I really loved this book! One of the cutest reads. After this read i cannot wait to read more of Amy Buchanan in the future. Will definitely recommend!

Let’s Call A Truce by Amy Buchanan is an office romance and the story of Juliana and Ben.
 
Juliana recently became a widow and she’s now a single mother and being strong for her daughters. I really liked how this book dealt with grief and finding happiness again after a loss and it showed these emotions very real and raw. Juliana is such a lovely person who you want to have as a friend and she’s very inspiring. She gets a new job at an office and immediately clashes with Ben.
 
Ben is an architect, and he loves his work and is very popular in the office. The only one who withstands his charms is Juliana and he wants to find out why and always initiates some interactions. And their banter is absolutely amazing and they’re truly office nemesis. I really liked how Ben falls first and wants to win Juliana over.
 
The story spans over several years and can be seen as a second chance romance and only when they must work together on a project, they slowly turn their hate to love. Juliana deserves all the happiness and I really liked how Ben fit in effortlessly. They are so cute together and at the same time it’s bittersweet and I felt so many emotions while reading this book and it gets perfectly brightened up with heartfelt and spicy scenes.
 
Let’s Call A Truce is so much more than just an office romance and I loved the depth this story had and I just adore Juliana and Ben together. 4,5 stars.
 
(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.)

There are a lot of great things in this book that feel very relatable for readers, especially the FMC’s situation. I do love the workplace romance as well, so this hooked me in fairly quickly.

Let's Call a Truce was easily a 5-star read for me! Amy Buchanan beautifully crafted a story that was both quick to devour and rich in emotional depth, capturing my heart from start to finish.

What stood out most for me was the authentic portrayal of the main characters, Juliana and Ben. There were moments where I found myself annoyed with their decisions—but in the best possible way. Their choices, driven by complicated emotions and the responsibilities that come with having children, felt incredibly real. Buchanan expertly illustrated how emotions and the complexities of parenting often lead us to decisions that might not seem perfect at first glance, but are deeply human and relatable.

The banter between Juliana and Ben was a definite highlight. Watching their relationship transition seamlessly from feuding coworkers to romantic partners was delightful. Buchanan captured their evolving dynamic beautifully, keeping the humor and charm alive throughout their journey. Another element I adored was how seamlessly Ben and Juliana embraced each other's children, making them feel seen, valued, and loved, even as they navigated their relationship privately.

The friendships and community dynamics added another layer of warmth to the story. Juliana’s support system provided both comfort and occasional forced proximity, especially since her community overlapped with Ben’s. This setup created enjoyable and humorous interactions, enhancing the book's charm.

Overall, Let's Call a Truce is a perfect blend of emotional depth, lovable characters, and engaging banter. I highly recommend this heartfelt romance to anyone seeking a meaningful yet thoroughly enjoyable read.

Let's Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan is an enemies-to=lovers/workplace romantic comedy. I will admit that enemies-to-lovers is not usually one of my favorite romance tropes, but the animosity between the two main characters is actually really well plotted and explained. The workplace as the setting is integral to the storyline, which had some really interesting plot points, especially later in the story in reference to the divide between faculty and staff in higher education settings.

The widowed mother angle was also really well written, especially in relation to her struggles as a grieving single parent. I felt the FMC's emotional roller-coaster was possibly a bit overdone, but overall I really enjoyed the plot and characters, especially the female friendships.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this e-galley.

DNF’d at 35 percent. I don’t buy the reason for the fighting. It seemed really one-sided and dramatic?

I didn’t feel the tension or care enough about the characters.

This book is everything!!!! I absolutely loved Juliana and Ben, their relationship arc, their character growth, their story itself. Everything about this book was incredible. I was hooked from page one and finished within twenty-four hours because I could not put this one down.

This one is enemies to lovers, yearning, he falls first, with real grief and communication.

*Minor spoiler* This one does have a third act breakup but it didn't feel pointless at all, it was two people working through their emotions and the needs of their children, which felt especially important.

I just really loved everything about this book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book! One of the cutest reads, and i cant believe i forgot to leave feedback when i read it a few months ago. Wonderful read and i cannot wait to read more of Amy Buchanan in the future

I enjoyed the friendships in the story more than I enjoyed the romance. Juliana loses her husband unexpectedly and has to return to the workforce, leaving her to balance single parenthood, grief, and feeling unsure of herself. She meets Ben at work, kicking off a two-year feud, entering into the enemies-to-lovers trope.

I struggled with both Juliana’s and Ben’s behavior at work. They acted like two seven-year-olds on the playground being mean to each other to cover up the “like,” which I guess was the point. I enjoyed Juliana’s circle of friends and how they helped out. Ben ends up more likable as the story goes on. Both main characters do some idiotic things that make me question their ability to adult.
The book had cute moments and some humor and ended with a HEA.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin, and Amy Buchanan for the eARC.

Enemies to lovers trope is one of my favorites!!! What a great debut! Lots of fun banter, a little steam and a lot of fun!!!

The plot: After Juliana’s husband dies unexpectedly, she heads back to work to support her two kids. When she hears her new colleague Ben saying her status as a single parent is going to impact her work performance, it sets off a feud between them. Two years later, the pair has to work on a project together, and Juliana realizes that Ben may understand her more than she first gave him credit for.

This was such a delightful read. It has a classic enemies-to-lovers, workplace rivals set-up but feels fresh thanks to the focus on Juliana’s grief after her husband passes and her complex emotions about falling in love again. I haven’t read many single parent romances, but this one was incredibly thoughtful; Juliana’s emotions were so clear to me, her daughters were adorable but realistic, and Ben is a very, very swoony MMC (emotionally and physically 🔥).

TL;DR is that this has what I always crave in a romance: a balance between sexy romcom fun and real, complex topics full of emotional depth.

Loved the banter between Juliana and Ben in this book! It was so much fun. I enjoyed the whole book. This was a great debut for this author and can't wait to see more from her!

Let’s Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan
Genre: contemporary romance
Format: eARC and ALC
Rating: no rating due to DNF

I wanted to like this, but the “enemies” component got to be too much for me. The FMC’s and MMC’s behavior was immature for any setting, but especially at work?! I just couldn’t see past it, sadly. Maybe workplace rivals to lovers just isn’t my cup of tea?

Read this one if you’re looking for:
- Enemies to lovers
- Workplace romance
- Single mother FMC

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers copy of Let's Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan!

The beginning of this book - the live action panic attack? I immediately felt seen, as I too, struggle with panic attacks. It was real, it was descriptive, and what a way to start a book! I figured from that point on I would be hooked and absolutely love the book - and I did, somewhat.

Juliana and Ben have such an adorable first time meeting... but then it just kind of falls apart, and slowly you can see the development of the two of them becoming more enemies than anything else in the workplace. Ben says some toxic things (that get explained later on, but initial thoughts on him were "eww, how could he?") and Juliana of course, takes it to heart and holds a grudge because at the end of the day - her return to the workplace was rather abrupt for her following the sudden loss of her spouse. Juliana is trying to navigate working again (returning to the workplace after motherhood is already a lot - but after grief? wow!), being a single mom to 2 precious little girls, and just really trying to find her place once more. The navigation of grief, the sudden moments of when it just hits - felt very real and were so well written. How she navigated grief with her children also felt really good and realistic.

Ben is a single father (though that is sprung on the reader, AND Juliana), and he's just trying to do the best that he can with his daughter as well. He doesn't get things right with Juliana and they've got such a feud - but goodness does this man actually wear his heart on his sleeve. The slow burn and tension are rather intense and it just builds and builds until it (finally) erupts and it's pretty damn cute.

The ending is where this book lost me, however. I hated how a woman's strength was shown - fierce independence, determination, etc... and then because of a man it's all gone. I really disliked the ending - I know in romance you expect a HEA but sometimes the woman herself needs to be the happy ever after. Big gestures could have been made (beyond just words), and things could have been done to make it more romance but still stay true to the characters. To be honest, the ending kind of broke my heart, so much strength and self-work and then it's all just abrupt and she didn't put herself first. I think I am going to feel the let down from this book for quite awhile - it was beautifully written, and I enjoyed the representation of grief and anxiety, and the tension, but it just needed more at the end.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Amy Buchanan, and St. Martin's Press for my e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a solid debut!

Workplace romance, rivals to lovers and two single parents looking for a second chance at love - seems like a lot of tropes but they all worked percectly together. I also enjoyed that the FMC was returning to the workforce after being a stay at home mom which I found unique in a romance. The elements of grief as a widow and parent to grieving children brought emotional parts, yet not overly heavy.

The steamy parts were a bit cringy for me but maybe because I listened to it. The audio otherwise was great!

Juliana's husband dies unexpectedly, leaving her to raise their two daughters; she returns to work in a Human Resources role and meets Ben, who crushes her dreams on the first day by insulting the fact that she's a working mom and implying that she's an inexperienced liability. The two never hash it out, but instead hate each other for a solid two years, sparring in the office. This despite the fact that they weirdly share a best friend, Asia, who is another colleague at their firm.

Eventually Ben and Juliana, of course, must work together on an inclusion initiative at their firm (hence the timely part - DEI haters, go away). If they want to succeed in their careers, they are going to have to suck it up and get along. Juliana has always found Ben attractive (what's more sexy than a man who insults you?), so she suddenly can't focus on her work.

What I liked: I always enjoy books set in a corporate setting; I work in one, so it's nice to see my own life in a book sometimes. Juliana has a wonderful support system in her boss, which is lovely to see. The parts about inclusion were great too. The story did a good job of exploring Juliana's grief, her struggles with single motherhood and trying to support her family after her husband's death, and her attempts to move on, both as a parent and romantically. And, the kids! I am a sucker for books with cute kids.

What I didn't like: Not much happens? The book focuses so much on Ben and Juliana hating each other to the detriment of forward progress in other areas. We get it. They both despised one another while secret sparks existed. Please move forward. And while this anger fermented, instead of driving up the chemistry, it didn't draw me to them as a couple. Their reasons to stay apart felt forced; she avoided him for TWO years due to one outburst, and Ben, oh Ben, he needed to toughen up in his own life and make some freaking decisions.

The second half of this book was definitely better than the first, so it ends on a high note. It's a cute and fun read albeit frustrating at times.

This book was so fun!!

I’ve never read a book with this kind of premise with a widowed wife and a single dad who work in the same office. So many tropes that work well together.

Juliana is a recently widowed mom who starts a new job in an office at the beginning of the story. She has been tough on herself as she tries to balance being a single mom and boss lady. She has an unpleasant first meeting with Ben, the man who resembles a higher up with his position in the office.

Two years later, they’re still at each others throat but then they are enlisted for a project together and sparks fly between them.

I really loved how comfortable Ben and Juliana were together and how at ease Juliana was with him too. Their sexual chemistry and also overall chemistry as individuals and together is off the charts.

A workplace romance with a working parents angle. The love story between Juliana and Ben was predictable in all the best ways. But some of the ways they were awful to each other in the will they won’t they part of the story put me off a bit.

4.5 stars rounded up - what a stunning debut by Amy Buchanan!

Let's call a Truce was sweet and sexy, with modern themes (perhaps even hitting a little too close to home in today's climate) and mature characters. I found this book to be so refreshing in its commitment to older main characters who have lived experience (and who have lived through tragedy and navigatedcrippling grief in Juliana's case).

Additionally, as someone who is part of a blended family, I also thought Buchanan wrote the children's storylines--and how their needs feature into Juliana and Ben's relationship--with such care and heart. They were always first in the FMC and MMCs minds, which felt incredibly authentic and because of this, as a reader, I couldn't help but cheer for the couple at the center of this story.

Here's what you can expect from Let's Call a Truce:
- Workplace romance
- "Enemies" to lovers
- Found family
- Navigating grief and loss
- Forced proximity
- A third-act breakup

Speaking of that third act breakup - it might be the most painful one I've ever read. So, in some ways, I didn't like that part AT ALL - but I also acknowledge that means that this book represents fantastic storytelling to get me so emotionally invested in this fictional relationship. Truth be told, I could not believe how Ben handled this third-act breakup - and after we'd spent most of the novel in awe of his maturity and quiet confidence. Ben - we ALL trusted you with her heart!

But, at the end of the day, the fact that I was so mad at Ben just goes to show how well-written this couples' storyline was. Bravo!

As ever, thank you to SMP Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.