Book Review: Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam
⭐️⭐️⭐️½

I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This novel is a quick and engaging read, featuring some of my favorite tropes—forced proximity, second-chance romance, and enemies to lovers.

Andie, a newly appointed publicist, is assigned to manage Jack’s European book tour. Jack is a bestselling author, but he also happens to be someone from Andie’s past—someone she despises. Despite her personal history with him, Andie keeps this information from her company and convinces herself she can handle the job. She extends a truce to Jack, which he surprisingly accepts.

Supporting Andie throughout the story is Sara, her former roommate and confidante. Andie also grapples with unresolved grief following her father’s passing, something she has avoided confronting until Sara urges her to stop running from it. The novel delves into themes of coping with grief, reconciling with the past, and repairing strained family relationships—particularly with Andie’s mother, who still resides in England.

While Bad Publicity has a lot of strong elements, I felt some loose ends were left untied. A more conclusive ending, perhaps with an epilogue, could have made the story even more satisfying.

this cover is so deceiving!! from the description, u knew there’d be a grief DEPICTION but this book is entirely too heavy and fairly minimal on the romance that i’m dnf’ing halfway through. fair warning from the cover/marketing

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Enemies-to-lovers? Forced proximity? A European book tour with a hot, infuriating ex-nemesis? Yeah, I ate this up.

Andie just landed her dream job as a senior book publicist—only to find out her biggest client is Jack Carlson, the same Jack who single-handedly ruined her life in college. Now she has to spend a month traveling across Europe with him, promoting his book and resisting the urge to strangle him. (Or, you know, fall for him. Whichever happens first.)

This book is so fun—sharp banter, ridiculous tension, and just the right amount of pettiness. Andie is a walking disaster in the best way, Jack is exactly the kind of smug-but-secretly-soft love interest I adore, and their chemistry?? Painfully good. Add in some stunning European settings and a few unexpected emotional gut punches, and you’ve got the perfect vacation read.

Highly recommend if you love slow-burn romance, workplace drama, and main characters who would rather die than admit their feelings.

In "Bad Publicity," Bianca Gillam offers a lively and engaging exploration of the tumultuous world of book publishing through the eyes of Andie, a determined new publicist. Landing her dream job is overshadowed by the sudden reappearance of Jack Carlson, her former university nemesis, who now happens to be her biggest author. Their unresolved history adds an electric tension to the narrative, perfectly setting the stage for an engaging mix of romance and rivalry.

As Andie embarks on a month-long book tour across Europe with Jack, she finds herself in a whirlwind of conflicting feelings. Gillam adeptly crafts their interactions, blending humor and tension as Andie battles with her professional ambitions while fending off the complicated emotions tied to her past. The beautiful European backdrop enhances the storyline, providing a rich context for their rekindled connection amid picturesque landscapes and the exciting world of literature.

With witty dialogue and relatable characters, "Bad Publicity" is a delightful read that captures the intricate dance of love, ambition, and second chances. Gillam's narrative ultimately encourages readers to navigate their own pasts while embracing new opportunities, making this story a refreshing take on romance in the literary world.

I liked this book. It was a fine, fluffy romance, but it wasn't very memorable. I found the twist to be incredibly interesting and it would make a really good book on its own. I don't think it fit for this particular book, though.

Publicist Andie is taking on her most challenging job yet: traveling Europe for a month on a book tour with first time fiction author Jack. The only problem is Andie and Jack know each other from their college days in Edinburgh. Jack is the one person that Andie wishes she never had to see again, and now she is forced into close proximity for him for a month. She is a professional, however, and she can put her personal feelings aside for her job. Or can she?

Clearly, Bad Publicity is a typical enemies to lovers trope. It’s even billed as a “slow burn, enemies-to-lovers rom-com.” I found it to be lacking on the com and heavy on the enemies portion. Actually, it was more of a one sided loathing on Andie’s part since the story is told from her POV (except for one chapter.) I don’t mind a good enemies-to-lovers trope, but it’s very hard to root for the MC’s when their relationship is so acrimonious for a huge percentage of the book. We are never told WHAT Jack did back in college to earn her loathing until 80% of the book was complete. And we don’t get a happy resolution to the story until the very end of the last chapter.

Both characters throughout the story are dealing with their own issues: Jack with his relationship with his father plus what happened in college with Andie, and Andie with grief over the loss of her father shortly after the incident in college. I feel like so much could have been resolved so much earlier if people just actually communicated with each other! Over and over there was such a lack of communication happening with Andie, even with her best friend and her mother. You can only have so much miscommunication happen in a plot before it becomes almost laughable.

I don’t think I would have labeled this as a rom-com AT ALL. Not once did I laugh, and I absolutely love rom-coms. I wouldn’t even label it as a romance, since there was barely any romance at all in the plot. This is more of a general fiction or women’s fiction book as it deals with how the FMC handles trauma in her life, grief, and how her attempts at dealing with these matters impacts her life. Those parts were written with sensitivity and feeling. I really think the publisher should reconsider recategorizing this novel because to label it as a rom-com is misleading to readers.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️.5 because it just is not a rom-com at all. This is a book about grief and not love or second chance romance.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a romance book, but more than just an enemies to lovers story, it’s a love story about grief and loss. Bianca effortlessly intertwines Andie’s journey through the loss of her father with her complicated past with Jack through to the present as they embark on his book tour. Although the synopsis focuses solely on the relationship between Andie and Jack, I’d say 40% of this book is about Andie and her dad. I enjoyed this book and look forward to owning it! Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

The "enemies to lovers" premise of the book is strong, but there's of course a lot of backstory to Jack and Andie. The book starts off strong, but almost starts to lose the main purpose of the book, there was just too much going on...between grief with the father's passing, issues with Jack, emotional baggage with her mom, and then finally cracks in her friendship with Sara. By the time your more than halfway through the book, the reader is finally clued in to what happened all those years ago with Andie and Jack.
Overall, the story line is interesting, and it does it's job.

This book kept me hooked until the very end.

On the first day of her new job as a publicist, Andie finds out her first author client is Jack. The two have some serious unresolved history dating back to their days at university. Despite being stuck accompanying Jack on his book tour, Andie is determined to keep her job and be as civil as one can be to someone who supposedly ruined her life.

Readers are left wondering for a majority of the book what could be the cause of their hostile relationship, especially when Jack seems to be such a like-able character.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, although the story did seem rushed and hastily concluded. Many different themes of relationships, grief, love, and friendships were included, which might have contributed to the rushed ending.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy.

Andie just started her dream job at a big publishing firm when she’s assigned to a well-known author who is promoting his first novel after a string of nonfiction successes. Unfortunately for everyone involved, they not only knew each other in while they were in college, their relationship ended in less-than-ideal fashion. Now Andie finds herself on a European book tour with a man she’s doing her best to tolerate while she finally begins to unpack some of the emotional baggage that she’s carried for the last 5 years.

Friends, this one was not for me. I really liked the publishing industry and a good second chance romance. Jack was a decent character and I found him to be a relatable person that I felt empathy for. The pacing of this book was really strange, big jumps in the narrative and not explaining things that needed to be explained. There was a big build up on this enemies-to-lovers plot of wondering what had happened back in the uni days that made Andi hate Jack so much. Once this was revealed, and this was at least two thirds of the way through the book, it was very frustrating and a dumb thing. I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope when it could have been fixed with ONE conversation, but mostly this one fell flat for me specifically because I found the FMC to be so self-centered and unlikable.

Honestly there wasn't a lot of romance. The aspects of the book that dealt with grief and needing therapy were well done. This would be a good addition in a collection of "books that are heavy handed in wanting the reader to go to therapy."

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC. Book to be published May 20, 2025.

I usually enjoy a classic enemies-to-lovers story. However, I tried and just could not enjoy the main character, Andie, who I found to be whiny, negative and overall not likable. Her personality, plus her constant angry behavior, made it difficult to finish the book. She is just so NEGATIVE. Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for an advanced reader copy.

Andie is a publisist, and Jack her most recent author. Andie has been tasked with taking Jack along for a month long book tour. Andie and Jack have history they both are trying to forget. They have decided to call a truce and work together since Jack nows that Andie is good at her job and will make sure he is taken care of. During the book tour, Andie and Jack are faced with their history and forced to face it head on, along with Andie and Jack both having to come to terms with some other personal issues.
Overall, I thought that Andie and Jack were both very strong characters who had a lot of growth and depth. The story itself was very relatable in many ways. Life doesn't always go the way we planned but at the end of the day we have to adjust to what happens and keep going.

Unfortunately, this one did not hit the spot for me.

It just didn’t grab me and I struggled to finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity, maybe next time.

eArc provided by the Publisher through NetGalley. Thank you in advance.

This book is about a Publicist (Andie) and a writer (Jack) that she hates for something that happened 5 years before when they were in college. Expect to wait until the end to know what it is. 

Let’s take this out of the way. The book is categorized as a rom-com, and let me tell you from the beginning, there is no comedy in it. 
There is little romance, and if there was any slow burn, I did not feel it. It went from 0.5% slow burn to let's burn the sheets and bang! 

The book itself is good if you are looking to enter a journey of healing, forgiveness, and understanding. It is an emotional book that touches so much on grieving and how it can affect your life and judgment. These parts were beautifully written. 

The backstory of the main character is not strong for the big reaction and hate the FMC had for the MMC throughout the whole story. It needed to have more development of the relationship they had before everything went down. Also, there are a great number of mentions of how much she loves her best friend, and describing her relationship with her that it felt a bit much. 

If the book was under a different category, I would have given it four stars because of her grieving journey.

Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam is a charming, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance that blends humor, heart, and tension. Andie, a newly hired book publicist, is shocked to discover that her first major client is Jack Carlson, the man who made her university years a nightmare. Forced to work together on a high-stakes European book tour, Andie and Jack must navigate their past while trying to avoid a career-ending disaster.

The chemistry between Andie and Jack is sizzling from the start, and their emotional growth throughout the book adds depth to their relationship. Gillam perfectly balances witty banter with heartfelt moments, making their journey both entertaining and touching. The European backdrop and insights into the publishing world add an extra layer of charm to the story.

That said, the pacing was a bit slow at times. While I understand it was a slow-burn romance, it occasionally felt drawn-out. There are some 1 step forward, 2 steps back events and I don't know that I liked the bouncing around. However, despite these moments, the overall story is enjoyable and rewarding, with a satisfying payoff that makes the slower sections worthwhile.

Huge thank you to Penguin Random house and Netgalley for an early copy in return of an honest review!

Bad publicity was a fun rom-com that had deeply emotional moments and characters with pasts that made me honestly sad. The concept of this book was really good, it was face-paced, had witty banter and tension to keep me occupied and the writing was great.

I often find myself drawn towards books that take place within the publishing industry in any form and this one did not disappoint and just fed into my love of all things books. You can always tell if an author is passionate about their book when reading their words and this one was filled with that.
I’ll definitely pick up more books by this author in the future and look forward to adding a physical copy to my collection! 😊

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc. This takes place in New York, And gets her dream job. She's the senior book publicist. On her first day she realizes her biggest author is her rival from college. She has seen or spoken to Jack in 5 years and in order to keep her job, nothing can go wrong. He is super successful and still as hot as she remembers. This was a great rom com, slow burn, and enemies to lover romance. It's worth the read.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Books or this e-arc
First off, loved the premise of two ex's having to go on a book tour together after years apart after one really bad situation (which we don't know anything about) Right off the bat from Andie our FMC you see how strong her reaction is to Jack and you know something went down. I didn't love how Andie would always shut Jack down when he wanted to explain himself she was really harsh and sometimes over board in her responses like she was kicking a puppy constantly. Then they make a truce for the sake of her job, his book and the tour and then of course they sleep together which throws everything off. So, of course this is the perfect time for a flashback to find out what really went down between them and how bad Jack deserved to be treated. Not only to find out they weren't even a couple and he did one of the worst things I have ever seen in the misguided way of protecting her. I at first glance didn't think Andie should have been so harsh, but when I got to this part of the book you bet I was agreeing with every decision she had made and every mean comment she gave to Jack because I don't care what misguided way he was trying to help her what he did was horrible. However, this was five years before and people change s0 I am happy she chose herself in the end and decided she needed to figure herself out an don't let Jack or what he did rule her life. For her and him to find there way back to each other in the end was a bit bittersweet. So all in all, loved the premise, the execution wasn't bad, but not sure I loved the two characters together.

This was hard to read but I pushed through it. I didn’t like the main character at all, and hated the use of “OK” which almost made me DNF the book, but alas I finished it. Please please please change the writing to be “okay” instead of “OK” to make it at least mildly bearable.