Who can resist the allure of a steamy workplace romance, especially when it’s brimming with enemies-to-lovers, second chances, and forced proximity, all spiced up with sharp, entertaining banter? Juliana and Ben’s story begins with a classic "meet cute" at work, but their budding connection quickly sours when Juliana overhears Ben making a hurtful remark about her ability to return to work after a long break for motherhood. Unable to forgive his unjust words—especially after the tragic loss of her daughters' father—Juliana is determined to make his life at work difficult. The enemies-to-lovers dynamic and the steamy office romance certainly hooked me, making Juliana and Ben’s second-chance story engrossing. However, the last third of the book took a melodramatic turn. Ben, who initially seemed patient, honest, and committed—despite his hurtful comment—left me feeling let down by the conclusion. The introduction of a somewhat unnecessary love-triangle subplot felt overdone, and Juliana’s stubbornness and impulsive reactions only added to the drama in a way that felt forced.

An absolute gem! I’m in love.

Juliana stole my heart—she’s a powerhouse of a mom just trying to make it through, and my sympathy for her is through the roof. Aside from being a brilliant single mother, she’s also incredibly funny! And Ben? WOW. Swoonworthy doesn’t even begin to cover it. This man is pure, unapologetic manliness. Mix these two together, and BOY are they a sight to behold. The chemistry had me squealing.

The dynamic of found family is everything—plus, the banter between Juliana and Ben? I was cackling out loud at their witty comebacks! It’s the best part of the book, hands down, and I’m not complaining! Sure, at times the romance leaned more towards lust than love, but I got past that because the story’s charm more than made up for it. It’s funny, heartfelt, and has just the right amount of spice. I adore this read!

4.5 ★

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾!

Let’s Call a Truce has Juliana Ryan returning to work after her husband unexpectedly dies. She has a degree in HR and is able through a friend to get a job in her field. I did appreciate that it takes a quick two year time jump so there is time for her to adjust to being a working mom with two youngish daughters. The first half of the book is very much an office romance, enemies to lovers vibes. Ben Thomas, an executive for the company clashes with Juliana from the first after she hears him make unkind comments about how he shouldn’t have to adjust for her and her situation. She’ll treat him professionally with maybe a few pranks here and there. But she won’t go above and beyond for him.

As the title suggests they need to call a truce when they work on a pet project together that is especially important to the owner. That’s when she learns he is also a single father and not only that their daughters go to school together and are fast friends. I actually like getting them out of the office and including children in the storyline. I like the reality of the families being package deals and taking time to know each other’s kids. Didn’t love the third act issue as it was predictable. Overall an enjoyable read. (3.5 Stars)

Let's Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan is a contemporary workplace romance novel. It follows Juliana and Ben who have a rough start at their workplace leading to a lot of frustration between the characters. Now they have to work together on a project at work and that forced proximity turns into some pent-up feelings. When they finally resolve some of their initial annoyances from the past they are faced with the new issue of trusting to bring one another into their respective lives. I had a fun time with this one and I'll be looking out for future books by this author.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for a review!

While this book didn’t fully work for me, I have no doubt other readers may find it very enjoyable and I think this is definitely a promising debut. The writing itself was very good.

My issues with this were the characters and their behavior. I love a good enemies to lovers but I don’t like it when two co-workers are unprofessionally mean to each other. I just don’t understand how someone could have chemistry with a person they genuinely seem to hate.

Also, I didn’t connect with either character. Once again, this is a personal preference. I felt sympathy towards both of them for their tragic backstories but I didn’t like either of their behaviors towards others or each other throughout the book.

I will definitely tune in for this author’s next book, though. I think maybe this was just a one-off.

Give me a good enemies to lovers book😍! This book roped me in from the first chapter! Juliana trying to learn the ropes of being newly window and trying to get her dream position in the company she worked for. Oh Ben, the snarky, full of himself guy in the office who is too good looking for his own good! Him and Juliana’s battles that they have make you feel the sexual tension between them! I have to say the shock of Ben having a daughter was for sure a WHAT moment! But Juliana’s battle between should she try it with Ben or not is very understandable. This book moved so seamlessly and just kept me interested from the start! I do wish we would have seen more interaction between Ben and his ex Stephanie to see how he was acting towards her. But I definitely recommend this book to others!

This is a wonderful enemies to friends romance that involves workplace rivalry, comical chance encounters, and some fabulous steamy moments. I found I couldn’t put it down. A must have in your beach reading list.

This was such a great workplace romance. Juliana and Ben had so much heart and heat!! And I love the kids as well. Such a great debut and I can't wait for more from Amy!!

Let’s Call a Truce is Amy Buchanan’s debut romance. It’s a workplace romance featuring a widow and a career-minded single father, who have to decide if they want to take a second chance on love. The story takes place in Orlando, Florida, and contains some profanity and sex scenes.

33-year-old Juliana Ryan's life is turned upside down when her beloved husband, Jason is killed in a car accident. She has been a stay-at-home mom for the past seven years, since the birth of her daughter, Clara, and now has five-year-old Sophie, as well. Julianna previously worked in Human Resources and is re-hired by her old boss, Christina, although at a different firm. On her first day, Juliana clashes with a handsome manager, Ben Thomas, and they become workplace enemies.

Fast forward two years and Christina has been promoted, but she still considers Ben Thomas to be the enemy. She’s honest enough to admit that she’s secretly attracted to him, but he still infuriates her. When they are forced to work together on a project, Juliana has to call a truce. As they spend more time together in and out of the office, Juliana and Ben discover each other’s better sides. They argue less and kiss more, until
Ben’s ex shows up. Then Juliana has to decide if Ben is worth fighting for.

Let’s Call a Truce is an excellent workplace romance featuring realistic characters and business situations and authentic dialogue. There are some very hilarious scenes, wonderful dialogue, sizzling chemistry between Juliana, and Ben, and some angst. I highly recommend this story and look forward to more books from this talented author.

I received an advance review copy (ARC) from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I want to start by thanking the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed this book!

I love great banter and bickering and this one served that up in spades. The immediate attraction + instant rivalry of Juliana & Ben made for delightful sparring. Both characters have shadows of the past haunting them, creating complications. They have to open themselves up in order to find a way forward and I love the reality of that. This is probably one of the more realistic romances I’ve read. Love is rough, it is messy, it hurts, especially on the second time around. Both of these characters have had love and lost love which makes opening up extra hard. I loved the playfulness they were able to create as they found their common ground. The family relationships they created, the love for each others children and always putting the children first. This story was a heap of fun, with some lovely romantic elements.

This book was so precious and I was so pleasantly surprised. Using the word "precious" may be surprising with the amount of tension and banter in this book but Ben really brought the emotion! I will say, the conflict in the last half of the book was so frustrating, especially because it seemed to veer from Ben's character completely. However, the redemption was sweet and, overall, I found the book enjoyable.

I’m a total mood reader, and after finishing Toni Morrison’s Beloved (whew, what a masterpiece!), I was craving something light, fun, and carefree to balance things out. Enter Let’s Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan—a perfect choice!

Juliana and Ben are coworkers who absolutely cannot stand each other but, let’s be real, also cannot stay away from each other. 😉 After two years of bickering and side-eyeing, they finally agree to call a truce to tackle a work project. But once the truce kicks in, Juliana realizes keeping Ben at arm’s length isn’t so easy—especially when she starts seeing him in a way better (and way hotter) light.

Buchanan nailed this one! She didn’t drag out the enemies-to-lovers tension unnecessarily, gave us a delightful He Fell First (swoon!), and included banter, real-life issues, and actual adult communication. Can we just agree to retire the miscommunication trope already? Juliana’s inner conflict between her late husband and Ben was so touching—I even teared up a couple of times. And Ben? OMG, where do I find one? The spice was chef’s kiss. Well done, Buchanan!

This book was such a refreshing palette cleanser, and as a Tampa girl, I loved the Orlando setting—Florida love! If this is Buchanan’s debut, she’s absolutely one to watch. Strong 3 stars! It’s the kind of light, breezy read you can devour in a day, and it’s perfect for when you need a little joy in your TBR stack. 💕
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

✨ARC REVIEW✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

👠enemies to lovers
👠workplace romance
👠single parent
👠he falls first
👠second chance

I enjoyed a lot about this book until we hit the third act breakup. The sexual tension between Juliana and Ben was so evident long before they acknowledged it. Their supportive friends, especially Asia, really helped things come together. But the miscommunication and the absolute monstrosity that is the third act breakup took me out. You spent over half the book building up Ben and showing how he falls first and was so in to do that… nope it ruined it.

This story has a lot of promise but fell short. There Were times where the writing was repetitive and some of the spicy scenes seemed rushed with the build up. Over all it was okay but not something that will be super memorable.

I'm not going to lie, I read this over a month and a half ago, so the details aren't there, but I do remember the basic plot, what I liked and what I didn't. This is a debut novel for Amy Buchanan, and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

What didn’t work for me

The third act: It's been refreshing lately that I've been reading stories where the characters don't break up for a stupid reason at the end—they've been staying together and working through their issues (and often the issue isn't about their relationship at all), but I'm sorry to say that this isn't the case here. The reason they break up is absolutely ridiculous and I found it very frustrating to get past.

What I liked

The tropes: This is enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, office romance as well as mature people who've had lives and histories before they meet—and all of these are my faves. It reminds me a lot of The Hating Game, which is one of my favourites.

Spice level: This was an open-door story with some very sexy parts without being raunchy or over the top. Just perfect.

3.5 STARS

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

4.25/5 stars
2/5 spice

Tropes:
Enemies to lovers
Workplace romance
Tension and banter
Forced proximity
Single parents
Older MCs (late 30s)
Single POV

Although there were some frustrating moments I really appreciated the way the author handled the heavy topic of love after loss. I was frustrated with Ben a few times but because it's Single POV I don't get to full understanding why he did what he did. I really wished I could have had more insight on his internal dialogue. But I enjoyed Juliana's growth and healing journey.

I liked that the romance built up over a span of years because it gave Juliana more time to grieve and adjust before thinking of moving on our gaming in love again. I also loved that the characters were older. It's refreshing to see older characters learning to love again and get their HEA.

Overall, I liked the book and enjoyed the ups and downs despite some frustrating moments. I would recommend this to fans of enemies to lovers and workplace romance.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

Thank you St. Martins Press & Netgalley for the review copy.

3.5 rounded up. Things I liked:
Loved the friendships, both among the adults and the kids.
Excellent grief representation. It’s not linear and it’s wildly complicated.
Spice was spicin’
The grand gesture and epilogue were classic romance swoon. It almost redeems how frustrating the characters were — not only as people but in how they frequently treated each other.

Honest review time - This book was frustrating to read. The characters bothered me, and reading single POV meant we were stuck with a very unreliable narrator and a grudge that impacted their relationship for years without her being willing to hear him out. For someone who had gone through the unthinkable - losing her husband - you’d think she’d be able to offer some grace (call a truce??) or be open to hearing out folks instead of just icing out with childish pranks and office “wars.” With that said, if Amy’s able to elicit these feelings out of me in a debut, I can’t wait to see where her writing goes from here. If you like super flawed messy characters, with Hating Games vibes, this is for you.

An excellent debut full of so much heat and emotional depth! Starting over as a single mother has to be one of the hardest things in the world, and to do it with a coworker who is a judgmental hot jerk? The chemistry absolutely sizzles and Juliana deserved her second happily ever after!

Calling all enemies to lovers/second chance fans, this sparkling debut is for you!

When a recent widow must renter the workforce she finds the tension between her and her work rival turns into a different kind of tension as they are forced to work together on a project. This workplace setting and banter reminded me of The Hating Game at times