This is a cute second chance, enemies to lovers romance set in the real estate world.

Piper deals with anxiety, trauma from her thyroid cancer surgery and is still trying to make her break in the real estate world.

Aiden comes from a real estate family and was set up for success from the beginning, yet he stole Piper’s client.

Now they have to work on a listing together…

This book was a relatively good time for me, I enjoyed it and it works as a great palate cleanser between fantasy books.

The teaser for the second book coming out in August had me hooked, and I’ll definitely give that a try when it comes out!

Thanks NetGalley and Amelia for the ARC.

This was a super cute novel, picture some of your favorite shows, add the competition of the same line of work, dogs, life, and then the never ending desire for the star crossed lover.

Boom.

Perfection.

Cannot wait to read the next book Amelia comes out with.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for my E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was entertaining and fun. I wasn't wowed by anything really. It was just a entertaining romance book. I really did like the competition that they had going on with finding a buyer for the house. I also loved seeing the female main character learn to trust again and open up more with everyone (especially about her cancer and the scar it left on her throat). This was pretty average for me. I loved how much of a quick read it was and it was just fun.

I really wanted to like this book. The cover is very cute and trhe premise felt a lot like an hgtv show. Unfortunately, the character development and pacing of the book did not work together very well. This book was very dialogue heavy instead of plot driven and that did not work for me.

This was a lighthearted romance centered around two realators who are forced to co-list a house and work together to find buyers.

Although this is billed as enemies-to-lovers, it’s more exes-to-lovers or a second chance romance. Nearly the entire relationship aspect of this book is built on multiple miscommunications, so if you’re not a fan, this might be a skip. I also found the dialogue and character depth to be a bit lacking, and I wish this book went into more details and played into the luxury house aspect more.

During one of the last chapters, the author randomly drops in two new characters and builds them up, obviously setting up for a spinoff, which I found confusing and took away from the main story.

Overall this was fun and a quick read, but I found it lacking and a bit disappointing.

Thank you so much to netgalley and Invisible String Publishing for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I felt like none of the characters were relatable to me or like able. I also didn’t really care much for the second chance romance or the storyline in general.

I hope others love this book but it just wasn’t for me.

This fast-paced book combines a rivals-to-lovers with a second chance romance.

Piper was such a realistic character, from the way she handles her personal life, to the way she handles her work life. The hesitation to show her scar makes her even more human. She isn't perfect, but also not broken. She has faced hardships and came out stronger.

Aidan is a cutie, he just had to see that he has to carefully explain why he does things. His communication skills did improve marginally throughout the book. He has, fortunately, seen the error and can now communicate like an adult. I understand why Piper was so hesitant to believe that he has changed his ways.

But, the best character in the book was Tyler. He gave me my favorite quote: ”Mr. Right Now can be a super fun distraction while you're waiting for Mr. Right.”

If I had to relate to any character in the book, it would be Piper's sister Leighton. She names all her plants after ACOTAR characters and has been forcing her sister to read the series. Honestly, same, but it hasn't worked for me either. I would love to have time to do ASMR videos and adopt a cat, but, alas, I'm only an 18yo uni student.

Thank you to NetGalley and Invisible String Press for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Real Deal tells the story of two realtors named Piper and Aiden, who used to be friends and had feelings for each other, but due to a circumstance fell out of friendship and are now finding their way back to each other after a couple of years.

This book wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t my favorite book ever either. There were a lot of things in this book that were important but seemed to be overlooked. For instance, her being a cancer survivor. We get a little bit about it, but I feel like that’s a very important plot point considering she talks about her wearing a scarf and her scar a bunch of times throughout the book. Also, Piper spends about 75% of the book being upset or angry with Aiden, even though they had already been “together” at this point in the book. The ending feels very rushed, in my opinion. It was SUCH a slow burn and then they were just together, just like that. When I got to the last few pages, I thought “This can’t be it”, but then the book ended.

Perfect book for people who want little to no spice in their books. It mentions them making out, and taking off clothes, but nothing beyond that. They also only have sex twice or maybe 3 times, so it’s not an important aspect of the story anyway.

Also, the last thing that kind of drove me away from the story. FMC’s best friend/coworker was just plain annoying. I could not get behind him at all.

Piper is a struggling real estate agent, while Aiden is selling multi-million dollar homes.
They get stuck co-selling a house and their frustrating past better not get in the way because Piper needs the extra commission.

HGVT meets Rom Com in this cute, quick read. I loved the real estate storyline and enjoyed the emotional ups and downs of listing a house.

Piper’s thoughts go spiraling at times- as in many relationships. I liked this element to the reading and thought it was a very honest approach to the romance. Piper and Aiden go from enemies to lovers after a slow burn. But then it skyrockets so fast, I didn’t realize the book was over. I had to re-read the last few pages because I didn’t realize it was the ending. I do wish there was a little more flirtatiousness before the quick shift.

Overall, a fun read with a creative story premise. If you love house selling shows, this is an enjoyable read.
Thank you NetGalley and Invisible Strings Press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Releases on April 30, 2024.

this definitely wasn't my favorite. i feel like a lot of important things were overlooked and the ending was pretty abrupt. it also lacked a lot of banter that an enemies to lovers book typically has.

thank you to netgalley and invisible string press for the arc copy!

Piper is a real estate agent who lives in Vancouver with her sister,  Leighton. Piper is showing yet another house to her client when her ex friend, Aiden, also shows up to do the same. Due to circumstances of Pipers creating, she now has to co-list a life changing house with Aiden and things start heating up. “I’m irritated that my body is responding to him, like it doesn’t care that he’s the last person on earth I should be attracted to.”

…and that's when you knew Piper was in trouble.

The story has a lot of Piper finding herself: learning to trust, and feel comfortable with herself in her own body.

Overall, it's a fun “enemies” (at least in Piper’s mind) to lovers romance and an interesting dynamic adding in the real estate aspect.

this wasn’t my favorite. it was very prose heavy and light on the dialogue (i’m a banter girlie). i feel like they just kinda skipped over the fact that she survived cancer??

I am very new to NetGalley. This is one of the first few books that looked appealing to me. The cover was ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and cute to me. It made me want interested in the book. I felt like it was enemies to Lovers type of story line. I love those kinds of romance books. I feel like it will be appealing other booklovers like myself.

Piper Anderson is at the heart of the story, a determined real estate agent whose ambition knows no bounds. Her journey to secure the biggest listing of her career sets the stage for a clash with the formidable Aiden Miller, her former rival turned co-listing partner. The tension between Piper and Aiden crackles with intensity, fueled by past grievances and professional rivalry.

This book was really fun! I enjoyed reading about real estate because that’s interesting to me, the characters were charming, the romance was sweet, the setting was fun. Everything we love about romance. The only thing I didn’t enjoy, and this is very much a me thing, is the health issues. I like to read romance to escape real life so I hate reading about people having cancer etc because it BUMS ME OUT but I understand why those topics are touched on as well. Again, just my personal preference!

I absolutely DEVOURED this book. Finished it in less than 24 hours and I cant wait to read more from this author. The characters were endearing and fleshed out. While the plot was predictable, I still enjoyed the ride. Thank you so much NetGalley and the publishing company for this ARC!

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Invisible String Press for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Real Deal releases April 30, 2024

Piper is a struggling real estate agent making a comeback in her career after being derailed by a health issue. (Trigger warning: mentions of cancer diagnosis and emotional healing after treatment) Aiden is a high rolling real estate agent who works for the family business. Together, they are tasked with selling a multi-million dollar home for a very wealthy couple.

This book was a fun read. It honestly felt like I was watching an HGTV show, in the best sense. It was oftentimes like a warm hug, comforting but engaging. Amelia Hall is an interesting writer who came up with an intriguing premise for an enemies to lovers romance, one which I hadn't seen before. The back and forth and slow burn kept me interested, and I really resonated with the main charecter when she would "spiral" in her emotions as she called it and worried about things in her life and relationship.

Piper and Aidan's relationship in the end feels a little rushed. She spends much of the book angry at him for previous actions in his career that ended up costing her, but they came together very suddenly when they ended up communicating about their feelings. This book mentions intimacy, but just touches the surface, which makes this a good read for people who prefer low to no spice in their reads.

The ending to this book was very abrupt. I was actually surprised when I read the last few pages, because I wasn't expecting such a sudden ending. There was a conclusion to the drama from the book and obvious resolution between the characters, but after the slow burn, I guess I didn't expect such a fast ending.

Overall, this was a fun, peppy read with an interesting and unique story. Common tropes like enemies to lovers are present, but not overdone due to the nature and novelty of the story itself.

Piper is comiing back from an illness and really needs to catch a break at her job. It has been far too long since she has sold a house and had money coming in, and after her sister dropped everything to help her out when she was sick, she needs to do this for them. When a deal comes along that would make her career, the one downside is that she would have to co-list with the one person she can't stand. Aiden. He is back in her life after two years and she can't let herself fall for his charms again even if he seems to be genuinely happy she is around.
Two years ago she let her guard down and Aiden swooped in and stole a client from her, never again. With the two of them vying for being the one to bring in the buyer for this multi-million dollar property, the lines start to blur and she can feel herself falling again.
I wished that there would have been a little more enemies to lovers vibe here. I got that she was hurt and harbored a lot of feelings about what he did, but I didn't feel the tension there. Aiden was so sweet and genuinely liked her and wanted to help her but she couldn't see past what happened before.
This was a cute romance that was light even though it was heavy topics at some points. (TW-the main character is in remission from cancer the previous year and was worried about it coming back.) The end was resolved a little too quickly for me as well and I wanted a lot more from it. The tagline of the book being like "The Hating Game", threw me off because it didn't feel like that book and that is what I was expecting.
Thanks to Invisible String Press, Amelia Hall and Netgalley for an early copy.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Invisible String Press for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Real Deal releases April 30, 2024

Piper is a real estate agent in Vancouver and just lost a bidding war to a developer who was represented by another agent whom she has a murky history with.
As part of her revenge, she tries to poach this agent’s client, but what ends up happening instead, is them being co-listed on a multi-million dollar listing.

I love real estate, and I especially loved the Vancouver setting! Reading all of the niche locations was a joy — from Commercial Drive, to Coal Harbour, False Creek, Kits beach, Yaletown, West end, etc.
However, I found that this was pretty unconvincing as a romance novel.
It was clear that Aiden was trying to throw out very subtle hints that he was interested, but it was overshadowed by how heavily Piper’s two-year grudge was against him for previously poaching one of her clients.
For a romance, I really needed more communication between the two leads; I felt like I knew Piper’s sister more than the love interest, and majority of the book was spent having the female lead dating an entirely different character…
Piper and Aiden go from 0-100 in terms of having little to no flirtatious banter, to then having sex multiple times a day. There was a big lack of chemistry and believability, and I felt very distanced from the characters as a whole.
I think having Aiden’s pov to better understand him would have really helped.

cw: a prominent theme of overcoming cancer

I am a little mixed on this story. I do like an enemies to lovers type story but this was only the one enemy. It was all Piper who hated Aiden. Aiden came back a new man and truly wanted to start fresh. Piper couldn't get over the past. And she kept referring to it over and over. That was my number one bother in this story, she really couldn't let anything go. I could understand where she was coming from at some points but then at others I kept thinking, let it go, let it go. Her friend Tyler seemed to be the reasonable one. I was glad that she was able to listen to him at times. Aiden came back a wonderful guy. He really cared about Piper and it showed. He was really trying to gain Piper's trust back. I am glad they got their happy ending, I do think they both deserved it.