, in a project which happens to be led by Rupert, the book-loving man who has just caught Lily’s eye. Rupert and Lily attempt to navigate the world of dating when each is threatened in some way as a result of the garden conflict.

Thoughts: I particularly enjoyed the first half of the book when getting to know the characters and conflicts. Reading about the beginnings of Lily and Rupert’s potential relationship was fun and captured the flirty interactions well. As the book progressed, I noticed a slightly clunky use of dialogue and the general writing was a little simplistic. A lighthearted and enjoyable read for anyone who likes a splash of romance and a good dual-perspective. I’d be interested in reading about Rupert’s cousin next!

A super cute romantic comedy! I liked it VERY much. It has sweetness and sass... Heartfelt and witty, with endearing characters..

Really enjoyed this book. Was a light easy read that made me want to keep reading on. I enjoyed not 100% knowing which way the story was going to go. Would definitely recommend!

Librarian Lily loves her job and tending to the community garden she has created with her friends. When a notice arrives from a developer planning to remove the garden for a housing project, her world is flipped around. It's too bad the enemy is tall, dark, and handsome Rupert acting on behalf of his family's development firm. Their attraction to each other grows as does the tension of the impending garden battle.

This book gave me major Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks You've Got Mail vibes and I loved that about it. Lily and Rupert are such lovable characters, as as their respective friends and family. I did have some qualms - the writing style was choppy at times, there was a shocking amount of redundancy for how short this book was, and I was not a fan of the frequent use of dialogue as exposition. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book and recommend it for a light, fun read with classic 90s rom-com feels.

Thank you to Strawbundle Publishing via NetGalley for gifting me with an ARC to review! It was a treat.

This book was light-hearted with a dose of cute romance, and the slightest (and I do mean slightest) hint of spice. That being said, it was just an okay read for me.

Right off the bat, the writing felt juvenile and forced - and this continued throughout the book. I thought the FMC needed to let go of her obsession with Aiden, and that she didn't get to decide how her Dad grieved the loss of his wife. To that end, we see a very honest conversation between Lily and her Dad which came out of nowhere, and felt very...unrealistic. WHAT was said was not the problem - it is HOW it was said.

The romance between Lily and Rupert was super cute...but felt rushed and awkward. The third act "breakup" wasn't really a breakup, and I was appalled when Lily listened to her friends (who aren't very good friends) and snuck into Rupert's board meeting. He forgave her literally within a paragraph, and it felt very lackluster. They also questioned each other's motives the entire book, but somehow decided it didn't matter and they were meant to be together...

I don't know; I thought the storyline was cute, the romance was sweet(ish), the spice was fairly nonexistent, and the writing could have been so much better.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Lilly is a librarian and co-founder of her community garden, Rupert is the handsome developer whose company sent a cease and desist letter against the garden. Sparks fly between these two enemies and neither can resist the pull between them. Can they put the lawsuit behind them and date? Or will their garden conflict put thorns in their relationship?
This was a short, fast paced romance that read like a new adult novel. The rivalry was hilarious and you could really get a feel for the sense of community among Lilly and her friends. I will say Lilly and Rupert jumping into a relationship was very fast, they really only went on one date, even though they had a lot of chemistry, they did not know each other very well.

I loved Rupert and Lily! The characters were sweet and fun. The plot was great. I loved the side characters like Mr. Devi. The grandfather seemed like a complete jerk until the end which made me sad because Rupert talks about spending a lot of time with him as a child so I hoped we would see more of his kind personality throughout even if he needed to push for the garden to be destroyed. The spying felt odd to me. But overall loved the book.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel at all connected with either the story or the characters.
The writing was extremely stiff and unfeeling, and this impacted my experience of the story itself. I couldn't get into it and what was happening.
The way the characters spoke was another layer that acted as a barrier. They felt exactly that: characters, not real people.

The story had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, it wasn't executed.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a sweet, fast, cozy read!

I really liked that the conflict wasn't at all manufactured: it's understandable that Lily wants to save the community garden, and would see Rupert differently if his company was responsible for its destruction, and it's just as understandable that Rupert cares about making CEO of the company and that going against the wishes of his grandfather and advocating for the garden might put that in jeopardy.

Moreover, Rupert's attempts at balancing saving the garden with his bid for CEO were sensible and smart, and I really appreciated that he wasn't just doing it for Lily, but also because he saw the value of the garden and wanted to save it for its own sake.

When I was about 60 percent in, I caught the seeds of what looked to be an incredibly contrived misunderstanding/third-act-break-up, and was enormously relieved when that issue is resolved by the characters behaving like rational adults, and instead the main conflict continued to be focused on the possible incompatibility of Lily and Rupert's goals.

However, I wish the characters had been given more depth and stronger arcs. I think the prose and dialogue didn't help in this instance. While the prose isn't bad, it is simplistic and pared down to the point that I was constantly noticing it and being reminded that I was reading a book, rather than losing myself in the story. The dialogue often felt oddly stilted - people often talked as though they were sending an email to a coworker, rather than having a conversation with a friend or a lover. They also all spoke in exactly the same way.

Overall, though, the novel was fun, and I breezed through it. Plus, both protagonists were book lovers, which is always a plus for me!