In Walked Trouble is an enemies-to-lovers queer romance wrapped in loads of cuteness. I had a great time reading this. The conflict felt genuine and was understandable. I love when romance books are dual POV and this one was. The back stories as well as the arcs of both the characters were equally well developed. It's very readable and I had a lot of fun reading it. The audiobook for this one is also really good. So i recommend that.

This book wasn't for me and I ended up DNF'ing at 30%. Remi was a terrible person and needed therapy, not a relationship. I also didn't really feel any chemistry between her and Maya. The rivalry/enemies part felt immature although I would've been pissed if my boss had done that to me. Nothing much seemed to happen at the start except a lot of detail on various drinks being made which did sound delicious but I didn't need a whole cocktail recipe book.

LOVE LOVE LOVE DANA HAWKINS!!!! I’m not surprised at all that this Was another amazing read!
Cannot wait to see more from her

I had trouble reading this book as it had a lot of spaces. I got a bit lost. I don’t know if it was because it is an ARC or if it’s the actual book.

Besides of all that I would recommend this book. I enjoyed it.

I’m going to eventually listen to it on audible.

Wow was this a great read for me. Remi and Maya appear to have such major differences in family history and general personality, and yet they fit together well. I love that Maya's mom can kind of pick up that Remi comes from some major darkness, and shows her that she has more support than she thinks. And speaking of support, could these two have any better best friends?! The one thing that I didn’t love in the plot was how forgiving Maya was. I definitely think she was empathetic in an amazing way, and saw that the "trauma talking" side of Remi wasn't all there was, but yikes on that phone call! Also, while I'm not super into the adult/spicy scenes and I kind of glaze over the big moments there, I absolutely loved their burn along the way to finally get to that big moment. Finally, those chapter titles were so unique!

I love series that are standalone and yet involve characters from the previous book(s), so I can't wait to (hopefully) see books about Ben and/or Sophie, or even Harper when she's older. Overall, this was a great read and I look forward to exploring the other books by Dana Hawkins.

I’d give this a 4.5. I gave Not in the Plan a 5 and this was a close second because I couldn’t help comparing the two.

Without giving much away I didn’t love their reconciliation and how easy it was for Maya to forgive Remi. I’m glad she did but I do hope if these were characters in real life she’d encourage Remi to go to therapy.

The epilogue was a door left open to a potential sequel. I’d read it. Why don’t more romance books have sequels?

I liked the friend characters and how they played a role in bringing the couple back together but I knew more about Ben thanks to Not in the Plan. I wanted to learn more about Sophie. Another book there? Oh and a book for Ben.

Basically, I want more books from Dana Hawkins.

Last thoughts, the character Harper was great and helped make Maya a fuller character.

Love! This book was romance with sass. The book follows Remi and Maya in a forbidden co-worker relationship. Wonderfully written for Dana’s 2nd LBGTQ+ book. Bravo!

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for providing me with an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book wasn't for me. I'm not a big fan of contemporary enemies-to-lovers, so I wasn't really surprised when I found myself caring more about one-off background characters and sub-plots than the actual romance. Remi and Maya are cute, but they were the least interesting thing about this book.

I absolutely loved "In Walked Trouble"! It was a perfect sapphic enemies to lovers. Remi and Maya had amazing chemistry and I truly enjoyed reading this story. I also appreciated that Maya didn't drink even though she worked at a bar. As someone who doesn't drink it was a nice extra detail. Highly recommend this book! Thank you for letting my advance read this! Thank you Net Galley and Storm Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

This book definitely has some redeeming qualities, but overall it did not work for me. To start with the pros, as someone who grew up outside of Seattle and loves the city so deeply, I feel the author executed this setting really well. I will say there were some moments that felt spatially confused, like Remi getting on I-5 to travel from South Lake Union to presumably First Hill to get to a hospital, but I can let those slide. Having a good portion of the book set in a restaurant was something I enjoyed. I haven't read any restaurant/cooking focused romances this year and I feel they always have a fun amount of high stress and tension for the characters. Finally, I liked that this book had a protagonist that had been in the foster system as I haven't come across that often in the romance books I've read.

As far as issues I had with this book, the way Harper was written was so strange to me. The way she spoke and acted was reminiscent of a seven year old and not a tweenager/teen. I think a lot of authors struggle with writing the way that kids act and speak and as a result they come off sounding too young. I found the third act conflict of this book truly insufferable. Having the start of their big fight be that they gave up their bonuses for each other was a baffling choice. Then to follow that up with Maya getting angry about Remi revealing to Gabriella that they were dating, was so strange. It's not that these couldn't be conflicts that were executed well it just felt that we were dancing around the real conflict and struggle of their relationship, Maya going back to Minnesota for her Masters. What annoyed me most was that when that conflict was resolved it was done so very quickly in a way that felt anticlimactic. Also I'm sorry it is insane that Maya would give up on pursuing her masters at U of M. As someone currently interviewing for Masters programs, it is so hard to get in and nobody that put in the effort to get into their dream school would drop it. I understand that she was worried about her sister, but come on the girl is a nurse and would know that blood sugar crashes sometimes just happen to people with diabetes. It's not like here sister needs round the clock care all of a sudden they just need to alter their routine a bit. I totally understand Maya's desire to be around family, but come on girl its an eighteen month program it'll fly by. I think it would have been more compelling for Maya to acknowledge her sisters independence and to go back to school. I would have liked for her and Remi to do long distance so that Remi could work through her fear of abandonment and then they can get their happily ever after. Instead it felt like Maya sacrificed a lot of hard work for no reason.

Thanks to the folks over at Storm Publishing for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved the banter in this book, along with the personality and voice of the main character. The dialogue was so strong, and I really enjoyed the plot/content of the story too.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this early <3

Okay so this book was cute however they needed to communicate more because girl! It just kept going back and forth and I was getting annoyed!

But then they finally communicated and boom! Happiness! Or so I thought! Remi, love get out of your own head not everything is gonna be like your childhood, see what there is in front of you.

Okay enough said it was cute and a quick read

With In Walked Trouble, Dana Hawkins has written another sweetly poignant love story that had me hooked from cover to cover and cemented herself as one of my must-read authors.

Back again are the clever chapter titles (this time featuring names of alcoholic beverages instead of coffee) and well-developed characters with backstories that make you empathize with their actions and root for their futures. The chemistry between Remi and Maya is electric, the spice is steamy, and the angst and ultimate conflict resolution is believable and didn’t feel rushed. As a bonus this book is on KU, so do yourself a favor and read it today!

I received an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher and all opinions are my own.

i havent read this series before but i dont think that hindered on my experience one bit! The cocktails were such a fun detail that had me grinning each time they appeared. Sometimes a romance novel, and its characters, just hit and this absolutely hit for me !

I loved Not In The Plan and had high hopes for In Walked Trouble and I'm glad I had a great experience with this book too! The characters are great and I loved their rivalry, I wasn't a big fan of the conflict at the end, I think it could have developed differently, but that's my only complaint. The romance is also great and it was a delight to see it develop. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

This is the second book that I have the pleasure to read by Dana Hawkins, and as I was expecting, it was totally amazing!!!

This is an enemies to lovers, one of my favourite trope in the world. This book tells us the story of Remi, a bartender who is waiting for the promotion she has been waiting for years so she can finally move from her two dorms apartment that she share with her best friends and Maya, a nurse student who is struggling with her student loan and life in general, Everything goes according to the plan for Rmi, until she gets to the bar and sees that Gabriella, the owner, is talking with an another girl in her office, someone who's going to be the death of Remi,

After a couple of missundertanding and others awkards situation with a lot of tension, Remi and Maya ended up having a nice and cordial reationship at the bar.

This is one of those book that one you started reading the, it is almost imposible to put it down. Dana's writing style is so amazing, simple but captivating and makes the books even more amazing.

I totally recommended this book to everyone who want to give it a try to any LGTBQ+ book.

Thank you to Storm Publishing for gifting me an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review!
All thoughts are my own.

DNF @ 36%

[as this is a new release I wasn't going to give it a star rating at all to be respectful, but in order to submit it I have to so I am giving it a 2 star rating! If it wasn't new it would be 1 star...]

While the initial setup held promise, the plot became preposterous rather quickly. The writing was not inherently bad, although it is lacking the polish and refinement I would usually see in a published book. It has a certain "fanfiction" element to me, and only people who read/have read fanfiction will understand when I say that, but IYKYK.

As someone with many years of food service experience, I found the plot confusing and unrealistic. Remi's dreams, while relatable on some level, felt really exaggerated. I liked that she was given a goal in mind, to get a home, but it really doesn't fit into today's narrative. Purchasing a house is nearly impossible these days, especially on a single-income bartender's salary. The portrayal of workplace dynamics and management left much to be desired, with her boss's rude, toxic demeanor and questionable decision-making painting quite an unconvincing picture of the bartender/food service life. Not only does Remi lose out on the promotion (which means NO increase in pay, NO better benefits or hours, NO extra perks), she now has to fight for a bonus that is rightfully hers... yeah, fuck all that! Could NOT be me!

The reason I decided to DNF? Besides what I mentioned above, and besides the fact that we were almost 40% in and I felt there was no chemistry between the characters? Well, honestly... it was Harper. Go ahead and write in kid characters, animal characters, I don't mind! But when you do, please keep in mind that they are CHILDREN/ANIMALS. A kid would never, in a million years, interact with Remi the way Harper did. Cringy, again unrealistic dialogue and it felt painful to continue.

Cute cover, fun idea, but found myself very underwhelmed. Might eventually pick this one up again, who knows?

🌈 In Walked Trouble by Dana Hawkins was a lovely contemporary lesbian fiction book. With an enemies-to-lovers trope filled with twists and turns, this book kept me excited the whole way through.

🍸 Remi is a bartender, waiting on a bonus at work so she can finally buy a house ans get out of her crummy apartment. When a new bartender, Maya, arrives, their boss decides that the bonus will now be awarded to whomever has the best performance at work this summer.

🌈 Remi hates Maya immediately, feeling like her dream of buying a house may no longer happen. Along the way, the girls learn more about eachother and their romance infolds, but not without some drama.

🍸 Overall I enjoyed this book. I love lesbian fiction and romance, and this one had a great plot. My only issue with the book was that it was hard to root for Remi at times because of her actions. Even though I liked her at many points in the book, its hard for me to get over a semi-unlikable character; this did bring my book rating down a bit, despite the story being fun and well written.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you Net Galley and Storm Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was an engaging rivals to lovers sapphic romance that had 2 traumatized FMCs. Maya was the ultimate perfectionist, trying to control everything in her life. Remi was grumpy and guarded, chasing a sense of home she didn’t have when she was growing up.
90% of this book was cozy and low stakes, with one instance of something high stakes happening. Both MCs had a supportive friend that helped them through their own bull.
I wanted to give this 5 stars, but the grovel and reparations were sorely lacking near the end of the book. I wanted to see more of the moments that came after dealing with their fight.

Spice: 3/5

Triggers: hospitalization, grief, foster care, child abandonment

It took a really long time for me to warm up to this story. First, the competition premise didn’t make much sense to me. Remi James has put four years and her all into a bartending job and feels like she is finally going to get the big promotion and salaried spot that she deserves. But instead her boss changes it to a cash payout bonus and puts a new hire, Maya Marek, in as her competition. Maya is planning to go away to get her master degree in a few months so why would you upset a multi year employee with a competition and why invest in someone who will be leaving, this makes zero business sense. Of course both could use the money. Secondly, I don’t drink so all the bar beverage mixing and creating cocktails was not interesting to me. And lastly Remi is difficult to like.

Of course both have their back stories. One lost her dad as a teen, the other grew up in foster care. If I hadn’t read and enjoyed the author’s previous novel, Not In the Plan (Jan 2024) I may have stopped reading. Around the fifty percent point I started connecting more with the characters. Maya is especially sweet and willing to make compromises even when Remi pushes her away. And Remi really needs some good therapy.

This eventually is a nice workplace romance but I wouldn’t call them enemies as within a few days they are working well together. I think this book just didn’t connect as much story wise for me. Others clearly have enjoyed it more.