Overall, I liked the story, but there were a few things got on my nerves too much to rate it higher.

It’s an enemies-to-lovers, but everything hinges on this one thing Ben said years ago, and I really thought he would have had a better reason for his criticism of Juliana. I didn’t like his justification, and I didn’t like the “plot twist” that was revealed at the same time. It felt very disconnected from the beginning of the book, and it was like it was added just for extra drama. The two main characters also share a best friend, and I know she said multiple time that she didn’t want to get between them, but I feel like she still could have provided a bit more info. How did she really leave her two best friends have a TWO-YEAR feud over a dumb comment is crazy to me. So much could have been avoided with a little communication.

The chemistry between Ben and Juliana was really good and I enjoyed them once they became a couple. They worked well together and we very patient with each other. The feud did bring good tension and banter between them, I would have just liked a better reason for it, or maybe even just a shorter timeline.

The third act breakup was actually painful to read. Hated that one with passion. I’m not a big fan of third act breakup in general, but they can be done well. This one? Bad bad. I can’t go in details into it because it’s full of spoilers, but wtf Ben? It was so dramatic, and for what? The book really took a tumble from that point on, and stars started dropping in my head. I had to take a weeklong break to finish it. I was seriously mad at it.

Read for:
Enemies-to-lovers
Workplace romance
Single parent
Forced proximity

Rating: 3/5 stars

Let’s Call a Truce had so much potential, but the ending ultimately ruined it for me. I’m not alone in this opinion—two of my best friends, who don’t always align with my feedback, felt the same way about the conclusion.

On the positive side, this book nailed the workplace rivals/enemies-to-lovers trope between two single parents. The chemistry between the main characters sparked right from their meet-disaster and carried through years of tension, banter, and that electric first kiss. It gave me everything I felt was missing from The Hating Game (which, for the record, I despise).

Juliana was a standout—raw, real, and still reeling from her grief. Her friends weren’t afraid to call her out when needed, and I appreciated how the romance was portrayed as messy and imperfect, just like real life.

Unfortunately, the entire third act was a letdown. Ben’s ex-wife, who had divorced him and relinquished her parental rights, reappears out of nowhere to wreak havoc in a way that felt contrived and unnecessarily drawn out. The fallout lacked resolution, leaving too much emotional wreckage unaddressed. The whole situation was uncomfortable to read, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was handled poorly.

Adding to the frustration, we never got Ben’s POV, which might have salvaged some of the book’s shortcomings. Without it, his character felt incomplete, and the story missed a key layer of depth.

While I loved the early parts of Let’s Call a Truce, the ending derailed my overall enjoyment.

<i>Let's call a truce</i> does an amazing job of showcasing how bloody hard it is out there for a single working mom.

That being said, I really had a hard time liking the MMC. I never got the feeling that the main characters felt emotionally safe or trusted each other, even as late as the last couple of chapters.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for the eARC, all opinions my own!

This book was an easy quick read. It had me hooked from start to finish… but I really struggled with the FMC. Def one of my least favs, at first her bickering was annoying but then I felt like she completely lost her backbone in the end

Huge thanks to Amy Buchanan and her team for letting me be a part of the traveling ARC for this book, as well as Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for gifting me an audio ARC in exchange for a review!

If there’s one thing I love, it’s a rivals to lovers romance that feels believable - they genuinely do not get along, but there is always an undercurrent of want. 🤌🏻

Amy Buchanan NAILED that energy with Julianna and Ben. From their office meet cute to their misunderstanding to their dynamic of “will they kill each other or will they bang on a desk?”, through the blossoming of their friendship and love, these characters felt real.

I loved seeing Julianna come into her own, as a recent widow returning to the workforce after years of being a stay at home mom and in her own skin. She fights for others to treat her with respect, and when shit hit the fan, she protected herself and her girls. Huge props to her.

Ben. Oh dear, sweet Ben. I really enjoyed his character, and seeing him morph from an unredeemable asshole into a loving partner, albeit one who makes the wrong choices (but for understandable reasons) was heartwarming.

One aspect of this book that has had me reread it twice already is that the third act miscommunication/breakup felt so adult and complex and REALISTIC. Both characters made mistakes, but they did so while trying to put their kids first. Nothing was explosive and overly dramatic, and I loved it so much more because of it!

I cannot wait for this book to release so you can all fall in love with Julianna and Ben. I highly recommend this read if you like:
📚 Rivals to lovers
📚 Workplace romance
📚 Single parents
📚 Family meddling
📚 He falls first

This was an enjoyable book to get lost in. I liked reading an authentic portrayal of a mom's grief after her husband dies. Buchanan crafted interesting characters, and I was captivated from the beginning. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Needs polishing all around. Great premise, but the struggle of the enemies to lovers trope comes easily if a) the pacing of the relationship's development is off and b) if the main characters aren't emotionally intelligent enough to convincingly (even if it's false!) justify their "enemies" status. This book fell prey to both, and so completely fell apart. On page 67, of 300 pages, the FMC is already acting on her physical attraction to the MMC, and is therefore immaturely allowing a comment he made 2 years prior to justify her treatment of him for 30% of the book. I would've been able to let this slide honestly, especially if he was being rude to her too! But he was legitimately nothing but professional, if not a bit arrogant, and never outright rude like she was to him. So her mean comments that she was convinced were "wit". coupled with her self-pity...Julianna was not a favorable character to follow or root for. Even though I did empathize with her situation. Kids or no, I would've wanted her to be more mature and take more accountability in the first half of this book.

Which brings me to pace. I won't harp on this, but the pacing was extremely telling. Like I said, for the "enemies" trope to fall apart before page 75 of the book, and for their relationship to be developing strongly on page 148...what are we doing for the other 150 pages? And what was truly the issue standing in the way of their relationship for this long? I can't imagine there is enough plot, or relationship drama that feasibly and satisfactorily fills these pages and answers these questions.

I love that this is a debut author, but wish I didn't have to be so critical. Hopefully she continues to write and improve, and I can eat my words of this review with one of her future novels.

Wow, I loved this book. Amy Buchanan has really knocked it out of the park with her debut novel. I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. This is a workplace rivals-to-lovers single dad/single mom romance with some really funny parts where I laughed out loud. I loved Juliana and Ben, their families and friends. I felt like I was in a bit of a reading slump and this book got me out of it. Thank you to Amy Buchanan, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this book early!

DNF. I can’t give much feedback because I DNF quickly, but within the first chapter I just could tell I wasn’t jiving with the writing voice. I’m picky with romance and I didn’t love how much telling vs showing there was.

This book deserves all the stars, and it's very rude of Goodreads to not have an option for more than 5 stars.

I cannot express how much I love this book. The characters are absolutely amazing. Both the fmc and mmc have amazing development and a phenomenal relationship together. They lean on each other and are just so perfect together. This is a dislike to love romance, and the reason was simply perfect in that it made sense why they hated each other while still being something they can overcome. Additionally, this is a single parent romance, and the kids are actually present in the book! Sometimes with single parents the kids are pushed to the side, so I was very happy to see them active throughout the entire book.

The romance is simply indescribable, but I will do my best. Juliana and Ben are perfect together. They balance each other out so well, and their banter doesn't stop just because they're in a relationship. Additionally, I have not read a better grand gesture than in this book. The epilogue was also amazing, which just makes me so happy. I don't normally cry when reading, but I did tear up at a couple different points—a big deal for me.

I'm stopping the review here because I don't trust myself to not spoil the entire plot accidentally. In my defense, I just love this book so much. Amy Buchanan, you will have a place of honor on my bookshelves when I finally get my hands on a copy of this book.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

There are so many workplace enemies to lovers romances, but this debut novel by Amy Buchanan stood out to me because of the different layers that the characters brought to the story. Juliana has spent the past few years at home raising her daughters; however, now that her husband has unexpectedly passed, she is returning to work and feeling a bit overwhelmed about it. Knowing that she will have a difficult time balancing work and home and a single parent, she is concerned about how the office will perceive her, and her fears come to fruition on day one when an emergency comes up and she needs to leave work early. Everyone is understanding except for one person - Ben, who makes a snarky comment about whether or not Juliana is up for the job if she can't handle this balance at the outset.

This interaction between Juliana and Ben shapes their professional relationship for the next two years as the two constantly snipe at one another. As they start to hang out more socially, the tension between the two turns from frustration to passion leaving Juliana to wonder if she is ready to take a step in to a relationship, especially with a man who didn't seem to respect her responsibilities as as mother. Just when their professional and personal worlds seem to be meshing, a blast from the past appears and wrecks havoc on the stability that Juliana craves.

This felt like a really authentic look at how single parents might approach relationships after loss or divorce. Sometimes the hurdles that characters face in a book feel unnatural, but that didn't seem the case to me in this one. Looking forward to seeing what else Buchanan brings in future books! Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

This is a fun romance that's full of steam and sexy banter and love and parenting and is so sweet! I'll admit that I didn't quite understand the animosity between the love interests in the beginning, and it didn't really seem realistic for those two to hate each other for two years without having a conversation or Juliana learning that Ben was a single dad, but it did make for great tension and chemistry. Once I got into the swing of the story, I ripped through the rest of the pages.

Let's Call It a Truce by Amy Buchanan is an emotionally rich and compelling story, with deep, nuanced characters that pull you in from the start. The book explores the lives of Ben and Juliana, who both face their own personal struggles. Juliana is a widow and a single mother, trying to find balance as she returns to work while navigating the complexities of grief. Ben, on the other hand, grapples with his own past mistakes and personal challenges. The emotional depth in their experiences is one of the book's strongest points, making the characters feel real and relatable.

However, my one critique is the pacing of their relationship. It felt like it took a bit too long for them to work through their issues and truly connect. Additionally, while Ben is held accountable for a past mistake, Juliana’s actions aren’t always scrutinized as much, and at times, I felt her lack of consideration for others was overlooked.

That being said, the ending was very satisfying. Everything comes together beautifully, and the resolution feels earned. Despite the slower pacing in their relationship, the journey is ultimately worth it.

Overall, I highly recommend Let's Call It a Truce for readers who enjoy emotional, character-driven stories. I give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the ebook arc. Workplace enemies to lovers after the death of her husband she tries her best to do her best to provide for both her daughters and while struggling to make everything work and to be on time. After having a heated night with her workplace bully she discovers that his wife walked out on him and their daughter. They slowly fall for each other.


🔹enemies to lovers
🔹single mom
🔹workplace romance
🔹he falls first

There aren't nearly enough books about widowed moms figuring out their romantic lives! I happily welcome Let's Call a Truce into Romancelandia. Juliana is a single mom with some years' distance from her husband's death, but the effect of it is still a dark cloud over her. I loved how realistic her experiences felt. Grief is a very long road and it's not easy. When you have two kids, romance is going to look different. There are no one-step solutions and you have so much more to consider than just your own heart. She's beautifully written, and I understood her reluctance to jump into any relationship. Ben is a fun love interest, with his own problems to resolve, which I enjoyed. Sometimes the romantic interest is ready-made perfect, and he's not. He has his own complicated family history and there are hiccups he encounters as well. I still adored him and immediately recognized the flirting. Enemies to lovers is not the easiest trope, but this romance has a lot of fun with it.


Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

This enemies-to-lovers workplace romance is emotional, sweet, spicy, and is guaranteed to give you all the feels. 💕 I thought the way the book handled grief, past love, parenthood—and a scorching new romance 🥵—was absolutely beautiful, and had me laughing and tearing up throughout. Juliana is a dedicated, fierce, relatable, and funny heroine— it was such a delight to live inside her head while reading this book.

What a fun romp of a book. It was charming, angsty and HORNY! Just a few of my favorite things. I especially really appreciated Juliana’s character growth. And how it was a different sense of country family, especially for Paris. Really enjoyed this!!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

2.75 stars

A tried and true trope with a less than exciting MMC.

Office romances are always enjoyable for me, especially when you throw in some animosity, but I was never really able to get behind the MMC, Ben. Their relationship starts off on the wrong foot because of something that Ben says that Juliana, the FMC, overhears. Imo, it was a pretty horrible thing to say, and we don't really get any explanation or closure on that until way later in the book, so I was already luke warm on him. Unlike a lot of FMC's lately, I don't have the ability to see past a potentially really negative quality in a guy just because he's attractive.

There are some great scenes with them and Ben does have some positive qualities. But then comes the third act break up and I DID NOT ENJOY IT. I get that the situation was complicated, but I don't think Ben handled it appropriately AT ALL. And subsequently, there was not enough groveling.

I liked Juliana's character. She was going through a hard time after her husband's death but she is still doing a great job with her daughters and also works hard at her job. I just think she deserved way more from Ben. He knew what her situation was and kept telling her he would be patient, but then he would get pissed at her for being scared.

So yeah, I wasn't super excited with this one 😣

Recently widowed, single mom Juliana is struggling to balance all the things while grieving. On her first day back at work she overhears her handsome coworker, Ben, expressing his doubt in her. When she calls him out on it the result is a 2 year long office feud until Juliana suddenly isn’t sure she hates Ben afterall.

🩷Read for:
-hilarious banter
-relatable mom guilt scenarios
-an amazing friend group for Juliana
-single dad trope
-enemies to more trope
-the cutest kids

CW: spousal death, panic attacks, parental abandonment, spice (but skippable if it’s not your thing)

When widow Juliana returns to the workforce she immediately butts heads with grumpy co-worker Ben. Two years later, their feud is still going strong until they decide to call a truce.

This was a cute romcom. It has a great enemies to lovers plot. The tension between Juliana and Ben was amazing and everything you expect from workplace enemies to lovers. They are constantly being forced together at work and in life which only adds to that tension. Their relationship develops so well and you are really rooting for them the entire time. I loved the kids in this as well. They add depth to the story. And who doesn't love a single parent love story? There is also some good spice in this!
There was one storyline that did bother me at about 3/4 of the way through the story which knocked down my rating just a bit. I wanted to understand where Ben was coming from, but I found it really hard.


All in all, a good enemies to lovers romance with a dash of spice.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!