This was an entertaining and well-written enemies to lovers, or more specifically, workplace rivals romance and I had a great time reading it. Lara and Sonny are showbiz journalists and are constantly competing with each for the next hot story. But now instead of working against each other, they are forced to work together when their bosses ask them to go undercover where they have to pretend to be a couple, on a tropical island, no less. They have no choice but to join forces and somewhere along the way, their rivalry begins to fizzle out and a newfound romance begins to blossom and grow.
Such a fun read! Really enjoyed this and glad I had the opportunity to read it.
Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for providing a complimentary copy. This is my honest and voluntary review.

normally not a fan of the enemies to lovers trope but this was a quick and breezy read! probably won't think about it again but the vibes were good lol

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
spice: a couple closed-door steamy scenes
TWs: cheating (not MCs), assault
standalone: yes
final thoughts: this book was a quick read but wasn’t fully what I expected. It was much more of a mystery (almost thriller at times) than I expected. Not bad, just unexpected. That being said, the story itself had a lot going on but was ultimately engaging and the writing was good and easy to read. This was a fun story about workplace rivals, a forced proximity work assignment, and some wacky situations.

read this book if you love

🏝️ forced proximity
😡 grumpy/sunshine
🤜 rivals-to-lovers
2️⃣ 2nd chance romance
💌 clean romance
💼 workplace romance
🔎 adventure
❓ mystery
🤫 hidden secrets

The plot was of course not something unfamiliar, someone you kinda find annoying just shows up everywhere you are, being even more annoying, but getting sent to a retreat together was the twist and the protagonist's suspicious character made everything funnier. I very much enjoyed the story!

😬😬😬 okay... this emoji represents how I felt as soon as I finished the book... 😬😬😬

I won't say the book is bad. It's just that I was expecting romance and there was no romance and I couldn't really feel the connection between the characters. Lara and Sonny didn't feel in love at all. I needed more romance, if you'll promote a book as romance then give romance to the readers.

The whole story of Eden, the island, felt weird. Usually yeah romance books aren't that realistic but this was excessive. Give me a bit of realism please. Just a bit. A tiny bit is okay. But give me some.

Portia MacIntosh is an amazing writer, always with fun and sweet stories, but this one was a miss for me. It took me long time to finish it as I wasn't really interested and the lack of romance and fun made it a bit boring. Sorry.

And hey Lara, can you be a bit less annoying? No? She is such a pessimistic, rude, insufferable character and I really disliked her!!! All the trouble was inside her head so I really think the enemies thing was one-sided.

Thank you netgalley, Portia MacIntosh and publisher for my arc!!!

Portia MacIntosh never fails to make me laugh. This book had a fun filled premise with a gorgeous backdrop. I also always appreciate a secret stash of tea and a contraband burger! However, the main love interests, Sonny and Lara, didn't quite live up to my romantic expectations and the ending was anticlimactic. This was a fast, fun read, but it was not my favorite of Portia MacIntosh's books.

However, I did love the reference to Bragadon Forrest and Lara's borrowed Birkin Bag!

A very weird? romance book, I have to say. This story focuses on two workplace rivals and very loose "enemies" that have to fake date on a work assignment. With tension from the beginning, the two have to fight their attraction for no reason other than to drive the pointless plot. While some moments were cute, It all felt a little low-stakes for me,

This book is a perfect blend of humor, tension, and heartwarming moments. If you're in the mood for a charming enemies-to-lovers tale that will leave you with a smile, Portia MacIntosh delivers a delightful experience with this one! I received a complimentary copy of this book from Boldwood Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you so much!

Wasn’t a huge fan of this book. I ended up rushing through just to see the ending.

Thank you for letting me read the book!

I am in between 2 and 3 stars for this one. There is fun moments and some interesting jokes, but the main plot didn’t catch me. I expected this to be a quick light read, and even though it was a quick read, I’m not sure about the “light” part. Sometimes it’s like the book couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be a romantic comedy or a thriller!

The rivalry seemed to mostly be in the FMC's head.

Unfortunately, this was not a good read for me. There was so much flip flopping between the characters, one minute they're on the same page, the next minute they're fighting - it never had a good flow.

I ended up skimming from about 40% onwards to just see how it all ended.

✔️ Work Vacation
✔️ Forced Proximity
✔️ Rival Journalists
✔️ Grumpy X Sunshine

This was a fun and enchanting book full of beautiful banter and amazing world-building. The atmosphere pulled you into the book in a way that you could perfectly see what was going on. The island was so mysterious and I couldn’t stop reading to find out what was going to happen and what the whole mystery behind all of it was. The banter between the two main characters was so fun. We had a bit of a grumpy X sunshine going on and I just wanted more of them! The overall story of the book was beautiful and by the end, I really respected and loved the characters for what they went through and how they grew in the end. I highly recommend reading this book!

I enjoy this book, it’s funny.
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book 💕

I love the idea of this book and enemies to lovers is my favourite trope but this fell flat for me. I didn't connect with the characters and Lara seemed quite immature to me. It also didn't read as enemies to lovers to me as they were kind of work rivals who flirted a lot and had a briefly mentioned history.
I felt like it was all a bit rushed and I didn't really get to know any characters or why Lara and Sonny liked each other, apart from him being attractive.
Unfortunately, this book was not for me.

Really enjoyed this book, a proper page turner however I must say the final few pages felt quite rushed. Would recommend nonetheless

Lara and Sonny have been enemies and competitor's since college. They are constantly punking and trying to get a step-up on each other, Which is easy to do in the cutthroat journalism world. But now they have to work together to get the job done - on a secluded island, while playing lovers. What could possibly go wrong? Or right?

Enemies to Lovers was a hilarious and fun rom-com with laugh out loud moments and lovable characters. There are so many great tropes! This story definitely fits the old adage "it's a thin line between love and hate".

Overall, I highly enjoyed this book. It was fun and sexy with a great plot. I loved all of the tropes and hilarious moments. That said, while I absolutely adored the first 85% of this book, the ending was really flat. There was so much story-building but then none of it really came to fruition. The plot points were used, but kind of like an afterthought. There was so much missed potential! It just felt like the book ended on this HEA with next to zero follow through on the big "conflict". It was just odd and makes me wonder if the book went through some serious edits where the author had to axe some of the plot.

I really did like this book though and think that it was a great love story. I think all of my romance lovers will enjoy it and I will be recommending it to them. I now want to read other books by Portia MacIntosh to see what else she has to offer!

Enemies to Lovers is a story between Lara and Sonny, two journalists working at sister magazines, but have known each other since their uni days.
Their ”relationship” starts of rocky and they hate each other, but after getting in trouble at work they are sent on an assignment on an isolated island, to a couples’ retreat and they pretend to be a couple.

This is such a cute read, I loved it. The characters had a lot of chemistry and ut was a slow burn

Portia Macintosh is an auto buy author for me. You know there’s going to be fun, flirting and a whole lot of laughs. This book was one of her best yet and I just might to buy the audio version too.

I feel like the reviews for this book reflect it incorrectly. I think the title is perfect, it is an enemies to lovers story! A great fun and easy romance book, with some mysterious intrigue. I love the main character Lana and how bubbly she is, and Thor *cough* sorry I mean Sonny sounds absolutely ideal💪

I am not a huge lover of tropes, but Portia always delivers a story that is fresh and funny. This book was no exception. Such was such a fun escapist read, packed with witty humour and fantastic storytelling. A must read for summer 2024.