Why does society place importance on engagements/marriages and baby announcements only than other life achievements?

To get back at her family and friends who didn't show up to her Phd graduation celebration, Bianca Dimitrou pretends she's engaged to her classmate Xavier Byrne. As predicted her family and friends immediately clamour to celebrate her upcoming nuptials, which further enrages her. Meanwhile she can't help but feel this fake engagement is going all too real, but come end of the summer Xavier is moving to Greece for a year, so there's no future for them, or is there?

This book had such a fantastic premise that I just had to read this. It really started strong, but then the plot steered in directions that let it down the hook of this story to focus on the romance only. While I understood Bianca's reasons for continuing the charade, I was getting tired of her being a doormat to her family and friends (especially her sister). Then, when she really should've started confronting them about their attitudes, and told them the truth, it was Xavier who ended up telling them. The romance was well developed but I'd have liked better character development for Bianca.

Thanks to Headline and NetGalley for the ARC.

Bianca is always there for her family and friends, willing to drop everything to be there for all of their big moments. So when not a single one of them shows up to celebrate her successfully defending her dissertation, she's hurt, and pissed. She knows that if this were an engagement party, they'd all be there... and when Xavier suggests that they fake an engagement to make them feel like they've missed out on a big moment (which, they absolutely have), she agrees. It's a drunken choice that's meant to only last a night... but the next day, they throw a surprise engagement party, and every single one of them makes it. Bianca and Xavier decide to extend the fake engagement, but both of them are fighting very real feelings.

I loved this premise, and really liked the characters. I LOVE a fake relationship trope, and especially loved that this one had a really solid reason for them getting together. I also liked that some level of feelings were acknowledged throughout, even as they kept pulling back from each other. While I don't mind miscommunication (it's so realistic) I did have a few moments were I wanted them to just have that conversation--mostly the moments where they almost did, but were interrupted, and then came close again but chose not to. I loved that Bianca continued to show up for her people, because that's just so integral to who she is, but I wish there had been a bit more of a conversation between her and them about how unbalanced the relationships all were.

Overall, Degrees of Engagement was sweet and fun, and I would definitely read more from the author.

I’d never heard of this book before it popped up on Netgalley but as soon as I read the description, I had to request it and I’m really glad I did because I had a great time reading and a hard time putting it down.

Bianca and Xavier were so cute together! Their chemistry was great and I loved the way they couldn’t stay away from each other. After knowing each other for so long and having worked together so many times, they knew each other very well and the intimacy that came with that was beautiful! Their banter was really fun as well, and I loved the way they were each other’s biggest supporters and weren’t afraid to call each other on their bullshit (except when it comes to their feelings I guess lol).

I also really enjoyed the message about the importance of celebrating all big events in a person’s life. This whole fake engagement situation stemmed from the fact that none of Bianca’s friends and family showed up to celebrate her getting her PhD; an already upsetting situation was made worse by them all showing up the next day when they heard that she’d gotten engaged. This was obviously heartbreaking for Bianca, who’d spent years bending her back backwards to celebrate all of her friends; later on in the book, Bianca and Xavier have a really interesting conversation about this, about the difference between an accomplishment and a milestone and I think this could be the topic of such a great discussion.

Overall, this was a great book and a solid adult romance debut from Jennifer Hennessy. I’ll keep an eye out for her next book.

4.5/5 Stars

Thank you to Headline Eternal for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review💙

Fake engagement/Forced proximity- SIGN ME UP!

This was a fast-paced romantic comedy that had me laughing and giggling. Book started with Bianca who is celebrating her PhD when none of her family or friends show up except for Xavier (fellow classmate). They devise a plan to fake an engagement in order to teach her friends/family a lesson.

I loved Bianca's family they really welcomed Xavier. I also liked how both characters were motivated (within themselves and for reach other) and both were well accomplished.

I'm not huge fan of third person POV so it did take a bit to adjust and due to the format I was a little confused at times. Also I wanted more build up and tension between Bianca and Xavier.

swoony and gorgeous romance with some fun characters. felt like an Ali Hazelwood, but uniquely a fresh voice. thanks for the arc.

It was a cute story & premise overall but I also found it a bit boring. The lack of genuine chemistry between the two characters was hard to digest, even though they supported each other. They lived together & the story lacked so many awkward, lusty, angsty moments.

The family & friends ditching her accomplishment celebration, was shitty. I liked how that sparked the fake engagement trope. I just wish the plot advanced beyond " we shouldnt" - because they SHOULD. They do, but it's kind of said a lot. Too much. Too many pages of inner dialog, self doubt, etc. Miscommunication trope is the worst.
I wish the FMC sparked some turmoil early on by going off on her friends & family, or at least expressing her unhappiness.

Overall, a decent read. Im excited to see this author gain additional experience and grow.

⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️ 3/5

This was a fun read! I always love love love when the FMC is really smart and especially when the MMC loves that about her! Bianca has just obtained her PhD, but none of her family or friends could be bothered to show up to celebrate...except for her fellow classmate Xavier. Seeing how much pain she's in, he suggests they do a fake engagement to teach them all a lesson. Only one problem...they've both been in love with each other for the last 5 years, but neither will admit it.

I really love the pairing of their professions - Indiana Jones type archaeologist and super smart and sweet librarian! Very much so Rick and Evie vibes from the movie, The Mummy. I loved that they delved a bit into what each of their jobs look like as well, it's so interesting getting to learn alongside of a swoon worthy romance.

I also think this book brings up a great point about celebrating all of your friend's and family's accomplishments even if you personally don't get it. That really resonated wit me as I feel like there have been points in my life where family just doesn't care about my achievements.

I really loved the portrayal of the Greek family as well! Definitely reminded me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding with how welcoming the family was to Xavier!

I think the only issue for me was sometimes I had a hard time understanding who was talking when there was a lot of back and forth dialog, but that may have been due to weird spacing issues with the ePub file on my kindle.

What to expect-

📚 Librarian/Archaeologist
🏺 Friends to Lovers
📚 Forced Proximity
🏺 Fake Engagement
📚 Greek Roots
🏺 Love vs. career

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so much fun to read!! I fully engaged with the characters and their stories. Even the supporting characters were great and added their own spice to the story. I'm hoping there might be a follow-up book (or two).

Bianca and Xavier are exactly who you want to read about. Mature, successful adults. They may not be the best at communicating but they make up for it with love and sarcasm.

The endings of books often (more often than not) frustrate me because things get wrapped up so fast and it's all too pretty. This book wasn't like that and I'm so appreciative of the author writing something that actually felt realistic. To the characters and to life, in general.

Yes, I would recommend this book!!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A fake engagement romance. Bianca and Xavier have known each other since the start of their phd's. Now they are about to finish and take engaged, windShield shortly leaving for Greece. Do they have a future together?

I am currently knee-deep in academic trenches, working on my master's thesis which is currently killing me. And during this time, I stumbled upon Degrees of Engagement purely by chance when I was on Netgalley. From the blurb itself, this would be a book that would be the perfect, kind of escapist romance as I start to draft my thesis. For the most part, it was. I definitely related to Bianca and her reaction when no one in her circle showed up after she completed her PhD. Even more so, when you learn that she showed up for everyone. I thought that would make me love this book all the more.

However, it was the writing style that put me off. Like there was nothing wrong with it and it was really beautiful at some points too, but it felt strangely stilted and it lacked a certain degree of emotions you have in romance books. Not that it didn't make me feel things, it just felt short of my expectations. Plus things seemed to progress far more quickly than it can be believable, which is why it was quite hard to believe in the chemistry between Xavier and Bianca. All though, I will say that towards the end, the chemistry started to shine. But by then, I had already, kind of, lost interest and was basically just skimming through the book.

All in all, Degrees of Engagement is not a bad book, it's just not a book for me.

Bianca and Xavier get fake engaged after no one turns but to celebrate her phd. He is leaving anyway so what harm can it do? A great read, looking forward to more from this author.

I couldn’t do it. I was so… bored. There wasn’t any tension, Xavier was just eh. The miscommunication was so bleh. Plus the first scene with them getting spicy was just so out of left field. This wasn’t for me.

It was definitely not a romance for me. It was way too quick and too insta-lovey and insta-lustey. The characters were not memorable, which is fine in itself, but they pissed me off a little. I did not like their cowardice and the way they hid behind the fake engagement to avoid dealing with their feelings. There was also too much sex scenes for my liking. I did appreciate the main message about the milestones and the way some characters were called out for not considering work achievements as actual worthy achievements (like a wedding would be to these characters) but it was not enough to save this book.

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

I loved the concept of this one but it didn't quite hit the mark for me.

I loved the mutual pining, academia setting and fake engagement but found the writing style wasn't to my style.

It had a great slow burn with a bit of spice and characters who are well-developed so check it out if this one is for you

I loved this book! Ali Hazelwood gives us the world of STEM and Jennifer Hennessy gives us the world of literature/research and archeology!

Bianca has just achieved the biggest accomplishment of her life, getting her PHD, and the only person to show up to her celebration is Xavier. Feeling hurt and angry, they decide to fake an engagement.

This was such a cozy, good feeling story!

"Degrees of Engagement" is a delightful blend of academia, fake engagements, and long-standing mutual pining that creates a charming and spicy romantic tale. The story follows PhD students Xavier and Bianca, who, in a fit of drunken mischief, decide to fake an engagement as a form of petty revenge.

Jennifer Hennessy's writing captures the essence of academia, making it relatable for those who have experienced the trials of higher education. The characters, are well-developed, and their chemistry is palpable from the first interaction. The slow burn with a dash of spice quickly grabbed my attention.

While the writing style may take a moment to adjust to, with its third-person perspective, I found the book enjoyable.

This is a spicy, romance book which is definitely not suited for younger readers, absolutely loved this book from start to finish, the main characters have it all going on, which made it a fast paced read

This is such a feel good romance that will have you smiling and laughing and kicking your feet! This is the book for you if you need a palate cleanser because it's just so wonderful and good. I love anything that has the fake dating/fake engagement trope, and this book does it so well. The characters are well developed, the plot is great and moves at a fast pace, and ithe chemistry between Bianca and Xavier is just so palpable. It was both sweet and spicy, and it's so interesting how they navigated a fake engagement since both of them had been pining after each for years. This book is perfect for those who are fans of Ali Hazelwood and Morgan Elizabeth. I did take a way a star for this being in third person POV present, because I desperately wish it was in dual POV first person, but this is overall such a great book and I recommend it highly to others!

Thank you to NetGalley, Jennifer Hennessy, and Headline for the eARC of this book!

I greatly enjoyed this story! I’m so glad that I stumbled on it - I actually follow the artist that did the character art for the cover! (We were in the same fandom for a while.) When they posted about this book, I was instantly intrigued, and was so happy to find it on NetGalley!! The characters were very fun, and had such great chemistry. This is going in my romance recs, for sure!

Thank you Headline and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bianca Dimitriou is the friend who is always there at the drop of a hat for her friends. She flies to different continents to be in weddings or babysits with hardly any notice. She has many close friends who she would do anything for. She is therefore incredibly hurt when none of her friends or family go to her party celebrating the fact that she successfully defended her thesis and is now a PhD. One of the few people who does come is her classmate, Xavier. Xavier was Bianca's only friend in her academic program, but he pulled away upon learning that he would soon be moving to Greece for a fellowship. When Bianca suggests that her family and friends would have dropped everything if she was getting married, Xavier suggests that they should pretend to be engaged. Bianca agrees and well, you probably see where this is going.

Another fake dating book (you know I can't get enough of those) but this time it's a fake engagement! I think this book had a lot of positives and a few negatives that took me out of the story a bit.

Pros:

I liked how much the Bianca and Xavier respected each other academically. I liked that their friendship was formed from challenging each other. As the story goes on, both characters comment on how brilliant they think the other is and it was nice to see "could be rivals" acknowledge each other's strengths.
Xavier was so supportive of Bianca throughout the book. Is only reason for suggesting/agreeing to the fake engagement is because he was a good friend and was mad at Bianca's other friends for not being there for her. He repeatedly shows that he wants her friends to be supportive of her and defends her when they are not.
I liked that each of Bianca's friends were at a different stage in relationships. It was fun seeing her interact with friends who have reached different milestones.
I enjoyed this book in general. The writing was good and I wanted to keep reading it.

Cons:

I get annoyed when pretty much the only conflict in a book is that the characters won't communicate. Bianca goes into this fake engagement to teach her friends and family a lesson, but she spends most of the book not even telling them how she feels. All she had to do was say, "It hurt me that you weren't there to celebrate the massive accomplishment that I made." She also continually semi-communicates with Xavier about their feelings for each other, but they never actually say what they mean and always immediately change their minds when they set boundaries.
While the different friends showed up every so often, I felt like I didn't really know any of them. The characters felt like they were in a bubble.

Overall it was a solid read.