I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really liked the characters, however, I thought they could have been developed a bit more. The relationship between the main characters also went 0-60 in a matter of a couple of days. I thought bringing in Asian culture references and the family dynamics was excellent. Overall, enjoyable book to listen to!

Cute story but overall just okay. I found myself having a hard time connecting with both main characters. While this story included my fav. trope I didn't like the execution. However, I think others will still love this one.

Sooo...I feel like I've read a story like this before...except better written. I just wasn't a fan of the writing. I didn't feel like there was much character development and the story didn't capture me. It took me longer than normal to get through this audiobook because I just really wasn't invested. I hate saying that, but Net Galley gave me an ARC in return for my honest review. 2.75 stars

Thank you so much NetGalley for the opportunity for this ARC of the audiobook. The enemies to lovers trope and competition in this book was fun. I found it difficult to root for Jae at first but as time went on I started to root for him. The banter was enjoyable and I liked the family dynamics. I loved the work shenanigans. I don’t believe the corporate setting is for me personally but I enjoyed stepping into a new setting for a romance. The audiobook actors were great and kept the pace pretty consistent throughout.

This was a cute enemies to lovers story between two friends who reconnected from high school . The banter between Jae and Nami was cute and I absolutely loved the ramen scene. Cute for those workplace techies !! I would give this audio a 3 , but the story a 4 !

⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️

Nami despises birthdays, and she especially despises her 30th birthday. All it does is remind her that her life is not where she expected it to be; her engagement fell through, the tech company she founded is losing its funding, and her sister Sora is marrying Jack, the ideal man. Jealousy leads Nami to make a wish for her soulmate, but instead she ends up with a hatemate; her high school nemesis Jae Lee.

Jae Lee works for Rainforest, a huge corporation that is trying to buy out Nami’s company when they are struggling, and Nami is furious. As they reconnect and are forced to work together through this deal, their feelings of hatred turn into feelings of friendship and love.

I loved the setting (Chicago fan forever!) I loved the start up that Nami started and the company culture. As a software developer, I wish I had a loving boss and a fun culture like that. 🫠 The side characters were so funny and I could relate so much to them and their nerdy personalities.

Both Jae and Nami were so competitive and I really enjoyed their silly bets, like who could survive eating spicy ramen, but what I enjoyed most was them working together as a team. They were an unstoppable force when they worked together.

Things I loved:

🧑‍💻 Academic rivals to workplace rivals to lovers
🧑‍💻 Tech start-up workplace romance
🧑‍💻 Banter!
🧑‍💻 Set in Chicago
🧑‍💻 Dual POV
🧑‍💻 He has it bad!!

The only reason this was 4 ⭐ instead of 5 is because the resolution with the company at the end seemed a bit too convenient, and I would have liked to see Jae and Nami work together a bit more. Also, the narrator was a bit flat with the dialogue and sometimes I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be the FMC’s line or the MMCs line.

Thank you to Recorded Books and the author for an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher of this book for sending this audiobook arc!

This was such a refreshing story to read. Even though I personally for like the slice of life genre, this is was still so good. The story is about old high school nemesis, who eventually meet in future and start working together. After spending time together, they realize they both really like each other. It almost gave k-drama vibes to me. Story’s cute but cliche. Overall I liked it and enjoyed listening to the narrator though sometimes the audio seemed off but it was okay and understandable.

I didn’t connect to this story super well. Featuring an enemies-to-lovers trope, the slow-burn of this story was so slow it just tended to drag a little in the beginning. So many business details and interactions (which yes, was the focus of the story, I get that) that I never found myself rooting for any of the characters enough to feel connected to them. Later chapters improved however and the ending was cute. Overall, the story is solid and there are some very cute, funny and touching moments, so it could easily be your cup of tea, but it just missed a little for me.

Cara Tanamachi is back with THE TAKEOVER where childhood academic rivals meet once again in an ultimate showdown where it's homegrown tech startup versus a corporate giant.

Nani makes a forlorn wish on her 30th birthday: I want a soulmate. What she gets instead is her high school nemesis, Jae. But this time, he's not after the state tennis title or Valedictorian, he's after Nani's business.

The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi is a cute love story between former high school nemeses.

Nami ended up second in her high school class when Jae Lee beat her out for Valedictorian. Jae Lee, attractive, smart, athletic, and popular, was always one step ahead of Nami.

Nami, who recently ended her engagement when she caught her finance cheating on her at his bachelor party, is single and turning 30 years old. She attends her surprise birthday party, where surprisingly few friends show up. When her grandmother tells her to make a wish, she wishes to meet her soul mate.

Nami's company is not doing well financially. The only option is to sell it. Much to Nami's dismay, Jae Lee's company swoops in and offers to buy it.

The two nemeses continue on their path of one-upmanship, including taking part in a hot ramen eating contest. Was it the excruciating hot ramen or the free t-shirt earned by completing the contest that brought out Nami's romantic feelings for Jae Lee?

The nemeses realize they are really into each other but the deal between Nami and Jae Lee's companies is anything but romantic.

Solid 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the advanced audio book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

***Overall Rating: 3,5 ***

This is a light-hearted rivals to lovers romance that sometimes digs a little deeper without getting too heavy.

Here's what I liked and didn't like:

+The evolution of the main characters' relationship had a very believable pace and I enjoyed the banter between them. In particular, the 'Ramen scene' was super funny and definitely elevated the entire book for me.

- Although I liked the main characters and found them cute together they just didn't make me melt for for them. (If that makes any sense)

+ The FMC as well as the MMC (though to a lesser extent) both deal with themes and problems outside their love story. This might not be for everyone, but I found it refreshing and very realistic, especially the FMC's problem of staying in touch with (old) friends in their thirties.

- The dynamic between the FMC's mother and sister, although super realistic, was very frustrating to listen to.

+ This book has a lot of side characters, which I applaud, because it just makes the whole set up more realistic and is something that romcoms usually shy away from.

- That being said, I kind of missed a bit of an introduction to said side characters, especially when it came to the FMC's. Although I don't know if that's because I wasn't listening actively enough or because the information was actually missing.

- I listened to the audiobook and, although I am an avid audiobook listener, it took some time for me to get used to the female narrator. This can just be chalked up to personal preference, but I felt like the narrator was over pronouncing the words, which also made me concentrate more on the pronunciation of the words than the actual story the words spell out. The audio also seemed to echo a bit from time to time, which also meant I had to make more of an effort to actively listen and when a dialogue between two characters was read aloud, the inflection wasn't changed at all, which made it kind of hard to determine which character was meant to say what.


ARC of the audiobook was kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read which flowed well. I read it quickly and it held my interest throughout. The characters were engaging and so was the plot.

Thank you netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
This book was the perfect enemies to lovers romcom. Old high school nemesis are reconnected in their 30’s and fall in love. I loved all the diverse characters and the office banter. The references to lord of the rings, Star Wars and Star Trek. It was such a fun read!

First, let me say that Cara Tanamachi’s voice is amazing. But voice isn’t enough to carry a novel. This ended up being a DNF for me at 50%. Here’s why:

- This is a rival-to-lovers book, not enemies-to-lovers. The main characters don’t actually dislike each other. They were rivals in high school for valedictorian, and they’re both competitive by nature. Personally, I love enemies-to-lovers, but rivals-to-lovers is not my thing. So maybe this is a matter of taste. Still, the rivalry angle was superficial IMO.
- The plot seemed more like a series of vignettes with no cause-and-effect driving the story. The FMC isn’t really doing anything to save her company. It’s mostly people talking, with an occasional tennis match or something thrown in that has nothing to do with moving the plot forward.
- I don’t really have a reason to care that the MMC’s company may take over the FMC’s company and sell it for parts. Yes, it’s sad when people lose their jobs, but it happens every day. If the company isn’t financially sound, they’re going to lose their jobs anyway. Give me a character whose sister is in long-term care, which they won’t be able to afford if they lose their job. Something, anything, to create stakes. Not just the FMC worrying that “this company isn’t just my baby, it’s my life.” If that’s the case, she needs better work/life balance.

This is essentially a slice-of-life novel, which appeals to some people. I’m not one of them.

As for the audiobook narration, it was okay. The female narrator had a flat affect that wasn’t bad, but it didn’t add to the story.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I was going to write that this book was fine but ultimately forgettable until I remembered it took me 3 days to finish the audiobook, which doesn’t happen with contemporary romance.

I am so tired of the over achiever girl who is sooo quirky because she likes LOTR and got bullied in high school but she’s been hot all along. Like haven’t we had enough of that trope?

Also, this was a work based/office romance where the characters never work? Like any of them? They are in meetings or eating bacon sandwiches or arguing on whiteboards but literally no one actually works?

No wonder y’all have no money.

Also, personal pet peeve, but there were so many side characters introduced in the first 5% that I had no idea who anyone was. And the level of detail in this book was nauseating. There was no variety of sentence structure because every sentence felt like a run on sentence packed full of adjectives and adverbs.

I honestly wish I had read this with my eyes so I could provide an example of one of these sentences.

Cover was cute, though.

This book was a quick listen with great narrator's. It's a funny story with the typical enemies to lovers third act breakup with a lot of funny scenes.

3.5 stars
I really enjoyed this book it was a lighthearted story with a fun enemies to lovers, workplace romance about nami and jae our high school enemies reunited as one tries to takeover the company of the other. the chemistry between these two was the defining of chef’s kiss and if you’re in the mood for a story with these vibes well this is the one for you trust me!
thank you netgalley cara tanamachi and rb media for sending me this audiobook

Thank you NetGalley and RB media for the advanced audiobook copy.

2.5 rounded up.

I think this book was cute and had a lot of potential, but it felt all over the place and almost messy. I think there was too much going on, but not really at the same time? It was rushed in places and dragging in others. The relationship between main characters was confusing and cliche. All in all I liked the idea of it all, but didn’t.connect with the story or characters.

I have mixed feelings about this story. On one hand, I am fascinated by the refreshing diversity and the empowered female protagonist. The enemies-to-lovers undertones were an added bonus.

However, I couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment when it came to the pacing of the story. There were moments where it seemed to stretch unnecessarily, lacking the excitement that could have truly propelled it forward. The female narrator's monotonous tone didn't help matters either, making the story feel slower than intended and barely scratching the surface of Nami's personality. That being said, credit must be given to the male narrator who brought Jae Lee to life brilliantly.

All things considered, if you happen to be a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope, there is a chance that this could be a good listen for you.

Thank you, RB Media and NetGalley, for the advance audio copy of "The Takeover" in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

THE TAKEOVER by Cara Tanamachi is a fun and steamy romp about two former high school rivals who meet again when one is part of an evil giant corporation trying to take over the other's successful startup. The slow burn is delicious as they learn more about each other and bust old misconceptions. I like when stories peel back layers and show motivations about the other characters that the main protagonist didn't think of. There are also heartwarming and poignant intergenerational moments, a favorite of mine. I'll long be thinking about how a grandmother always feels like a soft place to land.