Thank you to @netgalley and RBMedia for the audio ARC.

This workplace take on enemies to lovers was enjoyable. Mani & Jae have history and they meet again when Jae's company is attempting to take over Nami's. Sparks definitely fly...but not the good kind.

As they're forced to work together, things begin to change. But will Jae prioritize his job or a potential future with Nami?

I liked this one, but didn't love it. The tension & chemistry between Nami & Jae was there, plus I was laughing out loud at the hilarious office hijinks.

#TheTakeover #CaraTanamachi #BookReview #Netgalley #ARC

I received a copy of this for my honest review

Our FMC is the owner of a tech company that is trying to get additional funding, and navigating her social standing after catching her fiancée cheating on her the week before her wedding . Our MMC is her high school rival, who comes in to take over her company. The rivalry has an instant spark - that could be more than hate. The chemistry and back and forth of these two characters is electric, and they finally take a step towards a relationship. But will she be able to save her company? Will he be able to manage what he knows and what he can share?

I literally couldn’t turn this audiobook off!!! It was perfect! Enemies to lovers - YES PLEASE!
I just can’t explain how much I loved the characters it was just perfect, I felt like I was just listening to two friends’ lives! The narrators were perfect as well! Would highly recommend! Thanks for the ARC!

Thanks to the folks at NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

This book does Enemies to Lovers WONDERFULLY. The beginning was a tad slow for me, but it picked up quickly. I would even dare to say that the way I initially saw the FMC, Nami, was akin to how she felt the world saw her- boring, unimportant, and annoying. I think being able to view her that way turned out for the reader's favor as we are able to fully understand her and her motivations. The MMC, Jae, was interesting. I found myself easily siding with this father in regards to Jae's life choices.

Throughout the book we're introduced to the ideas of choosing the lesser evil or just choosing not to engage with evil at all when it comes to capitalism and corporate greed. I think the author did a great job of setting up the main characters' thoughts and actions to discuss this.

Romance wise, I appreciated that the romance didn't come out of nowhere. It may have seemed that way, but later on in the book we find out more information about the fate of their romance. I super appreciated that the characters had actual problems and things at stake. It's not as simple as "Oh no I hate you so we can't be together". The characters have a lot to think about fi they wanted to go through with the relationship and I think it made the outcome of the problems within the book (both romantic and professional) a lot stronger for it.

If you're looking for an office romance with a lot at stake, I most definitely recommend this book.

I ended up liking this book more than I thought I would.

The two MC's, Nami & Jae are pretty likeable and it was pretty apparently from the beginning that they have good chemistry together.

Some of the side characters are annoying at times, but honestly, what book doesn't have at least some annoying characters.

It was a fun read and I'd consider reading more from this author.

On her 30th birthday, Nami made a wish to find her soulmate. She has had a rough year, her fiancé cheated on her during her bachelor party, the company she founded isn’t getting the funding it needs, and her nemesis Jae from high school has reached out to her out of the blue. Nami’s company Toggle did not receive the funding it needed so they are looking to accept offers to be purchased by Rainforest (think Amazon) and who is leading the negotiations, none other than Jae. Jae needs a challenge in his life and when he sees that he can buy Nami’s company he jumps at the opportunity. When he finally sees Nami in person he realizes all his feelings for her never went away. The ramen scene was hysterical because I could easily picture it happening. Oh, and there is a kidnapped chair storyline that runs through the book that is so funny.
This book was a fun and fast read. I loved reading about some of Nami’s family history since it was similar to my own. The cast of the book was very diverse. I loved the family dynamics between Nami, her sister, and their mother.

Childhood academic rivals - Dual POV - Enemies to Lovers!
All these are my absolute favourite romance tropes and so I absolutely love reading this one. The romance was perfectly balanced out with the plotline from two timelines, past and present. Plus there were epilogues, yes not just one but two, so i couldn't thank enough the author for giving me the happy ending that I wished for the leads of the books.

The Takeover is a cute romcom set in a tech start up. I would give this a 3.5 stars, it is a quick fun read, but slightly unrealistic if you are familiar with mergers and acquisitions. The chemistry between the two main characters is fast passed and swoon worthy.

There was too much high school drama in this. Nami and Jae and the dislike going back to high school was just whatever. I mean, I understand having an idea about someone based on a past meeting/knowledge of them, but to hold this almost grudge from high school as a 30 year old was just boring. I think especially because Nami was so hung up on this point. Some of her points were valid, but just boring. I found myself not being able to follow along most of the time and from beginning to end there was what felt like such boring movement in the storyline. Unfortunately not for me.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books for the arc.

I unfortunately couldn't finish this audiobook. I wanted to like this as I enjoyed the premise and it seemed right up my alley. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the female narrator. I got a good way into the book but I couldn't finish it. I feel like I would greatly enjoy reading this book, but the audio is just not for me.

Takeover

This is an adorably satisfying rivals-to-enemies-to-lovers that is set in the world of tech and start-ups and I really enjoyed it!

At first, it took me a bit to get into the story; we learn a lot about the many different people working for Nami’s company and why it’s losing funding. Once we got into the banter and rivalry dynamic between Nami and Jae Lee, I was hooked!

The story’s synopsis compared it to The Hating Game and I absolutely felt like the antics between Nami and Jae Lee were spot on the type of antics we had in THG. They sometimes felt juvenile, but regardless, you were highly entertained.

I LOVE a dual POV romance and it was especially fun being in Jae Lee’s head as he navigated falling for Nami while being tied up in an NDA that prevented him for being entirely truthful with her. The audiobook’s male narrator was dreamy and did an amazing job!

My favorite parts of the story were the ongoing Slack-like threads about a really expensive Danish-made chair that was stolen from an exec at the company. It has its own whole subplot and life and the second epilogue wrapping that story up was JUST PERFECTION.

If you enjoy audiobooks, I do recommend this one. The two narrators and dual POV are excellent and I really feel like they helped me engage in this plot more than if I had read the physical copy only.

I struggled to get into this one. I did like the main characters’ dynamic, and as they got closer I think I got into it more. But it took me a while to get there. Overall, was cute and easy to listen to, but won’t stay with me.

Workplace rivals to lovers meets second chance romance in this cute romcom! I always enjoy when romance characters are always more than two people written to only fall in love, but in this case it felt that character development took the front seat with the romance sitting in the back. There’s strong character development and growth both in the main characters, between the two, and even among the side characters, but the romance feels underdeveloped. I don’t feel the spark between Nami and Jae, and there were even some moments that felt awkward. I specifically didn’t like Jae’s reaction to the third act breakup reveal with Nami. It felt like Jae was dumping on Nami and I didn’t particularly enjoy that. I wish the connection between the Nami and Jae was stronger rather than connecting everything back to their past, especially when we don’t have a dual timeline to see the past.

This audiobook was a cute workplace romance with enemy to lovers vibes. I alway love a high school rival that comes back and stirs up old feelings, so this was my jam! I love when audiobooks have dual narrators because it makes the story easier to follow and concentrate on. Overall, this book was a pleasant surprise from a new to me author!

I listened to the audiobook and the narrators sounded great. I wanted to like this one, I usually enjoy this trope and I usually enjoy the techy world. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the author’s writing style- to me everything felt off from the dialogue to the workplace. I hated the main characters and I think that was the biggest turn off for me. I’m sure others will love this one but it wasn’t the book for me.

This was a great read! The narrators did a great job at telling the story. It was fast paced and the story really kept my interest. Workplace enemies to lovers where they’ve known each other in the past.

Enemies to lovers
Second chance romance

Nami’s tech company she started from the ground up is about to lose funding. And her fiance recently broke off their engagement. Not really the “thirty, flirty, and thriving” dream she imagines for herself. Her thirtieth birthday she wishes for her soulmate. In steps Jae Lee, her high school nemesis. Oh y’all know it can only get good from here!

This was a cute story! Quick audiobook and I loved the narrators. Thanks to Net Galley, Griffin, and Cara Tanamachi for the ARC. Pub date 1/30/24

I quite enjoyed the first book (“The Second You’re Single”), and I think I liked this one even better! Sora and Jack made appearances here which was great but this is definitely all about the sister, Nami.

This was a childhood (grade school) enemies to workplace enemies to lovers romance - and the banter was just so well done. I loved how (the way) she wrote this story and how we did get the dual points of view so we as the reader really got into the heads of both characters to find out why they had the rivalry and how it was in their school days and why things continued in adulthood. The disparity in their family’s income also really played into things… but the biggest thing that caused Nami to hold onto her “hatred” of Jae after all the years was that he never tried, and still beat her for Valedictorian by a fraction of a point.

In adulthood, Nami’s start-up is needing funding and the partners are looking to others for a buy-out… on her birthday she makes a wish not to save her company but for the universe to send her a soulmate. Jae’s company (Rainforest - it took me a while to realize it was a “play on words” on the BIG one! In Seattle and everything!) is offering a buy-out but Nami’s trying to convince them to go for the other offer just because of how awful Rainforest and Jae are. Jae is trying to woo the partners and it’s seemingly working, so much that Jae is even struggling to remember why she doesn’t like him. He’s her hate-mate, not soulmate… right?

The audio is narrated by two brand new-to-me voices who were great. Both did a really good job, and really suited the characters of Nami and Jae very well - Chieko Hidaka and Donald Chang. I love that they picked narrators who were actually culturally relevant and perfectly suited for their characters. Bravo to everyone! They did a fantastic job and everyone should listen to the audiobook and read along too - best of both worlds!

I definitely recommend this excellent 4.5 star book to all romance lovers and while it can be read as standalone, it would be better to have read book one first.

I received an advance read and listen copy from NetGalley, St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin), and RB Media (Recorded Books), and this is my honest feedback.

Thanks to Recorded books media and Netgalley for the ALC!!
Pub date : 30 Jan 2024

I can totally see this being adapted into a corny Netflix rom-com (and I don't mean that as a diss!) . This book was quite dutiful in it's adherence to the conventions of a typical enemies to lovers , corporate setting . This one was a little different because instead of two co-workers , there's a rivalry because Jae is apart of a mega corporation akin to Amazon (rainforest) who is trying to buy out Nami's start up. I liked how the narrative emphasised the importance of a healthy , conducive work environment - although the execution was a little cartoonish. There was a running wolf and three little pigs analogy that I could've gone without as well as some cringey one liners . I liked the transition from enemies to lovers and thought that Jae and Nami had some cute moments but overall this is not a book that will stick with me , which was what I was in the mood for!. I could tell what the third act act conflict would be from a MILE away which consequently made me quite bored because I was dreading it , the resolution was cute though .Again , corny Netflix movie potential!

Audiobook review

The takeover is dual narration (with a female and male narrator corresponding with the main characters Nami and Jae.) I thought that the narrator's voices fit the characters...alright . Jae's narrator more so than Nami's . The male narrator made a better effort of changing his voice when reading other characters whereas Nami's, who voiced every other character in the same pitch , tone and cadence as the main character. It made the story drag and a little hard to follow at times. Similarly , Nami's narrator made her inner monologue sound more like stage cues instead of being in her head resulting in us losing a bit of the character's essence because she wasn't fiery nor sassy . Jae's narrator could've been more suave but that's neither here nor. there.

As a reader who has listened to a fair amount of audiobooks , this is not one that I would urge everyone to pick up . I've listened to more dynamic and evocative performances but if you are : new to audiobooks / not picky with narration styles or if you are like me (want an easy , mindless listen) this might be for you !.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🎧Song Pairing: Hurts So Good - Astrid S

💭What I thought would happen:

Luuuuuuurved her last book so this was high up on my anticipated reads in 2024

📖What actually happens:

Nami’s life is just aces until her high school rival pops back into her life with a mysterious text. Next think she knows she’s part of the corporate takeover for acquire her company. No thanks. She will not be selling to the big bad wolf but damn he looks like his sweat tastes good.

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

This month and maybe this year I’ve taken a *slight* step back from romances. Giving all of the other genres a chance 😉

It was cute! Not my favourite but hell give me a corporate alphahole any day and I’m on board. But overall, the chemistry nor the main characters did not sell me on true love but I have soupy Crescent City brain.

Read if you like:
🍜Spicy ramen
😈Enemies to lovers
🤍Workplace romance
🩷Japanese/Korean representation
😉Boy band dance moves