Thank you to the publisher for the free copy from NetGalley!

⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

TW: spice, not suitable for younger readers

Hands down my favourite part of Degrees of Engagement is the absolute shade thrown to the British Museum over the Parthenon Marbles, and I cannot applaud Hennessy enough for this. Onto the review.

Degrees of Engagement follows Bianca, a recent PhD graduate who shows up for everyone else when they need her, only to discover that they aren't prepared to do the same for her. Cue a drunken proposal from Xavier, her friend, to finally get Bianca the attention she deserves from her friends and family after they fail to show up for her graduation party. The fake engagement trope is always a little far fetched, but I felt like it had a really good set up with Bianca’s party. Hennessy is making a great point too, that there is more to life than relationships and traditional milestones like marriage and kids. But I’ll be honest, once Xavier and Bianca are ‘engaged’, it feels like very little happens until the third act break-up. I hit the ⅔ mark and had to force myself to finish, skimming to the end of a story I just wasn’t that invested in.

As far as characters go, I did genuinely like Bianca and I was absolutely rooting for her to be a little more selfish after being there for everyone else in her life. Xavier could be charming, but he was definitely a lot flatter and whilst the supporting characters were varied enough to be distinct, they weren’t particularly strong additions to the book. Hats off to Hennessy though, as I have never read a cat so accurately written.

Considering that this is a romance book, the romance is, you know, important. I hate to say it, but Bianca and Xavier’s relationship was unsatisfying and underdeveloped. The fact that these two are living together during their fake engagement was the perfect setting for some charged and awkward moments, but the chemistry between them just wasn’t there for me. They also had sex pretty quick meaning you don’t get to see much sexual tension between them. Again, the physical side of things overtook the relationship too much when they finally confessed their feelings and it was so quick that I genuinely missed it. Now, don’t get me wrong, Bianca and Xavier had some good moments together (although I will say that sexting before a job interview seems extremely unwise) and their friends to lovers arc was a refreshing read compared to the common enemies to lovers. Ultimately, Bianca and Xavier were entertaining enough, but their relationship throughout felt like it changed very little - they liked each other and that was that. I appreciate that they already had feelings, but I would have preferred to see some more development.

All in all, Degrees of Engagement was an okay book with an okay romance - I’ve certainly read worse but I’ve most certainly read better. That being said, I would definitely be interested to see more of Hennessy’s work with a few more books under her belt.

I loved this!! Bianca was everything - sweet, introspective, funny, clever, and a very good friend. I was rooting for her from the very start, and angry right alongside her when her friends and family failed to show up to celebrate her PhD - it’s not every day someone becomes a Doctor - and I couldn’t fault her slightly insane plan to fake an engagement to her very hot fellow doctorate student. Of course, it wasn’t as simple as planned and the engagement story spirals out of control, along with Bianca and Xavier’s tightly controlled feelings for each other.

I loved Bianca and Xavier and their friends (although I hope Xavier learned to open up to more people and make more good friends in the three years between the last chapter and the epilogue!!)

I’ve given this three stars but it’s really 3.5. I really enjoyed reading it & it made me think a lot about how important it is to support all of your friends big milestones!!! Plus I now need to check out Amelia Peadbody! Thanks to NetGalley & Headline for the ARC.

This was a cute story of colleagues (but really into each other for years) to lovers with a fake engagement. The pretense of the story was a bit silly, but the writing and the chemistry between the two characters make up for it. Definitely a fun, summer read.

I received an ARC from netgalley and the publisher.

Do you wish Ali Hazelwood wrote about librarians instead of scientists? Me too. I loved this book. I loved it more than I love Hazelwood because Hennessy somehow managed to convey sexual tension from the first interaction of the characters. She made me feel the five years that their tension had grown without making me suffer through it and I’m truly in awe. Read this book if you’re into academia, slow burn with spice, or because you agree that it’s truly wild that marriage is seen as a greater accomplishment than a phd. You will be glad you did.

Degrees of Engagement is a lot of fun. And anyone who has ever been in academia will love it. Xavier and Bianca are both phd students at the end of their schooling journey. But when no one, outside her advisor and Xavier, comes to Bianca’s party when she passes her defense, Bianca gets drunk and she and Xavier hatch a bit of petty revenge, pretending to be engaged. I love the way they become fake engaged. I don’t think I have ever said this about any fake relationship book but it made sense to me how that happened. I mean who hasn’t gotten mad drunk and hatched a ridiculous scheme. Every romance novel has a bit of absurdity, I just liked that these two were able to have a realness that every story doesn’t have. Jennifer Hennessy does a great job giving the reader two people that belong together but have to put in some work. The writing is great and the characters are very relatable. Great Read

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC! I found this book to be such a feel good romance. Everyone in this world needs their own Xavier, someone who is there for you no matter the situation and no matter the consequences. I love how much I actually loved the characters and their development throughout the story.

Going into this book, I was expecting an easy, romance read. And that is what I got.

The writing style took me some chapters to get into as it's dual third person (you get insight on both lead characters, though more so Bianca). Additionally, the frequent usage of ellipses was a bit much.

As for the story itself, like many “fake dating/engagement/marriage/etc” books, the reader must suspend reality for a bit. However, more bothersome to me as a reader, was that the ending felt incomplete. At the very least, some plot points didn’t make sense to me (ex. Xavier’s exchange with Miranda). And I don’t think the epilogue did enough to explain how the lead couple overcame (one of) the main challenge(s) for them to get into a real relationship. It was tidied up as “they make it work,” but with little explanation on how they make it work.

Despite my criticisms, I don’t think this is a bad book. The lead characters are endearing, and I found Bianca’s relationship with her family very relatable. And while this is not a ground-breaking story - it doesn’t need to be. It is a cute, easy-to-read romance with a fair amount of spice. I enjoyed my time reading the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Headline Eternal for the ARC. I appreciate the opportunity to read this book.

3 stars.

Okay, so the blurb sounded very interesting to me which is why I picked up the book. It was the first book I read by this author and it was good. So the writing style was a bit hard to get into because it was in the third person POV. The beginning was great though but as the story progressed, the book fell flat for me tbh. I liked the chemistry between Bianca & Xavier, the mutual pinning was good and the message the book was trying to put forward was great, but I just couldn't connect with the story as much as I thought I would've. Still, I'm looking forward to read more from this author in the future.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me this ARC in exchange of an honest review

Sadly, I did not finish this one at about 25%. I think it had a lot of great potential but it just didn't work enough for me to continue. I think it's a unique take on a fake relationship. While I agree with the idea of celebrating all important milestones in people's lives not just engagements, etc..., I felt like this concept was pushed into my face every other paragraph and I found that very annoying. I just wanted to read the story and not be lectured throughout. But, I'm definitely in the minority about this.

This book was super cute and had concepts that I absolutely love. Give me all the books with academic rivals turned lovers, even if they were fake engaged at first. The mutual pining in this book that lasted YEARS before they got together in an attempt to get back at Bianca's friends and family, while proving what society views as important milestones, was a delight to read. This book pissed me off in all the right ways, especially how Bianca's theory that her friends and family would actually show up for her if she was engaged, rather than making huge strides in her career in getting a PhD. Hennessy does a really good job at showing the painful reality that relationship advancements sometimes take a higher value to society rather than professional ones. Bianca deserves so much more from her friends and family, and it had to take Xavier, her fake fiancé, to put them in their place and make them show up for her. I got upset in all the right ways over this. The romance had some heat to it, but the spice fell a bit flat. I also was a bit confused at what the POV was at times as the writing was not what I am used to in that sense. The rating took a hit on the insta-love because this seemed a bit unbelievable to me at times, and for a third act breakup. I despise third act breakups, especially ones that don't make a whole lot of sense and end up being resolved extremely quickly like this one. Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable read, and I plan on throwing this onto a friends TBR because I know she'd enjoy this as well. If you like a fun academia heavy romance read, this might be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

—Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my favorite romance books of the year. I think that should be enough.
But to say why, this was the best fake engagement romance i’ve read. Go into it blind and have the most fun.

3 stars.

Bianca is graduating with a Ph.D. However, no one from her close circle shows up at the party. The only one who arrives is Xavier, whose own Ph. D is also about to be completed soon. A little drunk, Bianca and Xavier come up with a plan to get Bianca to startle her close circle a little, as they think that marriage and family additions are the most important things in life.

A fake engagement, what better plan could there be! Bianca and Xavier begin to feel an attraction towards each other (or rather give in to the attraction they've always felt). However, the thing has its due date - after graduation, Xavier will move to another continent for work.

This book was light and pleasant to read. Good romantic tropes - fake engagement and forced proximity. I recommend the book to those who like light romantic literature.

Gosh, I freaking love Jennifer Hennessy books. They feel like a warm hug and I always come out of them with a smile on my face. There is just something about them that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

It was cute overall but I was also kinda bored. The chemistry between the two characters was great and I loved how they supported each other. The idea of complex relationships with friends and family is nice to see as well. I just wish the author had plotted the book a bit differently. The premise itself is a little flawed but so is most fake dating so you can overlook that. But then it's a lot of "we shouldn't be we do anyway" for pages on end without any real escalation or plot. It's just two people pining for each other and a lot of other people in their life being bad at relationships. Also as someone who actually HAS degrees in archaeology, can authors please contact people in those professions before writing about them? Because Xavier's job doesn't work like that. at all. Also the ending is not very satisfactory. Like yes it is an HEA, but it doesn't really explain how they solve the reason they decided not to be together in the first place.

I loved this book! I was immediately drawn into Bianca’s world. I related so deeply to the struggles she was having with the people she loved most. Bianca and Xavier overcame a lot even if I was shouting for them to just FIGURE IT OUT! Great read, definitely recommend.

yall this book 🥰🔥✨😆!!!!!!

this was so fast-paced and from the start threw you into a whirlwind romance with fake engagement (which yall know is right up my alley) and two lovable characters that you just immediately admire. the plot was definitely different than what i’ve read before and i adored.

i saw a lot of myself in bianca, and i loved her characterization so much. her and xavier were perfection!! and i loved seeing the growth of their relationship and seeing how both of them sort of grew with each other. it was realistic, super sweet, & sooo swoony i was in love 🥰🥰

Interesting take on relationships in contemporary society!

Degrees of Engagement centres around Bianca Dimitriou, a woman who has just completed her PhD - her biggest accomplishment and pride and joy - but finds herself alone in her celebratory party. All her friends and family send their apologies, but also excuses for not being there, but she is alone nonetheless. She feels like this is the type of accomplishment her family and friends don't value, as opposed to events related to relationships. As a sort of payback, she orchestrates a fake engagement to Xavier Byrne in a drunken decision to prove her point. Xavier was a fellow PhD student with whom she had been building up quite a tension over her degree and this fake arrangement starts eventually to seem more real than pretend to both of them.

I really liked this romance! I thought the take on how relationships are viewed and valued by society, as opposed to professional accomplishments, was quite interesting. It challenges the idea that only relationships can make you happy and fulfilled while also saying that romantic connections are also, but not necessarily the most, important. Xavier was a real green flag. He really respects and admires Bianca and that was great to see. Overall, a very fun read which also challenges conservative ideas of the position romantic relationships should have in our lives.

Thank you very much to Headline Eternal/Headline and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this! Bianca and Xavier were great characters, and the way the fake engagement trope was woven into their story of pining for each other as friends for years was crafted excellently. The romance was both sweet and spicy, and I also really appreciated the viewpoint of striving for the kind of love and life that works for you - one that doesn't necessarily live up to the expectations of others.

The only thing that knocked this down personally for me was the writing style being third person present, which just isn't one I vibe with.

Cute, cute, and cute! I adored the characters and the proposal. Stories like this one melt my heart and make me feel good. I think Jennifer did an awesome job with this book! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

5/5 stars, would recommend for purchase in all libraries to add vibrancy to their romance collection. Recommended for fans of Ali Hazelwood, Tessa Bailey and Emily Henry.