I was disappointed in this book. I was hoping to see some legitimate enemies to lovers, but it just seemed like pettiness from beginning to end.

Lara and Sonny are journalists for rival publishers, but apparently, their history goes back to when they met in college. Lara’s resentment toward Sonny’s betrayal has invaded her life for years and now she tries to protect herself by being childish and petty toward him, not to mention unprofessional. After a particularly ugly encounter, they are sent to a remote retreat to sus out an exclusive on the UKs “it” couple, but not everything is as it seems.

Both characters were unlikeable and the chemistry was just not there. I just felt like the story was quickly put together with no clear plot and the characters did not evolve. I’ve been a fan of Ms. MacIntosh for some time and was confused and discouraged about this story.

I was hoping this book would get better the further I read, but, unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations.

Thank you to Ms. MacIntosh for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

This was a short audiobook that I managed to listen to in one sitting. Rival journalists Lara and Sonny are teamed up to write an exclusive on a celebrity retreat that their companies fund for them. While there, the two get close. I love my romcoms but this one had me gagging for some action and I had to wait until towards the end of the book for anything! It seemed more a story of the friends the couple made at the retreat than their love story.

@portiamacintoshauthor has been an auto buy author for a while and this did not disappoint. Lara & Sonny had a great chemistry, I love the will they won't they and enemies to lovers trope. I feel like every reader will relate to them on some level. I laughed so much and was screaming at them to notice each other. I was instantly hooked and if you need a cosy romance that has a little bit of everything then you will love it too. #portiamacintosh #enemiestolovers #NetGalley #Goodreads #bookstagram

Lara and Sonny are rival entertainment journalists whose main aim in life seems to be to sabotage and one up each other to find the best showbiz scoop. Following a public press event mishap their bosses send them away together to an exclusive couples therapy retreat to get the ultimate scoop on tv’s hottest couple.
What could go wrong, undercover reporting with your enemy pretending to be in love on a tropical island.

This was a fun rom-com with a unique setting. There was some good banter between Lara and Sonny and the therapists at Eden retreat were hilariously crazy and the things the couples had to do made for some decent entertainment. You could see this easily playing out as a tv show.

I did find the relationship a little forced and felt we missed pages of them getting closer or even talking to each other. The other guests at the retreat were also very one dimensional characters.

This was an easy read, and made me wish I could book a tropical holiday (however I would pass on the ‘quinoa surprise’).

This may just be a case of wrong book at the wrong time. I had just finished a really good feelgood novel and while that pulled me into the narrative immediately, I had a hard time connecting with Lara.

<em>Enemies to Lovers</em> is the story of work rivals Sonny and Lara. He’s a showbiz writer for a lad’s magazine and she’s a showbiz writer for a lifestyle magazine. They run into each other everywhere. Before interviewing a celebrity, at a sexual harassment awareness course (mandatory through work), as each other’s blind date. Obviously, these two are meant for each other. (The way my socks are made for my vests because I throw them into the same drawer.)

That course, by the way: no, no, no. The woman giving the course is passive-aggressive, which is already bad enough. But she makes the participants act out harassment scenarios. What the heck?! She should have actors for that, or short videos where actors play out these scenarios. And she should know if any of the participants have ever been victim of (sexual) harassment. At the very least to prevent that she should traumatise them further with her course.

Anyway, to get one over on Sonny, Lara tells a female wrestler/actor some stretched truths to emphasise his jerkiness. Then during his interview with the wrestler/actor Sonny gets slapped and Lara gets blamed for this. I don’t know what Sonny said before he got slapped, but it should have been the wrestler that got the brunt of the blame.

In stead, Lara and Sonny get it and are put on an assignment together.

And that’s as far as I got, because I really, truly do not care to learn why Lara is still in a job that she doesn’t like all that much and even questions its morality. For F- sake. Quit the job, find something new (not necessarily in that order). There are always job vacancies for talented people. The job market is only ever slow for the mediocre and the talentless.

These two journalists work on sister publications
When their bosses send them together on an investigation.
A tropical island with celebrity couples should be great
But working together seems a twist of fate.

The two were once lovers till betrayal tore them apart
Since then they're enemies - will they have a change of heart?
Can they uncover the secrets of the famous there
As their fake relationship they endeavour to share?

A great contemporary read involving therapy and more
As Lara and Sonny try the resort to explore.
Their rivalry, their mission and new friends, too,
Give opportunities for laughter all the way through.

This is a read to put a smile on your face
As this pair reconsider just what is taking place.
For my complementary copy, I say thank you,
As I share with you this, my honest review.

2 stars

Don't come to this book thinking the name of the book is literally the trope/content of it because it's not. It's work rivals to lovers at best.
Both mcs of this book are infuriating and childish, and I hated it.
Also, I couldn't find the chemistry between them. It's so bad I thought at first they were siblings 😭 (that's on me tbh)
Our fmc is supposedly a journalist, but she was the dumbest journalist I've seen.
Our mmc was just meh.
There were some good things like the friendships, but everything else was not it.
I'm very disappointed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

With a title of Enemies to Lovers you know what kind of troupe you will find in the pages. I loved this lighthearted romcom that takes place on a tropical island. Two journalists who normally compete with each other are thrown together on an assignment to a couples retreat where they must act like a couple. The title gives away the ending so it is predictable but how they get to the ending is a very fun read. I can see this as a great movie. If you are looking for a fun, relaxing read this one is for you!

I'm not a huge romance reader but I love an enemies to lovers trope. I enjoyed this light read and the isolated setting.

The couples therapy element was fun and I liked all of the characters. This was a funny and at times cringey read which ticked all the boxes for me in a romance book.

This would make a good beach read for a summer holiday too.

Enemies to Lovers is a cute and appropriately named Mom for the trope Portia Macintosh brought to an unconventional approach to romance and getting to the HEA. It was unpredictable (in a good way) and a treat to read.

This is a Rom-Com about two rival showbiz journalists Laura and Sonny who have to pretend to be in couples therapy to go undercover at an exclusive celebrity retreat on a topical island. The banter and chemistry between the two makes for a feel good funny romance.
I’ve read a few books from this author and I’ve always enjoy them.

Enemies to Lovers
Fake Dating
Witty banter
Forced proximity
Thank you @netgalley

Lara and Sonny are former university colleagues, nowadays forced to compete each other as work colleagues. Kind of enemies, in fact. Journalists working for gendered magazines of the same media company, their pathways often cross, often with sparkling effects. Not the good kind of sparkles, anyway.

For the sake of their job though, they are forced to play the couple, as they are sent on assignment in an exotic unnamed destination, with a clear mission: to gather gossips about a famous couple, short-term residents on Eden ´the world´s best couples´ therapy and wellness retreat´. A posh retreat that looks sometimes as a sadistic prison, with dietary restrictions and useless ridiculous exercises. As they are becoming friends with the other couples on the island, Lara and Sonny are becoming more and more aware of the toxic game of the journalism practiced by their magazines. And there is more than an awakening they are getting through, as at the end of the way, they may turn from fierce enemies to...(not) surprisingly lovers.

Enemies to Lovers by romcom author Portia MacIntosh is both romantic and hilarious, not shy from creating characters as human as anyone of us: making mistakes, trying to change, fighting unsuccessfully against their ego bigger than life. Told by Lara, the story is not lacking some surprising twists, that may help us change the perspective on many of the characters. Indirectly, it is also a critique towards the yellow world of the British boulevard media, keen to destroy destinies for the sake of the audiences.

I enjoy following the story, and given the high degree of relatability of the characters, would have been more than curious to see what happened with Sonny and Lara after their return from Eden. A good sign that the story was able to convene empathy and a juicy slice of everyday life.

A romantic comedy full of funny one-liners. Lara and Sonny love to hate each other. A day wouldn't be complete for them without finding a way to wind the other up in some small way.

The events leading up to Lara and Sonny being sent away to work together on a story really had me laughing and I couldn't wait to see how the pair would survive their time in a fake relationship. It was great fun watching the pair bicker and it played well into the idea that they needed couple's therapy.

The celebrity friends they make whilst on the island added some drama and side story but seeing Lara and Sonny become better friends and forgive mistakes made in the past was the heart of the story. They would be perfect together if they could only take the time to be nice instead of always competing against each other.

I liked the way the story concluded and that neither Lara nor Sonny were comfortable with betraying their new friends for a story. Their romance did happen quite suddenly towards the end of the book but it rounded off the story nicely in a heartwarming and uplifting way.

Loved this book by Portia mainly because it was about something completely different to many books on the market these days.

oh, this one made me sad :(

The synopsis of this book was intriguing, and the title 'Enemies to Lovers' got my hopes up big time! I thought that this would be a fun romance, but unfortunately it just was not great.

The main thing I was upset about was that the main characters did not even feel like they were enemies at all. Maybe work rivals? but either way, I did not feel like this trope really was in the book as it felt like everything was in Lara's head. The characters were also just a little boring to me, and not likeable.

Another thing I did not like is that although romance books are often a bit convenient and unrealistic, the events in this book were just too not believable for me to really get into it.

Overall, I am sad I didn't like this one. I have read others by this author and they were great, so maybe this one just isn't for me.

3 stars

Enemies to Lovers doesn't seem to be quite the truth. Lara seemed to be enemies, but Sonny seemed to be more of a rival. He didn't hate her. I don't think she really hated him, either, but okay, enemies to lovers light.

I normally love enemy to lover, reverse grumpy/sunshine/one bed/forced proximity/fake dating stories, but I juts couldn't connect with this one. I feel like it was too unrealistic (which is crazy because this is fiction and not RL). From the sexual harassments seminar to Sonny being slapped by an A-list celebrity to Slap Gate being the reason why they're sent to paradise on the first-ever joint project between their jobs?

Okay, let's talk about Eden. I spent a good 65% of this book thinking it took all of it's inspiration for Eden from 9 Perfect Strangers. I go into books blind, so I legit questioned if this was a cute rom-com or a romantic thriller for most of the book. And if Lara is some amazing journalist who prides herself for trying to be a cut above making her stuff different than the normal sensationalism, how does she not realize she's being taken advantage of? I spotted it from Brett's first wink! There was a lot that actually made me smile in this book, though. The relationships all the women formed was genuine and they spoke about more than just their partners. "Sea Ottering" in the pool sounds like a fun thing to do.

While I may have a lot of criticism about the book, I didn't hate it. It wasn't a horrible book, just maybe not my cuppa. Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood books for an eARC. This is my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this story. It was a slow start but in the ended it was a good read with characters that had a good back story. I would definitely recommend!

Absolute classic enemies to lovers romance. Think tropical islands, swimming pools, beach huts, and green smoothies. Would recommend.

Lara and Sonny work as writers for different magazines but under the same parent company. They have always been rivals with him constantly teasing and trying to one-up her. Unable to ignore all of this, she gets angry and lashes back at him which comes across as childish.

At one event, they get into trouble as their one-upmanship goes too far meaning they are nearly fired. But their bosses decide to give them one last chance. Now, they are assigned to go together as girlfriend and boyfriend to an exclusive couples retreat called Eden to see what they can find out about a famous celebrity couple staying there.

The 5-star resort is lush and on a tropical island somewhere that they are not allowed to know the location. They meet famous and wealthy people but the amenities of the resort are not what they had hoped they would be. Will they be able to learn any juicy gossip they can take back with them to enable them to keep their jobs?

I have so enjoyed many of this author’s books in the past, but this one was just not up to her usual best. The characters, including Lara and Sonny, seemed to be “plastic” and not real. I did not have any real feelings for them and I especially found Hope to be awful. The ending was acceptable though so that was a good thing. I hope other readers will enjoy this book a bit more than I did.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Lara and Sonny had been assigned to spy on celebrity couples at a couples' retreat on a private island. Of course, they had to fake a relationship in order to get on the island. They didn't like each other and were sworn enemies at the office so at first it was hard for them to connect.

The quirky island worked its magic and their shared experiences brought them closer together, and they even made friends with the other couples they were supposed to spy on. It was the little things that served to soften Lara's heart, seeing as Sonny wasn't really that into the whole enemies thing in the first place.

Still, I felt like the romance came out of nowhere and the ending was a little bit far-fetched for a couple who'd only just gotten together. It was also a bit hard to connect especially with MMC as he came off one-dimensional. I'm honestly glad I finished the book because getting through it was a challenge 😅

Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.